NCERT Solutions Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy part 2 Local Government in Rural Areas

F R E E S T U D Y M AT E R I A L F O R E V E R Y S T U D E N T

CLASS 6 · SOCIAL SCIENCE

NCERT Solutions

Chapter 11: Grassroots
Democracy – Part 2: Local
Government in Rural Areas

NCERT Textbook — Exploring Society: India And Beyond

BOOK PAGES SECTIONS QUESTIONS MEDIUM

163 – 172 9 22 English

Solutions, notes, sample papers & more at 34 pages

Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

CLASS 6 · SOCIAL SCIENCE · EXPLORING SOCIETY: INDIA AND BEYOND

NCERT Solutions — Chapter 11: Grassroots Democracy
– Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas
Complete NCERT Solutions for Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local
Government in Rural Areas from the NCERT textbook Exploring Society: India and Beyond. Every question of
the chapter is answered — The Big Questions, both THINK ABOUT IT boxes, both LET’S EXPLORE boxes, the
in-text questions on pages 163–164 and 171, Before we move on … and all four Questions, activities and
projects — with the three-tier pyramid of Fig. 11.1 on page 164 read off the printed page, and with fresh
diagrams and tables showing the three tiers, who sits in each body, who elects whom, and where the money
comes from.

TEXTBOOK BOOK PAGES

Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Class 6) 163 – 172

SECTIONS QUESTIONS

9 22

MEDIUM

English

The Big Questions — Page 163
Chapter opening

THE BIG QUESTIONS

Q1 What are Panchayati Raj institutions?

ANSWER

They are the elected bodies of local self-government in rural India. The chapter’s own
words, on page 164:

“Like every village in India, the Lakshmanpur people have a system of local government

called

‘Panchayat’, which refers to a village council… That is why the Panchayat system,

also known as Panchayati Raj, is a form of self-government.”

“Self-government” is the key phrase. The people of a village are not simply given a road or a
school by somebody far away — they meet, decide, elect their own council, and run these things
themselves.

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Panchayati Raj is not one body but a three-tier system. Fig. 11.1 on page 164 draws it as a
pyramid, and the text explains it “from bottom up — the village, the block and the district”.

The three tiers of the Panchayati Raj system (Fig. 11.1, page 164)

DISTRICT LEVEL
covers one whole
district Zila Parishad /
District Panchayat

BLOCK LEVEL
covers one block —
many villages Panchayat Samiti / Block Panchayat /
Mandal Parishad

VILLAGE LEVEL
covers one village or a
few neighbouring ones Gram Panchayat /
Village Parishad

not elected — it is GRAM SABHA
all the voters every adult of the village who is enrolled as a voter

The pyramid of Fig. 11.1, with the Gram Sabha drawn in below it — the body of all voters on which the
whole structure stands.

So, at a glance:

TIER NAME OF THE BODY AREA IT COVERS

Village Gram Panchayat, also called Village Parishad One village, or a group of small
(base) neighbouring villages

Block Panchayat Samiti, also called Block Panchayat or A block — a group of villages inside a
(middle) Mandal Parishad district

District (top) Zila Parishad, also called District Panchayat The whole district

Why the same body has different names: the chapter explains it on page 170 —
“the structure and functions of the Panchayati Raj institutions differ a little across
States. This is because the States have authority over those institutions.” So a block
body is a Panchayat Samiti in Maharashtra and Rajasthan, a Mandal Parishad in
Andhra Pradesh, a Block Panchayat elsewhere. The names change; the idea does
not.

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Did you know? Panchayats existed in India for centuries, but they got their present
shape from the 73rd Constitutional Amendment, passed in 1992 and in force from
24 April 1993 — which is why 24 April is observed as National Panchayati Raj Day.
It added a whole new Part IX to the Constitution, made the three-tier system
compulsory in States with more than 20 lakh people, fixed a five-year term for every
Panchayat, and required elections to be held by an independent State Election
Commission.

Q2 What are their functions?

ANSWER

Almost everything that touches daily life in a village. The chapter puts it in one sentence on
page 165: “Together, these institutions’ responsibilities cover almost all aspects of life in the
district, from agriculture, housing, maintenance of roads, management of water resources,
education, health care and social welfare to cultural activities.”
The clearest way to learn this is body by body — who is in it, and what it does.

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

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BODY WHO IS IN IT WHAT IT DOES

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Its own income
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Money from the State Grants, and a share of the State’s own taxes. How much is worked out on the advice of a State

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Tip for the exam: if the question says “functions”, do not simply list the tiers. Give
one clear function of each tier — Gram Panchayat: village-level works and services;
Panchayat Samiti: coordination between village and district; Zila Parishad: district-
level planning and the flow of funds.

Q3 Why are they important in governance and democracy?

ANSWER

Because they put decision-making within walking distance of the people it affects. That is
the chapter’s answer, in the sentence that opens the section on page 164: Panchayats “bring
governance closer to the people, making it possible for them to actively participate in decision-
making processes”.
Five reasons, each of which the chapter supports:

They answer the question the chapter began with. Lakshmanpur’s problems are a broken
road, water for the fields, the primary school. “Can people run to the State or the national
capital for every such issue?” Obviously not — so there must be a government here, in the
village.
They are self-government, not administration from above. The villagers elect the council,
and can question it in the Gram Sabha. Panchayats “play a vital role in addressing local
issues, promoting development and ensuring that the benefits of government schemes
reach the grassroots level”.
They combine both kinds of democracy at once. The chapter’s own summary says
democracy here “works both through direct participation of people and through their
elected representatives”. The Gram Sabha is direct democracy — every voter is a member.
The Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad are representative democracy.
They bring in people who are usually not heard. “At all the three levels, special rules have
been made so that disadvantaged sections of the population can make their needs and
problems heard”, plus “a provision for reserving one-third of the seats for women”. The three
Sarpanchs on page 166 show what this makes possible — Dnyaneshwar Kamble, a
transgender person elected in Tarangfal; Vandana Bahadur Maida of the Bhil community, the
first woman Sarpanch of Khankhandvi; Popatrao Baguji Pawar, who turned Hiware Bazar
green. Even children get a hearing, through Bal Sabhas and Bal Panchayats.
They are a school of democracy. A person learns how a budget is discussed, how a plan is
argued for, and how a leader is held to account — in a room they can walk to. That is exactly
what ‘grassroots democracy’, the title of these three chapters, means.

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Why the chapter opens with Gandhi’s line: “The real India lives in its villages.”
About two-thirds of India’s 1.4 billion people live in rural areas, in roughly 600,000
villages. A democracy that works only in Delhi and the State capitals would leave out
most Indians for most of the year. Panchayati Raj is how democracy reaches them
every day, and not only at election time.

In-text Questions — Pages 163–164
Introduction, and the trip to Lakshmanpur

Q1 Our population has crossed 1.4 billion, almost two-thirds of which live in rural areas.
How do we govern ourselves in this complex society?

ANSWER

By dividing the work of government — first among three organs, then among three levels,
and at the bottom by handing the local level back to the local people.
Start with the size of the problem, as the book states it on page 163:

INDIA THE FIGURE THE CHAPTER GIVES

Villages about 600,000

Towns 8,000

Cities over 4,000

Population crossed 1.4 billion, almost two-thirds of it rural

No single office could take decisions for all of that. So the work is split:

Among three organs — legislature, executive and judiciary, which you studied in Chapter
10.
Among three levels — Central, State and local, the pyramid of Fig. 10.4.
And within the local level, again among three tiers — village, block and district, which is
what this chapter is about.

The rule behind the whole design is simple: a matter should be settled at the smallest level that
can settle it. A blocked drain is for the Gram Panchayat, a road joining ten villages for the
Panchayat Samiti, a district hospital for the Zila Parishad, the police for the State, and defence or
currency for the Centre.

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Careful with the number: 1.4 billion is 140 crore in the Indian system. Two-thirds of
that is roughly 93 crore people living in rural areas — which is why a chapter on
rural local government comes before the one on towns and cities.

Q2 What are the needs of this village — maybe water for the fields, repairing the main
road if it got damaged by heavy rains, or maintaining the village’s primary school?

ANSWER

All three, and several more — and every one of them is a job for the Panchayati Raj
institutions. Lakshmanpur has 200 houses, about 700 people, mostly farmers who cultivate
their land and rear cows or goats.

NEED OF THE WHY IT ARISES IN WHICH TIER DEALS WITH IT
VILLAGE LAKSHMANPUR

Water for the Most people are farmers; the harvest Gram Panchayat for village ponds, wells and small
fields depends on irrigation channels; Panchayat Samiti or Zila Parishad for a
canal or a watershed scheme

Drinking water 200 households need safe water, Gram Panchayat
and cleanliness drains and waste disposal

Repair of the main Heavy rain in the Himalayan foothills Gram Panchayat for village lanes; Panchayat Samiti
road damages roads every year and Zila Parishad for the connecting road, often under
the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana

Maintaining the The children of 200 houses must have Gram Panchayat — like Sangkhu Radhu Khandu in
primary school a usable building and mid-day meals Sikkim, which built compound walls and school
kitchens

