STATEMENT &

COURSE OF
ACTIONS
By Payal Mam
Question : 1 [P.N.B. (PO) 2011]
Statement:
A number of school children in the local schools have
fallen ill after the consumption of their subsidized tiffin
provided by the school authority.
Courses of Action:
I. The tiffin facility of all schools should be discontinued
immediate effect.
II. The Government should implement a system to
certify the quality of tiffin provided by the school.
a) If only I follows
b) If only II follows
c) I either I or II follows
d) If neither I nor II follows
e) If both I and II follow
Answer: (b)
l is invalid because of being an extreme action.
II is a proper corrective measure.
Question : 2 [S.C.R.A. 2013]
Statement:
Heavy rains hit the state during October, just
before the State Assembly elections, and caused
heavy damage to standing crops in most parts of
the state.
Courses of Action:
I. Elections should be postponed to give
candidates the opportunity to campaign.
II. The Government should announce a relief
package for those who are affected.
a) If only I follows
b) If only II follows
c) I either I or II follows
d) If neither I nor II follows
e) If both I and II follow
Answer: (e)
I follows because holding the elections at this juncture would
render the exercise meaningless.
II follows for 'heavy damage'.
Question : 3 [P.N.B. (PO) 2011]
Statement:
An increasing number of graduates produced by
Indian universities are unemployable.
Courses of Action:
I. Colleges and institutes of higher learning should
be given greater autonomy to decide the course
content.
II. World-class foreign universities should be
encouraged to set up campuses in India.
a) If only I followsIf only II follows
b) If only II follows
c) I either I or II follows
d) If neither I nor II follows
e) If both I and II follow
Answer: (d)
None focuses on the real reason for unemployability.
Question : 4 [NABARD 2008]

Statement:
Cases of road accidents are increasing
constantly, particularly in urban areas.
Courses of Action:
I. Transport Authorities in the urban areas
should impose stringent norms for the
maintenance of vehicles.
II. Traffic police should severely punish those
found to be violating traffic rules.
a) If only I follows
b) If only II follows
c) If either I or II follows
d) If neither I nor II follows
e) If both I and II follow
Answer: (b)
Poor maintenance of vehicles may lead to pollution but is seldom
a cause of the accident.
Hence, I do not follow. But II follows as a violation of traffic rules
is the chief cause of accidents.
Question : 5 [NABARD 2008]
Statement:
Despite the good economic progress of the
country, a significant number of
undernourished children have been observed
in the rural parts of the country.
Courses of Action:
I. Government should increase Wealth Tax/
Income Tax and use that money for the
upliftment of the deprived class.
II. The government should introduce
schemes like free meals in primary schools
and make primary education compulsory.
a) If only I follows
b) If only II follows
c) If either I or II follows
d) If neither I nor II follows
e) If both I and II follow
Answer: (e)
Both I and II follow, because providing nourishment to children
needs money.
Also, making primary education compulsory is a step forward to
tackle the problem of undernourishment.
Question : 6 [O.B.C. (PO) 2008]
Statement:
There has been a spurt of robbery and
housebreaking incidents in one locality
during the past fortnight.
Courses of Action:
I. The local police station personnel
should start patrolling the locality at
regular intervals.
II. The residents in the locality should be
asked by the police authority not to leave
their houses during the night.
a) If only I follows
b) If only II follows
c) If either I or II follows
d) If neither I nor II follows
e) If both I and II follow
Answer: (a)
I follows, because the patrolling would create a fear among the
robbers and act as a deterrent.
II does not follow, because it is not feasible.
Question : 7 [B.O.I. (PO) 2008]
Statement:
The local college principal has ordered
that all the students must strictly adhere
to the dress code stipulated by college
authority in the admission brochure.
Courses of Action:
I. Those students who are found to violate
the dress code should be terminated from
the college.
II. Those students who are found to
violate the dress code for the first time
should be reprimanded and be warned
against further violations.
a) If only I follows
b) If only II follows
c) If either I or II follows
d) If neither I nor II follows
e) If both I and II follow
Answer: (b)
Going for I is an extreme action and should be resorted to only
when the students fail to behave themselves after repeated
warnings like the one given in II.
Question : 8 [B.O.I. (PO) 2008]
Statement:
The railway has decided to repair the
main tracks within the city on the
following Sunday and has decided to
suspend operations for the whole day.
Courses of Action:
I. The railway authority should issue
public notification well in advance
to cause inconvenience to the
passengers.
II. All the long-distance trains
entering the city during the repair
hours should be terminated outside
the city limit.
a) If only I follows
b) If only II follows
c) If either I or II follows
d) If neither I nor II follows
e) If both I and II follow
Answer: (e)
Both I and II follow.
I follows because such an advance notice makes the passengers
mentally prepared;
II follows as an inevitable course of action.
Question : 9
Statement:
Despite child labour laws, children
can be seen working in hotels,
shops, houses very frequently.
Courses of Action:
I. The Government should not make
such laws that cannot be enforced.
II. A proper education system for
the primary level particularly for
the lower caste community may
eradicate this problem.
a) If only I follows
b) If only II follows
c) If either I or II follows
d) If neither I nor II follows
Answer: (b)
The only Course of action II follows as primary education may
eradicate the problem.
Question : 10
Statement:
School dropout rate is very high
in rural areas as children support
their parents in income-earning
activities.
Courses of Action:
I. Public awareness programme on
primary education should be
expanded immediately to educate
parents.
II. Compensation should be given
to rural families.
a) If only I follows
b) If only II follows
c) If either I or II follows
d) If neither I nor II follows
Answer: (a)
The only Course of action I can follow as a public awareness
programme should be expanded immediately.
Question : 11 [S.B.I.P.O. 2003]
Statement:
There has been a significant drop
in the water level of all the
lakes supplying water to the city.
Courses of Action:
I. The water supply authority
should impose a partial cut in
supply to tackle the situation.
II. The government should appeal
to all the residents through mass
media for minimal use of water.
a) If only I follows;
b) If only II follows;
c) If either I or II follows;
d) If neither I nor II follows
e) If both I and II follow.
Answer: (e)

