CAPF AC 2021 Q91: Indian Polity – Local Government & Panchayati Raj

CAPF AC 2021, Paper I (General Ability and Intelligence) · Indian Polity

1. (a) a Nagar Panchayat
2. (b) a Municipal Council
3. (c) a Municipal Corporation
4. (d) an Urban Panchayat

Answer: (d) an Urban Panchayat

Explanation

Types of municipalities in the Constitution

How to think: Article 243Q names exactly three types of municipality.

The type depends on the kind of area.

Any name outside these three is not in the Constitution.

Urban Panchayat is not a term used in the Constitution.

Background: these provisions were added as Part IXA by the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992.

It also added the Twelfth Schedule with 18 subjects for municipalities.

Answer: (d) an Urban Panchayat.

Why each option is right or wrong

• (a) Incorrect. A Nagar Panchayat is provided for transitional areas.
• (b) Incorrect. A Municipal Council is provided for smaller urban areas.
• (c) Incorrect. A Municipal Corporation is provided for larger urban areas.
• (d) CORRECT. The Constitution has no body called an Urban Panchayat.

Key point

Article 243Q (74th Amendment, 1992, Part IXA): Nagar Panchayat (transitional area), Municipal Council (smaller urban area), Municipal Corporation (larger urban area). Twelfth Schedule: 18 subjects.

Remember

Three municipalities: Nagar Panchayat, Council, Corporation.

Common mistakes

• Thinking Nagar Panchayat and Urban Panchayat are two separate bodies.
• Mixing up the 73rd Amendment (panchayats) with the 74th (municipalities).
• Forgetting that a Nagar Panchayat is for an area in transition to urban.

Exam tip

Educated guess: nagar already means urban. Urban Panchayat is just an English copy of Nagar Panchayat, put in to trick you; the Constitution uses only the first name.

Sources

• Constitution of India — Article 243Q; the Constitution (Seventy-fourth Amendment) Act, 1992
• NCERT Class XI Political Science — Indian Constitution at Work, Chapter 8: Local Governments

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