Poverty, inclusion, demographics & social sector

Answer: (b) 2 only

Under Section 23 of the RTE Act, teacher qualifications are set by an academic authority notified by the Central Government, and that authority is the national body NCTE, not any State council. NCTE's 2010 notification made passing a Teacher Eligibility Test, held as per NCTE guidelines, part of the minimum qualification. Most teacher education institutions are privately run, not State-run.

• ✗ 1. The Centre notified the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) as the academic authority under Section 23; there is no State Council that fixes these minimum qualifications.
• ✓ 2. NCTE's notification of 23 August 2010 requires a teacher for Classes I–VIII to pass the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), conducted by the appropriate government in line with NCTE's guidelines.
• ✗ 3. NCTE recognises government, government-aided and self-financing institutions, and the self-financing (private) ones form the great majority; the Justice Verma Commission (2012) put the private share above 90%.

Remember · RTE Act s.23: NCTE (statutory body under the NCTE Act, 1993) is the academic authority for teacher qualifications; TET is mandatory for Classes I–VIII teachers.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 2 only

Only statement 2 is correct: Section 13 of the National Food Security Act, 2013 makes the eldest woman of 18 years or above the head of the household for the ration card. Subsidised grain is not limited to BPL families, and the take-home ration norm for pregnant women and lactating mothers is 600 kcal, not 1600.

• ✗ 1. The Act covers 'eligible households', meaning priority households and Antyodaya Anna Yojana households, identified by State Governments under the Act's criteria. It does not use the BPL category alone.
• ✓ 2. Section 13(1) says the eldest woman of not less than eighteen years in every eligible household is the head of the household for issue of ration cards. If there is no such woman, the eldest male member is the head.
• ✗ 3. Section 4 entitles pregnant women and lactating mothers to a free meal through the local anganwadi during pregnancy and six months after childbirth, plus maternity benefit of at least Rs 6,000. Schedule II fixes the take-home ration at 600 kcal and 18-20 g protein per day, not 1600 kcal.

Remember · NFSA 2013: eldest woman (18+) heads the ration-card household; coverage is priority plus AAY households; take-home ration for pregnant and lactating women is 600 kcal.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) Child labour

ILO Conventions 138 and 182 are the two core conventions on child labour. No. 138 fixes the minimum age for admission to employment, and No. 182 prohibits the worst forms of child labour and calls for immediate action against them.

• ✓ (a) Convention 138 is the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 and Convention 182 is the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999. India deposited its instruments of ratification of both with the ILO on 13 June 2017, which is why they were in the news before the 2018 exam.
• ✗ (d) These two conventions deal only with child labour. Gender parity at the workplace, adaptation to climate change and food prices are not what they cover.

Remember · ILO No. 138 = minimum age for employment; No. 182 = worst forms of child labour. India ratified both in June 2017.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) poverty and unemployment increase.

Rising GNP and per capita GNP show growth, but development also needs the gains to reach people. If poverty and unemployment increase, the income growth has not improved living standards, so it does not signal a higher level of development.

• ✓ (c) Development is wider than income growth. NCERT notes that even countries with high growth saw poverty rise quickly because the gains were shared unequally. Growth with rising poverty and unemployment is not development.
• ✗ (a) The balance between industry and agriculture affects the structure of the economy but says nothing about whether people are better off.
• ✗ (b) Industry growing faster than agriculture is a normal feature of structural change and does not by itself deny development.
• ✗ (d) Imports growing faster than exports widens the trade deficit. It is a balance-of-payments concern, not a test of whether GNP growth means development.

Remember · Growth (GNP, per capita income) is not the same as development. Rising poverty and unemployment show that growth has not turned into development.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 India: People and Economy, Ch 6 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 India: People and Economy, Ch 6 (practise this chapter)

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 2 and 4

Human capital formation means building up the knowledge, skills and capacities of people, and what is built is intangible. So statements 2 and 4 describe it, while accumulating capital or tangible wealth describes physical capital.

• ✗ 1. Accumulating more capital, in the sense of money or assets, is physical capital formation. Human capital formation is about improving people themselves.
• ✓ 2. Human capital is the specialised skills, knowledge and abilities that people bring to work. Investment in education, health and training raises them.
• ✗ 3. Tangible wealth such as machines or buildings is physical capital, which can be sold in the market like a commodity.
• ✓ 4. Human capital is intangible: it is built into the body and mind of its owner and cannot be separated from that person.

Remember · Physical capital is tangible and separable from its owner. Human capital (skills, knowledge, health) is intangible and inseparable from its owner.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Indian Economic Development, Ch 4 (practise this chapter) · Class 8 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Ch 7 (practise this chapter)

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 2 and 3 only

Statements 2 and 3 are correct, and statement 1 is wrong. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) is the flagship scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, not the Ministry of Labour and Employment. Its training centres teach soft skills, entrepreneurship, financial and digital literacy, and its Recognition of Prior Learning part brings the unregulated workforce into the NSQF.

• ✗ 1. PMKVY, launched in 2015, is implemented by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship as its flagship scheme.
• ✓ 2. The PMKVY 2016-20 guidelines say that, apart from NSQF-based training, training centres also impart training in soft skills, entrepreneurship, financial and digital literacy.
• ✓ 3. The same guidelines say the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) component aims to align the competencies of the unregulated workforce with the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF).

Remember · PMKVY = flagship scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), launched in 2015; short-term training plus Recognition of Prior Learning, both linked to the NSQF.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

Statements 1 and 2 are correct; statement 3 is wrong. The Forest Rights Act, 2006 defines 'critical wildlife habitat' itself, and provides habitat rights for primitive tribal groups. But habitat rights are recognised under the Act through the Gram Sabha and district-level process, with the Ministry of Tribal Affairs as nodal agency, not by the environment ministry.

• ✓ 1. Section 2(b) of the Forest Rights Act defines 'critical wildlife habitat' as areas of National Parks and Sanctuaries that must be kept inviolate for wildlife conservation, notified by the Central Government after expert consultation.
• ✓ 2. UPSC's key treats this as correct. The Baiga are a very vulnerable tribal group of Madhya Pradesh (Dindori district page), and the Act provides habitat rights for primitive tribal groups: Section 2(h) defines 'habitat' to cover their customary habitat, and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs lists habitat rights for PVTGs among the Act's community rights. No official page was found stating that the Baiga were the first community to receive them.
• ✗ 3. Section 11 makes the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, not the environment ministry, the nodal agency for the Act. Rights are initiated by the Gram Sabha and settled through the Sub-Divisional and District Level Committees. The environment ministry's role is in notifying critical wildlife habitats.

Remember · Forest Rights Act, 2006: it defines 'critical wildlife habitat' and 'habitat'; habitat rights for PVTGs are part of the Act; the Ministry of Tribal Affairs is the nodal agency.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error