Local Government — Set 6

Correct Answer: D. 73rd Amendment

• **73rd Amendment Act** = the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1992 gave legal (constitutional) status to the Panchayati Raj system by adding Part IX (Articles 243–243-O) and the Eleventh Schedule to the Constitution. • **Came into force 1993** — the Act was passed in December 1992 and came into force on April 24, 1993; it mandated elections, reservations, five-year tenure, and State Finance Commissions for rural local bodies. • 💡 Option A (72nd Amendment) dealt with Tripura tribal areas — not Panchayati Raj constitutional status; Option B (74th Amendment) gave constitutional status to urban Municipalities — not rural Panchayati Raj; Option C (71st Amendment) provided for inclusion of Konkani, Manipuri, and Nepali in the 8th Schedule — unrelated to Panchayati Raj.

Correct Answer: A. Eleventh

• **Eleventh Schedule** = added by the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992; lists 29 functional items that state legislatures may transfer to Panchayats for planning and implementation. • **29 items** — include agriculture, land improvement, minor irrigation, rural housing, education (including primary and secondary), health, social forestry, women and child development, poverty alleviation programmes, etc. • 💡 Option B (Ninth Schedule) protects certain laws from judicial review — added in 1951 by the 1st Amendment; it is not related to Panchayati Raj; Option C (Twelfth Schedule) was added by the 74th Amendment for Municipalities (18 items) — not for Panchayats; Option D (Tenth Schedule) is the Anti-Defection Law (52nd Amendment, 1985) — completely unrelated to Panchayati Raj.

Correct Answer: B. Lord Ripon

• **Lord Ripon** = Viceroy of India (1880–1884), titled the 'Father of Local Self-Government in India'; his Resolution of 1882 allowed non-official (elected) majorities in local bodies for the first time. • **Resolution of 1882** = called the 'Magna Carta of Local Self-Government'; it introduced the principle of elected representation in local administration and political education through local governance. • 💡 Option A (Lord Canning) was Viceroy during the 1857 revolt and transfer of power from EIC to the Crown — not associated with local self-government; Option C (Lord Mayo) introduced financial decentralisation in 1870 — not the same as local self-government with elected bodies; Option D (Lord Lytton) reversed many of Lord Ripon's liberal policies — associated with the Vernacular Press Act, not local governance.

Correct Answer: A. Democratic Decentralization

• **Democratic Decentralization** = the headline recommendation of the Balwant Rai Mehta Committee (1957); it called for a three-tier elected structure at village, block, and district levels to transfer power to local representatives. • **Three-tier implementation** — the recommendation led to Rajasthan being the first state to implement Panchayati Raj on October 2, 1959; 'Democratic Decentralization' became synonymous with Panchayati Raj in Indian polity. • 💡 Option B (Centralization) is the opposite of what the committee recommended — it specifically proposed decentralisation; Option C (Presidential system) is related to executive structure at the national level — irrelevant to Panchayati Raj; Option D (Two-tier system) was the Ashok Mehta Committee's recommendation (1977), not the Balwant Rai Mehta Committee.

Correct Answer: B. 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 and authority to function as units of self-government. • **Gandhian vision** — Article 40 embodies Gandhi's concept of 'Gram Swaraj' (village self-rule); it was the only constitutional provision for Panchayats until the 73rd Amendment (1992) added Part IX. • 💡 Option A (Article 44) is the Uniform Civil Code directive — entirely different DPSP about personal law uniformity; Option C (Article 32) is the Right to Constitutional Remedies (Fundamental Right, Part III) — not a DPSP, not related to Panchayats; Option D (Article 51) directs the State to promote international peace — a DPSP for foreign policy, not local self-government.

Correct Answer: C. 21 years

• **21 years** = the minimum age to contest elections for Panchayats (and Municipalities) as prescribed by the 73rd and 74th Amendments; voting age is 18 years. • **Age hierarchy** — 18 = voting; 21 = Panchayat/Municipal election contest; 25 = Lok Sabha/State Assembly contest; 30 = Rajya Sabha/Vidhan Parishad contest — all four thresholds are constitutionally set. • 💡 Option A (30 years) is the minimum age for Rajya Sabha/Vidhan Parishad — not for Panchayat elections; Option B (18 years) is the voting (franchise) age, not the contest age; Option D (25 years) is the minimum age for Lok Sabha/State Assembly membership — higher than required for Panchayat elections.

Correct Answer: D. Rajasthan

• **Rajasthan** = the first state to establish Panchayati Raj after independence; inaugurated by PM Jawaharlal Nehru on October 2, 1959 (Gandhi Jayanti), at Nagaur district. • **Second state** — Andhra Pradesh followed Rajasthan and became the second state to implement Panchayati Raj in 1959; the system then gradually spread across India. • 💡 Option A (Punjab) did not lead in Panchayati Raj implementation — it was not the first state in 1959; Option B (Gujarat) adopted Panchayati Raj later and was not first; Option C (Andhra Pradesh) was the second state to adopt Panchayati Raj in 1959, not the first.

Correct Answer: D. Two-tier

• **Two-tier system** = the Ashok Mehta Committee (1977) recommended a two-tier Panchayati Raj — Zila Parishad at the district level and Mandal Panchayat (group of villages) below it, eliminating the block-level tier. • **District as focal point** — the committee wanted to shift all developmental planning from the block to the district, making Zila Parishad the primary executive body for rural development. • 💡 Option A (Three-tier) was recommended by the Balwant Rai Mehta Committee (1957) — not Ashok Mehta; Option B (One-tier) has never been recommended by any major Panchayati Raj committee; Option C (Four-tier) is also not a recommendation of any recognised committee — a pure distractor.

Correct Answer: D. 29

• **29 items** = the Eleventh Schedule (added by the 73rd Amendment, 1992) contains 29 functional items that state legislatures may transfer to Panchayats for planning and implementation. • **Key items** — agriculture, land improvement, minor irrigation, rural housing, primary education, health and sanitation, social forestry, women and child development, poverty alleviation programmes, maintenance of community assets, etc. • 💡 Option A (18) is the number of items in the Twelfth Schedule for Municipalities — not the Eleventh Schedule for Panchayats; Option B (35) is not the count for either schedule — a distractor; Option C (22) is also not the count for either schedule — another distractor.

Correct Answer: D. 18

• **18 items** = the Twelfth Schedule (added by the 74th Amendment, 1992) contains 18 functional items within the purview of Municipalities, including urban planning, regulation of land use, public health, fire services, and slum improvement. • **Urban functions** — the 18 items cover the full range of urban civic functions; state legislatures decide which of these to actually transfer to local Municipalities. • 💡 Option A (29) is the number of items in the Eleventh Schedule for Panchayats — not the Twelfth Schedule; Option B (20) is not the count for either schedule — a distractor; Option C (15) is also not the count for either schedule — another distractor.