Conceptual and in news

There was a heated debate on Hindi as Official Language of
UN. Hence, knowing the constitutional and other provisions related to languages is very important.

Provisions for regional languages –

The legislature of a state may adopt any one or more of the languages in use in the state or Hindi as the official language of that state. Until that is done, English is to continue as the official language of that state. For e.g. Gujarat has adopted Hindi in addition to Gujarati. Similarly, Goa has adopted Marathi in addition to Konkani. Jammu and Kashmir has adopted Urdu (and not Kashmiri). On the other hand, certain north-eastern States like Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland have adopted English.

Notably, the choice of the state is not limited to the languages enumerated in the Eighth Schedule of the constitution. For the time being, the official language of the Union (i.e., English) would remain the link language for communications between the Union and the states or between various states. But, two or more states are free to agree to use Hindi (instead of English) for communication between themselves. Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar are some of the states that have entered into such agreements.

The Official Language Act (1963) lays down that English should be used for purposes of communication between the Union and the non-Hindi states (that is, the states that have not adopted Hindi as their official language). Further, where Hindi is used for communication between a Hindi and a non-Hindi state, such communication in Hindi should be accompanied by an English translation. When the President (on a demand being made) is satisfied that a substantial proportion of the population of a state desires the use of any language spoken by them to be recognized by that state, then he may direct that such language shall also be officially recognized in that state. This provision aims at protecting the linguistic interests of minorities in the states.

-First Lok Sabha of independent India had not
recognized “Leader of Opposition” as an official position for the lack of any
opposition party having 10% seats.

First time Lok Sabha got recognized “Leader
of Opposition” was in 1969, Ram Subhag Singh from INC(O).

Statement 2 is incorrect.–

Congress won 283 seats in 1967 elections, Therefore
statement 3 is incorrect.

Statement 1 and 3 are correct.

Read about special
powers of Governor in all the North-Eastern state. It is a very important topic
for the exam.

The Constitution does not specify the castes or tribes
which are to be called the SCs or the STs.

It leaves to the President the power to specify as to what castes or tribes in each state and union territory are to be treated as the SCs and STs. Thus, the lists of the SCs or STs vary from state to state and union territory to union territory.

In the case of the states, the President issues the notification after consulting the governor of the state concerned. But, any inclusion or exclusion of any caste or tribe from Presidential notification can be done only by the Parliament and not by a subsequent Presidential notification.

Hence, the 1st statement is correct.

The 82nd Amendment Act of 2000 provides for the making of any provision in favour of the SCs and STs for relaxation in qualifying marks in any examination or lowering the standards of evaluation, for reservation in
matters of promotion to the public services of the Centre and the states.
Hence, the 2nd statement is correct.

The Centre should pay grants-in-aid to the states for
meeting the costs of schemes of the welfare of STs(Article 275(1)) and for raising the level of administration in scheduled areas. There is no such mandatory provision for SCs.

Hence, the 3rd statement is incorrect.

A very common question that will be repeated across all test series.

Government of India Act of 1935:

Federal Scheme, Office of the governor, Judiciary, Public Service Commissions, Emergency provisions and administrative details. Make a note of the sources from which certain feature have been borrowed. British Constitution: Parliamentary government, Rule of Law, legislative procedure, single citizenship, cabinet system, prerogative writs, parliamentary privileges and bicameralism.

US Constitution:

Fundamental rights, independence of the judiciary, judicial review, the impeachment of the president, removal of Supreme Court and high court judges and post of vice-president.

Irish Constitution:

Directive Principles of State Policy, nomination of members to Rajya Sabha and method of election of the president.

Canadian Constitution:

Federation with a strong Centre, vesting of residuary powers in the Centre, the appointment of state governors by the Centre, and advisory jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

Australian Constitution:

Concurrent List, freedom of trade, commerce and inter-course, and joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament.

Weimar Constitution of Germany:

Suspension of Fundamental Rights during Emergency.

Soviet Constitution (USSR, now Russia) :

Fundamental duties and the ideal of justice (social, economic and political) in the Preamble.

French Constitution:

Republic and the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity in the Preamble.

South African Constitution:

Procedure for amendment of the Constitution and election of members of Rajya Sabha.Japanese Constitution: Procedure established by Law.

-The Governor shall have special responsibility for peace and for an equitable arrangement for ensuring the social and economic advancement of the different sections of the Sikkim population. In the discharge of this responsibility, the Governor shall act in his discretion, subject to the directions issued by the President. -The President can extend (with restrictions or
modifications) to Sikkim any law which is in force in a state of the Indian
Union.

Most of the statements seem logical.

For such questions, you are not required to know the details of what SC has said. If the sentences do not have inherent contradictions then they should be correct.

Tribunals have also been in news and are important from both Prelims and Mains perspectives.

Statement 1 is correct.

Only parliament can establish the
tribunals for public service matters. State Administrative tribunals are
established by the Parliament on the request of the concerned state.

Statement 2 is incorrect.

The chairman and members of the
State Administrative Tribunals are appointed by the President after
consultation with the governor of the state.

Originally, Article 338 of the Constitution provided
for the appointment of a Special Officer for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and
Scheduled Tribes (STs) to investigate all matters relating to the
constitutional safeguards for the SCs and STs and to report to the President on their working. He was designated as the Commissioner for SCs and STs and assigned the said duty.

In 1978, the Government (through a Resolution) set up a non-statutory multi-member Commission for SCs and STs; the Office of Commissioner for SCs and STs also continued to exist.

In 1987, the Government (through another Resolution) modified the functions of the Commission and renamed it as the National Commission for SCs and STs.

Later, the 65th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1990 provided for the establishment of a high-level multi-member National Commission for SCs and STs in the place of a single Special Officer for SCs and STs.

JSPSC can be created by an act of Parliament on the request of the state legislatures concerned. Thus, a JSPSC is a statutory and not a constitutional body.

A JSPSC presents its annual performance report to each of the concerned state governors. Each governor places the report before the state legislature.

Keep a track of such issues. Read http://nhrc.nic.in/

1st statement is incorrect, the term of expiry is one year.
Remaining two statements are true regarding the acceptance of a complaint by
NHRC.

Until Parliament provides otherwise, the following are
to be in the English language only:

(a) All proceedings in the Supreme Court and in every high
court.

(b) The authoritative texts of all bills, acts, ordinances,
orders, rules, regulations and bye-laws at the Central and state levels

However, the governor of a state, with the previous
consent of the president can authorise the use of Hindi or any other official
language of the state, in the proceedings in the high court of the state, but
not with respect to the judgements, decrees and orders passed by it. In other
words, the judgements, decrees and orders of the high court must continue to be in English only (until Parliament otherwise provides).

3. Similarly, a state legislature can prescribe the use of
any language (other than English) with respect to bills, acts, ordinances,
orders, rules, regulations or bye-laws, but a translation of the same in the
English language is to be published.

As you might be aware, RPA is specifically mentioned
in the Constitution. Have a broad idea of what constitutes RPA 1950 includes:

1. Preparation of electoral rolls

2. Allocations of seats in parliament and state legislatures

3. Delimitations of constituencies.

4. Qualification of Voters.

RPA  1951 includes:

1. The actual conduct of elections.

2. Administrative machinery for conducting elections.

3. Poll

4. Election offences.

5. Election disputes.

6. By-elections.

7. Registration of political parties Conducting elections,

Registration of political parties is part of RPA 1951.

The mandate of framing the Budget and programmes of the village lies with the Gram Panchayat.

The Sabha may take it up for discussion.

M.N. Venkatachaliah Commission, 2000 was for Working of the Constitution. We have a question on NCRWC which was setup by the Venkatachaliah Commission.

Statement 1 is correct.

In the comments let us know when the Model Code of Conduct ends.

Statement 2 is correct.

Statement 3 is incorrect.

There is no reservation in LS for OBCs. It is only available for SC/STs

Lok-Adalat accepts both pre-litigative and pending in regular courts within their jurisdiction.

Such a case may be civil or criminal.

Lok Adalat is presided by sitting or retired judicial officer as the chairman, with two other members a lawyer and a social worker.

There is no court fee.

No appeal lies against the order of lok adalat.

Lok Adalat basically accepts the cases which could be settled by conciliation and compromise.

Conceptual and in news
There was a heated debate on Hindi as the Official Language of the UN.
Hence, knowing the constitutional and other provisions related to languages
is very important.
Statement 1 is incorrect: The State may by law can adopt Hindi as the official language even if it is not used in the state.
Statement 2 is correct: President if he is satisfied that a substantial proportion of the population of a State desire the use of any language, he may then direct the state to recognised that language throughout that State or any part thereof for such purpose as he may specify.

Hence ‘b’ is the correct answer.

Dept. Of Public Enterprises – Ministry of Heavy Industries
& Public Enterprises

Dept. Of Border Management-Ministry of Home affairs

Very important from ethics perspective also. Citizen’s Charter is a document which represents a systematic effort to focus on the commitment of the Organisation towards its Citizens in respects of Standard of Services, Information, Choice and Consultation, Non-discrimination and Accessibility, Grievance Redress, Courtesy and Value for Money. This also includes expectations of the Organisation from the Citizen for fulfilling the commitment of the Organisation.

Hence, statement 1 is correct.

The Citizen’s Charter is not legally enforceable and, therefore, is non-justiciable. However, it is a tool for facilitating the delivery of services to citizens with specified standards, quality and time frame etc. with commitments from the Organisation and its clients.

Hence, Statement 2 is correct.

Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances in Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India, in its efforts to provide more responsive and citizen-friendly governance, coordinates the efforts to formulate and operationalise Citizen’s Charters in Central Government, State Governments and UT Administrations. It provides guidelines for the formulation and implementation of the Charters as well as their evaluation.