RAS question
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India has how many members?
Correct answer: (B) 6.
The Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee has six members: three from the RBI and three appointed by the Central Government.
Explanation
The Monetary Policy Committee is a statutory monetary-policy body under the RBI Act as amended by the Finance Act, 2016. Its membership is fixed at six: the RBI Governor, who chairs it; the Deputy Governor in charge of monetary policy; one RBI officer nominated by the Central Board; and three persons appointed by the Central Government. This split matters because the MPC is not only an internal RBI committee. It combines RBI representation with external government-appointed members, and its statutory role is to determine the policy rate required to achieve the inflation target. Therefore, the strength asked in the question is six, not merely the three RBI-side members.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Three counts only the RBI-side members: the Governor, the Deputy Governor in charge of monetary policy, and one RBI officer nominated by the Central Board.
- (C) Nine overstates the statutory composition, because the RBI Act framework lists only three RBI members and three Central Government appointees.
- (D) Twelve is not the MPC's strength; the committee's composition is limited to the six categories named in the statutory framework.
Concept
This tests the monetary-policy framework under Indian Economy, especially institutional design after the Finance Act, 2016 amendment to the RBI Act. It recurs in RAS because MPC composition links RBI autonomy, inflation targeting, and policy-rate decisions.