The main objective of “Rajasthan Urban Sector Development Programme (Phase-III)” is :
- (1)to improve health services in urban areas.
- (2)to improve school education in urban areas.
- (3)to improve service delivery in water supply, sewerage and sanitation.
- (4)to construct new roads.
Answer
Why
Correct — option (3), to improve service delivery in water supply, sewerage and sanitation.
The Government of Rajasthan's Economic Review 2023-24 states the main objective of the Rajasthan Urban Sector Development Program (RUSDP) (Phase III) as improving service delivery in water supply and sewerage, including total sanitation, for residents of selected cities of Rajasthan.
The works match that aim. The project loan pays for water distribution improvement and sewerage in five project cities: Tonk, Sriganganagar, Jhunjhunu, Pali and Bhilwara (sewerage only). The program loan covers sewerage in Bikaner, Jhalawar, Sawai Madhopur, Kota, Mount Abu and Udaipur, and drainage in Banswara.
So the objective is to improve service delivery in water supply, sewerage and sanitation. The programme is funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The idea to remember: RUSDP Phase III is ADB-funded water supply, sewerage and sanitation work in Rajasthan's cities.
Why the others are wrong
- (1)to improve health services in urban areas. — Health services are not in RUSDP Phase III's stated objective. The works the Economic Review lists under it are water distribution, sewerage, treatment and drainage.
Sanitation does protect public health, but this programme builds pipes, sewers and treatment plants, not hospitals or health services.
- (2)to improve school education in urban areas. — School education is not part of this programme. Its objective, as the Economic Review 2023-24 states it, is service delivery in water supply, sewerage and sanitation in selected cities.
The works the Economic Review lists for this phase are water supply, sewerage and drainage works.
- (4)to construct new roads. — Roads are not RUSDP's objective. In the Economic Review's table of externally aided projects, roads come under separate projects: the Rajasthan State Highway Investment Program (ADB) and the Rajasthan State Highway Development Program-II (World Bank).
RUSDP Phase III's own works are water supply, sewerage and drainage.
Concept
RUSDP Phase III is an externally aided urban programme of the Government of Rajasthan. It combines two ADB loans of US$ 250 million each: a project loan for physical works and a program loan tied to urban-sector policy reforms.
The project loan finances water distribution improvement on a district metered area basis for continuous pressurised supply, non-revenue water reduction, 100 per cent metered house connections, sewerage networks and reuse of treated effluent, among other works. Contracts include 10 years of operation and maintenance.
ADB released the program loan in two tranches of US$ 125 million each, against compliance with agreed policy reforms.
RPSC's 2024 syllabus lists "Infrastructure & Resources" and "Major Development Projects" under Economy of Rajasthan. Externally aided urban projects fall under both heads.
The project became effective in November 2015 and was scheduled to finish by September 2020. The project loan closed that month, and the State decided to complete the remaining works from its own funds.
The next phase is the ADB-funded Rajasthan Secondary Town Development Sector Project (Phase IV), which funds sewerage, water supply and related works in two tranches; Tranche-I covers 14 towns.
Key facts
- RUSDP Phase III's main objective: improve service delivery in water supply and sewerage, including total sanitation, in selected cities (Economic Review 2023-24).
- It is funded by the Asian Development Bank through a US$ 250 million project loan and a US$ 250 million program loan.
- Its five project cities are Tonk, Sriganganagar, Jhunjhunu, Pali and Bhilwara (sewerage only).
- Works worth ₹3,930.45 crore are being executed in 12 cities; ₹3,513.34 crore had been spent up to March 2024.
- Phase IV, the Rajasthan Secondary Town Development Sector Project, is also ADB-funded; its Tranche-II covers works of about ₹2,450 crore.
Source: Economic Review 2023-24, Government of Rajasthan (externally aided projects).
Study next
Common traps
- The Economic Review describes the same 12-city programme under two names — RUSDP (Phase III) among externally aided projects, and RUIDP Phase-III under urban development — with ₹3,513.34 crore spent on it up to March 2024. They are one phase, not two projects.
- Phase IV carries a different name, the Rajasthan Secondary Town Development Sector Project. The words 'Secondary Town' mark Phase IV, not Phase III.
- Better sanitation improves health, which can make option (1) sound close. The stated objective is service delivery in water supply, sewerage and sanitation, not health services.
A question can name a project and ask its main aim, as this one does. A question can also ask which external agency finances it: ADB, World Bank, JICA or the New Development Bank.
A question can ask which cities a phase includes, or which phase a named project belongs to.
Related PYQs
UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2023, 2016 and 2013 here once those papers are published on this site.
Practice
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Rajasthan Urban Sector Development Program (Phase-III) is financed with loans from –
- (a)World Bank
- (b)Asian Development Bank
- (c)Japan International Cooperation Agency
- (d)New Development Bank
Answer(2) — The Economic Review 2023-24 lists it as an ADB project with a project loan and a program loan. In the same table the World Bank funds a State Highway Development Program, JICA a Water Sector Livelihood Improvement Project, and the NDB a Water Sector Restructuring Project for Desert Areas. - practice — not a real PYQ
Which of the following externally aided projects of Rajasthan is Phase IV of the urban infrastructure programme that followed RUSDP (Phase III) ?
- (a)Rajasthan Secondary Town Development Sector Project
- (b)Rajasthan State Highway Investment Program
- (c)Rajasthan Water Sector Restructuring Project for Desert Areas
- (d)Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project-II
Answer(1) — The Economic Review lists the Rajasthan Secondary Town Development Sector Project as Phase-IV (ADB). Option (2) is a highway project, option (3) a water-sector project funded by the NDB, and option (4) a dam rehabilitation project funded by the World Bank.