Which Amendment Acts deal with Local Governance Institutions in India ?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — D, 73rd and 74th Amendment Acts. These are the twin amendments of 1992 that turned local government from a Directive Principle into a constitutional tier. The Constitution (Seventy-third Amendment) Act, 1992 inserted Part IX, 'The Panchayats' (Articles 243 to 243-O), and the Eleventh Schedule with its twenty-nine subjects for devolution to Panchayats; it came into force on 24 April 1993, the date now observed as National Panchayati Raj Day. The Constitution (Seventy-fourth Amendment) Act, 1992 inserted Part IXA, 'The Municipalities' (Articles 243P to 243ZG), and the Twelfth Schedule with its eighteen municipal subjects; it came into force on 1 June 1993. Between them they made local bodies mandatory rather than optional, fixed a five-year term with elections within six months of dissolution, reserved seats for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women, and required every State to constitute a State Election Commission to run local polls and a State Finance Commission every five years to review local finances. Before 1992, local self-government rested only on Article 40, a non-justiciable Directive Principle asking the State to organise village panchayats, and on State law that could be suspended at will — which is exactly why the amendments were needed. Rural in the 73rd, urban in the 74th, both in 1992: that pairing is the answer.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Both were about the emergency in Punjab, not about local bodies. The 63rd Amendment repealed Article 359A, the special Punjab emergency provision that the 59th Amendment had inserted, and the 64th Amendment amended Article 356 to allow President's rule to run up to three years and six months in Punjab. Nothing in either touches Panchayats or Municipalities.  (b) The 86th Amendment Act, 2002 made elementary education a fundamental right by inserting Article 21A, substituting Article 45 and adding the fundamental duty in Article 51A(k). The 87th Amendment Act, 2003 extended the use of the 2001 census figures for the statewise distribution of parliamentary seats. Education and delimitation — neither is local government. The 86th is the commonest wrong pick here because 'primary education' feels like a panchayat subject; it is on the Eleventh Schedule list, but the amendment that created the right is not the amendment that created the tier.  (c) The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976, the so-called mini-Constitution passed during the Emergency, added 'Socialist', 'Secular' and 'Integrity' to the Preamble, inserted the Fundamental Duties in Part IVA and moved education and forests to the Concurrent List; the 43rd Amendment Act, 1977 repealed several of its anti-freedom provisions and restored the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and the High Courts. Sweeping changes, but not one of them creates a tier of local government.

Concept: Until 1992 local self-government in India had no constitutional guarantee. Article 40, a Directive Principle, merely asked the State to take steps to organise village panchayats and endow them with the powers necessary to function as units of self-government — advice, not obligation. A chain of committees pressed for more: Balwant Rai Mehta (1957) designed the three-tier system, Ashok Mehta (1977-78) proposed a two-tier alternative, G.V.K. Rao (1985) attacked bureaucratic capture of rural development, and L.M. Singhvi (1986) argued outright for constitutional status. That argument was finally accepted in the twin amendments of 1992: the 73rd added Part IX and the Eleventh Schedule for rural India, the 74th added Part IXA and the Twelfth Schedule for urban India, and together they created what is often called India's third tier of federalism.

State PCS 2024 Q146 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2024 Q146 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer