The idea is to ensure at the village or grass root level a functioning and vibrant democracy. … The concept of local government was dear to Gandhiji too. He envisaged each village as a self-sufficient unit conducting its own affairs and saw gram-swarajya to be an ideal model to be continued after independence. It was, however, only in 1992 that grassroot democracy or decentralised governance was ushered in by the 73 Constitutional Amendment. … It is compulsory now for local self-government bodies in rural and municipal areas to be elected every five years.
The passage leaves out two lines on how panchayats were treated when the Constitution was being drafted. What do those lines say?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Panchayats did not find a mention in it, which caused sorrow among many members
Option (1) Panchayats were left to the states to set up by their own laws, which pleased most members — Incorrect. The missing lines do not speak of states setting up panchayats by their own laws. They record that panchayats had no place in the draft at all, and the members were not pleased.
Option (2) Panchayats were to be built on the existing caste panchayats, which upset some members — Incorrect. Caste panchayats are the traditional village bodies that usually represented dominant groups. The draft Constitution did not plan to build on them, and the missing lines do not say so.
Option (3) Panchayats were to be run by district officials, which angered many members — Incorrect. Running panchayats through district officials is not what the missing lines describe. They speak of panchayats being left out of the draft altogether.
Option (4) Panchayats did not find a mention in it, which caused sorrow among many members — Correct. When the Constitution was being drafted, panchayats found no mention in it. Many members then expressed their sorrow, anger and disappointment over this.
NCERT (2026-27): “Ideals of Panchayati Raj … |