UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

Equity in higher education is about ensuring fair opportunities for all social groups, particularly those historically marginalised or excluded. Tracking indicators for SC, ST, OBCs and women helps identify gaps and design policies to close them. The stem clearly links monitoring of these groups’ participation to a particular concern, which is equity. Thus, Option A is the correct answer.

Option A:
Equity indicators help policymakers understand whether expansion of the system benefits all groups or mainly advantaged sections. They support targeted interventions like scholarships, reservations and support services to correct imbalances. This aligns exactly with the intent described in the question.

Option B:
Monopoly refers to dominance by a single provider and is more relevant to market structures than to group-wise participation. It does not capture the social justice dimension implied in the stem, so Option B is incorrect.

Option C:
Randomisation is a statistical or experimental technique and has no direct connection to monitoring group-wise enrolment and completion. Therefore, Option C is not suitable here.

Option D:
Privatisation deals with ownership and financing patterns and, while related to equity debates, is not what monitoring participation rates directly measures. Option D does not answer the specific concern mentioned in the question.