By which of the following Constitutional Amendment Act, the size of the Council of Ministers shall not exceed 15 percent of the total number of the members of the House of People?

Question

Accepted Answer

The correct option is 3:
The 91st Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003, is the landmark legislation that imposed a constitutional ceiling on the size of the Council of Ministers, both at the Central and State levels. Prior to this amendment, there was no specific legal limit on the number of ministers, which often led to excessively large cabinets, a phenomenon sometimes referred to as 'jumbo cabinets'. Such large ministerial teams were frequently criticized for leading to increased public expenditure, promoting political defections (by offering ministerial berths as incentives), and generally undermining the principles of efficient governance. To address these issues of political expediency and administrative overhead, the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (NCRWC) recommended placing a limit on the cabinet size. Accordingly, the 91st Amendment inserted a new Clause (1A) into Article 75 of the Constitution, which explicitly states that the total number of Ministers, including the Prime Minister, in the Council of Ministers shall not exceed fifteen percent (15%) of the total number of members of the House of the People (Lok Sabha). A similar provision was also added for state legislatures, capping the size of state councils of ministers at 15% of the total number of members of the Legislative Assembly (Article 164 (1A)), with a minimum limit of 12 ministers. This Act fundamentally aimed to ensure governmental stability and curb the temptation for political horse-trading by standardizing cabinet size based on the size of the legislature.

The incorrect option is 1:
The 89th Constitutional Amendment Act, enacted in 2003 (the same year as the 91st Amendment, but addressing a different issue), is incorrect. This amendment dealt primarily with matters concerning the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Specifically, it bifurcated the erstwhile National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes into two separate bodies: the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (under Article 338) and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (under a new Article 338-A). The purpose of this separation was to allow each commission to focus more intensely on the distinct needs and constitutional safeguards of its respective target community. Therefore, the 89th Amendment focused on strengthening the institutional mechanisms for the protection of SCs and STs, and it has no connection with limiting the size of the Council of Ministers.

The incorrect option is 2:
The 90th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003, is also incorrect. This amendment was specifically enacted to modify electoral provisions related to the Legislative Assembly of Assam. Its primary focus was to protect the rights and representation of the Bodo people and other tribal communities in the Bodo Territorial Areas District (BTAD) of Assam. The amendment essentially ensured that the representation of Scheduled Tribes and non-Scheduled Tribes in the existing constituencies in the BTAD area would be maintained, thereby safeguarding the integrity of political representation in that specific autonomous region. This technical amendment addressed regional political demands in Assam and did not concern the nationwide limit on the cabinet size.

The incorrect option is 4:
The 92nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003, is incorrect. This amendment is significant as it related to the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, which lists the recognized official languages of India. The 92nd Amendment added four new languages to the Eighth Schedule: Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, and Santhali. The inclusion of these languages raised the total number of officially recognized scheduled languages in India from 18 to 22. While this amendment is a crucial development in India’s linguistic policy, it has no bearing on the structure, size, or function of the executive branch or the Council of Ministers.