RAS question
Under PMGSY (Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana), what is the minimum population threshold for a habitation in plain areas to be eligible for an all-weather road?
Correct answer: (B) 500.
Under PMGSY, a habitation in a plain area needs a minimum population of 500 persons to be eligible for all-weather road connectivity.
Explanation
PMGSY, launched in 2000, uses population thresholds to decide which rural habitations qualify for all-weather road connectivity. For plain areas, the eligibility threshold is 500 persons, so a habitation must meet that minimum to be covered under the standard rule. The 250-person threshold applies only to harder-to-reach categories such as hilly, tribal, desert and Left-Wing Extremism affected areas. The logic is that these regions need a lower cut-off because remoteness and terrain can otherwise leave smaller habitations outside the connectivity net. Since the question specifically asks about plain areas, the applicable PMGSY threshold is 500, not the relaxed 250 figure.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) 250 is the relaxed threshold for hilly, tribal, desert and Left-Wing Extremism affected areas, not the standard threshold for plain areas.
- (C) 1000 is not the PMGSY threshold for plain-area habitations; the rule asked here is 500 persons.
- (D) 300 is not a specified PMGSY threshold in the given eligibility rule; plain areas use 500 persons.
Concept
This tests rural infrastructure scheme eligibility, especially how PMGSY applies different population thresholds by area type. It recurs in RAS because Rajasthan questions often turn on separating the plain-area rule from the relaxed desert-area rule.