RAS question
How many Ayushman Vay Vandana cards were issued by December 31, 2025?
Correct answer: (C) Over 96 lakh.
By 31 December 2025, more than 96.73 lakh Ayushman Vay Vandana cards had been created across all States and Union Territories.
Explanation
The figure to remember is not a rounded milestone such as 25 lakh or 50 lakh, but the official nationwide count reported by the Press Information Bureau: more than 96.73 lakh Ayushman Vay Vandana cards had been created across all States and Union Territories as on 31.12.2025. The same release places the card within AB-PMJAY, which provides health coverage of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation. It also states that the scheme was expanded in October 2024 to cover senior citizens aged 70 years and above, irrespective of socio-economic status, through the Ayushman Vay Vandana card. That is why option C best matches the official count.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) 25 lakh is far below the officially reported count of more than 96.73 lakh cards as on 31 December 2025.
- (B) 50 lakh understates the PIB figure, which says more than 96.73 lakh Ayushman Vay Vandana cards had been created nationwide.
- (D) 1.5 crore overstates the reported card count; the cited figure is over 96.73 lakh, not 150 lakh.
Concept
This tests welfare-scheme implementation data under Indian Constitution and Governance, especially the ability to connect a government health scheme with its officially reported coverage figure. Such figures recur in RAS because governance questions often ask for precise, source-backed outcomes rather than only scheme names.