Aspirant Academy
ENHI

RAS question

The 73rd Amendment mandates that not less than what fraction of total seats shall be reserved for women in Panchayats?

Correct answer: (C) One-third.

Article 243D(3), inserted through the 73rd Amendment framework for Panchayats, requires that not less than one-third of the total directly elected seats in every Panchayat be reserved for women.

  1. (A)

    Two-thirds

  2. (B)

    One-fourth

  3. (C)

    One-third

  4. (D)

    One-half

Explanation

Article 243D deals with reservation of seats in Panchayats. Clause (3) says that not less than one-third of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every Panchayat shall be reserved for women. The same clause makes clear that this one-third count includes seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. That is why the constitutional minimum is one-third, not a higher or lower fraction. A common exam trap is the 50% reservation adopted by several states, including Rajasthan, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh; that state-level expansion does not change the constitutional floor under Article 243D(3).

Why the other options are wrong

  • (A) Two-thirds overstates the constitutional requirement; Article 243D(3) fixes the minimum reservation for women at not less than one-third of directly elected Panchayat seats.
  • (B) One-fourth is below the constitutional floor, because Article 243D(3) requires at least one-third of the relevant Panchayat seats to be reserved for women.
  • (D) One-half reflects the higher reservation adopted by some states, but the Constitution’s minimum mandate under Article 243D(3) remains one-third.

Concept

This tests Part IX of the Constitution, especially Panchayati Raj reservation under Article 243D. It recurs in RAS because local self-government, social justice and women’s representation are core governance themes.

Source

Related questions