The Fit India Movement was launched on 29 August 2019. That date is observed in India as National Sports Day because it is the birth anniversary of:

Major Dhyan Chand, the hockey player

Pullela Gopichand, the badminton coach

Which of the following is NOT among the schemes listed on the portal of the Social Justice and Empowerment Department of Rajasthan (as read on 29 October 2026)?

Indira Gandhi Shahri Rozgar Guarantee Yojana

The portal of the Jan Aadhaar platform states that the Rajasthan Jan Aadhaar Authority functions under which department of the Government of Rajasthan?

Social Justice and Empowerment Department

A State scheme credits its benefit directly to the bank account of the woman head of a family, identified by a unique family identity, with no intermediary. Which delivery pattern is this, and which Rajasthan platform relaunched it in 2014?

Direct benefit transfer through the Bhamashah platform

In-kind service at a facility through the Indira Rasoi kitchens

Insurance cover through the Chiranjeevi scheme

Wage guarantee through the Mukhyamantri Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan

iStart Rajasthan, the start-up promotion programme of the Department of IT and Communications, is best classified as a State programme for:

subsidised cooked meals for the urban poor

pensions for the old and the widowed

free medicines at government hospitals

Welfare Schemes, Institutions, Sports and Science Policy of Rajasthan

This chapter answers the Prelims item “Major Welfare Schemes of Government of Rajasthan” and the current-affairs items on newly launched schemes, sports and the Science and Technology clause on key programmes and policies in Rajasthan; and, in the Mains, Paper I Unit II Part C (“Major Welfare Schemes of State Government” for SC, ST, backward classes, minorities, the disabled, the destitute, women, children and the old) and Paper III Unit I (key public welfare schemes; sports policies and key institutions of India and Rajasthan). This is the most perishable chapter in the module, so it teaches the pattern of schemes and each scheme’s launch year, never outlays or beneficiary counts. Names, years and lists were checked on 29 October 2026 against the state portals and standard references; schemes are renamed or merged often, so check the department’s current list before the exam.

1. How to learn schemes: the taxonomy

Every welfare scheme can be described by five questions: who is the target group, what is the benefit (cash transfer, in-kind service, insurance cover, wage guarantee, incentive tied to a milestone), which department runs it, how the benefit is delivered (direct benefit transfer through an identity such as Bhamashah or Jan Aadhaar, or service at a facility), and what is its legal basis (an executive scheme announced in the budget, or a statutory right under an Act, as with the national rural wage-employment law of 2005). A question that asks for a scheme is usually asking for one of these five answers plus the launch year.

Two habits protect you from stale facts. First, learn the year of launch and the domain, because those do not change when a scheme is renamed. Second, never memorise a rupee amount: outlays, slabs and beneficiary counts are revised in nearly every budget, and an examiner who needs one must give its date in the stem. Schemes are also merged and renamed after a change of government or a restructuring of health or food programmes, so a name that is correct in one year’s notes may be a closed scheme in the next.

⚠️ Name, year and department are three separate facts

Examiners swap scheme and year, or give a scheme the wrong department. Learn each scheme as a triple (domain, year, department) and check the triple in the department’s own scheme list.

2. Schemes by target group: the Social Justice and Empowerment portfolio

The syllabus asks for schemes for SC, ST and backward classes, minorities, the disabled, the destitute, women, children and the old. The department of Social Justice and Empowerment lists these schemes on its own portal: the social security pension scheme (Raj SSP), scholarships, Palanhar, Mukhyamantri Kanyadan, the inter-caste marriage scheme, atrocity prevention, hostels and the Rajasthan Residential Educational Institutions Society (RREIS) schools, the Mukhyamantri Anuprati coaching scheme and the Ambedkar DBT voucher scheme. The portal does not give start years, which is a reminder that the list is a snapshot.

Reading the portfolio by benefit type
Benefit type	Schemes on the portal	Who it serves
Recurring cash support	Social security pension (Raj SSP); Palanhar	Old, widowed and disabled persons (pension); children in need of care (Palanhar)
Education and skills	Scholarships; hostels and RREIS; Anuprati coaching	Students of eligible weaker sections
Marriage-linked assistance	Mukhyamantri Kanyadan; inter-caste marriage scheme	Girls of eligible families; couples in inter-caste marriages
Protection	Atrocity prevention	Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes

🎯 Why Palanhar and the pension sit together

Both are recurring transfers to people who cannot earn: the old, the widowed, the disabled and children left without a carer. The cash is paid in regular instalments, unlike a one-time marriage grant. This is the first sorting step in an exam answer: recurring support, one-time grant, education support, protection.

3. Identity and delivery: Bhamashah and Jan Aadhaar

Bhamashah Yojana, begun in 2008 and relaunched on 15 August 2014 in the form taught here, transfers the benefits of government schemes, financial and non-financial, directly to the family through the woman as head of the household, with the aim of empowering women. It created a family identity and a linked bank account, so that a benefit could be credited without an intermediary. Jan Aadhaar is the family-identity platform run by the Rajasthan Jan Aadhaar Authority under the Planning Department, as stated on its portal, which dates the Rajasthan Jan Aadhaar Yojana to 2019. Its services include enrolment, verification, e-card, e-KYC and integration with direct benefit transfer for state schemes.

💡 A family passbook for benefits

Think of the identity as a passbook. Each scheme is a different deposit, but the passbook number and the account are the same. Delivery through one identity reduces duplication and leakage, which is the examinable point.

⚠️ Do not give Jan Aadhaar the Bhamashah year

Bhamashah is 2014; the Jan Aadhaar portal dates Jan Aadhaar to 2019. They are separate years for separate platforms, even though one family identity serves both purposes.

4. Flagship schemes in health, food, water, girls and jobs

Flagship schemes by launch year (verify status before the exam)
Year	Scheme	Domain and benefit type
2011	Mukhyamantri Nishulk Dawa Yojana	Health; free medicines at government health facilities (in-kind service)
2014	Bhamashah Yojana	Delivery platform; direct benefit transfer through the woman head of the family
2016	Mukhyamantri Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan	Water self-reliance; village water conservation campaign
2016	Rajshri Yojana	Girl child; incentive tied to milestones in the girl’s life
2020	Indira Rasoi Yojana	Food; subsidised cooked meals through kitchens
2021	Mukhyamantri Chiranjeevi Swasthya Bima Yojana	Health; insurance cover for hospital treatment
2022	Indira Gandhi Shahri Rozgar Guarantee Yojana	Employment; an urban work guarantee in the pattern of the rural wage-employment law

Read the table as a map of policy drift. The 2011 scheme is a supply-side idea: make medicines free at the facility. Insurance in 2021 shifts to a demand-side idea: cover the bill at any empanelled hospital. Bhamashah in 2014 is plumbing, the delivery rail on which other benefits ride. Water, girls, food and urban jobs are the other four fronts. The employment guarantee of 2022 follows the central rural law (assent in 2005, in force from 2 February 2006) in giving work on demand, but it is an urban scheme of the State and not a statute passed by Parliament.

🧠 A chain for the years

11, 14, 16, 20, 21, 22: medicines, Bhamashah, water and girls, rasoi, insurance, urban jobs. Say it as a story of one family: free medicine, then an identity, then water and a daughter’s scheme, then a meal, then insurance, then a job.

⚠️ A renamed scheme is not a new scheme

Health-assurance and food schemes are the ones most often renamed, merged or restructured. If a question gives a new name, ask whether it continues an older scheme and use the original launch year only when the question asks about the original.

5. Science and technology: institutions and programmes in Rajasthan

Rajasthan’s science story follows its landscape: a desert, a long sun-drenched sky and the Chambal gorge. So its institutions cluster in three themes: arid-zone agriculture and animal science, nuclear and solar energy, and technical education and start-ups. Learn the institution, the town and the year together.

Science and technology landmarks
Landmark	Place	Fact
Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI)	Jodhpur	ICAR institute; present form 1959, traced to a Desert Afforestation Research Station of 1952
ICAR National Research Centre on Camel	Bikaner	Project Directorate on Camel set up in 1984 (upgraded to a National Research Centre in 1995); research on the desert animal
Rajasthan Atomic Power Station	Rawatbhata, on the Rana Pratap Sagar reservoir of the Chambal	Unit 1 entered commercial operation in December 1973 as a CANDU-type heavy-water reactor
Pokhran-I (Smiling Buddha)	Pokhran Test Range, Jaisalmer	18 May 1974; Pokhran-II followed in May 1998
Rajasthan Technical University	Kota	Set up by the State in 2006
Bhadla Solar Park	Bhadla, Phalodi tehsil	Initiated by the Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation; among the largest solar parks in India
iStart Rajasthan	State programme	Start-up promotion programme of the Department of IT and Communications

🎯 Why the desert and the Chambal host these

CAZRI and the camel centre exist because the Thar is a distinct research subject: arid farming, shifting sand and desert livestock. Rawatbhata sits on the Chambal because a reactor needs a large, reliable water source, and the Rana Pratap Sagar supplies cooling water. Bhadla follows the sun: the western desert has high solar radiation and wide flat land.

