Which of the following Articles of the Indian Constitution mentions about the organisation of ‘Village Panchayats’?

Correct — C. Article 40 is the Directive Principle that asks the State to organise village panchayats and to give them the powers and authority they need to work as units of self-government.

It sits in Part IV, so it is not enforceable in a court. It directs the government; it is not a right you can sue on.

Its Gandhian intent stayed on paper for four decades until the 73rd Amendment (1992) built Part IX around it and made panchayat elections a constitutional requirement.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Article 38 — Article 38 is the broad welfare directive: the State shall secure a social order in which justice — social, economic and political — informs every institution. It sets the goal, not the machinery of local government.
• (b)
  Article 31 — Article 31 was the right to property and no longer exists. The 44th Amendment (1978) repealed it and moved property to Article 300A as a legal right, and it never concerned panchayats.
• (d)
  Article 36 — Article 36 is a definitions clause. It says only that 'the State' in Part IV carries the meaning given in Article 12, so it opens the Directive Principles rather than stating one.

The Directive Principles of State Policy occupy Part IV, Articles 36 to 51. No court can enforce them, yet Article 37 calls them fundamental in the governance of the country and makes it the State's duty to apply them in law-making.

They are usually sorted into three strands. The Gandhian ones include village panchayats (40), cottage industries (43) and cow protection (48). The socialistic ones include Articles 38 and 39. The liberal-intellectual ones include a uniform civil code (44) and international peace (51).

Article 40 anchors the Gandhian group, and it is the one that eventually produced a whole Part of the Constitution.

Key facts

• Article 40 directs the State to organise village panchayats as units of self-government.
• The Directive Principles run from Article 36 to Article 51 in Part IV and are not enforceable in court.
• The 73rd Amendment, 1992, added Part IX and gave panchayati raj its constitutional footing.
• Article 31, the old right to property, was repealed by the 44th Amendment, 1978.

Common traps

• Confusing Article 40 with Article 43, which covers cottage industries
• Treating a Directive Principle as enforceable because its text says 'shall'
• Dating panchayati raj from Article 40 rather than from the 73rd Amendment

No directly related past PYQ was found.