Question 41 from UPSC CSE 2016 - Polity and
Governance

Question

Consider the following statements:
1. The minimum age prescribed for any person to be a member of Panchayat is 25 years.
2. A Panchayat reconstituted after premature dissolution continues only for the remainder period.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

IASCODEX · Accepted Answer

Correct Option: B. 2 only

Strategy: Statement 1 requires recalling the specific age eligibility criteria for contesting elections to Panchayats. The common misconception of 25 years (applicable for Lok Sabha/State Assemblies) must be identified as incorrect; the actual age for Panchayats is 21 years. This immediately makes Statement 1 false. Statement 2 pertains to the duration of a Panchayat reconstituted after a premature dissolution. Recalling the constitutional provision (Article 243E) confirms that such a Panchayat serves only for the unexpired portion of the original term. This validates Statement 2.

Key Info: ### Panchayati Raj System and Constitutional Provisions
* The Panchayati Raj System was constitutionalized in India by the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1992. This Act added Part IX ('The Panchayats') and the Eleventh Schedule to the Constitution, providing for a three-tier system of Panchayati Raj at the village, intermediate, and district levels.

### Minimum Age for Panchayat Membership (Article 243F)
* Article 243F(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution specifies that a person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a member of a Panchayat if he is so disqualified by or under any law made by the Legislature of the State.
* Crucially, it also states that no person shall be disqualified on the ground that he is less than twenty-one years of age if he has attained the age of eighteen years. This implies that the minimum age prescribed for contesting elections to a Panchayat is 21 years.
* This differs from the minimum age requirement for contesting elections to the Lok Sabha or State Legislative Assembly, which is 25 years.

### Duration of Panchayats (Article 243E)
* Article 243E(1) states that every Panchayat, unless sooner dissolved under any law for the time being in force, shall continue for five years from the date appointed for its first meeting and no longer.
* Article 243E(3) mandates that an election to constitute a Panchayat shall be completed before the expiry of its duration of five years or, in case of its dissolution, before the expiration of a period of six months from the date of its dissolution.
* Article 243E(4) explicitly states that a Panchayat constituted upon the premature dissolution of a Panchayat shall continue only for the remainder of the period for which the dissolved Panchayat would have continued, had it not been so dissolved.
* However, if the remainder period is less than six months, it shall not be necessary to hold any election to constitute the Panchayat for such period (Article 243E(3) Proviso).

IASCODEX · Answer

Option A: 1 only

IASCODEX · Answer

Option C: Both 1 and 2

IASCODEX · Answer

Option D: Neither 1 nor 2

Consider the following statements: The minimum age prescribed for any person to be a member of Panchayat is 25 years. A Panchayat reconstituted after premature dissolution continues only for the remainder period. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Consider the following statements:

The minimum age prescribed for any person to be a member of Panchayat is 25 years.

A Panchayat reconstituted after premature dissolution continues only for the remainder period.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?