Consider the following statements about New National Education Policy approved by Union Cabinet of India on 29th July, 2020 : 1. It was drafted by a Committee headed by Dr. K. Kasturirangan. 2. It will replace the previous Education Policy which has been followed since last 38 years. Select the correct statement(s) from the codes given below. Codes :
- (a)1 only
- (b)2 only
- (c)Both 1 and 2
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2
Correct — A, 1 only. Statement 1 is true: the draft NEP was prepared by a committee chaired by Dr. K. Kasturirangan (former ISRO Chairman), which submitted its report in 2019. Statement 2 is false on the number: NEP 2020 replaced the previous National Policy on Education, which dated from 1986 (revised 1992) — that is about 34 years, not 38. Since only statement 1 holds, the answer is (a).
- (b)2 only — Reverses the truth values — statement 1 (Kasturirangan committee) is the correct one; statement 2's '38 years' is the error (it was 34 years, from 1986).
- (c)Both 1 and 2 — Statement 2 is false: the previous policy (1986) was ~34 years old, not 38, so both cannot be correct.
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2 — Statement 1 is factually correct (the Kasturirangan committee drafted the policy), so 'neither' is wrong.
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, approved by the Union Cabinet on 29 July 2020, is India's first comprehensive education policy of the 21st century. It replaced the National Policy on Education (NPE) 1986 (modified 1992). The drafting committee was chaired by Dr. K. Kasturirangan; the policy also renamed the Ministry of Human Resource Development back to the Ministry of Education.
This is a classic 'one right fact, one planted-number error' statement pair. Statement 1 (the Kasturirangan committee) is a safe true fact; the trap is statement 2, where the plausible-sounding '38 years' is quietly wrong — the arithmetic 2020 minus 1986 gives 34 years. Spotting that single number decides the question.
- NEP 2020 approved by the Union Cabinet on 29 July 2020
- Drafting committee chaired by Dr. K. Kasturirangan (former ISRO Chairman); report submitted 2019
- Replaced the National Policy on Education 1986 (revised 1992) — about 34 years, not 38
- Introduced the 5+3+3+4 school structure and a target of 6% of GDP on education
Only statement 1 is correct → answer (a) 1 only.
- Accepting the plausible-sounding '38 years' — the correct gap from 1986 is ~34 years
- Confusing the Kasturirangan (2019) draft committee with the earlier T.S.R. Subramanian committee (2016)
Statement questions on policies pair a correct 'who drafted it' fact with a wrong number (years, GDP %, dates) — verify the number separately rather than trusting the phrasing.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The draft that led to the National Education Policy 2020 was prepared by a committee headed by:
- (a)T.S.R. Subramanian
- (b)K. Kasturirangan
- (c)Yash Pal
- (d)D.S. Kothari
Answer(b) K. Kasturirangan — the former ISRO Chairman chaired the drafting committee whose report (2019) shaped NEP 2020.
- practice — not a real PYQ
NEP 2020 replaced which earlier policy?
- (a)National Policy on Education, 1968
- (b)National Policy on Education, 1986 (revised 1992)
- (c)Right to Education Act, 2009
- (d)Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, 2001
Answer(b) NPE 1986 (revised 1992) — the policy in force until NEP 2020 was adopted in July 2020.