CDS (II) 2020 General Knowledge · Question 83 of 120

Correct — C, the Ministry of Education. Study in India is the higher-education programme launched through its portal on 18 April 2018 to attract foreign students to Indian institutions, and it belongs to the ministry that runs higher education. That ministry was called the Ministry of Human Resource Development when the programme began and was renamed the Ministry of Education in July 2020, a few months before this paper was set, which is why the option reads as it does. The Stay in India strand was added in 2020 under the same ministry, when the pandemic stranded students who had gone abroad and made others drop their plans to go; the minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', convened the discussions on retaining them, and a committee under the chairman of the University Grants Commission was set up on the question. Education, not culture or tourism or sport, is the portfolio.

• (a)the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports — Youth Affairs and Sports runs the National Service Scheme, Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan and Khelo India. Student mobility for degree study is not its subject.
• (b)the Ministry of Culture — The Ministry of Culture handles the Archaeological Survey, the national museums and academies, and cultural exchange, not admissions to universities.
• (d)the Ministry of Tourism — Tourism handles Incredible India and visitor promotion. A student coming for a degree is not a tourist, and the programme is administered through higher-education institutions.

Study in India is run for the ministry with the participation of selected institutions, which offer seats and fee waivers to international students, backed by scholarships. Its stated aims are to raise the number of foreign students in India, to improve the standing of Indian higher education, and to work as an instrument of soft power, with a particular focus on neighbouring countries. In 2020-21 some 3,821 foreign students took admission under it, of whom 1,947 received scholarships.

The way through is to ask which ministry owns the activity, not which one the words sound like. Anything to do with universities, colleges, admissions or degrees belongs to the education portfolio. The other point worth fixing is the renaming, because it dates a great many answers in this period: the Ministry of Human Resource Development became the Ministry of Education in July 2020, alongside the National Education Policy 2020. A paper written before that date would have expected the older name, and a paper written after it expects this one.

• The Study in India portal was launched on 18 April 2018 by what was then the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
• MHRD was renamed the Ministry of Education in July 2020, alongside the National Education Policy 2020.
• The programme's aims are to attract foreign students, raise the profile of Indian higher education and serve as soft power, with a focus on neighbouring countries.
• In 2020-21, 3,821 foreign students took admission under it and 1,947 received scholarships.
• The Stay in India strand of 2020 responded to students returning from abroad during the pandemic; a committee under the UGC chairman was set up on retaining students in India.

• Choosing Tourism because the programme involves people coming to India.
• Using the old MHRD name for anything after July 2020.
• Assuming a scheme with a slogan-style name must belong to Culture or Youth Affairs.

As a scheme-to-ministry match, or as a statements item on the National Education Policy and the initiatives around it.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Ministry of Human Resource Development was renamed the Ministry of Education in which year?

  • (a)2016
  • (b)2018
  • (c)2020
  • (d)2022

  Answer(c) 2020 — the renaming came in July 2020, alongside the National Education Policy 2020.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Study in India programme is aimed principally at

  • (a)sending Indian students abroad on scholarships
  • (b)attracting foreign students to Indian higher-education institutions
  • (c)setting up Indian university campuses overseas
  • (d)funding school education in rural areas

  Answer(b) attracting foreign students to Indian higher-education institutions — with fee waivers and scholarships at participating institutions.