When was the third tier added to Indian Federal System ?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — C, 1992. India's federal system originally had two tiers — the Union and the States. A third tier of local self-government (rural panchayats and urban municipalities) was given constitutional status by the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts, both passed in 1992. The 73rd Amendment added Part IX (Panchayats) and the 74th added Part IX-A (Municipalities). By convention the third tier is dated to these 1992 Amendment Acts, which is what the key marks.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) No constitutional amendment creating local government as a third tier was enacted in 1990; the relevant Acts came in 1992.  (b) 1991 is associated with economic liberalisation, not with the local-government amendments; the 73rd/74th Amendment Acts were of 1992.  (d) 1993 is a tempting trap — it is the year the two Amendment Acts came INTO FORCE (24 April 1993 for panchayats, 1 June 1993 for municipalities). But the Amendment Acts themselves were passed in 1992, which is the year the key (and the standard convention) uses for adding the third tier.

Concept: A federal system distributes power across levels of government. India began as a two-tier federation (Union + States). The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts, 1992, created a constitutionally recognised third tier of local self-government — rural (Panchayati Raj: village, block/intermediate and district panchayats) and urban (municipalities) — with their own elections, State Election Commissions and State Finance Commissions.

State PCS 2020 Q94 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2020 Q94 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer