Economy · 4 Aug 2026

K-shaped growth Periodic Labour Force Survey

Consider the following Assertion (A) and Reason (R): Assertion (A): Between 2021-22 and 2025-26, the number of individuals in India reporting annual incomes above ₹100 crore rose sharply even as average wages for regular and casual workers grew only marginally. Reason (R): India's growth has been concentrated in capital- and skill-intensive services rather than in labour-intensive manufacturing of the kind that allowed East Asian economies to absorb large sections of their workforce into rising wages. Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above Assertion (A) and Reason (R)?

ABoth A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A
BBoth A and R are true but R is NOT the correct explanation of A
CA is true but R is false
DA is false but R is true

Tests the ability to judge causal explanatory linkage between two true statements, rather than merely verifying each statement's truth value independently.

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About this question

Why in news

Finance Ministry data shows India's ultra-high-income earners have more than quadrupled in five years, even as PLFS figures show wages for regular and casual workers barely moving.

Why for UPSC

This tests whether an aspirant can identify not just that two facts are both true, but that one genuinely functions as the causal mechanism for the other - the deeper analytical judgement UPSC increasingly favours over simple truth-value checks.

Prelims summary

₹100-crore earners in India rose from 142 to 576 (2021-22 to 2025-26) while PLFS data shows casual/regular wages grew only marginally, because growth concentrated in capital/skill-intensive services rather than labour-intensive manufacturing that could have absorbed workers into rising wages.

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