For which one of the following schemes has Rajasthan received the National…

Concept

The National Awards for e-Governance are conferred annually by the Government of India (through the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances, DARPG) to recognise outstanding e-governance initiatives. Within each category the top honour is the Gold Award. The key idea is that the award attaches to a specific delivery initiative, not to a state in general — so the right answer is the scheme whose delivery platform itself was judged best.

Application

For 2015-16, Rajasthan's Bhamashah Scheme — a family-based Direct Benefit Transfer platform that routes financial and non-financial benefits to the woman head of each household — won the National Gold Award. Its strengths were exactly what the award rewards: a single digital identity per family, Aadhaar/bank-linked direct transfer, and transparent, leakage-resistant delivery of welfare benefits across multiple departments.

Contrast with the other schemes

• NREGA is a central rural employment-guarantee programme, not a Rajasthan e-governance delivery platform, so it is outside the scope of this state award.

• Janani Suraksha Yojana is a national maternal-health cash-incentive scheme run under the health mission, unrelated to this e-governance recognition.

• Mid-day Meal Scheme is a national school-nutrition programme; it concerns meals in schools rather than a digital benefit-delivery platform.

Hence the scheme recognised with the National Gold Award for E-Governance 2015-16 is the Bhamashah Scheme.