Which Schedule of the Constitution of India was inserted by the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act to deal with matters relating to urban local bodies (municipalities)?

Introduction / Context:
The Constitution of India contains several Schedules that list out detailed provisions on specific subjects. The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts were historic reforms that strengthened local self government in rural and urban areas. Many competitive exams test whether you know which Schedules were added by these amendments. This question focuses on the 74th Amendment and asks which Schedule it inserted to cover urban local bodies, that is, municipalities.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The amendment in question is the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act.
• This amendment deals mainly with urban local bodies (municipalities).
• The options are Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Schedules.
• We assume familiarity with the basic link between specific amendments and the Schedules they inserted.

Concept / Approach:
The 73rd Amendment Act deals with rural local bodies (Panchayats) and introduced the Eleventh Schedule, listing subjects that can be handled by Panchayats. The 74th Amendment Act deals with urban local bodies (Municipalities) and introduced the Twelfth Schedule, listing functions of municipalities. The Ninth Schedule is much older and relates to certain laws protected from judicial review, while the Tenth Schedule deals with anti defection provisions. Therefore, the Schedule added by the 74th Amendment for urban local government functions is the Twelfth Schedule.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall that the 73rd and 74th Amendments came into force in the early 1990s to strengthen local self government. Step 2: Remember that the 73rd Amendment is associated with Panchayati Raj Institutions and introduced the Eleventh Schedule. Step 3: Recognise that the 74th Amendment extended similar constitutional status to urban local bodies (municipalities). Step 4: Note that the Schedule detailing the functions of municipalities, such as urban planning, water supply, and sanitation, is the Twelfth Schedule. Step 5: Compare with other Schedules: Ninth relates to certain laws protected from courts, and Tenth relates to anti defection. Therefore, Twelfth Schedule must be the correct answer.

Verification / Alternative check:
A quick verification method is to pair the amendments with their Schedules: 73rd Amendment with Eleventh Schedule (Panchayats) and 74th Amendment with Twelfth Schedule (Municipalities). This pair is often presented together in polity textbooks and exam notes. Moreover, tables summarising Schedules clearly show that the Twelfth Schedule lists 18 functions of municipalities. Since the question clearly refers to the 74th Amendment and urban local bodies, seeing this pairing confirms that Twelfth Schedule is the correct choice.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Ninth Schedule is wrong because it was created much earlier by the First Amendment and relates to laws placed beyond the scope of judicial review, not local bodies. Tenth Schedule is incorrect because it is about anti defection provisions concerning Members of Parliament and State Legislatures. Eleventh Schedule is also wrong in this context because it was added by the 73rd Amendment and is linked to Panchayats, not to municipalities. None of these other Schedules matches the urban local government focus of the 74th Amendment.

Common Pitfalls:
A common pitfall is to confuse the Eleventh and Twelfth Schedules because they were added around the same time and both deal with local self government. Students sometimes remember only one of them and randomly guess. Another mistake is to focus solely on the amendment number and forget to check which Schedule number goes with it. To avoid confusion, memorise the pairings clearly: Eleventh Schedule with Panchayats (73rd Amendment) and Twelfth Schedule with Municipalities (74th Amendment). This mental link makes questions like this easy to answer correctly.

Final Answer:
The correct option is Twelfth Schedule, which was inserted by the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act to specify functions of urban local bodies (municipalities).