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Indian Economy

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high importance~2 Q in Tier 16 formulas⚡ 19 shortcuts8 subtopics
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Subtopic 7 of 8·← Taxation and GST·Regulators, exchanges and international organisations →

Government schemes and missions

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Flagship schemes (launch year — ministry — key fact)

SchemeLaunchKey fact
PM Jan Dhan Yojana2014Financial inclusion; zero-balance accounts
Make in India / Skill India2014Manufacturing/employability push
Beti Bachao Beti Padhao2015Women & child development + HRD + HUA (Panipat launch)
Atal Pension Yojana / Sukanya Samriddhi2015Pension for unorganised; girl-child savings
MUDRA Yojana2015Loans up to ₹10 lakh (Tarun Plus ₹20 lakh since Oct 2024)
PMAY (Urban)2015Housing for all
Ujjwala Yojana2016Free LPG connections to poor women
PM-KISAN2019₹6,000/year to farmer families (Agriculture Ministry)
Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY2018₹5 lakh/family health cover; Vay Vandana covers all 70+ (2024)
PM SVANidhi2020Working-capital loans for street vendors
PLI Schemes202014 sectors, production-linked incentives
PM Vishwakarma2023Support for 18 traditional trades
Namo Drone Didi / Lakhpati Didi2023Drones to women SHGs; ₹1 lakh+ annual income goal
PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli2024Rooftop solar; up to 300 free units/month
VB-G RAM G2025 Act, live 1 Jul 2026Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar & Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) — replaces MGNREGA; guarantee raised 100 → 125 days; weekly wages

Budget 2026-27 additions

Biopharma SHAKTI (₹10,000 cr), Semiconductor Mission 2.0, Infrastructure Risk Guarantee Fund, SME Growth Fund (₹10,000 cr), City Economic Regions, five-part textile programme (incl. Samarth 2.0), Rare Earth corridors (Odisha, Kerala, AP, TN).

📖 Notes🧩 5 question types🎯 15 practice Q

Detailed notes

Reading a scheme question

Every scheme question tests four hooks: launch year, ministry, benefit/eligibility, and purpose. Learn them as one line each; the exam never asks beyond these. Monthly 'new scheme' news changes, but the flagships below are permanent fixtures of SSC/Railway/Banking papers.

Livelihood and employment

  • MGNREGA (Act 2005, operational 2006): 100 days of guaranteed wage employment per rural household — replaced by VB-G RAM G from 1 July 2026, raising the guarantee to 125 days a year with weekly wage payments.
  • DAY-NRLM (2011): rural livelihoods through women's self-help groups; urban twin DAY-NULM (2014).
  • PM SVANidhi (2020): working-capital loans for street vendors.
  • Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana umbrella covers both livelihood missions (Ministry of Rural Development / MoHUA).

Financial inclusion and credit

  • PM Jan Dhan Yojana — launched 28 August 2014: zero-balance bank accounts, RuPay card, overdraft facility; the world's largest financial-inclusion drive.
  • MUDRA Yojana (8 April 2015): collateral-free micro-loans in three tiers — Shishu (up to ₹50,000), Kishor (₹50,000-5 lakh), Tarun (₹5-10 lakh).
  • Atal Pension Yojana (2015): guaranteed pension for unorganised workers aged 18-40.
  • PMSBY (accident insurance, ₹20/year, cover ₹2 lakh) and PMJJBY (life insurance) — the two Jan Suraksha schemes.

Agriculture and rural

  • PM-KISAN (Feb 2019): ₹6,000 a year to landholding farmer families, paid in three DBT instalments.
  • PM Fasal Bima Yojana (2016): subsidised crop insurance; e-NAM (2016): unified electronic mandi.
  • Kisan Credit Card (1998): short-term crop credit; PM-KUSUM: solar pumps for farmers.

Health, water, housing, fuel

  • Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY (23 September 2018): health cover of ₹5 lakh per family a year for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation; ABHA is its digital health-ID arm, with the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (September 2021) building the health stack.
  • Jal Jeevan Mission (August 2019, 'Har Ghar Jal'): functional household tap connections.
  • Swachh Bharat Mission (2 October 2014): sanitation and ODF drive; POSHAN Abhiyaan (2018): nutrition mission under the WCD ministry.
  • PM Awas Yojana (urban 2015; Gramin 2016): pucca houses; PM Ujjwala Yojana (1 May 2016): free LPG connections to women of poor households.

Industry and skills

  • Make in India (25 September 2014); Startup India (16 January 2016, DPIIT recognition and tax holidays); Skill India / PMKVY (2015); Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes (2020); PM Gati Shakti (October 2021) national infrastructure master plan; UDAN (2016) regional air connectivity.

Quick revision

  • VB-G RAM G (1 July 2026): 125 days, weekly wages — replaced MGNREGA.
  • Jan Dhan 28-8-2014; MUDRA 8-4-2015 (Shishu/Kishor/Tarun); APY 2015; PMSBY/PMJJBY insurance.
  • PM-KISAN ₹6,000/yr in 3 instalments (2019); Fasal Bima 2016; KCC 1998.
  • Ayushman PM-JAY ₹5 lakh/family (2018); JJM 2019; SBM 2-10-2014; Ujjwala 1-5-2016; PMAY 2015/16.
  • Make in India 25-9-2014; Startup India 16-1-2016; Gati Shakti 2021; PLI 2020.

