Q90. What is the normal tenure of an elected municipality in India?
[DSSSB Court Attendant | 2026]
A. Six years
B. Three years
C. Four years
D. Five years
Answer: (D) Five years
Explanation: Article 243U prescribes a five-year municipal duration, ordinarily measured from the date fixed for the body’s first meeting. An early dissolution does not ordinarily confer a fresh five-year term on the replacement; the constitutional schedule for elections still applies.
Q89. Which Part of the Indian Constitution deals with Panchayats?
[RRB NTPC Undergraduate CBT-I | 2026]
A. Part V
B. Part IX
C. Part VII
D. Part XI
Answer: (B) Part IX
Explanation: Part IX was added by the Constitution (Seventy-third Amendment) Act, 1992 and contains Articles 243 through 243O. It covers Gram Sabha, Panchayat composition, reservations, tenure, finances and elections, providing constitutional foundations for rural self-government.
Q88. Which Article authorises financial powers for municipalities?
[RRB NTPC Graduate CBT-I | 2026]
A. Article 243P
B. Article 243U
C. Article 243X
D. Article 243ZB
Answer: (C) Article 243X
Explanation: Article 243X empowers state legislatures to authorise municipal taxes, duties, tolls and fees and provide for municipal funds. It does not automatically transfer unrestricted taxation powers. State laws determine applicable sources, collections and assignments within the constitutional scheme.
Q87. Which is NOT among the three constitutional categories of municipalities?
[DSSSB Assistant Superintendent | 2026]
A. Municipal Corporation
B. Municipal Council
C. Zilla Panchayat
D. Nagar Panchayat
Answer: (C) Zilla Panchayat
Explanation: Zilla Panchayat or Zila Parishad belongs to rural district-level Panchayati Raj. Article 243Q lists the urban categories as Nagar Panchayat, Municipal Council and Municipal Corporation. The distinction reflects different rural and urban constitutional arrangements under the two amendments.
Q86. Which system did the Balwant Rai Mehta Committee recommend?
[DSSSB Assistant Superintendent | 2026]
A. Centralised municipal governance
B. Two-tier Panchayati Raj
C. Only Zila Parishads
D. Three-tier Panchayati Raj
Answer: (D) Three-tier Panchayati Raj
Explanation: The Balwant Rai Mehta Committee proposed three rural tiers in 1957: Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad. Its model aimed to connect village participation to block administration and district planning, thereby advancing democratic decentralisation through accountable local institutions.
Q85. Which Article defines Gram Sabha, Panchayat and district for Part IX?
[DSSSB MTS | 2026]
A. Article 242
B. Article 244
C. Article 243
D. Article 245
Answer: (C) Article 243
Explanation: Article 243 supplies definitions used throughout Part IX of the Constitution. It defines a Gram Sabha through the village electoral rolls and recognises Panchayats as institutions of rural self-government constituted under Article 243B. Definitions differ from the operative provisions.
Q84. In which city was the PESA Mahotsav 2025 held?
[UPSC CDS-I (General Knowledge) | 2026]
A. Visakhapatnam
B. Kochi
C. Ranchi
D. Raipur
Answer: (A) Visakhapatnam
Explanation: The 2025 PESA Mahotsav was held in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. It concerned implementation of the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, which strengthens tribal Gram Sabhas and safeguards customary community-resource management in Fifth Schedule areas.
Q83. Which committee was NOT associated with decentralising Panchayati Raj?
[UPSC NDA-II (General Ability Test) | 2025]
A. Balwant Rai Mehta Committee
B. Ashok Mehta Committee
C. L. M. Singhvi Committee
D. Abhijit Sen Committee
Answer: (D) Abhijit Sen Committee
Explanation: Balwant Rai Mehta, Ashok Mehta and L. M. Singhvi committees contributed to debates on rural local government. Abhijit Sen was associated principally with economic and agricultural policy work rather than the major committees shaping constitutional recognition for Panchayats.
Q82. The Seventy-third Constitutional Amendment principally provided for what?
[UPSC NDA-I (General Ability Test) | 2025]
A. Establishing municipal self-government
B. Establishing Panchayats as self-governing units
C. A linguistic-minorities commission
D. Creation of Jharkhand
Answer: (B) Establishing Panchayats as self-governing units
Explanation: The Seventy-third Amendment placed rural Panchayats on a constitutional footing by adding Part IX and the Eleventh Schedule. Urban municipalities were covered separately by the Seventy-fourth Amendment. This distinction explains why the rural self-government option is correct.
Q81. What kind of governing system is Panchayati Raj?
[OSSSC CRE Preliminary Examination | 2025]
A. Rural local self-government
B. Military administration
C. A judicial body
D. Urban civic administration
Answer: (A) Rural local self-government
Explanation: Panchayati Raj refers to democratic local government in India’s rural areas. Its constitutional scheme establishes elected village, intermediate and district bodies, with a qualified exception for the middle tier. Urban self-government is instead conducted through municipalities under Part IX-A.
