The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments were passed by the Parliament in December 1992.Through these amendments, local self-governance was introduced in rural and urban India. According to this Act, there will be three-tier system of panchayats at village, intermediate block/taluk/mandal and district levels except in States with population below 20 lakhs (Article 243B), seats at all levels to be filled by direct elections [Article 243C (b)] and one-third of the total number of seats to be reserved for women. One-third of the seats reserved for SCs and STs is also reserved for women. One-third offices of the chairpersons at all levels are reserved for women (Article 243D).