Which one of these forms of Panchayat is not a part of the constitutional…

Concept

The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 inserted Part IX (Articles 243 to 243-O) into the Constitution of India, creating a constitutionally recognised Panchayati Raj system. Article 243B provides for Panchayats at the village, intermediate and district levels in every state — corresponding to the Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti and Zilla Parishad (also called Zilla Panchayat) respectively — though under Article 243B(2), a state whose population does not exceed twenty lakh may choose not to constitute the intermediate-level Panchayat Samiti.

Application

Checking each offered form of Panchayat against this constitutional structure:

• Zilla Panchayat is the district-level tier recognised under Article 243B, one of the constitutionally provided-for Panchayati Raj bodies.

• Gram Panchayat is the village-level tier recognised under Article 243B, one of the constitutionally provided-for Panchayati Raj bodies.

• Panchayat Samiti is the intermediate (block) level tier recognised under Article 243B, one of the constitutionally provided-for Panchayati Raj bodies.

• Khap Panchayat is a customary assembly of the elders of a clan (gotra) or a cluster of villages sharing common lineage, mainly found in parts of Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring regions. It is not one of the levels named in Article 243B and has no statutory basis under any State Panchayati Raj Act.

Cross-check

Article 243B names only the village, intermediate and district levels as constitutional tiers of Panchayati Raj, which together fully account for Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti and Zilla Panchayat/Parishad. Khap Panchayat does not correspond to any of these three named levels. TPSC’s official answer key for this paper (CMIS Preliminary Examination, 2015) also confirms this as the correct response.

Hence, Khap Panchayat is not a part of the constitutional system of Panchayati Raj in India.