RAS question
The three-tier Panchayati Raj system in Rajasthan consists of:
Correct answer: (B) Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti, Zila Parishad.
Rajasthan's three-tier Panchayati Raj system consists of the Gram Panchayat at village level, the Panchayat Samiti at block level and the Zila Parishad at district level.
Explanation
The answer is Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad because Rajasthan's Panchayati Raj structure is organised across village, block and district tiers. This pattern follows the Balwant Rai Mehta Committee's 1957 recommendations. The Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 supports the same institutional mapping: it describes Panchayati Raj institutions for rural areas at the level of a village, block or district, establishes a Panchayat for a notified village or group of villages, establishes a Panchayat Samiti for every notified block, and establishes a Zila Parishad for every district. That is why the legally and exam-wise precise sequence is village, block and district: Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti, Zila Parishad.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Village Council, Tehsil Committee and Division Board do not match the statutory village-block-district Panchayati Raj institutions in Rajasthan.
- (C) Gram Sabha is not the village-level Panchayati Raj institution in this three-tier list, and District Board is not the Act's district-tier term.
- (D) This option uses Block Samiti and District Parishad instead of the recognised terms Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad.
Concept
This tests the institutional design of local self-government in Rajasthan. It recurs in RAS because Panchayati Raj questions often ask candidates to distinguish the formal tiers and their correct nomenclature.