NABARD Grade A Economic and Social Issues (ESI) Syllabus

What is frictional unemployment versus cyclical unemployment?

Frictional unemployment is short-term joblessness while people transition between jobs or enter the labour force. Cyclical unemployment results from downturns in the business cycle (recessions) when aggregate demand falls.

What are LFPR and WPR in the PLFS?

LFPR (Labour Force Participation Rate) is the percentage of population in the labour force (working or seeking work). WPR (Worker Population Ratio) is the percentage of population that is actually employed.

What is the Human Development Index (HDI) and its three dimensions?

The HDI, published by UNDP, measures average achievement in three dimensions: a long and healthy life (life expectancy), knowledge (mean and expected years of schooling), and a decent standard of living (GNI per capita, PPP). It ranges from 0 to 1.

Who developed the concept underlying the Human Development Index?

The HDI was developed by economists Mahbub ul Haq and Amartya Sen, first introduced in the UNDP's Human Development Report in 1990.

What is the Green Revolution in India?

The Green Revolution (mid-1960s onward, led by M.S. Swaminathan with Norman Borlaug's HYV seeds) dramatically raised foodgrain output—especially wheat and rice—through high-yielding-variety seeds, irrigation, fertilizers, and pesticides, making India self-sufficient in foodgrains.

What is Minimum Support Price (MSP)?

MSP is the guaranteed price at which the government purchases certain crops from farmers to protect them from price falls. It is announced by the government based on recommendations of the CACP (Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices).

What are the White, Blue, and Yellow Revolutions in India?

White Revolution = milk/dairy (Operation Flood, Verghese Kurien); Blue Revolution = fish/aquaculture production; Yellow Revolution = oilseeds production.

What is the difference between food security and the Public Distribution System (PDS)?

Food security means physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food for all. The PDS is the government mechanism distributing subsidised foodgrains through fair-price (ration) shops to ensure that security, strengthened by the National Food Security Act, 2013.

What is MGNREGA and what does it guarantee?

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (2005) guarantees at least 100 days of wage employment per financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work; it is a legal right-based scheme.

What is the objective of the PM Awas Yojana - Gramin (PMAY-G)?

PMAY-G aims to provide a pucca house with basic amenities to all rural homeless households and those living in dilapidated/kutcha houses, working toward 'Housing for All'.

What is the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM)?

It is a poverty-alleviation scheme that organises rural poor women into Self-Help Groups (SHGs), providing them access to credit, skills, and livelihoods to promote self-employment and financial inclusion.

What is the difference between BPL and APL households?

BPL (Below Poverty Line) households are those whose income/consumption falls below the official poverty line and are eligible for greater subsidies. APL (Above Poverty Line) households are above that line and receive fewer or no welfare benefits.

What was India's population and decadal growth rate per the 2011 Census?

India's population in the 2011 Census was about 1.21 billion, with a decadal growth rate of 17.7% (2001-2011), the lowest since independence at that time.

What is the sex ratio, and what was India's per the 2011 Census?

Sex ratio is the number of females per 1,000 males. The 2011 Census recorded India's sex ratio at 943, and the child sex ratio (0-6 years) at 919, the lowest since independence.

What is the demographic dividend?

The demographic dividend is the economic growth potential arising when a country has a large share of working-age population (15-64) relative to dependents, provided there is adequate employment, skills, and health investment.

What are the three stages of demographic transition relevant to India?

Demographic transition moves from Stage 1 (high birth and death rates), to Stage 2 (high birth, falling death rates—rapid growth), to Stage 3 (falling birth rates, low death rates). India is largely in the later part of Stage 2 / Stage 3.

What is the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) and India's current status?

TFR is the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime. India's TFR has fallen to about 2.0, now below the replacement level of 2.1.

What does Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) measure?

IMR is the number of deaths of infants under one year of age per 1,000 live births in a given year. It is a key indicator of a country's health and development status.

What is the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR)?

MMR is the number of maternal deaths (during pregnancy, childbirth, or within 42 days of termination) per 100,000 live births. India's MMR has declined to around 97 (latest SRS data).

What is Ayushman Bharat (PM-JAY)?

Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana is a national health-protection scheme providing health cover of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation to poor and vulnerable families.

What is the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009?

The RTE Act makes free and compulsory education a fundamental right for all children aged 6-14 years (Article 21A), mandating norms for schools and reserving 25% seats in private schools for disadvantaged groups.

What are reservations under Articles 15 and 16 of the Indian Constitution?

Article 15 prohibits discrimination and allows special provisions for socially and educationally backward classes, SCs, and STs. Article 16 guarantees equality of opportunity in public employment and permits reservations in appointments for backward classes.

What is the Mahila Samman / women empowerment goal of social justice schemes like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao?

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao aims to prevent gender-biased sex selection, ensure survival and protection of the girl child, and ensure her education and participation—addressing the declining child sex ratio and empowering women.

What is the difference between urbanisation and a metropolitan city in India?

Urbanisation is the increasing share of population living in urban areas (about 31% per 2011 Census, rising). A metropolitan city in India is an urban agglomeration with a population of one million or more.

What are push and pull factors of migration?

Push factors drive people away from origin areas (poverty, unemployment, droughts, lack of services). Pull factors attract people to destinations (jobs, higher wages, education, better amenities). Most internal migration in India is rural-to-urban for work and marriage.

What is the Smart Cities Mission?

Launched in 2015, the Smart Cities Mission aims to develop 100 cities with sustainable infrastructure, clean environment, and smart technology-driven services (water, sanitation, mobility, e-governance) to improve quality of urban life.

What is globalisation, and how did it accelerate in India after 1991?

Globalisation is the integration of a country's economy with the world through trade, capital, technology, and labour flows. After 1991, India accelerated it via reduced tariffs, removal of quantitative restrictions, liberalised FDI, and convertibility of the rupee.

What is the difference between FDI and FPI?

FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) involves a lasting management interest/control in an enterprise (usually 10%+ stake) and is long-term. FPI (Foreign Portfolio Investment) is investment in financial assets like stocks/bonds without control, and is more volatile (hot money).

What is Sustainable Development?

Sustainable development, defined by the Brundtland Report (1987), is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, balancing economic, social, and environmental goals.

How many Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are there and when were they adopted?

There are 17 Sustainable Development Goals with 169 targets, adopted by UN member states in 2015 under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, to be achieved by 2030.

What is the difference between the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement?

The UNFCCC (1992) is the parent climate treaty. The Kyoto Protocol (1997) set binding emission-reduction targets only for developed countries. The Paris Agreement (2015) commits all countries to Nationally Determined Contributions to limit warming to well below 2°C, ideally 1.5°C.