Local Government — Set 2

Correct Answer: C. State Election Commission

• **State Election Commission** = established under Article 243-K (73rd/74th Amendments) to superintend, direct, and control the preparation of electoral rolls and conduct of elections to Panchayats and Municipalities. • **Independent constitutional body** — the State Election Commissioner is appointed by the Governor and can only be removed in the same manner as a High Court judge; it is separate from the Election Commission of India. • 💡 Option A (District Collector) is the district administrative head — not constitutionally empowered to conduct Panchayat elections; Option B (Central Government) has no role in local body elections — these are state subjects; Option D (Election Commission of India) handles only Parliament and state assembly elections, not local body elections.

Correct Answer: B. L.M. Singhvi Committee

• **L.M. Singhvi Committee (1986)** = recommended giving constitutional status and protection to Panchayati Raj Institutions, arguing that without constitutional backing they were vulnerable to state government interference. • **Directly led to 73rd Amendment** — the committee also recommended that Gram Sabhas be recognized as the foundation of Panchayati Raj and that village panchayats be given more powers and resources. • 💡 Option A (Ashok Mehta Committee, 1977) recommended a two-tier system for PRI restructuring — not constitutional status; Option C (Hanumantha Rao Committee) is a distractor — not associated with constitutional status for Panchayats; Option D (G.V.K. Rao Committee, 1985) reviewed PRI functioning and called them a 'grass without roots' — did not recommend constitutional status.

Correct Answer: A. 18 items

• **Twelfth Schedule** = added by the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992; contains 18 functional items that fall within the purview of Municipalities (urban local bodies). • **18 items include** — urban planning, regulation of land use, public health, sanitation, fire services, slum improvement, urban poverty alleviation, provision of public amenities, etc. • 💡 Option B (29 items) is the count for the Eleventh Schedule (Panchayats), not the Twelfth Schedule; Option C (15 items) is not a valid number for either schedule — a common distractor; Option D (22 items) is also a distractor — neither schedule has 22 items.

Correct Answer: A. 5 years

• **5 years** = the normal tenure of a Panchayat as per Article 243-E; the term runs from the date of its first sitting after general elections. • **Elections within 6 months of dissolution** — if a Panchayat is dissolved before the expiry of its term, elections must be held within six months; the newly elected Panchayat serves only the remaining period. • 💡 Option B (4 years) is less than the constitutional 5-year term — not the correct tenure; Option C (6 years) matches the Rajya Sabha term for individual members — not applicable to Panchayats; Option D (3 years) is shorter than the constitutional provision — not the mandated tenure.

Correct Answer: A. Article 243ZD

• **Article 243ZD** = mandates the constitution of a District Planning Committee (DPC) in every district to consolidate the plans prepared by Panchayats and Municipalities and prepare a draft development plan for the district. • **Composition** — at least 4/5th of DPC members must be elected from elected members of Panchayats and Municipalities in the district in proportion to their rural-urban population ratio. • 💡 Option B (Article 243ZF) deals with continuance of existing laws — not the DPC; Option C (Article 243Z) is about audit of accounts of Municipalities — unrelated to district planning; Option D (Article 243ZE) is the Metropolitan Planning Committee for metropolitan areas, not the District Planning Committee.

Correct Answer: D. PESA Act, 1996

• **PESA Act, 1996** = Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act; extended the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution to Fifth Schedule (Scheduled/tribal) Areas that were originally excluded. • **Special Gram Sabha powers** — PESA grants Gram Sabhas in tribal areas mandatory consultation rights over land acquisition, management of minor forest produce, and control over money-lending to tribals. • 💡 Option A (Forest Rights Act) is the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 — different legislation; Option B (Municipalities Act) deals with urban local governance — not tribal areas; Option C (Tribal Areas Act) is a vague distractor — no such specific central act extends Part IX to Scheduled Areas.

Correct Answer: D. An area in transition from rural to urban

• **Nagar Panchayat** = constituted for a transitional area — an area that is transitioning from rural to urban character; it is the lowest tier in the three-tier urban local body structure. • **Three-tier ULB structure** — Nagar Panchayat (transitional areas) → Municipality/Municipal Council (smaller urban areas) → Municipal Corporation (larger urban areas); this hierarchy was formalised by the 74th Amendment. • 💡 Option A (industrial township) is a separate type of ULB run by public sector enterprises — not a Nagar Panchayat; Option B (smaller urban area) is served by a Municipality/Municipal Council, not a Nagar Panchayat; Option C (larger urban area) is the domain of a Municipal Corporation, not a Nagar Panchayat.

Correct Answer: C. Lord Ripon

• **Lord Ripon** = Viceroy of India (1880–1884), known as the 'Father of Local Self-Government in India'; his Resolution of 1882 established elected local bodies with Indian members and is called the 'Magna Carta of Local Self-Government.' • **Resolution of 1882** — for the first time allowed non-official (elected) majorities in local bodies; primarily in urban areas; the principle of representation at local level began here. • 💡 Option A (Lord Mayo) is associated with financial decentralisation (1870 Resolution on finance) — not local self-government; Option B (Lord Curzon) is known for partition of Bengal (1905) — unrelated to local self-government; Option D (Lord Dalhousie) is known for the Doctrine of Lapse and railways — not associated with local self-government.

Correct Answer: B. 1952

• **Community Development Programme, 1952** = launched on October 2, 1952 (Gandhi Jayanti); the first major centrally-sponsored programme for rural development covering agriculture, education, health, and rural infrastructure. • **Led to Balwant Rai Mehta Committee** — when the CDP failed to achieve participatory local development, the government appointed the Balwant Rai Mehta Committee in 1957 to study how to improve rural development through decentralisation. • 💡 Option A (1951) was the year India launched its First Five Year Plan — not the CDP; Option C (1950) was when the Indian Constitution came into force — unrelated to the CDP; Option D (1953) is a year after the CDP was actually launched.

Correct Answer: B. Metropolitan Planning Committee

• **Metropolitan Planning Committee** = constituted under Article 243ZE; prepares a draft development plan for the entire metropolitan area by consolidating plans prepared by Municipalities and Panchayats in that area. • **10 lakh+ population** — Article 243-P defines a 'metropolitan area' as one having a population of 10 lakh (one million) or more; at least 2/3rd of MPC members must be elected from Municipalities and Panchayats. • 💡 Option A (District Planning Committee) is constituted under Article 243ZD for district-level planning — not for metropolitan areas; Option C (Municipal Corporation) is an urban local body — it does not prepare metropolitan area development plans; Option D (State Planning Board) is a non-constitutional advisory body — not constitutionally mandated to prepare metropolitan plans.