How the 73rd and 74th Amendments (1992) turned local self-government from a state-subject option into a constitutional mandate.
The 73rd Amendment added Part IX and the Eleventh Schedule (29 subjects), establishing a three-tier Panchayati Raj system — Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti (block), and Zila Parishad (district) — with mandatory elections every 5 years, reservation for SC/ST and women (at least one-third of seats), and State Election Commissions to conduct panchayat polls.
The 74th Amendment added Part IXA and the Twelfth Schedule (18 subjects), giving similar constitutional status to urban local bodies — Nagar Panchayats (transitional areas), Municipal Councils (smaller towns), and Municipal Corporations (larger cities) — along with District Planning Committees to integrate rural and urban development plans.
APPSC tests the Schedule numbers (11th for panchayats, 12th for municipalities), the reservation quotas, and the three-tier structure — this is the constitutional foundation behind AP's own Local Self-Government structures, already covered on this site.
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