RAS question
Who is the Chairman of the Inter-State Council?
Correct answer: (D) Prime Minister of India.
The Prime Minister of India is the Chairman of the Inter-State Council.
Explanation
The Inter-State Council is chaired by the Prime Minister of India, as recorded in the Ministry of Home Affairs Annual Report 2008-2009. The same official account says the Council was set up in 1990 through a Presidential Order and works as a recommendatory body on subjects of common interest to the Union and one or more States, with a focus on better coordination of policy and action. Its composition also shows why the Prime Minister chairs it: the members include Chief Ministers of all States, Chief Ministers of Union Territories with Legislative Assemblies, Administrators of Union Territories without Legislative Assemblies, Governors of States under President's rule, and six Cabinet-rank Union Ministers nominated by the Chairman.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) The Speaker of Lok Sabha presides over the Lok Sabha, while the cited Inter-State Council membership and chairmanship are executive and federal in character, headed by the Prime Minister.
- (B) The President's role in the source is linked to the 1990 Presidential Order setting up the Council, not to chairing its meetings.
- (C) The Chief Justice of India heads the judiciary, whereas the Inter-State Council described in the source is a Union-State coordination forum chaired by the Prime Minister.
Concept
This tests constitutional bodies for Centre-State relations, especially the institutional mechanisms used for consultation and coordination between the Union and the States. It recurs in RAS because questions often ask not only who creates a body, but who chairs it and who sits on it.