MPPSC 2022 Prelims Paper-I · Question 88 of 100

Correct — A, ceiling on the size of the Council of Ministers. The Constitution (91st Amendment) Act, 2003 inserted Articles 75(1A) and 164(1A), capping the total strength of the Council of Ministers — at the Centre and in every State — at 15% of the total membership of the Lok Sabha/Legislative Assembly.

• (b)no enhancement of seats of Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha till 2026 — That is the delimitation-freeze provision — enacted by the 84th Amendment (2001), which extended the 1971-census-based seat count until the first census after 2026 — a different amendment.
• (c)bifurcation of the National Commission of SCs and STs — The National Commission for SCs & STs was split into separate Article 338 (NCSC) and Article 338A (NCST) bodies by the 89th Amendment (2003), not the 91st.
• (d)None of the above — Incorrect — option (a) correctly states the 91st Amendment's central provision.

The Constitution (91st Amendment) Act, 2003 did two main things: it capped the size of the Council of Ministers — Union and State — at 15% of the strength of the Lok Sabha/Assembly (Articles 75(1A) and 164(1A)), and it tightened the anti-defection law by removing the old one-third 'split' exemption (only two-thirds mergers are now protected) and barring disqualified members from holding ministerial or other remunerative political posts.

MPPSC likes to test amendment-number recall by mixing genuinely-91st provisions with provisions from neighbouring amendments (89th, 84th) that sound equally plausible but belong elsewhere.

• 91st Amendment (2003): Council of Ministers capped at 15% of House strength (Art 75(1A)/164(1A)).
• 91st Amendment also tightened the anti-defection law (10th Schedule) — removed the 1/3 'split' exemption.
• 89th Amendment (2003) split the combined SC/ST Commission into NCSC (Art 338) and NCST (Art 338A) — a different amendment.
• 84th Amendment (2001) froze the seat-count basis (1971 census) until the first census after 2026 — also a different amendment.

• Mixing up which amendment did what among 84th/89th/91st/93rd
• Assuming the ceiling on Council of Ministers size applies only at the Centre — it applies to States too, via Article 164(1A)

'Which amendment provides X' direct-recall MCQs are common; sometimes framed as Assertion-Reason or match-the-list questions across several amendments.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which Constitutional Amendment Act split the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes into two separate commissions?

  • (a)89th
  • (b)91st
  • (c)93rd
  • (d)97th

  Answer(a) 89th Amendment (2003) — created separate NCSC (Art 338) and NCST (Art 338A).

• practice — not a real PYQ

  As per the 91st Amendment, the total strength of a State's Council of Ministers, including the Chief Minister, shall not exceed what percentage of the total membership of that State's Legislative Assembly?

  • (a)10%
  • (b)15%
  • (c)20%
  • (d)25%

  Answer(b) 15%.