TSPSC Group – I Mains,2024 Group-I Mains Paper IV: Economy and Development Question Paper Pattern For Examination guidance purpose only Model Question Paper One (prepared on 31.8.2024)

 

TSPSC Group – I Mains,2024

Group-I Mains

Paper IV: Economy and Development

Question Paper Pattern

 

For  Examination guidance purpose only

 

Model Question  Paper One (prepared on 31.8.2024)

 

Time: 3 hours                                                                                                                                       Marks: 150

 

*There are 3 sections

*Each Section consists of 5 questions

*Answer all Five questions in each section.

• Question no.1 and 2 do not have internal choice.

• Question no.3, 4 and 5 have internal choice.

• Answer to each question should be limited to around 200 words.

• All questions carry equal marks (10 marks each).

 

Section-I (5 x 10 = 50 Marks)

Indian Economy and Development

 Syllabus in brief :

1. National Income -Concepts and Measurement of National Income- Nominal and Real Income; Structure and growth of Indian economy – Sectoral trends in National Income of India

2. Poverty and Unemployment: Concepts of Poverty - Income-based Poverty, nonincome Poverty- capability approach (Human Poverty Index), Measurement of Poverty and trends in Poverty; Concepts, estimates and trends of Unemployment

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Questions: -

1. What are the various methods of calculating National income? Explain them.

(Answer clue :- National Income  is the total value of all the final goods and services produced in a country in a year. It is calculated by the “Central Statistical Organization of India”. There are three methods to measure national income in India.

 1.Output method. 2.Income method. 3.Expenditure method)

 

2. What are the causes for unemployment in India ? 

 

3. A) What are the objectives of Indian Planning ? What are the achievements in all the Five Year Plans (I to XII FYPs)?

(Answer clue : - 1.Economic growth. 2.Self reliance. 3.Balanced regional development. 4.Creation of employment opportunities. 5.Reduction in income inequalities. 6.Elimination of poverty. 7.Modernisation 8.Inclucive and sustainability of growth.)

 

 

(OR)

 

B) Write a brief note on NITI Aayog?

[Answer clue :- National institution for transforming India. It was set up by government of India as a replacement for the planning commission. The aim of NITI Aayog is to achieve sustainable development goals with cooperative federalism by the involvement of State Governments. It came into force on 1st January ,2015.

Objectives : 1.To focus on agricultural production with food security. 2.To utilize human capital perfectly. 3. To promote good governance.

4. To promote modern technology. 5. To incorporate the non-resident Indian community in the process of development.

 Structure: 1.Chairperson : Prime Minister 2.Vice Chair Person: To be appointed by PM 3.Full time and part time members 4. Ex officio members Maximum 4 from central ministers. 5. CEO: To be appointed by the PM]

 

 

4. A)What are the reasons for rural indebtedness ?

[Answer clue :  Rural Indebtedness and High Rate of Interest India farmers were born into debt, lived in debt and died in debt. Money lenders and Mahajans charged very high rates of interest and the remittances made by the farmers were set off against interest and principal remained unpaid, thus causing heavy rural indebtedness. After Independence, the government initiated the development of co-operative credit societies and banks for providing credit to small and marginal farmers. Inspite of several remedial measures farmers due to several reasons continue to depend on money lenders. The phrase ‘once in debt, always in debt’ aptly explains the condition of the Indian farmers. 3) Low wages in the Agricultural sector As compared to Industrial sector wages in the Agricultural sectors are low. Inspite of this, people hesitate to move out, either due to ignorance of better opportunities of their ability to obtain a modern job. Low wages result in lower labour productivity. Cheap labour leads to adoption of labour intensive methods of production, thus deterring mechanisation. 4) Traditional Methods More dependence on human and animal labour is a feature of Indian Agriculture. However, with the advent of the new agricultural strategy in 1966, modern techniques of production were initiated. However, still large areas adopt outmoded agricultural techniques, thus bringing about technological dualism. 5) Lack of Proper Irrigation Facilities The ratio between gross cropped area and gross irrigated area is not right. Most of agriculture is a gamble in monsoons’ . Although the situation has improved with regards to provision of irrigation facilities, there is much more to be done. 6) Lack of suitable agricultural policies for diverse regions In terms of rainfall, soil quality, weather, presence of different levels of salinity, and difference in elements like phosphates, potash, nitrogen, India has too many differences. Even villages existing side by side has substantial regional inequalities. This needs to be borne in mind while formulating policies. However, in India one general policy/ procedure is adopted making it ineffective. 7) Size of Land Holdings The size of land holdings is of great concern. Sub division and fragmentation of the land often leads to small uneconomic size leaving no room for use of modern technology]

 

(OR)

 

B). What are the features of Cropping patterns in Indian Agriculture

 

5. A)What are the main features, characterizing Indian Agricultural labour ?

(Answer Clue :  The main features, characterizing Indian agricultural labor are as follows :  

1. Scattered Agricultural Labourers - Agricultural labour in India is being widely scattered over large number of villages in the country and so cannot be effectively organized.  

2.  Unskilled and Lack Training - Agricultural labourers, especially in smaller villages are generally unskilled workers carrying on agricultural operation at a very low wages. Majority of them are generally

conservative and tradition bound. There is hardly any motivation for change or improvement. Since there is no alternative employment, the agricultural labourer has to do all types of work- both farm and domestic for landlord.  

3. Unorganised - Agricultural laborers are not organized like industrial laborers. These laborers are illiterate and ignorant. They live in villages scattered all over the country. Hence they could not be organized in unions. Accordingly, it is difficult for them to bargain with the land owners and secure good wages.  

4.  Low Social Status - Most agricultural workers belong to the depressed classes, which have been neglected for ages. In some parts of India, agricultural laborers are migratory, moving in search of jobs at the time of harvesting with a lot of dislocation of family life, dislocation of education of children and numerous other handicaps.  

5. Abudance of Labour - The agricultural labourers are abundant in supply in relation to their demand. It is only during the sowing and harvesting seasons that there appears to be nearful employment. But, once these seasons are over, majority of agricultural workers are jobless especially in areas, where there is single cropping pattern. The problem is further aggravated due to the fact that these labors are generally unskilled and so couldn’t find alternative employment.

6.  Low Bargaining Power- Due to all the above mentioned factors, the bargaining power and position of agricultural laborers in India is very weak. In fact, quite a large number of them are in the grip of village money lenders, landlords and commission agents, often the same person functioning in all the three capacities. The agricultural labour is the most exploited class of people of India. Thus partly because of factors beyond their control and partly because of their inherent bargaining weakness, the farm laborers have been getting very low wages and have therefore to live in a miserable sub-human life. )

 

(OR)

 

B) Write a note on Indian Sugar Industry ?

(Answer clue : Sugar Industry Brazil, India, EU and Thailand together account for over 50% global sugar production. India is second largest sugar producer in the world and the largest sugar consumer country. Sugar industry is the second largest agro based industry in the country next only to textiles. About 45 million sugarcane farmers, their dependents and a large agricultural force, constituting 7.5 % of the rural population, are involved in sugarcane cultivation, harvesting and ancillary activities. It employs about 0.5 million workers. Indians knew sugar production since ancient times. This industry is located in sugarcane-growing areas like Belgavi district in Karnataka. Maximum number of sugar mills is located in the Ganga river plain region. The sugar mills are found in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh etc. Sugar is being exported to the U.S.A., Britain, Iran, Canada and Malaysia.

Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh has the maximum number of sugar mills. Growth of Sugar Industry In 1930s Sugar was given protection. Since then, the industry has been traditionally called a “Child of Protection”. The Industry grew after India’s in From 143 factories in First Five Year plan, the number rose to 571 in the 11th five-year plan. . As of 31st July 2017, there are 732 sugar mills in India with total sugar production capacity of 34 million tonnes of sugar. Roughly 50% of the mills are private. Market Size Indian sugar industry is worth more than Rs. 80,000 crore (from sugar and its by-products). The Indian sugar industry supports 5 crore-sugarcane farmers across India and hence has high political importance as well. Indian sugar demand is around 25 milliontonnes. Indian per capita consumption of sugar was 18.8 kg and the world average was 23 kg as on 2016. Total acreage of India is 47 lakh hectares. average of sugarcane crop in different states is as follows: UP has 115 sugar mills, with most of them being private mills. Whereas, Maharashtra has more of co-operative mills.

 

Problems : The various problems facing the sugarcane industry are as follows- • Monoculture of sugarcane i.e. lack of crop rotation in some areas, leads to deletion of nutrients in soil and adversely affect cane productivity. • Post harvest deterioration in cane quality on account of staling and delayed crushing contributes to low sugar recovery. • An irregularity in availability of water is other major issue in cultivation of sugarcane crop. As many states have sufficient irrigation facility with regular raining season (like South India) while others have poor irrigation facility with even raining season (like Uttar Pradesh). • Inadequate availability of quality seed of new sugarcane varieties and poor seed replacement rate adversely affects the realization of potential cane yield of varieties. • Further reduction in yield of sugarcane due to rise in temperature is significant.The average yield of sugarcane is around 50 tons/hectare only, which is much lesser when compared to other nations such as 70 tons/hectare in Brazil or 100 tons/hectare in Hawaii. • The technology used by sugar mills is obsolete and old which make sugar mills economically unviable and due to this farmers benefit get affected.  • The small crushing season last only for 4 to 6 months especially in North India due to lesser availability of water or occurrence of frost, etc.

• The political ownership or their large share in cooperative sugar mills cause delays in payment to farmers. The corruption due to political ownership further cause higher price and poor productivity in sugar mills )

 

 

 

 

Section-II (5 x 10 = 50 Marks)

Telangana Economy

 

6. What is SGDP ? Explain SGDP growth rate in Telangana State since 2014 ?

[Answer clue : (i)State Gross Domestic Product; (ii)SGDP or state income is the most important indicator for measuring the economic growth of a state.(iii)State Gross Domestic Product may be defined as ‘the sum of total volume of all goods and services produced in a year within the geographical boundaries of a state accounted without duplication ‘]

 

7.  Attempt a critical overview of various types of Anti-poverty Programmes at work in India (with special reference to Telangana State)  today.

 

8. A) What are the trends of SGDP in Telangana State (based on data upto 2015)?

[Answer clue : (i)Growth rate of SGDP indicates the performance of a state economy, the sectoral performance reflects the change in the magnitude  and composition of different sectors out of SGDP of the state economy over a time.

(ii)The SGDP of Telangana state at constant prices recorded double digit growth from 2005-06 to 2010 – 2011 , except in 2009-2010 where a steep low growth was recorded

(iii)The SGDP at current prices for the year 2014-15 is estimated at Rs.4,30,599 crores (AE) as against Rs.3,91,751 (FRE) crores for 2013-14 with a growth rate of 9.9% ]

 

(OR)

 

B) Write a note on Abolition of Jagirdari System in Telangana ?

[Answer clue : - In Telangana, the powerful movement of the peasants was under way when the Nizam state was merged with India. Even before Independence, in 1927, forced labour or vetti had been abolished but this law was not implemented. However, in areas where the Telangana armed struggle was strong, the practice was put to an end in 1948. In 1945, when the Telangana movement was beginning, the Nizam had made many laws to protect the tenants-atwill. This happened by registering them and giving them permanent rights to cultivate. Immediately after the merger of Hyderabad state, the Nizam, who was still the head of Hyderabad government, issued a Firman, abolishing the Sarf-e-Khas, the personal freedom of the Nizam and all forms of forced labour like vetti. Through another Firman dated 15 August 1949, Jagirs (including Samsthanams and Maktas) which were like small kingdoms were abolished. The dominant sections of the cultivating communities of these jagirs got patta right on lands. As per the Hyderabad Jagirdar Abolition Act, large jagirs were taken over by the government within a few days. Rs.18 crores was decided as the compensation which was to be paid. Due to this Act, about 995 Jagirdars were removed and the land was given to the farmers cultivating it. Further, there was a reduction in land tax. The new government appointed the Hyderabad Agrarian Reforms Committee primarily to look into the question of land concentration and aspects of increasing

production and also to study the aspirations of the farmers and tenants under the existing systems. The Committee made far reaching recommendations like removal of middlemen, ceiling on land ownership, taking away surplus lands from the landlords, protection to tenants etc. However, only some of its recommendations were implemented. The famous Hyderabad Tenancy Act was passed in 1950 protecting all types of tenants. Tenants-at-will (who could be evicted at the will of the landlords) were made protected tenants. All the tenants who were in continuous possession of land for a period of six years were made protected tenants or pattadars after a little payment. Now they could not be evicted easily and could continue to cultivate the land for generations. Similarly, the Hyderabad Inam Lands Abolition Act was promulgated in 1955.]

