Question map
What is the purpose of 'Vidyanjali Yojana' ? 1. To enable the famous foreign educational institutions to open their campuses in India. 2. To increase the quality of education provided in government schools by taking help from the private sector and the community. 3. To encourage voluntary monetary contributions from private individuals and organizations so as to improve the infrastructure facilities for primary and secondary schools. Select the correct answer using the code given below :
Explanation
Vidyanjali was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 7th September 2021, aiming to enhance the quality of education in schools by fostering community involvement, and encouraging contributions from corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and the private sector across the country.[1] It is a school volunteer management program to strengthen Government and Government-aided schools through community and private sector involvement.[2]
Statement 1 is **incorrect** because regulations on setting up and operation of campuses of foreign Higher Education Institutions in India[3] are a separate initiative unrelated to Vidyanjali, which focuses on school education. Statement 2 is **correct** as it accurately describes Vidyanjali's core purpose of improving government school education quality through community and private sector participation. Statement 3, while partially overlapping since Vidyanjali has introduced a CSR module for participation with around 2926 CSR/NGOs registered[4], is not the primary stated purposeโthe focus is broader community involvement and volunteer participation rather than specifically encouraging monetary contributions for infrastructure.
Therefore, only statement 2 is correct, making option A (2 only) the right answer.
Sources- [1] https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2072203
- [2] https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1993919
- [3] https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1988845
- [4] https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1993919
PROVENANCE & STUDY PATTERN
Full viewThis question tested the specific 'Mode of Engagement' of a flagship scheme. The trap was distinguishing between 'Volunteering Time/Skills' (Statement 2) and 'Donating Money/Infrastructure' (Statement 3). In 2017, the scheme was strictly about the former.
This question can be broken into the following sub-statements. Tap a statement sentence to jump into its detailed analysis.
- Statement 1: Does the Vidyanjali Yojana aim to enable foreign educational institutions to open campuses in India?
- Statement 2: Does the Vidyanjali Yojana aim to increase the quality of education in government schools by leveraging support from the private sector and the community?
- Statement 3: Does the Vidyanjali Yojana aim to encourage voluntary monetary contributions from private individuals and organizations to improve infrastructure in primary and secondary schools?
- Defines Vidyanjali's aim as strengthening schools through community and private sector involvement.
- This description indicates a focus on supporting domestic school-level resources rather than enabling foreign campuses.
- Specifies that regulations to allow campuses of foreign Higher Education Institutions in India were issued to promote internationalization.
- Shows that enabling foreign campuses is addressed as a higher-education regulation, separate from the Vidyanjali school-focused initiative.
This snippet notes a broader government strategy of 'openness' to encourage foreign firms to create jobs in India โ a general pattern of enabling foreign participation in sectors.
A student could use this as a prompt to check whether education-sector policy (or Vidyanjali guidelines) are aligned with that openness by looking up sector-specific FDI/UGC/MEQA rules on foreign campuses.
Explains legal/constitutional principles that communities have rights to establish educational institutions โ a rule about who may set up schools/universities in India.
One could compare these constitutional protections for domestic minority institutions with statutory/ regulatory provisions for foreign entities to infer whether Vidyanjali could extend such establishment rights to foreign institutions.
Describes how national education policy has previously been used to create new types of institutions (e.g., IGNOU) โ a pattern that policy initiatives can enable new institutional forms.
A student might examine whether Vidyanjali is framed as a policy instrument capable of creating or authorising new institutional forms (including foreign campuses) by checking its stated objectives and implementing authority.
Lists central government initiatives (Atal Innovation Mission, Start Up India) that actively promote partnerships, innovation and support for non-traditional education/entrepreneurial activity.
Use this pattern to ask if Vidyanjali is similarly permissive toward partnerships with external (including foreign) educational players by reviewing scheme features such as partnership clauses or eligibility.
- Explicitly states Vidyanjali was launched to strengthen school infrastructure and improve the quality of school education.
- Specifies the mechanism: community participation, CSR and private sector involvement.
- Describes Vidyanjali as a School Volunteer Management Program aimed to enhance quality of education.
- Clearly links enhancement to community involvement and contributions from CSR and the private sector.
- Official Vidyanjali site states the initiative aims to strengthen schools through community and private sector support.
- Implied focus on leveraging non-governmental support to improve schools.
This snippet states that 'Private efforts were to be encouraged' and that quality of schools was to be improved โ showing a policy precedent of using private/extra-governmental support to raise school quality.
A student could infer that contemporary schemes aiming to improve government-school quality might similarly formalize private support, and then check if Vidyanjali matches that pattern.
It describes a scheme implemented 'with the support of local governments and various community organisations' to improve attendance and engagement, illustrating use of community participation in education programmes.
