Major Schemes of Indian Government, All Important Details for UPSC 2026 

Major schemes are playing an important role in preparing Civil Services Examination (CSE) forming significant part of Prelims and Mains. Understanding these schemes helps candidates in General Studies paper 1 & GS Paper 2 along with strengths your answers in Ethics, Essay & Interview stages. Candidates must prepare the details related to Major Government Schemes and their benefits for relevant sections and common people of the country. “Major Government Schemes” is extremely important for the UPSC aspirants and is relevant primarily to General Studies paper II (GS II): Governance Constitution, Polity, Social Justice, and International Relations. It is also frequently tested in General Studies Paper I (GS -I) for Social Issues and General Studies Paper III (GS-III) for Economy and Technology. 

Major Schemes and Their Types by the Indian Government

Indian Government timely releases government schemes welfare initiatives to enhance citizens living conditions and raise their standards of living. Government schemes are categorized based on funding and implementation as follows:

• Firstly, Central Sector Schemes (CS): These schemes are run by central government with 100%fundsand implementation directly. 
• Secondly, Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS): These are programs where funding is shared between the Central Government and the State Governments. They are typically implemented by the state governments, but the Central Government provides most of financial support (e.g. in a 60:40, or 90:10 ratio, depending on the scheme and the state category). 

Aims of the Government Schemes of India 

The primary aim of Indian Government schemes is to refer policy goals into tangible benefits for the population, particularly the vulnerable and marginalized sections. Therefore, these schemes are made to achieve broad national development targets. For instance, the major aims are as follows: 

• Improving Quality of Life: Through the major schemes the government tries to raise people’s life conditions, and standards though better access to essential services. 

• Increasing Employment: It is the most prominent aim to the government schemes. Above all, every scheme aims to generate new job opportunities for the youth and disadvantaged groups. 

• Rural and Regional Development:  Focusing resources on developing rural and backward areas to reduce geographical inequality. 

• Fostering Education: Ensuring access to education for all citizens, with special emphasis on supporting the weaker sections of society. 

• Lastly, keeping a Balance of Natural Resources:  Government schemes help to keep a balance of natural resources through a comprehensive and integrated approach. For instance, it includes regulatory frameworks financial incentives, investment in sustainable infrastructure and community participation. Similarly, these schemes prefer economic development goals with environment preservation to ensure long term sustainability. 

 Also Read: Upcoming Rajasthan Government Exams in 2026 Full Analysis

How to Read Government Schemes for UPSC 

To prepare UPSC examinations candidates should study attentively rely on authentic sources like PIB, Yojana, and government portals. For instance, you need to keep focus on key elements, launch year, ministry, objectives, beneficiaries, features & recent updates. 

• Firstly, divide category- wise schemes: Make group schemes under relevant GS papers (e.g. health schemes under GS 2, Economic under GS 3). 

• Secondly, mind maps and charts: Use visual aids to connect schemes with broader topics. 

• Thirdly, regular revision: Revise periodically to retain facts & figures. 

• Lastly, mock tests: Practice MCQs & answer writing focusing on scheme – based questions and practice mock tests, online quizzes etc. 

Major Government Schemes: Everyone Should Know about them 

 1. Rural Prosperity and Resilience Program

• Firstly, it is a centralized scheme. It develops rural lives and guides them to come into the main steam of the society, improve their lifestyle and foster rural development.    

• Objective:  Build climate -resilient rural communities. 

Key features: 

• Focus on renewable energy, water conservation & climate, smart agriculture. 

• Community led development model. 

• Budget: Rs. 10,000 Crore under Ministry of Rural Development. 

• Impact:    

• Firstly, strengthens rural economies against climate shocks. 

• Secondly, reduce migration by creating local employment. 

Challenges: 

• Low awareness of climate risks in rural areas. 

• Fragmented governance at local levels. 

UPSC Relevance: GS 3 (Environment, Rural Development) 

2. Prime Minister Dhan- Dhanya Krishi Yojana

PMDDKY is a central government scheme for the development of agriculture and farmers with support of innovative techniques and instruments and provide credit schemes for small farmers. 

Objective: 

• Enhance agricultural productivity & sustainability. 

Key Features: 

• Focus on climate resilient crops, precision farming as well as agritech. 

• Special credit schemes for small farmers. 

Budget: Rs. 2000 crore. 

Impact: 

• Firstly, boosts income of farmers through diversified cropping. 

• Secondly, promotes environmentally sustainable agriculture. 

Challenges: 

• Adoption barriers for new technologies. 

• Inadequate rural infrastructure for logistics. 

UPSC Relevance: GS 3 (Agriculture, Economy), Prelims 

3. Scheme for First Time Entrepreneurs (SAFE)

 It is an important scheme for entrepreneurs supporting them to establish themselves in as safe and natural surroundings. 

Objective: Support first generation entrepreneurs. 

Key Features: 

• Seed funding, mentorship, tax benefits. 

• Special focus on women & rural entrepreneurs. 

Budget: Rs. 5000 Crores 

Impact: 

• Firstly, promotes start up culture in Tier 2 & 3 cities. 

• Secondly, reduces youth Employment. 

Challenges: 

• High failure rate of startups without sustained support. 

• Access to markets remains a hurdle. 

UPSC Relevance: GS 3 that is Economy Entrepreneurship.

4. Social Security Scheme for welfare of Online Platform Workers

It is a very impressive scheme for social welfare and provide security gig and platform economy workers. 

Objective: 

• Provide social protection to gig and platform economy workers. 

• Provide better facilities for online platform workers. 

Key Features: 

• Health insurance, retirement benefits, and accident coverage. 

• Mandatory contributions from aggregators like Zomato, Ola, and Uber. 

Budget: Rs. 8000 crores. 

Impact: 

• Reduces precarity among gig workers. 

• Formalizes parts of the informal economy. 

Challenges: 

• Firstly, enforcement issues with private platforms. 

• Secondly, high administrative costs. 

UPSC Relevance: GS 2 (Social Justice) GS 3 (Labor Reforms) 

 5. Employment-Led Growth in Tourism Programe

To develop opportunities in tourism and employment this scheme is beneficial for tourism and employment in the tourism department. 

Objective: Harness tourism for large scale employment generation. 

Key Features: 

• Development of 50 iconic tourist destinations. 

• Skill development programs for hospitality workers. 

Budget: Rs. 15000 crores 

Impact: 

• Firstly, boosts GDP contribution from tourism. 

• Secondly, generates jobs especially for women and youth. 

Challenges: 

• Seasonality of tourism-dependent jobs. 

• Over tourism causes environmental degradation. 

UPSC Relevance: GS1 (Culture), GS 3 (Economy, Tourism) 

Also Read: Upcoming Government Job Exams in 2026 Full Details Analysis

List of Other Crucial Government Schemes of India 

Schemes cover various sectors, including Social Security, Employment, Health and Sanitation, Education and Agriculture, Culture and Tourism, Economy etc. All government schemes are important for UPSC aspirants. Here given a short description of major government schemes as follows: 

Financial Inclusion & Social Security Schemes 

These sectors cover schemes aimed at providing basic financial services, insurance, pensions, and direct income support. 

Health and Sanitation Schemes 

These schemes focus on healthcare access, disease control, nutrition, and sanitation improvements major health and sanitation schemes as follows: 

Women and Child Development Schemes 

Agriculture and Allied Sector Schemes 

The initiatives support farmers, improve infrastructure and promise sustainable practices.

Rural and Urban Development Schemes 

Focuses on housing infrastructure connectivity and development in villages and cities 

Education and Skill Development Schemes 

Initiatives aimed at improving the quality of education promoting research and vocational training.  

Why Are Major Schemes of Government Important? 

Major Government Schemes of India are dominated for the welfare of the society and relevant field to cover up the innovative techniques and come to the competition in the era of technology. For instance, these schemes contribute to India’s welfare policy, moving from basic services delivery to digitally- driven, sustainable, and targeted interventions.

Moreover, they also focus on sustainable development and plan for the betterment for farmers, students and weaker section of the society. Similarly, UPSC aspirants should understand every detail than remember these schemes. For this, he should read them section- wise, study patterns, priorities, and find the socio- economic context these schemes operate.

Therefore, it is important to cover these areas of development through the implementation of these government schemes. Furthermore, these schemes boost their knowledge for each section of the society and their timeline, responsible department and more. 

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