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RAS question

Under clauses (1), (2), and (3)(a) of Article 243M of the Constitution, which option correctly describes the areas or States excluded from Part IX, including the limited district-level exception?

Correct answer: (C) Scheduled Areas referred to in Article 244(1); tribal areas referred to in Article 244(2); Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram; the hill areas of Manipur where District Councils exist under law; and, only for district-level Panchayats, the hill areas of Darjeeling district where the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council exists under law.

Part IX of the Constitution does not apply to Fifth Schedule areas, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and those hill areas of Manipur where District Councils exist under the law in force.

  1. (A)

    All States

  2. (B)

    Only Bihar

  3. (C)

    Scheduled Areas referred to in Article 244(1); tribal areas referred to in Article 244(2); Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram; the hill areas of Manipur where District Councils exist under law; and, only for district-level Panchayats, the hill areas of Darjeeling district where the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council exists under law

  4. (D)

    Only Delhi

Explanation

Article 243M is the limiting provision for Part IX, which otherwise deals with Panchayats. It says that nothing in Part IX applies to the Scheduled Areas and tribal areas referred to in Article 244. It separately excludes Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram, and the hill areas of Manipur where District Councils exist under any law in force. This is why the combined option listing Fifth Schedule areas, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Manipur hill areas is right. The explanation also flags the important qualifier: PESA, 1996 partially extends Part IX to Fifth Schedule areas, so the exclusion is not a simple statement that Panchayat law can never reach those areas.

Why the other options are wrong

  • (A) Part IX is not excluded from all States; Article 243M names only specified areas and States as exceptions.
  • (B) Bihar is not singled out in Article 243M as the only place outside Part IX.
  • (D) Delhi is not the Article 243M exception; the provision instead refers to Fifth Schedule areas, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram and specified hill areas of Manipur.

Concept

This tests the constitutional exceptions to the Panchayati Raj framework under Part IX. It recurs in RAS because local self-government questions often turn on special-area provisions rather than the general 73rd Amendment rule.

Source

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