With reference to Panchayats which of the statements is/are correct ? 1. Fifty percent seats shall be reserved for the women of SC/ST categories. 2. Gram Sabha is a body consisting of all persons living in the village. 3. There will be a Panchayat at intermediate level. Select the correct answer using the codes given below : Codes :
- (a)1 only
- (b)2 and 3
- (c)Both 1 and 2
- (d)3 only
Correct — D, 3 only. Statement 3 is the only one that survives the constitutional text. Article 243B(1) requires that there shall be constituted in every State Panchayats at the village, intermediate and district levels — so an intermediate-level Panchayat (the Panchayat Samiti or Block Panchayat) is part of the mandated three-tier structure. Statement 1 is wrong twice over: Article 243D(3) reserves not less than one-third — not fifty per cent — of the total seats for women, and the SC/ST women's quota under Article 243D(2) is one-third of the seats already reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, not fifty per cent of all seats. Statement 2 is wrong on its definition: Article 243(b) defines the Gram Sabha as a body consisting of persons registered in the electoral rolls relating to a village comprised within the area of a Panchayat at the village level — that is, the registered voters, not everyone living there. Children, non-citizens and unregistered residents are outside it.
- (a)1 only — Statement 1 fails on the number. The constitutional floor for women's reservation in Panchayats is not less than one-third of the total seats (Article 243D(3)); fifty per cent is a level several States have chosen to legislate for themselves, not a mandate of the Constitution.
- (b)2 and 3 — Statement 3 is correct, but statement 2 is not. The Gram Sabha is not 'all persons living in the village' — Article 243(b) restricts it to persons registered in the electoral rolls of the village, so it is an assembly of voters, not of residents.
- (c)Both 1 and 2 — This pairs the two statements that are both wrong and drops the only correct one. Neither the fifty-per-cent figure in statement 1 nor the 'all persons living in the village' definition in statement 2 matches Part IX of the Constitution.
Part IX of the Constitution, inserted by the Constitution (Seventy-third Amendment) Act, 1992 and in force from 24 April 1993, converted Panchayati Raj from a matter of State policy into a constitutional obligation. Its non-negotiables are: a three-tier structure at village, intermediate and district levels (Article 243B); a Gram Sabha of the village's registered voters as the base (Article 243(b), 243A); reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in proportion to population, and of not less than one-third of all seats — and of the offices of chairperson — for women (Article 243D); a fixed five-year term with elections within six months of dissolution (Article 243E); a State Election Commission to run the elections (Article 243K); and a State Finance Commission every five years (Article 243I). The Eleventh Schedule lists 29 subjects that States may devolve to Panchayats.
Panchayat statement questions are almost always won on numbers and definitions rather than on ideas, and this one packs both classic errors into the two false statements. Fix two exact phrases: 'not less than one-third' for women's seats, and 'persons registered in the electoral rolls' for the Gram Sabha. Once those are secure, statements 1 and 2 fall in seconds and only option (d) is left. One honest nuance on statement 3: while Article 243B(1) prescribes the intermediate tier, Article 243B(2) lets a State with a population not exceeding twenty lakh skip it — which is why UPSC in 2025 marked the sentence 'Panchayats at the intermediate level exist in all States' as NOT correct. UPPSC here is testing the general constitutional scheme, and against the other two statements, statement 3 is plainly the intended correct one.
- Article 243B(1): Panchayats shall be constituted at the village, intermediate and district levels; 243B(2) permits a State with a population not exceeding twenty lakh not to constitute the intermediate tier.
- Article 243(b): 'Gram Sabha' means a body consisting of persons registered in the electoral rolls relating to a village comprised within the area of a Panchayat at the village level.
- Article 243D(3): not less than one-third of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election shall be reserved for women; 243D(2) reserves not less than one-third of the SC/ST-reserved seats for SC/ST women.
- Article 243F fixes the minimum age for membership of a Panchayat at 21 years, and Article 243E(3) gives a Panchayat reconstituted after premature dissolution only the remainder of the original five-year term.
