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Indian PolityHard

Which of the following statements about the Inter-State Council is correct?

  1. A.Its recommendations are binding on the States
  2. B.It is chaired by the Union Home Minister
  3. C.Its Standing Committee was constituted in 1996 and is chaired by the Union Home Minister
  4. D.Only the Chief Ministers of States are its members

Correct answer

C. Its Standing Committee was constituted in 1996 and is chaired by the Union Home Minister

Explanation

The correct answer is C. A Standing Committee of the Inter-State Council was constituted in 1996 for continuous consultation between the Centre and the States, and it is chaired by the Union Home Minister while the Council itself is chaired by the Prime Minister. Option A is wrong because the Council is purely advisory; it inquires, discusses and recommends, and a recommendation carries no legal compulsion. Option B confuses the two offices: the Union Home Minister chairs the Standing Committee and the Zonal Councils, but the Prime Minister chairs the Council. Option D is wrong because the membership is wider: besides the Chief Ministers of all States, it includes the Chief Ministers of Union Territories having legislatures, the administrators of the other Union Territories and six Union Cabinet Ministers nominated by the Prime Minister.

Read the full article: Inter-State Relations and Zonal Councils: Articles and PYQs

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Practice Questions

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Q1.Indian PolityEasy

The Inter-State Council can be established by the President under which article of the Constitution?

  1. A.Article 261
  2. B.Article 262
  3. C.Article 263
  4. D.Article 280
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Correct answer: C. Article 263

Article 263 empowers the President to establish by order an Inter-State Council if it appears to him that the public interest would be served by it, and it lists the Council duties: inquiring into and advising upon disputes between States, investigating and discussing subjects of common interest to the Union…

Q2.Indian PolityMedium

The Zonal Councils in India were created by which of the following?

  1. A.An order of the President under Article 263
  2. B.The States Reorganisation Act, 1956
  3. C.The Seventh Schedule of the Constitution
  4. D.A resolution of the Planning Commission
Show answer
Correct answer: B. The States Reorganisation Act, 1956

The five Zonal Councils were set up by this Act, which also reorganised the States on a linguistic basis, and they are therefore statutory bodies rather than constitutional ones.

Q3.Indian PolityEasy

Who acts as the chairman of each of the five Zonal Councils?

  1. A.The Prime Minister
  2. B.The Union Home Minister
  3. C.The senior-most Governor of the zone
  4. D.The Chief Minister of the largest State of the zone
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Correct answer: B. The Union Home Minister

The States Reorganisation Act makes the Union Home Minister the common chairman of all five Zonal Councils, so that the Centre and the States of a zone meet under one presiding officer.

Q5.Indian PolityMedium

Full faith and credit is to be given throughout the territory of India to the public acts, records and judicial proceedings of the Union and the States under which article?

  1. A.Article 256
  2. B.Article 261
  3. C.Article 301
  4. D.Article 131
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Correct answer: B. Article 261

This article makes the public acts, records and judicial proceedings of the Union and of every State valid and provable everywhere in India, and it declares that the final judgments and orders of civil courts in any part of India may be executed anywhere in the country.