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RAS question

With reference to the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill 2026 passed in March 2026, which of the following statements is/are correct? 1. It removes the two-child norm disqualification from Section 19 of the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act, 1994. 2. The two-child norm was originally introduced in 1995 under Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. 3. The amendment also removes disqualification based on leprosy. 4. The bill extends the same change only to Zila Parishad elections, not to ward panch or sarpanch posts. Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Correct answer: (A) 1 and 2 only.

The Rajasthan Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2026 removes the more-than-two-children disqualification from Section 19 of the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, and that restriction belonged to the 1995 amendment period under Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

  1. (A)

    1 and 2 only

  2. (B)

    1, 2 and 3 only

  3. (C)

    2, 3 and 4 only

  4. (D)

    1, 2, 3 and 4

Explanation

Statements 1 and 2 are correct because the 2026 Bill amends Section 19 of the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 by deleting existing clause (l), which disqualified a person who had more than two children, along with the connected proviso clause and Explanation-I. The Bill's statement of objects says Section 19 lays down general disqualifications for panchayat members and that the State Government decided to remove this specific disqualification. The 1995 link is also material: the extracted proviso refers to the period up to 27 November 1995, and Bhairon Singh Shekhawat's official profile places him as Rajasthan Chief Minister from 4 December 1993 to 1 December 1998. The Bill does not delete a leprosy disqualification, and Section 19 is not confined to Zila Parishad seats.

Why the other options are wrong

  • (B) It wrongly includes statement 3, although the 2026 Bill deletes the two-child clause, the related proviso clause, and Explanation-I, not any leprosy-based disqualification.
  • (C) It omits statement 1 even though the Bill expressly deletes Section 19 clause (l), and it also includes statement 4, which misreads the reach of Section 19.
  • (D) It treats all four statements as correct, but statement 3 adds a leprosy change not made by this Bill and statement 4 wrongly limits a Section 19 amendment to Zila Parishad elections.

Concept

This tests statutory amendment reading in Rajasthan local self-government: identify the exact clause changed, then match it to the offices covered by the parent section. RAS often asks this because Panchayati Raj eligibility rules turn small textual amendments into high-yield polity questions.

Source

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