Consider the following statements:
- 1.The India Sanitation Coalition is a platform to promote sustainable sanitation and is funded by the Government of India and the World Health Organization.
- 2.The National Institute of Urban Affairs is an apex body of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in Government of India and provides innovative solutions to address the challenges of Urban India.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2
UPSC's official answer: (d) · the answer UPSC accepted, and the one that counts in the exam
Also defensible: (b)
- Statement 1 is wrong on any reading: the India Sanitation Coalition is a multi-stakeholder platform launched at FICCI in 2015, and nothing on its own site names the Government of India or the WHO as its funders.
- Statement 2 copies NIUA's own profile almost word for word. NIUA says it 'seeks to provide innovative solutions to address the challenges of a fast urbanising India' and that 'in 1976, NIUA was appointed as an apex body to support and guide the Government of India in its urban development plans'. On NIUA's description, statement 2 is correct and the answer is (b).
- UPSC's key reads 'apex body of the Ministry' strictly: NIUA calls itself 'an Autonomous Body of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs', a registered society that the Ministry funds and works with, not the Ministry's apex body. On that reading both statements fail and the answer is (d).
UPSC's key is (d), reading 'apex body of the Ministry' strictly; on NIUA's own profile statement 2 reads as correct, giving (b). In the exam, when a statement upgrades an autonomous institute into a ministry's 'apex body', expect UPSC to mark it wrong.
- NIUA's own profile, in its recruitment notice hosted by the Finance Department, Government of West Bengal: 'apex body' ↗“In 1976, NIUA was appointed as an apex body to support and guide the Government of India in its urban development plans.”
- NIUA's own profile, same notice: 'innovative solutions' ↗“NIUA seeks to provide innovative solutions to address the challenges of a fast urbanising India, and pave the way for more inclusive and sustainable cities of the future.”
- NIUA recruitment notice, same document: NIUA as an autonomous body of the Ministry ↗“The National Institute of Urban Affairs, an Autonomous Body of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, New Delhi, invites applications from eligible candidates for the post of Executive Officer”
This box is Minimalist IAS's analysis, with its sources; it does not change UPSC's answer.
UPSC's key treats both statements as wrong. The India Sanitation Coalition is a multi-stakeholder platform launched at FICCI in 2015; the National Institute of Urban Affairs is an autonomous body of the Ministry, not an apex body of it.
- ✗ 1. The coalition was launched in June 2015 at FICCI (the industry chamber) and brings many organisations onto one platform for sanitation. UPSC's key marks this statement incorrect; we could not confirm the funding detail from an official source, so we do not explain it here.
- ✗ 2. NIUA describes itself as an autonomous body under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs — a research and capacity-building institute, registered as a society, that the Ministry funds and works with. It is not an 'apex body of the Ministry': the Ministry has no apex body, and NIUA's advisory role to the Government does not make it one, so UPSC's key marks the statement wrong.
Remember · India Sanitation Coalition: FICCI-hosted, multi-stakeholder platform (2015). NIUA: autonomous research institute of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (est. 1976), not a department.
Sources
- India Sanitation Coalition, Who We Are ↗ · reference work “India Sanitation Coalition (ISC), launched in June 2015, at Federation of Indian Chamber Commerce and Industry (FICCI), enables and supports safe and sustainable sanitation by bringing multiple organizations on a common platform”
- NIUA recruitment notice hosted by Finance Department, Government of West Bengal ↗ “The National Institute of Urban Affairs, an Autonomous Body of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, New Delhi, invites applications from eligible candidates for the post of Executive Officer … In 1976, NIUA was appointed as an apex body to support and guide the Government of India in its urban development plans.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·