UPSC Prelims 2025 · GS Paper I
Question 91: Polity and Governance
Consider the following statements :
- IPanchayats at the intermediate level exist in all States.
- IITo be eligible to be a Member of a Panchayat at the intermediate level, a person should attain the age of thirty years.
- IIIThe Chief Minister of a State constitutes a commission to review the financial position of Panchayats at the intermediate levels and to make recommendations regarding the distribution of net proceeds of taxes and duties, leviable by the State, between the State and Panchayats at the intermediate level.
Which of the statements given above are not correct?
AnswerThe answer is (d).
The question asks for the statements that are not correct, and all three are wrong. Under Article 243B, a State with a population below twenty lakh need not constitute Panchayats at the intermediate level, so they do not exist in all States. Under Article 243F the minimum age for membership of a Panchayat is twenty-one years, not thirty. Under Article 243I it is the Governor, not the Chief Minister, who constitutes the State Finance Commission to review the finances of Panchayats and make recommendations on sharing taxes.
- I. States with a population below twenty lakh may skip the intermediate tier.
- II. The minimum age for Panchayat membership is twenty-one years.
- III. The Governor, not the Chief Minister, constitutes the State Finance Commission.
How you could have got this
- If you were sure statement I is not correct, (b) goes: it leaves I out.
What you needed to know: States with a population below twenty lakh may skip the intermediate tier.
The red flag in statement I is “all”. In UPSC’s papers, statements with “all” were true 41% of the time (76 statements). A hint, not a rule.
- Then, if you were sure statement II is not correct, (c) goes: it leaves II out.
What you needed to know: The minimum age for Panchayat membership is twenty-one years.
- Then, if you were sure statement III is not correct, (a) goes: it leaves III out.
What you needed to know: The Governor, not the Chief Minister, constitutes the State Finance Commission.
Only (d) is left. This one needs every statement.
This follows an unofficial answer: UPSC has not published its key for this year, and if that answer is wrong, so is this path.
Which options go is worked out from UPSC’s key and the options, not by a model.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) Wrong: Statement III is also incorrect, since the Governor sets up the commission.
- (b) Wrong: Statement I is also incorrect, since small States may skip the intermediate tier.
- (c) Wrong: Statement II is also incorrect, since the minimum age is twenty-one.
- (d) Right: all three statements are incorrect.
Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.
Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2025, General Studies Paper I, Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.