Reasoning why poverty line methodology is debatable
Question
Why is the methodology adopted in India to count the 'poor' debatable?
Options
There is some confusion regarding what should constitute the 'poverty line'.
There are wide diversities in the condition of the rural and urban poor.
There is no uniform global standard for measuring income poverty.
It is based on the proposition of poverty as meagre income or buying capacity.
Explanation
The passage explicitly states that the methodology is debatable not just because of its narrow definition, but "because of a more fundamental assumption underlying it. It exclusively relies on the notion of poverty as insufficient income or insufficient purchasing power." The author directly identifies this singular reliance on income/buying capacity as the core flaw. Option (d) matches this exact critique. Options (a), (b), and (c) introduce external concepts (urban vs rural, global standards) that the author does not use to build their argument.
Answer: (d).
Question details
Year
2022
Paper
CSAT
Question
Q12
Section
Reading Comprehension
Sub-topic
Social / Economic passage
Type
Factual single
Difficulty
Easy
Source hint
Passage 2 (Poverty line and deprivations) - Q12
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