Social Policy and Planning Questions and Answers

Answer: B

They are survival, health, nutrition, development, education and protection.

The National Policy for Children, 2013 treats every person below 18 as a child and identifies survival, health and nutrition; development; education; protection; and participation as the key priority areas and the undeniable rights of every child.

The other options list things that are not the policy's priorities. Higher education and economic development are not child rights, property inheritance and religious freedom are not the policy's focus, and recreation and mother-tongue education are only parts of development and education.

Answer: B

The policy emphasises establishing appropriate linkages with concerned programmes and sectors for early detection and interventions.

The National Early Childhood Care and Education Policy, 2013 commits to inclusion of all children, including those with developmental delays and disabilities, in mainstream ECCE. It calls for early identification and intervention through links with health, nutrition and disability programmes.

Exclusive separate facilities would segregate these children, which is the opposite of inclusion. Standardised testing and a competitive environment are inappropriate for young children and are discouraged by the policy's play-based approach.

Answer: B

The dominant theme is conservation of environmental resources for the well-being of all.

The National Environment Policy, 2006 states that its dominant theme is that while conservation of environmental resources is necessary to secure livelihoods and well-being of all, the most secure basis for conservation is to ensure that people dependent on particular resources obtain better livelihoods from conservation than from degradation.

Strict restriction of resource use, putting economic development first and encouraging degradation all contradict that balance of conservation with livelihoods.

Answer: C

The option that is not an objective is to encourage unhealthy lifestyles.

The National Youth Policy 2014 sets out to empower young people aged 15 to 29. Its objectives include creating a productive workforce, which covers employability and entrepreneurship, developing a strong and healthy generation, instilling social values and promoting community service, and encouraging participation and civic engagement.

Enhancing employability, promoting entrepreneurship and promoting community engagement all fall within those objectives. Encouraging unhealthy lifestyles is the opposite of the policy's aim of a healthy generation.

Answer: C

Assertion (A) is correct, as sustainable development means using resources to meet human needs while preserving the environment. Reason (R) is correct, in that it serves present and future generations, which is the Brundtland Commission's definition. The reason explains the assertion, since preserving the environment is how the needs of future generations are met. The answer is (A) is correct and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).

Answer: D

Assertion (A) is correct: there is a gap between policy statements and the development programmes, as the implementation lags. Reason (R) names lack of political will and commitment in formulation and implementation as the cause, which accounts for the gap, so both are correct and (R) explains (A). The answer is both are correct and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).

Answer: B

In the institutional redistributive model the state shares resources through progressive taxation, so a matches 3. The residual welfare model gives welfare services only to those who cannot be helped by family or market, so b matches 1. The achievement-performance model gives perks and benefits according to merit and work, so c matches 4. Sustainable development aims at the optimal use of resources, so d matches 2. The code is a-3, b-1, c-4, d-2.

Answer: C

Catering to the materialistic needs of the population is not a function of a welfare state. A welfare state looks after the needs of disadvantaged people, narrows the gap between the poor and the rich, and provides services like health and education at subsidised prices, but it does not try to meet the materialistic wants of the whole population.

The other three statements each describe a function that the state takes on, so each is a function and not the answer to a question that asks what is not.

Answer: D

The bottom-up approach is related to micro planning, in which planning starts from the village or the local community and moves up to the larger levels, with the people taking part in framing the plan.

Mega, macro and meso planning are done at the national, state or regional level and flow from the top down, so they are the opposite of the bottom-up concept. The idea of planning from below is central to decentralised planning through the panchayats, where the village plan is prepared first and added up to the district and state plans.

Answer: A

The correct matching is a-3, b-1, c-2, d-4. DFID is the Department for International Development of the United Kingdom, USAID is the United States Agency for International Development, CIDA is the Canadian International Development Agency and DANIDA is the Danish International Development Agency.

This is code (A). Codes (B), (C) and (D) swap two or more of these countries, for example giving CIDA to Denmark.