Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
A discussion on reproductive health is incomplete without a mention of infertility. A large number of couples all over the world including India are infertile, i.e., they are unable to produce children in spite of unprotected sexual co-habitation. The reasons for this could be many – physical, congenital, diseases, drugs, immunological or even psychological. In India, often the female is blamed for the couple being childless, but more often than not, the problem lies in the male partner. Specialised health care units (infertility clinics, etc.) could help in diagnosis and corrective treatment of some of these disorders and enable these couples to have children. However, where such corrections are not possible, the couples could be assisted to have children through certain special techniques commonly known as assisted reproductive technologies (ART). Though options are many, all these techniques require extremely high precision handling by specialised professionals and expensive instrumentation. Therefore, these facilities are presently available only in very few centres in the country. Obviously their benefits are affordable to only a limited number of people. Emotional, religious and social factors are also deterrents in the adoption of these methods.
Given below are two statements: one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other is labelled as Reason (R).
Assertion (A): In India, the benefits of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) are affordable to only a limited number of people.
Reason (R): In India, emotional, religious and social factors are also deterrents in the adoption of assisted reproductive technologies.
In the light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Both (A) and (R) are true but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
The passage states that ART techniques “require extremely high precision handling by specialised professionals and expensive instrumentation”, that “Therefore, these facilities are presently available only in very few centres”, and that “Emotional, religious and social factors are also deterrents in the adoption of these methods.”
Assertion (A): In India, the benefits of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) are affordable to only a limited number of people. — True. A is about cost and reach. ART needs skilled experts and costly instruments, and the facilities exist in very few centres, so only a few couples can pay for them.
Reason (R): In India, emotional, religious and social factors are also deterrents in the adoption of assisted reproductive technologies. — True. R is about people’s feelings and beliefs. A deterrent is something that holds a person back, so some couples keep away from ART even when they could pay for it.
Why R does not explain A? Affordability depends on money and on how many centres offer the service. The passage ties it to precision handling, expensive instruments and the few centres. Emotional, religious and social factors do not make ART cost more; the word “also” shows they are a separate hurdle. So both statements are correct, but R is not the explanation of A.