SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 12 September 2024, Shift 2 · General Awareness · Question 4 of 100

Text as printed on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; answer per SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 6 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. The questions and options here are reproduced as printed on a candidate's own response sheet for this shift — the Commission's text, unchanged. Each answer is SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet; SSC allowed challenges to it and never publishes a final key. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

In July 2020, which state initiated the 'Ashirwad Scheme' to extend financial support for a daughter's marriage who belongs to a family earning a lower income?

(a)Rajasthan
(b)Bihar
(c)Uttar Pradesh
(d)Punjab

Answer

Why

Correct — D. The Ashirwad Scheme belongs to Punjab. It is run by the state's Department of Social Justice, Empowerment and Minorities and pays a one-time grant towards the marriage of daughters of eligible low-income families.

Punjab had given the same assistance under the older name Shagun, and the question dates the recast to July 2020 — option (d).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Rajasthan — Rajasthan runs marriage-assistance grants of its own, but not under this name. The Ashirwad label belongs to Punjab's social justice department.
(b)
Bihar — Bihar supports girl-child and marriage assistance under different scheme names. The grant named here is Punjab's.
(c)
Uttar Pradesh — Uttar Pradesh gives marriage grants to poor families through its own scheme. Ashirwad is a Punjab name, and matching name to state is the whole task.

Concept

State schemes are examined by name-to-state matching, so the label is the thing to remember, not the fine print.

Ashirwad is Punjab's grant for the marriage of daughters in eligible low-income families, administered by the Department of Social Justice, Empowerment and Minorities. It carries forward the assistance the state earlier gave under the name Shagun.

Several states run some version of a daughter's-marriage grant, which is why every option here reads as plausible.

SSC asked only for the state. Amounts under state marriage-grant schemes are revised in budget announcements, so the state, the department and the purpose are the durable facts.

Key facts

The Ashirwad Scheme is a Punjab government scheme giving financial assistance for the marriage of daughters in eligible low-income families.
It is administered by Punjab's Department of Social Justice, Empowerment and Minorities.
Punjab gave the same assistance earlier under the name Shagun.

Study next

Punjab state welfare schemes as they appear in current affairs compilationsCentral schemes for the girl child, including Beti Bachao Beti Padhao and Sukanya Samriddhi YojanaReading a scheme question for its state, its department and its beneficiary group

Common traps

Guessing a large state because welfare schemes are more often reported from them — the scheme name decides this, not the state's size.
Answering from the sound of the name, when several states use similar Hindi and Punjabi words for their grants.

State-scheme items either name the scheme and ask for the state, or name the state and ask for a detail.

Compare 10 Sep 2024, 16:00, GA Q.9 (which state declared a social security scheme for registered newspaper hawkers, keyed Odisha) and 26 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q.11 (the outlay of Uttar Pradesh's Nand Baba Milk Mission).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.