DU Swachh Bharat (VAC): Most Repeated Questions from 20 PYQ Papers

Swachh Bharat (UPC 6967000018) is a Value Addition Course open to students of every stream. Unlike some VACs, there is no calculation: it is all descriptive answers on the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, so the best preparation is knowing which topics the paper keeps returning to.

We collected every paper we have for this code, from the Nov-Dec 2022 sitting to May-June 2026. That is 20 distinct question papers, all of the same shape. We removed duplicate scans (the same paper uploaded by several colleges) before counting.

All of them are free on the Swachh Bharat VAC PYQ page. Open a few alongside this post.

A note on the counts: "14 of 20 papers" means 14 of the 20 distinct papers mention that topic somewhere (a short note or a 10-mark question), not 14 exam sittings. Years are the labels on our paper pages: some college-library scans are labelled with the year they were scanned, so a paper marked 2024 may be from the sitting before.

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What the paper looks like

Every paper we could read is the same:

• 1 hour, 30 marks, four questions in total.

• Question 1 is compulsory: "Write short notes on any two of the following" (5 + 5 = 10 marks). Three notes are given.

• Attempt any two of the remaining three questions, 10 marks each.

So you write four short answers: two notes and two essays. Short notes appear in every paper we could read, and a fair number of them are the same ones each year (below).

What gets asked most

If you only have a week, ODF and ODF Plus (with the key indicators), the phases of the Abhiyan, implementation challenges, community mobilization, Gandhian philosophy, Swachhagrahis and the role of ministries and agencies cover most of the essays. Then prepare the short notes below.

Questions that were repeated across papers

These are the same question (sometimes word for word) in papers from different years.

• "What is Open Defecation Free (ODF) Plus model? Discuss the key indicators of ODF Plus model in detail." is word for word in two May-June 2023 papers. The ODF-indicators version comes back in May-June 2025, in a 2025 paper, in a 2024 paper and again in a 2026 paper ("Explain the key indicators of an open defecation free village").

• "Critically evaluate different phases of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in terms of its goals and achievements" is word for word in Nov-Dec 2024 and Nov-Dec 2025.

• "Make a plan (action plan) for community mobilization for an ODF locality" is in Nov-Dec 2022 and May-June 2024.

• "The vital role of technology in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan" is in May-June 2024 and May-June 2025.

• "The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan-Grameen has contributed to the empowerment of women" is in a 2024 paper and May-June 2025.

• "Relationship between sanitation and development" appears in 2024, May-June 2025 (as a note and as a 10-mark question), 2025 and May-June 2026.

• The citizen-attitude question comes back with a new opening line each time: "Do you agree that Swachhagrahis ... have been successful in changing the perception and attitude of citizens?" (Nov-Dec 2024), "Do you agree that the Abhiyan has not only transformed the physical state ... but also the perception and attitude of the citizens?" (May-June 2025), "Do you think the Abhiyan has led to change in citizen's attitude and perception about cleanliness?" (2026).

• "Discuss the challenges in the implementation of the Swachh Bharat Mission in India" is in Nov-Dec 2022, 2024 and 2025. The operational-and-financial version is in 2024, May-June 2025 (twice) and May-June 2026.

• Monitoring and supervision is asked in Nov-Dec 2022, Nov-Dec 2024 ("After a decade ... do we still require monitoring and supervision?") and May-June 2025.

The pattern: the same dozen questions are rewritten with different openings. If you can answer all of the above, you can answer most of the paper.

Short notes that keep coming back

• Gandhian philosophy of cleanliness: five papers (2023, Nov-Dec 2024 twice, 2024 and Nov-Dec 2025).

• Mission and vision of the Abhiyan: May-June 2023 (twice), May-June 2024 and 2025.

• Garbage free cities: six papers, most recently 2026.

• Role of Swachhagrahis: 2023, 2024 and Nov-Dec 2025.

• Behaviour Change Communication (BCC): May-June 2024, 2025 and 2026.

• Sustainable sanitation: May-June 2024, 2025 and 2024.

• Swachhta audit / Clean audit: 2022, 2024 and May-June 2025.

• Relationship between sanitation and development, Role of technology, Importance of community mobilization, Nodal ministries, Phases of the Abhiyan

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How to use this for your exam

1. Write one clear answer for each repeated question above. That is roughly 10 answers and they cover most of the 10-mark essays.

2. Learn ODF and ODF Plus properly: what each stage means and the key indicators. It is the single most repeated topic. Use the indicator list your teacher or unit notes give you, since the paper asks for "key indicators in detail".

3. Prepare six short notes in 5 or 6 lines each: Gandhian philosophy, mission and vision, garbage free cities, Swachhagrahis, BCC and sustainable sanitation. Any two are asked every time.

4. Use examples. Many questions say "with suitable examples", "with examples" or "illustrate". Name a village, a city (for example one that has won a cleanliness ranking), or a scheme.

5. For the "do you agree / critically evaluate" questions, give both what the Abhiyan achieved and what still falls short (financial limits, behaviour, maintenance). The paper rewards a balanced view.

Past repetition does not guarantee what comes next. Use this list to decide what to revise first.

Get the papers: Swachh Bharat VAC PYQs · all Value Addition Course papers

Also read: Emotional Intelligence (VAC): most repeated questions · Best VAC courses in DU