Question

According to the author, which of the following is a plausible explanation for India’s prevalent crisis of unemployment?

• A. The previously existing employment crunch is worsened due to the imposition of nationwide lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic
• B. Imposition of nationwide lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic reduced economic activity.
• C. Imposition of nationwide lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic led to migration of workforce from urban to rural areas
• D. There is a sharp decline in urban unemployment rate for the population above the age of 15.
• A. There is a sharp contraction in economic activity.
• B. The aftermath of a sharp contraction in economic activity is being experienced
• C. The unemployment rates in urban areas for all categories are increasing by almost three times.
• D. Youth unemployment rate in India is at par with that in small and conflict-ridden countries
• A. Loss of lives and livelihoods is attributable to the imposition of nationwide lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• B. Decline in economic growth is attributable to the imposition of nationwide lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• C. Rise in unemployment is attributable to the migration of members of workforce from urban to rural areas.
• D. Rise in unemployment is attributable to the imposition of nationwide lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• A. While one in five persons above the age of 15 was unemployed during April-June 2020, the unemployment rate among the 15-29-year-olds was 34.7 per cent - every third person in the 15-29 age group was unemployed during the same period.
• B. According to the PLFS April-June 2020 round, the urban unemployment rate for the population above the age of 15 was 20.8 per cent, which is close to the monthly average for the same quarter from CMIE at 19.9 per cent.
• C. Between 2016-17 and 2019-20, growth decelerated to 4 per cent, less than half the 8.3 per cent rate in 2016-17.
• D. The estimates from PLFS are broadly in line with estimates available from other privately conducted surveys, notably the unemployment surveys of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).
• A. Unemployment rates in urban areas for all categories increased by almost three times over the preceding decade.
• B. Employment rates in urban areas for all categories increased by almost three times over the preceding decade.
• C. Unemployment rates in urban areas for all categories increased by almost three percent over the preceding decade.
• D. Employment rates in urban areas for all categories increased by almost three percent over the preceding decade.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

The correct Answer is (A):The previously existing employment crunch is worsened due to the imposition of nationwide lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic

Answer 2

The passage argues that India's unemployment problem did not start with the pandemic; the lockdown made an already existing crisis worse. The correct option must reflect that "existing crisis plus lockdown" structure rather than treating the lockdown as the sole cause or misstating the data.

1. The previously existing employment crunch is worsened due to the imposition of nationwide lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic: This matches the passage's own argument directly. It explains that growth, and with it job creation, had already slowed well before the pandemic, from 8.3 per cent to 4 per cent growth between 2016-17 and 2019-20, and the lockdown then added a fresh shock on top of that.
2. Imposition of nationwide lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic reduced economic activity: This is true on its own but only describes the lockdown's effect, leaving out the passage's central point that the crisis predates the lockdown. It is too narrow to be the full explanation asked for.
3. Imposition of nationwide lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic led to migration of workforce from urban to rural areas: The passage does describe migrants walking back to villages, but it frames this as one consequence among many, not as the explanation for the unemployment crisis itself.
4. There is a sharp decline in urban unemployment rate for the population above the age of 15: The passage reports the opposite, a sharp rise in urban unemployment during the lockdown quarter, so this option misstates the data entirely.

Only the first option captures both halves of the passage's argument: a pre-existing job crisis made worse by the lockdown.

So the correct answer is the previously existing employment crunch is worsened due to the imposition of nationwide lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer 3

The correct Answer is (B):The aftermath of a sharp contraction in economic activity is being experienced

Answer 4

This question asks about the economy's current state at the time of writing, which the passage places after the sharpest contraction quarter, so the correct option needs to reflect the aftermath rather than the contraction itself or an unrelated statistic.

1. There is a sharp contraction in economic activity: The passage says the sharp contractionary phase "seems behind us," meaning the contraction itself is not the current state; this option describes an earlier stage, not the present one.
2. The aftermath of a sharp contraction in economic activity is being experienced: This matches the passage's own wording almost exactly, that while the contraction has passed, its impact on lives and livelihoods is "still unfolding," which is what an aftermath means.
3. The unemployment rates in urban areas for all categories are increasing by almost three times: This figure belongs to a separate comparison in the passage, between 2011-12 and 2017-18, not to a description of the economy's current state at the time of writing.
4. Youth unemployment rate in India is at par with that in small and conflict-ridden countries: The passage actually excludes small and conflict-ridden countries from its comparison, saying India's youth unemployment is high even outside that group, so this option reverses the point being made.

