Rajasthan Government’s Response to COVID-19 (till April 26)
Distilled Policy Brief
- As of April 26, Rajasthan reported 2,083 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 493 recoveries and 33 deaths, implementing early containment measures such as Rapid Response Teams and mandatory home isolation.
- Welfare and resource management measures included reserving 25% of beds in private hospitals and medical colleges for COVID-19 patients, employing nursing students for screening, and replacing biometric authentication with an OTP process for PDS ration distribution.
🎯 Prelims High-Yield Examination Points
Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code penalizes the willful disobedience of an order duly promulgated by a public servant.
⚖️ Mains Analytical & Syllabus Linkages
Examine the role of decentralized district administration and disaster management frameworks in tackling public health emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic.
🎯 UPSC Prelims Practice Drill
With reference to the policy measures undertaken by the Government of Rajasthan in response to the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, which of the following statements is/are correct? 1. The District Collector was appointed as the Nodal Officer for all COVID-19 containment activities in the state. 2. The Public Distribution System (PDS) ration distribution utilized an OTP-based process instead of biometric authentication to prevent virus spread. 3. Private hospitals and medical colleges were mandated to reserve 25% of their beds exclusively for COVID-19 patients. Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- [A] 1 only
- [B] 1 and 2 only
- [C] 2 and 3 only
- [D] 1, 2 and 3
▶ Reveal Official Answer & Analytical Explanation
All the given statements are correct based on the policy measures adopted by Rajasthan during the early response to COVID-19. The District Collector was designated as the Nodal Officer for containment activities, biometric authentication for PDS was replaced with an OTP process, and 25% of beds in private hospitals and medical colleges were reserved for COVID-19 patients.
🏛️ Historical Twin PYQ Anchor (2021)
Consider the following statements regarding the "National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)": 1. It is implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. 2. Central Pollution Control Board acts as the sole regulatory executive body.