Question map
'Mission Indradhanush' launched by the Government of India pertains to
Explanation
Mission Indradhanush was launched on 25 December 2014 as a special drive to vaccinate all unvaccinated and partially vaccinated children and pregnant women by [1]2020[2] under the Universal Immunization Programme. Full immunization covers missed out and left out children and pregnant women during routine immunization rounds, against 7 life threatening diseases.[3] The mission aimed to fully immunize more than 90% of newborns by 2020[4], focusing on accelerating the full immunization and complete immunization coverage of children and pregnant women in the identified critical districts[5]. This flagship health initiative has nothing to do with smart cities, space exploration, or education policy, making option A the only correct answer.
Sources- [1] https://ipa-world.org/society-resources/code/images/349bc28-Mission%20Indradhanush%20Concept%20Note.pdf
- [2] https://ipa-world.org/society-resources/code/images/349bc28-Mission%20Indradhanush%20Concept%20Note.pdf
- [3] https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1506011
- [4] https://nhm.gov.in/New_Updates_2018/NHM_Components/Immunization/Guildelines_for_immunization/Mission_Indradhanush_Guidelines.pdf
- [5] https://nhm.gov.in/New_Updates_2018/NHM_Components/Immunization/Guildelines_for_immunization/Mission_Indradhanush_Guidelines.pdf
PROVENANCE & STUDY PATTERN
Full viewThis is a classic 'Flagship Scheme' question. In 2015-16, this was the most publicized health initiative. Fairness is 10/10; if you missed this, you weren't reading the newspaper. The question tests simple awareness: Scheme Name → Primary Objective.
This question can be broken into the following sub-statements. Tap a statement sentence to jump into its detailed analysis.
- Statement 1: Does Mission Indradhanush launched by the Government of India pertain to the immunization of children and pregnant women?
- Statement 2: Does Mission Indradhanush launched by the Government of India pertain to the construction of smart cities across the country?
- Statement 3: Does Mission Indradhanush launched by the Government of India pertain to India's search for Earth-like planets in outer space?
- Statement 4: Does Mission Indradhanush launched by the Government of India pertain to the New Educational Policy?
- Explicitly states Mission Indradhanush aims for full immunization of children and covers pregnant women during routine rounds.
- Provides numbers of children and pregnant women immunized under Mission Indradhanush, showing the program targets both groups.
- States the launch date and purpose: a special drive to vaccinate unvaccinated and partially vaccinated children and pregnant women.
- Frames Mission Indradhanush under the Universal Immunization Programme, linking it directly to immunization activities.
- Guidelines state the objective is accelerating full and complete immunization coverage of children and pregnant women in critical districts.
- Shows program design focuses on reaching children and pregnant women with all available vaccines.
States that government 'missions' have been used to improve public health, including explicitly 'immunisation of children' (example: polio mission).
A student could infer that a similarly named mission might also focus on vaccination programmes for children and check whether Indradhanush fits the pattern of immunisation missions.
Identifies pregnant and nursing mothers and children under five as a key vulnerable group in health/food security discussions, a common target for health interventions.
One could extend this by noting such groups are typical targets for immunisation drives and thus plausibly included under a child/pregnancy immunisation mission.
Describes a government programme (Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan) specifically aimed at providing antenatal care to pregnant women, showing that separate missions target pregnant women’s health.
A student might generalise that if missions target pregnant women’s healthcare, a mission titled Indradhanush could plausibly target maternal/child health including immunisation.
Notes the 2015 National Health Policy and consolidation/launch of national health programmes, indicating the government uses national missions/policies to address public health goals.
One could reason that Mission Indradhanush, as a government-launched mission, is likely to be part of such national health programme efforts (e.g., immunisation), and verify against program descriptions.
- Explicitly states Mission Indradhanush's objective is immunization of newborns, not urban infrastructure.
- Shows the program's aim and target population, which contradicts any claim about constructing smart cities.
- Defines Mission Indradhanush as a special drive to vaccinate unvaccinated and partially vaccinated children and pregnant women.
- This description clearly relates to public health vaccination efforts, not to smart city construction.
- Describes MI and IMI as special catch-up vaccination campaigns for left out and dropped-out children and pregnant women.
- Indicates program activities are immunization sessions and model immunization centers, not city-building.
Defines the objective of the Smart Cities Mission as promoting cities that provide core infrastructure, sustainable environment and better services — clearly an urban infrastructure/services programme.
A student can compare this urban-infrastructure goal with the known objective of 'Mission Indradhanush' (a national immunisation initiative) to judge they are different programmes.
States the Smart City Mission aims to develop 100 smart cities and is implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs — tying it to city development, not health.
Knowing the implementing ministry and the target (100 cities) lets a student check organisational ownership of Indradhanush to see if it aligns (it doesn't if Indradhanush is in health ministry).
Explains Smart Cities Mission's area-based development approach and contrasts it with AMRUT's project-based basic infrastructure focus — both clearly urban development schemes.
A student can use these programme features (area-based urban development) to test whether Indradhanush activities (e.g., immunisation drives) fit this model (they would not).
