UPSC Prelims 2015 · Question 85 of 98

UPSC Prelims 2015 question on Panchayati Raj Objectives

The fundamental object of Panchayati Raj system is to ensure which among the following?

1. People's participation in development
2. Political accountability
3. Democratic decentralization
4. Financial mobilization

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

  1. 1, 2 and 3 only
  2. 2 and 4 only
  3. 1 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2, 3 and 4
Show answer

Answer: C. 1 and 3 only

Verdict

The answer is 1 and 3 only. The fundamental objects of the Panchayati Raj system are people's participation in development and democratic decentralisation.

Analysis

Statements 1 and 3 are CORRECT and together state the purpose of the system, which is decentralised and participatory local self government. Statement 2, political accountability, and statement 4, financial mobilisation, are both consequences or supporting features of panchayati raj rather than its fundamental object. Accountability follows from proximity to the electorate and resource mobilisation is a means of functioning, but neither is the reason the institution exists, which is what the word fundamental in the stem demands.

Source

Second Administrative Reforms Commission material and Ministry of Panchayati Raj material.

How to crack it

When a stem asks for the fundamental object, treat it as asking for the minimum set that defines the institution, not the full set of things it does. Several statements will be associable with the subject, and the examiner's own note concedes as much here. Rank statements by whether they state the purpose, a means, or a consequence, and keep only the purpose. That ranking discipline handles every best or most appropriate question in polity.

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