Panchayati Raj in J&K: 73rd Amendment, 1989 Act & DDCs (JKSSB MCQs)

JKSSB's Panchayat Accounts Assistant syllabus lists the 73rd Amendment of the Constitution, the Panchayati Raj Act, 1989 (as amended) and the Gram Panchayat Development Plan by name, and General Knowledge carries 30 marks. This sheet covers what those headings mean.

The 73rd Constitutional Amendment (1992)

• Added Part IX (The Panchayats) and the Eleventh Schedule with 29 subjects; came into force on 24 April 1993, observed as National Panchayati Raj Day
• Gram Sabha (Article 243A): all registered voters of a village; the base of the system
• Three tiers (Article 243B): village, intermediate and district; states with population up to 20 lakh may skip the intermediate tier
• Members are directly elected; chairpersons of the intermediate and district tiers are elected indirectly
• Reservation (Article 243D): seats for SCs and STs in proportion to their population, and at least one-third for women
• Term of five years; if dissolved, fresh elections within six months (Article 243E)
• State Election Commission conducts elections (Article 243K)
• State Finance Commission every five years (Article 243I)
• Article 243G lets the legislature devolve powers on the Eleventh Schedule subjects

How the idea developed

• Balwant Rai Mehta Committee (1957) recommended the three-tier structure
• Rajasthan was the first state to adopt it (Nagaur, 2 October 1959), followed by Andhra Pradesh
• Ashok Mehta Committee (1977) recommended a two-tier system
• The 73rd Amendment (1992, under P. V. Narasimha Rao) finally gave Panchayats constitutional status

J&K's Panchayati Raj Act, 1989

The J&K Panchayati Raj Act, 1989 provided for Halqa Panchayats (headed by a Sarpanch, with Panches), Block Development Councils and District Planning and Development Boards. The first elections under the Act were held in 2001.

The 2020 amendment: District Development Councils

In October 2020 the Act was amended to add District Development Councils (DDCs), completing the three-tier structure: Halqa Panchayat → Block Development Council → District Development Council.

• Each district is divided into 14 territorial constituencies; with 20 districts that is 280 directly elected seats
• A DDC also includes the district's MLAs and the chairpersons of its Block Development Councils
• The Additional District Development Commissioner is its chief executive officer
• A BDC's term runs together with that of the Halqa Panchayats of its block
• The first DDC elections were held in November–December 2020

Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP)

A GPDP is the annual plan each Gram Panchayat prepares for local development, using its own resources and scheme funds. The syllabus also lists panchayat budgeting and own-resource generation, so understand how a panchayat's budget links to these plans. For the schemes that fund them, see rural development schemes and SDGs, and for how that money moves, our PFMS notes.