RAS question
NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) was established in the year:
Correct answer: (B) 1982.
NABARD was established on 12 July 1982 as India's apex institution for agricultural and rural credit.
Explanation
NABARD was established on 12 July 1982, so 1982 is the year asked in the question. Its creation followed the recommendations of the B. Sivaraman Committee (CRAFICARD), while NABARD's official Citizen's Charter confirms that the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development was established on that date by an Act of Parliament. NABARD's official Citizen's Charter describes it as a development bank mandated to provide and regulate credit and related facilities for agriculture, small-scale industries, cottage and village industries, handicrafts, other rural crafts and allied rural economic activities. NABARD is therefore the apex institution for agricultural and rural credit, with its head office at Mumbai.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) 1975 refers to the establishment of Regional Rural Banks, whereas NABARD itself was established on 12 July 1982.
- (C) 1990 is too late because NABARD had already been created on 12 July 1982 and was functioning before that year.
- (D) 2000 is incorrect because NABARD had been in existence for nearly two decades by then, after its 1982 establishment.
Concept
This tests rural credit institutions under Indian Economy, especially the chronology and mandate of development-finance bodies. It recurs in RAS because questions often combine an institution's year of establishment, role and headquarters.