One could generalize that education initiatives often include community partners to boost outcomes, and so investigate whether Vidyanjali explicitly engages community organisations.
Atal Bhujal Yojana is given as an example of using 'people's participation' and local associations for implementation, providing a model of community involvement in central schemes.
A student can use this as a template showing central schemes can operationalize community support, then look for similar mechanisms in Vidyanjali.
This snippet highlights government programmes (e.g., PM eVIDYA) and notes policy openness to private sector roles in certain areas, indicating an environment where private participation in education initiatives is plausible.
Using this as context, a student could expect modern education schemes to incorporate private-sector inputs (digital content, volunteers) and verify if Vidyanjali leverages such private resources.
Lists various programmes aimed at 'improve the quality of education' and stresses integrative approaches, showing quality-improvement is an explicit goal of many central education policies.
A student might reason that Vidyanjali โ if framed as an education programme โ would plausibly target quality improvement and then check whether its design involves private/community partnerships.
- Explicitly states a CSR module was introduced to allow CSR organisations to contribute to schools, which indicates facilitation of organized contributions from private entities.
- Notes the portal has registered many CSR/NGOs for contributions, showing active encouragement of external organizational contributions to schools.
- Describes Vidyanjali as an initiative by the Ministry of Education aimed to strengthen schools through community and private sector involvement, aligning with encouragement of private contributions.
- Frames the program's central aim as school strengthening, which encompasses infrastructure improvements facilitated via private/community support.
- Identifies Vidyanjali as a school volunteer management program to strengthen government and government-aided schools through community and private sector involvement, showing the scheme channels private participation to support schools.
- Provides scale (number of schools onboarded and volunteers registered), indicating active mobilization of non-government support for schools.
Shows a central scheme (Atal Bhujal Yojana) explicitly envisages 'people's participation' through user associations, illustrating that government programmes sometimes build formal roles for community involvement.
A student could extend this pattern to ask whether Vidyanjali similarly formalises community participation โ e.g., by checking Vidyanjali documents for provisions inviting local/voluntary support.
Includes an option indicating government schemes can 'fund the voluntary organizations' involved in promotion of skills โ demonstrating two-way finance links between government schemes and voluntary organisations.
One could use this as precedent to investigate whether Vidyanjali reverses that flow (solicits funds from individuals/organisations) by looking for clauses on voluntary contributions.
Lists multiple education programmes (Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, Mid-Day Meal, etc.) aimed at improving quality and access, showing the state uses varied instruments to strengthen schools.
A student might infer that non-state resource mobilisation (voluntary contributions) is one possible instrument and check Vidyanjali for language about private support for infrastructure.
Describes the school continuum and focus on inclusive, quality education aligning with SDGs, implying schemes target retention/quality which can include infrastructure improvements.
Use this as a motive clause: since infrastructure affects retention/quality, a student could reasonably look for Vidyanjali provisions linking private contributions to infrastructure upgrades.
Shows government uses targeted umbrella schemes (for ST education) that include establishing/strengthening schools and hostels, indicating precedent for schemes that mobilise external actors/resources for school infrastructure.
A student could compare Vidyanjali to such umbrella schemes to see if it similarly invites non-governmental support for physical improvements.
- [THE VERDICT]: Trap (Statement 3). Source: PIB release on Vidyanjali launch (June 2016).
- [THE CONCEPTUAL TRIGGER]: Ministry of Education (then MHRD) initiatives focusing on 'Jan Bhagidari' (Community Participation).
- [THE HORIZONTAL EXPANSION]: Memorize the 'Deliverable' of similar schemes: Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (Higher Ed institutions adopting villages), SWAYAM (Digital Content), PM-SHRI (Infrastructure upgrade of 14,500 schools), and NIPUN Bharat (Foundational Literacy).
- [THE STRATEGIC METACOGNITION]: When a scheme mentions 'Private Sector Participation', apply the 'Mode Filter': Is it CSR (Money), PPP (Construction/Management), or Volunteering (Manpower)? UPSC swaps these modes to create false statements (e.g., claiming a volunteering scheme is an infrastructure fund).
The question of who may establish and run educational institutions is directly related to legal safeguards; reference [7] discusses minority communities' right to establish and manage institutions.
High-yield for polity and education policy: links to Articles 29โ30, state regulation vs. community autonomy, and Supreme Court interpretations. Mastering this helps answer questions on institutional rights, autonomy, and restrictions on government aid or conditions.
- Introduction to the Constitution of India, D. D. Basu (26th ed.). > Chapter 32: MINORITIES, SCHEDULED CASTES AND SCHEDULED TRIBES > MINORITIES, SCHEDULED CASTES AND SCHEDULED TRIBES CHAP. 321 > p. 456
Policies that promote creation and strengthening of institutions (e.g., NPE) affect whether new campuses โ domestic or foreign โ can be facilitated; reference [6] highlights NPE-driven development of new institutions and infrastructure.
Important for UPSC essays and policy analysis: understanding how NPEs shape institutional growth, access, and implementation links education policy to governance and development questions. Enables pattern-based answers comparing policy provisions and outcomes.
- Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 39: After Nehru... > Education Policy > p. 728
Schemes expanding educational access and infrastructure (ashram schools, skill missions, PMKVY) influence the ecosystem for campuses and partnerships; references [2], [4], [9] list such schemes.
Useful for questions on human capital, scheme implementation and evaluation, and linkages between skilling and higher-education infrastructure. Learning scheme objectives and institutional roles aids in comparative and critical answers.
- Geography of India ,Majid Husain, (McGrawHill 9th ed.) > Chapter 13: Cultural Setting > Government Schemes on SC/ST/OBC > p. 122
- Indian Economy, Vivek Singh (7th ed. 2023-24) > Chapter 15: Budget and Economic Survey > 6. Youth power > p. 447
- Indian Economy, Nitin Singhania .(ed 2nd 2021-22) > Chapter 19: Population and Demographic Dividend > Measures to Overcome above Challenges > p. 573
Several references describe schemes implemented with the support of local governments and community organisations, showing a recurring model of community involvement in programme delivery.
High-yield for UPSC: questions often ask how schemes ensure implementation and sustainability; community participation links governance, decentralisation, and social capital. Understanding this helps answer policy-design, implementation, and Gram Sabha/PRIs-related questions.
- Economics, Class IX . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 3: Poverty as a Challenge > Anti-Poverty Measures > p. 39
- Indian Economy, Nitin Singhania .(ed 2nd 2021-22) > Chapter 11: Irrigation in India > Atal Bhujal Yojana > p. 370
One reference explicitly says private efforts were to be encouraged to improve school quality; other excerpts reference larger private-sector roles in reforms.
Important for UPSC because debates on public-private partnerships, outsourcing, and private participation in delivery of public services recur in mains and interviews. Mastering this helps tackle questions on PPP models, equity vs efficiency trade-offs, and policy choices in education.
- Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 30: Development of Education > Government Resolution on Education Policyโ1913 > p. 568
- Indian Economy, Nitin Singhania .(ed 2nd 2021-22) > Chapter 21: Sustainable Development and Climate Change > Part V: Government Reforms and Enablers > p. 622
References list specific central programmes aimed at improving access and quality (Navodaya, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Mid-Day Meal), providing context for how the state targets quality enhancement.
High-yield factual framework for UPSC: knowledge of flagship schemes is repeatedly tested in prelims and mains (policy impact, target groups, implementation mechanisms). It connects to topics on human development, education policy, and social welfare.
- Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 39: After Nehru... > Education Policy > p. 728
- Introduction to the Constitution of India, D. D. Basu (26th ed.). > Chapter 9: Directive Principles of State Policy > INTRODUCTION TO THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA > p. 182
- Economics, Class IX . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: People as Resource > Activity > p. 22
Multiple references list and summarise central schemes (e.g., Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, Mid-Day Meal, National Open School) and their goals for improving schooling.
High-yield for UPSC: questions frequently ask about major education programmes, their aims, target groups and outcomes. Mastering this helps in policy-comparison answers and essays; prepare by categorising schemes by level (pre-school, primary, secondary), objective (access, quality, nutrition) and implementing agencies.
- Introduction to the Constitution of India, D. D. Basu (26th ed.). > Chapter 9: Directive Principles of State Policy > INTRODUCTION TO THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA > p. 182
- Economics, Class IX . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: People as Resource > Activity > p. 22
- Economics, Class IX . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: People as Resource > Education > p. 21
Vidyanjali 2.0 (launched 2021) evolved to allow contributions of assets/material/equipment (CSR), making Statement 3 partially true in a modern context. The next logical question is on 'APAAR ID' (One Nation One Student ID) or the 'PM SHRI' selection criteria.
Use Etymology: 'Vidyanjali' = Vidya (Knowledge) + Anjali (Offering with folded hands). An 'offering of knowledge' implies service/teaching (Statement 2), not 'Daan' (Monetary Donation) or 'Nirman' (Infrastructure - Statement 3). Statement 1 (Foreign campuses) is an absurd outlier for a Hindi-named grassroots scheme.
GS-2 (Governance): Connects to 'Role of NGOs, SHGs, and Civil Society' in development. Also links to GS-4 (Ethics) under 'Altruism' and Article 51A (Fundamental Duties).