UPPSC 2019 Prelims GS Paper-I · Question 138 of 150

Correct — D, Neither 1 nor 2. Both statements swap a real fact for a plausible-sounding wrong one. Statement 1 is wrong on the era: India's National Calendar is based on the Saka era, whose epoch is 78 CE, and not on the Vikram era (Vikram Samvat), whose epoch is 57 BCE and which remains a popular reckoning in north India, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Nepal. The two are about 135 years apart, which is exactly why examiners pair them. Statement 2 is wrong on the date: the National Calendar was adopted on 22 March 1957, corresponding to 1 Chaitra 1879 of the Saka era — not on 26 January 1950, which is the day the Constitution came into force and India became a Republic. The calendar was recommended by the Calendar Reform Committee set up under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and chaired by the astrophysicist Professor Meghnad Saha, which reported in 1955. Since 1957 the Saka dates have been printed alongside Gregorian dates in the Gazette of India, in All India Radio news bulletins, in government calendars and in communications addressed by the Government to the public. Both statements failing, the answer is (d).

• (a)1 only — This accepts the Vikram era, which is the single most common error on this topic. The National Calendar runs on the Saka era (epoch 78 CE). Vikram Samvat is an older and widely used traditional reckoning associated with Ujjain and with the legendary Vikramaditya, but it was not the era the Government of India adopted.
• (b)2 only — This accepts 26 January 1950, the date the Constitution commenced. The National Calendar came into official use seven years later, on 22 March 1957. The date in the statement is a deliberate decoy built from another famous national milestone.
• (c)Both 1 and 2 — Both halves are wrong — the era is Saka, not Vikram, and the adoption date is 22 March 1957, not 26 January 1950 — so accepting both cannot be right.

India used dozens of regional calendars, and after independence the Government asked the Calendar Reform Committee, chaired by Professor Meghnad Saha, to design a single scientific civil calendar. Its recommendation, adopted on 22 March 1957, keeps the Saka era for numbering years and the traditional month names, but fixes month lengths so that the year is exactly a Gregorian year long: Chaitra has 30 days (31 in a leap year), the next five months have 31 days and the last six have 30. Chaitra 1 therefore always falls on 22 March, and on 21 March in a leap year. The Saka year is obtained by subtracting 78 from the Gregorian year (for dates after Chaitra 1), and the National Calendar is used alongside — not instead of — the Gregorian calendar.

This is the standard 'two false statements' construction, and both traps are built by substituting one famous item for another: Vikram era for Saka era, and Republic Day 1950 for the actual adoption year 1957. When a statement offers a date that is already famous for something else, treat it as suspect. The safe anchors to memorise are the pair Saka = 78 CE and Vikram = 57 BCE, and the pair 22 March 1957 (adoption) and 22 March (Chaitra 1 in an ordinary year) — note that the same date does double duty, which makes it easy to hold. Both the Saka era and Chaitra 1 have been asked directly in prelims.

• The National Calendar of India is based on the Saka era, whose epoch is 78 CE; Vikram Samvat, epoch 57 BCE, is a different traditional reckoning.
• It was adopted on 22 March 1957, that is 1 Chaitra 1879 Saka — not on 26 January 1950, which is the date the Constitution came into force.
• It was recommended by the Calendar Reform Committee under Professor Meghnad Saha, which reported in 1955.
• Chaitra 1 corresponds to 22 March in a normal year and to 21 March in a leap year; Chaitra is the first month.
• Its official uses are the Gazette of India, All India Radio news bulletins, government calendars and government communications addressed to the public, alongside the Gregorian calendar.

• Swapping the Saka era for the Vikram era — the National Calendar uses Saka.
• Reading '26 January 1950' as the adoption date because it is the Republic Day milestone; the calendar was adopted on 22 March 1957.
• Assuming the National Calendar replaced the Gregorian calendar for government use — it is used alongside it, not instead of it.

UPPSC asks it as a two-statement true-or-false pairing the era with a date, while UPSC has asked the finer point directly — which Gregorian date Chaitra 1 of the Saka-based national calendar corresponds to in a normal year.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The National Calendar of India, adopted in 1957, is based on which era, and what is that era's epoch?

  • (a)Vikram era, 57 BCE
  • (b)Saka era, 78 CE
  • (c)Gupta era, 319 CE
  • (d)Kollam era, 825 CE

  Answer(b) Saka era, 78 CE — subtract 78 from the Gregorian year to get the Saka year for dates after Chaitra 1.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Calendar Reform Committee that recommended India's National Calendar was chaired by

  • (a)Homi J. Bhabha
  • (b)Meghnad Saha
  • (c)Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar
  • (d)C. V. Raman

  Answer(b) Meghnad Saha — the astrophysicist chaired the committee, which reported in 1955, and the calendar was adopted on 22 March 1957.