 

9. A) What is the share agriculture sector in the National Income ? How it is important ?

 [Answer clue : Share in the National Income Agriculture occupies a very important place in the Indian economy. Most of its population depends on agriculture for its livelihood. But as far as its contribution to GDP is concerned, it is dismal. The share of Agriculture in the National Income of the country during the I World War was 2/3 of National Income, that is around 66.66% while in 1950-51 it was 53.1%. In 1990-91 it was 29.6% and it decreased in 2013-14 to 13.9%, during the year 2015-16 it slightly increased to 15.4% and almost the same percentage was maintained in the year 2016-17 where it was 15.2%. The Decreasing share of agriculture in National Income is indicative of the fact that Secondary and Tertiary Sectors are growing. However, the share of agriculture is still too high as compared to UK and USA where agriculture contributes 2% of the GDP}

 

(OR)

 

B) What are the major horticulture crops in Telangana ? How they help farmers to come out from water shortage and doubling of  their income ?

Ans : Mango, Sweet orange, Acid Lime, Guava, Pomegranate, Tomato, Brinjal, Oilpalm, Cashewnut, Chillies and Turmeric

 

10. A) Which have resulted in the realisation of Green, White and Blue revolutions in the Telangana  state?

(Answer clue : a)Financial schemes for farmers to meet cost of production, b)construction of new (major and medium)

c)irrigation projects besides strengthening and streamlining of the existing ones,

d)24x7 free power to Agriculture,  e)Mission Kakatiya, f)promotion of livestock and fisheries, sheep distribution scheme,etc.)

 

(OR)

 

B) Which crops are recommended for crop diversification purpose to avoid glut in production ?

[Answer clue : Ground nut, Sun flower, Sesamum, Bengal gram, Black gram, Green gram, Castor, Mustard, Kusuma, Oilpalm and Jowar]

 

 

Section-III (5 x 10 = 50 Marks)

Development and Environmental Problems

Syllabus in brief :

1. Environment vs Development: Definition of Environment, Environmentalism; Environmental Protection Policy, Environmental Policy Instruments.

2. Natural resources: Forest resources- Commercialization of forests - Forest Acts vs Forest dwellers/ users; Water: surface water and groundwater, competing demand for water - drinking, industrial and agriculture; Land resources: competing uses of landfood, feed, fuel, and fibre; Mining and Environment; Sustainability of natural resources.

3. Eco systems and Bio-diversity: Ecology and Eco-system; Food chains in Eco systems, Typology of eco system; Bio diversity and its conservation, Types of Bio diversity, threat to Bio diversity.

4. Environment pollution and solid waste management, types of solid waste, factors affecting solid waste generation, impact of solid waste, recycling and reuse.

5. Global Environment Issues: Climate Change, Global Warming and its impact, Sustainable Development.

 

 

 

Questions:

11. What are the factors affecting  environmental degradation ?

 

12. What are the salient features of Municipal  Solid Waste Management Rules ?

[Answer clue : • Collection of waste by organizing Door-to-Door collection system or community bins.

• Segregation and storage waste by adopting three bin systems.

• Transportation of waste in covered vehicles.

• Establishment of processing facilities.

• Construction of Sanitary landfill facilities.]

 

 

13. A) What is Biodiversity ? Why conservation of biodiversity is important?

(Answer clue : In simple terms, it is a measure of the health of ecosystems. More technically, biodiversity can be defined as degree of variations of life forms within a species, ecosystem, biome and the entire Earth. Conservation of biodiversity, in any ecosystem acts as a protection against abrupt instabilities and makes it more resilient. Economically too, biodiversity is important for agriculture, food security, industry, medicine etc. Biodiversity also proffers rich externalities in various forms recreation, aesthetics, and environmental conservation. In the great saga of

evolution, extinction which means, irreversible and complete disappearance of certain life forms from the face of the Earth has not been unnatural.

However, the rates of extinction of life forms have been accelerated to unnatural and dangerous rates because of anthropogenic factors. Destruction of natural habitats, clearing of forests for such reasons like building roads, creating townships and industrial estates, constructing dams pose serious threat to biodiversity. The continuous and unbridled loss of biodiversity has catastrophic consequences and is a matter of grave concern worldwide. Recognizing the importance of

biodiversity conservation in sustainability, the United Nations has declared 2010-2020 as the UN Decade of Biodiversity.  ]

 

(OR)

 

B)Discuss global warming and mention its effects on global climate ?

 

 

14. A)Explain the concept ‘Environmental sustainability’ and ‘Sustainable Development of People’ ?

 

(OR)

 

B).’The impact of climate change on water resources in India .’ Discuss

 

15. A) Why do urban poor live in slums ? What social factors affect people’s access to water and sanitation ?

 

(OR)

 

B). How environmental problems affect different groups and leading to social inequality ?