UPSC Prelims 2018— Question 98

**Concept and analysis:** The Forest Rights Act, 2006 contains the concept of Critical Wildlife Habitat in relation to protected areas. Habitat rights for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups have also been recognised in practice, including for the Baiga community in Madhya Pradesh. The authority to determine and recognise such community/tribal rights does not rest with the Union environment ministry in the blanket manner stated in statement 3; the rights-recognition process is implemented through the statutory framework involving the competent state-level authorities. The question is testing precise UPSC-level identification rather than a broad association. The key is to distinguish the exact institutional, constitutional, historical, geographical, economic or scientific feature being asked. **Option-wise evaluation** **Option A:** Correct. It selects statements 1, 2; these are the statements supported by the relevant constitutional, economic, historical, scientific or geographical facts. **Option B:** Incorrect. It selects 2 and 3 only, but that combination does not match the verified statement-level assessment; it either includes a false statement or omits a true one. **Option C:** Incorrect. It selects 3 only, but that combination does not match the verified statement-level assessment; it either includes a false statement or omits a true one. **Option D:** Incorrect. It selects 1, 2 and 3, but that combination does not match the verified statement-level assessment; it either includes a false statement or omits a true one. **UPSC takeaway:** The safest way to solve this type of question is to anchor the answer in the defining feature of the concept and then test every option against that feature. Closely related institutions or terms are often used as distractors. In statement-based questions, do not judge the option as a whole before checking each statement independently. In factual questions, compare the wording of each option with the exact definition, location, institutional role, chronology or scientific property. The correct answer follows from that verification rather than from familiarity with a keyword.