Punchhi commission - GS questions based on daily current affairs

ANSWER: Only 1

Explanation:
Some important recommendations are -

• There should be much better coordination between the Finance Commission and the Planning Commission. The synchronisation of the periods covered by the Finance Commission and the Five-Year Plan will considerably improve such coordination.
• Finance Commission division in the Ministry of Finance should be converted into a full-fledged department, serving as the permanent secretariat for the Finance Commissions.
• The Governor should have the right to sanction for prosecution of a state minister against the advice of the Council of Ministers, if the Cabinet decision appears to the Governor to be motivated by bias in the face of overwhelming material.

ANSWER: Only 1

Explanation:

• Steps should be taken for the setting up of an Inter-State Trade and Commerce Commission under Article 307 read with Entry 42 of List-I. This Commission should be vested with both advisory and executive roles with decision making powers.
• As a Constitutional body, the decisions of the Commission should be final and binding on all states as well as the Union of India.
• Any party aggrieved with the decision of the Commission may prefer an appeal to the Supreme Court.
• It provides the framework for “localised emergency” that would ensure that the state government can continue to function and the Assembly would not have to be dissolved while providing a mechanism to let the Central Government respond to the issue specifically and locally.
• The imposition of local emergency is fully justified under the mandate of Article 355 read with Entry 2A of List I and Entry 1 of List II of the Seventh Schedule.

ANSWER: Both 1 and 2

Explanation:
Some important recommendations are -

• A balance of power between states inter se is desirable and this is possible by equality of representation in the Rajya Sabha. This requires amendment of the relevant provisions to give equality of seats to states in the Rajya Sabha, irrespective of their population size.
• The scope of devolution of powers to local bodies to act as institutions of self-government should be constitutionally defined through appropriate amendments.
• Factors inhibiting the composition and functioning of the Second Chamber as a representative forum of states should be removed or modified even if it requires amendment of the Constitutional provisions. In fact, Rajya Sabha offers immense potential to negotiate acceptable solutions to the friction points which emerge between Centre and states in fiscal, legislative and administrative relations.

ANSWER: Only 1

Explanation:

• On the question of dismissal of a Chief Minister, the Governor should invariably insist on the Chief Minister proving his majority on the floor of the House for which he should prescribe a time limit.
• The convention of Governors acting as Chancellors of Universities and holding other statutory positions should be done away with. His role should be confined to the Constitutional provisions only.
• The Governor should have the right to sanction for prosecution of a state minister against the advice of the Council of Ministers, if the Cabinet decision appears to the Governor to be motivated by bias in the face of overwhelming material.

ANSWER: Both 1 and 2

Explanation:
Some important recommendations are -

• The period of six months prescribed in Article 201 for State Legislature to act when the bill is returned by the President can be made applicable for the President also to decide on assenting or withholding assent to a state bill reserved for consideration of the President.
• While selecting Governors, the Central Government should adopt the following strict guidelines as recommended in the Sarkaria Commission report and follow its mandate in letter and spirit :

(i) He should be eminent in some walk of life
(ii) He should be a person from outside the state
(iii) He should be a detached figure and not too intimately connected with the local politics of the states
(iv) He should be a person who has not taken too great a part in politics generally and particularly in the recent past