Q. With reference to State Legislatures in India, consider the following statements:
1. The strength of State Legislatures has been fixed at 600 by the Constitution.
2. There is no upper limit on the reservation for SC/ ST in the State Legislatures.
3. The reservation for Anglo Indians in State Legislatures has been discontinued.
4. The maximum size of a Legislative Council is linked to the strength of the Legislative Assembly.
How many statements given above are correct?

[A] Only One

[B] Only Two

[C] Only Three

[D] All Four

Answer: C
Notes:

Exp) Option c is the correct answer.

Statement 1 is incorrect: The Constitution has not fixed the strength of State Legislative Assemblies at one particular size. It has just prescribed a range, with the minimum strength being 60 and the maximum limit set at 500. The actual size is dependent on the population size of the state.

Statement 2 is correct: The Constitution has made provisions for reservation of seats in State Legislative Assemblies for people belonging to SC/ ST communities in order to provide them due representation. There is no upper or lower limit on the number of seats reserved for them. Rather the number of seats reserved for members of SC/ ST communities is dependent and proportional to their population compared to the total population of the state.

Statement 3 is correct: The Constitution had provided for reservation of 1 member from the Anglo-Indian community in the State Legislative Assembly. It is not a compulsory provision, but rather it is at the discretion of the Governor, if he feels the community is inadequately represented. This provision was originally supposed to last only until 1960. However, it has been extended subsequently every 10 years. However, in 2019, the 104th Constitution Amendment Act scrapped this reservation as it was deemed to have run out of its utility. So, there is no reservation for the AngloIndian community in State Legislatures as of today.

Statement 4 is correct: The Constitution states that the minimum strength of the Legislative Council is to be 40, while the maximum has been fixed at ⅓ of the total strength of the legislative assembly. Thus, the size of the Legislative Council is linked to the strength of the Legislative Assembly

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