With reference to the recommendations of the Ashok Mehta Committee (1977) on Panchayati Raj, which of the following statement/s is/are correct?
(1) The three tier system of Panchayati Raj should be re

Question

With reference to the recommendations of the Ashok Mehta Committee (1977) on Panchayati Raj, which of the following statement/s is/are correct?
(1) The three tier system of Panchayati Raj should be replaced by the two tier system.
(2) A block should be the first point for decentralization under popular supervision below the state level.
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Correct — A, Only 1. The Ashok Mehta Committee (appointed 1977) recommended replacing the existing three-tier Panchayati Raj (village–block–district) with a two-tier system — Zilla Parishad at the district level and Mandal Panchayat below it — so Statement 1 is correct. However, it held that the DISTRICT (not the block) should be the first point of decentralization under popular supervision below the state level; Statement 2 wrongly says 'block', so it is incorrect. Hence only Statement 1 is correct.

Why the other options are wrong — (b) Statement 2 is wrong — the committee named the district, not the block, as the first point of decentralization below the state level — so both cannot be correct.  (c) Statement 2 is the incorrect one (it should read 'district', not 'block'), while Statement 1 (two-tier replacing three-tier) is correct — so this is reversed.  (d) Statement 1 is genuinely a committee recommendation (two-tier system), so 'neither' is wrong.

Concept: The Ashok Mehta Committee (1977, report 1978) was set up to revive Panchayati Raj, which had declined after the Balwant Rai Mehta era. Its landmark structural idea was a two-tier system — Zilla Parishad at the district level and Mandal Panchayat (a group of villages, ~15,000–20,000 population) below it — with the district treated as the first point of decentralization under popular supervision below the state level.

State PCS 2023 Q135 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2023 Q135 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer