Government Schemes and Policies Questions and Answers

Answer: B

The key's answer is August 2019.

The Mukhya Mantri Krishi Ashirwad Yojana (MMKAY) gives marginal and small farmers with up to five acres Rs 5,000 per acre a year through direct bank transfer. Reports say it was rolled out on 10 August 2019, when the Vice President of India inaugurated it at Ranchi, and Rs 2,250 crore was earmarked for 2019-20.

March 2019 is before the launch, and April and November 2020 are after it; the first year of payments was 2019-20.

Answer: A

The scheme is MUDRA Yojana.

The Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana, launched in April 2015, provides collateral-free loans to non-corporate, non-farm micro and small enterprises through banks and other lenders, in the Shishu, Kishore, Tarun and Tarun Plus categories.

Startup India supports new innovative firms, Make in India promotes manufacturing investment generally, and Atmanirbhar Bharat is a broad self-reliance campaign, so MUDRA is the scheme designed specifically to finance small enterprises.

Answer: A

PM Surya Ghar was launched in 2024.

The PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana was launched in February 2024 to help one crore households install rooftop solar panels, with central subsidies and up to 300 units of free electricity a month.

2014, 2016 and 2017 predate the scheme.

The scheme gives a central subsidy for rooftop solar systems of up to 3 kW, and households can sell surplus power to the grid, which also supports India's renewable energy targets.

Answer: C

The authority was set up by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

The Central Consumer Protection Authority was established in July 2020 under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, which is administered by this ministry's Department of Consumer Affairs. The authority can act against unfair trade practices, misleading advertisements and violations of consumer rights.

The ministries of Agriculture, Finance and Food Processing Industries do not administer consumer protection law.

Answer: D

India's MOOC initiative is SWAYAM.

SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds), launched by the Ministry of Human Resource Development in 2017, offers free online courses from school level to postgraduate level, taught by teachers from leading Indian institutions.

Bhoomi is Karnataka's project for computerising land records. KIOSK and SPARK are not the name of the national MOOC platform.

Answer: A

Yeshasvini is the Cooperative Farmers Health Care Scheme.

Yeshasvini, launched by the Karnataka government in 2003, is a self-funded health insurance scheme for members of rural cooperative societies and their families. For a small annual contribution, with government support, members get cashless surgical treatment in network hospitals. It was one of India's first large community health insurance schemes.

It is not a scheme for women entrepreneurs, girls' higher education or maternal and infant health; those are covered by other programmes.

Answer: D

NFSM aims to raise the production of rice, wheat, pulses and coarse cereals.

The National Food Security Mission was launched in 2007-08 to increase the production of rice, wheat and pulses through area expansion and productivity gains. Coarse cereals were added from the Twelfth Plan period, and the mission now also covers nutri-cereals and some commercial crops.

Fruits and vegetables are covered by the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, not by NFSM, so every option including them is wrong.

Answer: C

The programme is Nanoscience and Technology, the Nano Mission.

The Government of India approved the Mission on Nano Science and Technology in May 2007, under the Department of Science and Technology, as an umbrella capacity-building programme for research and development in nanoscience, infrastructure, human resources and applications.

International S and T cooperation, scientific excellence and human resource schemes are separate activities of the department, not the umbrella programme launched in 2007.

Answer: D

The one that is not part of family planning is hysterectomy.

Hysterectomy is the surgical removal of the uterus, done for medical conditions such as fibroids or cancer. It is not a contraceptive method offered under the family planning programme.

Vasectomy (cutting the vas deferens in men) and tubectomy (cutting the fallopian tubes in women) are permanent sterilisation methods, and intrauterine devices such as the copper-T are spacing methods, all promoted under the programme.

Answer: D

The scheme was launched from Bhopal.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched the Mukhyamantri Ladli Behna Yojana on 5 March 2023 at a state-level event in Bhopal. The scheme pays eligible women a monthly sum directly into their bank accounts.

Jabalpur hosted the later event in June 2023 at which the first monthly instalment was transferred, which is why it is a tempting distractor; Indore and Gwalior were not the launch venues.