Given below are two statements, one is labelled as Assertion (A) and other as Reason (R):
Assertion (A): The Council of Ministers in India is collectively responsible to both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha

Question

Given below are two statements, one is labelled as Assertion (A) and other as Reason (R):
Assertion (A): The Council of Ministers in India is collectively responsible to both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
Reason (R): Members of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are eligible to become Ministers in Union Government.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below.
Codes:

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — D, (A) is false but (R) is true. Assertion: Article 75(3) makes the Union Council of Ministers collectively responsible only to the Lok Sabha (the House of the People), NOT to the Rajya Sabha. A no-confidence motion that can bring down the government can be moved only in the Lok Sabha; the Rajya Sabha cannot. So the claim that the ministry is collectively responsible to BOTH Houses is false. Reason: a person from either House can be appointed a Union Minister (Article 75), and a minister may even be a non-member for up to six months (Article 75(5)) — so the reason is a true statement. But a true reason does not rescue a false assertion: being eligible to sit in the ministry from both Houses does not make the ministry answerable to both Houses. Hence (A) false, (R) true → option (d).

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Wrong — the assertion is false. Collective responsibility runs to the Lok Sabha alone under Article 75(3), so 'both true' cannot hold.  (b) Wrong — again this treats the assertion as true. It is not: the Council of Ministers is responsible only to the Lok Sabha, not to both Houses.  (c) Wrong — it inverts the truth-values. The assertion is the false one, while the reason is true (ministers can indeed be drawn from either House).

Concept: Article 75(3) states the cardinal principle of parliamentary government — the Union Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha only. This is why the government must resign or seek a dissolution if it loses the confidence of the Lok Sabha, and why a no-confidence motion lies only in that House. A separate set of rules, Article 75(1)-(5), governs who may be a minister: a minister may belong to either House, or even be a non-legislator provided he becomes a member of either House within six months. Accountability and eligibility are two distinct ideas.

State PCS 2021 Q97 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2021 Q97 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer