Question Discussion & Solution

Option 4 is the correct answer: Parliament can set a condition for employment within the state or union territory under article 16.

• Article 16 comes under part III of our constitution which talks about Fundamental Rights.
• This article deals with equality in the matters of Public Employment.
• It states that no citizen should be discriminated on the grounds of only religion, caste, sex, race, descent or place of birth/ residence.
• However, it also provides three exceptions as follows in this regard:
  • Allows parliament to prescribe residence as a condition for employment in certain cases.
  • Reservations in favour of Backward classes.
  • religion as a condition for appointment to an office related to a religious institution.

The correct answer is Both 1 and 2.

Key Points

• The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) has been constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 to provide free Legal Services to the weaker sections of the society and to organize Lok Adalats for amicable settlement of disputes.
  • ​Hence statement 1 is correct.
• In every State, State Legal Services Authority has been constituted to give effect to the policies and directions of the NALSA and to give free legal services to the people and conduct Lok Adalats in the State.
  • ​NALSA issues guidelines for the State Legal Services Authorities to implement the legal programmes and schemes throughout the country.
  • Hence statement 2 is correct.

​​​Additional Information

• Objectives of Legal Services Authorities are:
  • Provide free legal aid and advice.
  • Spread legal awareness.
  • Organize lok adalats.
  • Promote settlements of disputes through Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Mechanisms. Various kinds of ADR mechanisms are Arbitration, Conciliation, Judicial settlement including settlement through Lok Adalat, or Mediation.
  • Provide compensation to victims of crime.
• Persons Eligible for Free Legal Services:
  • Women and Children
  • Persons with disability
  • Member of Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribes
  • Industrial Workmen
  • Persons in custody
  • Victims of natural disasters, ethnic/caste violence, industrial disaster
  • Victims of Human Trafficking or Begar
  • Persons with an annual income of less than Rs. 1,00,000/- or as notified by the Central/State Governments.​

The correct answer is Jawaharlal Nehru.

Key Points

• Jawaharlal Nehru was the chairman of the Union Power Committee of the Constituent Assembly of India.
• An idea for a Constituent Assembly of India was proposed in 1934 by M. N. Roy.
• The Constituent Assembly appointed a total of 22 committees to deal with different tasks of constitution-making.
• The Assembly met for the first time in New Delhi on 9 December 1946, and its last session was held on 24 January 1950.

Additional Information

• Important Committees of Constituent Assembly and their chairperson -
  • Union Constitution Committee - Jawaharlal Nehru
  • State Power Committee - Jawaharlal Nehru
  • Provincial Committee - Sardar Patel
  • Drafting Committee - BR Ambedkar
  • Minority Committee - Sardar Patel
  • Steering Committee - Rajendra Prasad. 

The correct answer is The direction and control of preparation of electoral roles and conduct of all elections to Panchayats shall be vested in the Election Commission of India.

 Key Points

• The direction and control of preparation of electoral roles and conduct of all elections to Panchayats shall be vested in the Election Commission of the state (Article 243K). Hence Option 2 is incorrect.

  Important Points

• Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) is a system of rural local self-government in India.
• PRI was constitutionalized through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 to build democracy at the grassroots level and was entrusted with the task of rural development in the country.
• Basic units of democratic system-Gram Sabhas (villages) and Ward Committees (Municipalities) comprising all the adult members registered as voters.
• The three-tier system of panchayats at the village, intermediate block/taluk/Mandal, and district levels except in States with the population is below 20 lakhs (Article 243B).
• Seats shall be reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) and the chairpersons of the Panchayats at all levels in proportion to their population.
• One-third of the total number of seats to be reserved for women.
• One-third of the seats reserved for SCs and STs shall also be reserved for women.

The correct answer is Santhanam Committee.

Key Points

• Central Vigilance Commission:
  • The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is the main agency for preventing corruption in the Central government.
  • It was established in 1964 by an executive resolution of the Central government.
  • Its establishment was recommended by the Santhanam Committee on Prevention of Corruption (1962-64).
  • Thus, originally the CVC was neither a constitutional body nor a statutory body.
  • Later, in 2003, the Parliament enacted a law conferring statutory status on the CVC.
  • In 2004, the CVC has been designated as the agency to receive and act on complaints or disclosure on any allegation of corruption or misuse of office from whistleblowers under the “Public Interest Disclosure and Protection of Informers’ Resolution” (PIDPI), which is popularly known as “Whistle Blowers” Resolution.
  • The Commission is also empowered as the only designated agency to take action against complainants making motivated or vexatious complaints.
  • The CVC is conceived to be the apex vigilance institution, free of control from any executive authority, monitoring all vigilance activity under the Central Government and advising various authorities in Central Government organizations in planning, executing, reviewing, and reforming their vigilance work.

Additional Information

• Other Committee:
  • In 1957, the National Development Council constituted a committee headed by Balwant Rai Mehta to look into the working of the community development program.
  • The appointment of the Ashok Mehta Committee in 1977 did bring new thinking in the concepts and practice of the Panchayat Raj.
  • The G. V. K. Rao Committee (1985) recommended making the “District” the basic unit of planning and also holding regular elections.
  • The L. M. Singhvi committee recommended providing more financial resources and constitutional status to the panchayats to strengthen them.