Society, Welfare & Current Affairs of Uttar Pradesh — Practice

Question 1

What are Uttar Pradesh's last enumerated literacy figures, and when will updated figures become available?

Accepted Answer

UP's last enumerated literacy figures come from the 2011 Census: overall 67.68%, male 77.28%, female 57.18% — a roughly 20-point gender gap that is among the widest of any major Indian state. India's next Census has reportedly been rescheduled, with house-listing planned to begin around April 2026 and a reference date around March 2027, meaning updated, more current UP literacy figures will not be available until well after 2027. Any answer should state 2011 as the last enumerated figure explicitly rather than implying a more recent official rate exists.

Question 2

Name the six milestones of the Mukhyamantri Kanya Sumangala Yojana.

Accepted Answer

The Mukhyamantri Kanya Sumangala Yojana pays a conditional cash transfer across six milestones in a girl child's life: at birth, on completion of immunisation, on admission to Class 1, on admission to Class 6, on admission to Class 9, and on admission to a graduation or diploma course after Class 12. Eligibility requires UP domicile, a family annual income under roughly ₹3 lakh, and a cap of two girls per family; the scheme's exact grant amount has been revised since launch and should be confirmed against the scheme's own official portal rather than cited as a fixed figure.

Question 3

Explain the paradox of UP being India's third-largest state economy while ranking low on per-capita income.

Accepted Answer

UP is generally reported as India's third-largest state economy by GSDP, after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, yet its per-capita income ranks among the lowest of major Indian states — a paradox explained almost entirely by population scale rather than any contradiction in the underlying data. UP is India's most populous state, with a population far exceeding that of most other large-economy states, so even a genuinely large aggregate GSDP divides into a comparatively small amount per person once spread across that population. The correct framing for an exam answer is therefore: UP's large aggregate economy reflects its scale, not necessarily broad-based prosperity, and any answer should hold both facts (large GSDP, low per-capita income) together rather than presenting only the more impressive-sounding GSDP figure alone.

Question 4

Distinguish Purvanchal and Bundelkhand as UP's two principal regional-disparity zones.

Accepted Answer

Purvanchal (eastern UP) and Bundelkhand (the southern/southwestern plateau region) both consistently lag western UP on per-capita income, poverty, and health and education indicators, but reflect somewhat different underlying drivers and should not be treated as one undifferentiated 'backward UP.' Purvanchal's disadvantage is more closely tied to dense population pressure on agricultural land, recurring flood exposure along the Ganga-Ghaghra-Rapti river systems, and heavy out-migration of working-age population. Bundelkhand's disadvantage instead reflects its plateau geography — poorer soil quality, chronic water scarcity and drought vulnerability, and a narrower industrial base — with several of its districts formally recognised as economically backward in national planning frameworks. Government policy in recent years has specifically targeted Purvanchal with industrial-corridor and expressway investment, aiming to convert it into a growth corridor rather than accepting the east-west disparity as fixed.

Question 5

How do Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY and UP's own state health scheme work together?

Accepted Answer

Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY is the central government's health-coverage scheme, providing cashless secondary and tertiary care up to ₹5 lakh per family per year on a family-floater basis, for households identified as BPL under the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC). Uttar Pradesh runs a state-funded top-up alongside it, the Mukhyamantri Jan Arogya Abhiyan (MJAA), extending similar cashless coverage to BPL and other vulnerable households not captured by the SECC list used for the central scheme — for example, Antyodaya Anna Yojana card-holding families. The two schemes are complementary rather than duplicative: PM-JAY covers the SECC-identified population under central funding, while UP's own top-up extends comparable protection to additional categories the central scheme's eligibility criteria leave out.

Question 6

"UP's aggregate economic scale conceals sharp internal disparities." Examine this statement with reference to the state's per-capita income and regional development pattern. (15 marks, ~250 words)

Accepted Answer

This statement captures a genuine and well-established feature of Uttar Pradesh's economy, examinable at two distinct levels — the state-versus-nation level and the region-within-state level.

At the state level, UP's aggregate GSDP ranks it as India's third-largest state economy, behind only Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Yet its per-capita income ranks among the lowest of major Indian states, a paradox arising directly from UP's population being far larger than its GSDP advantage over comparable states — the aggregate scale reflects population size more than broad-based prosperity.

At the region level, this concealment repeats within UP itself. Western UP, with its stronger industrial base (the Noida-Greater Noida electronics and IT corridor, the NCR-adjacent economy) and better infrastructure, performs considerably better on income and development indicators than the state average would suggest. Purvanchal (the east) and Bundelkhand (the south/southwest) instead pull the state average down sharply — Purvanchal through population density, flood exposure, and out-migration; Bundelkhand through plateau geography, water scarcity, and a narrower industrial base.

The result is a state whose headline GSDP figure genuinely conceals two distinct layers of disparity — first between UP and India's other large-economy states on a per-capita basis, and second between UP's own more- and less-developed regions internally. A complete answer should name both layers explicitly, since citing only the state-versus-nation paradox without the internal Purvanchal/Bundelkhand dimension addresses only half of what the statement claims.

Question 7

Name two major central universities headquartered in Uttar Pradesh and their founding context.

Accepted Answer

Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi, was founded in 1916 by Madan Mohan Malaviya, and is one of India's oldest and largest central universities. Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) was founded in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (originally as the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College, part of the Aligarh movement's focus on modern education for Muslims) and became a central university subsequently. Both institutions remain among India's most prominent central universities and are squarely UP institutions worth naming directly in an education-system answer.

Question 8

Why is PM-KISAN sometimes cited in a UP-specific current-affairs context, even though it is a central scheme?

Accepted Answer

PM-KISAN (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi) is a central government scheme, providing ₹6,000 a year in three equal installments to eligible farmer families nationwide — not a UP-specific welfare programme in its design or funding. It is nonetheless cited in a UP context because Prime Minister Modi formally launched the scheme from Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, on 24 February 2019 — a specific launch-location fact examiners sometimes test as a UP-linked current-affairs detail. An answer should be precise about this distinction: PM-KISAN is a national scheme with a UP launch location, not a UP-specific farmer-welfare scheme in its own right.

Practice — Society, Welfare & Current Affairs of Uttar Pradesh

Sign in to save attempts to your dashboard and track your accuracy over time

Find a verified tutor

Join a live course

Browse coaching centres

About

Categories

Support

Documentation

Get Study Tips & Updates

Download Our App

Download for iOS

Download for Android

Popular Cities