⚠️ Pokhran is a Rajasthan event, not a Rajasthan project

The 1974 and 1998 tests took place in Rajasthan but were national defence and atomic-energy undertakings. A question about the State’s own science policy will not key on them.

6. Sports: policy architecture and Rajasthan’s achievers

Sports policy has three layers. The national layer sets direction: the National Sports Policy of 2001, the Khelo India programme (its School Games began in January 2018) and the Fit India Movement, launched on 29 August 2019, National Sports Day, which falls on the birthday of the hockey wizard Major Dhyan Chand. The State layer is the Rajasthan State Sports Council, the apex State-level body for developing sports and coaching players. The third layer is the athlete who makes policy visible.

Rajasthan athletes the exam recalls
Athlete	Home	Achievement
Devendra Jhajharia	Sadulpur, Churu district	Paralympic javelin gold in 2004 (Athens) and 2016 (Rio), silver in 2020 (Tokyo); Padma Shri 2012, Padma Bhushan 2022
Avani Lekhara	Jaipur	Paralympic gold in 10 m air rifle SH1 at Tokyo 2020 and again at Paris 2024; Khel Ratna 2021; Padma Shri 2022
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore	Rajasthan	Olympic silver in double trap shooting at Athens 2004

⚠️ Gold, silver and the years

Jhajharia’s golds are 2004 and 2016; Tokyo 2020 was a silver. Lekhara’s two golds are 2020 (held in 2021) and 2024. Examiners shift a medal colour or a Games year.

7. Writing the Mains answer and keeping the list fresh

A Mains question on welfare schemes rewards structure over recall. Open with the constitutional or policy rationale (the State’s duty to protect weaker sections and to widen access to health, food and work). Then group the schemes by target group or benefit type, giving each scheme its launch year in a word or two. Close with the delivery problem: identification, leakage and duplication, which is why Bhamashah and Jan Aadhaar matter. Never quote an amount unless the question gives it.

Step 1: list the schemes on the department’s own portal and note any that have been closed, merged or renamed since you last read.
Step 2: for each scheme write the triple of domain, launch year and department; leave amounts blank.
Step 3: add any scheme announced in the latest State budget speech, with the date of the announcement.
Step 4: for sports and science, add the latest medals, awards and institutions with their year.

ℹ️ What this chapter does not claim

It does not give outlays, beneficiary numbers or the officeholders of any year, and it names only schemes whose year could be confirmed. A scheme missing here is not unimportant: add it through the routine above and file it under the same triple.

Key takeaways

Describe every scheme by target group, benefit, department, delivery and legal basis, and learn its launch year; never rupee outlays or beneficiary counts.
The Social Justice and Empowerment portfolio runs the pension, Palanhar, Kanyadan, scholarships, hostels and RREIS, coaching and atrocity-prevention schemes.
Bhamashah (2014) and Jan Aadhaar (2019 per its portal, under the Planning Department) are the identity and direct-transfer rails.
Flagship years: free medicines 2011, Bhamashah 2014, Jal Swavlamban and Rajshri 2016, Indira Rasoi 2020, Chiranjeevi 2021, urban employment guarantee 2022.
Science in Rajasthan: CAZRI Jodhpur (1959), camel centre Bikaner (project directorate 1984), Rawatbhata on the Chambal (unit 1, 1973), Pokhran tests (1974, 1998), Rajasthan Technical University Kota (2006).
Sports: national policy of 2001, Khelo India school games 2018, Fit India 2019, the Rajasthan State Sports Council, and the Paralympic record of Jhajharia and Lekhara.

Practice questions (16)

Attempt each one before opening the answer. Every explanation names the tempting wrong option as well as the right one, because that is where marks are lost.

