UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — ‘Centre mulls separate law for women farmer rights’

Q1. Under the Maharashtra Women Farmers Empowerment Act, 2026, the apex body vested with overall policy oversight of the law's implementation is headed by which one of the following?

  • A. The Chief Secretary of the State, who chairs the State-Level Monitoring Committee set up under the Act
  • B. The Chief Minister of the State, who chairs the Governing Council constituted under the Act
  • C. The Minister for Agriculture of the State, who chairs the Women Farmers' Empowerment Fund board
  • D. The State Agriculture Commissioner, who chairs the centralised registry of certified women farmers

Q2. With reference to the Maharashtra Women Farmers Empowerment Act, 2026 and the position at the Union level, consider the following statements: 1. Ownership of an operational landholding is a pre-condition for the grant of a Women Farmer Certificate under the Act. 2. The Act provides for a State-level Women Farmers' Empowerment Fund in addition to a centralised digital registry of certified women farmers. 3. As of August 2026, no dedicated Bill on women farmers' rights had been tabled in Parliament by the Union Government. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Ownership of an operational landholding is a pre-condition for the grant of a Women Farmer Certificate under the Act.
  2. The Act provides for a State-level Women Farmers' Empowerment Fund in addition to a centralised digital registry of certified women farmers.
  3. As of August 2026, no dedicated Bill on women farmers' rights had been tabled in Parliament by the Union Government.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q3. The widely cited estimate that women account for only about 12–14 per cent of operational holdings in India is drawn from which one of the following official exercises?

  • A. The Agriculture Census conducted by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
  • B. The Periodic Labour Force Survey conducted by the National Statistical Office
  • C. The Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households conducted by the NSS
  • D. The Socio-Economic and Caste Census conducted by the Ministry of Rural Development

Q4. With reference to the position of women in Indian agriculture, consider the following: 1. Women form roughly one-third of the country's cultivators. 2. Women form more than 40 per cent of the country's agricultural labourers. 3. Women's share in operational holdings is roughly equal to their share among cultivators. 4. Women's share among agricultural labourers is larger than their share among cultivators. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Women form roughly one-third of the country's cultivators.
  2. Women form more than 40 per cent of the country's agricultural labourers.
  3. Women's share in operational holdings is roughly equal to their share among cultivators.
  4. Women's share among agricultural labourers is larger than their share among cultivators.
  • A. 1 and 3
  • B. 1, 2 and 4
  • C. 2, 3 and 4
  • D. 3 and 4 only

Q5. The proposition that a daughter's coparcenary right accrues by birth, so that it is immaterial whether her father coparcener was alive on 9 September 2005, was authoritatively settled by the Supreme Court in which one of the following cases?

  • A. Prakash v. Phulavati, decided by a two-judge Bench of the Supreme Court
  • B. Danamma alias Suman Surpur v. Amar, decided by a two-judge Bench of the Supreme Court
  • C. Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma, decided by a three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court
  • D. Mangammal alias Thulasi v. T. B. Raju, decided by a two-judge Bench of the Supreme Court

Q6. With reference to the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, consider the following: 1. It substituted Section 6 of the parent Act so that the daughter of a coparcener becomes a coparcener in her own right by birth. 2. It confers equal rights in ancestral property on all women in India irrespective of the religion they profess. 3. A daughter who becomes a coparcener is subject to the same liabilities in respect of coparcenary property as a son. 4. It abolished the Hindu Undivided Family entirely as a legal entity for purposes of property holding. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. It substituted Section 6 of the parent Act so that the daughter of a coparcener becomes a coparcener in her own right by birth.
  2. It confers equal rights in ancestral property on all women in India irrespective of the religion they profess.
  3. A daughter who becomes a coparcener is subject to the same liabilities in respect of coparcenary property as a son.
  4. It abolished the Hindu Undivided Family entirely as a legal entity for purposes of property holding.
  • A. 2 and 4
  • B. 1 and 3
  • C. 1, 2 and 4
  • D. 3 only

Q7. With reference to the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), consider the following: 1. It is a non-constitutional and non-statutory body. 2. Its composition includes full-time as well as part-time members besides a Chairman. 3. Its notifications of appointment and secretarial support are routed through NITI Aayog. 4. Its Chairman is ex officio a member of the Union Council of Ministers. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. It is a non-constitutional and non-statutory body.
  2. Its composition includes full-time as well as part-time members besides a Chairman.
  3. Its notifications of appointment and secretarial support are routed through NITI Aayog.
  4. Its Chairman is ex officio a member of the Union Council of Ministers.
  • A. 1 and 4
  • B. 2, 3 and 4
  • C. 3 and 4 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q8. Who assumed charge as Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister in June 2025, filling the vacancy caused by the death of Bibek Debroy?

  • A. Sanjeev Sanyal, a full-time member of the Council and an economic historian
  • B. Shamika Ravi, a full-time member of the Council and a public policy economist
  • C. Rakesh Mohan, a part-time member of the Council and a former Deputy Governor, RBI
  • D. S. Mahendra Dev, a development economist specialising in agriculture and poverty

Q9. Of the following four subjects under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution — agriculture including agricultural education and research; land, that is to say, rights in or over land and land tenures; taxes on agricultural income; and transfer of property other than agricultural land — how many are enumerated in the State List?

  • A. Only one
  • B. Only two
  • C. Only three
  • D. All four

Q10. In the guidelines of centrally sponsored agricultural missions such as the National Food Security Mission and the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, the stipulation relating to women farmers requires that:

  • A. at least 30 per cent of the beneficiaries selected in each district be women, whatever the amount actually spent on them
  • B. women farmers be given a rate of subsidy 30 per cent higher than the rate applicable to other categories of farmers
  • C. at least 30 per cent of the land brought under mission-supported cultivation be recorded in the names of women
  • D. at least 30 per cent of the expenditure be earmarked for women farmers by States and implementing agencies

Q11. The M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation was established in 1988 with the proceeds of which one of the following honours received by M.S. Swaminathan?

  • A. The Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership conferred on him in 1971
  • B. The first World Food Prize, which he received in the year 1987
  • C. The Albert Einstein World Science Award conferred on him in 1986
  • D. The Padma Vibhushan conferred on him by the Government of India in 1989

Q12. With reference to the observance of 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer, consider the following statements: 1. The resolution declaring the Year was moved by the United States of America and adopted by the UN General Assembly by consensus. 2. The Food and Agriculture Organization, in collaboration with the other UN Rome-based agencies, has been invited to facilitate its observance. 3. It is the first United Nations observance devoted to farming, the earlier International Year of Family Farming having been devoted to rural cooperatives instead. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The resolution declaring the Year was moved by the United States of America and adopted by the UN General Assembly by consensus.
  2. The Food and Agriculture Organization, in collaboration with the other UN Rome-based agencies, has been invited to facilitate its observance.
  3. It is the first United Nations observance devoted to farming, the earlier International Year of Family Farming having been devoted to rural cooperatives instead.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3