Question

The adoption of an Ombudsman-type institution in India was first recommended by which of the following?

• A. Santhanam Committee, 1964
• B. Administrative Reforms Commission, 2005
• C. Administrative Reforms Commission, 1966
• D. India Against Corruption Movement, 2011

Hint:

For exam purposes: ARC (1966) = Lokpal Recommendation This is one of the most frequently asked facts in Public Administration and Polity.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

This question is really asking you to match four bodies to their actual role in India's anti-corruption and grievance-redressal history, and pick the one that specifically proposed an Ombudsman-style office.

1. Santhanam Committee, 1964: Known for recommending the Central Vigilance Commission to tackle corruption in government, not for proposing an Ombudsman-type body.
2. Administrative Reforms Commission, 2005: This is the Second ARC, which reviewed and modernised public administration long after the Ombudsman idea was already on the table, so it cannot be the first to suggest it.
3. Administrative Reforms Commission, 1966: This is the First ARC, and it is specifically remembered for recommending a Lokpal at the central level and Lokayukta at the state level, based on the Scandinavian Ombudsman model. This is the earliest formal recommendation among the choices given.
4. India Against Corruption Movement, 2011: A people's movement that pressed for a strong Lokpal law to actually be passed, coming well after the concept had already been proposed and discussed for decades.

Only one body here is specifically remembered for originating the Ombudsman-style proposal, and it is the earliest of the four in terms of when the underlying recommendation was made.

So the correct answer is Administrative Reforms Commission, 1966.

Answer 2

A quick way to separate these four options is to recall the one achievement each is most associated with in Indian administrative history, since each name maps to a distinct legacy.

1. Santhanam Committee, 1964: Its lasting legacy is the Central Vigilance Commission, an anti-corruption watchdog, not an Ombudsman for citizen grievances against individual officials.
2. Administrative Reforms Commission, 2005: Its legacy lies in reports on e-governance, ethics in governance, and administrative reform generally, produced well after the Ombudsman idea already existed in Indian discourse; being the second such commission, it reformed rather than originated the idea.
3. Administrative Reforms Commission, 1966: Its defining legacy is precisely the proposal for a Lokpal and Lokayukta system, borrowed from the Ombudsman institutions of Scandinavian countries, making this the commission whose name is tied directly to the birth of the idea in India.
4. India Against Corruption Movement, 2011: Its legacy is mass public pressure that eventually led to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, well after the underlying institutional idea had already been proposed decades earlier.

Matching each option to its own historical legacy, rather than its general subject area, again singles out the 1966 Administrative Reforms Commission as the body that first put forward the Ombudsman-style proposal.

So the correct answer is Administrative Reforms Commission, 1966.