Question

_____________ was the first state in India to implement the Panchayati Raj system.
A.Rajasthan
B.Madhya Pradesh
C.Uttar Pradesh
D.Kerala

Answer 1

Hint: Panchayati Raj refers to units of local self-government in rural areas. In a diverse and vast country like ours, Panchayati Raj institutions are required for democratic decentralisation. Although Panchayati Raj institutions in India have a long history going back over a thousand years, it was only 1992 that a bill incorporating provisions related to Panchayati Raj was enacted as the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act and it came into force in 1993. It was the first legislation that granted Panchayati Raj institutions constitutional status and ensured free, fair and regular elections to them. The Act provides for a three-tier system of Panchayati Raj with Gram Sabha as the base in villages, and above it, panchayats will be constituted at intermediate block and district levels.

Complete step by step solution:
Option A: Rajasthan is correct. In 1957, the National Development Council in an effort to organise and reconstruct local self-government at rural level appointed a committee headed by Balwant Rai Mehta to come up with recommendations regarding the same. In 1958, the committee in its report suggested that there should be a three-tier structure of local self-government from village to district level, which shall be vested with administrative responsibilities to implement the government’s social and economic development programmes at the local level. As a result of these recommendations, the Panchayati Raj system was launched in Rajasthan on October 2, 1959, which was the first state to do so.
Option B: Madhya Pradesh is incorrect. Although it was one of the states to implement Panchayati Raj in certain areas before the 73rd Amendment Act, 1992, it was not the first one.
Options C and D: are incorrect because both Uttar Pradesh and Kerala established Panchayati Raj institutions after the enactment of the 73rd Amendment Act of 1992.

Note: The efforts to develop and organise rural local self-government began right after independence and the 73rd Amendment Act, 1992, was the result of various recommendation committees and their reports regarding it, most notably the Balwant Rai Mehta Committee (1958), the Ashok Mehta Committee (1978) and the GVK Rao Committee (1985).