UPPCS Prelims 2021 · GS Paper I: How many districts of Uttar Pradesh has been covered under the Aspirational District Programme…

Option (c), 8, is correct. The Aspirational Districts Programme, launched by NITI Aayog in January 2018, covers 112 relatively backward districts, improving them through convergence, collaboration and competition on indicators of health and nutrition, education, agriculture, financial inclusion and infrastructure. Uttar Pradesh has eight: Bahraich, Balrampur, Chandauli, Chitrakoot, Fatehpur, Shrawasti, Siddharthnagar and Sonbhadra. 4 (a), 6 (b) and 10 (d) are distractors. Concept: districts are ranked monthly on the Champions of Change dashboard. The Aspirational Blocks Programme, launched in January 2023, covers 500 blocks, and the Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana (2025) targets 100 low-productivity agricultural districts.

Question as printed in UPPSC's official question booklet. Source: uppsc.up.nic.in

Option (d), 1 and 2, is correct. Under Uttar Pradesh's One District One Product scheme, launched in January 2018, moonj (munj grass) products are listed for Sultanpur and Amethi. Moonj grass is woven into baskets, mats and decorative items. Sant Kabir Nagar (3) is listed for brassware (Magahar), so options (a), (b) and (c) are wrong. Concept: other well-known UP ODOP products include Varanasi silk, Moradabad brassware, Firozabad glass, Bhadohi carpets, Agra leather, Kannauj perfume, Aligarh locks, Lucknow chikankari and Meerut sports goods. The Union government adopted ODOP nationally, and the Unity Mall scheme showcases these products. Trap: Sant Kabir Nagar is a nearby eastern UP district, but its ODOP product is brassware, not moonj.

Question and answer as printed in UPPSC's official question booklet with answers (provisional key, published for objections). We will update if the final key differs. Source: uppsc.up.nic.in

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Option (b), only 2 and 3, is correct. Devipatan division, with its headquarters at Gonda, includes Gonda, Bahraich, Shravasti and Balrampur districts. Basti (1) is the headquarters of a separate Basti division, which also includes Siddharthnagar and Sant Kabir Nagar, so options (a), (c) and (d) are wrong. Concept: the division takes its name from the Devipatan Shaktipeeth temple at Tulsipur, Balrampur. The Indo-Nepal border runs along Bahraich, Shravasti and Balrampur, and Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary is in Bahraich. Shravasti is an ancient Buddhist site where the Buddha spent many rainy seasons. Uttar Pradesh has 18 divisions and 75 districts. Trap: Basti is next door but is its own division.

Question and answer as printed in UPPSC's official question booklet with answers (provisional key, published for objections). We will update if the final key differs. Source: uppsc.up.nic.in

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Option (c), 3 and 4, is correct. Rudrasagar Lake (3) is a Ramsar site in Tripura, and Sultanpur National Park (4) is a Ramsar site in Haryana, near Gurugram. So these two are not in Uttar Pradesh. The others are UP Ramsar sites: Sarsai Nawar Jheel in Etawah, known for sarus cranes, and Samaspur Bird Sanctuary in Raebareli. So options (a), (b) and (d) are wrong. Concept: Uttar Pradesh has 10 Ramsar sites, including Nawabganj (Unnao), Parvati Arga (Gonda), Saman (Mainpuri), Sandi (Hardoi), Sur Sarovar (Agra), Upper Ganga (Brijghat-Narora), Bakhira (Sant Kabir Nagar) and Haiderpur (Muzaffarnagar). India passed 90 Ramsar sites in 2025. Trap: the name Sultanpur sounds like UP, but the park is in Haryana.

Question and answer as printed in UPPSC's official question booklet with answers (provisional key, published for objections). We will update if the final key differs. Source: uppsc.up.nic.in

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Option (c), only 3, is correct. In Uttar Pradesh, the Planning Department is the nodal department for the Sustainable Development Goals. It prepares the State Indicator Framework and its progress report, based on NITI Aayog's National Indicator Framework, and runs the SDG monitoring cell and the district indicator framework. The Finance (1) and Education (2) Departments supply data for their goals but do not prepare the report, so options (a), (b) and (d) are wrong. Concept: at the national level, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) publishes the National Indicator Framework progress report, while NITI Aayog coordinates SDGs and brings out the SDG India Index. UP ranked among the front-runner States in the 2023-24 index. Trap: SDG monitoring is a planning task, not a finance task.

Question and answer as printed in UPPSC's official question booklet with answers (provisional key, published for objections). We will update if the final key differs. Source: uppsc.up.nic.in

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