SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 13 September 2024, Shift 1 · General Awareness · Question 2 of 100

Text as printed on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; answer per SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 10 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. The questions and options here are reproduced as printed on a candidate's own response sheet for this shift — the Commission's text, unchanged. Each answer is SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet; SSC allowed challenges to it and never publishes a final key. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

According to the Census of India 2011, which group of Union Territories recorded the highest sex ratio?

(a)Chandigarh, Puducherry, Lakshadweep
(b)Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands
(c)Puducherry, Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands
(d)Chandigarh, Puducherry, Delhi

Answer

Why

Correct — B. In Census 2011 the three Union Territories with the highest sex ratio were Puducherry (1037), Lakshadweep (946) and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (876).

The rest of the UTs sit well below that. Chandigarh (818) and Delhi are among the lowest sex ratios in the country, so any set containing either of them cannot be the top group.

That single test kills options (a), (c) and (d) and leaves option (b).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Chandigarh, Puducherry, Lakshadweep — Chandigarh is the intruder: at 818 females per 1000 males it has one of the lowest sex ratios in India, so it cannot stand beside Puducherry and Lakshadweep.
(c)
Puducherry, Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands — Delhi breaks this set. Its 2011 sex ratio is lower than the Andaman and Nicobar figure of 876, so Delhi cannot displace Lakshadweep from the top three.
(d)
Chandigarh, Puducherry, Delhi — Two of these three, Chandigarh and Delhi, are low-sex-ratio Union Territories. Only Puducherry belongs anywhere near the top of the list.

Concept

Sex ratio in the Indian census means females per 1000 males, not the reverse.

Census 2011 put the national figure at 943. Among the Union Territories the order is stable and worth memorising: Puducherry far ahead at 1037, then Lakshadweep, then the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The UTs at the bottom of the list are the ones with heavy male in-migration for work, which is why the city-states cluster there.

The stem asks for a group, not a rank order, so you can answer by elimination: find one low-sex-ratio UT inside a set and that set is gone.

Key facts

India's sex ratio in Census 2011 was 943 females per 1000 males.
Puducherry recorded 1037, the highest among the Union Territories.
Chandigarh recorded 818, among the lowest figures in the 2011 Census.
Kerala had the highest sex ratio among the states at 1084 and Haryana the lowest at 879.

Study next

State-wise sex ratio in Census 2011, especially Kerala and HaryanaChild sex ratio (0-6 years) in Census 2011 and why it runs below the overall figureCensus 2011 literacy rates and the male-female literacy gap

Common traps

Reading sex ratio as males per 1000 females, which inverts the entire ranking
Assuming a prosperous urban UT such as Chandigarh or Delhi must rank high

Census 2011 items are single-figure lookups. Other 2024 shifts ask the male-female literacy gap on 12 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q.17 and the Union Territory with the highest slum population on 17 Sep 2024, 09:00, GA Q.21.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.