RAS question
The minimum age to be eligible for Ayushman Vay Vandana Card is:
Correct answer: (C) 70 years.
The minimum eligible age for the Ayushman Vay Vandana Card is 70 years.
Explanation
Ayushman Vay Vandana Card eligibility begins at 70 years because the AB PM-JAY expansion covers all senior citizens aged 70 years and above. The PIB release states that senior citizens in this age group receive the card to avail healthcare benefits and that the card provides Rs 5 lakh free health cover irrespective of socio-economic status. This makes age, not income level, the decisive eligibility marker in the question. The source also repeats the operational phrasing as “senior citizens aged 70 or above” while describing registration, confirming that the threshold is 70 years and not any lower or higher senior-citizen age band.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) 60 years is a general senior-citizen age marker in many contexts, but the cited PIB release ties the Ayushman Vay Vandana Card specifically to senior citizens aged 70 years and above.
- (B) 65 years is not the eligibility threshold stated for this card; the source repeatedly uses 70 years and above as the covered age group.
- (D) 75 years sets the bar higher than the scheme does, since the PIB release says eligible senior citizens are those aged 70 or above.
Concept
This tests welfare-scheme eligibility under governance, especially whether a candidate can distinguish a scheme's exact beneficiary threshold from generic senior-citizen categories. RAS often asks such details because age, income and coverage conditions decide who actually receives a public benefit.