Federalism, emergency provisions, local government: previous-year questions
23 real UPSC Prelims questions (2011–2026) with the official answer and a clear explanation. 8 of them came in the last five papers.
How often UPSC asks this
Questions per year, counted from the official papers.
Attempt the questions
Newest papers first. Tap an option; the answer and the reason appear instantly.
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.
Consider the following pairs :
| State | Description
| I. Arunachal Pradesh | The capital is named after a fort, and the State has two National Parks
| II. Nagaland | The State came into existence on the basis of a Constitutional Amendment Act
| III. Tripura | Initially a Part 'C' State, it became a centrally administered territory with the reorganization of States in 1956 and later attained the status of a full-fledged State
How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?
Answer (c) & explanation
All three pairs are treated as correctly matched (c). Pair I is right: Itanagar takes its name from the Ita Fort, and Arunachal has two national parks, Namdapha and Mouling. Pair II is right: Nagaland was created in 1963 by the State of Nagaland Act, 1962, together with the 13th Amendment (1962), which added Article 371A. Pair III is right: Tripura went from a Part C State to a Union Territory in 1956, and became a full State in 1972. So options (a), (b) and (d) fail.
Notice that Manipur and Meghalaya also became States in 1972, under the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971. Arunachal and Mizoram became States in 1987. Article 371A protects Naga customary law and land.
three different kinds of fact in one question: a name, a law, a change of status. Check each pair on its own.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
Statement I :
- In India, State Governments have no power for making rules for grant of concessions in respect of extraction of minor minerals even though such minerals are located in their territories.
Statement II :
- In India, the Central Government has the power to notify minor minerals under the relevant law.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
Answer (d) & explanation
Statement I is wrong, Statement II is right (d). Under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, Statement II is right: the Centre decides which minerals count as "minor" (Section 3(e)). Statement I is wrong: the States make the rules for granting minor mineral concessions (Section 15), and they keep the royalty. So options (a), (b) and (c) fail.
Notice examples of minor minerals: sand, gravel, building stone, marble and brick earth. Illegal sand mining is a big problem that States must police. Major minerals, such as coal, iron ore and bauxite, are regulated mostly by the Centre. In 2024, the Supreme Court held that States can tax mineral-bearing land.
in a Statement I/II question, check each statement alone first. Only then ask whether one explains the other.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following statements is correct as per the Constitution of India ?
Answer (c) & explanation
Inter-State quarantine is a Union subject (c). Inter-State migration and inter-State quarantine are together in Entry 81 of the Union List. Option (a) is wrong: inter-State trade and commerce is a Union subject (Entry 42); only trade within a State is a State subject. Option (b) is wrong: inter-State migration sits with the Union, as above. Option (d) is wrong: corporation tax is a Union subject (Entry 85).
Notice the simple rule: anything "inter-State" usually belongs to the Union. The Seventh Schedule has three lists: Union, State and Concurrent. Public health is a State subject, so in COVID-19 the Centre used the Disaster Management Act and the Epidemic Diseases Act.
"trade and commerce" appears in both lists. The word "inter-State" decides it.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The North Eastern Council (NEC) was established by the North Eastern Council Act, 1971. Subsequent to the amendment of NEC Act in 2002, the Council comprises which of the following members ?
- 1. Governor of the Constituent State
- 2. Chief Minister of the Constituent State
- 3. Three Members to be nominated by the President of India
- 4. The Home Minister of India
Select the correct answer using the code given below :
Answer (a) & explanation
Items 1, 2 and 3 are the members (a). After the 2002 amendment, the North Eastern Council Act makes the Council of the Governors and Chief Ministers of the north-eastern States (item 1 and 2), plus three members nominated by the President (item 3). The amendment also brought Sikkim in, making eight States, and turned the NEC into a regional planning body. Item 4 is wrong: the Union Home Minister is not one of the members named in the Act, so options (b), (c) and (d) fail.
Notice the later change: in 2018, the Union Cabinet made the Home Minister the ex-officio Chairman and the DoNER minister Vice-Chairman, by executive decision. That is why the question says "according to the Act". The NEC is based in Shillong.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
Statement-I :
- In India, prisons are managed by State Governments with their own rules and regulations for the day-to-day administration of prisons.
Statement-II :
- In India, prisons are governed by the Prisons Act, 1894 which expressly kept the subject of prisons in the control of Provincial Governments.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
Answer (a) & explanation
Both statements are correct and II explains I (a). Statement I is right: prisons are Entry 4 of the State List, so each State runs them under its own jail manual and rules. Statement II is right: the colonial Prisons Act, 1894 still applies and treats prisons as a provincial matter. UPSC accepted that this old arrangement explains why States run prisons today.
Notice the reform push. In 2023, the Home Ministry issued a Model Prisons Act, to replace the 1894 Act, with ideas like open jails, video trials and help for rehabilitation. India's prisons are overcrowded, and most inmates are undertrials, people not yet convicted. The Supreme Court has repeatedly urged bail for poor undertrials and the end of caste-based work in jails (2024).
