Important committees and commissions across polity, economy and security, with their subject and main recommendation, for CAPF revision
Cover the right column and recall the subject. The exam tests the pairing of committee to theme, occasionally with the chairperson. Constitutional and statutory bodies are detailed in constitutional and statutory bodies; here the focus is named expert committees and reform commissions.
| Committee / Commission | Subject and outcome |
|---|---|
| Balwant Rai Mehta (1957) | Recommended a three-tier Panchayati Raj; democratic decentralisation |
| Ashok Mehta (1977) | Recommended a two-tier Panchayati Raj |
| Sarkaria Commission (1983) | Centre-State relations; cautious use of Article 356 and Governor's discretion |
| Punchhi Commission (2007) | Centre-State relations, second major review |
| L M Singhvi (1986) | Constitutional status for Panchayati Raj (fed into the 73rd Amendment) |
| Swaran Singh (1976) | Fundamental Duties; fed into the 42nd Amendment |
See federalism and centre state relations and local government.
| Committee / Commission | Subject |
|---|---|
| First ARC (1966, Morarji Desai then K Hanumanthaiah) | Administrative reform; redress and reorganisation |
| Second ARC (2005, Veerappa Moily) | Governance reform, RTI, ethics in governance |
| Dinesh Goswami (1990) | Electoral reforms |
| Indrajit Gupta (1998) | State funding of elections |
| Tarkunde (1974) | Electoral reforms; voting age and EC autonomy |
| Committee | Subject |
|---|---|
| Narasimham I (1991) | Banking-sector reform; prudential norms |
| Narasimham II (1998) | Banking-sector reform, second wave; mergers, NPAs |
| Rangarajan | Poverty estimation (post-Tendulkar revision); also disinvestment |
| Tendulkar | Poverty line methodology |
| Kelkar | Fiscal reform, FRBM roadmap and GST |
| Bimal Jalan | Economic Capital Framework of the RBI (transfer of surplus) |
| Vijay Kelkar / Bibek Debroy | Railway restructuring (Debroy) and fiscal matters |
See last minute economy and Index.
| Committee / Commission | Subject |
|---|---|
| National Police Commission (1977 to 1981) | Eight reports on police reform; Model Police Act |
| Ribeiro Committee (1998) | Police reform follow-up after the Prakash Singh litigation |
| Padmanabhaiah (2000) | Police reform; recruitment, training, accountability |
| Soli Sorabjee (2006) | Drafted a Model Police Act |
| Justice Verma Committee (2013) | Criminal law on offences against women, after the December 2012 case |
| Malimath Committee (2003) | Reform of the criminal justice system |
| Kargil Review Committee (1999, K Subrahmanyam) | Intelligence and border management failures; led to the Group of Ministers reforms |
| GoM on National Security (2001) | Restructuring of intelligence, border management, internal security |
| Madhukar Gupta (2016) | Strengthening border protection |
These map directly onto the CAPF security and human-rights syllabus; cross-read human rights and internal security and last minute internal security.
| Commission | Subject |
|---|---|
| Mandal Commission (1979) | Identification of OBCs; 27 per cent reservation (Indra Sawhney upheld it) |
| Kaka Kalelkar (1953) | First Backward Classes Commission |
| Sachar Committee (2005) | Social, economic and educational status of Muslims |
| Justice Rajinder Sachar | (same as above, named) |
| Hunter Commission (1882) | Education reform under the British |