Who among the following are eligible for Aastha Scheme in Rajasthan ?

Correct — option (4), Families in which 2 or more people are specially abled category with more than 40 percent disability.

The Aastha Scheme is a family-level benefit. The Government of Rajasthan's Economic Review 2023-24 describes it this way: families in which 2 or more people are specially abled with more than 40 per cent disability get the Aastha card, so that the benefits of a BPL card holder reach them.

Two conditions sit together in that description: at least two such members in one family, and a disability above 40 per cent. Option (4), families with 2 or more members with more than 40 percent disability, is the one option that states both.

Options (1) and (2) describe individuals, not families. Option (3) names the group whose benefits Aastha extends, not the group it covers.

The idea to remember: an Aastha card gives BPL-level benefits to a family with two or more members with over 40 per cent disability.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  Persons with specially abled category. — This is too wide. Aastha is not given to a specially abled person as an individual; it goes to a family with two or more members with more than 40 per cent disability.

  Individual support runs through other State schemes, such as the Mukhya Mantri Vishesh Yogyajan Swarojgar Yojana, which gives specially abled persons self-employment loans of up to ₹5 lakh.

• (2)
  Specially abled category persons with more than 40 percent disability. — This has the disability threshold but drops the family condition. One person with more than 40 per cent disability does not make a family eligible; two or more such members are needed.

  A 40 per cent line also appears in national law: the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 defines a person with benchmark disability as one with not less than 40 per cent of a specified disability.

• (3)
  BPL card holders. — BPL card holders are the reference point, not the beneficiaries. The scheme exists to make the benefits of a BPL card holder available to families with two or more members with more than 40 per cent disability.

  The Economic Review uses the same yardstick elsewhere: under the State's Silicosis Policy, a victim and his family get BPL facilities such as NFSA, like an Aastha card holder family.

The Aastha Scheme is one of the Rajasthan government's schemes for specially abled persons. The State set up a separate department for specially abled persons in 2011, and the Economic Review 2023-24 lists Aastha among the schemes run for them.

An eligible family receives an Aastha card, which makes the benefits of BPL card holders available to it.

Two conditions define the family: two or more members in the specially abled category, and more than 40 per cent disability. By March 2024 the State had 21,008 Aastha card holding families.

Key facts

• Aastha card: for families with 2 or more members with more than 40 per cent disability, so that they get the benefits of BPL card holders (Economic Review 2023-24).
• Rajasthan set up a separate department for specially abled persons in 2011 (Economic Review 2023-24).
• Aastha card holding families in Rajasthan numbered 21,008 till March 2024; 6,427 of those cards were issued in 2023-24.
• Under Rajasthan's Silicosis Policy, a victim and his family get BPL facilities such as NFSA, like an Aastha card holder family (Economic Review 2023-24).
• UDID certification identifies 21 categories of specially abled persons under the RPwD Act, 2016; about 5,16,803 UDID cards were issued in Rajasthan till March 2024.

Common traps

• A single person with more than 40 per cent disability does not qualify a family. The count of two or more such members is the condition that separates Aastha from individual disability schemes.
• BPL is the level of benefit Aastha gives, not the eligibility test the Economic Review names. Reading 'BPL' in the scheme's description as its eligibility reverses the relationship.
• The RPwD Act, 2016 uses 'not less than 40 per cent' for benchmark disability, while the Economic Review describes Aastha with 'more than 40 per cent'. Check which source's wording an option follows.

UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2018 and 2016 here once those papers are published on this site.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Under Rajasthan's Aastha Scheme, eligible families are given the benefits available to –

  • (a)Antyodaya card holders
  • (b)BPL card holders
  • (c)Government pensioners
  • (d)Scheduled Tribe households
  Answer(2) — The Economic Review 2023-24 says the Aastha card is given so that the benefits of BPL card holders are available to these families. Options (1), (3) and (4) name groups the scheme's description does not refer to.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  Consider the following statements about Rajasthan's Aastha Scheme : A. It is meant for families with two or more specially abled members with more than 40 per cent disability. B. It gives eligible families the benefits of BPL card holders. C. It gives self-employment loans of up to ₹5 lakh to specially abled persons. Which of the above statements are correct ?

  • (a)A and B only
  • (b)B and C only
  • (c)A and C only
  • (d)A, B and C
  Answer(1) — A and B describe the Aastha card. C describes the Mukhya Mantri Vishesh Yogyajan Swarojgar Yojana, a different scheme, so options (2), (3) and (4), which include C, are wrong.