Social Justice MCQs for UPSC Prelims

Q1. With reference to the regulation of weighing and measuring instruments under legal metrology, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Approval of a model evaluates whether the design of an instrument type conforms to prescribed requirements, and so it is granted for a model rather than for each individual unit.
  2. Because model approval establishes conformity of the design, an individual instrument of an approved model needs no subsequent verification while in commercial use.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 2 only
  • C. Both 1 and 2
  • D. Neither 1 nor 2

Q2. With reference to the Supreme Court's October 2026 ruling on fees charged by self-financing institutions for professional courses, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. A periodic revision of fees that applies only to batches admitted in later years is not barred by the ruling.
  2. A fee increase imposed on an already-admitted batch midway through its course can be sustained only on narrow grounds, one of which is a change in statute.
  3. A rise in operating costs that the institution could have foreseen at the time of admission justifies raising the fee of a batch already enrolled.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 3
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1 only

Q3. Suppose an anti-cancer medicine that is currently non-scheduled is added to the National List of Essential Medicines and so to Schedule-I of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013. Consider the following statements about the consequences: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The medicine would become subject to a ceiling price fixed by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority.
  2. Its manufacturers could still raise its MRP each year by the percentage permitted for non-scheduled formulations, whatever the ceiling price.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 2 only
  • C. Both 1 and 2
  • D. Neither 1 nor 2

Q4. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. In the Olga Tellis case (1985), the Supreme Court held that the right to livelihood is part of the right to life, yet it upheld the eviction of pavement dwellers in Bombay.
  2. Article 21 does not bar every deprivation of life or personal liberty; it permits a deprivation carried out according to a procedure established by law that is fair, just and reasonable.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q5. With reference to constitutional safeguards for Scheduled Castes, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Article 46 confines the State's duty to promote educational and economic interests to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes alone.
  2. While investigating a matter or inquiring into a complaint, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes has all the powers of a civil court trying a suit.
  3. The reports of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes are submitted to the Public Accounts Committee, which lays them before Parliament with a memorandum on action taken.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q6. Consider the following facts. The Post-Matric Scholarship for SC students is paid only through Direct Benefit Transfer. A CAG audit nevertheless found that over 6,000 non-SC persons received the scholarship, over 5,700 payments were made without verifying income, double and excess payments occurred, and lakhs of eligible students were paid late even though large sums were released each year. Which of the following inferences can validly be drawn from the above facts?

  1. Payments made without income verification point to weak checks before payment rather than to a failure of the money-transfer channel itself.
  2. DBT has increased leakages in scholarship delivery compared with the earlier modes of payment.
  3. The availability of funds by itself does not guarantee that eligible beneficiaries are paid on time.
  4. The lapses establish that the Union, rather than the States, is solely responsible for the failures in implementation.
  • A. 2 and 4 only
  • B. 1, 2, 3 and 4
  • C. 1, 3 and 4 only
  • D. 1 and 3 only

Q7. With reference to the design of the Post-Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Caste students as revised from 2020-21, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above are correct?

  1. The cost is shared between the Centre and the States in a fixed proportion, instead of the Centre funding only the amount above a State's committed liability.
  2. The North-Eastern States bear a smaller proportion of the cost than the other States.
  3. Although the Union designs the scheme and shares its cost, implementation rests with the States and Union Territories.
  4. Students' caste status and eligibility are verified by the Union Ministry alone through the national portal, with no verification role for the States.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3 only
  • B. 3 and 4 only
  • C. 1 and 2 only
  • D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Q8. Consider the following assertion: Indian law on protected areas has moved away from a purely 'fortress' model of conservation that treats local people only as a threat to be excluded. Which of the statements given below support/supports the above assertion?

  1. More than three-fourths of India's tigers are found within protected areas.
  2. Notification of a critical wildlife habitat under the Forest Rights Act requires consultation with the Gram Sabha and the affected persons.
  3. Relocation of people from core/critical tiger habitat is to be carried out only on a voluntary basis.
  • A. 2 and 3 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 3
  • C. 3 only
  • D. 1 and 2 only

Q9. The PLFS (Current Weekly Status) shows that between September 2025 and September 2026, female LFPR rose from 34.1% to 34.6% overall and from 37.9% to 38.9% in rural areas, while it moved from 26.1% to 25.9% in urban areas. In September 2026, the unemployment rate was 9.2% for urban women and 3.9% for rural women. Which of the following inferences can be drawn from the above data?

