Under which Article of the Constitution of India has provision been made for reservation of seats for women in Panchayats?
- (a)Article 243 B
- (b)Article 243 C
- (c)Article 243 D
- (d)Article 243 E
Correct — C, Article 243 D. Part IX of the Constitution, inserted by the Seventy-third Amendment in 1992, runs from Article 243 to Article 243-O, and each Article in the opening run has one job. Article 243D is the reservation Article. Clause (1) reserves seats for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in every panchayat, in proportion to their share of the population. Clause (2) requires that not less than one-third of those reserved seats go to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe women. Clause (3) is the general women's quota — not less than one-third of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every panchayat, that one-third being inclusive of the seats reserved under clause (2). Clause (4) carries the same reservations into the offices of chairperson. Every quota in the panchayat system is therefore in this one Article.
- (a)Article 243 B — Article 243B is the constitution Article — it requires panchayats to be set up at the village, intermediate and district levels, with the intermediate tier optional for States with a population not exceeding twenty lakhs.
- (b)Article 243 C — Article 243C deals with composition — the size of a panchayat, the ratio of population to seats, direct election from territorial constituencies, and who else may be represented on it.
- (d)Article 243 E — Article 243E deals with duration — five years from the date appointed for the first meeting, fresh elections within six months of a dissolution, and a panchayat constituted after premature dissolution serving only the remainder of the original term.
The Seventy-third Amendment gave panchayats constitutional status and fixed the terms on which they must exist — a three-tier structure, a five-year term, a State Election Commission to run their elections and a State Finance Commission to review their finances. The reservation of one-third of directly elected seats for women was its most consequential single provision, and it made India's local government the largest experiment in mandated political representation for women anywhere.
The four options are consecutive Articles, so the item is decided purely by knowing which does what. A memory hook that works is that the sequence runs constitution, composition, quota, duration — B, C, D, E — and D for the quota. Two numbers should not be confused: one-third of the SC and ST reserved seats go to SC and ST women under clause (2), while one-third of all directly elected seats go to women under clause (3). Present-day line: the one-third is a floor, and more than twenty States and Union Territories have raised the panchayat quota for women to one half by State law. The separate Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023 reserves a third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies for women, but that is a different provision and takes effect only after a delimitation exercise following a census.
- Article 243D(1) reserves panchayat seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in proportion to their population.
- Article 243D(2) reserves not less than one-third of those reserved seats for SC and ST women.
- Article 243D(3) reserves not less than one-third of all directly elected seats for women, inclusive of the seats under clause (2).
- Article 243D(4) extends the reservations to the offices of chairperson of panchayats at each level.
- Part IX was inserted by the Constitution (Seventy-third Amendment) Act, 1992 and came into force on 24 April 1993.
- Mixing up the one-third of reserved seats for SC and ST women with the one-third of all seats for women.
- Assuming the women's quota is a ceiling; it is a floor, and many States have raised it to half.
- Confusing the panchayat quota with the 2023 amendment for Parliament and the State Assemblies.
As an Article-number question on Part IX, or as statements on the fractions reserved and the term of a panchayat.
The Constitution (Seventy-Third Amendment) Act, 1992, which aims at promoting the Panchayati Raj Institutions in the country, provides for which of the following? 1. Constitution of District Planning Committees. 2. State Election Commissions to conduct all panchayat elections. 3. Establishment of State Finance Commissions.
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 1 and 2 only
- (c) 2 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer(d) 1, 2 and 3
The rest of the same amendment. Article 243D is one clause in a package that also created the State Election Commission and the State Finance Commission, and questions move freely between them.
Which of the following statements about the Panchayats in India, as per the Constitution of India is/are correct? 1. There is a provision for reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. 2. Panchayats are not authorised to collect taxes. Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) Both 1 and 2
- (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer(a) 1 only
The same reservation provision approached as a statement to be verified, paired with the taxation power that Article 243H allows a State to confer on panchayats.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Under Article 243D of the Constitution of India, the seats reserved for women in a panchayat shall be not less than
- (a)one-fourth of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election
- (b)one-third of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election
- (c)one-half of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election
- (d)one-fifth of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election
Answer(b) one-third of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election — a floor that several States have raised to one-half by their own legislation.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The duration of a panchayat, unless it is sooner dissolved, is fixed by which Article of the Constitution of India?
- (a)Article 243B
- (b)Article 243C
- (c)Article 243D
- (d)Article 243E
Answer(d) Article 243E — five years from the date appointed for its first meeting, with fresh elections within six months of a dissolution.