As of the end of the November 2024, how many women were there in the Rajasthan Council of Ministers ?
- (1)Only 1
- (2)Only 2
- (3)Only 3
- (4)Only 5
Answer
Why
Correct — option (2), Only 2.
The Council of Ministers at the end of November 2024 was the Bhajan Lal Sharma ministry. Sharma took oath as Chief Minister on 15 December 2023, with two Deputy Chief Ministers: Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa.
The council was expanded on 30 December 2023, when 22 ministers were sworn in. One of them was a woman: Dr. Manju Baghmar, sworn in as a Minister of State.
That gives only 2 women in the council: Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari and Minister of State Manju Baghmar.
In the portfolios announced in January 2024, Diya Kumari's departments included Finance and Tourism, and Baghmar was made Minister of State in Public Works, Women and Child Development, and Child Empowerment.
The Council of Ministers counts every rank — Deputy Chief Ministers, Cabinet ministers and Ministers of State alike. Counting only one rank gives one woman, not two.
Why the others are wrong
- (1)Only 1 — One is the count within a single swearing-in, not the whole council. Diya Kumari was the one woman who took oath on 15 December 2023, and Manju Baghmar was the one woman among the 22 ministers sworn in on 30 December 2023.
The question asks about the whole Council of Ministers, which includes both of them, so the count is two.
- (3)Only 3 — Three needs a woman who was not a minister. Several women sat in the 16th Rajasthan Assembly in November 2024, including former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, but a seat in the House is not a place in the Council of Ministers.
Every minister had come in through the swearing-ins of 15 and 30 December 2023, and each of those brought in one woman.
- (4)Only 5 — Five overshoots the count by three. The council was drawn from the 3 who took oath on 15 December 2023 and the 22 sworn in on 30 December 2023, not from the whole Assembly.
One of the 22, Surendra Pal Singh TT, resigned in January 2024 after losing the Karanpur Assembly election. Each swearing-in brought in one woman — Diya Kumari and Manju Baghmar — so five would mean counting women outside the council.
Concept
A state's Council of Ministers is headed by the Chief Minister. The Governor appoints the Chief Minister, and appoints the other ministers on the Chief Minister's advice under Article 164 of the Constitution.
The council has ranks: Cabinet ministers, Ministers of State (some with independent charge of a department) and, where appointed, Deputy Ministers. A Deputy Chief Minister is a Cabinet-level minister; the Constitution does not name the post.
Article 164(1A), added by the 91st Amendment (2003), caps the council, including the Chief Minister, at 15% of the Legislative Assembly's total strength. It also sets a floor of 12.
For Rajasthan's 200-member Assembly, that means no more than 30 ministers and no fewer than 12.
The state government formed after the 2023 Rajasthan Assembly election is part of Rajasthan's current affairs. The Bhajan Lal Sharma ministry took office in December 2023.
The make-up of its Council of Ministers can only be stated for a given date, because a council changes through expansions, resignations and reshuffles. Here that date is the end of November 2024.
The same facts belong to polity. Under "Political and Administrative System of Rajasthan", RPSC's 2024 syllabus lists the State Political System as "Governor, Chief Minister and Council of Ministers, Legislative Assembly, High Court."
The limit on the council's size, its ranks and the Governor's role in appointing ministers sit under that head. Women's representation is a separate subject: women MLAs, women ministers and women who have held top offices in the state.
Key facts
- Bhajan Lal Sharma took oath as Chief Minister of Rajasthan on 15 December 2023, with Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa as Deputy Chief Ministers.
- 22 ministers were sworn in on 30 December 2023; Dr. Manju Baghmar, a Minister of State, was the one woman among them. One of the 22, Surendra Pal Singh TT, resigned in January 2024.
- Diya Kumari is the MLA for Vidhyadhar Nagar in Jaipur district; Manju Baghmar is the MLA for Jayal (SC) in Nagaur district.
- Article 164(1A) limits a state's Council of Ministers, including the Chief Minister, to 15% of Assembly strength, with a minimum of 12.
- Vasundhara Raje became Rajasthan's first woman Chief Minister in December 2003.
One woman came in with each swearing-in; the council as a whole had two.
Study next
Common traps
- Counting one rank only. A Minister of State is a member of the Council of Ministers even though she is not in the Cabinet.
- Counting women MLAs, or senior party leaders, instead of ministers. Holding a seat in the Assembly does not make someone a minister.
- Ignoring the date in the stem. A count of ministers is true only for the date asked; expansions and resignations change it.
A question on a state government's council can fix a date and ask for a count or a name: how many women ministers there are, who holds a portfolio, who the Deputy Chief Ministers are.
A question can also come from the polity side and ask for the constitutional limits instead — the 15% ceiling and the minimum of 12 in Article 164(1A).
Related PYQs
UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2023 here once that paper is published on this site.
Practice
- practice — not a real PYQ
Under Article 164(1A) of the Constitution, what is the maximum number of ministers, including the Chief Minister, that Rajasthan's Council of Ministers can have?
- (a)12
- (b)20
- (c)30
- (d)40
Answer(3) — the cap is 15% of the Assembly's total strength, and 15% of 200 is 30. Option (1), 12, is the minimum the same clause sets, not the maximum. Options (2) and (4) match no rule in Article 164(1A). - practice — not a real PYQ
Who among the following was a Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan in November 2024?
- (a)Diya Kumari
- (b)Manju Baghmar
- (c)Vasundhara Raje
- (d)Anita Bhadel
Answer(1) — Diya Kumari took oath as Deputy Chief Minister on 15 December 2023. Manju Baghmar (2) was a Minister of State, not a Deputy Chief Minister. Vasundhara Raje (3) and Anita Bhadel (4) were BJP MLAs in the 16th Assembly but held no ministerial post.