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?

The correct answer is 2 only.

Let us analyze each statement carefully in the context of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992, which inserted Part IX into the Constitution of India, governing Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).

Statement 1: The minimum age prescribed for any person to be a member of Panchayat is 25 years.

This statement is incorrect. According to Article 243F of the Constitution of India, a person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a member of a Panchayat if he is so disqualified under any law for the time being in force for the purposes of elections to the Legislature of the State concerned. The Article further provides that no person shall be disqualified on the ground that he is less than 25 years of age, if he has attained the age of 21 years. This means the minimum age prescribed for a person to be a member of a Panchayat is 21 years, not 25 years. The age of 25 years is the minimum age required to contest elections to the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies (Vidhan Sabhas), which is often confused with the Panchayat requirement. Hence, Statement 1 is wrong.

Statement 2: A Panchayat reconstituted after premature dissolution continues only for the remainder period.

This statement is correct. This is directly provided under Article 243E(4) of the Constitution of India. It explicitly states that a Panchayat constituted upon the dissolution of a Panchayat before the expiration of its duration shall continue only for the remainder of the period for which the dissolved Panchayat would have continued, had it not been dissolved, provided that period is not less than six months. This is a very important constitutional safeguard to ensure that a fresh election after premature dissolution does not "reset" the five-year clock. The newly reconstituted Panchayat simply serves out the leftover term. Therefore, Statement 2 is correct.

Summary:

- Statement 1 is incorrect → Minimum age for Panchayat membership is 21 years (not 25 years) as per Article 243F.
- Statement 2 is correct → A reconstituted Panchayat after premature dissolution serves only the remainder of the original term as per Article 243E(4).

Thus, only Statement 2 is correct, making the answer "2 only".