Health care A sub-centre, immunisation, a nurse Gram Panchayat with the block health staff; the Zila
or ASHA worker Parishad for the bigger hospital

Work for those “A few younger villagers have Gram Panchayat, through rural employment schemes
who might migrate migrated to the city in search of jobs”

Care of cattle and People “rear cows or goats”, so Gram Panchayat, with the block
common land grazing land and a veterinary service
matter

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Why the chapter lists needs before it explains institutions: it wants you to feel
why a village council is necessary before you learn what it is called. Notice that not
one of these needs can wait for a decision from Delhi, and not one of them is the
same in every village — which is exactly the argument for local self-government.

Q3 How will the villagers take decisions about such matters that affect their daily
lives? And where will they get the resources to meet those needs?

ANSWER

They decide in the Gram Sabha and through the Gram Panchayat they elect; and the
money comes partly from their own village and partly from the State and the Centre.
How the decision is taken — four steps:

STEP WHAT HAPPENS

1. The Gram Sabha Every adult voter of the village may attend. “In the Gram Sabha, women and men discuss all
meets matters related to their area and take decisions”

2. The Gram The Gram Sabha directly elects the members of the Gram Panchayat, and the Panchayat has
Panchayat is elected a head — the Sarpanch or Pradhan

3. A plan is made The Panchayat prepares a development plan — this road, that hand pump, this school wall
— and the Gram Sabha approves it

4. It goes up the tiers if The Panchayat Samiti collects the plans of all Gram Panchayats and puts them together for
it is too big the district or State level, “which facilitates the allotment of funds”

Where the resources come from:

The village’s own income — small taxes and fees on houses, water, shops and markets, and
rent from Panchayat land or ponds.
Grants and a share of taxes from the State government, worked out on the advice of the
State Finance Commission.
Grants from the Central government, recommended by the Finance Commission and
given to every Panchayat in the country.
Scheme money that comes tied to a purpose — the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana for
all-weather roads, and employment, sanitation and drinking-water missions.
The villagers’ own labour and contributions. Hiware Bazar on page 166 is the chapter’s
proof: “with the collaboration of the villagers”, rainwater harvesting, watershed conservation
and lakhs of trees turned a drought-hit village green.

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

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Check it yourself: ask at home when the last Gram Sabha or ward meeting was held

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Think about what running to the capital would actually mean for a family in Lakshmanpur:

Distance and cost. The State capital may be a day away and the national capital much
further. A farmer would lose days of work and money to report a broken hand pump.
Numbers. There are about 600,000 villages. If each sent even one complaint a month, no
capital could deal with them.
Knowledge. An officer in a distant capital does not know which culvert washes away every
monsoon, or which hamlet has no drinking water. The villagers do.
Speed. A damaged road before the sowing season must be repaired now, not after months
of files moving up and down.

So the answer is to bring the government to the village instead: “Panchayats bring governance
closer to the people, making it possible for them to actively participate in decision-making
processes.” Big matters still go upward — through the Panchayat Samiti to the Zila Parishad,
and from there to the State — but the villagers do not have to travel; their plans do.

One line for revision: local problems need local decisions — that is the whole case
for Panchayati Raj.

THINK ABOUT IT — Page 167
The Patwari and the old land maps

THINK ABOUT IT

Q1 How do you think can these old maps be helpful for us? Can they tell us something
about the past and the present?

ANSWER

Yes — an old land map is a record and a piece of history at the same time. The Patwari
keeps it because it settles today’s questions; a historian or a geographer values it because it
shows yesterday’s village.

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

HOW THE MAP HELPS TODAY WHAT THE SAME MAP TELLS US ABOUT
THE PAST

Settles land disputes. Which field is whose, and where Who owned land then. How holdings were divided
exactly the boundary runs among families over generations

Proves ownership for a loan, a sale, a court case, or How the village grew. Where the houses stood, and how
compensation when land is taken for a road far the settlement has since spread

Protects common property — the pond, the grazing What has been lost. A pond or a grove marked on the old
ground, the cremation ground, the school land, the path to map but missing today is visible proof of a change
the fields

Helps planning. Where a new road, drain, well or building How water moved. Old streams, tanks and channels —
can go without taking anyone’s field often the best guide to reviving them

Guides revenue and relief. Which plots are irrigated, What was grown, and what the place was called. Old
which are barren, whose crop was damaged field names and crop entries preserve local language and
history

Comparing an old map with a new one is the most useful thing of all. Put a hundred-year-
old village map next to a present-day satellite image and you can see, in one glance, how much
land has gone under houses, whether the pond has shrunk, whether the trees along the road
survive, and where the village is likely to grow next. That comparison is a small piece of research
any class can do.

