UPSC Prelims 2017 · Question 75 of 99
UPSC Prelims 2017 question on Parliamentary Control Council Ministers
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2017
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectPolity
- TopicParliament
- DifficultyEasy
- TypeStatement
The Parliament of India exercises control over the functions of the Council of Ministers through
1. Adjournment motion
2. Questions hour
3. Supplementary questions
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Show answer
Answer: D. 1, 2 and 3
Verdict
The answer is 1, 2 and 3. Adjournment motion, question hour and supplementary questions are all devices of parliamentary control over ministers.
Analysis
All three belong to the standard repertoire through which Parliament holds the Council of Ministers to account. The question hour compels ministers to answer on the floor, supplementary questions allow members to press beyond the prepared reply and expose evasion, and the adjournment motion sets aside normal business to discuss a definite matter of urgent public importance, carrying an element of censure. Alongside these sit the no confidence motion, the calling attention notice, the censure motion and the half an hour discussion.
Source
M. Laxmikanth, Indian Polity, chapter on the parliamentary system.
How to crack it
Where a question lists three devices that all belong to the same category, ask whether any one of them is drawn from a different function, such as legislation or finance, rather than oversight. None is here, so all three stand. Keep the control devices grouped as a single list, since the recurring examinable distinctions are which motions carry censure, which can bring down a government, and which are available in the Rajya Sabha.