Sustainable development principles – UGC NET Question

Statements A and B express the core idea of sustainable development, which is to balance economic growth with environmental protection and social equity while meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations. Statement C is incorrect because sustainable development does not reject technological innovation; instead, it promotes cleaner and more efficient technologies. Statement D is incorrect because sustainable development discourages over-exploitation of resources and promotes their prudent use. Therefore, the only correct combination of statements is A and B.

Option A:
Option A is correct because it includes statements A and B, both of which accurately define sustainable development as a balance among economic, environmental and social dimensions and emphasise intergenerational equity. Neither of these statements contains any exaggeration or contradiction with accepted definitions used in policy documents and UGC NET syllabus. Since statements C and D are false, excluding them makes this combination fully correct.

Option B:
Option B is incorrect because it adds statement C to the otherwise correct pair A and B. Statement C wrongly suggests that sustainable development rejects technological innovation, whereas in reality sustainable development encourages innovations such as renewable energy, cleaner production and eco-friendly technologies. Including an incorrect statement makes the whole combination wrong.

Option C:
Option C is incorrect because it combines B, C and D. Although statement B is correct, statements C and D are both incorrect. Statement C misrepresents the role of technology, and statement D promotes over-exploitation of resources, which is against the principle of sustainability. Due to the presence of these false statements, the combination cannot be correct.

Option D:
Option D is incorrect because it includes all four statements A, B, C and D. While A and B are true, C and D contradict the very idea of sustainable development by rejecting technological solutions and encouraging overuse of resources. A correct combination must exclude false statements, so selecting all four statements leads to an incorrect answer.