Describes Smart Cities Mission projects to build 100 smart cities and links them to Industry 4.0/manufacturing infrastructure — again framing it as an urban/technology-infrastructure programme.
A student can contrast this infrastructure/industry emphasis with the content of Indradhanush (public health interventions) to infer they are distinct.
Notes financing arrangements for Smart Cities (central/state/ULB matching, municipal bonds, PPPs) indicating large capital urban projects rather than centrally run service campaigns.
A student can compare these financing and governance structures with funding/administration patterns of a national health mission to determine if Mission Indradhanush would plausibly use the same model.
- Explicitly names Mission Indradhanush as a flagship programme of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare launched in December 2014.
- States the programme's objective: to fully immunize more than 90% of newborns by 2020 — clearly a public health/immunization initiative, not an astronomy mission.
- Refers to 'Intensified Mission Indradhanush' being launched by the PM on 8th October 2017.
- Specifies it was launched 'for intensified immunization campaign', linking the mission to vaccination activities.
- States Mission Indradhanush was launched in December 2014 by the Government of India.
- Clarifies the programme's purpose: to improve immunization coverage and reduce child mortality.
Describes Mangalyaan (Mars Orbiter Mission) as an Indian mission explicitly aimed at exploring Mars and searching for past habitability, showing that Indian missions are tied to specific celestial targets.
A student could check whether 'Indradhanush' appears in lists of missions with explicit targets (like Mars) or whether its name/description matches an exoplanet-search mission.
Lists a set of ISRO missions with their scientific targets (Chandrayaan — Moon; Aditya L1 — Sun; Mangalyaan — Mars; AstroSat — stars/objects), indicating mission names typically map to clear objectives.
Use this pattern to infer that if Indradhanush were an exoplanet/Earth-like search, it would likely be described alongside these named target-specific missions in similar lists.
Notes the formal and popular names of missions (Mars Orbiter Mission / Mangalyaan) and emphasizes mission purpose and national recognition, implying official mission documentation specifies scientific goal and target.
A student could look for official documentation or common references for 'Mission Indradhanush' to see if it is presented with a target like the examples given.
Gives a chronology of launches and their targets (e.g., PSLV-C25 launches Mars Orbiter), showing how Indian missions and launch records are publicly listed with mission targets and launch vehicles.
Compare launch-history lists for an entry named Indradhanush — its presence or absence (and any accompanying target) would help confirm whether it relates to exoplanet searches.
- Explicitly calls Mission Indradhanush a flagship programme of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
- States the programme's objective: to fully immunize more than 90% of newborns by 2020 — a health/immunization goal, not an education policy.
- Describes Mission Indradhanush (MI) and Intensified MI as special catch-up campaigns under the Universal Immunization Program.
- Specifies their purpose: ensure vaccination of left out and dropped-out children and pregnant women — clearly health-related activities.
- States Mission Indradhanush was launched in December 2014 by the Government of India.
- Defines the programme purpose as improving immunization coverage and reducing child mortality — not part of the New Educational Policy.
Describes a National Health Policy and mentions consolidation/launch of several national health programmes and flagship missions (e.g., Ayushman Bharat, Swachh Bharat) — establishes that the government launches named 'missions' for health/sanitation.
A student could note that 'missions' are used for health initiatives and therefore check whether Mission Indradhanush appears in health programme lists (suggesting it may not be an education policy item).
Lists well-known national education programmes (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Mid-Day Meal, National Open School) as examples of education-related initiatives, showing the typical names and types of programmes under education.
Compare the list of established education programmes' names with 'Mission Indradhanush' to judge whether its name and typical domain match education schemes.
Notes that some government initiatives are explicitly launched 'in a Mission Mode' (e.g., National Career Service) indicating 'Mission' is a naming convention across sectors, not unique to education.
Use this pattern to infer that the presence of 'Mission' in a scheme's name alone does not make it educational; verify the sectoral context of Mission Indradhanush.
Gives examples of education-specific recent initiatives (PM eVIDYA, DIKSHA) with distinct names tied to digital education, implying modern education policy programmes have recognizable education-focused names.
A student could check whether Mission Indradhanush is listed among such education initiatives (if not, this supports that it is likely not part of the New Educational Policy).
- [THE VERDICT]: Sitter. Direct Current Affairs question from PIB/Newspapers (2014-2015 era).
- [THE CONCEPTUAL TRIGGER]: Government Schemes & Policies (Health Sector). Specifically, the 'Universal Immunization Programme' (UIP) upgrade.
- [THE HORIZONTAL EXPANSION]: Memorize the '7 Colors' (Original 7 diseases): Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Polio, Tuberculosis, Measles, Hepatitis B. Contrast with 'Intensified Mission Indradhanush' (IMI) 2.0/3.0/4.0. Crucial: Distinguish this from the 'Indradhanush' framework for Public Sector Banks (PJ Nayak Committee).