The Bhamashah Yojana, which transfers the benefits of government schemes directly to the family through the woman as head of the household, was relaunched, in the form taught in this chapter, in the year:
1. 2011
2. 2014
3. 2016
4. 2019
Show answer
Answer: B — 2014
Bhamashah was relaunched in its present form in 2014 (it first began in 2008). The year 2019 is tempting because the Jan Aadhaar portal dates the Jan Aadhaar Yojana to 2019, but that is the later family-identity platform, not Bhamashah.
Arrange these Rajasthan schemes in order of launch year, earliest first:
P. Mukhyamantri Chiranjeevi Swasthya Bima Yojana;
Q. Bhamashah Yojana;
R. Mukhyamantri Nishulk Dawa Yojana;
S. Mukhyamantri Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan.
1. Q, R, S, P
2. R, Q, S, P
3. R, S, Q, P
4. R, Q, P, S
Show answer
Answer: B — R, Q, S, P
Free medicines began in 2011, Bhamashah in 2014, Jal Swavlamban in 2016 and Chiranjeevi in 2021. The order that puts Bhamashah first ignores that the medicine scheme is three years older.
Match each Rajasthan scheme with its domain. P: Mukhyamantri Nishulk Dawa Yojana. Q: Indira Rasoi Yojana. R: Rajshri Yojana. S: Mukhyamantri Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan. Domains:
I. free medicines at government health facilities;
II. subsidised cooked meals;
III. incentives for the girl child;
IV. village water conservation.
1. P-I, Q-II, R-III, S-IV
2. P-II, Q-I, R-III, S-IV
3. P-I, Q-III, R-II, S-IV
4. P-I, Q-II, R-IV, S-III
Show answer
Answer: A — P-I, Q-II, R-III, S-IV
The medicine scheme is free drugs, Indira Rasoi is meals, Rajshri is girl-child incentives and Jal Swavlamban is water. The alternatives swap two adjacent domains, for example meals with medicines.
The Central Arid Zone Research Institute, an institute of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research for arid-zone farming, is located in:
1. Bikaner
2. Jaisalmer
3. Jodhpur
4. Barmer
Show answer
Answer: C — Jodhpur
CAZRI is at Jodhpur; its present form dates from 1959. Bikaner is tempting because it hosts the National Research Centre on Camel, a different institution.
Arrange in order of date, earliest first:
P. Pokhran-I, the nuclear test of 18 May 1974;
Q. the Central Arid Zone Research Institute taking its present form (1959);
R. Unit 1 of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station entering commercial operation (December 1973);
S. Pokhran-II (May 1998).
1. Q, P, R, S
2. R, Q, P, S
3. Q, R, S, P
4. Q, R, P, S
Show answer
Answer: D — Q, R, P, S
The order is 1959, December 1973, May 1974, May 1998. The reactor unit came into commercial operation just before Pokhran-I, so the order that puts Pokhran-I before it is wrong.
The Rajasthan Atomic Power Station at Rawatbhata draws its cooling water from the Rana Pratap Sagar reservoir on which river?
1. Banas
2. Chambal
3. Mahi
4. Luni
Show answer
Answer: B — Chambal
The station stands on the Chambal at the Rana Pratap Sagar. The Banas is a tributary of the Chambal and the Mahi flows in southern Rajasthan, but neither supplies this station.
Consider the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station. P: It is located at Rawatbhata and uses the Rana Pratap Sagar reservoir. Q: Its Unit 1 entered commercial operation in December 1973. R: Its Unit 1 is a CANDU-type heavy-water reactor. S: It stands on the banks of the Luni river. Which statements are correct?
1. P and Q only
2. Q and S only
3. P, Q and R only
4. P, R and S only
Show answer
Answer: C — P, Q and R only
P, Q and R are correct. S is wrong because the station is on the Chambal, not the Luni. The choice with only P and Q is incomplete because it leaves out the CANDU reactor type of Unit 1.
India’s first nuclear test, code-named Smiling Buddha, was conducted on 18 May 1974 at the Pokhran Test Range, which lies in which present-day district of Rajasthan?
1. Jodhpur
2. Bikaner
3. Barmer
4. Jaisalmer
Show answer
Answer: D — Jaisalmer
The Pokhran range lies in Jaisalmer district. Jodhpur is the nearest large city and the commonest wrong guess, but Pokhran town and the range are in Jaisalmer.
Match each institution with its city. P: Central Arid Zone Research Institute. Q: ICAR National Research Centre on Camel. R: Malaviya National Institute of Technology. S: Rajasthan Technical University. Cities:
I. Jodhpur;
II. Bikaner;
III. Jaipur;
IV. Kota.
1. P-II, Q-I, R-III, S-IV
2. P-I, Q-II, R-IV, S-III
