The objective of conferring the Shankar Shah and Rani Durgavati award to tribal students is :

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — B, to encourage students securing meritorious positions in the Class 10 and Class 12 examinations. The Raja Shankar Shah and Rani Durgavati award of the Madhya Pradesh Tribal Affairs Department is a merit prize: tribal students who place in the merit list of the Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education (MPBSE) Class 10 and Class 12 board examinations are given a cash award, the largest amount going to the highest rank. Selection follows automatically from the published board merit list rather than a separate application — it is an academic-excellence incentive, not a hostel, technical-education or entrance-coaching scheme.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Accommodation for tribal students is handled by a different arm of the same department — ashram schools, departmental tribal hostels and post-matric hostel/scholarship provisions. This award pays a cash prize for board-exam merit; it does not provide lodging.  (c) The award is tied to the general Class 10 and 12 board results, not to any technical or professional stream. Support for technical/professional courses runs through separate scholarship and fee-reimbursement schemes.  (d) Tempting, because Madhya Pradesh does run separate coaching and incentive schemes for tribal students preparing for national entrance examinations. This particular award, however, is triggered by board-examination merit positions, not by clearing an entrance test.

Concept: Madhya Pradesh's Tribal Affairs Department names most of its tribal-welfare instruments after Gondwana's historical figures. This award honours Rani Durgavati, the Gond queen of Garha-Katanga who died fighting the Mughal army of Asaf Khan in 1564, and Raja Shankar Shah of Garha-Mandla, who with his son Kunwar Raghunath Shah was executed by the British at Jabalpur on 18 September 1857. The award attached to their names is a straightforward merit incentive for Scheduled Tribe students who rank in the MPBSE Class 10 and Class 12 merit lists.

State PCS 2025 Q28 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2025 Q28 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer