RAS question
Under Article 243B of the Constitution, in which situation are Panchayats at the intermediate level not mandatory in a State?
Correct answer: (C) When the population of the State does not exceed 20 lakh.
During the 2019 re-delimitation of Panchayati Raj Institutions in Rajasthan, 57 new Panchayat Samitis were created.
Explanation
The answer is 57 because the official Rajasthan Economic Review 2024-25 records this figure in the section on Panchayat Samiti Bhawan Nirman. In 2019, the State Government re-delimited the Panchayati Raj Institutions, creating 57 new Panchayat Samitis in Rajasthan. Land allotment and administrative sanctions for bhawans of these newly created Panchayat Samitis make the figure part of the institutional restructuring done through re-delimitation, not a later building programme or a general count of existing Panchayat Samitis.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) 30 is wrong because the official account of the 2019 re-delimitation gives the number of newly created Panchayat Samitis as 57, not 30.
- (B) 20 is wrong because it understates the official 2019 re-delimitation figure, which was 57 new Panchayat Samitis.
- (D) 100 is wrong because the Rajasthan Economic Review 2024-25 records 57 new Panchayat Samitis, not 100, for the 2019 re-delimitation.
Concept
This tests Panchayati Raj institutional reorganisation in Rajasthan, especially changes made through delimitation. Such facts recur in RAS because Panchayat Samitis sit between Gram Panchayats and Zila Parishads in the state’s rural local-government structure.