 For Daily Job Alert |
Join Our Whats App Channel |
| For Free Study Material |
Join Our Telegram Channel |
Direction: Read the following passage carefully and
answer the questions given below it. Certain words
have been printed in bold to help you to locate them
while answering some of the questions.
We should recognize the indebtedness of the country to
its farm families who toil to safeguard national food
security. Loan waiver is the price we have to, pay for the
neglect of rural India over the past several decades.
There has been a gradual decline in investment in key
sectors related to agriculture such as infrastructure,
marketing, post-harvest technology etc. The four crore
farmers whose debt is to be relieved will be eligible for
institutional credit for their cultivation expenses during
Kharif 2008. The into the debt trap again. For this
purpose the Central and various State governments,
should set up an Indebted Farmers Support Consortium,
comprising scientists, panchayat raj officials and others
relevant to assisting farmers to improve the profitability
and productivity of their, farms in an environmentally
sustainable manner. The smaller the farm the greater is
the need for marketable surplus to reduce indebtedness.
The Indebted Farmers Support Consortium should aim
to get all the four crore farmers all the benefits of the
government schemes such as the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas
Yojana, Irrigation Benefit Programme and others. If this
is done every farm family released from the debt trap
should be able to produce at least , an additional half
tonne per hectare of food grains. This should help
increase food production by about 20 million tonnes by
2008 10. At a time when global and national food Stocks
are dwindling and prices are rising, this will be a timely
gain for our national food security. We need to ensure
that the outcome of the debt waiver is enhanced farmers
income and production. The prevailing gap between
potential and actual yields In the crops of rain fed areas
such as pulses and oilseeds is over 200 percent even
with the necessary technologies on the shelf. We are now
importing without duty large quantities of pulses and
oilseeds. If helped, farmers can produce these at a lower
cost. Opportunities for assured and remunerative
marketing are essential if loan waiver is not to become a
recurring event leading to the destruction of the credit
system. This is why the Minimum Support Price is
necessary for all not just for a few crops which is the
case at present. This is the single most effective step to
make loan waivers history. There is another urgent step
which needs to be taken. The loan wave does not cover
those who borrow from moneylenders. It will not be
possible for the government to scrutinise the veracity of
such private deals but steps can be taken such as giving
them Srhart Cards which will entitle them to essential
inputs like seeds and fertilizers. The gram sabha can be
entrusted with the task of identifying these farmers so
that there is transparency in the process and elimination
of the chances for falsification and corruption. Fear of
occasional misuse should not come in the way of
enabling millions of poor farmers who have borrowed
from informal sources if we are to achieve the goal of
four percent growth in agriculture.
Q85.
What is the likely impact of ensuring farmers benefit
from government schemes ?
(A)They can use the credit from these schemes to repay
moneylenders.
(B)The government can control the price rise.
(C)Increased agricultural production.
(a)Both (A) & (B)
(b)All (A), (B) & (C)
(c)Only (C)
(d)Both (B) & (C)
(e)None of these
Q86.
Writer does the author fact that rural in overlooked in
the past ?
(A)Institutional credit was only made available for
Kharif crops.
(B)crops in investment In central areas related to
agriculture
(c) Records of those eligible for loan waivers have not
been maintained over time.
(a)Only (B)
(b)Both (A) & (B)
(c)Only (C)
(d)All (A), (B) & (C)
(e)None of these
Q87.
How can small farmers avoid debt?
(a)They need to acquire additional land holdings.
(b)They need to take advantage of both government
schemes as well credit from moneylenders.
(c)They have to ensure a sufficient amount of their farm
produce is sold.
(d)The Government should provide periodic loan
waivers.
(e)None of these
Q88.
What is the objective of the Indebted Farmers Support
Consortium?
(a)It is a support group for the families of indebted
farmers.
(b)It has to devise new government schemes for
farmers.
(c)It has to track farmers eligible for government
schemes.
(d)It has to evaluate government schemes and weed out
the inefficient ones.
(e)None of these
Q89.
What does the author mean by the phrase indebtedness
of the country to its farm families?
(a)If farmers are in debt it impacts the entire country
(b)Citizens should be grateful to farmers and their
families for the hardships borne by them to cultivate
crops and safeguard national food security
(c)India’s food production has fallen causing it to be in
debt since it has to import food.
(d)The number of farmers descendants taking up
agriculture has fallen.
(e)None of these
Q90.
What is the authors opinion of recurring loan waivers ?
(a)They are beneficial to farmers.
(b)They are detriment to the system of lending.
(c)They will reduce the need for a Minimum Support
Price for agricultural products.
(d)Farmers will no longer be in debt to moneylenders.
(e)None of these
Q91.
Which of the following is TRUE in the context of the
passage ?
(a)The Minimum Support Price for agricultural products
is yet to be implemented.
(b)Loan waiver is a permanent solution to Indebtedness
of farmers.
(c)Current agricultural growth is below four percent.
(d)India’s food production has increased in 2008.
(e)Moneylenders benefit from loan waivers.
Q92.
Why does the loan waiver not cover credit taken from
money lenders?
(A)It is difficult to verify these contracts between
farmers and moneylenders.
(B)It will increase the deficit in the budget.
(C)There is a risk that the funds may be
misappropriated.
(a)Both (A) & (C)
(b)All (A), (B) & (C)
(c)Only (B)
(d)Both (A) & (B)
(e)None of these
Q93.
Why is there a vast gap in actual and potential yields of
crops in rain fed areas ?
(a)The government prefers to import these crops at a
lower rate.
(b)No technological advances have been made to
improve the growth of crops in these areas.
(c)There is no Minimum Support Price available for
these crops.
(d)Farmers are forced to sell these crops at a low rate.
(e)None of these
Q94.
How does the government intend to ensure
transparency in the Smart card issuance process?
(a)Screening private players involved in the scheme.
(b)Granting access to those farmers who register with
their local moneylenders.
(c)Providing cards which cannot be forged.
(d)Regularly rotating members of the gram sabha so
there is no corruption.
(e)The gram sabha can be entrusted with the task of
identifying farmers.
