CDS (II) 2024 General Knowledge · Question 104 of 120

Correct — C, Sportspersons. The fund's full title is the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Welfare Fund for Sportspersons, and the question simply drops the last two words. It was created in March 1982 as the National Welfare Fund for Sportspersons, under what is now the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, to help outstanding sportspersons of earlier years who had brought the country distinction but were living in indigent circumstances; it was renamed after Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay later. Its assistance covers subsistence for sportspersons in straitened circumstances, treatment of injuries sustained in training or competition, the purchase of sports equipment and support for taking part in national and international events, and it reaches the families of deceased sportspersons as well. It is administered through a committee in the Ministry, and applications are made by the sportsperson or by a recognised federation.

• (a)Medical Practitioners — No such welfare fund exists in this name for doctors; medical relief for practitioners runs through professional councils and general health schemes.
• (b)Farmers — Farmer support runs through separate instruments such as income support, crop insurance and interest subvention, not through this fund.
• (d)War Widows — Support for war widows comes from the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund and the ex-servicemen welfare schemes of the Ministry of Defence, which are administered quite separately and carry different names.

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports supports athletes at three stages. Recognition comes through the national sports awards — the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, the Arjuna Award for players and the Dronacharya Award for coaches. Preparation is funded through the Khelo India scheme and the Target Olympic Podium Scheme. Welfare, the third leg, runs through the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Welfare Fund for Sportspersons, which is a relief fund rather than a training programme, aimed at sportspersons in financial distress and at those injured in the course of sport.

The stem is answerable from the name alone once the full title is known, which is the lesson here: several Indian schemes are commonly cited in truncated form, and the dropped words carry the answer. If the name is not familiar, work by elimination — the fund is administered by a sports ministry, and none of the other three groups falls within any sports ministry's remit. The tempting distractor is war widows, because welfare funds for service families are well known; but those carry their own distinct names. Worth flagging: UPSC has not released a key for this paper, and some answer keys in circulation mark (d), war widows. Welfare funds for service families exist but carry different names; this fund's own title ends with the words 'for Sportspersons', so this card takes (c).

• The fund was set up in March 1982 as the National Welfare Fund for Sportspersons and later renamed after Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay.
• It is administered by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
• It assists former and present national-level sportspersons living in indigent circumstances, meets treatment costs for injuries in training and competition, and supports equipment and participation in events.
• Related but separate instruments are Khelo India for grassroots development and the Target Olympic Podium Scheme for elite athletes.

• Reading the truncated name and guessing from the person it honours rather than from the scheme's remit.
• Confusing this welfare fund with the National Sports Development Fund, which finances training and infrastructure.
• Assuming any fund named after a national figure must be a defence or veterans' scheme.

As a scheme-to-beneficiary match, or as a single-answer item on which ministry administers a named fund.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Welfare Fund for Sportspersons is administered by which ministry?

  • (a)Ministry of Home Affairs
  • (b)Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
  • (c)Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
  • (d)Ministry of Defence

  Answer(b) Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports — the fund provides relief to national-level sportspersons in indigent circumstances.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which scheme of the Government of India is aimed specifically at preparing elite athletes for Olympic medals?

  • (a)Khelo India
  • (b)Target Olympic Podium Scheme
  • (c)Fit India Movement
  • (d)National Sports Talent Search Scheme

  Answer(b) Target Olympic Podium Scheme — it funds a selected group of elite athletes; Khelo India works at the grassroots and school level.