Government schemes & initiatives

Answer: (d) Providing for financial turnaround and revival of power distribution companies

UDAY (Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana), approved by the Union Cabinet on 5 November 2015, was a rescue-and-reform package for the loss-making State power distribution companies (DISCOMs). Its stated aim was their financial turnaround and revival.

• ✓ (d) States were to take over 75 per cent of DISCOM debt as on 30 September 2015 over two years, cutting the interest burden, while DISCOMs committed to reduce losses and costs.
• ✗ (b) Electrifying villages and households was the task of separate schemes such as the Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana, not UDAY, which dealt with the finances of distribution companies.
• ✗ (c) UDAY did not decide the fuel mix of power generation; it worked at the distribution end of the power sector.

Remember · UDAY (Nov 2015) = Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana: States take over 75% of DISCOM debt; DISCOMs cut losses. Target: financial turnaround of power distribution companies.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 2 only

PMFBY, approved by the Cabinet on 13 January 2016, fixed different farmer premiums by season and crop type (2% kharif, 1.5% rabi, 5% annual commercial and horticultural crops), so there is no single 2% rate for all crops. It did, however, extend post-harvest loss cover from cyclonic rain to unseasonal rain as well, across India.

• ✗ 1. The 2% rate applies only to kharif crops; rabi crops carry 1.5% and annual commercial or horticultural crops 5%, with the government paying the balance premium.
• ✓ 2. PIB's comparison table shows PMFBY covering post-harvest losses all over India for cyclonic and unseasonal rain, whereas the earlier modified scheme covered only cyclonic rain in coastal areas.

Remember · PMFBY (2016) farmer premium: kharif 2%, rabi 1.5%, commercial/horticultural 5%. Covers prevented sowing, localised risks and post-harvest losses (cyclone, unseasonal rain).

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2

Stand Up India, approved by the Union Cabinet on 6 January 2016 and launched on 5 April 2016, asks every bank branch to back at least one Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe borrower and at least one woman borrower for a new non-farm enterprise. Its support structure includes a refinance window through SIDBI (initially ₹10,000 crore) and credit guarantees through NCGTC, so both statements are correct.

• ✓ 1. The Cabinet approved the scheme specifically to promote entrepreneurship among SC/ST and women entrepreneurs, with bank loans of ₹10 lakh to ₹1 crore for greenfield enterprises.
• ✓ 2. The scheme provides a refinance window through the Small Industries Development Bank of India, with an initial amount of ₹10,000 crore.

Remember · Stand Up India (2016): loans of ₹10 lakh–₹1 crore to SC/ST and women for greenfield enterprises; SIDBI refinance, NCGTC credit guarantee, handholding support.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) immunization of children and pregnant women

Mission Indradhanush is the Health Ministry's catch-up vaccination drive, launched in December 2014 under the Universal Immunization Programme. It targets districts and pockets where many children are unvaccinated or partly vaccinated, and also vaccinates pregnant women, with the aim of raising full immunisation coverage of children to 90%.

• ✓ (a) In its first three phases the mission reached more than 2.1 crore children and also vaccinated 55.9 lakh pregnant women against tetanus (MoHFW).
• ✗ (b) Urban development of 100 cities is the Smart Cities Mission (2015) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
• ✗ (c) Indradhanush ('rainbow') refers to the several vaccine-preventable diseases the drive targets; it has no link to astronomy or exoplanet searches.

Remember · Mission Indradhanush (December 2014, MoHFW): intensified vaccination of unvaccinated/partly vaccinated children and pregnant women in low-coverage areas; goal of 90% full immunisation.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) production and use of solar energy by the households/consumers

Net metering lets a household or other consumer with a grid-connected rooftop solar system send its surplus power to the grid and offset it against the power it draws. A single two-way meter records both flows, and the consumer is billed (or credited) only for the net amount, which makes rooftop solar more attractive.

• ✓ (a) Under India's electricity consumer rules, solar energy exported by a 'prosumer' is deducted from energy imported, in kWh, through a single bidirectional meter at the point of supply.
• ✗ (b) Piped natural gas is metered by gas volume consumed; there is no export back to the network, so 'net' metering does not arise.
• ✗ (c) CNG kits in cars are about cleaner transport fuel and involve no electricity metering.

Remember · Net metering: one bidirectional meter; rooftop solar exports minus grid imports = net bill. Gross metering: generation and consumption billed separately at feed-in and retail tariffs.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 1 and 2 only

INSIMP was a sub-scheme of the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, launched in 2011-12 with Rs 300 crore for 16 States, to demonstrate improved millet production and post-harvest technologies in an integrated way. Millets are a small-farmer crop, so statements 1 and 2 hold; nothing in the official description makes it a scheme to move commercial-crop farmers into millets.

• ✓ 1. The Ministry's operational guidelines say the scheme aims to demonstrate improved production and post-harvest technologies in an integrated manner, that technical assistants are placed in production and post-harvest clusters, and that processing and value addition are meant to create consumer demand for millet foods. UPSC's key accepts the statement.
• ✓ 2. The guidelines note that small millets are taken up by resource-poor tribal farmers in remote areas, and millets in general sustain the livelihood of over 60% of small and marginal farmers (NAAS paper). UPSC's key accepts this.
• ✗ 3. The guidelines offer free demonstration kits of nutrients and plant-protection inputs (micro-nutrients, fungicides, bio-fertilizers, DAP, urea, potash, pesticides) for farmers in the millet units, up to 2 hectares each. The kits contain no micro-irrigation equipment, and nothing in the guidelines makes it an aim to pull farmers of commercial crops into millets.

