RAS question
V.P. Menon was:
Correct answer: (C) Secretary of the States Department under Sardar Patel.
V.P. Menon was the Secretary of the States Department under Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and helped negotiate the accession of princely states to India.
Explanation
V.P. Menon is correctly identified as the Secretary of the States Department under Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. He was linked to the negotiations through which princely states acceded to India. The verified LBSNAA catalogue entry for Narayani Basu's biography of Menon supports this role: it describes him as serving as Secretary, States Ministry, and as Sardar Patel's right-hand man in integrating 565 states into the Indian Union, including Junagadh, Hyderabad and Kashmir. That is why the option is not merely about a designation; it points to Menon's administrative role in one of the central tasks of post-Independence consolidation.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Kashmir appears in this context as one of the princely states whose integration was part of the wider accession process, not as a governorship held by V.P. Menon.
- (B) The last Viceroy was Lord Mountbatten; the source instead places Menon as a senior Indian civil servant and later Secretary of the States Ministry.
- (D) The first President of India was Rajendra Prasad, whereas Menon's relevance here is his States Department role under Sardar Patel.
Concept
This tests the integration of princely states after Independence, a recurring RAS Modern India theme because it connects personalities, institutions and territorial consolidation. Menon is often paired with Sardar Patel in questions on accession and the States Department.