In absence of a well-educated and organized local level government system, `Panchayats’ and ‘Samitis’ have remained mainly political institutions and not effective instruments of governance. Critically discuss.
This question is available to read here. The practice button generates a fresh question from the same paper. Here, practise an answer plan in keywords. Choose your timer on the next screen. Feedback uses our common 15-point practice rubric, rather than the paper’s original mark allocation.
In September 2026, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary announced that the state will conduct its next round of panchayat elections only after the completion of a fresh delimitation exercise. This decision reflects an administrative effort to redraw panchayat boundaries to better align with current population figures, specifically targeting a threshold of approximately 7,500 individuals per panchayat. While delimitation is a standard technical process meant to improve governance efficiency, it creates a temporary deferment of the electoral cycle. The move underscores the challenge of balancing periodic administrative reforms with the constitutional mandate for timely local body elections.
A major political controversy erupted as the Congress party alleged that several party-backed councillors, who were returning from Himachal Pradesh, were detained in Haryana ahead of crucial local body elections in Rajasthan. This incident brings to the fore the persistent and troubling trend of resort politics, pre-emptive confinement, and cross-state movement of elected representatives designed to insulate them from poaching. Such tactics underscore systemic vulnerabilities within local self-governance, highlighting how intense electoral competition at the grassroots often overrides institutional integrity, political ethics, and democratic norms.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has arrived at the United Nations General Assembly in New York to lead a series of high-level diplomatic engagements. A primary pillar of his visit is to intensify India's campaign for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council (UNSC) for the 2028–2029 term. The schedule features critical bilateral meetings with influential global partners, including the U.S. Secretary of State and the Bangladeshi Foreign Minister, demonstrating the multifaceted nature of India's multilateral diplomacy. This effort serves as a strategic platform to consolidate support for its election bid while addressing pressing regional security, economic, and geopolitical concerns. The campaign underscores India's commitment to enhancing its voice in global decision-making and reinforces its long-standing advocacy for the structural reform of multilateral institutions to better reflect contemporary power dynamics.