RAS question
The Inter-State Council was established on the recommendation of which commission?
Correct answer: (B) Sarkaria Commission.
The Inter-State Council was established in 1990 on the recommendation of the Sarkaria Commission on Centre-State Relations.
Explanation
The Sarkaria Commission is the answer because the Inter-State Council was created as part of the Centre-State relations framework. The Commission recommended a permanent council under Article 263, and the Ministry of Home Affairs Annual Report 2012-13 confirms the constitutional setting: Article 263 envisages an institutional mechanism for coordinating policies and their implementation between the Centre and the States. In pursuance of the Sarkaria Commission's recommendations on Centre-State Relations, the Inter-State Council was set up in 1990 through a Presidential Order dated 28 May 1990. The Council's role as a recommendatory body, and the Prime Minister's position as its Chairperson, also fit this Centre-State coordination purpose.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) The Rajamannar Commission did not lead to the Inter-State Council's establishment; it was a Tamil Nadu government commission, while the Ministry of Home Affairs Annual Report 2012-13 names the Sarkaria Commission.
- (C) The Punchhi Commission cannot explain the 1990 establishment of the Inter-State Council because it came later in 2007.
- (D) The Balwant Rai Mehta Committee dealt with Panchayati Raj, whereas the Inter-State Council belongs to the Centre-State relations framework under Article 263.
Concept
This tests Indian Polity through Article 263 and Centre-State relations, especially the institutional mechanisms created to manage federal coordination. It recurs in RAS because commissions and constitutional bodies are a standard way of testing governance chronology and purpose.