Remember · INSIMP (2011-12): a Rs 300 crore sub-scheme of RKVY in 16 States to demonstrate millet production, post-harvest and value-addition technologies, mainly benefiting small farmers.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 2 only

A District Mineral Foundation (DMF) is a non-profit trust in a mining-affected district that works for the interest and benefit of the people and areas affected by mining, funded by contributions from miners. It does not promote exploration or license anyone, so only statement 2 is correct.

• ✗ 1. Detailed exploration is the job of a different body, the National Mineral Exploration Trust, created by the same 2015 law and funded by a 2% levy on royalty.
• ✓ 2. The DMF's object is to work for the interest and benefit of persons and areas affected by mining related operations; miners pay into it, up to one-third of the royalty.
• ✗ 3. A DMF is a welfare trust financed by miners' contributions; it is not a body that authorises States to issue licences.

Remember · DMF (MMDR Amendment Act, 2015): a non-profit trust in each mining-affected district; miners contribute up to one-third of royalty; funds PMKKKY. Exploration is NMET's job (2% of royalty).

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) providing affordable and quality education to the citizens for free

SWAYAM is the Government of India's online-course platform that takes teaching resources for classes 9 to post-graduation to anyone, anywhere, free of cost, with the aim of access, equity and quality in education. So option (d) fits.

• ✓ (d) SWAYAM's objective is to take the best teaching-learning resources to all, including the most disadvantaged; its courses are free of cost to any learner.
• ✗ (b) SWAYAM is an education platform, not a scheme of finance or technical help for start-up entrepreneurs.
• ✗ (a) It has nothing to do with organising Self Help Groups in rural areas; it hosts online courses.
• • Since then Courses on SWAYAM are still free to study, but a SWAYAM certificate now requires a proctored exam for which a fee is charged (SWAYAM website, 2026).

Remember · SWAYAM: Ministry of Education's free online-course (MOOC) platform for class 9 to post-graduation, built on the principles of access, equity and quality.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

Statements 1 and 3 are correct; statement 2 is wrong. Atal Pension Yojana gives a Government-guaranteed monthly pension after age 60 to subscribers, especially unorganised-sector workers, and the same pension continues to the spouse; but every eligible family member can join separately.

• ✓ 1. APY is a voluntary scheme with a guaranteed monthly pension of Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 from age 60, meant for all citizens but especially the poor and unorganised-sector workers.
• ✗ 2. One person can hold only one APY account, but all eligible family members aged 18 to 40 can open their own accounts.
• ✓ 3. After the subscriber's death, the spouse receives the same pension for life; after both have died, the accumulated pension wealth goes to the nominee.

Remember · Atal Pension Yojana: guaranteed Rs 1,000 to 5,000 a month from 60; spouse gets the same pension; one account per person, but every eligible family member may join.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

All three carry the BEE Star Label. In the Bureau of Energy Efficiency's 2016 list, tubular fluorescent lamps were under mandatory star labelling, while electric storage water heaters (geysers) and ceiling fans were under voluntary labelling.

• ✓ 1. Ceiling fans were covered by the BEE Star Label under the voluntary scheme.
• ✓ 2. Electric storage water heaters, that is, electric geysers, were covered under the voluntary scheme.
• ✓ 3. Tubular fluorescent lamps (tube lights) were labelled under the mandatory scheme.

Remember · BEE Star Label (Standards and Labelling programme, from 2006) rates appliances by energy efficiency; more stars mean less energy used. Fans, geysers and tube lights all carry it.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2

Both statements are correct. DigiLocker is a Government of India digital document wallet run under the Digital India programme, and because it is cloud-based, you can reach your documents from the web or a mobile app wherever you are.

• ✓ 1. DigiLocker is a flagship initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) under the Digital India programme.
• ✓ 2. It is a secure cloud-based platform for storing, sharing and verifying documents, accessible through the web portal and the mobile app, so no physical copies need to be carried.

Remember · DigiLocker = MeitY's cloud-based document wallet under Digital India; documents can be issued, stored, shared and verified digitally, from anywhere.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) Rajasthan

Rajasthan is the State that proposed an artificial inland shipping port at Jalore, to be linked to the Arabian Sea by a channel along the Kutch Creek. The Ministry of Shipping said in 2015 that a pre-feasibility study would be done by the Rajasthan Government with support from the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI).

• ✓ (d) The Press Information Bureau (13 August 2015) records a proposal from the Government of Rajasthan for an inland shipping port at Jalore, connected to the Arabian Sea by a channel along the Kutch Creek.
• ✗ (a) Andhra Pradesh has a long coastline and its own sea ports, so it needs no artificial channel to reach the sea.
• ✗ (b) Chhattisgarh is landlocked, but the government's inland-port proposal of 2015 came from Rajasthan, not Chhattisgarh.

Remember · Rajasthan's proposed Jalore inland port would be joined to the Arabian Sea by a channel along the Kutch Creek; a pre-feasibility study was agreed with IWAI in 2015.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error