Civics Polity · General Awareness

Indian Governance and Policy

912 Questions

Indian Governance and Policy covers the implementation of government schemes, public finance, and bilateral relations. It evaluates the impact of administrative and constitutional bodies in India. This subject is a mainstay in civil services and state examination prelims.

Government schemesBilateral relationsPublic financeConstitutional bodiesTrade and commerce

Indian Governance and Policy Questions

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements is/are correct?

  1. By the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, the Congress agreed to suspend the Civil Disobedience Movement.
  2. By the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, the Government promised to release all political prisoners not convicted for violence.

  1. 1 only

  2. 2 only

  3. Both 1& 2

  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Both statements are correct. The Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931) had two key provisions: the Congress agreed to suspend the Civil Disobedience Movement (Statement 1), and the Government promised to release all political prisoners not convicted for violence (Statement 2). However, the pact was controversial as many felt it did not concede the demand for complete independence.

Multiple choice

During the time of Lord Cornwallis, as per the Zamindari system,

  1. The demand of the government on the revenue collected by the Zamindars was fixed at 70 percent.
  2. If a Zamindar failed to pay to the government its demand on the due date, his Zamindari was auctioned. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only

  2. 2 only

  3. Both 1& 2

  4. Neither 1 nor 2

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Under Cornwallis' Permanent Settlement (1793), the government's demand was fixed at 89% of the revenue collection, not 70%. Statement 1 is therefore incorrect. Statement 2 is correct - the Permanent Settlement included a strict provision that if Zamindars failed to pay the government's fixed demand on the due date, their estate could be auctioned to recover the revenue. This created immense pressure on Zamindars and led to many defaults.

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements is/are correct?

  1. Raja Rammohan Roy arranged for the first inter-caste marriage under the Brahmo Samaj.
  2. Keshab Chandra Sen enunciated the basic tenets of Brahmo Samaj in his book Brahmodharma.

  1. 1 only

  2. 2 only

  3. Both 1& 2

  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Statement 1 is incorrect - Raja Rammohan Roy died in 1833 in Bristol, England, while the first inter-caste marriage under the Brahmo Samaj was arranged much later in 1862. The marriage was between the son of Debendranath Tagore and a girl from another caste, under the reforms initiated by Debendranath Tagore, not Rammohan Roy. Statement 2 is correct - Keshab Chandra Sen did indeed write 'Brahmodharma' in 1861 which enunciated the basic tenets of the Brahmo Samaj, outlining its theological and philosophical principles.

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements is/are correct?

  1. Chittaranjan Das was a member of non-official Jalianwala Bagh Enquiry Committee.
  2. Subhash Chandra Bose was a member of Motilal Nehru Committee which was appointed by the Congress to draft a Constitution for free India.

  1. 1 only

  2. 2 only

  3. Both 1& 2

  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Statement 1 is incorrect - the non-official Jallianwala Bagh Enquiry Committee was formed by the Congress and included members like Motilal Nehru, C.R. Das, and others, but Chittaranjan Das (Deshbandhu) was not a member of this committee. Statement 2 is also incorrect - the Motilal Nehru Committee (officially known as the Nehru Committee) was formed in 1928 to draft a constitution for India, but Subhash Chandra Bose was not among its members. The committee included Motilal Nehru, Tej Bahadur Sapru, and others. Therefore, both statements are wrong.

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements is/are correct?

  1. Mansab fixed the status of a mansabdar in official hierarchy but not his salary.
  2. Mansab did not fix the number of armed retainers, the mansabdar was supposed to maintain.
  3. Mansabdari was a single service combining both civil and military responsibilities.
  4. All holders of mansab were called amir-I azam.

  1. 2 and 3 only

  2. 3 only

  3. 1, 2 and 4

  4. 4 only

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Statement 3 alone is correct - the mansabdari system uniquely combined both civil and military responsibilities in a single service. Statements 1, 2, and 4 are incorrect: mansab did determine salary and armed retainer numbers, and 'amir-I azam' was a specific high rank, not a generic term for all mansabdars.

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements with reference to the Nehru Report is/are correct?

  1. In the Nehru Report, the secular character of the state was listed as a Fundamental Right.
  2. The Nehru Report recommended that the redistribution of provinces should take place on a linguistic basis.

  1. 1 only

  2. 2 only

  3. both 1 and 2

  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The Nehru Report (1928) did include secular character of the state as a fundamental right, making statement 1 correct. However, statement 2 is incorrect because the Nehru Report actually rejected the idea of linguistic redistribution of provinces - it favored administrative convenience over linguistic considerations. This issue would later be championed by the Congress after independence.

Multiple choice

Assertion (A) : The Congress Working Committee and the AICC passed a resolution against Mountbatten Plan. Reason (R) Mountbatten Plan was sought to affect an early transfer of power, on the basis of Dominion Status to two successor states, India and Pakistan.

  1. Both 'A' and 'R' are individually true and 'R' is the correct explanation of A.

  2. Both 'A' and 'R' are individually true but 'R' is not the correct explanation of 'A'

  3. 'A' is true but 'R' is false

  4. 'A' is false but 'R' is true
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The Congress Working Committee and AICC did NOT pass a resolution against the Mountbatten Plan - in fact, they accepted it. The Mountbatten Plan did seek early transfer of power based on Dominion Status to India and Pakistan, making the Reason partially correct in describing the plan's objectives. Since the Assertion is false but the Reason has elements of truth, option D is correct.