- The Eleventh Schedule, added by the same 73rd Amendment, lists 29 subjects that may be devolved to Panchayats.
- Present-day note for a 2026 reader: several States, Uttar Pradesh among them, have since raised women's reservation in Panchayats to fifty per cent through their own State laws — a State-level choice, not a constitutional requirement, so statement 1 remains false as a statement about the Constitution.
Only statement 3 survives, so the answer is (d) 3 only. The two false statements fail on a number and on a definition — the two things worth memorising verbatim.
- Reading fifty per cent as the constitutional figure for women's reservation. The Constitution says not less than one-third; the fifty-per-cent figure comes from State legislation and is often quoted back as if it were Part IX.
- Defining the Gram Sabha as all residents of a village. It is the village's registered voters — the electoral roll is the test, not residence.
- Over-correcting on statement 3: the intermediate tier IS constitutionally prescribed, but Article 243B(2) exempts States with a population not exceeding twenty lakh, which is why a differently worded statement ('exists in all States') would be false.
UPPSC serves this area as short statement sets built on one wrong number and one wrong definition — it asked in 2023 which statement about the Gram Sabha is NOT true and in 2020 which Part of the Constitution carries Panchayati Raj; UPSC works the fine print instead, testing the minimum age of 21, the remainder-of-term rule and, in 2025, the twenty-lakh exemption to the intermediate tier.
Consider the following statements: I. Panchayats at the intermediate level exist in all States. II. To be eligible to be a Member of a Panchayat at the intermediate level, a person should attain the age of thirty years. III. The Chief Minister of a State constitutes a commission to review the financial position of Panchayats at the intermediate levels and to make recommendations regarding the distribution of net proceeds of taxes and duties, leviable by the State, between the State and Panchayats at the intermediate level. Which of the statements given above are not correct?
- (a) I and II only
- (b) II and III only
- (c) I and III only
- (d) I, II and III
Answer(d) I, II and III
The same intermediate-tier provision tested from the exception rather than the rule: Article 243B(2) lets States under twenty lakh population omit the middle tier, so 'exist in all States' is false even though the tier is constitutionally prescribed.
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.
Confirms the one-third figure that statement 1 of the UPPSC question gets wrong — the 73rd Amendment's women's reservation is 'up to a third of the strength', alongside mandatory elections and the devolved subject list.
Which of the following statements is not true regarding 'Gram Sabha'?
- (a) It has the powers and functions at the village level, like state Legislature has at the state level.
- (b) Its powers are determined by the Central Government.
- (c) It is a Village Assembly consisting of all registered voters in the area of Panchayat.
- (d) (a) and (c) both
Answer(b) Its powers are determined by the Central Government.
UPPSC returning to the Gram Sabha definition that statement 2 here gets wrong — the 2023 paper prints the correct version ('all registered voters in the area of Panchayat') as a true statement, and moves the error to who fixes its powers (the State Legislature, under Article 243A).
- practice — not a real PYQ
Under Article 243B of the Constitution, a State may choose not to constitute Panchayats at the intermediate level if its population does not exceed
- (a)ten lakh
- (b)twenty lakh
- (c)twenty-five lakh
- (d)fifty lakh
Answer(b) twenty lakh — Article 243B(2) exempts a State whose population does not exceed twenty lakh from constituting the intermediate tier, which is why smaller States run a two-tier rather than a three-tier Panchayati Raj system.
- practice — not a real PYQ
In the Constitution of India, 'Gram Sabha' means a body consisting of
- (a)all persons residing in a village
- (b)persons registered in the electoral rolls relating to a village comprised within the area of a Panchayat at the village level
- (c)all adult residents of a village who own land in it
- (d)the elected members of the village Panchayat
Answer(b) persons registered in the electoral rolls relating to a village comprised within the area of a Panchayat at the village level — that is the definition in Article 243(b). The Gram Sabha is the village's electorate meeting as a body, not the elected Panchayat and not the whole resident population.