RAS question
How many cities from Rajasthan were selected under the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) launched in 2015?
Correct answer: (C) 4 cities (Jaipur, Kota, Ajmer, and Udaipur).
Four cities from Rajasthan, namely Jaipur, Udaipur, Kota and Ajmer, were selected under the Smart Cities Mission.
Explanation
The answer is four because the official Rajasthan Economic Review 2024-25 states that Jaipur, Udaipur, Kota and Ajmer were selected for development as Smart Cities. This matters because the question asks for the total number of Rajasthan cities under the Smart Cities Mission, not only an early selection stage. Jaipur and Udaipur were in the first round, while Kota and Ajmer came in later rounds. Therefore, answers that stop at two or three cities undercount the official Rajasthan list. The Government of Rajasthan, Economic Review 2024-25, Directorate of Economics & Statistics places these Smart Cities within the broader urban infrastructure discussion, alongside projects such as water supply, smart roads, toilets, public transport and parking infrastructure.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Two cities is too low, and the pair given is also misleading because the first-round Rajasthan cities were Jaipur and Udaipur, while the official list contains four cities in all.
- (B) Three cities undercounts Rajasthan's Smart Cities because it omits Udaipur, which appears in the official list along with Jaipur, Kota and Ajmer.
- (D) Five cities overstates the count; the official Rajasthan list names only Jaipur, Udaipur, Kota and Ajmer.
Concept
This tests Rajasthan urban development schemes, especially the ability to distinguish total coverage under a scheme from round-wise selection details. It recurs in RAS because Smart Cities Mission facts connect geography, urbanisation and state infrastructure policy.