Government Schemes and Policies Questions and Answers

Answer: A

Under the scheme Naya Savera, run by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, minority students are given free coaching for qualifying in the entrance examinations of technical and medical professional courses and in various competitive examinations. This is the keyed answer.

Nayi Roshni is a leadership programme for minority women, Padho Pardesh gave an interest subsidy on education loans for minority students studying abroad, and Nishtha is a teacher training programme of the education ministry. They have different purposes.

Answer: A

The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) released the Harmonised Guidelines and Standards for Universal Accessibility in India 2021, in December 2021. They replaced the 2016 guidelines for a barrier-free built environment and cover the design of public buildings and spaces for people with disabilities and the elderly.

Sources I found also describe the document as issued under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, with CPWD as the publishing body, so the official key (CPWD) is the best match among the options. The Ministry of Home Affairs, the Department of Primary Education and the Ministry of Defence have no role in it.

Answer: D

The target is 1000 Khelo India Centres. The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced a plan to set up 1,000 Khelo India Centres across the country, with several hundred already notified by mid-2021 according to the news reports I found. A later Rajya Sabha reply (December 2023) records 1000 centres notified.

I could not locate the exact August 2021 press release, so this rests on those reports. The figures 500, 600 and 800 are earlier or partial totals and do not match the stated target.

Answer: A

The US-India Artificial Intelligence (USIAI) Initiative was launched on 17 March 2021 by the Department of Science and Technology, through the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF), which the Department co-funds. DST's own release describes the launch.

NITI Aayog, the Department of Biotechnology and ISRO were not the launching body. NITI Aayog is a policy think tank, the Department of Biotechnology handles biotechnology programmes, and ISRO is the space agency.

Answer: C

Allopathy is not a component of AYUSH. The acronym stands for Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy, the traditional and non-conventional systems of medicine looked after by the Ministry of AYUSH. Ayurveda, Homeopathy and Unani are all named in it, whereas allopathy is modern conventional medicine and sits outside the acronym.

Answer: A

The Ministry of Cooperation was carved out in July 2021, and until then cooperative matters were handled within the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, where there was a Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare. The Ministry of Home Affairs, Minority Affairs and Food Processing Industries did not look after cooperative societies as a subject before this, so they are not the answer. The Ministry was created to give a separate administrative, legal and policy framework to the cooperative movement, which had until then been looked after as one subject among others in the agriculture department.

Answer: B

Elder Line is the national toll-free helpline for senior citizens run by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (number 14567), announced in 2021. SAATHI, Mera Mitr and Budhape Ka Saathi are not the name of that helpline, so Elder Line is the answer. The helpline is meant for senior citizens, who can call for information, guidance, emotional support and help in cases of abuse. The service is run for the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, which looks after the welfare of the elderly under its department for senior citizens.

Answer: B

Indira Awaas Yojana was started in 1985-86 to provide free dwelling units to rural families below the poverty line. It was later restructured into the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (Gramin). Atal Pension Yojana is a pension scheme, TRYSEM trained rural youth for self-employment, and SGRY was a wage employment scheme, so none of these provides houses. IAY started as part of the Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme and became a separate scheme in 1996; it gave financial assistance for building houses to rural families below the poverty line, including members of scheduled castes and tribes.

Answer: C

The key gives Maharashtra: in August 2021 the state government started Mission Vatsalya to support women who had lost their husbands in the covid-19 pandemic, with help towards their rehabilitation. Gujarat, Rajasthan and Goa are not credited with this mission in the key. The answer is Maharashtra, option (C), and the question is a recall item from the news of August 2021, so the key is followed.

Answer: D

The Aashwasan campaign was flagged off from Maharashtra, in Nandurbar district. It was an active case finding drive for tuberculosis across 174 tribal districts of the country, run under the Tribal TB Initiative by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the Central TB Division of the health ministry, with USAID as technical partner and Piramal Swasthya as implementing partner.

Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have large tribal populations and were covered by the drive, but the campaign was launched from Maharashtra, which is the fourth option in the paper.