UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — ‘Karnataka creates 1.56 cr. person-days of job’

Q1. The VB–G RAM G Act, 2025 is operationalised at the Union level — including framing of its rules and chairing of its apex steering committee — by which one of the following?

  • A. The Department of Land Resources under the Ministry of Rural Development
  • B. The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare under the Ministry of Agriculture
  • C. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj, working in coordination with NITI Aayog
  • D. The Department of Rural Development under the Ministry of Rural Development

Q2. With reference to the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025, consider the following: 1. It received the President's assent in December 2025 and was brought into force in all rural areas of the country with effect from 1 July 2026. 2. The statutory guarantee is of 125 days of wage employment for each adult member of a rural household in every financial year. 3. It retains the requirement that an unemployment allowance be paid where employment is not provided within fifteen days of application. 4. Work plans prepared by gram panchayats are to be integrated with the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. It received the President's assent in December 2025 and was brought into force in all rural areas of the country with effect from 1 July 2026.
  2. The statutory guarantee is of 125 days of wage employment for each adult member of a rural household in every financial year.
  3. It retains the requirement that an unemployment allowance be paid where employment is not provided within fifteen days of application.
  4. Work plans prepared by gram panchayats are to be integrated with the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2, 3 and 4
  • C. 1, 3 and 4
  • D. 1 and 4 only

Q3. Consider the following statements about how the VB–G RAM G Act, 2025 differs from MGNREGA, 2005: 1. Under MGNREGA the Centre bore the entire cost of unskilled manual wages, whereas VB–G RAM G provides for a 60:40 Centre–State sharing of wage, material and administrative costs in general States. 2. For north-eastern and Himalayan States, VB–G RAM G prescribes a 90:10 Centre–State sharing ratio. 3. VB–G RAM G raises the guarantee to 125 days while retaining MGNREGA's design in which total outlay follows the work actually demanded, with no ceiling fixed in advance by the Centre. 4. VB–G RAM G replaces the earlier council-based arrangement with a National Level Steering Committee and State Steering Committees. Which of the above is/are NOT correct?

  1. Under MGNREGA the Centre bore the entire cost of unskilled manual wages, whereas VB–G RAM G provides for a 60:40 Centre–State sharing of wage, material and administrative costs in general States.
  2. For north-eastern and Himalayan States, VB–G RAM G prescribes a 90:10 Centre–State sharing ratio.
  3. VB–G RAM G raises the guarantee to 125 days while retaining MGNREGA's design in which total outlay follows the work actually demanded, with no ceiling fixed in advance by the Centre.
  4. VB–G RAM G replaces the earlier council-based arrangement with a National Level Steering Committee and State Steering Committees.
  • A. 3 only
  • B. 1 and 3
  • C. 2 and 4
  • D. 1, 3 and 4

Q4. Under the VB–G RAM G Act, 2025, the state-wise ceiling within which employment is to be provided in a financial year is fixed by which one of the following?

  • A. The State Steering Committee constituted under the Act for each State
  • B. The Finance Commission, through its recommended devolution formula
  • C. The Central Government, through annual state-wise normative allocations
  • D. NITI Aayog, in consultation with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj

Q5. The power to declare the aggregated no-work period of up to sixty days in a financial year, covering peak sowing and harvesting, under the VB–G RAM G Act, 2025 is vested in which one of the following?

  • A. The Gram Sabha of the concerned Gram Panchayat, by resolution
  • B. The Central Government, acting through the Ministry of Rural Development
  • C. The National Level Steering Committee, on the State's recommendation
  • D. The State Government, by declaration made in advance for the financial year

Q6. Consider the following in respect of the no-work provision of the VB–G RAM G Act, 2025: 1. The no-work period is to be declared in advance for a financial year and may aggregate up to sixty days. 2. Its stated purpose is to keep agricultural labour available during the peak sowing and harvesting seasons. 3. In areas where the no-work period is declared, the household's entitlement stands correspondingly reduced below 125 days for that year. 4. The provision is contained in Section 6 of the Act. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. The no-work period is to be declared in advance for a financial year and may aggregate up to sixty days.
  2. Its stated purpose is to keep agricultural labour available during the peak sowing and harvesting seasons.
  3. In areas where the no-work period is declared, the household's entitlement stands correspondingly reduced below 125 days for that year.
  4. The provision is contained in Section 6 of the Act.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2, 3 and 4
  • C. 1 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 4

Q7. Under the VB–G RAM G framework, the identification of works within the thematic areas and the preparation of the corresponding work plan is primarily the responsibility of which one of the following?

  • A. Gram panchayats, whose plans are then aggregated at higher levels
  • B. The Block Development Officer, who consolidates village-level demand
  • C. The State Steering Committee, which frames the annual thematic work plan
  • D. The District Planning Committee, under Article 243ZD of the Constitution

Q8. With reference to MGNREGA, 2005 as it stood before its repeal, consider the following: 1. The Gram Sabha was required to monitor the execution of works within the Gram Panchayat and to conduct regular social audits of projects under the Scheme. 2. The Central Government bore the entire cost of wages for unskilled manual work and three-fourths of the material cost. 3. The Programme Officer at the block level determined the annual normative allocation of funds for each Gram Panchayat. 4. The guarantee was of 100 days of wage employment per rural household in a financial year. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. The Gram Sabha was required to monitor the execution of works within the Gram Panchayat and to conduct regular social audits of projects under the Scheme.
  2. The Central Government bore the entire cost of wages for unskilled manual work and three-fourths of the material cost.
  3. The Programme Officer at the block level determined the annual normative allocation of funds for each Gram Panchayat.
  4. The guarantee was of 100 days of wage employment per rural household in a financial year.
  • A. 1 and 4 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 4
  • C. 2, 3 and 4
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q9. Karnataka told its Legislative Assembly, during a discussion on drought, that 1.56 crore person-days of work had been generated in the State under VB–G RAM G. In such rural employment reporting, this quantity is arrived at as:

  • A. the aggregate of the days of work actually provided, summed over all the individual workers employed
  • B. the number of households provided with work, multiplied by the statutory guarantee of days
  • C. the number of calendar days on which at least one worksite functioned, summed over all works
  • D. the number of registered adults who sought work, multiplied by the days of the no-work period

Q10. Consider the following statements comparing the federal and institutional arrangements under MGNREGA, 2005 and the VB–G RAM G Act, 2025: 1. The Centre bore roughly 90 per cent of MGNREGA's programme cost, whereas VB–G RAM G fixes a 60:40 Centre–State share for States other than the north-eastern and Himalayan States. 2. The National Level Steering Committee under VB–G RAM G is chaired by the Secretary, Department of Rural Development, and unlike the central council it displaces, is composed entirely of government officials. 3. VB–G RAM G makes the provision of employment operative in all rural areas as a universal right, dispensing with MGNREGA's requirement that areas be notified by the Central Government. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The Centre bore roughly 90 per cent of MGNREGA's programme cost, whereas VB–G RAM G fixes a 60:40 Centre–State share for States other than the north-eastern and Himalayan States.
  2. The National Level Steering Committee under VB–G RAM G is chaired by the Secretary, Department of Rural Development, and unlike the central council it displaces, is composed entirely of government officials.
  3. VB–G RAM G makes the provision of employment operative in all rural areas as a universal right, dispensing with MGNREGA's requirement that areas be notified by the Central Government.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q11. Consider the following statements regarding employment entitlement and its measurement under MGNREGA, 2005 and the VB–G RAM G Act, 2025: 1. Unlike MGNREGA, VB–G RAM G counts days of skilled and semi-skilled work performed by household members towards the household's 125-day entitlement. 2. Under both Acts, the guarantee attaches to the rural household and not separately to each adult member of it. 3. Person-days generated in July 2026, the first month of VB–G RAM G's operation, were about 7.8 crore — roughly 55 per cent below the July 2025 level under MGNREGA — a fall the Centre attributed to the sowing-season pause. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Unlike MGNREGA, VB–G RAM G counts days of skilled and semi-skilled work performed by household members towards the household's 125-day entitlement.
  2. Under both Acts, the guarantee attaches to the rural household and not separately to each adult member of it.
  3. Person-days generated in July 2026, the first month of VB–G RAM G's operation, were about 7.8 crore — roughly 55 per cent below the July 2025 level under MGNREGA — a fall the Centre attributed to the sowing-season pause.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3