General Studies · Critical Reasoning - Statement and Inference

Read the following passage carefully: 'India's rural sector has undergone significant changes in recent years, with new government initiatives like Bharat Nirman and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) aiming to improve rural infrastructure and provide employment. While these efforts have been substantial, the overall economic landscape of rural India remains heavily intertwined with agriculture. Despite agriculture's decreasing share of the national GDP, a significant portion of the rural workforce still depends on it for livelihood. This dependency creates vulnerability, as agricultural output can be severely impacted by factors like irregular rainfall, which is a recurrent challenge for a substantial part of the country's cultivable land. Furthermore, the growth in the tertiary sector, particularly IT and BPO, has boosted aggregate economic growth, but has not fully mitigated the adverse effects of a struggling agricultural sector on the per capita income and standard of living in rural areas.' Evaluate the following inferences based on the passage: I. Despite efforts to diversify the rural economy, India's rural growth remains vulnerable because the majority of the rural population is still dependent on the agricultural sector, which is vulnerable to climatic factors. II. Although the government has introduced programs and the tertiary sector has grown, these have not completely offset the impact of a struggling agricultural sector on rural livelihoods. Which of the inferences follows?