Quiz - Women's development

[Answers in comments. Try to guess the answers and then proceed to comments to view them.]

I believe that mass public action is critical for underprivileged in India (and all over the world) to have a better life in terms of freedoms they enjoy and quality of life. As Amartya Sen and Jean Dreze put it in there book "India Development and Participation" its about getting the voices of the the disadvantaged groups being heard. The concerns of the rich and powerful tend to command dispropotinate attention from the media, the parliament, the courts and other democratic institutions. We, being the more privileged should show solidarity and make these voices heard.

The quiz below is meant to bring forward the various women's empowerment/health/development numbers and point to the various variations across India. The numbers are from either the UN Human development reports or Census of India, NFHS, NSSO surveys. For more details on why some regions have done better than others watch out this space.

Please put your answers as comments for this blog. For the correct answers either mail me or check this blog on Monday.

When you answer questions, think beyond the numbers as these things actually affect a majority of women throughout India on a day-to-day basis.

1. The adult female literacy rate for the year 2003 (age 15+) in Cuba is ~97%, that in China is 86.5% and Srilanka is 88.6%. What is the female literacy rate overall in India in 2003?

a. Between 25-30%
b. Between 70-75%
c. Between 55-60%
d. Between 45-50%


2. India is characterised by enormous variations in regional expereinces and achivements. These regional variations are a rich source of insights on the interconnections between economic development, public action and social progress. For instance, the district level female literacy rates in 1991
vary from 8% to 94%. The literacy rate among females age 7+ in Himachal Pradesh was 68%, in Gujrat is 59%. What is this rate in Bihar?

a. Between 10-15%
b. Between 55-60%
c. Between 35-40%
d. Between 45-50%

3. In India the public services as schools, infrastructure in schools, number of teachers in schools varies a lot. The propotion of primary schools in Kerala with atmost two teachers in 1999-2000 was 1%, India overall was 58% and in U.P. was 63%!!!. The propotion of males aged 10-12 who have NEVER been enrolled in a school(1992-93) in U.P. was 19%, in Kerala was 1%. What is this % for females in U.P. ?

a. Between 20-25%
b. Between 30-35%
c. Between 40-45%
d. Between 55-60%

4. There is fairly strong medical evidence to the effect that - given similar care - women tend to have lower age-specific mortality rates than men. The ratio of female to male mortality in 1996-98 for the age group 0-4 in West Bengal was 91% (91 female deaths in 0-4 age group for 100 male deaths). Similarly this number in Bihar was 117%. What is this number for Punjab?

a. 111%
b. 120%
c. 130%
d. 150%

5. Inequality between men and women is one of the crucial disparities in many socities and this is particulary so in India. The female-male ratio in defined as number of females per 1000 males. In Kerala the ratio was around 1058 in 2001, in Maharastra it was 922, in Bihar it was 926. What is this ratio for Haryana?

a. 919
b. 903
c. 873
d. 861

6. The legal age for marriage in India is 18 years for females. The % of girls in Himachal Pradesh who were married before 18 years of age was 11%, the same number in Maharastra was 48%. What was this % in Andhra Pradesh?

a. 15-20%
b. 30-35%
c. 50-55%
d. 60-65%

7. Maternal mortality rate is defined as deaths caused during pregnancy per 100,000 live births. In South Korea this number for 1990-99 period is 20, China it is 55, Thailand it is 44, in India it is 410!!!. What is this number for Madhya Pradesh??

a. Between 450-470
b. Between 540-560
c. Between 700-720
d. Between 980-1000

8. Fertility rate is defined as number of children a women has over a lifetime. A fertility rate of 2.1 is considered as replacemtn rate (meaning population growth rate and death rate are the same.). The fertility rate for India is 3.3 for 1996-98. For Kerala this rate is 1.8, for Tamil Nadu its 2.0 (below replacement rate), for Karnatake its 2.5, for Rajasthan its 4.2. What is this rate for Uttar Pradesh?

a. 4.0
b. 4.3
c. 4.6
d. 4.8

9. Antenatal checkup is defined as a routine checkup for pregnant women. Atleast one full antenatal checkup is required by WHO. The propotion of recent births preceded by antenatal check-up in Kerala was 99% and overall in India was 65%. What was this number in Uttar Pradesh?

a. 60%
b. 50%
c. 40%
d. 35%

10. Contraceptive prevalance in 1998-9 in India overall was 48%. This number for west Bengal was 67%, for Madhya Pradesh was 44%. What was this number for Bihar?

a. 25%
b. 32%
c. 40%
d. 46%