SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 12 September 2024, Shift 3 · General Awareness · Question 18 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.

As of 31 May 2021, only 47% of total routes and 39% of airports (unserved and underserved) have been operationalised under UDAN, according to ICRA. What is the full form of UDAN?

(a)Udtha Desh Ka Aam Nayak
(b)Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik
(c)Unnath Desh Ka Aam Naagrik
(d)Ujwal Desh Ka Aam Naagrik

Answer

Why

Correct — B. UDAN expands to Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik — let the common citizen of the country fly.

It is the Regional Connectivity Scheme of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Airlines bid for routes to unserved and underserved airports, a share of the seats on each flight is sold at a capped fare, and the airline is paid Viability Gap Funding to cover the shortfall.

The ICRA percentages in the stem set the scene and nothing more. The question asks for the expansion of the acronym.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Udtha Desh Ka Aam Nayak — 'Udtha Desh Ka Aam Nayak' is not the scheme's name. The government's expansion uses Naagrik, citizen, not Nayak, leader — the scheme is about who gets to fly.
(c)
Unnath Desh Ka Aam Naagrik — 'Unnath Desh' would mean a developed country and belongs to no civil aviation scheme. The first word of UDAN is Ude, the verb 'fly', which is what makes the acronym work.
(d)
Ujwal Desh Ka Aam Naagrik — Ujwal echoes Ujjwala, the LPG connection scheme, and is planted here to catch a candidate matching a familiar sound instead of recalling the aviation scheme.

Concept

UDAN is the Regional Connectivity Scheme that followed the National Civil Aviation Policy of 2016.

The mechanism is what makes it examinable. Routes are awarded by bidding, a fixed number of seats per flight carry a capped fare, and the gap between that fare and the airline's cost is met from a Regional Connectivity Fund as Viability Gap Funding.

The target is airports that carry no scheduled service or very little of it, including small airstrips revived for the purpose. The stated aim — flying within reach of the ordinary citizen — is where the acronym comes from.

The first UDAN flight, on the Shimla-Delhi route, was flagged off in April 2017.

Key facts

UDAN stands for Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik, the Regional Connectivity Scheme of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
The scheme caps the fare on a share of seats and pays the operating airline Viability Gap Funding.
It targets unserved and underserved airports rather than the main metro routes.
The first UDAN flight connected Shimla and Delhi in April 2017.

Study next

The National Civil Aviation Policy 2016 and its regional connectivity componentViability Gap Funding as an instrument in public-private partnershipsThe role of the Airports Authority of India in implementing the scheme

Common traps

Choosing the option that echoes a scheme name you already know, such as Ujjwala
Trying to answer from the ICRA statistics in the stem, which the question never asks about

The acronym itself is the whole question, wrapped in statistics that do not matter. Central schemes are asked the same way at General Awareness Q.13 of the 12 Sep 2024, 16:00 paper, which wants the launch year of the Smart Cities Mission.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.