MPSC 2025 Prelims Q91: Which of the following items will receive free of cost to

Q: What is the answer to MPSC 2025 Prelims Q91?

(4). Correct — option (4), 'All of the above'. The Akshay Anna Yojana is a Maharashtra state scheme run by the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department to give eligible ration-card-holding households a basket of essential food items free of cost, over and above the foodgrain they draw under existing public distribution arrangements. The items supplied under the scheme span both staple grains and everyday kitchen essentials, and all five items named in this question — rice (A), sugar (B), red chilli powder (C), turmeric (D) and jowar (E) — fall within that basket, alongside other items such as edible oil, salt and mustard seeds. Because none of the five listed items falls outside the scheme's coverage, the only combination that credits every genuine item is 'All of the above'.

MPSC 2025 Prelims Paper-I · Question 91 of 100

Maharashtra Civil Services Gazetted Combined Preliminary Examination 2025, held 9 November 2025. Transcribed from the commission's own booklet (संच A); answer as per the official MPSC final answer key.

Which of the following items will receive free of cost to the beneficiaries of Akshay Anna Yojana ? A. Rice B. Sugar C. Red chilli powder D. Turmeric E. Jowar

(1)Only A, B, C
(2)Only C, D, E
(3)Only A, B, E
(4)All of the above

Answer

(4)

Why

Correct — option (4), 'All of the above'. The Akshay Anna Yojana is a Maharashtra state scheme run by the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department to give eligible ration-card-holding households a basket of essential food items free of cost, over and above the foodgrain they draw under existing public distribution arrangements. The items supplied under the scheme span both staple grains and everyday kitchen essentials, and all five items named in this question — rice (A), sugar (B), red chilli powder (C), turmeric (D) and jowar (E) — fall within that basket, alongside other items such as edible oil, salt and mustard seeds. Because none of the five listed items falls outside the scheme's coverage, the only combination that credits every genuine item is 'All of the above'.

Why the others are wrong

(1)Only A, B, C — Correctly includes rice, sugar and red chilli powder but wrongly excludes turmeric and jowar, both of which are also part of the free basket supplied under the Akshay Anna Yojana.
(2)Only C, D, E — Correctly includes red chilli powder, turmeric and jowar but wrongly excludes rice and sugar — both staples that beneficiaries of the scheme also receive free of cost.
(3)Only A, B, E — Correctly includes rice, sugar and jowar but wrongly excludes red chilli powder and turmeric, which are likewise part of the scheme's free item basket alongside the grains and sugar.

Concept

The Akshay Anna Yojana is a Maharashtra state government food-security scheme, run by the state's Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department, that supplies eligible households with a defined basket of everyday food essentials free of cost, in addition to the subsidised foodgrain already available through the public distribution system. Its basket is built around household kitchen staples rather than grain alone — combining cereals such as rice and jowar with condiments and cooking essentials such as sugar, edible oil, salt, turmeric, red chilli powder and mustard seeds — so that a beneficiary household's basic monthly cooking needs are covered by the scheme as a set, not just its grain requirement.

MPSC questions on Maharashtra's own welfare schemes are common and reward a candidate who has actually read the scheme's item list rather than assumed it mirrors the standard central public distribution basket of rice and wheat alone. This question tests exactly that: whether a candidate knows the Akshay Anna Yojana's basket extends well beyond grain to include the everyday condiments a Maharashtra kitchen needs, which is why the correct answer includes every item listed rather than a partial subset.

Key facts

The Akshay Anna Yojana is administered by Maharashtra's Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department.
It supplies eligible ration-card households with a basket of food items free of cost, in addition to subsidised foodgrain available under the public distribution system.
The free item basket includes rice, jowar, sugar, edible oil, salt, turmeric, red chilli powder and mustard seeds.
The scheme is targeted at economically weaker households identified through the state's ration card and food-security eligibility criteria.
It is one of several Maharashtra-specific welfare schemes, alongside the central Antyodaya Anna Yojana, that MPSC tests as state-specific current affairs distinct from national schemes.

Akshay Anna Yojana's free basket — beyond grain alone

A. Rice→Included — free of cost

B. Sugar→Included — free of cost

C. Red chilli powder→Included — free of cost

D. Turmeric→Included — free of cost

E. Jowar→Included — free of cost

All five items are in the basket — the scheme covers kitchen essentials, not grain alone.

Study next

The Antyodaya Anna Yojana, the central scheme targeting the poorest of the poor households, and how it differs from Maharashtra's own state-level food schemesMaharashtra's Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department and its other welfare programmesThe National Food Security Act, 2013 and how state schemes such as Akshay Anna Yojana supplement its entitlementsOther Maharashtra welfare schemes tested as current affairs — the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana and Bhagwan Birsa Munda Jodaraste Scheme, among othersComparative note on food-security basket design across Indian states, since several states supplement central foodgrain with locally chosen essentials

Common traps

Assuming a state food scheme's free basket is limited to grain alone, mirroring the central public distribution system, when Maharashtra's Akshay Anna Yojana explicitly extends to condiments and cooking essentials
Excluding an item from the correct answer set simply because it is not a cereal, when the scheme's basket is deliberately built around whole-kitchen essentials
Confusing the Akshay Anna Yojana with the centrally run Antyodaya Anna Yojana, which targets a different eligibility group and has its own separate item list

MPSC regularly tests the exact composition of Maharashtra's own state welfare schemes by listing several plausible items and asking which subset is genuinely covered, and it is common for the correct answer to be the full 'all of the above' set precisely because a state scheme's basket is often broader than a candidate expects. The defence is to read a state scheme's item list as printed in its own notification rather than assuming it mirrors a more familiar central scheme.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
Which department of the Government of Maharashtra administers the Akshay Anna Yojana ?
- (a)Rural Development Department
- (b)Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department
- (c)Tribal Development Department
- (d)Women and Child Development Department
Answer(b) Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department — the department responsible for Maharashtra's ration-card-based food schemes, including the Akshay Anna Yojana and the state's implementation of the Antyodaya Anna Yojana.
practice — not a real PYQ
Beneficiaries of the Akshay Anna Yojana receive free food items in addition to what they already draw under which national law ?
- (a)The Consumer Protection Act, 2019
- (b)The National Food Security Act, 2013
- (c)The Essential Commodities Act, 1955
- (d)The Right to Food Ordinance, 2001
Answer(b) The National Food Security Act, 2013 — the central law that entitles eligible households to subsidised foodgrain through the public distribution system, over and above which state schemes such as the Akshay Anna Yojana supply additional items free of cost.