Q10. Which Rajasthan law provided for joint meetings of Gram Sabhas in Scheduled Areas?
[RPSC RAS Preliminary Examination | 2018]
A. Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act, 1994
B. Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Rules, 1996
C. Rajasthan Scheduled Areas Modification Act, 1999
D. Rajasthan Scheduled Areas Modification Act, 2011
Answer: (D) Rajasthan Scheduled Areas Modification Act, 2011
Explanation: The Rajasthan Panchayati Raj modification legislation of 2011 for Scheduled Areas provided for joint Gram Sabha meetings where matters cross village boundaries. This reflects PESA’s emphasis on local community participation and coordination over customary resources and development decisions.
Q9. Local self-government is best described as an exercise in which principle?
[UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination | 2017]
A. Federalism
B. Democratic decentralisation
C. Administrative delegation
D. Direct democracy
Answer: (B) Democratic decentralisation
Explanation: Local self-government is chiefly democratic decentralisation because elected institutions exercise authority in local public affairs. It differs from routine administrative delegation to officials and from direct democracy alone. The Seventy-third and Seventy-fourth Amendments strengthened this representative grassroots system.
Q8. Who is widely regarded as the architect of Panchayati Raj?
[UPPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination | 2016]
A. Acharya Narendra Dev
B. G. V. K. Rao
C. Balwant Rai Mehta
D. L. M. Singhvi
Answer: (C) Balwant Rai Mehta
Explanation: Balwant Rai Mehta chaired the 1957 committee that recommended a three-tier Panchayati Raj framework and democratic decentralisation. Later committees developed reforms, but his committee’s early model shaped the inaugural implementation at Nagaur, Rajasthan, in 1959.
Q7. To which assembly is a Gram Panchayat directly answerable at village level?
[NVS TGT Social Science | 2016]
A. Municipal Committee
B. Zila Parishad
C. Gram Sabha
D. Panchayat Samiti
Answer: (C) Gram Sabha
Explanation: Gram Sabha includes registered village voters and forms the participatory basis for accountability of the elected Gram Panchayat. State laws define its detailed powers, meetings and oversight. Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti are other Panchayati Raj tiers, not the village-wide electorate.
Q6. Assertion: State Finance Commission is constitutional.
Reason: Union Finance Commission cannot recommend aid for Panchayats.
Choose the correct assessment.
[UPPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination | 2015]
A. Both true and Reason explains Assertion
B. Both true but Reason does not explain Assertion
C. Assertion true and Reason false
D. Assertion false and Reason true
Answer: (C) Assertion true and Reason false
Explanation: A State Finance Commission is expressly provided by Article 243I, making the assertion true. The reason is false: Article 280 allows the Union Finance Commission to recommend measures augmenting state funds to supplement Panchayat resources using State Finance Commission recommendations.
Q5. From which date does the five-year tenure of a Gram Panchayat run?
[BSSC CGL | 2015]
A. Election notification
B. First meeting of the Panchayat
C. Declaration of results
D. None of these
Answer: (B) First meeting of the Panchayat
Explanation: Article 243E links the duration of a Panchayat to the date appointed for its first meeting, not merely the election-result announcement or notification. Ordinarily, the Panchayat continues for five years unless earlier dissolution occurs under the constitutional rules.
Q4. Which committee was NOT connected with reform of Panchayati Raj institutions?
[UPPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination | 2014]
A. P. V. Narasimha Rao Committee
B. L. M. Singhvi Committee
C. Ashok Mehta Committee
D. Balwant Rai Mehta Committee
Answer: (A) P. V. Narasimha Rao Committee
Explanation: Balwant Rai Mehta, Ashok Mehta and L. M. Singhvi led major reviews or recommendations concerning Panchayati Raj. The listed P. V. Narasimha Rao Committee is not among those recognised Panchayati Raj reform bodies. The contrast tests institutional history.
Q3. Consider:
(1) National Development Council was an organ of Planning Commission;
(2) economic and social planning is in Concurrent List;
(3) Constitution envisages Panchayat planning for development and social justice.
Which are correct?
[UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination | 2013]
A. 1 only
B. 2 and 3 only
C. 1 and 3 only
D. 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (B) 2 and 3 only
Explanation: The National Development Council was a separate advisory body, not an organ of the Planning Commission. Economic and social planning is in the Concurrent List. Article 243G provides the constitutional basis for entrusting Panchayats with development and social-justice plans.
Q2. Which were provided by the 73rd Amendment:
(1) District Planning Committees;
(2) State Election Commissions for Panchayats;
(3) State Finance Commissions?
[UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination | 2011]
A. 1 only
B. 1 and 2 only
C. 2 and 3 only
D. 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (C) 2 and 3 only
Explanation: The Seventy-third Amendment provided State Election Commissions under Article 243K and State Finance Commissions under Article 243I. District Planning Committees are established under Article 243ZD in Part IX-A, inserted by the Seventy-fourth Amendment. Therefore only statements two and three qualify.
Q1. Which sequence correctly names the three Panchayati Raj tiers?
[45th BPSC Preliminary Examination | 2002]
A. Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti, Block Samiti
B. Gram Panchayat, Block Samiti, Zila Parishad
C. Block Samiti, Zila Parishad, Panchayat Samiti
D. Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti, Zila Parishad
Answer: (D) Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti, Zila Parishad
Explanation: Gram Panchayat is the village level, Panchayat Samiti the intermediate or block level, and Zila Parishad the district level. The first two options mix labels or repeat intermediate bodies. This three-tier framework reflects the Balwant Rai Mehta recommendations.