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following in Indian polity is an essential feature that indicates that it is federal in character?
Answer (a) & explanation
An independent judiciary is the essential federal feature (a). A federation divides power between the Union and the States. That division needs an independent umpire to settle disputes between them and to interpret the Constitution, so the independence of the judiciary is an essential federal feature. In India, the Supreme Court settles Centre–State disputes under Article 131. Option (b) can exist in a unitary state with regional seats. Option (c) is a matter of politics, not structure. Option (d) concerns rights, which unitary states also protect.
Notice the other federal features: a written Constitution, division of powers (Seventh Schedule), bicameralism and a rigid amendment process. India is often called "quasi-federal", after K.C. Wheare.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to India, consider the following statements :
- 1. When a prisoner makes out a sufficient case, parole cannot be denied to such prisoner because it becomes a matter of his/her right.
- 2. State Governments have their own Prisoners Release on Parole Rules.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (b) & explanation
Only statement 2 is correct (b). Statement 1 is wrong: parole is a concession, not a right. The authority may refuse it even when grounds exist, for example if release would threaten public order. Statement 2 is right: prisons are a State subject (Entry 4, State List), so each State frames its own Prisoners Release on Parole Rules. Parole is a temporary release, for reasons such as a death or wedding in the family, and the time may or may not count towards the sentence.
Notice the difference from furlough, which is a periodic short release as a matter of good conduct, and from remission, which cuts the sentence. The Union issued the Model Prisons Act, 2023 for States to adopt.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
If the President of India exercises his power as provided under Article 356 of the Constitution in respect of a particular State, then
Answer (b) & explanation
Option (b) is correct. Under Article 356(1)(b), the President can declare that the State legislature's powers will be exercised by or under the authority of Parliament. Option (a) is wrong: the Assembly is not automatically dissolved. It may be kept in suspended animation, and in S.R. Bommai (1994) the Supreme Court said it should not be dissolved until both Houses approve the proclamation. Option (c) is wrong: Article 19 is suspended only during a national emergency on grounds of war or external aggression (Article 358). Option (d) is wrong: the President does not make the laws himself; Parliament can delegate law-making to him when it is not in session.
President's Rule needs approval within two months, lasts six months at a time, and normally no more than three years.
(a) "automatically". Suspension is common; dissolution is a separate choice.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which of the following are not necessarily the consequences of the proclamation of the President's rule in a State?
- 1. Dissolution of the State Legislative Assembly
- 2. Removal of the Council of Ministers in the State
- 3. Dissolution of the local bodies
Select the correct answer using the code given below :
Answer (b) & explanation
Statements 1 and 3 are not necessary results (b). Under Article 356, the President takes over the functions of the State government, so the Council of Ministers is removed (2). That always happens. The State Assembly may be dissolved or kept in suspended animation (1), so dissolution is not automatic. In S. R. Bommai (1994), the Supreme Court said the Assembly should not be dissolved until Parliament approves the proclamation. Local bodies are not affected at all (3), because they have their own constitutional status under the 73rd and 74th Amendments.
Parliament must approve President's rule within two months. It can then last six months at a time, up to three years. Notice that Bommai also made the proclamation open to judicial review.
read "not necessarily" slowly. Mark what must happen, then pick the rest.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Local self-government can be best explained as an exercise in
Answer (b) & explanation
Local self-government is democratic decentralisation (b). It moves power and decision-making down to elected bodies close to the people, such as panchayats and municipalities. The Balwantrai Mehta Committee (1957) used the term "democratic decentralisation" and recommended the three-tier panchayati raj system, which Rajasthan began first at Nagaur in 1959. Federalism (a) divides power between the Union and States. Administrative delegation (c) just passes tasks to officials, not to elected bodies. Direct democracy (d), where people decide directly, happens only in the gram sabha.
The 73rd and 74th Amendments (1992) gave these bodies constitutional status. Notice the Eleventh and Twelfth Schedules, with 29 and 18 subjects that can be handed down to them.
(c) delegation keeps control with the top. Decentralisation hands it to elected local bodies.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following is not a feature of Indian federalism?
Answer (d) & explanation
Indian federalism is not the result of an agreement among the units (d). Article 1 calls India a "Union of States". Ambedkar explained that the federation did not come from an agreement among States, so no State has the right to leave it. This is unlike the USA, where independent states agreed to form a union. The other options are real features. India has an independent judiciary to settle Centre–State disputes (a). Powers are divided through the Seventh Schedule (b). States have unequal representation in the Rajya Sabha according to population (c), unlike the US Senate.
K. C. Wheare called India "quasi-federal". Notice the Supreme Court's view in S. R. Bommai (1994): federalism is part of the basic structure.
