Local Self-Government, Public Policy and Rights Issues · UPPCS (Uttar Pradesh)

What the official syllabus says

Main Examination, General Studies V:
Local Self Government: Urban and Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Right related issues in UP.

UP Panchayat Raj Act, 1947 (gram panchayats and nyaya panchayats) and the UP Kshettra Panchayats and Zila Panchayats Adhiniyam, 1961
73rd Amendment (Part IX, Articles 243 to 243O) and the state laws amended to match it
Three tiers: gram panchayat (headed by the pradhan), kshetra panchayat at the block (pramukh), zila panchayat (adhyaksh); the gram sabha
Reservation for SCs, STs, OBCs and women (at least one-third, as the Constitution requires) and its rotation
Subjects in the Eleventh Schedule and how far they have been handed over in UP: functions, funds and functionaries
State Finance Commission (Article 243I) and central Finance Commission grants to rural bodies
Tools: Gram Panchayat Development Plan, e-Gram Swaraj, panchayat secretariats, Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan

74th Amendment (Part IXA) and the Twelfth Schedule
UP Municipalities Act, 1916 and the UP Municipal Corporations Act, 1959
Three kinds: municipal corporations (nagar nigam) in large cities, municipal councils (nagar palika parishad) and nagar panchayats
UP has 17 municipal corporations; mayors are directly elected
District Planning Committees and Metropolitan Planning Committees (Articles 243ZD and 243ZE)
Development authorities (such as those of Lucknow, Kanpur and Noida) alongside elected bodies, and the overlap between them
Urban missions: Smart Cities (ten UP cities), AMRUT, Swachh Bharat (Urban), PMAY (Urban)

What public policy is; the policy cycle: agenda, formulation, adoption, implementation, evaluation
Who makes policy in UP: the Cabinet, departments, the Chief Secretary, the legislature, courts, local bodies, civil society and industry
State sector policies (for example on industry, start-ups, tourism, electronics and the environment) and how they are notified and reviewed
Evidence-based policy, outcome budgeting, data dashboards, third-party evaluation
Gaps between policy and implementation; capacity, coordination and monitoring

UP State Human Rights Commission under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993
State commissions for women, for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, for backward classes, for minorities, and the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights
Rights of women: domestic violence, workplace harassment, safety in public places, property rights
Rights of children: Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009; child labour; the POCSO Act, 2012; juvenile justice
Scheduled Castes and Tribes: the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989; forest rights; manual scavenging
Persons with disabilities (Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016) and transgender persons (2019 Act; the state welfare board)
Custodial deaths and encounter killings as human rights concerns; the role of the National and State Human Rights Commissions
Freedom of religion and the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021
Legal aid through the State Legal Services Authority and Lok Adalats

Devolution to local levels, vulnerable sections and welfare institutions: General Studies II.
Elections to local bodies: Special State Criteria, Official Language, State Funds, Parties and Elections.