Population & Census — PPSC previous year questions

Census 2011 recorded the lowest sex ratio among the states in Haryana, 879 females per 1000 males, followed by Jammu & Kashmir (889), Sikkim (890) and Punjab (895). Kerala had the highest (1084) and the all-India figure was 943; among Union Territories Daman & Diu was lowest at 618.

India's sex ratio is the number of females per 1,000 males, and while the child sex ratio is adverse (919 in 2011), the ratio among people aged 60 and above is favourable to women (about 1,033), so statements 1 and 3 are correct. Statement 2 is wrong because the child sex ratio is counted for the 0-6 age group, not 0-14, and statement 4 is wrong because Kerala (1,084), not Tamil Nadu, had the highest sex ratio in Census 2011.

A census town must have a population of at least 5,000, so statement 1 is correct. The other two are wrong on the details: at least 75% of the male main working population (not the total population) must be in non-agricultural work, and the population density must be at least 400 persons per sq km, not 300.

The Assertion is false: rural-to-rural migration is the largest migration stream in India, mainly because women move to their husband's village after marriage. The Reason is true: India has one of the world's largest overseas populations, and many of these migrants, especially from Punjab, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh, come from villages. So A is false but R is true.

In Census 2011, Bihar had the lowest female literacy rate in India at about 51.5%, just below Rajasthan (52.1%). Uttar Pradesh was around 57%, Haryana 66% and Nagaland 76%.

The number of births per thousand people is the birth rate. The growth rate of population is the net change — birth rate minus death rate, plus migration — shown as a percentage. So statement 1 is wrong. In India both the death rate and the birth rate have been falling. The birth rate fell from about 41 per thousand in 1951 to under 20 by 2020. Growth continues as deaths fell faster. So statement 2 is also wrong. So both are incorrect.

Census 2011 put Punjab's literacy rate at 75.8%. That is well above Rajasthan (66.1%), but far below Mizoram (91.3%). Mizoram is second only to Kerala (94.0%). So statement (d) is correct. The all-India female literacy rate was 65.5%, much lower than the male rate of 82.1%. That rules out (a) and (b). For the Census a person aged 7 years and above who can both read and write with understanding in any language is counted as literate.

Fertility falls as per capita income and literacy rise (statement 1), and women working outside agriculture tend to have fewer children (statement 4). A balanced sex ratio does not by itself raise fertility, and a better diet and quality of life usually lower the birth rate rather than raise it, so 2 and 3 are wrong.

By the 2011 Census Maharashtra had 11.24 crore people, second in India after Uttar Pradesh (19.98 crore) and ahead of Bihar (10.4 crore). Among the options, Madhya Pradesh had 7.26 crore, Rajasthan 6.85 crore and Gujarat 6.04 crore. Rajasthan is the largest state by area, but not by population.

In Malthus's theory of population, positive checks are the natural and violent controls — famine, epidemic, flood, earthquake and war — that raise the death rate once population outruns food supply. Preventive checks are the voluntary ones such as late marriage, celibacy and moral restraint, which lower the birth rate. Since the listed items all operate through mortality, they are positive checks.