Why these maps matter so much in India: village land records here are unusually
old and unusually detailed — plot by plot, name by name. They are one of the few
kinds of document that record ordinary people, not kings. A farming family’s history
may exist nowhere else in writing.

Try this: visit the Panchayat office and ask to see the village map, or look up your
village or town on the State’s online land-records portal. Then draw your own sketch
map of your locality — the school, the pond, the temple or mosque, the fields, the
bus stop. In fifty years it will be an ‘old map’ too.

LET’S EXPLORE — Page 169

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Child-Friendly Panchayat Initiative — a Bal Panchayat role play

LET’S EXPLORE

Q1 As a class activity, let four or five students form a Bal Panchayat and the rest of the
class imagine they are the villagers. What issues will the Gram Sabha discuss? What
challenges could it encounter? What solutions will it propose?

ANSWER

How to run the activity. Four or five students sit in front as the Bal Panchayat, with one as the
Sarpanch and one as the Secretary who keeps the minutes. The rest of the class sits as the Gram
Sabha. Anyone from the Gram Sabha may raise an issue; the Panchayat listens, discusses, and
proposes a solution; a show of hands decides. Keep it to about 30 minutes and let the Secretary
read out the decisions at the end.
Issues the Gram Sabha is likely to discuss — the chapter itself suggests most of them:

Children out of school. The chapter says Maharashtra’s Bal Panchayats “have worked to
eliminate child labour and child marriage” and “have brought many children back to school”.
Child marriage, especially of girls “who should be studying”.
Safety. A school without a compound wall, an unlit path, a road with fast traffic — Sangkhu
Radhu Khandu Gram Panchayat in Sikkim built compound walls for exactly this reason.
Mid-day meals and clean kitchens — the same Sikkim Panchayat built school kitchens so
that meals were hygienically cooked.
Drinking water and toilets in the school, and whether girls stay away because there is no
usable toilet.
A playground, a library, or lights so that children can study in the evening.
Cleanliness — plastic waste, an open drain, a mosquito-breeding pond.

Challenges the Bal Panchayat could meet:

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

CHALLENGE WHY IT HAPPENS

Not being taken seriously Some adults feel children are too young to have an opinion on village matters

Families who need the A family in difficulty may send a child to work; simply telling them to stop is not
child’s earnings enough

Custom and pressure Child marriage is often defended as ‘what we have always done’ — Vandana Bahadur
Maida had to “defy patriarchal norms” to be heard at all

No money and no power to A Bal Panchayat can propose but not sanction; the Gram Panchayat holds the funds
spend it

Disagreement inside the Bal Members may want different things first — a playground or a library
Panchayat

Shyness The children who most need to speak — often girls, or the poorest — speak least

Solutions the Bal Panchayat can propose — each one small, specific and checkable:

A list, not a complaint. Make a written list of children who have left school, with names and
reasons, and give it to the Gram Panchayat.
Visit the parents. Exactly what the chapter describes: “The Bal Panchayat members get
together to convince parents and other adults to send their wards back to school.”
Ask for one concrete work in the next Gram Panchayat plan — a compound wall, a school
toilet, a hand pump, one street light on the school path.
A fixed slot in the Gram Sabha. Request that ten minutes of every Gram Sabha meeting be
kept for the Bal Panchayat to report.
A cleanliness day once a month, run by the children themselves, with the Panchayat
providing bins.
Review at the next meeting. Read out what was promised last time and what actually
happened.

Sample decision for the Secretary’s minutes: “The Bal Sabha met on 12 August.
Six children of Ward 3 have stopped attending school. The Bal Panchayat will visit
their homes with two Gram Panchayat members before the next meeting. The Bal
Panchayat also requests the Gram Panchayat to repair the school toilet before the
rains. Progress will be reported at the next Bal Sabha.” Short, dated, and easy to
check — that is what makes a proposal work.

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REASON WHAT IT MEANS IN A VILLAGE

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

rules working: Dnyaneshwar Kamble, a transgender person, elected Sarpanch of Tarangfal in
Solapur district; Vandana Bahadur Maida of the Bhil community, the first woman Sarpanch of
Khankhandvi.

Why this is not unfair to anybody: reservation of seats does not take a service
away from other villagers. It changes who sits in the room when decisions are taken. A
Gram Panchayat with women members is likelier to discuss drinking water, school
toilets and health; one with SC and ST members is likelier to notice a hamlet whose
lane was never paved. Better decisions come from a fuller picture.

