RBI Grade B Economic and Social Issues (ESI) Syllabus

On the Lorenz curve, what is the line of perfect equality and how does the Gini relate to it?

The line of perfect equality is the 45-degree diagonal. The Gini coefficient equals the area between the diagonal and the Lorenz curve divided by the total area under the diagonal (Gini = A/(A+B)).

What are the three approaches (statuses) used to measure employment/unemployment in India's surveys?

Usual Status (US, reference period of 365 days), Current Weekly Status (CWS, reference of 7 days), and Current Daily Status (CDS, reference of each day/half-day). CDS gives the most comprehensive picture of unemployment.

What is frictional unemployment?

Short-term, transitional unemployment that occurs when workers are between jobs or searching for their first job; it exists even in a healthy economy and is considered voluntary/temporary.

What is cyclical unemployment?

Unemployment caused by a downturn in the business cycle (a fall in aggregate demand during recessions); it disappears when the economy recovers.

What is the Worker Population Ratio (WPR)?

The percentage of employed persons in the total population (number of employed / total population x 100). It indicates the proportion of the population actually engaged in work.

Which survey replaced the quinquennial NSSO Employment-Unemployment Survey for measuring India's labour statistics, and from when?

The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), launched by the NSO in 2017-18, which provides annual (and quarterly urban) labour force estimates.

What is the National Career Service (NCS) scheme?

A Ministry of Labour & Employment digital portal launched in 2015 that connects jobseekers with employers, providing career counselling, vocational guidance, and job-matching services.

What does the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) aim to do?

It is the flagship skill development scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship that provides short-term skill training and certification (including Recognition of Prior Learning) to youth to improve employability.

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

A scheme to reduce rural poverty by mobilising poor households into Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and providing them access to financial services and sustainable livelihood opportunities.

What does the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) provide and what are its two components?

It aims to provide 'Housing for All' through PMAY-Urban (for urban poor) and PMAY-Gramin (for rural poor), giving financial assistance to construct pucca houses with basic amenities.

What is the demographic window of opportunity (and when is India's projected to last)?

The period when the working-age population (15-59/64) is large relative to dependents, lowering the dependency ratio. India's window is generally projected to last until around 2055-2056.

What is the dependency ratio?

The ratio of the dependent population (children aged 0-14 and elderly 65+) to the working-age population (15-64), expressed per 100. A lower ratio is favourable for growth.

What is the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) and what value indicates replacement level?

TFR is the average number of children a woman is expected to bear in her lifetime; a TFR of about 2.1 is the replacement level (population stabilises). India's TFR has fallen to around replacement level (~2.0).

What are the three stages of the demographic transition theory (simplified)?

Stage 1: high birth rate and high death rate (stable population); Stage 2: death rate falls while birth rate stays high (rapid growth); Stage 3: birth rate falls toward death rate (population stabilises). India is in the later phase of transition.

What does the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 propose to replace the 10+2 school structure?

A 5+3+3+4 curricular and pedagogical structure (Foundational, Preparatory, Middle, and Secondary stages) covering ages 3-18, and targets a GER of 50% in higher education by 2035.

What is the literacy rate of India as per Census 2011?

About 74% overall (male literacy ~82%, female literacy ~65%); Kerala had the highest literacy and Bihar the lowest among states.

What is the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, now rebranded as PM POSHAN?

A centrally-sponsored scheme providing free cooked meals to schoolchildren to improve nutrition, attendance, and enrolment; it was renamed PM POSHAN (Poshan Shakti Nirman) in 2021.

What is the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and how is it expressed?

The number of deaths of infants under one year of age per 1,000 live births in a given year. India's IMR has declined to roughly the high-20s per 1,000.

What is the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR)?

The number of maternal deaths (due to pregnancy/childbirth-related causes) per 100,000 live births. Reducing MMR is a key SDG-3 and National Health Mission target.

What does the POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission) target?

Launched in 2018, it aims to reduce stunting, undernutrition, anaemia, and low birth weight among children, adolescent girls, pregnant women, and lactating mothers through convergence and technology.

What constitutional provision empowers reservations and which articles relate to social justice for SCs/STs/OBCs?

Articles 15(4), 16(4) enable reservations in education and public employment; Article 46 (DPSP) directs the State to promote educational and economic interests of SCs, STs, and weaker sections; Article 17 abolishes untouchability.

What was the Mandal Commission and what did its implementation lead to?

The Second Backward Classes Commission (1979, headed by B.P. Mandal); its report led to 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in central government jobs and educational institutions (implemented from 1990s).

What was the immediate trigger and the size of the IMF loan in India's 1991 Balance of Payments crisis?

A foreign exchange reserves crisis (reserves enough for only about two weeks of imports) forced India to pledge gold and seek an IMF loan, prompting the LPG reforms of 1991.

What is devaluation, and how did India use it during the 1991 reforms?

Devaluation is a deliberate reduction in the official value of a currency under a fixed/managed regime. In July 1991 the RBI devalued the rupee in two steps (~18-19% total) to boost exports and correct the BoP crisis.

What is the difference between tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade?

Tariff barriers are taxes/customs duties on imports that raise their price; non-tariff barriers are quantitative or regulatory restrictions such as quotas, import licensing, standards, and bans.

What are Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) of the IMF?

An international reserve asset created by the IMF to supplement member countries' official reserves; its value is based on a basket of five currencies (US dollar, euro, Chinese yuan, Japanese yen, and pound sterling).

What are the three arms of the World Trade Organization's principal agreements?

GATT (trade in goods), GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services), and TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights), governed by the Most-Favoured-Nation and National Treatment principles.

What is Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)?

A 2014 financial inclusion mission to provide universal access to banking - a zero-balance basic savings account with a RuPay debit card, accident insurance, and overdraft facility - for every unbanked household.

What are the differentiated banks created to deepen financial inclusion in India?

Payments Banks (accept deposits up to a limit, no lending) and Small Finance Banks (provide banking and credit to small businesses, marginal farmers, and unorganised sector), licensed by the RBI from 2015 onward.

How is the new MSME classification (2020) defined for a Micro enterprise?

Under the revised composite criteria, a Micro enterprise has investment up to Rs 1 crore (raised to Rs 2.5 crore in 2025) and turnover up to Rs 5 crore (raised to Rs 10 crore in 2025); the same investment-and-turnover test applies (manufacturing and services merged).

What is the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) and the Gati Shakti master plan?

The NIP is a project pipeline to invest over Rs 100 lakh crore in infrastructure; PM Gati Shakti is a digital platform for integrated, multi-modal infrastructure planning to reduce logistics costs and ensure coordinated implementation.