UPPSC 2019 Prelims Q144: How many items are there in the 11th Schedule of the

Q: What is the answer to UPPSC 2019 Prelims Q144?

C. Correct — C, 29. The Eleventh Schedule contains 29 items, running from 'Agriculture, including agricultural extension' at entry 1 to 'Maintenance of community assets' at entry 29. It was added to the Constitution by the Constitution (Seventy-third Amendment) Act, 1992, which came into force on 24 April 1993, and it is anchored to Article 243G — the provision that allows the Legislature of a State, by law, to endow Panchayats with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as institutions of self-government, including the preparation and implementation of plans for economic development and social justice 'in relation to the matters listed in the Eleventh Schedule'. That wording matters: the 29 items are a menu of subjects that a State may devolve, not a set of powers the Constitution transfers to Panchayats automatically, which is why the depth of devolution still differs sharply from State to State. Its twin, the Twelfth Schedule, was added by the Seventy-fourth Amendment in the same year for Municipalities and carries 18 items under Article 243W. Lock the pair together — 29 for Panchayats, 18 for Municipalities — and this question becomes a one-second recall.

UPPSC 2019 Prelims GS Paper-I · Question 144 of 150

Verified against the official question paper. Answer as per the official UPPSC answer key.

How many items are there in the 11th Schedule of the Constitution of India ?

(a)22
(b)24
(c)29
(d)32

Answer

Why

Correct — C, 29. The Eleventh Schedule contains 29 items, running from 'Agriculture, including agricultural extension' at entry 1 to 'Maintenance of community assets' at entry 29. It was added to the Constitution by the Constitution (Seventy-third Amendment) Act, 1992, which came into force on 24 April 1993, and it is anchored to Article 243G — the provision that allows the Legislature of a State, by law, to endow Panchayats with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as institutions of self-government, including the preparation and implementation of plans for economic development and social justice 'in relation to the matters listed in the Eleventh Schedule'. That wording matters: the 29 items are a menu of subjects that a State may devolve, not a set of powers the Constitution transfers to Panchayats automatically, which is why the depth of devolution still differs sharply from State to State. Its twin, the Twelfth Schedule, was added by the Seventy-fourth Amendment in the same year for Municipalities and carries 18 items under Article 243W. Lock the pair together — 29 for Panchayats, 18 for Municipalities — and this question becomes a one-second recall.

Why the others are wrong

(a)22 — 22 is a number that appears elsewhere in the Constitution and gets misfiled here — the Eighth Schedule now lists 22 languages, and the Constitution had 22 Parts at commencement. Neither has anything to do with the Eleventh Schedule, which has 29 items.
(b)24 — 24 corresponds to no list in Part IX or Part IXA. It is a plausible-looking near miss placed to catch a candidate who half-remembers 'somewhere in the twenties' — the actual figure is 29.
(d)32 — 32 is the other side of the same near-miss trap, and it is easily confused with Article 32 (the right to constitutional remedies). The Eleventh Schedule stops at 29 items, the last being maintenance of community assets.

Concept

Part IX of the Constitution, inserted by the Seventy-third Amendment in 1992, turned Panchayati Raj from a Directive Principle (Article 40) into a constitutional obligation: a three-tier structure under Article 243B, a Gram Sabha of the village's registered voters, reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and — to the extent of not less than one-third — for women under Article 243D, five-year terms under Article 243E, a State Election Commission under Article 243K and a State Finance Commission under Article 243I. The Eleventh Schedule is the functional half of that package: 29 subjects, largely rural and developmental, that a State Legislature may hand down to Panchayats under Article 243G so that they have something substantial to govern.

Counting questions are pure recall, and the way to make them safe is to store the number as part of a pair rather than on its own: Eleventh Schedule 29 / Article 243G / 73rd Amendment / Panchayats, against Twelfth Schedule 18 / Article 243W / 74th Amendment / Municipalities. Both amendments were passed in 1992 and commenced in 1993, so the years will not separate them — the numbers 29 and 18 will. Two supporting points are worth carrying into the exam hall. First, devolution is permissive: Article 243G says a State 'may, by law, endow' Panchayats with these functions, so the 29 subjects describe potential, not guaranteed, jurisdiction. Second, the Eleventh Schedule is a subject list, not a legislative list — it does not create a fourth entry in the Seventh Schedule, and Panchayats remain creatures of State law.

Key facts

Eleventh Schedule: 29 items, added by the Constitution (Seventy-third Amendment) Act, 1992, in force from 24 April 1993, and linked to Article 243G.
Twelfth Schedule: 18 items for Municipalities, added by the Constitution (Seventy-fourth Amendment) Act, 1992 and linked to Article 243W.
The 29 items include agriculture and agricultural extension, land improvement and land reforms, minor irrigation and watershed development, animal husbandry, fisheries, social forestry, small scale industries, rural housing, drinking water, rural roads, rural electrification, poverty alleviation programmes, education including primary and secondary schools, health and sanitation, women and child development, the public distribution system and maintenance of community assets.
Article 243G is permissive — the State Legislature 'may, by law, endow' Panchayats with these powers, so devolution of the 29 subjects varies from State to State.
The Eleventh and Twelfth Schedules were the last two Schedules added to the Constitution; the Ninth (1951) and Tenth (1985) were the earlier amendment-added Schedules.