(c) sounds unfederal, but unequal Rajya Sabha seats are in fact how India works. The question asks what is not a feature.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The Parliament of India acquires the power to legislate on any item in the State List in the national interest if a resolution to that effect is passed by the
Answer (d) & explanation
The Rajya Sabha decides, by two-thirds of members present and voting (d). Under Article 249, if the Rajya Sabha, as the House representing the States, resolves this way that Parliament should make laws on a State List subject in the national interest, Parliament can do so. The resolution lasts one year and can be renewed one year at a time. The law stops working six months after the resolution ends. The Lok Sabha options (a, b) are wrong, and so is (c), because a simple majority is not enough.
Notice the other routes for central law on State subjects: a national emergency (Art. 250), agreement of two or more States (Art. 252), and international treaties (Art. 253). Rajya Sabha has two similar special powers: Art. 249 and Art. 312, for new All-India Services.
the Lok Sabha options. Only the States' House can open a State subject to Parliament.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
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 (b) & explanation
Only statement 2 is correct (b). Statement 1 is wrong because, under Article 243F, a person can become a Panchayat member at 21 years of age, not 25. The State legislature may also set other disqualifications, and some States have two-child rules or minimum education rules, which the Supreme Court upheld in Rajbala (2015). Statement 2 is right because, under Article 243E, a Panchayat elected after early dissolution serves only for the remainder of the original five-year term. If less than six months remain, no election is needed.
The 73rd Amendment (1992) also requires elections within six months of dissolution, run by the State Election Commission. Notice the same rules for municipalities under Articles 243U and 243V.
25 is the age for MLAs and Lok Sabha members. Panchayats use 21.
Traps like this come back in new clothes. The PYQ Book collects all of them, topic by topic, so none catch you twice. Try the free sample
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The fundamental object of Panchayati Raj system is to ensure which among the following?
- 1. People's participation in development
- 2. Political accountability
- 3. Democratic decentralization
- 4. Financial mobilization
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (c) & explanation
Panchayati Raj exists to bring decisions closer to people (democratic decentralisation) and to involve them in planning and development (people's participation). So 1 and 3 are its fundamental objects (c). Political accountability (2) and financial mobilisation (4) may follow, but UPSC's key does not count them as the basic purpose.
The 73rd Amendment (1992) gave panchayats constitutional status, with a three-tier structure, reserved seats for women and SCs/STs, State Election Commissions and State Finance Commissions. The idea was first recommended by the Balwant Rai Mehta Committee (1957). Notice how it reflects Gandhi's vision of gram swaraj.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The Parliament can make any law for whole or any part of India for implementing international treaties
Answer (d) & explanation
Without the consent of any State is correct (d). Article 253 lets Parliament make any law for the whole or any part of India to implement treaties, agreements or conventions, or decisions of international conferences, even on State List subjects, and without the consent of any State. (a), (b) and (c) are wrong because no State consent is needed.
Notice the examples: the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and the Air Act, 1981 implemented the 1972 Stockholm conference decisions; the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 implemented the CBD. The Ninth Schedule and Article 246 work alongside this. In Maganbhai Patel (1969), the Supreme Court held that ceding territory needs a constitutional amendment, not just Article 253. Trap: federal subjects seem to need State consent, but treaty law overrides that.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The Government enacted the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act in 1996. Which one of the following is *not* identified as its objective?
Answer (c) & explanation
Creating autonomous regions is not a PESA objective (c). PESA (1996) extends Part IX on panchayats to Fifth Schedule areas, with changes that give tribal communities self-governance through the Gram Sabha (a), respect their customary and traditional rights over resources (b), and protect them from exploitation such as land alienation and money-lending (d). Option (c) is wrong: autonomous district councils belong to the Sixth Schedule areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, not PESA.
Notice the coverage: PESA applies to Fifth Schedule areas in ten states, including Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha; Jharkhand notified its PESA rules only in January 2026. The Bhuria Committee (1995) recommended the law. Trap: Fifth and Sixth Schedules are easily mixed up.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The distribution of powers between the Centre and the States in the Indian Constitution is based on the scheme provided in the
Answer (c) & explanation
The Government of India Act, 1935 is correct (c). The 1935 Act created a three-fold division of powers: Federal, Provincial and Concurrent Lists, and gave the provinces autonomy. The Constitution's Union, State and Concurrent Lists in the Seventh Schedule follow this scheme closely. (a) is wrong: Morley–Minto (1909) added separate electorates but did not divide powers. (b) is wrong: Montagu–Chelmsford (1919) separated central and provincial subjects and brought dyarchy, but not the three-list scheme. (d) is wrong: the 1947 Act ended British rule and created two dominions.
Notice the other borrowings from 1935: the office of Governor, emergency provisions, Public Service Commissions and the Federal Court. About 250 Articles drew on it. Trap: 1919 divided subjects, but 1935 gave the list scheme.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.