Did you know? Under the 73rd Amendment, seats in Panchayats are reserved for
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in proportion to their population in that
area, and not less than one-third of all seats — and of the posts of Sarpanch and
chairperson — are reserved for women. Many States have since raised the share for
women to one-half. Reserved seats are also rotated between different wards from
one election to the next, so no ward is reserved for ever.

LET’S EXPLORE — Page 170
Comparing the Central and Panchayat levels, and meeting Panchayat members

LET’S EXPLORE

Q1 What similarities and differences do you notice between the governance system at
the Central level and at the Panchayat level? (Hint: refer back to Chapter 10 if
required.)

ANSWER

The design is the same; the scale and the closeness are completely different.
Similarities — the same democratic machinery, shrunk to the size of a village:

Representatives are elected by the people at both levels — MPs to the Lok Sabha,
members to the Gram Panchayat.
Decisions are taken by discussion and by majority, in an assembly of those
representatives.
There is a head. The Prime Minister leads the Council of Ministers; the Sarpanch or Pradhan
heads the Gram Panchayat.
Elected members are helped by permanent officials. The Central government has its
secretaries and departments; the Gram Panchayat has its Panchayat Secretary and the
Patwari.
Both levy taxes, receive funds, make a budget and spend it on public purposes.

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Both must face the voters again after a fixed term of five years, and both have reserved
seats so that everyone is represented.

Differences:

POINT CENTRAL LEVEL PANCHAYAT LEVEL

Area covered The whole country — 1.4 billion One village, block or district
people

Subjects Defence, foreign affairs, currency, Water, village roads, sanitation, the primary school, local
railways, national policies development

Kind of Purely representative — 1.4 billion Both — the Gram Sabha is direct democracy; the
democracy people cannot meet Panchayat is representative

Three organs Legislature, executive and judiciary, Mainly executive work. A Panchayat does not make laws
kept separate and does not run courts

Who has Powers come directly from the “The States have authority over those institutions”, so
authority over it Constitution structure and functions “differ a little across States”

Distance from the You may never meet your MP You can meet the Sarpanch the same evening, and speak
citizen in the Gram Sabha yourself

Money Raises and spends very large Small own income; depends largely on grants from the
revenues of its own State and the Centre

Who elects whom in the Panchayati Raj system

GRAM SABHA elects GRAM PANCHAYAT
all adults of the village who are its members, and the Sarpanch or
enrolled as voters Pradhan as its head

Voters of the whole block elects PANCHAYAT SAMITI
elected members, plus Sarpanchs and
(all the villages in it)
local MLAs as other members

Voters of the whole district elects ZILA PARISHAD
elected members, plus Samiti heads
(all the blocks in it)
and MLAs and MPs of the district

At each tier the people themselves elect the members; some seats are then filled by people who
already hold another office, such as Sarpanchs and MLAs.

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

The one sentence that captures it: the Centre and the Panchayat are the same
democracy at two different distances. At the Centre you elect somebody to speak for
you; in the Gram Sabha you can speak for yourself. That is why these chapters are
called Grassroots Democracy.

Q2 If you get an opportunity to meet a few Panchayat members, what questions would
you like to ask them? Discuss in small groups to create a questionnaire. Meet some
Gram Panchayat members or invite them to your school. Ask them the questions in
your questionnaire and write a short report.

ANSWER

Method first. Divide into groups of four. Each group takes one theme so the questions do not
repeat — (a) the person and the election, (b) the work of the Panchayat, (c) money, (d) problems
and plans. Write 5–6 questions per theme, keep them short and open (never “yes/no”), and fix
who will ask, who will write and who will thank the guest. Take permission from your teacher,
write a polite invitation letter, and carry a notebook rather than only a phone.
A ready questionnaire you can adapt:

THEME QUESTIONS TO ASK

The person and How did you decide to stand for election? How many members does our Gram Panchayat have, and
the election how many wards? Is your seat a reserved seat? How long is your term? What did you promise the
voters?

The work of the How often does the Gram Panchayat meet, and how often does the Gram Sabha? How many people
Panchayat usually attend? How is a decision taken when members disagree? What does the Panchayat
Secretary do? Which work of the last five years are you most satisfied with?

Money Where does the Panchayat’s money come from? Roughly how much did it receive last year, and on
what was the largest amount spent? Which taxes or fees do we pay to the Panchayat? Where can a
villager see the accounts?

