Consider the following Committees on Panchayati Raj and arrange these in chronological order: I. Ashok Mehta Committee II. L.M. Singhvi Committee III. B.R. Mehta Committee IV. G.K.V. Rao Committee Select the correct answer from the codes given below. Codes:

The correct order is III, I, IV, II, so option B is right. Here is the timeline.

• B.R. Mehta Committee (1957), III: first to recommend the three-tier structure, with Zila Parishad at district level, Panchayat Samiti at block level and Gram Panchayat at village level.
• Ashok Mehta Committee (1978), I: recommended a two-tier system (Zila Parishad and Mandal Panchayat), mandatory elections and a role for political parties.
• G.K.V. Rao Committee (1985), IV: on rural development administration, recommended the Zila Parishad as the key body and a District Development Commissioner.
• L.M. Singhvi Committee (1986), II: recommended constitutional status for Panchayati Raj, which led to the 73rd Amendment in 1992.

Core concept: the evolution of Panchayati Raj before constitutional recognition. Mains angle: why the 73rd Amendment drew on these reports, and how the 11th Schedule and State Finance Commissions fit into the framework.

Trap: memorising only the Balwantrai Mehta and Singhvi names and guessing the middle two. Ashok Mehta (1978) comes before G.K.V. Rao (1985), and Singhvi (1986) is the last.