RAS question
The 91st Amendment Act, 2003 limited the total number of ministers in the Council of Ministers to:
Correct answer: (C) 15% of total members of Lok Sabha.
The 91st Amendment Act, 2003 capped the Union Council of Ministers, including the Prime Minister, at 15% of the total membership of the Lok Sabha.
Explanation
The answer is 15% of the total members of the Lok Sabha. Article 75(1A), inserted by the 91st Amendment Act, 2003, sets this ceiling. The verified Constitution of India PDF on India Code states that the total number of Ministers, including the Prime Minister, in the Council of Ministers shall not exceed fifteen per cent of the total number of members of the House of the People. This matters because the limit is not on cabinet ministers alone; it covers the full Council of Ministers and expressly includes the Prime Minister. The constitutional design is mirrored for States under Article 164(1A), where the Council of Ministers including the Chief Minister is capped at 15% of the Legislative Assembly.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) 10% is not the Article 75(1A) ceiling for the Union Council of Ministers; the verified constitutional text fixes the limit at fifteen per cent.
- (B) 25% overstates the permitted size of the Council of Ministers and is not the cap inserted by the 91st Amendment.
- (D) 20% is also above the constitutional limit; Article 75(1A) uses fifteen per cent of Lok Sabha membership.
Concept
This tests the constitutional limits on the size of the Council of Ministers under Article 75(1A), with the State parallel in Article 164(1A). It recurs in RAS because ministerial responsibility, constitutional amendments, and Union-State institutional design are core governance themes.