3. P-I, Q-II, R-III, S-IV
4. P-III, Q-II, R-I, S-IV
Show answer
Answer: C — P-I, Q-II, R-III, S-IV
CAZRI is at Jodhpur, the camel centre at Bikaner, MNIT at Jaipur and the technical university at Kota. Swapping Jodhpur with Bikaner or Jaipur with Kota gives the common wrong pairings.
Devendra Jhajharia of Churu district won the Paralympic javelin gold medal at which pair of Games?
1. Athens 2004 and Rio 2016
2. Beijing 2008 and London 2012
3. London 2012 and Rio 2016
4. Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020
Show answer
Answer: A — Athens 2004 and Rio 2016
His golds came at Athens in 2004 and Rio in 2016; at Tokyo 2020 he won silver. The Rio-and-Tokyo pairing is the tempting error because he medalled at both, but the Tokyo medal was silver.
Consider these statements about Rajasthan’s athletes. P: Avani Lekhara of Jaipur won Paralympic gold in the 10 m air rifle SH1 event at Tokyo 2020. Q: Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won an Olympic silver in double trap shooting at Athens 2004. R: Devendra Jhajharia is from Churu district. S: Devendra Jhajharia won the Paralympic javelin gold at Tokyo 2020. Which are correct?
1. P, Q and S only
2. Q, R and S only
3. P and R only
4. P, Q and R only
Show answer
Answer: D — P, Q and R only
P, Q and R are correct. S is wrong because Jhajharia’s Tokyo 2020 medal was silver; his golds were in 2004 and 2016. The choice with only P and R drops the correct statement about Rathore.
The Fit India Movement was launched on 29 August 2019. That date is observed in India as National Sports Day because it is the birth anniversary of:
1. Milkha Singh, the sprinter
2. Major Dhyan Chand, the hockey player
3. Pullela Gopichand, the badminton coach
4. Kapil Dev, the cricketer
Show answer
Answer: B — Major Dhyan Chand, the hockey player
National Sports Day marks the birthday of Major Dhyan Chand on 29 August. Milkha Singh is a famous athlete, but his birthday does not set the date.
Which of the following is NOT among the schemes listed on the portal of the Social Justice and Empowerment Department of Rajasthan (as read on 29 October 2026)?
1. Palanhar Scheme
2. Mukhyamantri Anuprati Coaching Scheme
3. Mukhyamantri Kanyadan Scheme
4. Indira Gandhi Shahri Rozgar Guarantee Yojana
Show answer
Answer: D — Indira Gandhi Shahri Rozgar Guarantee Yojana
The portal lists Palanhar, Kanyadan and Anuprati coaching among its schemes. The urban employment guarantee belongs to the employment portfolio, not to Social Justice and Empowerment.
The portal of the Jan Aadhaar platform states that the Rajasthan Jan Aadhaar Authority functions under which department of the Government of Rajasthan?
1. Finance Department
2. Planning Department
3. Social Justice and Empowerment Department
4. Revenue Department
Show answer
Answer: B — Planning Department
The portal places the authority under the Planning Department. Finance is the common wrong guess because the platform handles benefit transfers, but the administrative home is planning.
A State scheme credits its benefit directly to the bank account of the woman head of a family, identified by a unique family identity, with no intermediary. Which delivery pattern is this, and which Rajasthan platform relaunched it in 2014?
1. Direct benefit transfer through the Bhamashah platform
2. In-kind service at a facility through the Indira Rasoi kitchens
3. Insurance cover through the Chiranjeevi scheme
4. Wage guarantee through the Mukhyamantri Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan
Show answer
Answer: A — Direct benefit transfer through the Bhamashah platform
Credit to the woman head’s account through a family identity is direct benefit transfer, which Bhamashah relaunched in 2014. Indira Rasoi serves meals, Chiranjeevi is insurance and Jal Swavlamban is a water campaign, so none matches the description.
iStart Rajasthan, the start-up promotion programme of the Department of IT and Communications, is best classified as a State programme for:
1. promoting start-up enterprises
2. subsidised cooked meals for the urban poor
3. pensions for the old and the widowed
4. free medicines at government hospitals
Show answer
Answer: A — promoting start-up enterprises
iStart Rajasthan is a start-up promotion programme and so belongs with science, technology and enterprise policy. The other options are the domains of the food, pension and medicine schemes.