Assertion (A): The District Planning Committee (DPC) is constitutionally mandated to prepare a draft development plan for the entire district, integrating plans of both Panchayats and Municipalities. Reason (R): Article 243ZD of the Constitution requires that four-fifths of the DPC members must be elected from among the elected members of the Panchayats and Municipalities in the district. Select the correct answer:

Explanation

Both the assertion and the reason are correct, but the reason does not explain the assertion. Article 243ZD requires every State to constitute a District Planning Committee at the district level to consolidate plans prepared by Panchayats and Municipalities and to prepare a draft development plan for the district as a whole. The same Article also contains a composition rule: not less than four-fifths of the Committee's members must be elected by, and from among, elected members of the district-level Panchayat and the Municipalities in the district, in proportion to the rural-urban population ratio. That makes the Committee representative, but the planning duty flows from a separate clause of Article 243ZD.

Why the other options are wrong

• (A) Although both statements are true, the four-fifths elected-member rule concerns the DPC's composition and does not itself explain the separate constitutional duty to prepare the district draft development plan.
• (C) The reason is not incorrect because Article 243ZD does require at least four-fifths of DPC members to be elected from among elected Panchayat and Municipality members in the district.
• (D) The assertion is not incorrect because Article 243ZD expressly requires the DPC to consolidate Panchayat and Municipality plans and prepare a draft development plan for the district as a whole.

Concept

This tests the 73rd and 74th Amendment framework for decentralised planning, especially how Panchayat and Municipality institutions are linked at the district level. RAS repeatedly tests such provisions because they connect constitutional text with Rajasthan's local governance and planning administration.

Source

• Ministry of Law and Justice, Legislative Department, The Constitution of India

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