RAS question
Under which Article can the Rajya Sabha empower Parliament to create new All-India Services?
Correct answer: (B) Article 312.
Article 312 allows the Rajya Sabha to enable Parliament to create one or more All-India Services common to the Union and the States when the national-interest requirement is met.
Explanation
Article 312 is the specific constitutional route for creating new All-India Services. The official Constitution text says that if the Council of States, that is the Rajya Sabha, passes a resolution supported by not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting, declaring that such action is necessary or expedient in the national interest, Parliament may by law create one or more all-India services common to the Union and the States. The article also allows Parliament to regulate recruitment and service conditions for those services. This is why the answer is Article 312, not the more general national-interest power under Article 249. IAS and IPS are deemed to have been created under this article, and the Indian Forest Service was created using this power.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Article 249 also uses a Rajya Sabha national-interest resolution, but it empowers Parliament to legislate on State List matters, not to create All-India Services.
- (C) Article 280 concerns the Finance Commission, including its constitution by the President, so it is unrelated to the creation of services common to the Union and the States.
- (D) Article 263 concerns the Inter-State Council and its advisory, discussion and recommendation functions, not Parliament's power to create All-India Services.
Concept
This tests the constitutional scheme for All-India Services and the special role of the Rajya Sabha in federal matters. It recurs in RAS because Article 312 is easily confused with Article 249, as both involve a Rajya Sabha resolution in the national interest.