With reference to Panchayats which of the statements is/are correct ? 1) Fifty percent seats shall be reserved for the women of SC/ST categories. 2) Gram Sabha is a body consisting of all persons living in the village. 3) There will be a Panchayat at intermediate level. Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

Only statement 3 is correct, so the answer is D (3 only).

Statement 1 is wrong. Article 243D(3) reserves not less than one-third of seats for women, and this includes women of SC/ST categories. The 50% figure belongs to reservation for women in some state-level local body laws, not to the constitutional base. SC/ST seats under Article 243D(4) are proportional to their population.

Statement 2 is wrong. Under Article 243(b), the Gram Sabha consists of persons whose names appear in the electoral rolls for the village. Residence alone is not enough, so it is not 'all persons living in the village'.

Statement 3 is correct. Article 243B provides for Panchayats at village, intermediate and district levels. The only exception is for states with a population not exceeding 20 lakh, which need not have an intermediate tier.

The core concept is the three-tier Panchayati Raj structure and its reservation design under Part IX. This is a staple Polity topic and links to Mains questions on decentralisation and the working of Gram Sabhas.

Trap: Aspirants often mix up the 50% women reservation found in some state laws with the constitutional minimum of one-third, and treat the Gram Sabha as an adult-residents body instead of an electoral-roll body.