  1. The year-on-year rise in all-India female LFPR came mainly from rural women.
  2. Rural women's higher LFPR shows that rural women have access to better-paid jobs than urban women.
  3. Roughly one in eleven urban women in the labour force was without work and seeking or available for it.
  4. Low urban female LFPR is wholly the result of a shortage of available jobs in cities.
  • A. 2 and 4 only
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 1, 3 and 4 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3 only

Q10. A woman spends her whole day cooking, cleaning and caring for children and elderly members of her own household. She does no work for pay or profit and is not seeking such work. With reference to labour statistics, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. She is outside the labour force and therefore does not raise the unemployment rate.
  2. Her activities come within the scope of a Time Use Survey, which records time spent on unpaid domestic and caregiving services.
  3. If she also tended her household's crop grown for sale for a few hours in the reference week, she could be counted as employed under the Current Weekly Status.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 3
  • D. 2 and 3 only

Q11. Consider the following assertion: 'The shift from demand management to inflation targeting has moved the burden of macroeconomic adjustment towards workers.' Which of the following statements, if true, support the above assertion?

  1. An inflation-targeting central bank raises its policy rate to bring inflation back to target even when doing so increases unemployment.
  2. Over the period in which inflation targeting spread, the share of wages in national income fell.
  3. Inflation-targeting central banks use money supply aggregates, rather than a short-term interest rate, as their operating instrument.
  4. When disinflation is achieved through higher unemployment, workers' bargaining power over wages weakens.
  • A. 2, 3 and 4 only
  • B. 1, 2, 3 and 4
  • C. 1 and 2 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 4 only

Q12. Consider the following facts: Under the VB-G RAM G Act, 2025, every rural household is guaranteed 125 days of wage employment in a financial year, and Section 5(4) provides that the Centre or a State may provide work beyond the guaranteed days within the limits of its economic capacity. In October 2026, the Ministry of Rural Development stated in an RTI reply that no separate order, circular or guideline prescribing any additional wage employment entitlement for FRA title holders under the Act had been issued as on date. Which of the following inferences can be drawn from the above facts?

  1. As of the date of the reply, the Ministry had issued no executive instrument specifically extending additional wage employment to FRA title holders under the new law.
  2. The new law expressly prohibits governments from giving FRA title holders any work beyond the guaranteed days.
  3. The Ministry has taken a final policy decision never to restore additional days for FRA title holders.
  4. A State government may, at its discretion and subject to its finances, offer FRA title holders more days of work than the statutory guarantee.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 4 only
  • D. 1, 3 and 4 only

Q13. In the context of identifying beneficiaries for welfare schemes, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. An inclusion error occurs when a household that does not meet the eligibility criteria receives the benefit.
  2. Widening a scheme's eligibility criteria while keeping its fixed beneficiary ceiling unchanged reduces the number of eligible persons who are left out.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 2 only
  • C. Both 1 and 2
  • D. Neither 1 nor 2

Q14. Consider two welfare programmes. Programme A is created by an Act of Parliament that confers on every eligible person a legal right to the benefit. Programme B is an executive scheme whose guidelines fix a ceiling on the number of beneficiaries in each State. Consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Under Programme B, the number of persons covered can remain unchanged even when the number of eligible persons rises.
  2. Under Programme A, an eligible person denied the benefit can seek a legal remedy, because the entitlement flows from the statute and not merely from scheme guidelines.
  3. Under Programme A, total expenditure is driven mainly by the number of eligible claimants rather than by a pre-fixed allocation.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1 and 2 only

Q15. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. A person who satisfies every eligibility condition in the National Social Assistance Programme guidelines, but is left out because the State's beneficiary ceiling has been reached, cannot obtain a court order compelling payment of the pension on the strength of Article 41 alone.
  2. Article 41 is a provision of Part IV of the Constitution, and the provisions of Part IV are not enforceable by any court.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q16. Between two decennial censuses, India relies on the Sample Registration System for fertility and mortality estimates. Its 'dual record' design is primarily intended for which one of the following?

  • A. Matching events noted by a resident enumerator against an independent periodic survey, to detect omissions
  • B. Pairing household health surveys with clinical biomarker tests, to estimate nutrition and disease burden
  • C. Linking civil registration records with identity-enrolment data, to track inter-State household migration
  • D. Combining a complete headcount with self-declared online returns, to replace the census between rounds

Q17. Consider the following facts about District X: Between two censuses, its population grew much faster than the State average. Sample-based estimates show that its birth rate and death rate were both close to the State averages throughout the period. Its boundaries did not change during this period. Which of the following inferences can be drawn from the above?

  1. District X has a lower level of fertility than the State as a whole.
  2. Net in-migration is the most likely source of District X's faster population growth.
  3. Most of the people who moved into District X entered India illegally across an international border.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 2 only

Q18. Consider the following persons under the disability pension of the National Social Assistance Programme as revised in 2026: Which of the persons given above would be eligible for central assistance?

