Which one of the following Amendments of the Constitution of India deals with…

Concept: The Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 inserted Part IX (Articles 243 to 243-O) and the Eleventh Schedule into the Constitution of India, granting Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) constitutional status as the third tier of rural local self-government. It mandates regular elections every five years, reservation of seats for SCs/STs/women, and the constitution of State Election Commissions and State Finance Commissions to support these bodies.

Application: Among the amendments listed, only the 73rd Amendment specifically strengthens the Panchayati Raj system — it is the amendment that gave rural local self-government constitutional backing and institutional machinery.

Cross-check: none of the other listed amendments touch rural local self-government:

• 44th Amendment (1978): reversed several Emergency-era changes and removed the right to property from the list of Fundamental Rights — concerns civil liberties and property rights, not local self-government.

• 86th Amendment (2002): inserted Article 21A, making free and compulsory education a Fundamental Right for children aged 6–14 — concerns the right to education, not local self-government.

• 42nd Amendment (1976), often called the ‘Mini-Constitution’: added the Fundamental Duties and reshaped the Preamble and judicial review during the Emergency — concerns constitutional philosophy and duties, not the structure of local self-government.

Only the 73rd Amendment addresses the strengthening of Panchayati Raj, confirming it as the correct answer.