Which item's expenditure share is approximately equal to the combined…

Concept

To test whether one category is approximately equal to the remaining categories, add the remaining shares for each period and compare the absolute difference with the selected category’s share. A consistently small difference supports an “approximately equal” comparison.

Application

1. 2007–08: Information & broadcasting + Welfare to SC/ST & OBC + Labour and employment = 0.22 + 0.36 + 0.27 = 0.85. Social welfare & nutrition is 0.82, so the difference is 0.03.

2. 2008–09: 0.22 + 0.35 + 0.27 = 0.84. Social welfare & nutrition is 0.72, so the difference is 0.12.

3. 2009–10: 0.20 + 0.41 + 0.22 = 0.83. Social welfare & nutrition is 0.79, so the difference is 0.04.

4. 2010–11: 0.22 + 0.63 + 0.25 = 1.10. Social welfare & nutrition is 1.06, so the difference is 0.04.

Cross-check

Adding each item’s shares over all four years provides an independent aggregate comparison:

Social welfare & nutrition totals 3.39, while the other three together total 3.62; their difference is only 0.23. Its yearly differences are also small, so Social welfare & nutrition is the required item.