Who among the following was the Chairman of 14 th Finance Commission?

The answer is C) Y. V. Reddy. The 14th Finance Commission, constituted in January 2013 under Article 280, was chaired by Dr Y. V. Reddy, former RBI Governor. Its report covered the award period 2015-16 to 2019-20 and is best known for raising the states' share in the divisible pool of central taxes from 32% to 42%, the largest devolution change so far.

Why the others are wrong:

• A) Shanta Kumar headed the High Level Committee on restructuring the Food Corporation of India, not a Finance Commission.
• B) C. Rangarajan chaired the 12th Finance Commission (award period 2005-10), not the 14th.
• D) None of the above is wrong because option C is correct.

Core concept: Finance Commissions are constituted every five years under Article 280 to recommend the vertical and horizontal devolution of taxes and the principles of grants-in-aid. The 14th FC is the key reference for Centre-state fiscal federalism, so a Mains answer on cooperative federalism or the fiscal space of states should cite its 42% devolution and the resulting shift in centrally sponsored schemes.

Trap: candidates remember Rangarajan as a famous chairman and pick him by association, or confuse a high-level committee with a Finance Commission.