Problems and What is the biggest problem of our village today? What stops it from being solved? How do you
plans take up a matter with the Panchayat Samiti or the Zila Parishad? What is planned for the coming
year? How can students help?

How to write the report — one page is enough, in five parts:

1. Heading and facts: name of the Gram Panchayat, date of the meeting, who was interviewed
and their post.
2. Why we did it — two lines.
3. What we asked and what we learnt — the main answers, grouped by theme, not question
by question.

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

4. What surprised us — one or two things you did not expect.
5. What we think should be done next, and a line of thanks.

Sample opening of a report: “On 12 August, five students of Class 6 met Smt.
Kamla Devi, member of Ward 3 of our Gram Panchayat, in the school library. She told
us that the Panchayat has nine members and meets every month, and that the Gram
Sabha met twice last year. The largest amount spent last year was on the drinking-
water pipeline in the eastern hamlet…” Notice how it names people, numbers and
dates. A report without those is only an opinion.

Two rules for the interview: first, listen — do not argue with the guest, and note
the exact words for anything important. Second, keep it about institutions and
processes: how decisions are taken, how money moves, what the difficulties are. Do
not turn it into a discussion about parties or personalities.

In-text Questions — Page 171
Kauṭilya’s Arthaśhāstra — the village-to-capital ladder

Q1 In today’s language, what are the names we would give these four categories?

ANSWER

They correspond almost exactly to the administrative units India still uses. Kauṭilya’s rule,
quoted on page 171, is:

a sangrahaṇa for every 10 villages · a kārvaṭika for every 100 villages

a droṇamukha for every 400 villages · a sthānīya for every 800 villages

Page 18 of 34

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KAUṬILYA’S NUMBER OF WHAT THE TEXT TODAY’S NAME

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

The village was already the basic unit. Indian administration has counted upward from the
village for more than two thousand years — and Fig. 11.1 still puts the village at the base.

What is genuinely new in our system is worth being just as clear about:

KAUṬILYA’S PANCHAYATI RAJ TODAY
STRUCTURE

Who holds Officials appointed by the Members elected by the people
office king

Whom they Upward, to the king Downward, to the Gram Sabha and the voters
answer to

Who may take A small trained group Every adult voter, with seats reserved for women and
part disadvantaged sections

Purpose To collect revenue and hold Self-government — “to enable villagers to take an active part in
the state together the management and development of their villages”

What the chapter wants you to take from this box: good ideas about organising a
country are old, and India has thought about them for a very long time. But an old
idea is not automatically the right one — it is the addition of elections, participation
and reservation that turned an administrative ladder into a democracy.

Before we move on … — Page 171
The chapter in three points

BEFORE WE MOVE ON …

Q1 The local government in rural areas is organised into a three-tier system.

ANSWER

Three tiers, one system, drawn as a pyramid in Fig. 11.1 on page 164. The chapter reads it
“from bottom up — the village, the block and the district”, and calls it a “three-tier system”.

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

TIER BODY ITS MAIN WORK

Village Gram Panchayat / Village Parishad, Everything inside the village — water, lanes, drains, street lights,
with the Gram Sabha behind it the school building, sanitation

Block Panchayat Samiti / Block Panchayat / Coordination — “the link between the Gram Panchayat and the
Mandal Parishad Zila Parishad”; collects and combines village plans

District Zila Parishad / District Panchayat District-level planning and supervision; presents plans at the
district or State level, which helps funds to be allotted

Together their responsibilities “cover almost all aspects of life in the district, from agriculture,
housing, maintenance of roads, management of water resources, education, health care and
social welfare to cultural activities”. And remember the last paragraph on page 170 — the
structure “differs a little across States”, because the States have authority over these institutions.

One line for revision: Gram Panchayat → Panchayat Samiti → Zila Parishad, from
the village upward. Learn it in that order, the way the pyramid is built.

Q2 Democracy in the Panchayati Raj system works both through direct participation of
people and through their elected representatives.

ANSWER

This is the point that makes Panchayati Raj different from every level above it — and it is
worth being exact about which part is which.

DIRECT PARTICIPATION THROUGH ELECTED
REPRESENTATIVES

Where you The Gram Sabha — “a group of adults from a village (or The Gram Panchayat, the Panchayat
see it group of neighbouring villages) who are enrolled as Samiti and the Zila Parishad
voters”; also Bal Sabhas for children

Who takes Every registered voter, women and men — no election Only the elected members
part needed to become a member

What “Women and men discuss all matters related to their area The plans are prepared and carried out,
happens and take decisions”; the Panchayat’s plans and accounts and works are sanctioned and supervised
there are examined

Why it is A village is small enough for everyone to gather in one A block or district is far too large for
possible place everyone to gather

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Compare this with Chapter 10, where India as a whole was described as a representative
democracy because “can all people actually rule? It is clearly not possible.” In a village of 700
people, it is possible — so the village keeps a piece of direct democracy that no larger level can
have.

