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The correct answer is Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana.

Key Points

• Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana was launched in 1999 to provide self-employment opportunities to rural poor and bring assisted families above the poverty line within three years.
• This Yojana is a program that is implemented by commercial banks, cooperative banks, and regional banks and is overseen by the federal government and state governments in a 75:25 ratio.
• As the name implies, the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana primarily targets low-income households or groups - referred to as "Swarrozgars" in the local vernacular.
• It aims to generate revenue and jobs in order to assist people in rising beyond the poverty line.

Additional Information

• Gramin Udyami Yojana is also known as Rural Entrepreneurship Development Programme.
• It was launched in 1995 to provide self-employment opportunities to rural artisans and unemployed youth.
• Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Yojana was launched in 1993.
• It aimed to provide employment opportunities to the urban and rural unemployed youth.
• Garib Kalyan Rozgar Yojana was launched in 2020.
• It aimed to provide employment opportunities to migrant workers who returned to their home states during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The correct answer is Social cohesiveness.

Key Points

• Caste is a hereditary endogamous group with a shared name, common traditional employment, common culture, generally restrictive mobility, the distinction of status, and creating a single homogeneous society.
• In India, the caste system is primarily associated with Hinduism and has dominated Hindu society for thousands of years. The following are some of the characteristics of India's caste system:
• Societal Segmentation: The society is divided into numerous tiny social groups known as castes. Each of these castes is a well-developed social group whose membership is defined by birth considerations.
• Hierarchy: Castes teach us a fundamental social principle of hierarchy, according to Louis Dumont. The Brahmin caste is at the apex of this structure, and the untouchable caste is at the bottom. In the middle are the intermediate castes, whose relative standing is not always evident.
• Endogamy: The main characteristic of caste is endogamy, which means that members of a caste or sub-caste should marry within their own caste or sub-caste. The breaking of the endogamy rule would result in ostracism and caste loss. However, hypergamy (women marrying someone of higher caste or social rank) and hypogamy (marriage with someone of lower social status) were both prevalent. Each caste also maintains gotra exogamy.
• Hereditary status and occupation: Megasthenes, a Greek explorer to India around 300 B.C., describes hereditary occupation as one of two aspects of the caste system, the other being endogamy.
• The Purity and Pollution Concepts: The higher castes claimed ritual, spiritual, and racial purity, which they upheld by keeping the lower castes at bay with the ruse of contamination. The concept of pollution implies that a touch from a lower caste man will pollute or dirty a guy from a higher caste. Even his shadow is thought to taint a higher caste man.

The correct answer is 25.70%.

Key Points

• The definition of the poverty line include a combination of calorie intake and income/expenditure.
• The Tendulkar Committee (2009) recommended for estimating the poverty line based on consumption expenditure.
• The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) conducts surveys.
• These figures help in the allocation of schemes like MGNREGA, PDS, and other direct cash transfer schemes.

Additional Information

• The Census of 2011, which was the 15^th in this series and the 7^th after independence.
• The sex ratio was found to be 940 females for every 1000 males.
• Major religious groups included Hindus (79.8%), Muslims (14.2%), Christians (2.3%), Sikhs (1.7%), Buddhists (0.7%), and others.
• Scheduled Castes comprised about 16.6% of the population, while Scheduled Tribes made up about 8.6%.

The correct answer is - Control over land

Key Points

• Control over land
• In discussions about agrarian stratification, the primary determinant is the control and ownership of land.
• Land is the most critical resource in agrarian economies, dictating the social and economic hierarchy in rural areas.
• Those with significant control over land often hold dominant positions in terms of power, wealth, and social influence.
• The degree of land ownership determines access to resources, agricultural productivity, and the ability to generate wealth, making it a central factor in rural stratification.

Additional Information

• Dominant caste
• While caste plays a role in rural stratification, it is often intertwined with land ownership, as dominant castes typically control the majority of agricultural land.
• However, caste alone does not fully explain agrarian stratification without considering economic factors like land ownership.
• Land alienation
• This refers to the process by which marginalized communities lose access to their land, often due to indebtedness or coercion.
• Although it is a consequence of agrarian stratification, it is not a defining factor but rather an outcome of unequal land control.
• Rural poverty
• Poverty in rural areas is often a result of limited access to land and resources.
• It is an effect of agrarian stratification rather than a primary indicator.

The correct answer is option 1

1) Alleviating rural poverty through development of sustainable community institutions of the poor

Key PointsThe Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) was launched by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, to reduce rural poverty. Its objectives include:

1. Main Objective (Correct Statement):

• To alleviate rural poverty by promoting the development of sustainable and self-managed community institutions of the poor, such as Self-Help Groups (SHGs). These institutions work towards increasing the income and improving the quality of life of rural poor households.

2. To eradicate poverty among SC and ST classes:

• This is not the sole objective. While the program focuses on inclusive development, it covers all rural poor, not just SC and ST communities. Special emphasis is given to socially excluded groups, but the program is not exclusively for SCs and STs.

3. Providing employment to rural women:

• While DAY-NRLM promotes livelihoods for rural poor women through SHGs, skill development, and entrepreneurship, employment provision is not its specific objective.

4. Providing food grains to rural women at subsidized rates:

• This is incorrect. The scheme does not involve the distribution of food grains. Subsidized food grains fall under schemes like the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and Public Distribution System (PDS).

The correct answer is Option 4.

Key Points

• The caste system is a distinct Indian social institution that legitimises and enforces practices of discrimination against people born into particular castes.
• India's caste system is among the world's oldest forms of surviving social stratification. The caste system divides Hindus into four main categories - Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and the Shudras.
• Historically, the caste system classified people by their occupation and status.
• Every caste was associated with an occupation, which meant that persons born into a particular caste were also ‘born into’ the occupation associated with their caste – they had no choice.
• Each caste also had a specific place in the hierarchy of social status. In strict scriptural terms, social and economic status were supposed to be sharply separated. However, in actual historical practice economic and social status tended to coincide. There was thus a fairly close correlation between social (i.e. caste) status and economic status – the ‘high’ castes were almost invariably of high economic status, while the ‘low’ castes were almost always of low economic status.

Additional Information The most commonly cited defining features of caste are the following:

• Caste is determined by birth – a child is “born into” the caste of its parents. Caste is never a matter of choice. One can never change one’s caste, leave it, or choose not to join it, although there are instances where a person may be expelled from their caste.
• Membership in a caste involves strict rules about marriage. Caste groups are “endogamous”, i.e. marriage is restricted to members of the group.
• Caste membership also involves rules about food and food-sharing. What kinds of food may or may not be eaten is prescribed and who one may share food with is also specified.
• Caste involves a system consisting of many castes arranged in a hierarchy of rank and status. In theory, every person has a caste, and every caste has a specified place in the hierarchy of all castes. While the hierarchical position of many castes, particularly in the middle ranks, may vary from region to region, there is always a hierarchy.
• Castes also involve sub-divisions within themselves, i.e., castes almost always have sub-castes and sometimes sub-castes may also have subsub-castes. This is referred to as a segmental organisation.
• Castes were traditionally linked to occupations. A person born into a caste could only practice the occupation associated with that caste, so that occupations were hereditary, i.e. passed on from generation to generation.

The Correct Answer is Maharashtra.

In News

• Maha cabinet grants agricultural status to livestock farming.

Key Points

• Maharashtra is the first Indian state to grant agricultural status to livestock and poultry farming.
• The policy brings animal husbandry farmers at par with crop cultivators.
• It will benefit over 3.7 crore (37 million) farmers across the state.
• Farmers in livestock will now get agricultural electricity tariffs, which are cheaper.
• They will also be eligible for loans and subsidies meant for agriculture.
• Institutional credit facilities like the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) will now apply to them.
• The sectors covered include dairy, poultry, fisheries, and small ruminant farming.

The Correct answer is Achieving status as a developed nation (Viksit Bharat).

Key Points

• India's vision for 2047, as outlined in the Economic Survey 2024, revolves around achieving the status of a developed nation, also referred to as Viksit Bharat.
• A developed nation is characterized by high levels of industrialization, infrastructure, per capita income, and a high Human Development Index (HDI).
• This goal entails significant improvements in areas such as healthcare, education, infrastructure, sustainability, and inclusive economic growth.
• India's aspirations align with the broader framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), emphasizing poverty alleviation, quality education, gender equality, and climate action.
• The government has implemented various policies and initiatives, such as Make in India, Digital India, and Gati Shakti, to accelerate progress toward this vision.
• Achieving this status also requires fostering innovation, enhancing manufacturing capabilities, and boosting global competitiveness.
• The year 2047 marks the centenary of India's independence, making this vision a symbolic and strategic milestone.

Additional Information

• Doubling per capita income
• Per capita income is a critical indicator of economic growth, representing the average income earned per person in a given region.
• While doubling per capita income is an important economic target, it is a subset of the broader goal of achieving developed nation status.
• Reaching zero poverty
• Poverty eradication is a crucial component of development, directly impacting quality of life, education, and healthcare.
• Though reaching zero poverty is a highly ambitious and essential goal, it forms part of the larger framework of becoming a developed nation.
• Complete rural electrification
• Rural electrification enhances the standard of living in villages by enabling access to education, healthcare, and economic activities.
• India has made significant progress in this area, particularly through programs like the Saubhagya Scheme, but this is only one aspect of the larger developmental vision.

The correct answer is option 2, i.e. 2^nd October 2014.

Key Points

• Swachh Bharat Mission was launched on October 2, 2014.
• The scheme aimed to achieve a clean and open defecation free India.
• It is implemented by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
• It seeks to improve the level of cleanliness in rural areas by solid and liquid waste management activities.
• It is working towards making gram panchayats open defecation free, clean, and sanitized.
• More than 10 crore individual toilets have been constructed since the launch of the mission.

Self-help Groups (SHGs)

• A self-help group is a financial intermediary committee usually composed of 10 to 25 local women between the ages of 18 and 40. Most self-help groups are in India, though they can be found in other countries, especially in South Asia and Southeast Asia.

• Self-help Groups (SHGs) are informal associations of people who come together to find ways to improve their living conditions.

• NABARD is a Development Bank with a mandate for providing and regulating credit and other facilities for the promotion and development of agriculture, small-scale industries, cottage and village industries, handicrafts and other rural crafts, and other allied economic activities in rural areas with a view to promoting integrated rural development and securing prosperity of rural areas, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

• A major effort to provide banking services to the weaker and unorganized sector was the Bank Self Help Group Linkage Programme that was launched in the early 1990s. The program was started at the initiative of NABARD in 1992 to link the unorganized sector with the formal banking sector.

• State Bank of India is an Indian multinational, public sector banking and financial services statutory body headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

• Regional Rural Banks (RRB's) were established under the provisions of an Ordinance promulgated on the 26^th September 1975 and the RRB Act, 1976 with an objective to ensure sufficient institutional credit for agriculture and other rural sectors.

• The Reserve Bank of India is India's central bank and regulatory body under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is responsible for the issue and supply of the Indian rupee and the regulation of the Indian banking system.

Self Help Group (SHG) Bank Linkage program was first launched by NABARD. Therefore option 2 is the correct answer.