Only the option describing an ongoing aftermath matches the passage's framing of where the economy stands at the time of writing.

So the correct answer is the aftermath of a sharp contraction in economic activity is being experienced.

Answer 5

The correct Answer is (C):Rise in unemployment is attributable to the migration of members of workforce from urban to rural areas.

Answer 6

The passage links the lockdown to falling GDP and rising unemployment fairly directly, but it treats migration back to villages as a side effect of joblessness, not as the cause of the unemployment rise itself, so this distinction is what separates the correct option from the rest.

1. Loss of lives and livelihoods is attributable to the imposition of nationwide lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic: The passage explicitly ties the extent of "loss of lives and livelihoods" to the lockdown period, so this can be inferred.
2. Decline in economic growth is attributable to the imposition of nationwide lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic: The GDP contracting 24 per cent in the April-June 2020 quarter, the exact lockdown quarter, supports this inference directly.
3. Rise in unemployment is attributable to the migration of members of workforce from urban to rural areas: The passage describes migration as something that happened alongside the unemployment crisis, largely because jobs disappeared in urban areas, not as the reason unemployment rose in the first place. Reversing this cause and effect is not supported by the text.
4. Rise in unemployment is attributable to the imposition of nationwide lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic: The PLFS and CMIE figures the passage cites, both showing unemployment more than doubling during the lockdown quarter, support this inference.

Three options correctly link an outcome to the lockdown; only the migration-as-cause option inverts what the passage actually says.

So the correct answer is rise in unemployment is attributable to the migration of members of workforce from urban to rural areas.

Answer 7

The correct Answer is (C): Between 2016-17 and 2019-20, growth decelerated to 4 per cent, less than half the 8.3 per cent rate in 2016-17.

Answer 8

The claim being strengthened is specifically that the growth slowdown and unemployment rise came before the pandemic began, so the right option must supply a pre-pandemic data point, not just a pandemic-period figure or a note about survey agreement.

1. While one in five persons above the age of 15 was unemployed during April-June 2020, the unemployment rate among the 15-29-year-olds was 34.7 per cent: These are figures from the pandemic quarter itself, so while they show the severity of joblessness during the lockdown, they do not show that the problem existed before the pandemic.
2. According to the PLFS April-June 2020 round, the urban unemployment rate for the population above the age of 15 was 20.8 per cent, which is close to the monthly average for the same quarter from CMIE at 19.9 per cent: This compares two surveys against each other during the same pandemic quarter; it supports the reliability of the data, not the pre-pandemic timing of the crisis.
3. Between 2016-17 and 2019-20, growth decelerated to 4 per cent, less than half the 8.3 per cent rate in 2016-17: This is a growth figure from years entirely before the pandemic began, directly showing that the slowdown was already underway, which is exactly what strengthens the "precedes the pandemic" argument.
4. The estimates from PLFS are broadly in line with estimates available from other privately conducted surveys, notably CMIE: Like option (B), this speaks to data consistency across sources rather than to timing.

Only the growth-deceleration figure covering 2016-17 to 2019-20 falls entirely in the years before the pandemic, making it the option that actually supports the "precedes the pandemic" claim.

So the correct answer is between 2016-17 and 2019-20, growth decelerated to 4 per cent, less than half the 8.3 per cent rate in 2016-17.

Answer 9

The correct Answer is (A): Unemployment rates in urban areas for all categories increased by almost three times over the preceding decade.

Answer 10

This question checks two details against the passage at once: whether the passage talks about unemployment or employment, and whether the rise is "three times" or "three percent," so each option needs to be matched on both counts.

1. Unemployment rates in urban areas for all categories increased by almost three times over the preceding decade: This matches the passage word for word, unemployment rising to about three times its earlier level, so it is the accurate statement.
2. Employment rates in urban areas for all categories increased by almost three times over the preceding decade: The passage discusses rising joblessness, not rising employment, so swapping "unemployment" for "employment" flips the meaning entirely.
3. Unemployment rates in urban areas for all categories increased by almost three percent over the preceding decade: This gets the right measure, unemployment, but understates the scale by saying "three percent" instead of the "three times" the passage actually states, a large difference in magnitude.
4. Employment rates in urban areas for all categories increased by almost three percent over the preceding decade: This combines both errors, the wrong measure and the wrong magnitude, so it is furthest from the passage.

Only the option keeping both "unemployment" and "three times" intact reproduces what the passage states.

So the correct answer is unemployment rates in urban areas for all categories increased by almost three times over the preceding decade.