RAS question
Minimum age for Sarpanch:
Correct answer: (D) 21 years.
The minimum age for becoming a Sarpanch in Rajasthan is 21 years.
Explanation
Rajasthan's Panchayati Raj framework fixes 21 years as the operative minimum age for PRI offices. The Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 says every Panchayat has a Sarpanch, and that the Sarpanch must be a person qualified to be elected as a Panch. Its qualification provision makes the age point clear: a person is not disqualified merely for being under 25 if the person has attained 21 years of age. The same 21-year minimum applies across PRI positions, which rules out both lower and higher ages. So, for the office of Sarpanch, the required minimum age is 21 years, not 18, 25, or 30.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) 30 years is too high because the Act links Sarpanch eligibility to Panch qualification, and that qualification is satisfied once the person has attained 21 years.
- (B) 18 years is too low because the qualification provision protects eligibility only after the person has attained 21 years.
- (C) 25 years is not the minimum because the Act specifically says a person is not disqualified for being under 25 if the person has attained 21 years.
Concept
This tests eligibility conditions under Rajasthan's Panchayati Raj Institutions, especially the link between the Sarpanch office and Panch qualifications. RAS repeatedly asks such direct constitutional-administrative thresholds because they decide who can hold local self-government offices.