RAS question
Reservation for women in urban local bodies in Rajasthan is:
Correct answer: (C) One-half (50%).
Rajasthan reserves one half, or 50%, of seats in urban local bodies for women.
Explanation
Rajasthan's urban local bodies reserve 50% of their seats for women. The Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 2009 states that one half of the total number of seats in a municipality shall be reserved for women, and this total includes the women's share within seats reserved for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes. That is why the Rajasthan rule goes beyond the one-third constitutional minimum associated with the 74th Amendment. The higher reservation aims to raise women's participation in urban governance rather than merely meet the minimum floor.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) No reservation is wrong because Rajasthan law expressly reserves a share of municipal seats for women.
- (B) One-third is wrong because it states the constitutional minimum, while Rajasthan reserves one half of municipal seats for women.
- (D) One-fourth is wrong because the Rajasthan Municipalities Act supports one half, not a 25% figure, for women in urban local bodies.
Concept
This tests reservation in urban local self-government under Rajasthan's municipal law and the 74th Amendment framework. It recurs in RAS because women's representation in local bodies is a core Rajasthan polity and governance fact.