More than half of Indian women and almost a quarter of Indian men of working age. suffer from anaemia. According to studies, they are anywhere from 5-15% less productive than they could be, as a result thereof. Indian also has the largest tuberculosis burden in the world, costing 170 million workdays to the country annually. But what is just as important as lost productivity now is lost potential in the future. It is becoming increasingly clear that on many measures of cognitive ability, malnourished Indian children perform two or three times worse than their adequately nourished peers. For an economy that will be more dependent on highly skilled workers,' this poses a significant challenge. And it is one that really should be addressed given India's demographic outlook.

Correct Option (D)

The passage explicitly details how widespread health issues such as anaemia among working-age individuals reduce productivity, and how tuberculosis leads to significant work-day losses. Furthermore, it highlights the detrimental impact of malnutrition on the cognitive abilities of children, which compromises future economic potential, particularly for an economy increasingly reliant on skilled workers. Given India's demographic context, the passage strongly implies that addressing these fundamental health and nutrition challenges across the population is a prerequisite for achieving rapid and sustainable economic growth.

Incorrect Options:

• Option (A) Education system must be strengthened in rural areas: While education is crucial for development, the passage's primary focus and the core implication derived from its arguments are centered on public health and nutrition, not the education system. Therefore, this option does not best reflect what is implied by the passage.

• Option (B) Large scale and effective implementation of skill development programme is the need of the hour: Skill development is important for economic progress. However, the passage underscores that underlying health and nutritional deficiencies impede productivity and cognitive development, thereby affecting the very capacity to acquire and effectively utilize skills. The passage positions health and nutrition as foundational issues that must be addressed for any skill development initiative to be truly effective, making this option an incomplete reflection of the passage's central implication.

• Option (C) For economic development, health and nutrition of only skilled workers needs special attention: The passage discusses anaemia affecting "more than half of Indian women and almost a quarter of Indian men of working age," and malnutrition impacting "Indian children." This indicates a broad concern for the health and nutrition of the general population, not exclusively skilled workers. Therefore, limiting attention to "only skilled workers" misrepresents the comprehensive scope implied by the passage.