NDA (II) 2016 General Ability Test · Question 146 of 150

Correct — C, the Ministers are appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister. This is the second limb of Article 75(1), which reads that the Prime Minister shall be appointed by the President and the other Ministers shall be appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister. The two appointments are made differently on purpose: the Prime Minister is chosen by the President, in practice the leader who commands a majority in the Lok Sabha, and every other Minister then owes their place to the Prime Minister's recommendation. The same logic governs portfolios, which the President allocates on the Prime Minister's advice.

• (a)According to the Constitution of India, the total number of members of the Council of Ministers cannot exceed 20% of the total number of Members of the House of the People — The ceiling is real but the number is wrong. Article 75(1A), inserted by the Constitution (Ninety-first Amendment) Act of 2003, caps the Council of Ministers at 15 per cent of the total strength of the Lok Sabha, and Article 164(1A) does the same for the States. Twenty per cent is simply not the figure.
• (b)The rank of the different Ministers is determined by the President — Ranking — who is a Cabinet Minister, who a Minister of State with independent charge, who a Minister of State — is settled by the Prime Minister, and the President acts on that advice. The President has no independent say in the hierarchy of the ministry.
• (d)Only a member of either House of Parliament can be appointed as a Minister — Article 75(5) expressly allows a person who is not a member of either House to be appointed a Minister, provided they secure a seat within six consecutive months, failing which they cease to be a Minister. The requirement is to become a member soon, not to be one already.

The Union Executive comprises the President, the Vice-President, the Prime Minister, the Council of Ministers and the Attorney General. The Constitution vests executive power formally in the President under Article 53, but Article 74 requires the President to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister, and after the Forty-fourth Amendment that advice, once reconsidered and repeated, is binding. Article 75 sets out how the ministry is formed, its size limit, its tenure at the pleasure of the President and its collective responsibility to the House of the People.

Every wrong option here is a real provision with one detail altered — which is the standard construction of a 'which statement is correct' polity item, and the reason each option has to be read to its last word. The one that catches most candidates is the ceiling: the figure of 15 per cent, and the Ninety-first Amendment of 2003 that introduced it, are worth memorising together because they are asked in both directions. Note also what Article 75(3) does and does not say — the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the House of the People alone, not to Parliament as a whole, so the Rajya Sabha cannot bring a government down.

• Article 75(1): the Prime Minister is appointed by the President; other Ministers are appointed by the President on the Prime Minister's advice.
• Article 75(1A), inserted by the Ninety-first Amendment Act of 2003, caps the Council of Ministers at 15 per cent of the strength of the Lok Sabha.
• Article 75(5): a non-member may be appointed a Minister but must become a member of either House within six consecutive months.
• Article 75(2): Ministers hold office during the pleasure of the President; Article 75(3): the Council is collectively responsible to the House of the People.
• Portfolios are allocated to Ministers by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister, under the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules framed under Article 77.

• Remembering that a ceiling exists but not its figure; it is 15 per cent, not 20.
• Assuming a Minister must already be a member of a House — six months are allowed under Article 75(5).
• Treating collective responsibility as running to Parliament as a whole; Article 75(3) names only the House of the People.

Union Executive items in NDA are built by altering one number or one office-holder in an otherwise accurate statement, so the reliable method is to check each option against the article it paraphrases.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  A person who is not a member of either House of Parliament is appointed a Union Minister. Within what period must that person become a member of a House?

  • (a)Three months
  • (b)Six months
  • (c)One year
  • (d)No such requirement exists

  Answer(b) Six months — Article 75(5) allows six consecutive months, after which the person ceases to be a Minister.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The ceiling on the size of the Council of Ministers at the Union and in the States was introduced by which Constitutional Amendment Act?

  • (a)The 42nd Amendment Act
  • (b)The 52nd Amendment Act
  • (c)The 91st Amendment Act
  • (d)The 101st Amendment Act

  Answer(c) The 91st Amendment Act, 2003 — it inserted Articles 75(1A) and 164(1A), fixing the limit at 15 per cent.