The two devolution Schedules, and where the decoy numbers come from

Eleventh Schedule — Panchayats (Article 243G, 73rd Amendment, 1992)→29 items, from 'Agriculture, including agricultural extension' to 'Maintenance of community assets'. This is the figure the question asks for.

Twelfth Schedule — Municipalities (Article 243W, 74th Amendment, 1992)→18 items — urban planning, water supply, slum improvement, fire services, urban poverty alleviation and the rest.

Where 22 comes from→The Eighth Schedule's 22 languages, and the 22 Parts the Constitution had at commencement. Nothing to do with Part IX.

Where 24 and 32 come from→Nothing in the Constitution — they are near-miss decoys for a half-remembered 'twenties or thirties'. 32 also borrows plausibility from Article 32.

Answer (c) 29. Store it as a pair — 29 for Panchayats, 18 for Municipalities — because the amendment years (1992) and commencement years (1993) are identical for both.

Study next

Part IX (Articles 243 to 243O) and Part IXA (Articles 243P to 243ZG) — the 73rd and 74th Amendment schemes side by sideArticle 243G and Article 243W — the permissive language of devolution, and the difference between functions, functionaries and fundsEleventh Schedule items in detail, and the Twelfth Schedule's 18 municipal subjectsState Finance Commission (Article 243I) and State Election Commission (Article 243K)PESA, 1996 — extension of Part IX to Fifth Schedule areas and the enlarged role of the Gram SabhaCommittees on Panchayati Raj: Balwant Rai Mehta (1957), Ashok Mehta (1977-78), G.V.K. Rao (1985) and L.M. Singhvi (1986)

Common traps

Swapping 29 and 18 between the Eleventh and Twelfth Schedules. Panchayats (rural) get 29; Municipalities (urban) get 18.
Assuming the 29 subjects are automatically transferred to Panchayats. Article 243G leaves the endowment of powers to State law, which is why devolution is uneven across States.
Mixing 22 (Eighth Schedule languages, and Parts of the Constitution at commencement) into a Part IX question — a classic number-collision error.

UPPSC asks this area as a bare count or a Schedule-to-subject match — it asked in 2020 which Part of the Constitution carries Panchayati Raj — while UPSC prefers to test the same knowledge indirectly, through which Schedules were added by amendment or which functions the 73rd Amendment actually introduced.

Related PYQs

UPSC_2005_GS1_Q1042005Open & attempt →

Consider the following statements: 1. The Constitution of India has 20 parts. 2. There are 390 Articles in the Constitution of India in all. 3. Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Schedules were added to the Constitution of India by the Constitution (Amendments) Acts. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2
(b) 2 only
(c) 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer(c) 3 only

The same Schedule tested from its provenance rather than its length — statement 3 confirms that the Eleventh Schedule is an amendment-added Schedule (73rd Amendment, 1992), alongside the Ninth, Tenth and Twelfth. The wrong statements also expose the '22 Parts' number that decoy (a) here trades on.

UPSC_1999_GS1_Q61999Open & attempt →

In the new Panchayati Raj Bill enacted in 1993, there are several fresh provisions deviating from the past. Which one of the following is not one such provision?

(a) A number of added responsibilities in the area of agriculture, rural development, primary education and social forestry among others.
(b) Elections being made mandatory for all posts at the time they are due.
(c) A statutory representation for women in the panchayats, up to a third of the strength.
(d) Regular remuneration to the panchayat members, so as to ensure their punctuality and accountability.

Answer(d) Regular remuneration to the panchayat members, so as to ensure their punctuality and accountability.

Option (a) of this UPSC question is the Eleventh Schedule described in prose — agriculture, rural development, primary education and social forestry are all among its 29 items. It shows what the Schedule is for, which is the context the bare count in the UPPSC question leaves out.

UPPSC_2020_PRE_PaperI_Q922020Open & attempt →

Which Part of the Constitution has the provisions for Panchayati Raj System ?

(a) IX
(b) VI
(c) III
(d) IV A

Answer(a) IX

UPPSC testing the other half of the same 73rd Amendment package the very next year — Part IX carries the Panchayati Raj Articles (243 to 243O), and Article 243G within it is what gives the Eleventh Schedule's 29 items their legal effect.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
How many subjects are listed in the Twelfth Schedule of the Constitution of India?
- (a)12
- (b)18
- (c)24
- (d)29
Answer(b) 18 — the Twelfth Schedule, added by the 74th Amendment in 1992 and linked to Article 243W, lists 18 subjects that a State may devolve to Municipalities. 29 is the Eleventh Schedule figure for Panchayats.
practice — not a real PYQ
The Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution of India is connected with which one of the following Articles?
- (a)Article 243B
- (b)Article 243D
- (c)Article 243G
- (d)Article 243W
Answer(c) Article 243G — it empowers the State Legislature to endow Panchayats with powers in relation to the matters listed in the Eleventh Schedule. Article 243B prescribes the three tiers, 243D deals with reservation of seats, and 243W is the municipal counterpart tied to the Twelfth Schedule.