The situation can be tackled by periodic cuts in

supply, and urging people to conserve water. So
both the courses follow.
Question : 12 [NABARD, 2002]
Statement:
There is an unprecedented increase in
migration of villagers to urban areas as
repeated crop failure has put them into
precarious financial situations.
Courses of Action:
I. The villagers should be provided with an
alternate source of income in their
villages which will make them stay put.
II. The migrated villagers should be
provided with jobs in urban areas to help
them survive.
a) If only I follows;
b) If only II follows;
c) If either I or II follows;
d) If neither I nor II follows
e) If both I and II follow.
Answer: (a)

Clearly, increased migration would add to the

burden on the city's infrastructure.

So, attempts should be made to make the

villagers feel comfortable in the villages
themselves.

So, the only course I follows.

Question : 13 [R.B.I. 2002]
Statement:
The cinema halls are incurring heavy
losses these days as people prefer to
watch movies in-home on TV than to
visit cinema halls.
Courses of Action:
I. The cinema halls should be
demolished, and residential multi-
storey buildings should be
constructed there.
II. The cinema halls should be
converted into shopping malls.
a) If only I follows;
b) If only II follows;
c) If either I or II follows;
d) If neither I nor II follows
e) If both I and II follow.
Answer: (d)

Doing away with cinema halls is no solution.

Hence, none of the courses follows. Instead,

certain incentives and promotional schemes should
be awarded to cinema hall owners so that they
could manage to draw in crowds.
Question : 14 [I.B.P.S. 2002]
Statement:
The availability of imported fruits
has increased in the indigenous market
and so the demand for indigenous
fruits has been decreased.
Courses of Action:
I. To help the indigenous producers of
fruits, the Government should impose
high import duty on these fruits, even
if these are not of good quality.
II. The fruit vendors should stop
selling imported fruits so that the
demand for indigenous fruits would be
increased.
a) If only I follows;
b) If only II follows;
c) If either I or II follows;
d) If neither I nor II follows
e) If both I and II follow.
Answer: (d)

The ideas suggested in both I and II represent

unfair means to cut competition.

The correct way would be to devise methods and

techniques such that the indigenous producers
could produce better quality fruits and make them
available in the market at prices comparable with
those of the imported ones.

Hence, neither I nor II follows.

Question : 15 [Bank P.O. 2004]
Statement:
A large number of engineering graduates in
the country are not in a position to have
gainful employment at present and the number
of such engineers is likely to grow in the
future.
Courses of Action:
I. The Government Should launch attractive
employment generation schemes and encourage
these graduates to opt for such schemes to
use their expertise and knowledge
effectively.
II. This happened due to the proliferation
of engineering colleges in the country and
thereby lowered the quality of the
engineering graduates. Those colleges which
are not equipped to impart quality education
should be closed down.
a) If only I follows;
b) If only II follows;
c) If either I or II follows;
d) If neither I nor II follows
Answer: (b)
The emphasis should be not on the Government putting all the
engineering graduates to jobs but on the colleges producing not
'degree - holders' but real technical minds which could compete
well for gainful employment.
So, only course II follows.
Question : 16 [R.B.I. 2002]

Statement:
It is necessary to adopt suitable
measures to prevent the repetition of
bad debts by learning from the past
experiences of mounting non -
performing assets of banks.
Courses of Action:
I. Before granting loans to customers
their eligibility for loans should be
evaluated strictly.
II. To ensure the payment of
installments of loans, the work, for
which the loan was granted, should be
supervised minutely on regular basis.
a) If only I follows;
b) If only II follows;
c) If either I or II follows;
d) If neither I nor II follows
e) If both I and II follow.
Answer: (e)

To ensure that debts taken are repaid promptly,

the customers' requirements and future prospects
ought to be studied and their work constantly
checked.

Thus, both the courses follow.

Question : 17 [Officers' Exam, 2004]
Statement:
A large number of students have been
caught using unfair means during the
final - year degree examination.
Courses of Action:
I. All these students should be
debarred permanently from appearing
for any examination conducted by the
authority.
II. The guardians of these students
should be called by the authority to
inform them that any such behaviour
in future will not be tolerated.
a) If only I follows;
b) If only II follows;
c) If either I or II follows;
d) If neither I nor II follows
e) If both I and II follow.
Answer: (d)
Merely a warning for the future won't help, and an extremely
harsh punishment as debarring students from exams
permanently would spoil their future.
So, none of the courses follows.
Question : 18 [M.B.A. 2002]
Statement:
Four districts in State A have been
experiencing severe drought for the
last three years resulting into exodus
of people from these districts.
Courses of Action:
I. The government should immediately
start food for work programme in the
district to put a halt to the exodus.
II. The government should make since
efforts to provide drinking/potable
water to these districts.
a) If only I follows;
b) If only II follows;
c) If either I or II follows;
d) If neither I nor II follows
e) If both I and II follow.
Answer: (e)
The exodus can be stopped by providing the people conditions
conducive to living.
So, both the courses follow.
Question : 19 [NABARD, 2002]
Statement:
Majority of the students in many
schools do not pass in the final
examination.
Courses of Action:
I. These schools should be
closed down as these have become
unproductive.
II. The teachers of these
schools should immediately be
retrenched.
a) If only I follows;
b) If only II follows;
c) If either I or II follows;
d) If neither I nor II follows
e) If both I and II follow.
Answer: (d)
Clearly, the situation demands that efforts be made to remove the
lackenings in the present system of education and adequate
measures be taken to improve the performance of students.
Harsh measures as those given in I and II, won’t help.
So, none of the given courses follows.
Question : 20 [Asstt. Managers'
Exam, 2002]
Statement:
The alert villagers caught a group
of dreaded dacoits armed with
murderous weapons.
Courses of Action:
I. The villagers should be
provided with sophisticated
weapons.
II. The villagers should be
rewarded for their courage and
unity.
a) If only I follows;
b) If only II follows;
c) If either I or II follows;
d) If neither I nor II follows
Answer: (b)

Clearly, I is not practically viable. However,

villagers should be rewarded for their courage,
to keep up their spirits in future.

Thus, II follows.