Why both are needed, not one: a Gram Sabha alone could not do the daily work —
someone must sign the papers, watch the mason and keep the accounts, and that is
the elected Panchayat. An elected Panchayat alone could drift away from the people
— so the Gram Sabha exists to question it. The two hold each other up.

Q3 The Panchayati Raj institutions give people in rural areas a measure of self-
governance, so they may manage their issues and collaborate in development
plans.

ANSWER

‘Self-governance’ is the whole claim of the chapter, and the phrase ‘a measure of’ is an
honest qualification. The book had already said on page 164 that the Panchayat system “is a
form of self-government”, and on page 170 that the objective is “to enable villagers to take an
active part in the management and development of their villages and the local area”.
What villagers can manage themselves:

Decide. The Gram Sabha discusses and decides; the Gram Panchayat is elected by it.
Plan. The village prepares its own development plan, which the Panchayat Samiti carries
upward.
Spend. Panchayat funds are used on works the village itself has chosen.
Collaborate. Hiware Bazar on page 166 is the model — rainwater harvesting, watershed
conservation and lakhs of trees, achieved “with the collaboration of the villagers”, turning a
drought-hit village green in a few years.
Include. Reserved seats bring in women and disadvantaged sections; Bal Panchayats bring
in children.

Why “a measure of”, and not complete self-rule:

LIMIT THE CHAPTER’S OWN EVIDENCE

A Panchayat works within the “The States have authority over those institutions”, so structure and functions
State’s law differ across States

Much of the money comes from Funds are allotted for projects and schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Gram
above Sadak Yojana

Some subjects are not local at all Police, courts, defence and currency belong to the State or the Centre

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

One line for revision: self-governance means the villagers decide and do — within
the law, and with help from above.

Questions, activities and projects — Page 171
End-of-chapter exercise

Q1 Test yourself — without looking at the text above, can you name the three tiers of
the Panchayati Raj system? What are the key functions of each of the three tiers?

ANSWER

The three tiers, bottom up:

1. Village level — Gram Panchayat (also called Village Parishad)

2. Block level — Panchayat Samiti (also called Block Panchayat or Mandal Parishad)

3. District level — Zila Parishad (also called District Panchayat)

The key functions of each:

Page 23 of 34

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Tip for the exam: if the question says “name the three tiers”, give the three body
names and the level each belongs to. If it says “functions”, give at least three specific
works for each tier — not the vague phrase “does development work”.

Q2 Write a letter to the Sarpanch regarding the issue of plastic bags lying on the
roadside in the village.

ANSWER

What a good letter must contain — five things, in this order: where exactly the problem is,
what harm it is doing, what you are asking for, what you and other students are willing to do,
and a polite close. Keep it to one page, use a formal tone, and give a date.
Sample answer:

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

To

The Sarpanch,

Gram Panchayat Lakshmanpur,
District ——————

Date: 12 August 20——

Subject: Request to remove plastic bags lying along the village road and to prevent

further littering

Respected Madam/Sir,

I am a student of Class 6 in the village primary school. I wish to draw your kind attention to

the plastic bags and other plastic waste lying on both sides of the main road, particularly near

the bus stop, the weekly market and the culvert close to the school.

This is causing several problems in our village. The bags block the drain near the culvert, so

dirty water collects on the road after rain and mosquitoes breed in it. Cows and goats often

swallow the plastic while grazing and fall ill. Some villagers burn the heaps, and the smoke

makes it difficult for children to breathe. The road that visitors first see also looks very

untidy.

I therefore request the Gram Panchayat to kindly consider the following:

1. Arrange for the plastic already lying there to be collected and disposed of safely.

2. Place covered bins at the bus stop, the market and near the school, and arrange for them to

be emptied regularly.

3. Request the shopkeepers of the weekly market to use cloth or paper bags.

4. Place a board asking people not to throw waste on the roadside.

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

The students of our school are willing to help. We can hold a cleanliness drive on a Saturday,

make posters for the market, and explain to our families why plastic should not be thrown

away or burnt. We would also be grateful if this matter could be placed before the next Gram

Sabha meeting.

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

——————————

Class 6, Government Primary School, Lakshmanpur

Why the letter goes to the Sarpanch: cleanliness and waste inside the village are
the work of the Gram Panchayat, and the Sarpanch is its head. The letter does not
demand — it explains the harm, suggests practical steps and offers help, which is
what makes a Panchayat likely to act.