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements is/are correct?

  1. At the time of partition of India, the Partition Council's Chairman was Sir Patrick Spens, the ex-Chief Justice of India.2. At about the same time, an Arbitral Tribunal was set up under the Presidentship of Sir Cyril Radcliffe.

  1. 1 only

  2. 2 only

  3. both 1 and 2

  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Both statements are incorrect. The Partition Council's Chairman was Lord Mountbatten, not Sir Patrick Spens. Sir Patrick Spens was actually involved in the Arbitral Tribunal set up to resolve disputes between India and Pakistan regarding division of assets, not the Partition Council. The Arbitral Tribunal was indeed set up under Sir Cyril Radcliffe's chairmanship, so statement 2 has some truth but misstates his role as President of an Arbitral Tribunal (he headed the Boundary Commission). Therefore, neither statement is fully correct.

Multiple choice
  1. India was the first country to recognize the people's Republic of China on 1st January, 1950.2. India objected to the permanent representation of China in the Security Council of UN. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only

  2. 2 only

  3. Both 1 and 2

  4. Neither 1 nor 2

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Both statements are incorrect. India was NOT the first country to recognize the People's Republic of China - Burma (Myanmar) recognized China in December 1949, before India did on January 1, 1950. On statement 2, India actually SUPPORTED China's permanent representation in the UN Security Council, not objected to it. India advocated for China's admission to the UN and its seat in the Security Council, opposing the representation of Republic of China (Taiwan).

Multiple choice

Which of the following are true about the proposal given by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of India to Pharmexil on March 15, 2011?

(I) To print a barcode on every pharmaceutical product exported out of the country. (II) It will be implemented from july 1, 2011. (III) Barcoding would cost 50 paisa per strip.

  1. Only I And III

  2. Only I and II

  3. Only I, II and III

  4. Only II and III
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The given proposal is about the printing of barcode on every pharmaceutical product exported from the country and it will be implemented from July 1, 2011. Therfore this option is correct.

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements is correct?

  1. MSP is the rate at which food grains are sold in the wholesale markets.

  2. The Government of India procures buffer stock of food grains through the PDS.

  3. Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) was introduced in 1997.

  4. The price at which food grains are supplied by the FCI to the market is called issue price.

  5. FCI decides the highest price that the farmers receive for their food grains.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

This is a correct statement and hence, the correct answer. Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) was introduced in June 1997.

Multiple choice

Bhukti-Vishyas-Vishyapatis-Gramika were divisions and subdivisions of _________________.

  1. state and its ministers

  2. province and its subdivision

  3. taxes and grants

  4. none of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The Gupta administration had a hierarchical territorial structure: Bhukti (province) was the largest division, followed by Vishya (district), then Vishyapati (district administrator), and finally Gramika (village headman). This four-tier system allowed effective governance across the vast empire. The sequence Bhukti-Vishyas-Vishyapatis-Gramika represents provincial and local administrative divisions, not taxes, state ministers, or unrelated entities. Option B correctly identifies this as provinces and their subdivisions.

Multiple choice

Why was Dharmendra Singh unemployed?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows.

An MA in Hindi literature, 8 feet 1 inch high, Dharmendra Singh (35), who claims to be the tallest man in the country acts like an entertainment for the visitors of Nauchandi mela. A Rs. 10 ticket is all it takes to see Singh who looks down upon everyone (literally!) and poses with them to earn his living.
"The government never came forward to help me. I did my masters, but I was unable to get a job because of my height, there is no other way I can earn, but to become a part of freak shows," said Singh, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgarh. 
The tallest man living in the world is Sultan Kosen from Turkey who measured 8 feet 3 inches on February 8, 2011 and holds a record in the Guinness World Records. When asked if his height had something to do with the genes, Singh exclaims, "It was all a miracle!"

  1. He was a miraculous man.

  2. He was uneducated.

  3. He was very tall.

  4. He looked down on everyone.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

“I was unable to get a job because of my height” suggests the answer.

Multiple choice

The opposite of ‘authority’ is

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows.

Numbers of Gir lions are rising or are the lions overflowing the borders of Gir? These are the two vital questions wildlife experts hope to answer in a lion census that got underway this weekend.
A wave of man-animal conflicts in recent years points in that direction, which is good news for the Asiatic lions but calls for better management by wildlife authorities.
But for now, the challenge before the experts is to establish it. To this end, they are depending on state-of the-art equipment."We want this to be a perfect exercise hence the technology - GIS, GPS, camera traps, digital cameras, zeroing in on their groupings, their sizes, structure, composition, with the use of technology," said Dr Sandeep Kumar, DCF, Wildlife, Gir sanctuary.
Enumerators will carry out what they call a total block counting method, which is based on direct sighting. Indirect evidence, such as pugmarks, will not be considered.

  1. force

  2. powerlessness

  3. charge

  4. command
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

'Authority' means 'power or ability'

'Powerlessness' means 'lacking power or strength'.