RAS question
Which ministry is the nodal body for Bharat-VISTAAR?
Correct answer: (B) Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare.
The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare is the nodal body for Bharat-VISTAAR.
Explanation
The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare is the nodal body for Bharat-VISTAAR because the official PIB release on the platform is issued under that ministry and describes Bharat-VISTAAR as a government-launched Digital Public Infrastructure platform for agricultural advisories and allied support services. The release says Bharat-VISTAAR, expanded as the Virtually Integrated System to Access Agricultural Resources, is an AI-powered, voice-first, multilingual platform meant to give farmers reliable, real-time and location-specific agricultural advisories. It also notes that access is provided through channels including a web portal of the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare, which directly ties the platform's official rollout and service delivery to that ministry rather than to a general IT, rural development or planning body.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) The PIB release mentions compliance with cyber-security guidelines of MeitY, but it does not identify the Ministry of IT and Electronics as the nodal body for Bharat-VISTAAR.
- (C) Bharat-VISTAAR concerns farmer advisories and agricultural support services, and the official release is under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare, not the Ministry of Rural Development.
- (D) NITI Aayog is not named in the official PIB release as the authority issuing, hosting or coordinating Bharat-VISTAAR.
Concept
This tests the governance mapping of digital agriculture initiatives, especially which Union ministry owns a named platform. RAS repeats such questions because schemes and platforms often sound technology-led, but the exam expects the administrative ministry behind them.