UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

Solar pumps allow farmers to access irrigation without relying solely on diesel or often-unreliable grid connections. This can lower operating costs, reduce local pollution and improve the predictability of water supply. When combined with appropriate groundwater management, such systems enhance both livelihoods and environmental outcomes. The record installation therefore illustrates how renewable technologies can simultaneously support rural development and climate goals.

Option A:
This option is incorrect because solar pumps are specifically designed to reduce diesel dependence. Replacing diesel sets with solar is a key objective of schemes like PM-KUSUM.

Option B:
This option correctly identifies the main developmental and environmental advantages of large-scale solar pump deployment. It recognises the potential for higher and more stable farm incomes alongside lower fossil fuel use and emissions.

Option C:
Transmission losses relate to grid-supplied power; decentralised solar pumps actually reduce the need for long rural feeders, potentially easing grid burdens. Therefore, this option misreads the impact of decentralised renewable systems.

Option D:
Groundwater conservation depends on overall water governance, cropping patterns and regulation. Solar pumps can be integrated into sustainable groundwater management; they do not automatically make conservation impossible, though safeguards are needed.

Solar pumps allow farmers to access irrigation without relying entirely on diesel or unstable grid supply, lowering operating costs and local pollution. When combined with sound groundwater governance and crop planning, they can raise yields and incomes while keeping extraction within sustainable limits. They also reduce pressure on distribution companies that otherwise subsidise agricultural electricity heavily.

Option A:
This option is incorrect because solar pumps are introduced precisely to reduce diesel dependence.

Option B:
This option correctly highlights the multiple co-benefits of solar pumps and notes the importance of managing groundwater sustainably.

Option C:
Solar pumps alone cannot “automatically” solve over-extraction; institutional and regulatory measures are still needed.

Option D:
Decentralised pumps can actually reduce the need for long rural feeders, thereby lowering transmission losses.