Types of questions asked

Every way this subtopic shows up in exams — how to recognise it, the formula or logic to use, and a solved example.

Type 1: Scheme ↔ ministry ↔ launch yearvery common3 practice Q
How to spot it:

'X scheme was launched in which year', 'which ministry runs X', matching schemes with 2014-2021 launch dates.

  1. Pin the dates: SBM 2-10-2014; Jan Dhan 28-8-2014; MUDRA 8-4-2015; Startup 16-1-2016; JJM 2019; PM-KISAN 2019; Gati Shakti 2021.
  2. Ministry pairs: PMAY-U/Day-NULM/SVANidhi — MoHUA; NRLM/NREGA-line — Rural Development; POSHAN — WCD; UDAN — Civil Aviation.
  3. Anchor on the year first; the ministry usually follows from the scheme's subject.

Example: Startup India was launched in —

January 2016 (16 January) — DPIIT recognition, tax holidays and a fund-of-funds for startups.

Type 2: Scheme ↔ benefit ↔ eligibilityvery common3 practice Q
How to spot it:

'₹6,000 a year is paid under', '₹5 lakh health cover belongs to', matching the benefit figure with the right scheme.

  1. Money anchors: PM-KISAN ₹6,000/yr (3 instalments); PM-JAY ₹5 lakh/family/yr; MUDRA tiers ₹50k / ₹5 lakh / ₹10 lakh; APY 18-40 age window.
  2. PMSBY = accident cover ₹20/yr; PMJJBY = life cover; both ₹2 lakh protection.
  3. Match the rupee figure or the age/eligibility first — it eliminates three options at once.

Example: A guaranteed ₹6,000 per year to landholding farmer families is paid under —

PM-KISAN (2019) — direct benefit transfer in three instalments.

Type 3: Employment and livelihood schemescommon2 practice Q
How to spot it:

'How many days of employment does X guarantee', 'which scheme replaced MGNREGA', statements on NRLM self-help groups or SVANidhi vendors.

  1. The wage-employment line: MGNREGA (2005 Act, 100 days) → VB-G RAM G from 1 July 2026, 125 days, weekly wages.
  2. Livelihood line: DAY-NRLM (2011) builds women SHGs in villages; DAY-NULM (2014) covers urban livelihoods.
  3. PM SVANidhi (2020) = street vendors' collateral-free working capital.

Example: The rural employment guarantee that replaced MGNREGA from 1 July 2026 is —

VB-G RAM G — it lifted the guaranteed days per rural household per year to 125 and moved wages to weekly payment.

Type 4: Financial inclusion schemescommon3 practice Q
How to spot it:

'Zero-balance accounts under', 'Shishu-Kishor-Tarun belong to', which scheme insures against accidents for ₹20 a year.

  1. Jan Dhan (28-8-2014) = accounts + RuPay + overdraft; the flagship of financial inclusion.
  2. MUDRA (8-4-2015) tiers: Shishu ≤ ₹50,000; Kishor ₹50,000-5 lakh; Tarun ₹5-10 lakh — collateral-free micro-credit.
  3. APY = pension for 18-40 unorganised workers; PMSBY = ₹2 lakh accident cover at ₹20/year.

Example: The MUDRA loan categories Shishu, Kishor and Tarun refer to —

Collateral-free micro-loan sizes: up to ₹50,000, ₹50,000-5 lakh and ₹5-10 lakh respectively.

Type 5: Health, water, housing and fuel schemesvery common3 practice Q
How to spot it:

'Har Ghar Jal belongs to', 'the LPG connection scheme is', '₹5 lakh hospitalisation cover', matching social-sector schemes with purposes.

  1. Health: PM-JAY ₹5 lakh/family (2018); digital arm ABDM (2021) with ABHA IDs.
  2. Water and sanitation: JJM 2019 (tap connections); SBM 2-10-2014 (toilets/ODF).
  3. Housing and fuel: PMAY (2015 urban / 2016 rural); Ujjwala 1-5-2016 (free LPG to women).

Example: 'Har Ghar Jal' — functional tap water connections to every rural household — is the goal of —

Jal Jeevan Mission, launched in August 2019 under the Jal Shakti ministry.

Shortcut tricks

⚡ Launch-year clusters

2014: Jan Dhan, Make in India • 2015: BBBP, APY, MUDRA, PMAY • 2016: Ujjwala • 2018: Ayushman • 2019: KISAN • 2020: SVANidhi, PLI • 2023: Vishwakarma, Drone Didi • 2024: Surya Ghar • 2026: VB-G RAM G live (125 days).

Example: Which scheme gives ₹6,000 a year to farmers?

PM-KISAN (2019, Agriculture Ministry).

⚡ MGNREGA → RAM G swap

100 → 125 days; 15-day → weekly wages; Act of 2025, in force 1 July 2026.

Example: From when does VB-G RAM G apply?

1 July 2026.

Where students lose marks

  • Attaching Ayushman Bharat to the Health Ministry alone — PM-JAY sits with Health, but BBBP is a three-ministry convergence.

  • Recalling MUDRA's ₹10 lakh limit but missing Tarun Plus (₹20 lakh, Oct 2024).

  • Believing MGNREGA still runs — it is replaced by VB-G RAM G from 1 July 2026.

Practice sets — 15 questions

Sets of 10, mixed across the question types above. Each answer comes with a step-by-step explanation.

Topic test · 10 questions

Suggested time 4 min · wrong answers go to your mistake notebook automatically.