Committees — Set 2

Correct Answer: C. Inflation Targeting

• **Inflation Targeting** = The Urjit Patel Committee (2014) recommended that the RBI should target consumer price inflation (CPI) and form a Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). • **MPC** — This shifted the RBI's primary objective toward maintaining price stability through a rule-based monetary policy framework. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: Merger of PSBs: recommended by Narasimham Committee; Gold Monetization: a government scheme, not this committee's recommendation; Currency Demonetization: a government decision, not a committee recommendation.

Correct Answer: A. Nachiket Mor Committee

• **Nachiket Mor Committee** = The Nachiket Mor Committee focused on providing comprehensive financial services to small businesses and low-income households, proposing payment banks. • **Payment banks** — Its proposal for payment banks was a major step toward achieving universal financial inclusion in unbanked areas. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: Shah Committee: related to different financial matters; Shanta Kumar Committee: focused on FCI restructuring; P.J. Nayak Committee: focused on governance of public sector banks.

Correct Answer: D. Food Corporation of India (FCI)

• **Food Corporation of India (FCI)** = The Shanta Kumar Committee (2015) recommended reforms in the FCI's procurement and distribution system, suggesting outsourcing storage to private players. • **Subsidy reduction** — The report aimed to reduce massive food subsidies and improve efficiency of the Public Distribution System (PDS). • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: Life Insurance Corporation (LIC): restructuring recommended by other committees; Air India: subject of divestment committees; Bhabha Atomic Research Centre: not a subject of this committee.

Correct Answer: A. Education

• **Education** = The Kothari Commission (1964-66) was appointed to formulate a coherent national policy for education, recommending the 10+2+3 pattern. • **10+2+3 pattern** — It emphasized that education should be a tool for national development, shaping India's school structure for decades. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: Telecom: covered by separate sector-specific committees; Health Care: covered by different health commissions; Agriculture: covered by agricultural committees like Swaminathan.

Correct Answer: A. L.K. Jha Committee

• **L.K. Jha Committee** = The L.K. Jha Committee (1976) was the first to recommend a modified value-added tax system to replace the cascading effect of traditional sales tax. • **1976** — It laid the initial conceptual foundation for the eventual GST regime, decades before GST was implemented. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: Sarkaria Commission: focused on centre-state relations; B.N. Srikrishna Committee: focused on data protection; M.M. Punchhi Commission: focused on centre-state relations (later).

Correct Answer: C. Black Money

• **Black Money** = The Wanchoo Committee (1970) was a direct taxes enquiry committee focused on the problem of black money and tax evasion. • **Early study** — It suggested measures to detect hidden wealth and prevent accumulation, making it one of the earliest high-level studies on the underground economy. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: Inflation: covered by monetary policy committees; Foreign Exchange: covered by FERA/FEMA-related committees; Unemployment: studied by the Bhagwati Committee.

Correct Answer: B. Sarkaria Commission

• **Sarkaria Commission** = The Sarkaria Commission recommended that the planning process should be more decentralized and that states should have more autonomy in Five Year Plans. • **Centre-state relations** — It examined the distribution of powers across administrative and economic areas to ensure state-specific needs were addressed. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: Gadgil-Mukherjee Formula: related to plan fund allocation, not autonomy; Kasturirangan Committee: focused on Western Ghats ecology; Hanumantha Rao Committee: focused on agricultural growth.

Correct Answer: B. Public Sector Banks

• **Public Sector Banks** = The P.J. Nayak Committee recommended reducing the government's stake in public sector banks to below 50% and creating a Bank Board Bureau. • **Professionalization** — This aimed to improve the appointment process for top officials and professionalize management of state-owned banks. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: Insurance Companies: covered by Malhotra Committee; Private Banks: subject of different regulatory reviews; Cooperative Banks: covered by Khusro and Vaidyanathan committees.

Correct Answer: B. Dantwala Committee

• **Dantwala Committee** = The Dantwala Committee recommended that the district should be the basic unit for planning and administration. • **Block-level participation** — It emphasized bridging the gap between state-level planning and local needs through block-level participation in development. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: G.V.K. Rao Committee: focused on grassroots democracy and panchayati raj; Hanumantha Rao Committee: focused on agricultural growth; Santhanam Committee: focused on corruption prevention.

Correct Answer: D. Industrial Sickness

• **Industrial Sickness** = The Goswami Committee (1993) studied the causes and remedies for industrial sickness in India and recommended simplification of bankruptcy procedures. • **Corporate debt restructuring** — It led to a more structured approach to dealing with failing companies and corporate debt. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: Stock Market Scams: investigated by Janakiraman Committee; Company Mergers: covered by Bhagwati Committee (1997); Corporate Social Responsibility: governed by Companies Act provisions.