What does AMRUT stand for?

The correct answer is A, 2 October 2014. The mission was launched on the 145th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, with the target of an open defecation free India by 2 October 2019, his 150th birth anniversary, and its logo is a pair of spectacles recalling him. Option B is wrong because 15 August 2014 is the date of the Independence Day speech in which the Jan Dhan Yojana was announced; the Jal Jeevan Mission was announced from the same rampart five years later. Option C is wrong because 25 June 2015 is the launch date of PMAY-Urban, AMRUT and the Smart Cities Mission together. Option D is wrong because 2 October 2019 is the date on which rural India was declared open defecation free, that is, the target date rather than the launch date, which is exactly the confusion the question is built on.

The correct answer is B, 2 October 2019. The declaration was timed for the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, exactly five years after the mission was launched, and the second phase then began with the goal of ODF Plus villages that sustain the status and manage solid and liquid waste. Option A is wrong because 2 October 2018 was only a milestone year in the campaign and no declaration was made then. Option C is wrong because 1 October 2021 is the launch date of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 and AMRUT 2.0, the second-generation urban missions. Option D is wrong because 15 August 2019 is the date on which the Jal Jeevan Mission was announced from the Red Fort. Keep the three dates apart: launch 2014, ODF declaration 2019, second phase of the urban mission 2021.

The correct answer is B, 2015. PMAY was launched on 25 June 2015, on the same day as AMRUT and the Smart Cities Mission, with the aim of a pucca house for every eligible family. Option A is wrong because 2014 is the year of the Swachh Bharat Mission and of the Jan Dhan Yojana. Option C is wrong, though it is the closest distractor: 20 November 2016 is the date on which the rural arm, PMAY-Gramin, was launched by restructuring the Indira Awaas Yojana, so a question that says PMAY-Gramin rather than PMAY has 2016 as its answer. Option D is wrong because 2019 is the year of the Jal Jeevan Mission and of the creation of the Ministry of Jal Shakti. The safe way to answer is to read whether the question names the urban scheme, the rural scheme or PMAY as a whole.

The correct answer is B, 25 square metres. PMAY-Gramin raised the minimum unit size to 25 square metres, which must include a dedicated area for hygienic cooking, an increase over the 20 square metres allowed under the Indira Awaas Yojana. Option A is wrong for that reason: 20 square metres was the old norm and is kept in the options to catch candidates who learnt the earlier scheme. Option C is wrong because 30 square metres is not a PMAY-G norm, though carpet area limits of that order appear in the urban scheme's affordable housing definitions. Option D is wrong because 40 square metres exceeds anything prescribed for rural assistance. Along with the size, remember the unit assistance of 1.20 lakh rupees in the plains and 1.30 lakh rupees in hilly states and difficult areas.

The correct answer is B, 55 litres. The mission promises a functional household tap connection giving at least 55 litres of potable water per person per day of prescribed quality, a norm raised from the earlier rural standard. Option A is wrong because 40 litres per capita per day was the service level of the earlier National Rural Drinking Water Programme, and that is the figure the question hopes you will pick. Option C is wrong because 70 litres is not a prescribed norm in either the rural or the urban mission. Option D is wrong because 135 litres per capita per day is the planning norm often used for piped supply in cities with sewerage, not for the rural mission. Remember the slogan Har Ghar Jal and the implementing ministry, Jal Shakti, with the 55 litre figure.