Science & Technology — Discoveries & Innovations

Why This Chapter Matters

Government schemes show up in SSC MTS and CHSL papers almost every year, usually as one or two direct questions: "In which year was Scheme X launched?" or "What is the objective of Scheme Y?" These questions are pure memory, no reasoning needed, which makes them some of the easiest marks on the entire paper if you have prepared, and some of the most frustrating to lose if you have not. The biggest mistake aspirants make here is treating every scheme as an isolated fact to cram. That approach collapses under exam pressure because there are simply too many schemes with similar-sounding names.

The better approach, and the one this chapter uses, is to group schemes by the problem they solve: health, money in the bank, a roof over your head, a skill in your hand, a girl child's future. Once you know which "bucket" a scheme belongs to, half the guesswork disappears even if you forget the exact year. We cover major central schemes here, each with its objective, launch year, and what it actually does for a citizen on the ground. Read this chapter the way you would read about facilities in your own neighbourhood, because that is genuinely what these schemes are.

Notice also that most of these schemes cluster around three launch years: 2015, 2016, and 2019. That is not a coincidence you need to memorise as a rule, but it does mean that if you forget an exact year, guessing one of these three clustered years is a reasonably safe bet for anything launched after 2014. Use that only as a last resort, never as a substitute for actually learning the year.

1. Health Schemes

Ayushman Bharat — Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY)

Launched in 2018, this is the world's largest government-funded health insurance scheme. It provides a health cover of up to ₹5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospital care, aimed at poor and vulnerable families identified through census data. A family covered under this scheme can walk into an empaneled hospital anywhere in India and get free treatment for major illnesses, without paying upfront and without needing the same state ID everywhere, because the cover works across states.

Exam trap: Students often confuse the ₹5 lakh cover figure with older, smaller schemes. Fix this number firmly: Ayushman Bharat means five lakh rupees per family per year.

Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA)

Launched in 2016, this scheme provides free, comprehensive antenatal checkups to pregnant women on the 9th of every month at government health facilities. Think of it as a fixed monthly health appointment day for expecting mothers, so nobody has to guess when to go.

Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY)

Launched in 2005, this scheme encourages institutional delivery (giving birth in a hospital rather than at home) by providing cash assistance to pregnant women, particularly from poor families, to reduce maternal and infant deaths.

Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM)

Launched in 2021, this is a separate wing of the broader Ayushman Bharat umbrella, distinct from PM-JAY. It creates a digital health ID for every citizen, allowing medical records, prescriptions, and diagnostic reports to be stored and shared digitally with a patient's consent. Think of it as a digital health locker that a patient can open at any participating hospital, so a doctor in one city can see a report generated in another city instead of asking the patient to repeat tests.

Exam trap: PM-JAY (the ₹5 lakh insurance cover) and ABDM (the digital health ID system) are both part of Ayushman Bharat but solve different problems: one pays hospital bills, the other manages health records. Do not treat them as the same scheme just because they share the "Ayushman Bharat" name.

2. Agriculture Schemes

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)

Launched in 2016, this is a crop insurance scheme that protects farmers against crop loss or damage from natural calamities, pests, or diseases. Farmers pay a very small premium (as low as 1.5% to 2% of the sum insured for most crops), and the government subsidises the rest. If a hailstorm wipes out a farmer's wheat crop right before harvest, this scheme is what puts money back in that farmer's hands.

Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN)

Launched in 2019, this scheme gives eligible farmer families a direct income support of ₹6,000 per year, paid in three equal installments of ₹2,000 every four months, directly into their bank accounts. No middleman, no paperwork chain, the money lands straight in the account.

Exam trap: Do not confuse PMFBY (crop insurance against loss) with PM-KISAN (direct annual cash support regardless of loss). One is a safety net for bad years; the other is a steady, guaranteed top-up every year.

Kisan Credit Card (KCC) Scheme

Launched in 1998, this scheme gives farmers timely access to credit for their agricultural needs, such as buying seeds, fertiliser, or equipment, at low interest rates, through a card that works much like a regular credit card but is meant only for farming expenses.

