UPSC Mains 2025 GS2 Q4: model answer
Discuss the nature of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly after the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019. Briefly describe the powers and functions of the Assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
What the question wants
Describe what kind of legislature J&K now has and what it can and cannot do.
How to structure it
Intro: Act of 2019, State to UT with legislature. Body: (1) Nature; (2) Powers and functions; (3) Limits. Conclusion: The Assembly is thus a representative body with clipped powers.
- 1(1) Nature
- 2(2) Powers and functions
- 3(3) Limits
Model answer
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 split the State into two Union Territories: Ladakh without a legislature and Jammu and Kashmir with one, on the Puducherry pattern. The first Assembly election was held in September–October 2024.
Nature
- Unicameral; the Legislative Council was abolished.
- 90 elected seats after the 2022 delimitation (43 Jammu, 47 Kashmir); 24 seats for PoK remain vacant.
- Lieutenant Governor may nominate members, including two women and, after the 2023 amendment, Kashmiri migrants and a displaced person from PoK.
- Five-year term (earlier six under the State constitution).
Powers and functions
- Can make laws on State List subjects except 'public order' and 'police', and on the Concurrent List (s.32).
- Passes the budget; financial bills need the LG's recommendation (s.36).
- Holds the Council of Ministers responsible; questions, motions, committees.
Limits: Parliament's laws prevail; the LG acts in his discretion on police, public order, All India Services and the Anti-Corruption Bureau, widened by the 2024 amendment to business rules.
The Assembly is thus a representative body with clipped powers; restoring Statehood, which the Supreme Court asked for in 2023, would complete the democratic arrangement.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
UT with legislature Section 32 90 seats LG discretion Statehood restoration
Where most answers lose marks
- Calling it a State Assembly with full powers.
- Mixing Ladakh into the answer.
Same theme in Prelims
Which of the following statements with respect to the Revamped Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) is/are correct ?
- 1. The period of its implementation is 1st April, 2021 to 31st March, 2026.
- 2. The key objective of the Revamped RGSA is to develop the governance capabilities of the Panchayati Raj Institutions to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals.
- 3. The share of the Central funding for the Revamped RGSA is 100% for all States and Union Territories.
Select the answer using the code given below :
Answer (b) & explanation
Only statement 2 is correct (b). Statement 2 is right: the Revamped RGSA aims to build the governance capacity of Panchayati Raj Institutions to deliver on the SDGs. Statement 1 is wrong: it was approved in 2022 to run from 2022-23 to 2025-26, not from April 2021. Statement 3 is wrong: funding is shared 60:40 with States (90:10 for north-eastern and hill States); only Union Territories get 100%. So options (a), (c) and (d) fail.
Notice the link: the RGSA uses the Localisation of SDGs approach through nine themes, such as poverty-free and healthy villages. The 73rd Amendment (1992) gave Panchayats constitutional status. 24 April is National Panchayati Raj Day.
"100% for all" is the giveaway. Centrally sponsored schemes almost always share costs with States.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
- I. Panchayats at the intermediate level exist in all States.
- II. To be eligible to be a Member of a Panchayat at the intermediate level, a person should attain the age of thirty years.
- III. The Chief Minister of a State constitutes a commission to review the financial position of Panchayats at the intermediate levels and to make recommendations regarding the distribution of net proceeds of taxes and duties, leviable by the State, between the State and Panchayats at the intermediate level.
Which of the statements given above are not correct?
Answer (d) & explanation
All three statements are not correct (d). Statement I is wrong: Article 243B lets States with a population under 20 lakh skip the intermediate level, so it does not exist in all States. Statement II is wrong: the minimum age is 21, not 30 (Article 243F). Statement III is wrong: the State Finance Commission is set up by the Governor under Article 243I, not the Chief Minister, and it reviews all panchayats. So all three are not correct.
Notice the trap: the question asks which are not correct. Other 73rd Amendment (1992) features: a State Election Commission (Article 243K), one-third seats for women (many States give 50%), and the Eleventh Schedule with 29 subjects.
the question asks for statements that are not correct. Circle "not" before you start.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to India, consider the following :
- I. The Inter-State Council
- II. The National Security Council
- III. Zonal Councils
How many of the above were established as per the provisions of the Constitution of India?
Answer (a) & explanation
Only one was set up under the Constitution (a). Item I is right: the Inter-State Council rests on Article 263, which lets the President set it up; it was formed in 1990, after the Sarkaria Commission advised it. Item III is wrong: Zonal Councils come from the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, an ordinary law, so they are statutory. Item II is wrong: the National Security Council (1998) was set up by an executive decision. So options (b), (c) and (d) fail.
Notice the pattern UPSC tests: constitutional bodies (Finance Commission, Election Commission, CAG), statutory bodies (NHRC, Zonal Councils) and executive bodies (NITI Aayog, NSC). The Union Home Minister chairs all five Zonal Councils. The North Eastern Council is a separate statutory body.
"council" in all three names. Ask where each one's power comes from: Constitution, Act or government order.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
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Question text as printed in the official UPSC question paper: https://www.upsc.gov.in/sites/default/files/GENERAL-STUDIES-PAPER-II-QP-CSM-25-010925.pdf The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.