RAS question
The M.M. Punchhi Commission (2007) dealt with:
Correct answer: (B) Centre-State Relations.
The M.M. Punchhi Commission was the Commission on Centre-State Relations, set up to review the working of Union-State arrangements under the Constitution of India.
Explanation
The Ministry of Home Affairs identifies the body as the "Commission on Centre-State Relations" and says it was constituted through Gazette Notifications dated 27 April 2007 and 3 July 2007, with retired Chief Justice of India Madan Mohan Punchhi as chairperson. Its terms of reference required it to examine the existing arrangements between the Union and the States under the Constitution, including legislative and administrative relations, the role of Governors, emergency provisions, financial relations, planning, Panchayati Raj institutions, resource-sharing and inter-State river water. That is why the question points to Centre-State relations, not a narrower social, linguistic or tax-only subject. Its recommendations also covered the Governor's role, Article 356, inter-state trade and fiscal relations.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Backward classes were not the subject of this commission; the terms of reference focus on Union-State constitutional arrangements, not classification or welfare of backward classes.
- (C) Linguistic minorities are not the focus of the Ministry of Home Affairs notification, which instead frames the commission around relations between the Union and the States.
- (D) Tax issues appear only within the wider fiscal-relations mandate; the commission was not a tax-reforms commission.
Concept
This tests Indian federalism, especially the institutional review of Centre-State relations after the Sarkaria Commission. RAS repeats it because Governors, Article 356, fiscal relations and inter-State coordination are recurring governance themes.