Federalism, states & centre–state relations

Answer: (b) Only three

The Fifteenth Finance Commission shared the divisible pool among states on six criteria: income distance (45%), population (15%), area (15%), forest and ecology (10%), demographic performance (12.5%) and tax and fiscal efforts (2.5%). Governance reforms and stable government were not criteria, so three of the listed items were used.

• ✓ 1. Demographic performance carried a 12.5% weight: the Commission used Census 2011 population but wanted to reward states that had done better on the demographic front.
• ✓ 2. Forest and ecology carried a 10% weight in the 15th Finance Commission's formula.
• ✗ 3. Governance reforms were not a criterion in the devolution formula.
• ✗ 4. 'Stable government' was never part of the formula.
• ✓ 5. Tax and fiscal efforts carried a 2.5% weight: the Commission re-introduced the tax effort criterion to reward fiscal performance.

Remember · 15th FC horizontal devolution: income distance 45, population (2011) 15, area 15, demographic performance 12.5, forest and ecology 10, tax and fiscal efforts 2.5. States' share: 41%.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is the correct explanation for Statement-I

Why not the tempting option · UPSC's key is (a). The 1894 Act does not use the words 'expressly kept', but it does expressly vest prisons in the provincial (now State) government: section 3 makes a prison a place used under that government's orders and section 59 gives it the rule-making power, so Statement II is a fair description. Option (b) fails because that rule-making power is precisely why each State has its own rules (Statement I); the State List entry of 1950 added the constitutional footing. In the exam, treat a statement as 'expressly' true when the Act's sections say it, even if not in those words.

Prisons are a State subject, and each State runs its prisons under its own manual and rules. The Prisons Act, 1894 is the framework law that placed prisons under the provincial (now State) government: a prison is a place used under that government's orders, and section 59 gives it the power to make the rules. That is exactly why States have their own rules, so Statement II explains Statement I.

• ✓ Statement-I 'Prisons' is in the State List of the Seventh Schedule. The Ministry of Home Affairs says management and administration lie exclusively with State Governments, under the 1894 Act and each State's Prison Manual.
• ✓ Statement-II The Act vests prisons in the provincial government throughout: section 3 defines a prison as a place used under the orders of the (then provincial, now State) Government, and section 59 says the State Government may make rules consistent with the Act. So it kept the subject under provincial control; Entry 4 of the State List later gave this constitutional footing.
• ✓ (a) Statement-II is the legal reason for Statement-I: the 1894 Act's rule-making power is why each State has its own prison rules.
• ✗ (b) This option accepts both statements but treats Statement-II as unrelated to Statement-I. The two are directly linked.

Remember · Prisons: State List, Seventh Schedule. States run them under the Prisons Act, 1894 and their own Prison Manuals; the Centre only advises (e.g. Model Prison Manual, 2016).

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Only two

Scheduled Areas under the Fifth Schedule are declared by a Presidential Order, and they can be as large as a whole district or as small as a cluster of villages in a block, so statements 1 and 2 are correct. Statement 3 is wrong because the report on administering Scheduled Areas is made by the Governor to the President, not by the Chief Minister to the Home Ministry.

• ✓ 1. Under paragraph 6 of the Fifth Schedule, the President specifies Scheduled Areas in a State by a notified order, after consulting the Governor of that State.
• ✓ 2. The Tribal Affairs Ministry looks for a viable administrative entity such as a district, block or taluk. In practice the area varies: Rajasthan's 2018 declaration covered three whole districts as well as gram panchayats covering 227 villages in other districts.
• ✗ 3. Paragraph 3 of the Fifth Schedule requires the Governor, not the Chief Minister, to report to the President each year (or when asked) on the administration of Scheduled Areas.

Remember · Fifth Schedule: President declares Scheduled Areas by order (para 6); Governor reports to the President annually (para 3); Tribes Advisory Council in each such State.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is not the correct explanation for Statement-I

Both statements are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I. Public health and hospitals are State subjects, so States organise health services, while the National Health Policy 2017 itself calls for moving primary care from a very selective package to a comprehensive one.

• ✓ Statement-I The National Health Policy 2017 calls for an important change from a very selective primary care package to a comprehensive one that adds geriatric, palliative and rehabilitative care, and it treats preventive and promotive care as needing a stronger place in the system.
• ✓ Statement-II 'Public health and sanitation; hospitals and dispensaries' is entry 6 of the State List in the Seventh Schedule, so States are primarily responsible for organising health services.
• • link The Seventh Schedule fixes who holds the health subject; it does not say what the services must emphasise. Statement-II therefore does not by itself explain Statement-I, which rules out option (a).

Remember · Health is a State subject (State List, entry 6: public health and sanitation, hospitals and dispensaries). NHP 2017 moves primary care from selective to comprehensive, adding preventive, promotive and rehabilitative care.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Only two

Statements 1 and 2 are correct; statement 3 is wrong. The Constitution makes the Union protect every State from internal disturbance and denies a preventive detainee the right to a lawyer, while the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 allowed certain confessions made to a senior police officer to be used in court.

• ✓ 1. Article 355 says it is the duty of the Union to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance.
• ✓ 2. Article 22(1) gives an arrested person the right to consult and be defended by a lawyer, but Article 22(3)(b) says this does not apply to anyone arrested or detained under a preventive detention law.
• ✗ 3. Section 32 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 made a confession recorded by a police officer not below the rank of Superintendent of Police admissible in trial under that Act, and required the officer to warn the person that it may be used against him. The Act was repealed in 2004.

Remember · Article 355: Union protects States from external aggression and internal disturbance. Article 22(3)(b): no right to a lawyer under preventive detention. POTA 2002 (repealed 2004) admitted confessions made to a police officer of SP rank or above.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Only two

Statements 2 and 3 are correct; statement 1 is wrong because Home Guards are a State subject raised under the Home Guards Acts and Rules of the States and Union Territories. There is no Central Home Guards Act.

• ✗ 1. The Ministry of Home Affairs has told Parliament that Home Guards are a State subject governed by the Home Guards Acts and Rules of the respective States/UTs, and that there is no Central Act on them.
• ✓ 2. The role of Home Guards is to serve as an auxiliary force to the police in maintaining internal security, and also to help the community in emergencies such as fire, cyclone or earthquake.
• ✓ 3. In border States, Border Wing Home Guards battalions (Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Meghalaya, Tripura and West Bengal) serve as an auxiliary to the Border Security Force for preventing infiltration on the international border and coastal areas.

Remember · Home Guards: a State subject, raised under State/UT Home Guards Acts (no Central Act); auxiliary to the police; Border Wing battalions assist the BSF in border States.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error