RAS question
Van Bandhu Kalyan Yojana, a scheme for comprehensive tribal development, was launched by the Central Government in which year?
Correct answer: (B) 2014.
Van Bandhu Kalyan Yojana was formally launched for implementation by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs on 28 October 2014.
Explanation
Van Bandhu Kalyan Yojana belongs to 2014, not to any later welfare cycle. The PIB release from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs states that the scheme was included as a Central Sector Scheme in the Ministry's Annual Plan for 2014-15 and was formally launched for implementation on 28 October 2014. Its design was not a narrow grant programme: it aimed at overall development of tribal people through an outcome-based approach, using convergence of Central and State schemes under Tribal Sub-Plans. The listed development focus included employment, education, health, housing, safe drinking water, irrigation, road connectivity, electricity, institutional mechanisms, tribal cultural heritage and sports. That is why the year 2014 is the correct answer.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) 2009 is too early; the PIB release places the scheme in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs Annual Plan for 2014-15 and records its formal launch in October 2014.
- (C) 2017 is too late because the scheme had already been formally launched for implementation on 28 October 2014.
- (D) 2019 is also too late; the Ministry of Tribal Affairs source identifies 2014-15 as the plan year and 28 October 2014 as the formal launch date.
Concept
This tests welfare schemes for Scheduled Tribes, especially Tribal Sub-Plan-linked development and Centre-State convergence. It recurs in RAS because Rajasthan has significant tribal areas, making tribal development schemes a steady part of polity, economy and Rajasthan geography questions.