UPSC Prelims 2016 GS Paper I · Q63 of 100 Economy easy

'SWAYAM', an initiative of the Government of India, aims at

  1. (a) promoting the Self Help Groups in rural areas
  2. (b) providing financial and technical assistance to young start-up entrepreneurs
  3. (c) promoting the education and health of adolescent girls
  4. (d) providing affordable and quality education to the citizens for free ✓ UPSC's answer

Why the answer is (d)

• SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds), launched by the Ministry of Education in 2017, is India's MOOC platform offering free online courses from Class 9 to post-graduation, with low-cost certification — option (d).

• It aims at access, equity and quality, and its credits can be transferred under UGC rules; SWAYAM Prabha runs 32 educational TV channels.

• It is not about SHGs (a), start-ups (b) or adolescent girls (c).

• Hence option (d).

Why the other options are wrong

(a) promoting the Self Help Groups in rural areas
SWAYAM is not about Self Help Groups.
(b) providing financial and technical assistance to young start-up entrepreneurs
SWAYAM is not a start-up scheme.
(c) promoting the education and health of adolescent girls
SWAYAM is not an adolescent-girls scheme.

Asked in the GS Paper I of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2016, held on 7 August 2016. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.

Reading the answer is not the same as getting it right under a clock. Practise this question with UPSC's negative marking, and anything you miss goes into an error notebook until you get it right twice.

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