Indian Polity 6 Flashcards
When was the Panchayati Raj constitutionalised? Under which Act?
1992, 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act
When is Panchayati Raj divas?
April 24 (since 2010)
Which part of the constitution enlists the panchayats?
4th part
What is the three tier system of the panchayats?
Panchayat at village level
District panchayat at district level
Intermediate panchayats in states (above 20 lakh people)
What is the electorate of Panchayati Raj called?
Gram Sabha
How are the members of the panchayat elected?
Direct election by people
Who presides over the meeting of the Gram Sabha?
Sarpanch
Who is indirectly elected in Panchayat?
Chairperson of Zila Parishad (panchayat at intermediate and district level)
Who votes for the chairperson of Panchayat at village level (Sarpanch)?
State Legislature
What does PESA Act stand for?
Provision of the Panchayats (Extension to Schedule Areas) Act
- aka Extension Act
When did PESA come about?
1996
Which are the states with Fifth Schedule Areas?
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Rajasthan
Term of Panchayat
5 years
Which committee proposed a panchayati raj?
Balwant Rai Mehta Committee (1957)
Which committee suggested Constitutional status of local bodies?
LM Singhvi Committee (1986)
What is the reservation for women in Panchayati Raj?
1/3 of seats
What does the Gram Sabha do?
Supervise working of the panchayat
What is the head of the Panchayat Samiti called?
Pradhan
Panchayat Samiti is?
Consists of 20-60 villages - intermediate level
What are the languages in the 8th schedule?
Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Punjabi, Malayalam, Kashmiri, Konkani, Manipuri, Nepali, Sanskrit, Oriya, Urdu, Santhali, Dogri, Kannada, Sindhi, Maithili
What are municipalities?
Local self-government units in urban areas
What are the three types of municipalities?
Nagar Panchayat - transitional areas from rural to urban
Municipal Council - smaller urban area
Municipal Corporation - larger urban areas
Which is the largest urban local government?
Municipal Corporations
When was the urban government constitutionalized?
74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992
How are members of municipality elected?
Directly by the people
When are Ward Committees constituted?
When population of the area is 3 lacs or more
Which committees make the developmental plan?
District Planning Committee (district level)
Metropolitan Planning Committee (metropolis level)
Who revises the financial position of municipalities?
State Finance Commission
What does the inter-State Council do?
Coordinate inter-state disputes (Art 263)
When was the inter-state council constituted?
1990, Art 263
Who comprise the inter-state council?
PM, 6 Union Cabinet Ministers, CMs of all States and Administrators of all UTs.
States of the Central Zone
UP, MP, Uttarakhand, Chattisgarh
States of Northern Zone
Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Chandigarh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir
States of Western Zone
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, UT of Daman & Diu, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli
States of Eastern Zone
Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha
The North Eastern States
Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland
Who is the common chairman of all zonal councils?
Union Home Minister
States of Southern Zone
Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana and UT of Puducherry
Who comprise of the Zonal Council?
CM and 2 other ministers of each state, and admin of UT
When was the official Language Commission created?
1955
First Auditor General of India
Shri V. Narahari Rao
Current Auditor General of India
G.C. Murmu
Current Chief Justice of India
Sharad Arvind Bobde
Current Attorney General
Shri K.K. Venugopal
First and Last Chairman of Planning Commission
Nehru & Modi
Powers of Planning Commission
- Make 5-year plan to best use of India’s resources
- Act as advisory body to Union and state Gov
When was the Election Commission established?
1950
What is Niti Aayog
National Institution for Transforming India (1 Jan, 2015)
Who is the chairperson of the NITI Aayoga
PM
Who are the members of the NITI Aayog?
PM, CM of all states and Lt. Governor of Adaman Nicobar Islands
First Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog
Arvind Pangariya
Why was the National Development Council formed?
To associate states in formation of plans; non-constitutional body
When was the National Development Council [NDC] formed?
1952
Members of the NDC
PM (chairman), Union Cabinet, CMs of State, Administrators of UTs
Functions of NDC
- Review working on national plan
- Find ways to meet targets in national plan
When was the National Integration Council formed?
1986
What is the role of the NIC
To find ways to counter problems that were dividing the country & deal with welfare measures for minorities on an all-India basis
National Integration Council consists of
Union Ministers, CMs, representatives of National and Regional parties, labour women, public figures, media reps, etc.
When was the first Finance Commission constituted?
1951
Current chairman of Finance Commission
N.K. Singh
First chairman of Finance Commission
K.C. Niyogi
Qualifications of members of FC
- qualified to be appointed judge of high court
- special knowledge in financial matters of govt
- wide experience in financial matters
- special knowledge of economics
Qualifications for judge in High Court
- citizen of India
- advocate in high court for 10 years (or) held judicial office in India for 10 years
Functions of Finance Commission
- distribution of taxes between centre and state
- provisions that govern grants in aid to states from consolidated fund
- advice on any other matter given to the commission on finance
- amount to pay Assam, Bihar, West Bengal for export on jute products
Current Chief Election Commissioner
Sunil Arora
When was the election commission established?
25 Jan, 1950 (along with constitution)
What does the election commission do?
- prepares, maintains and updates electoral roll
- supervises nomination of candidates
- registers political parties
- monitors campaigns
- organises polling booths
- counts votes
- announces results
When is a party declared as a national party?
- when it gets at least 6% of valid votes in at least 4 states
- wins 4 seats in the House OR wins 2% of seats in Lok Sabha with members from 3 diff states
When is a party declared as a state party?
- when it wins 6% of the votes in the state
- wins 2 seats in the Legislative Assembly OR wins 3% of the seats in Legislative Assembly
Main task of the Delimitation Commission
Redraw boundaries of various assemblies and Lok Sabha based on recent consensus
- this does not change the representation in each state; ST and SC seats change
When was the last Delimitation Commission set-up?
2002, under Justice Kuldip Singh
What is NOTA?
None Of The Above
Functions of the UPSC
- conduct exams for appointment to services under the Union
- advise President on matters related to appointment, transfer, and promotion of civil servants
- all disicplinary matters affecting civil servants
- pensions and compensation in case of injury during service
Functions of NITI Aayog
- foster cooperative federalism through structure support and initiative
- develop mechanisms to form credible plans at village level
- to pay attention and include sections of society that may not benefit adequately from economic progress
- encourage partnership between stakeholders and national and international Think Tanks
- resolve inter-sector issues to accelerate implementation of developmental programs
- monitor implementation of programs
Aim of Central Information Commission
To make governments more transparent in working (since 2005)
When did RTI become an Act?
2005
Name some recognised National Parties
BJP, BSP, NCP, CPI, INC, AITC
Conditions for the Anti Defection Law for party member
Person is disqualified as member of the House if
- voluntarily gives up membership in his party
- votes in a way that is contradictory to party’s decisions
Condition for Anti-Defection Law for independent member
Person is disqualified if he join party after this election
When was National e-Governance Plan commissioned?
2005
What is e-Governance?
Governments providing info of their work on their websites to make citizen interaction easier
What does the Lokpal and Lokayukta do?
Inquire into allegation of corruption against public functionaries
Who is the chairman of the National Human Rights Commission?
Current Chief Justice of India (Bobde)
What does the National Commission for SCs and STs do?
- Investigate all matters related to constitutional and legal safeguards for SCs and STs and report to President
- Advise on planning process for socio-economic development of SCs and STs
What is a Whip?
- Issued by any political party to ensure support of its members for voting for or against issues
- Member loses confidence of the party if he votes against or abstains from voting in the whip