- [THE STRATEGIC METACOGNITION]: When a scheme has a metaphorical name (Indradhanush, Ujjwala, Ujala), the first question UPSC asks is 'What is the objective?'. Always decode the metaphor: Indradhanush = Rainbow = 7 elements.
Reference [9] references missions directed at improving public health particularly through immunisation of children (polio), which is conceptually closest to the claim about an immunisation mission.
Understanding major child immunisation drives is high-yield for UPSC because questions probe public-health programmes, disease-elimination efforts, and vaccination policy frameworks. It connects to topics on National Health Mission, disease control, and programme implementation; revise key national immunisation initiatives, target groups, and outcomes to answer policy and current-affairs questions.
- Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 39: After Nehru... > Technology Missions > p. 727
Reference [1] describes a government programme aimed at reducing maternal and infant mortality by providing antenatal care to pregnant women, linking to the 'pregnant women' part of the statement.
Maternal health schemes are frequently tested in GS papers and interview—covering objectives, implementation mechanisms, and links to outcomes like infant mortality and nutrition. Master how antenatal initiatives, target beneficiaries, and delivery mechanisms work; relate these to larger health indicators and social-sector budgeting for comparative questions.
- Economics, Class IX . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 3: Poverty as a Challenge > Anti-Poverty Measures > p. 40
- Economics, Class IX . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 4: Food Security in India > Let's Discuss > p. 45
Reference [2] notes that several national health programmes were merged with the National Health Mission, illustrating the institutional context in which immunisation and maternal-health campaigns operate.
Knowing institutional structures (NHM, programme mergers) helps answer questions about governance, policy continuity, and implementation. It's useful for questions on administrative architecture of health policy, interlinkages between schemes, and evaluation of programme effectiveness—prepare by mapping major programmes to their nodal agencies and historical reforms.
- Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 39: After Nehru... > Health Policy > p. 781
Several references define the Smart Cities Mission's goal to develop 100 cities with core infrastructure, sustainable environment and improved quality of life.
High-yield for UPSC because questions frequently ask the aims and features of major urban schemes. Mastering these helps answer direct-scheme questions, policy-evaluation and comparison tasks. Prepare by memorising objectives, targets (e.g., 100 cities) and key features from standard sources.
- INDIA PEOPLE AND ECONOMY, TEXTBOOK IN GEOGRAPHY FOR CLASS XII (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 2: Human Settlements > Smart Cities Mission > p. 19
- Indian Economy, Nitin Singhania .(ed 2nd 2021-22) > Chapter 15: Infrastructure > SMART CITY MISSION > p. 464
The evidence explicitly contrasts Smart Cities (area‑based, 100 cities) with AMRUT (project‑based, 500 cities), showing distinct approaches and targets.
Frequently tested in comparative questions on urban missions; knowing differences aids in evaluation and inter-scheme comparison (approach, scale, federal role). Study by tabulating purpose, scale, implementation approach and target services.
- Indian Economy, Vivek Singh (7th ed. 2023-24) > Chapter 14: Infrastructure and Investment Models > 2. Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) > p. 437
References describe SPV-based city-level implementation and diverse funding sources (central/state/ULB share, municipal bonds, PPPs, loans).
Crucial for UPSC questions on governance and public finance of schemes; links to topics like PPPs, municipal finance and institutional design. Learn the SPV structure, funding mix, and role of ULB/state/centre from authoritative texts.
- Indian Economy, Vivek Singh (7th ed. 2023-24) > Chapter 14: Infrastructure and Investment Models > Financing of Smart Cities: > p. 435
- Indian Economy, Vivek Singh (7th ed. 2023-24) > Chapter 14: Infrastructure and Investment Models > Financing of Smart Cities: > p. 436
Several references list ISRO missions (Mangalyaan, Chandrayaan, Aditya, Cartosat) along with their scientific goals, showing how mission names map to objectives.
High-yield for UPSC: knowing prominent Indian space missions and their stated objectives helps answer questions on science & technology, international prestige, and policy. Connects to topics on scientific capabilities and national projects; learn by tabulating mission names, launch years, and primary purposes.
- Science ,Class VIII . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 13: Our Home: Earth, a Unique Life Sustaining Planet > Our scientific heritage > p. 216
- Science ,Class VIII . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 11: Keeping Time with the Skies > Our scientific heritage > p. 185
The 'Other' Indradhanush: The 'Mission Indradhanush' for Public Sector Banks (2015). It had 7 components (A-G): Appointments, Bank Board Bureau, Capitalization, De-stressing, Empowerment, Framework of accountability, Governance reforms.
Etymological decoding: 'Indradhanush' means Rainbow (7 colors). Option B (Smart Cities) and D (Education) have no inherent '7' logic. Option C (Planets) is plausible but ISRO missions are usually named after the specific celestial body (Mangalyaan, Chandrayaan). Option A (Immunization) historically targets the '7 killer diseases', making the rainbow metaphor a perfect fit.
Mains GS-2 (Health): Use Mission Indradhanush as a case study for 'Targeted Intervention' vs 'Universal Coverage'. It shifted the approach from passive availability of vaccines to active 'catch-up' campaigns in low-coverage districts.