Reports & indices

Every UPSC Prelims question on this topic, 2016–2026, newest first. Tap an option to check yourself; the answer and explanation open below it.

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Prelims 2026 · Q88

Easy Provisional key

Which one of the following correctly represents the three key sub-indices of the Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Access, Usage, and Quality

The RBI’s FI-Index has three sub-indices: Access, Usage and Quality, weighted 35, 45 and 20 per cent. Credit, insurance, pension and financial literacy appear only as dimensions inside these sub-indices.

✓ (c) Access reflects the supply side (banking, digital, pension, insurance); Usage the demand side (savings and investments, digital, pension, insurance, credit); Quality has three dimensions: financial literacy, consumer protection and inequality.
✗ (a) Credit, insurance and pension are dimensions within Access or Usage, not the three sub-indices.
✗ (b) ‘GDP contribution’ is not part of the index, and financial literacy is only one dimension of the Quality sub-index.
✗ (d) Affordability and Transparency are not sub-indices of the FI-Index.

Remember · FI-Index (0–100): Access 35%, Usage 45%, Quality 20%. Quality covers financial literacy, consumer protection and inequality.

Sources

PIB: RBI’s Financial Inclusion Index rises to 67 in March 2025 ↗ “The index has 3 sub-indices, “Access”, “Usage” and “Quality”, with each sub-index having respective weight of 35, 45 and 20 per cent respectively.”

Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper I (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2026 · Q100

Medium Provisional key

Consider the following statements about Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI):

1.MPI is calculated using Alkire-Foster methodology.
2.MPI calculated by NITI Aayog has a total of twelve indicators.
3.Maternal Health and Bank Account are common indicators in the MPI of NITI Aayog and MPI of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

Both the global MPI and India's national MPI are built on the Alkire–Foster counting method, and India's national MPI has twelve indicators. But Maternal Health and Bank Account are India's own additions to the ten global indicators, so they are not shared with the UNDP index.

✓ 1. NITI Aayog says the national MPI retains the Alkire–Foster methodology developed with OPHI and UNDP, the same counting method used for the global MPI.
✓ 2. India's national MPI has three equally weighted dimensions (health, education, standard of living) measured through 12 indicators.
✗ 3. The national MPI keeps the ten global indicators and adds Maternal Health and Bank Accounts on top, in line with national priorities. These two therefore appear only in NITI Aayog's index, not in UNDP's global MPI.

Remember · India's national MPI (NITI Aayog): Alkire–Foster method, 3 dimensions, 12 indicators = the 10 global ones plus Maternal Health and Bank Account.