PYQ Vault · Paper 1 · Local Government
Examine the unique features of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment. Do you think this Amendment would contribute in achieving the goal of empowerment of marginalised sections of the society?
How the answer moves
The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.
Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes
Part IX + Eleventh Schedule (1993) → statutory > constitutional self- government — three-tier + Gram Sabha + five-year SEC elections + State Finance Commission — Art 243G + 29 subjects — Art 243D reservation (SC/ST by population, >1/3 women, chairpersons) → compulsory “skeleton” vs voluntary devolution of functions/funds /staff (“flesh and
Body flow
blood”) → Mathew: widening of democratic base → Chattopadhyay & Duflo: women heads → drinking water, SC heads → SC hamlets → presence * authority “half-baked cake” — elite control, weak education, poor support blunt marginal voices (Patnaik) — reservation gives seats, not authority; real devolution left to states I E39 necessary, not sufficient – opens the door; genuine devolution of funds. functions. functionaries + social change must walk throuch it
Counter-view
empowerment enabled by design, delivered only when the skeleton gains flesh — guaranteed presence must become real authority
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
