Local government (73rd & 74th Amendments, Panchayati Raj)

From Directive Principle to Constitutional Mandate

Local self-government appeared first only as a Directive Principle: Article 40 directs the State to organise village panchayats as units of self-government. For four decades panchayats lived at the mercy of state statutes—irregularly constituted, rarely funded, frequently superseded. The Balwant Rai Mehta Committee (1957) proposed a three-tier system; Rajasthan inaugurated Panchayati Raj at Nagaur on 2 October 1959, followed by Andhra Pradesh. The Ashok Mehta Committee (1978) recommended a two-tier model and constitutional status. The L.M. Singhvi Committee (1986) explicitly urged constitutionalising local government.

The breakthrough came with the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 (rural) and the Constitution (74th Amendment) Act, 1992 (urban), both effective 24 April 1993 and 1 June 1993 respectively. The 73rd inserted Part IX (Articles 243 to 243-O) and the Eleventh Schedule (29 subjects). The 74th inserted Part IX-A (Articles 243-P to 243-ZG) and the Twelfth Schedule (18 subjects). These amendments converted local government from a state-discretionary subject into a constitutional obligation.

The Three-Tier Panchayat Structure

Article 243-B mandates panchayats at the village, intermediate and district levels, with the intermediate tier optional for states with population below 20 lakh. Article 243-C provides that all seats be filled by direct election from territorial constituencies. Article 243-D reserves seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in proportion to their population, and reserves not less than one-third of all seats (and chairperson posts) for women—a figure many states have since raised to 50%.

Article 243-E fixes the term at five years; if a panchayat is dissolved early, fresh elections must be held within six months. Article 243-F lays down disqualifications, importing the state legislature's disqualification rules and setting the minimum age to contest at 21 years. Article 243-G empowers legislatures to devolve powers for economic development and social justice, with reference to the Eleventh Schedule.

Urban Local Bodies under Part IX-A

The 74th Amendment classifies urban bodies into Nagar Panchayats (transitional areas), Municipal Councils (smaller urban areas) and Municipal Corporations (larger urban areas) under Article 243-Q. Article 243-ZD mandates a District Planning Committee to consolidate panchayat and municipal plans; Article 243-ZE mandates a Metropolitan Planning Committee for areas above ten lakh population. Article 243-W references the Twelfth Schedule subjects—urban planning, water supply, slum improvement, urban poverty alleviation. Crucially, Article 243-ZA vests superintendence of municipal elections in the State Election Commission, mirroring the rural provision.

Finance and Election Machinery: The Twin Pillars

Two institutions give the system teeth. Article 243-K (panchayats) and Article 243-ZA (municipalities) vest superintendence, direction and control of all local-body elections in the State Election Commission (SEC), a body independent of the central Election Commission and headed by a State Election Commissioner removable only in the manner of a High Court judge. The Supreme Court in Kishansingh Tomar v. Municipal Corporation, Ahmedabad (2006) held that SECs enjoy the same powers as the Election Commission of India and that timely elections under Article 243-U/243-E are a constitutional imperative.

Article 243-I requires the Governor to constitute a State Finance Commission (SFC) every five years to review panchayat finances and recommend distribution of taxes, duties and grants-in-aid; Article 243-Y extends this to municipalities. The central Finance Commission, under Article 280(3)(bb) and (c), must recommend measures to augment the consolidated fund of a state to supplement the resources of panchayats and municipalities—linking local finance to the national fiscal architecture.

The PESA Extension and Judicial Bar

Part IX did not automatically apply to Scheduled Areas. The Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA) extended Panchayati Raj to Fifth Schedule areas while empowering the Gram Sabha to safeguard traditions, manage minor forest produce and be consulted before land acquisition. Article 243-O bars courts from interfering in delimitation or election matters except through an election petition.

Why This Matters for the Exam

For Prelims GS, Part IX/IX-A is a perennial factual hunting ground: candidates must memorise the Article-numbers (243 to 243-ZG), the Eleventh Schedule = 29 subjects, Twelfth Schedule = 18 subjects, the one-third women reservation, the five-year term, the six-month re-election rule, the 21-year minimum age, and which body conducts elections (SEC, not ECI). A 2015 Prelims question tested the Metropolitan Planning Committee; a 2016 question tested SEC powers.

For Mains GS-2, local government features under "devolution of powers and finances to local levels and challenges therein." The high-yield analytical line is the gap between constitutional mandate and functional reality: the 3 Fs—Functions, Funds, Functionaries—remain incompletely devolved because Article 243-G uses the permissive phrase "may by law endow." Cite the Second ARC's report, the persistence of parallel bodies, and the dependence of SFCs' recommendations on state acceptance. PYQ framing rewards a candidate who pairs the legal architecture with the empirical deficit and concrete reform (activity mapping, gram sabha empowerment).