In the Union Budget for the financial year 2019, what was the approximate budgetary allocation made to the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) for the construction and upgradation of rural roads in India?

Introduction / Context:
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, commonly known as PMGSY, is a flagship rural development programme in India aimed at providing all weather road connectivity to unconnected habitations. Budget allocations to PMGSY indicate the level of government focus on rural infrastructure in a particular year. This question asks you to recall the approximate amount earmarked for PMGSY in the Union Budget presented for the year 2019.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The scheme in focus is Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.
• The year of the budget is 2019.
• We are asked about the approximate allocation to this scheme.
• Options are Rs 25,000 crores, Rs 19,000 crores, Rs 15,000 crores, and Rs 28,000 crores.

Concept / Approach:
Budget allocation questions are based on factual figures given in official budget documents and widely reported in summaries. For PMGSY in the 2019 budget, the government announced an allocation in the range of a few tens of thousands of crores. Among the options given, Rs 19,000 crores is the commonly cited figure for that year. The other values either underestimate or overstate the allocation in comparison with the official announcements, so careful recall of exam oriented data points is needed.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Remember that PMGSY is a major infrastructure scheme with substantial but focused funding, not a very small allocation. Step 2: Recall that budget highlights for 2019 mentioned an allocation of roughly nineteen thousand crores for rural road connectivity under PMGSY. Step 3: Compare this remembered figure with the options provided. Step 4: Observe that Rs 19,000 crores exactly matches the remembered allocation, whereas Rs 15,000 crores is lower and Rs 25,000 crores or Rs 28,000 crores are higher than the commonly cited figure. Step 5: Select Rs 19,000 crores as the correct answer.

Verification / Alternative check:
An alternative check is to think about how budget allocations are discussed in newspapers and exam preparation materials. PMGSY is usually highlighted along with the approximate amount, and for the 2019 budget, nineteen thousand crores is the value that appears in many summaries. If you have seen multiple choice questions on the same budget earlier, they likely used the same figure. This repetition across sources reinforces the correctness of Rs 19,000 crores.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
The Rs 15,000 crore option understates the scale of the programme for that year and does not match the widely quoted figure. The Rs 25,000 crore and Rs 28,000 crore options are larger and may correspond to other schemes or to different years, but they do not align with the specific 2019 PMGSY allocation that exam questions commonly test. Therefore, these values are not correct in this particular context.

Common Pitfalls:
Budget based questions often place several similar looking numbers as options, leading to confusion if you memorise only approximate ranges without precision. One pitfall is to guess the highest amount, assuming more spending is always correct. Another is to mix up allocations across different schemes such as PMGSY, rural electrification, or housing. Keeping a short list of key scheme wise figures for a given budget year helps avoid mixing them up in exams.

Final Answer:
The budgetary allocation to PMGSY in the 2019 Union Budget was approximately Rs 19,000 crores.