Who was the Labour Minister in Jawaharlal Nehru's Provisional Government?

Concept

An interim government is a temporary executive formed during a transfer of authority. Its members are identified by the portfolios officially assigned to them, not merely by their prominence in the freedom movement.

To answer a portfolio question, match the office named in the stem with the ministerial list of the relevant government and period.

Application

The Interim Government headed by Jawaharlal Nehru took office on 2 September 1946. In its portfolio allocation, Jagjivan Ram was assigned Labour.

Contrast

• Aruna Asaf Ali was a prominent freedom activist, but she was not a minister in the 1946 Interim Government.

• C. Rajagopalachari served in the Interim Government, but its portfolio list does not assign Labour to him.

• “More than one of the above” would require at least two named people to hold the portfolio, which the ministerial list does not show.

• “None of the above” would require the Labour holder to be absent from the named choices, whereas Jagjivan Ram is listed.

Cross-check

BPSC’s final key marks the choice containing Jagjivan Ram, and the contemporaneous portfolio list independently links Labour with Jagjivan Ram. The two records agree.

Therefore, the Labour Minister was Jagjivan Ram.