Local Government — Set 1

Correct Answer: B. Balwant Rai Mehta Committee

• **Balwant Rai Mehta Committee** = appointed in 1957, it recommended the three-tier Panchayati Raj structure: Gram Panchayat (village level), Panchayat Samiti (block level), and Zila Parishad (district level). • **1957 report** — the committee coined the term 'Democratic Decentralization' and its recommendations were implemented by Rajasthan first in 1959, launching India's Panchayati Raj movement. • 💡 Option A (G.V.K. Rao Committee, 1985) reviewed Panchayati Raj functioning but did not recommend the original three-tier structure; Option C (L.M. Singhvi Committee, 1986) recommended constitutional status for Panchayats — not the tier structure; Option D (Ashok Mehta Committee, 1977) recommended a two-tier system, not three.

Correct Answer: A. 73rd Amendment Act

• **73rd Amendment Act, 1992** = granted constitutional status and protection to Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) by adding Part IX (Articles 243–243-O) to the Constitution. • **Came into force April 24, 1993** — also added the Eleventh Schedule with 29 functional items for Panchayats; April 24 is now celebrated as National Panchayati Raj Day. • 💡 Option B (72nd Amendment) dealt with Tripura tribal areas — unrelated to Panchayati Raj constitutional status; Option C (74th Amendment) covers urban local bodies (Municipalities), not Panchayati Raj; Option D (75th Amendment) is not a landmark Panchayati Raj amendment.

Correct Answer: C. Part IX-A

• **Part IX-A** = added by the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992; titled 'The Municipalities' and covers Articles 243-P to 243-ZG for urban local governance. • **74th Amendment** — came into force June 1, 1993; also added the Twelfth Schedule with 18 functional items for Municipalities; mirrors the 73rd Amendment for rural bodies. • 💡 Option A (Part X) relates to Scheduled and Tribal Areas — not municipalities; Option B (Part IX) was added by the 73rd Amendment for Panchayats, not urban bodies; Option D (Part VIII) deals with Union Territories — unrelated to local bodies.

Correct Answer: A. Eleventh Schedule

• **Eleventh Schedule** = added by the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992; lists 29 functional items (subjects) that can be transferred to Panchayats by state legislatures. • **29 items** — include agriculture, land improvement, minor irrigation, rural housing, primary education, health, poverty alleviation, etc.; states are not obligated to transfer all 29. • 💡 Option B (Twelfth Schedule) was added by the 74th Amendment for Municipalities — not Panchayats; Option C (Tenth Schedule) is the Anti-Defection Law (52nd Amendment, 1985) — unrelated; Option D (Ninth Schedule) protects certain laws from judicial review — unrelated to local self-government.

Correct Answer: D. The Governor of the State

• **Governor** = under Article 243-I, the Governor of each state constitutes a State Finance Commission every five years to review the financial position of Panchayats and Municipalities. • **Every 5 years** — the SFC recommends the distribution of taxes, duties, tolls, and fees between the state and local bodies; its recommendations are advisory, not binding. • 💡 Option A (Chief Minister) heads the executive but has no constitutional role in constituting the SFC; Option B (State Finance Minister) manages the budget but does not constitute the SFC; Option C (President of India) constitutes the Central Finance Commission, not the State Finance Commission.

Correct Answer: D. 21 years

• **21 years** = the minimum age to contest elections for Panchayats and Municipalities under the 73rd and 74th Amendments; state legislatures may prescribe higher ages. • **Voting age is 18** — there is a key distinction: the right to vote (franchise) is granted at 18, but the right to contest local body elections requires 21; Lok Sabha/Assembly also requires 25. • 💡 Option A (18 years) is the voting age, not the minimum age to contest; Option B (25 years) is the minimum age for Lok Sabha/State Assembly membership — not for local bodies; Option C (30 years) is the minimum age for Rajya Sabha/Vidhan Parishad — not applicable to Panchayat elections.

Correct Answer: C. Article 40

• **Article 40** = a Directive Principle of State Policy (Part IV) that directs the State to take steps to organise village panchayats and endow them with powers to function as units of self-government. • **Pre-73rd Amendment basis** — before 1992, Article 40 was the only constitutional provision for Panchayats; the 73rd Amendment later gave them full constitutional recognition under Part IX. • 💡 Option A (Article 38) is about securing a social order for welfare — general DPSP, not specific to Panchayats; Option B (Article 44) is the Uniform Civil Code directive — unrelated to Panchayats; Option D (Article 39) deals with equitable distribution of resources — a different DPSP.

Correct Answer: C. Two-tier system

• **Ashok Mehta Committee (1977)** = recommended a two-tier Panchayati Raj structure — Zila Parishad at the district level and Mandal Panchayat (covering a group of villages) below it. • **Departure from Balwant Rai Mehta** — while the 1957 Balwant Rai Mehta Committee recommended three tiers, Ashok Mehta proposed just two, strengthening the district level as the principal body. • 💡 Option A (One-tier system) was not recommended by any major Panchayati Raj committee; Option B (Three-tier system) was recommended by the Balwant Rai Mehta Committee in 1957, not Ashok Mehta; Option D (Four-tier system) has never been proposed as an official Panchayati Raj model.

Correct Answer: A. Rajasthan

• **Rajasthan** = the first state to establish the Panchayati Raj system; inaugurated by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on October 2, 1959, in Nagaur district. • **October 2, 1959** — the date coincided with Gandhi Jayanti; Andhra Pradesh was the second state to adopt Panchayati Raj shortly after Rajasthan in 1959. • 💡 Option B (Gujarat) adopted Panchayati Raj later — it was not first; Option C (Andhra Pradesh) was the second state to implement Panchayati Raj in 1959, not the first; Option D (Maharashtra) also adopted Panchayati Raj but after Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.

Correct Answer: C. Not less than one-third

• **Not less than one-third** = the 73rd Amendment mandates that not less than one-third of the total seats in every Panchayat and offices of chairpersons at each tier be reserved for women. • **States can increase** — several states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand have increased women's reservation to 50%; the constitutional minimum is one-third. • 💡 Option A (two-thirds) exceeds the constitutional minimum — this is not the mandated quota; Option B (one-fourth) is less than the constitutionally mandated one-third; Option D (one-half) is higher than the constitutional minimum, though some states have voluntarily adopted it.