Test: Panchayati Raj & Public Policy - UPSC MCQ

This act establishes the National and State Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning  Authorities to manage the National and State Funds. But, in the bare act there is no mention of mandatory People's participation so, #2 is wrong.

2018-March: Indian Express: As per the the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Central (Amendment) Rules, 2018:
• No workman employed on fixed term employment basis shall be entitled to any notice or pay, if his services are terminated by non-renewal of contract.
So, #1 is right.
• No notice of termination of employment shall be necessary in the case of temporary workman. So, #2 is right. 

United Nations Convention against Corruption is the only legally binding universal anti-corruption instrument.
So, #2 is right, this eliminates A. Upon checking the official webpages of UNTOC and UNCAC, it's evident that #3 is not related with UNTOC but UNCAC. So, #3 is wrong. So, by elimination, we are left with answer c.

75 tribal groups have been categorized categorized by Ministry of Home Affairs as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG)s. PVTGs reside in 18 States and UT of A&N Islands. Says Tribal Ministry website. So, #1 is right but #3 is wrong. This eliminates all options except c.

(i) It is a campaign for eradication of inhuman practice of manual scavenging and comprehensive rehabilitation of manual scavengers in India.
Ashif Shaikh is well known for his role in the campaign (Rashatriya Garima Abhiyan) through various campaigns of Jan Sahas.
(ii) Rashtriya Garima Abhiyaan is an NGO-led movement for manual scavengers.

• The minimum age to contest Panchayat elections is 21 years.
• 2nd statement is correct.

Financial mobilization is not the fundamental objective of PRls. Even though Panchayats have the powers to collect revenue.
Political accountability refers to the responsibility or obligation of government officials (both politicians and civil servants) to act in the best interests of society or face consequences.

At present the Public Accounts committee consists of 22 members 15 from the Lok Sabha and 7 from the Rajya Sabha. The function of the committee is
1. To examine the annual audit reports of the comptroller and auditor general of India (CAG), which are laid before the Parliament by the President.
2. To examine the appropriation accounts and the finance accounts of the Union government and any other accounts laid before the Lok-Sabha.

The salient feature of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA) and the modalities worked out to grant rights to tribals in the country are:
(i) Legislation on Panchayats shall be in conformity with the customary law, social and religious practices and traditional management practices of community resources;
(ii) Habitation or a group of habitations or a hamlet or a group of hamlets comprising a community and managing its affairs in accordance with tradiations and customs; and shall have a separate Gram Sabha.
(iii) Every Gram Sabha to safeguard and preserve the traditions and customs of people, their cultural identity, community resources and the customary mode of dispute resolution.

Section C of the Forest Dwellers Act provides a transparent three step procedure for deciding on who gets rights.
Firstly, the Gram Sabha makes a recommendation- i.e, who has been cultivating land for how long, which minor forest produce is collected; etc. The Gram Sabha plays this role because it is a public body where all people participate and hence is fully democratic and transparent. The Gram Sabha’s recommendation goes through two stages of screening committees- the Taluka and the District levels.