Which of the following personalities is a Padma Shri awardee folk singer from the state of Uttar Pradesh?

Correct — A. Ajita Srivastava was a folk singer from Uttar Pradesh, known for Kajari, the monsoon folk form of the Mirzapur and Varanasi region. She was awarded the Padma Shri in 2022 in the field of Art.

She began performing on All India Radio at Varanasi, taught for decades in Mirzapur, and died in August 2024, weeks before this shift was held.

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  Teejan Bai — Teejan Bai performs Pandavani, the sung Mahabharata narrative of Chhattisgarh. The state named in the stem rules her out.
• (c)
  Ila Arun — Ila Arun is associated with Rajasthani folk music and with Hindi cinema. She is not a folk singer of Uttar Pradesh.
• (d)
  Gurmeet Bawa — Gurmeet Bawa was a Punjabi folk singer, known for holding a long unbroken opening note. Punjab, not Uttar Pradesh.

SSC builds these questions from the Padma awards list and decides them on the state, not on the award. Each name in the option set belongs to a different regional tradition.

Kajari is a seasonal folk form of eastern Uttar Pradesh, sung in the rains and associated with Mirzapur and Varanasi. It sits alongside Chaiti and Sohar in the same repertoire.

Reading the list by tradition rather than by fame gets you there: Pandavani is Chhattisgarh, Rajasthani folk is Rajasthan, Punjabi folk is Punjab, and Kajari is Uttar Pradesh.

Key facts

• Ajita Srivastava was awarded the Padma Shri in 2022 in the field of Art.
• She sang Kajari, a monsoon folk form of the Mirzapur and Varanasi region of Uttar Pradesh.
• Teejan Bai is a Pandavani exponent from Chhattisgarh.

Common traps

• Picking Teejan Bai because she is the best known name in the set.
• Learning the award year without the state, when the state is what these stems are decided on.

No directly related past PYQ was found.