3. Financial Inclusion Schemes

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)

Launched in 2014, this is India's national mission for financial inclusion, aiming to ensure every household has access to a bank account, insurance, and pension. Accounts opened under this scheme need zero minimum balance, and come with a free RuPay debit card and accident insurance cover. This scheme is the plumbing behind almost every other direct-benefit-transfer scheme in this chapter, because without a bank account, none of that money can reach people directly.

Exam trap: PMJDY is often confused with older "no-frills accounts" that existed before 2014. The exam-relevant fact is simple: PMJDY made zero-balance accounts a nationwide mission with insurance and a debit card attached, not just a bank account.

Atal Pension Yojana (APY)

Launched in 2015, this scheme targets workers in the unorganised sector, offering a guaranteed monthly pension of between ₹1,000 and ₹5,000 after the age of 60, depending on how much the subscriber contributes during their working years.

Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY)

Launched in 2015, this is an accident insurance scheme offering a cover of ₹2 lakh for accidental death or full disability, at a premium of just ₹20 per year (revised from the original ₹12). It is one of the cheapest insurance products ever offered at national scale.

Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY)

Launched in 2015, alongside PMSBY, this is a life insurance scheme offering a cover of ₹2 lakh in case of death due to any reason, at a premium of ₹436 per year (revised from ₹330). Think of PMSBY and PMJJBY as siblings launched together: one covers accidents specifically, the other covers death from any cause.

Memory hook: "Suraksha for accidents, Jeevan Jyoti for life" — Suraksha means "safety" (accident cover), and Jeevan Jyoti means "lamp of life" (life cover for any cause). The words in the scheme names literally tell you what they cover, so read the name carefully instead of memorising blindly.

4. Housing Schemes

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)

Launched in 2015, this scheme aims to provide "Housing for All," offering financial assistance and interest subsidies to help people from economically weaker sections, low-income groups, and middle-income groups build or buy a home. It runs in two parts: PMAY-Urban for cities and PMAY-Gramin for villages, each tailored to local housing needs and costs.

Exam trap: Remember that PMAY has both an urban and a rural arm; a question naming just "PMAY-G" or "PMAY-U" is testing whether you know these are two wings of the same parent scheme, not two unrelated schemes.

5. Skill Development Schemes

Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)

Launched in 2015, this is the flagship skill training scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. It offers short-term training in various trades to youth, and successful candidates receive a certificate and a monetary reward upon assessment. The idea is to convert unskilled or informally-skilled youth into certified, job-ready workers.

Skill India Mission

Launched in 2015, this is the broader umbrella initiative under which PMKVY and several other skilling programmes operate, aiming to train over 40 crore people in various skills by 2022 (the original target year; the mission itself continues as an ongoing national priority).

6. Women and Child Welfare Schemes

Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (BBBP)

Launched in 2015 from Panipat, Haryana, this scheme addresses the declining child sex ratio and promotes the education and welfare of the girl child. The name itself is the objective: "save the daughter, educate the daughter."

Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY)

Launched in 2015, this is a small savings scheme for the parents of a girl child, allowing them to open an account in her name that earns a relatively high interest rate and matures to help fund her education or marriage expenses. Any resident Indian parent or legal guardian can open this account for a girl child below the age of 10, and it can be opened for up to two girls in one family (or three, in the case of twins as the second birth).

Exam trap: Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao are often mixed up because both concern the girl child. Remember: BBBP is an awareness and education campaign; SSY is a specific savings-and-investment account with defined interest rates and maturity rules. One changes attitudes and access to schooling; the other builds a literal bank balance.

Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)

Launched way back in 1975, one of the oldest schemes in this chapter, ICDS provides supplementary nutrition, health checkups, and pre-school education to children under six years and to pregnant and lactating mothers, delivered through a network of Anganwadi centres found in almost every village and urban slum in India.

Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY)

Launched in 2017, this scheme provides cash incentives to pregnant women and lactating mothers for their first living child, meant to partly compensate for wage loss during pregnancy and encourage them to follow proper nutrition and health practices.

