Prelims · Modern India & the freedom struggle · 7 questions

Post-independence India

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Prelims 2019 · Q2

Medium

With reference to land reforms in independent India, which one of the following statements is correct?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) The major aim of land reforms was providing agricultural land to all the landless.

Land reforms after 1947 sought equity: abolish intermediaries, make the tiller the owner, and cap holdings so that surplus land could go to the landless. That redistributive aim is option (b); the other three statements are factually wrong.

✓ (b) The reforms aimed to give ownership to those who actually tilled the land and to cut the concentration of land in a few hands, with ceiling-surplus land meant for the landless and rural poor.
✗ (a) A ceiling fixes the maximum land a person may own; it was applied to individuals as well as to families (many states later used the family as the unit), so 'not individual holdings' is wrong.
✗ (d) State ceiling Acts carried exemptions; the Tamil Nadu Act, for instance, exempted existing plantations and certain orchards and gardens.

Remember · Land reform pillars: abolition of intermediaries, tenancy reform, land ceilings (with state-wise exemptions such as plantations) and redistribution of surplus land to the landless.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Indian Economic Development, Ch 2 (practise this chapter)

Sources

NCERT Class 11 · Indian Economic Development, Chapter 2 “Land ceiling was another policy to promote equity in the agricultural sector. This means fixing the maximum size of land which could be owned by an individual. The purpose of land ceiling was to reduce the concentration of land ownership in a few hands.”
Land Reforms — Commissionerate of Land Reforms, Government of Tamil Nadu ↗ “all plantations in existence on the date of the commencement of the Act provided that such plantations shall be exempted only so long as they continue to be plantations.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2019 · Q48

Easy

Consider the following statements:

1.Coal sector was nationalized by the Government of India under Indira Gandhi.
2.Now, coal blocks are allocated on lottery basis.
3.Till recently, India imported coal to meet the shortages of domestic supply, but now India is self-sufficient in coal production.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) 1 only

Only statement 1 is correct. Coking coal mines were nationalised in 1971-72 and non-coking coal mines in 1973, while Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister. Coal blocks are given out by competitive auction, not by lottery, and India still imports coal.

✓ 1. The Central Government nationalised private coal mines in two phases: coking coal mines in 1971-72 and non-coking coal mines in 1973 (Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1973). Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister from 1966 to 1977.
✗ 2. Blocks are now allotted through competitive bidding, that is auctions, conducted by the Nominated Authority under the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015. There is no lottery.
✗ 3. India is not self-sufficient. It still imports coking coal and high-grade thermal coal that its domestic reserves do not supply in sufficient quantity.

Remember · Coal was nationalised in 1971-73 under Indira Gandhi; blocks are now auctioned (not lotteried), and India still imports coking coal.

Sources

History and background, Ministry of Coal, Government of India ↗ “The nationalisation was done in two phases, the first with the coking coal mines in 1971-72 and then with the non-coking coal mines in 1973.”
Shrimati Indira Gandhi, Former Prime Ministers, Prime Minister's Office ↗ “Then she held the highest office as the Prime Minister of India from January 1966 to March 1977.”
Auction/Allotment, Nominated Authority, Ministry of Coal ↗ “From an earlier restrictive model, we have moved on to granting coal mining blocks pursuant to a competitive bidding process, and from prescribing specific end-use to permitting commercial sale of coal.”
About the Nominated Authority, Ministry of Coal ↗ “Nominated Authority is appointed under the section 6(1) of the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 and has been vested with the overall responsibility as highlighted below: to conduct the auction process and allotment”
India's coal imports see marginal increase, Ministry of Coal (PIB, 25 Sept 2024) ↗ “the current consumption landscape reveals a critical need for imports, particularly for coking coal and high-grade thermal coal, which are not sufficiently available within domestic reserves.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

The same topic in Mains

Post-independence consolidationGS 1 syllabus

Read it in NCERT

Class 11 Indian Economic Development, Chapter 2cited in 1 explanation

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