Mains GS Paper IIGovernance & Public PolicyHigh-yield

Local Governance — Panchayats, Municipalities, 73rd/74th Amendment, SFCs

स्थानीय शासन — पंचायत, नगरपालिका, 73वां/74वां संशोधन, SFC

Local Governance — Panchayats, Municipalities, 73rd/74th Amendment, SFCs is part of the UPSC Mains GS Paper II syllabus, under Governance & Public Policy. It appeared in Mains GS Paper II question papers in 4 of the 10 years from 2016 to 2025 (2016, 2019, 2021, 2024). It is marked high-yield: a topic worth revising more than once.

What should you study in Local Governance?

  • 73rd Amendment — Gram Sabha, 29 devolved functions (11th Schedule)
  • 74th Amendment — Municipalities, ward committees, 18 functions (12th Schedule)
  • Finance Commission & SFC — horizontal & vertical devolution
  • PESA 1996 — tribal self-governance; implementation gaps

How often is Local Governance asked in UPSC Mains?

Asked in 4 of 10 years, including 2 of the last 5. Highlighted years below are the ones it appeared in.

  1. 2016: asked
  2. 2017: not asked
  3. 2018: not asked
  4. 2019: asked
  5. 2020: not asked
  6. 2021: asked
  7. 2022: not asked
  8. 2023: not asked
  9. 2024: asked
  10. 2025: not asked

About the Mains GS Paper II paper

GS Paper II is a 250-mark descriptive Mains paper covering governance, the Constitution, polity, social justice and international relations. See all 40 Mains GS Paper II topics.

Related topics to study next

Syllabus: UPSC Civil Services notification. Topic breakdown, subtopics and PYQ years: GS Score UPSC Syllabus 2026-27 booklet. Sources & credits

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