Strategic Approach to Cover Govt. Schemes for RBI Grade B 2024

For RBI Grade B | 10th May 2024 – 15 mins read

Planning and execution are two very basic words, but they hold immense significance in any determined aspirant’s life.

Having years of experience as a mentor, I realized the imbalance between these two factors is a big reason why aspirants fall short of clearing the exam.

Let me explain how.

During my personal interactions with students, I was impressed with a few of them. And the reason? It was their meticulous planning.

They were so good at strategizing their process; if only they had managed its execution, they would have easily gone through.

But there are only a few aspirants of this kind.

The majority of students with whom I have interacted are **so focused on the execution part—jumping straight to the resources, and mugging up facts—that they miss out on the key aspect of their preparation, which is proper planning.

When you combine these two factors, it will not just help you optimize your preparation but also greatly enhance your confidence.

Now, there is a particular section that aspirants feel anxious to cover while preparing for the RBI Grade B exam.

Yes, it is the section of government schemes!

It is precisely the lack of proper planning and execution of a strategy to cover the section that causes confusion  amongst aspirants!

But have no worries, as I will be explaining in detail the key aspects of planning, i.e., understanding the weightage, what sources to refer to, and which ministries to cover. Also, its execution—tips and techniques to cover to this comprehensive topic.

So, what are we waiting for? let’s get started!

I. Understanding the importance of Govt. Schemes

With the recent changes made to the exam pattern for the RBI Grade B, a significant number of questions are being asked from the Government Schemes in Phase 1 exam from 2021 onwards.

And well, the questions asked from this section are getting increasingly difficult.

In Phase II exam, particularly in the Economic and Social Issues (ESI) subject, out of 30 questions which are objective in nature, 15 questions are asked from Government schemes.

You can take a look at the latest RBI Grade B exam pattern to understand in detail about the weightage of different subjects

II. How to prioritize Government Schemes?

There are two types of government schemes that are asked about in the exam: static govt. schemes and the schemes which are news.

First, the static govt. schemes do not come in news that often but are extremely important to cover.

For example, MGNREGA, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the National Rural Livelihood Mission, the National Urban Livelihood Mission, et’c.

The second is the schemes that are in the news. These include the ones which have been launched in the past 1 year; the majority of these schemes are introduced in the Union Budget.

The sequence that you should follow in covering the government schemes is as follows:

• Start by covering the schemes in news for the past 1 year
• Follow it up with landmark schemes, i.e., the noteworthy schemes in history.
• Lastly, focus on other schemes (only if you have time)

Along with the schemes, you can take a look at the RBI Grade B free study material that I have provided to cover other subjects of the syllabus.

III. Which are the important Ministries?

Now, the list of ministries that I have mentioned below is quite extensive. There is a good enough reason for it.

The government schemes are central part of ESI subject and the ministries associated with economic and social welfare in the country become very important to cover.  These ministries are as follows:

• Ministry of Finance
• Ministry of Health
• Ministry of Education
• Ministry of Agriculture
• Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
• Ministry of Rural Development & PC
• Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
• Ministry of Women & Child Development
• Ministry of Labour and Employment
• Ministry of MSME
• Ministry of Minority Affairs
• Ministry of Skill Development
• Ministry of Power& Renewable Energy
• Ministry of Food Processing Industry
• Ministry of Textiles
• Ministry of AYUSH
• Ministry of Commerce
• Ministry of Fisheries
• Ministry of Tourism
• Ministry of Tribal Affairs

You do not need to cover each ministry in detail. There are certain ministries, for example, the Ministry of Fisheries, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, and the Ministry of Ayush, wherein you need to cover only the recent schemes announced under these.

IV. Sources to cover for Govt. Schemes

However, going through the website and making notes on it can be a rather time – consuming process.

Many previous toppers, including RBI Grade B Topper Kamalpreet Singh, have credited a highly effective source, and that is PIB 247 video lectures for comprehensive coverage of schemes.

So, if you are wondering how to cover the PIB news, you need not look any further. You can go through the PIB 247 YouTube videos and attend regular classes to cover schemes.

Along with this, you can go through an in-depth compilation of RBI Grade B current affairs, for which I provide daily news as well as practice quizzes to solve.

For static govt. schemes, the aspirants go through various documents which are provided on different websites.

However, the problem is that these documents are not any less than 50 – 100 pages!

Do you think it’s convenient to go through such lengthy documents to cover a single scheme? The answer is a simple no!

To help you cover the govt. schemes in a concise manner, I have come up with another smart t echnique that you can apply too.

You can take help from ChatGPT or any other AI tool to summarize the document. Here are a few simple steps you need to follow:.

• Upload the PDF on the chatbox.
• Now, add prompt to summarize the document by highlighting the main features of the scheme.
• Go through the entire summary and make notes of the main features.

This is a much better way to cover the govt. schemes, which will also leave you with ample time to revise the schemes.

V. Elements to cover in a Govt. Scheme

When it comes to the structure or the main components that you need to cover under the scheme, these are as follows:

• Objective
• Launch Year
• Ministry
• Targets
• Nodal implementing Agencies
• Key Features

Along with this, I would also highly suggest you go through the RBI Grade B previous year papers to familiarize yourself with the types of questions asked related to the govt. schemes.

Doing so will give you an overall idea of how you must cover the scheme and which aspects you must keep in mind.

VI. The technique to cover Government schemes

To help you with the process of covering the govt. schemes, I would like to share my technique, which is absolutely simple yet highly effective and has greatly assisted me in learning the govt. schemes.

I divide the process of covering the scheme into two parts:

• First, the facts that require effortless learning
• Second, the information you need to remember

Talking about the first category. Let me simplify this for you by giving you an example. Let’s take MNREGA.

Now, as you would know, MGNREGA is an acronym for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

By just looking at the title of the scheme, you can figure out its objective, which is rural employment, and the ministry this scheme falls under, i.e., rural ministry.

Now, since this scheme is so monumental, we are all familiar with its launch year. Yes, it is 2005!

About the coverage of the scheme, you can make use of common sense and know that it will cover all areas, except those with a 100% urban population.

So, you see, facts such as objective, ministry, launch year, and coverage of the scheme can easily fall into the category of facts that require effortless learning.

For the second category, i.e., things that you need to remember. Extensive information, such as features or characteristics of the act, easily falls into the latter category.

To effectively recall the features of the act, you can take help from visual aids and techniques like mind maps, flowcharts, or even mnemonics. This will help you retain such extensive facts for a longer period of time.

Along with the govt. schemes, to cover other subjects, you can check the comprehensive RBI Grade B study plan which I have curated.

Advice to the aspirants

I always suggest students adopt a smart strategy and focus on the basic factors when preparing for competitive exams like the RBI Grade B.

What differentiates toppers from aspirants is the implementation of smart strategies and also getting the basics right!

So, referring to concise sources, knowing the key topics to cover, and employing tips and techniques to retain the information are the steps that you must follow to enhance your preparation.

I am confident that with this extensive information, you now know how to cover government schemes and will attempt the section with ease and accuracy

Remember, that along with the smart application of these techniques, you must learn to stay consistent and disciplined.

Because as you continue your journey with determination, you will not just become confident but also realize your fullest potential!