Match the Indian States/Union Territory (List – I) with their Sex-Ratio (List – II). List – I States/Union Territory a. Kerala b. Tamil Nadu c. Puducherry d. Andhra Pradesh List – II Sex-Ratio (Census – 2011) i. 996 ii. 1037 iii. 1084 iv. 993
- (1)a – ii, b – iii, c – i, d – iv
- (2)a – iv, b – i, c – ii, d – iii
- (3)a – i, b – ii, c – iv, d – iii
- (4)a – iii, b – i, c – ii, d – iv
Correct — printed option (4), which pairs list item a (Kerala) with roman numeral iii (1084), list item b (Tamil Nadu) with roman numeral i (996), list item c (Puducherry) with roman numeral ii (1037), and list item d (Andhra Pradesh) with roman numeral iv (993). Every one of these four figures is the Census 2011 sex ratio (females per 1,000 males) actually recorded for that state or Union Territory. Kerala's 1084 is the highest sex ratio of any Indian state in the 2011 Census, a position it has held across recent censuses on account of factors like historically high female literacy, better healthcare access and lower relative male out-migration compared to other regions. Puducherry's 1037 places it above the national average of 940 and above every large state except Kerala, which is a pattern often noted for this small, largely urbanised Union Territory. Tamil Nadu's 996 and undivided Andhra Pradesh's 993 both sit close to, but just under, the 1,000 mark — meaning both had slightly more males than females in the 2011 count, unlike Kerala and Puducherry. Getting this match right requires holding these four specific numbers rather than only a rough sense of 'Kerala is high, others are around parity' — the two lower figures (996 and 993) are close enough that swapping list item b and list item d is the easiest slip, and this option is the only one of the four that keeps every pairing correct.
- (1)a – ii, b – iii, c – i, d – iv — Wrong on every pairing that matters most: it assigns roman numeral ii (1037, Puducherry's actual figure) to list item a (Kerala), and roman numeral iii (1084, Kerala's actual figure) to list item b (Tamil Nadu). Kerala's sex ratio is the highest among all Indian states at 1084, not 1037 — the 1037 figure belongs to Puducherry. Swapping these two is the single most common error in this fact set, because both Kerala and Puducherry are widely known as India's two 'high sex-ratio' territories, and a candidate who remembers that fact without the exact numbers can easily transpose them.
- (2)a – iv, b – i, c – ii, d – iii — Wrong because it assigns roman numeral iv (993, Andhra Pradesh's actual figure) to list item a (Kerala) and roman numeral iii (1084, Kerala's actual figure) to list item d (Andhra Pradesh) — effectively swapping the highest sex ratio in this list with the lowest. Kerala's 1084 is far above the national average and is not interchangeable with Andhra Pradesh's below-1,000 figure; this pairing would make Kerala look like a low-sex-ratio state and Andhra Pradesh the highest of the four, which reverses the true picture entirely.
- (3)a – i, b – ii, c – iv, d – iii — Wrong because it assigns roman numeral i (996, Tamil Nadu's actual figure) to list item a (Kerala), when Kerala's actual figure is 1084 (roman numeral iii). It also misassigns Puducherry (list item c) to roman numeral iv (993, Andhra Pradesh's figure) instead of its own ii (1037), and gives Andhra Pradesh (list item d) the figure iii (1084) that belongs to Kerala. Three of the four pairings are disturbed at once, which is why this option reads as plausible only if none of the four exact figures is held firmly in memory.
Sex ratio, in Indian census usage, is expressed as the number of females per 1,000 males, and it is one of the standard socio-demographic indicators reported state-wise and Union Territory-wise in every decadal Census. The Census 2011 all-India sex ratio was 940 females per 1,000 males — an improvement over Census 2001's 933 — but this national figure conceals wide regional variation, with Kerala and Puducherry sitting well above 1,000 while several northern and western states sit well below the national average.
MPSC's geography and current-affairs sections repeatedly draw on Census 2011 state rankings — sex ratio, literacy rate, population density and decadal growth rate are the four indicators tested most often, usually as either 'which state ranks highest/lowest' or, as here, as a four-way match. The specific trap in this item is that Kerala and Puducherry are both correctly remembered as 'above parity' territories, so the exam rewards knowing the precise figures (1084 and 1037 respectively) rather than only their relative ranking, since a match question penalises an approximate memory the same as a wrong one.
- Census 2011 all-India sex ratio: 940 females per 1,000 males, up from 933 in Census 2001.
- Kerala recorded 1084 in Census 2011 — the highest sex ratio among all Indian states.
- Puducherry (Union Territory) recorded 1037 — the highest among Union Territories and second only to Kerala overall.
- Tamil Nadu recorded 996 and undivided Andhra Pradesh recorded 993 in Census 2011, both marginally below the 1,000 mark.
- Haryana recorded the lowest state-wise sex ratio in Census 2011, underlining the wide north-south variation this indicator shows across India.
996 and 993 are close enough to swap — the exact figure, not just the ranking, is the test.
- Transposing Kerala's and Puducherry's figures because both are correctly remembered as India's two above-parity territories
- Assuming every Union Territory ranks lower than every state, when Puducherry in fact outranks most states on this indicator
- Treating 'sex ratio' and 'child sex ratio' as the same statistic, when Census tables report them separately and they often move in different directions
- Relying on a rough sense of ranking in a match question, where four precise figures must each be placed correctly rather than merely ordered
MPSC's Paper-I regularly turns Census 2011 state data into match-the-columns items exactly like this one, pairing a short list of states or Union Territories with one demographic indicator at a time. The safest preparation is a single memorised table of the extreme values (highest and lowest state on each of sex ratio, literacy and density) plus two or three mid-table figures like Tamil Nadu's and Andhra Pradesh's here, since examiners frequently pick values close enough to each other to punish approximate recall.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which Indian state recorded the highest sex ratio according to the Census of India, 2011 ?
- (a)Puducherry
- (b)Kerala
- (c)Tamil Nadu
- (d)Chhattisgarh
Answer(b) Kerala — Kerala recorded 1084 females per 1,000 males in Census 2011, the highest among all Indian states; Puducherry's 1037, though higher than most states, is a Union Territory figure and slightly below Kerala's.
- practice — not a real PYQ
What was the all-India sex ratio (females per 1,000 males) recorded in the Census of India, 2011 ?
- (a)933
- (b)940
- (c)950
- (d)927
Answer(b) 940 — the national sex ratio rose from 933 in Census 2001 to 940 in Census 2011, though it remained well below the 1,000 mark reached by states such as Kerala and Puducherry.