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Q14·GS Paper 1 · Prelims 2022

Classification of ministers and limits on the council of ministers

PolityExecutive & AdministrationStatement-basedMediumStatic

Question

Consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1.

    The Constitution of India classifies the ministers into four ranks viz. Cabinet Minister, Minister of State with Independent Charge, Minister of State and Deputy Minister.

  2. 2.

    The total number of ministers in the Union Government, including the Prime Minister, shall not exceed 15 percent of the total number of members in the Lok Sabha.

Options

a

1 only

b

2 only

Answer
c

Both 1 and 2

d

Neither 1 nor 2

Explanation

Statement 1 is incorrect; the Constitution of India simply mentions a "Council of Ministers" under Article 74. It does not formally classify ministers into specific ranks (Cabinet, MoS, Deputy); this classification is entirely an administrative convention. Statement 2 is correct; the 91st Amendment Act strictly capped the size of the Council of Ministers at 15% of the Lok Sabha's total strength.

The multi-tiered hierarchy of ministers is a parliamentary convention inherited from the British system, not a formal constitutional classification.

Answer: (b).

Question details

Year

2022

Paper

GS Paper 1

Question

Q14

Subject

Polity

Sub-topic

Executive & Administration

Type

Statement-based

Difficulty

Medium

Nature

Static

Source hint

Constitution Seventy-Fourth Amendment Act 1992

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