The Rajasthan Legislative Assembly passed the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2026 on March 9, 2026, scrapping the two-child eligibility norm for contesting Panchayati Raj elections — a rule that had been in force for over 31 years since its introduction under former Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat's government. The Rajasthan Municipal (Amendment) Bill, extending the same abolition to urban local body elections, was passed subsequently.

The amendment deletes Section 19 of the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, which had barred individuals with more than two children from contesting elections to ward panch, sarpanch, panchayat samiti member, zila parishad member, pradhan, and district head posts. The rationale for abolishing the norm is rooted in changed demographic realities: India's Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has declined to 2.0 nationally — below replacement level — rendering population-control-based electoral disqualification unnecessary and socially regressive.

Critics had long argued that the norm disproportionately excluded women and marginalised communities from local governance, violating democratic participation rights. Several Supreme Court judgments had upheld such norms as constitutionally valid conditions for contesting elections, but the political consensus has shifted, with Rajasthan becoming the latest BJP-ruled state to remove this restriction. This has direct implications for Rajasthan's Panchayati Raj structure — a major component of Paper-III for RPSC RAS.