UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Swachh Survekshan 2025-26 Results Announcement

Q1. With reference to the place of solid waste management in the constitutional scheme for Municipalities, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Solid waste management is one of the matters in the Twelfth Schedule over which a State Legislature may, by law, give Municipalities powers and responsibilities.
  2. Once the Seventy-fourth Amendment came into force, every Twelfth Schedule function passed to Municipalities automatically, without any State law being needed.
  3. Listing solid waste management in the Twelfth Schedule moved the subject from the State List to the Concurrent List of the Seventh Schedule.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 2 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q2. With reference to the urban and rural tracks of the Swachh Bharat Mission, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. ODF Plus status under the rural track asks villages to manage solid and liquid waste as well as sustain open-defecation-free status.
  2. Because both tracks come under the Swachh Bharat umbrella, the urban Swachh Survekshan ranks Gram Panchayats alongside Urban Local Bodies in one combined list.
  3. The 'Garbage Free' vision of SBM-Urban 2.0 covers remediation of legacy dumpsites, not just management of freshly generated waste.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q3. With reference to the role of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in auditing local bodies, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. A performance audit is limited to checking whether expenditure was incurred in line with the applicable rules and sanctions.
  2. CAG reports relating to a State's accounts, including those on local bodies, are submitted to the Governor for laying before the State Legislature.
  3. The CAG's Technical Guidance and Supervision role over local body audit arose from State Governments entrusting it, following a Finance Commission recommendation.
  • A. 2 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 2 only
  • D. 1 and 3 only

Q4. With reference to Swachh Survekshan and the Swachh Shehar Jodi initiative as instruments of federal governance, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are NOT correct?

  1. Ranking Urban Local Bodies against one another on a common set of indicators is an instrument of competitive federalism.
  2. Because a Jodi is scored as a pair, the mentor city's own performance no longer affects how the Jodi is ranked.
  3. Pairing mentor and mentee cities is a horizontal form of capacity sharing between local bodies, distinct from vertical assistance from the Centre.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 3 only
  • D. 2 only

Q5. Under Swachh Shehar Jodi, each Jodi is ranked on the combined score of a mentor and its mentee, and only each mentor city's best-performing Jodi is counted. Mentor cities have different numbers of mentees. If the rule were changed so that the scores of all of a mentor's Jodis were added together, which of the following would be the most likely consequence?

  • A. Mentors assigned more mentees would gain an edge unrelated to mentoring quality
  • B. Mentee cities' scores would stop affecting how any Jodi or mentor is ranked
  • C. Mentor cities' own scores would stop affecting how any Jodi or mentor is ranked
  • D. Mentors would gain most by focusing their effort on one promising mentee alone