  1. A 10-year-old child in a BPL household, certified with 50% locomotor disability
  2. A 5-year-old child in a BPL household, certified with 40% hearing impairment
  3. A 50-year-old in a household above the poverty line, certified with 90% disability
  • A. 1 and 3 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 3
  • D. 1 only

Q19. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. Before the 2026 revision, a BPL adult certified with 60% locomotor disability could be a person with 'benchmark disability' under disability law and yet be ineligible for the central disability pension under NSAP.
  2. The 40% threshold for disability entitlements was introduced into Indian law for the first time by the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, replacing an 80% norm in the 1995 Act.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q20. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. Under the 2026 revision of the National Social Assistance Programme, the central disability pension in each age band is set higher than the central widow pension in the corresponding age band.
  2. The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 requires government social security schemes for persons with disabilities to provide assistance at least 25% higher than similar schemes applicable to others.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q21. Consider the following persons under the disability pension of the National Social Assistance Programme as revised in 2026: Which of the persons given above would be eligible for central assistance?

  1. A 10-year-old child in a BPL household, certified with 50% locomotor disability
  2. A 5-year-old child in a BPL household, certified with 40% hearing impairment
  3. A 50-year-old in a household above the poverty line, certified with 90% disability
  • A. 1 and 3 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 3
  • D. 1 only

Q22. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. Before the 2026 revision, a BPL adult certified with 60% locomotor disability could be a person with 'benchmark disability' under disability law and yet be ineligible for the central disability pension under NSAP.
  2. The 40% threshold for disability entitlements was introduced into Indian law for the first time by the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, replacing an 80% norm in the 1995 Act.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q23. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. Under the 2026 revision of the National Social Assistance Programme, the central disability pension in each age band is set higher than the central widow pension in the corresponding age band.
  2. The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 requires government social security schemes for persons with disabilities to provide assistance at least 25% higher than similar schemes applicable to others.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q24. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. In September 2026, when inflation was led by food prices, rural CPI inflation was lower than all-India CPI inflation.
  2. Food items account for a larger share of the rural consumption basket than of the urban consumption basket.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q25. Consider the following facts: In State P, a revision of electoral rolls had no automated rule-based flagging; a community formed 18.4% of deleted electors and 17.7% of the population. In State Q, a revision used automated 'logical discrepancy' rules; the same community formed 13.6% of electors but 20.3% of those flagged under these rules, and 30% of those flagged under the subset of rules linked to household size. Which of the following inferences can validly be drawn from the above?

  1. Electors from the community in State Q are more likely than other electors to be ineligible to remain on the roll.
  2. The rule-based flagging step is a plausible source of the disproportion observed in State Q.
  3. The rules linked to household size had a more uneven impact on the community than the flagging rules taken together.
  4. The figures establish that the flagging rules were framed with the intention of targeting the community.
  • A. 2 and 3 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 3 only
  • C. 2, 3 and 4 only
  • D. 1 and 4 only

Q26. Consider the following statements in the context of India's domestic framework against human trafficking: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. The prohibition of traffic in human beings under Article 23 of the Constitution of India can be enforced against private persons and not only against the State.
  2. As a general rule, the Fundamental Rights in Part III are enforceable against 'the State' as defined in Article 12.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q27. The BIMSTEC Convention against Trafficking in Persons approved in 2026 follows the model of the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons. With reference to that UN Protocol, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. It defines trafficking by combining an act, such as recruitment or harbouring, a means, and a purpose of exploitation.
  2. The exploitation covered by its definition is confined to the prostitution of others and other forms of sexual exploitation.
  3. It is a standalone treaty with no connection to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.
  4. Recruitment carried out by abusing a person's position of vulnerability can amount to trafficking even where no physical force is used.
  • A. 1, 2 and 4 only
  • B. 1, 3 and 4 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1 and 4 only

Q28. With reference to undernutrition and tuberculosis, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Undernutrition raises the likelihood that a person infected with TB bacteria develops active disease.
  2. Extra nutrition for underweight patients in the early months of treatment aims to improve their recovery and treatment outcomes.
  3. Adequate nutrition support allows the anti-TB drug course of an underweight patient to be shortened.
  • A. 2 and 3 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 3
  • C. 1 and 2 only
  • D. 1 only

Q29. With reference to the WHO End TB Strategy and the idea of disease elimination, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The End TB Strategy aims to protect all TB-affected families from catastrophic costs by 2030.
  2. A country declared to have eliminated a disease as a public health problem is necessarily free of that disease's pathogen.
  3. The End TB Strategy's 2030 targets require the number of new TB cases to fall to zero.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 3
  • D. 1 only

Q30. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. Support provided by Ni-kshay Mitras is a statutory entitlement of every notified TB patient and is credited through Direct Benefit Transfer.
  2. Under the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, individuals, NGOs and corporates can adopt TB patients to provide them nutritional support.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct