Vision Academy EducareVision Academy Educare
Question 51 of 60 · Constitutional & Statutory Bodies
Questionmedium
This question was previously asked in

Railway

The First Finance Commission, constituted on 22 November 1951, was chaired by:

Answer View answer ▾

Answer: Option C — K.C. Neogy

Detailed Solution

Neogy. The First Finance Commission was constituted by the President on 22 November 1951 under the chairmanship of Kshitish Chandra Neogy. It made recommendations for the period from 1952 to 1957.

About K.C. Neogy:

  • He was a member of the Constituent Assembly from West Bengal.
  • He was a member of Nehru's first cabinet, holding the portfolio of Relief and Rehabilitation, and later Commerce.
  • He resigned from the cabinet in 1950 over the Nehru-Liaquat Pact, along with Shyama Prasad Mookerjee.

Recommendations of the First Finance Commission:

  • It recommended that 55 per cent of the net proceeds of income tax be distributed to the states.
  • It recommended that 40 per cent of the net proceeds of Union excise duties on certain goods (tobacco, matches and vegetable products) be shared with the states.
  • It laid down principles for distributing taxes among states, based mainly on population and collection.
  • It recommended grants-in-aid to states in need of assistance.

Purpose of the Finance Commission:

  • To recommend how the net proceeds of shared taxes should be divided between the Centre and the states, and among the states.
  • To recommend principles for grants-in-aid to the states.
  • To suggest measures to supplement the resources of panchayats and municipalities.

Composition:

  • A Chairman and four other members, appointed by the President.
  • Qualifications are laid down in the Finance Commission (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act.

Frequency:

It is set up every five years, or earlier if needed.

Later Finance Commissions:

Second: K. Santhanam.

Third: A.K. Chanda.

Fourth: P.V. Rajamannar.

Fifth: Mahavir Tyagi.

Twelfth: C. Rangarajan; Thirteenth: Vijay Kelkar; Fourteenth: Y.V. Reddy; Fifteenth: N.K. Singh; Sixteenth: Arvind Panagariya.

Importance:

Finance Commissions are central to fiscal federalism in India.

Why not the other options?

A.K. Chanda, P.V. Rajamannar and Mahavir Tyagi chaired the Third, Fourth and Fifth Finance Commissions.

Quick tip

Remember: First Finance Commission (1951) = K.C. Neogy; Sixteenth = Arvind Panagariya.

💬 Discussions on this question

Ask a doubt ›

Still stuck on this question? Ask our faculty and fellow students — answers appear here.

Ask a doubt

More Constitutional & Statutory Bodies Questions

View all ›
  1. Q1.The Planning Commission was replaced by:
  2. Q2.The Election Commission of India was established on:
  3. Q3.Article 148 of the Constitution of India deals with the:
  4. Q4.The National Commission for Women was set up in:
  5. Q5.Who gives advice to the Government of India on legal matters?

More General Knowledge Questions

  1. Q1.The techniques of Rasa and Bhava used in Indian classical dance trace their origin to which ancient text?Indian Dance Forms
  2. Q2.Lavani, Powada, Koli, Waghya Murali and Dhangari Gaja are folk dances of which state?Indian Dance Forms
  3. Q3.The one-act play associated with the Sattriya tradition of Assam is called:Indian Dance Forms
  4. Q4.Which dance form of Goa is known as the 'Warrior Dance'?Indian Dance Forms
  5. Q5.Manipuri dance is based on the Rasleela themes of:Indian Dance Forms

Constitutional & Statutory Bodies — Preparation

This question tests your understanding of Constitutional & Statutory Bodies, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.

This topic covers bodies set up under the Constitution, such as the Election Commission, UPSC, Finance Commission, Comptroller and Auditor General and the national commissions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and statutory or executive bodies such as NITI Aayog, the NHRC, the CVC, the CBI and Lokpal. Questions often ask whether a body is constitutional or not, which article creates it, who appoints its head and for how long. For example, the CAG is appointed under Article 148, the Finance Commission under Article 280, and NITI Aayog replaced the Planning Commission in 2015 by an executive resolution. Practise the constitutional and statutory bodies questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.

‹ All Constitutional & Statutory Bodies questionsBrowse all topics ›