UPSC Prelims 2012 Q38: Indian Economy – Human Development, Poverty & Employment Schemes
Consider the following specific stages of demographic transition associated with economic
development:
1. Low birthrate with low death rate
2. High birthrate with high death rate
3. High birthrate with low death rate
Select the correct order of the above stages using the codes given below:
- (a) 1, 2, 3
- (b) 2, 1, 3
- (c) 2, 3, 1
- (d) 3, 2, 1
Answer: (c) 2, 3, 1
Explanation
Stages of demographic transition
As a country develops, the death rate falls first and the birth rate falls later.
| Order | Stage | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| First | High birthrate with high death rate (2) | Population stays low and steady |
| Second | High birthrate with low death rate (3) | Population explosion; better health and food cut deaths |
| Third | Low birthrate with low death rate (1) | Population becomes steady again |
Why the stages follow this order:
| Factor | Effect |
|---|---|
| Medicine and sanitation | Death rate drops quickly |
| Education and urban life | Birth rate drops slowly, a generation later |
| India today | Moving from the second stage to the third |
So the correct order is 2, 3, 1.
Answer: (c) 2, 3, 1.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) Incorrect. Development does not begin with low birthrate and low death rate; it ends there.
- (b) Incorrect. Low rates cannot come before the stage of high birthrate with low death rate.
- (c) CORRECT. High-high, then high birth with low death, then low-low.
- (d) Incorrect. The stage of high birthrate with low death rate is the middle stage, not the first.
Key point
Demographic transition: stage 1 high birth and high death; stage 2 high birth and low death (explosion); stage 3 low birth and low death.
Remember
High-high, high-low, low-low.
Common mistakes
- Thinking the birth rate falls before the death rate.
- Forgetting that the middle stage causes the population explosion.
- Reading the numbers 1, 2, 3 as the order; they are only labels here.
Exam tip
Deaths fall first, births fall later. That gap in the middle is the population explosion.
Sources
- NCERT Class XII — Fundamentals of Human Geography, Ch 2 (The World Population: Distribution, Density and Growth)
- NCERT Class XII — Introducing Indian Society (Sociology), Ch 2 (The Demographic Structure of the Indian Society)