Consider the following statements:
- 1.The minimum age prescribed for any person to be a member of Panchayat is 25 years.
- 2.A Panchayat reconstituted after premature dissolution continues only for the remainder period.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) 2 only
Statement 2 is correct and statement 1 is wrong. Article 243E(4) says a Panchayat formed after an early dissolution lasts only for the remainder of the dissolved body's five-year term, while Article 243F lets a person be a Panchayat member from the age of 21.
- ✗ 1. Article 243F(1)(a) applies the State Legislature's age qualification but adds that no one can be disqualified for being under twenty-five if he has attained twenty-one years. The minimum age for a Panchayat member is therefore 21, not 25.
- ✓ 2. Article 243E(4) says a Panchayat constituted after an early dissolution continues only for the remainder of the period for which the dissolved Panchayat would have continued, so it does not get a fresh five-year term.
Remember · Panchayat members: minimum age 21 (Art. 243F). A Panchayat set up after premature dissolution serves only the remainder of the old term (Art. 243E(4)); fresh election within six months.
Sources
- Constitution of India, Article 243E (Duration of Panchayats), Legislative Department, Government of India ↗ “A Panchayat constituted upon the dissolution of a Panchayat before the expiration of its duration shall continue only for the remainder of the period for which the dissolved Panchayat would have continued … no person shall be disqualified on the ground that he is less than twenty-five years of age, if he has attained the age of twenty- one years”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·