7. Employment and Rural Development

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)

Originally enacted in 2005 (implementation began in 2006), this is a legal guarantee of 100 days of wage employment per year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work. It is one of the very few schemes in the world backed by a legal right rather than just a government promise, meaning eligible households can demand work, and if it is not provided within a set time, they are entitled to an unemployment allowance.

Exam trap: MGNREGA guarantees 100 days, not any other number; this exact figure is one of the most frequently tested numbers connected to any scheme in this chapter.

National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), also called Ajeevika

Launched in 2011, this scheme aims to reduce rural poverty by organising women into self-help groups (SHGs) and connecting them to sustainable livelihood opportunities, savings habits, and small credit. Picture a group of ten to twenty women in a village pooling small weekly savings together, then using that pooled fund to give each other small loans in turn; that everyday practice, formalised and supported with bank linkages, is the backbone of NRLM.

8. Digital and Direct Benefit Schemes

Digital India

Launched in 2015, this is an umbrella programme to transform India into a digitally empowered society, covering everything from digital infrastructure to online government services to digital literacy in rural areas.

Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)

Started in a limited form in 2013 and scaled up significantly after 2014, DBT is the mechanism, not a single scheme, through which government subsidies and welfare payments go straight into a beneficiary's bank account, cutting out middlemen and reducing leakage. This is why PMJDY (bank accounts for all) and DBT (direct transfers) are often mentioned together: one builds the pipe, the other sends the water through it.

9. A Few More Schemes Worth Remembering

Ujjwala Yojana (Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana)

Launched in 2016, this scheme provides free LPG (cooking gas) connections to women from below-poverty-line households, so families can cook with clean gas instead of firewood or coal, which cuts down indoor smoke and the health problems that come with it. Picture a household kitchen switching from a smoky chulha to a clean gas stove; that image is the entire scheme in one sentence.

Stand-Up India

Launched in 2016, this scheme facilitates bank loans between ₹10 lakh and ₹1 crore to at least one Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe borrower and at least one woman borrower per bank branch, to help them set up a new enterprise in manufacturing, services, or trading.

Startup India

Also launched in 2016, this initiative promotes entrepreneurship by offering tax benefits, easier compliance, and funding support to new startups. Note the difference in scope: Stand-Up India focuses narrowly on SC/ST and women entrepreneurs with a defined loan range, while Startup India is a broader push to make India friendlier to new businesses of any kind.

Swachh Bharat Mission

Launched on 2 October 2014, on Gandhi Jayanti, this nationwide cleanliness campaign aimed to eliminate open defecation and improve solid waste management by building household and community toilets across both urban and rural India. The date is not a coincidence: launching a cleanliness mission on Gandhi's birthday ties the scheme directly to Gandhi's own lifelong emphasis on sanitation and hygiene.

Exam trap: Several 2016 schemes (Ujjwala Yojana, Stand-Up India, Startup India) often get jumbled together in options because they share a launch year. Anchor each one to its one-line purpose instead of the year alone: Ujjwala is about gas connections, Stand-Up India is about loans for SC/ST and women entrepreneurs, and Startup India is about tax and compliance support for new businesses generally.

Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA)

Launched in 2017, this scheme aims to make at least one person in every eligible rural household digitally literate, meaning able to operate a computer or digital device, browse the internet, and use basic digital payment tools. It works alongside Digital India, but where Digital India builds the larger digital backbone (infrastructure, e-governance services, connectivity), PMGDISHA focuses specifically on teaching people the skills to actually use that backbone.

Think of these schemes as different departments in one large household welfare office. The health department runs Ayushman Bharat and PMSMA. The farm department runs PMFBY and PM-KISAN. The bank counter runs PMJDY, APY, PMSBY, and PMJJBY. The housing desk runs PMAY. The training centre next door runs PMKVY. And the family welfare wing runs BBBP, SSY, ICDS, and PMMVY. Once you place each scheme at its correct "desk," you stop confusing a housing scheme with an insurance scheme just because both start with "Pradhan Mantri."

Quick Revision — One-Line Facts

• Ayushman Bharat (PM-JAY), launched 2018, gives a health cover of ₹5 lakh per family per year.
• Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan, launched 2016, offers free antenatal checkups on the 9th of every month.
• Janani Suraksha Yojana, launched 2005, promotes institutional delivery through cash assistance.
• Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, launched 2016, is a crop insurance scheme with premiums as low as 1.5-2%.
• PM-KISAN, launched 2019, gives farmers ₹6,000 per year in three installments.
• Kisan Credit Card, launched 1998, gives farmers easy access to agricultural credit.
• Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, launched 2014, offers zero-balance bank accounts with a RuPay card.
• Atal Pension Yojana, launched 2015, guarantees a monthly pension of ₹1,000 to ₹5,000 after age 60.
• Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, launched 2015, offers accident cover of ₹2 lakh at ₹20 per year.
• Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, launched 2015, offers life cover of ₹2 lakh at ₹436 per year.
• Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, launched 2015, aims for "Housing for All" with urban and rural arms.
• Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, launched 2015, gives certified skill training with monetary rewards.
• Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, launched 2015 in Panipat, addresses the declining child sex ratio.
• Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, launched 2015, is a savings account scheme for a girl child's future.
• ICDS, launched 1975, delivers nutrition and pre-school education through Anganwadi centres.
• Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, launched 2017, gives cash incentives to pregnant and lactating mothers.
• MGNREGA, enacted 2005, legally guarantees 100 days of rural employment per household per year.
• National Rural Livelihood Mission (Ajeevika), launched 2011, organises rural women into self-help groups.
• Digital India, launched 2015, aims to build a digitally empowered society.
• Direct Benefit Transfer scaled up after 2014, sending subsidies straight into bank accounts.
• PMJDY provides the bank accounts that make DBT and most cash-transfer schemes possible.
• PMFBY protects against crop loss; PM-KISAN gives guaranteed annual income regardless of loss.
• PMSBY covers accidental death; PMJJBY covers death from any cause.
• BBBP is an awareness campaign; SSY is a specific savings account, both for the girl child.
• PMAY has two arms: PMAY-Urban and PMAY-Gramin.

Memory Tables

Table 1: Scheme, Launch Year, and Core Benefit

Scheme	Launch Year	Core Benefit
ICDS	1975	Nutrition and pre-school education via Anganwadis
Kisan Credit Card	1998	Easy agricultural credit
Janani Suraksha Yojana	2005	Cash for institutional delivery
MGNREGA	2005	100 days guaranteed rural employment
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana	2014	Zero-balance bank account + insurance
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana	2016	Crop insurance
PM Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan	2016	Free antenatal checkups
Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana	2017	Cash to pregnant/lactating mothers
Ayushman Bharat (PM-JAY)	2018	₹5 lakh health cover per family
PM-KISAN	2019	₹6,000 per year to farmer families

Table 2: Insurance and Pension Schemes at a Glance

Scheme	Launched	Cover / Benefit	Premium / Contribution
Atal Pension Yojana	2015	₹1,000-5,000 monthly pension after 60	Based on contribution
Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana	2015	₹2 lakh, accidental death/disability	₹20 per year
Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana	2015	₹2 lakh, death from any cause	₹436 per year
Ayushman Bharat (PM-JAY)	2018	₹5 lakh health cover per family per year	Free for eligible families

Table 3: Schemes Grouped by Sector

Sector	Schemes
Health	Ayushman Bharat, PMSMA, Janani Suraksha Yojana
Agriculture	PMFBY, PM-KISAN, Kisan Credit Card
Financial Inclusion	PMJDY, APY, PMSBY, PMJJBY
Housing	Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana
Skill Development	PMKVY, Skill India Mission
Women & Child Welfare	BBBP, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, ICDS, PMMVY
Employment & Rural Development	MGNREGA, NRLM (Ajeevika)
Digital & Direct Transfer	Digital India, DBT

Practice MCQs

Q1. Ayushman Bharat (PM-JAY) provides a health insurance cover of how much per family per year? (a) ₹1 lakh (b) ₹2 lakh (c) ₹5 lakh (d) ₹10 lakh

Q2. In which year was PM-KISAN launched? (a) 2014 (b) 2016 (c) 2018 (d) 2019

Q3. Under PM-KISAN, how much annual income support is given to eligible farmer families? (a) ₹2,000 (b) ₹4,000 (c) ₹6,000 (d) ₹8,000

Q4. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, launched in 2014, primarily aims to: (a) Provide crop insurance (b) Ensure financial inclusion through bank accounts (c) Provide housing for all (d) Guarantee rural employment

Q5. What is the accident cover offered under Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana? (a) ₹1 lakh (b) ₹2 lakh (c) ₹5 lakh (d) ₹10 lakh

Q6. MGNREGA guarantees how many days of employment per rural household per year? (a) 50 days (b) 75 days (c) 100 days (d) 150 days

Q7. Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao was launched in 2015 from which location? (a) Delhi (b) Panipat (c) Ahmedabad (d) Lucknow

Q8. Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana is best described as: (a) A scholarship for boys (b) A savings scheme for a girl child's future (c) A health insurance scheme (d) A pension scheme for widows

Q9. ICDS, one of the oldest schemes in this chapter, was launched in which year? (a) 1975 (b) 1985 (c) 1995 (d) 2005

Q10. Which scheme offers a life insurance cover of ₹2 lakh for death due to any cause at a premium of ₹436 per year? (a) Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (b) Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (c) Atal Pension Yojana (d) Ayushman Bharat

Q11. Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana operates through which two arms? (a) Rural and Tribal (b) Urban and Gramin (c) Coastal and Hilly (d) State and Central

Q12. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana mainly protects farmers against: (a) Loss of income due to old age (b) Crop loss from natural calamities and pests (c) Lack of bank accounts (d) Unemployment

Q13. National Rural Livelihood Mission is also known by which name? (a) Ajeevika (b) Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (c) Antyodaya (d) Kaushal Bharat

Q14. Atal Pension Yojana provides a guaranteed monthly pension of what range after the subscriber turns 60? (a) ₹500 to ₹2,000 (b) ₹1,000 to ₹5,000 (c) ₹2,000 to ₹10,000 (d) ₹5,000 to ₹15,000

Q15. Which scheme is the umbrella skill training initiative that offers certificates and monetary rewards to trained youth? (a) Skill India Mission (b) Digital India (c) Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (d) Startup India

Answer Key

Q	Answer	Reason
1	(c)	Ayushman Bharat covers up to ₹5 lakh per family per year, the largest such cover among these schemes.
2	(d)	PM-KISAN was launched in 2019 to give direct annual income support to farmer families.
3	(c)	PM-KISAN gives ₹6,000 per year, paid as three installments of ₹2,000 every four months.
4	(b)	PMJDY's core aim is financial inclusion through zero-balance bank accounts for every household.
5	(b)	PMSBY offers ₹2 lakh accident cover at a premium of ₹20 per year.
6	(c)	MGNREGA is a legal guarantee of 100 days of wage employment per rural household per year.
7	(b)	Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao was launched from Panipat, Haryana in 2015.
8	(b)	Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana is a savings account scheme opened in a girl child's name.
9	(a)	ICDS was launched in 1975, making it one of the oldest schemes in this list.
10	(b)	Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana covers death from any cause, unlike PMSBY which covers only accidents.
11	(b)	PMAY runs as PMAY-Urban for cities and PMAY-Gramin for villages.
12	(b)	PMFBY is a crop insurance scheme covering loss from natural calamities, pests, and diseases.
13	(a)	NRLM is also called Ajeevika and works by organising rural women into self-help groups.
14	(b)	Atal Pension Yojana guarantees a monthly pension between ₹1,000 and ₹5,000 based on contribution.
15	(c)	Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana provides certified skill training with a monetary reward on assessment.