Tip: in the exam, keep the format — To, Subject, salutation, three short paragraphs
(problem, effects, request), offer of help, and a formal close. Marks are usually given
for format as well as content.

Q3 In your view, what type of person should be a Gram Panchayat member?

ANSWER

Someone the whole village can approach, who does the work and can be trusted with
money. The three Sarpanchs on page 166 of the chapter show what such a person looks like in
practice, so build the answer on them rather than on a list of adjectives.

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

QUALITY WHY IT MATTERS IN A GRAM THE CHAPTER’S OWN EXAMPLE
PANCHAYAT

Honest Public money passes through the Panchayat. A Every one of the three Sarpanchs on page
member must be able to show the accounts to the 166 is remembered for work done, not
Gram Sabha without fear position held

Willing to serve The post brings work rather than comfort — Dnyaneshwar Kamble’s motto, lok seva,
meetings, inspections, complaints at all hours gram seva — “Service to the village is
service to the public”

Fair to everyone The hand pump must go where the need is, not The special rules so that “disadvantaged
where the member’s relatives live. Every hamlet, sections of the population can make their
caste and family must be treated alike needs and problems heard”

A good listener A member must hear women, the elderly, landless Vandana Bahadur Maida “convinced
families and children, not only those who speak women in the village to attend the Sabha
loudest meetings”

Courageous Some right decisions are unpopular — stopping a Vandana “defied patriarchal norms to
child marriage, clearing an encroachment on become the first female Sarpanch of her
common land village”

Able to take A Panchayat cannot do much alone; big change Hiware Bazar became green “with the
people along needs the whole village to join in collaboration of the villagers”

Thinking of the Water, trees and schools show results years later, Popatrao Baguji Pawar’s watershed work,
long term not before the next election awarded the Padma Shri in 2020

Able to read Estimates, muster rolls and scheme guidelines The Panchayat Secretary keeps the records
papers and have to be checked. It need not be high education, — the member must still understand them
accounts but it does need care

What should not decide it: being rich, owning much land, belonging to a large family or a
particular caste, or simply being the loudest voice in the village. And note who is not excluded —
the chapter’s own examples are a transgender person, a woman from a Bhil (tribal) community,
and an ordinary villager. Any adult of the village on the voters’ list can be a member.

Sample answer in three sentences, if you need a short one: “In my view a Gram
Panchayat member should be honest, willing to serve and fair to every family in the
village. He or she should listen carefully to women, poorer families and children, and
have the courage to take a right decision even when it is unpopular. Dnyaneshwar
Kamble, Vandana Bahadur Maida and Popatrao Pawar in our chapter are examples
of such members.”

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co m
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Let us suppose that you study in a village school. The school is located next to a
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Q4

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highway and students find it difficult to cross the road when they come to school or
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INSTITUTION WHAT IT CAN DO HERE

Gram Sabha Raise the matter in the meeting so that it becomes a village demand and not just a school
complaint. A resolution of the Gram Sabha carries weight

Gram Panchayat (and The first stop. It can put up warning boards and street lights, arrange a volunteer, shift the
the Sarpanch) gate, and write formally to the Panchayat Samiti and the highway authority

School Management Works with the Panchayat, changes the closing arrangement, and organises road-safety
Committee training for students

Panchayat Samiti Takes up what one village cannot manage — this is exactly the tier that is “the link between
(block level) the Gram Panchayat and the Zila Parishad”. It can include the work in the block plan

Zila Parishad (district Can sanction or fund a bigger work and take the matter to the district administration; the
level) District Collector and the district road-safety committee sit at this level

The highway authority A highway usually belongs to the State or the National Highways authority, not to the
and the police Panchayat. Only they can build speed breakers, a crossing or an overbridge on it, and the
police can enforce the speed limit — so the Panchayat’s letter must reach them

Part 3 — what the students themselves can do:

Collect evidence. Count how many students cross the road, at what times, and note how
fast vehicles come. Numbers persuade far better than complaints.
Write a joint application to the Sarpanch, signed by students and countersigned by the
teacher, and request that it be placed before the Gram Sabha.
Form a road-safety squad. Senior students with flags help the younger ones cross at
opening and closing time, under a teacher’s supervision.
Make and put up posters — ‘SCHOOL AHEAD — SLOW DOWN’ — with the Panchayat’s
permission.
Always cross in a group, at one fixed point, never singly and never while running.
Take the matter to the Bal Sabha or Bal Panchayat if the village has one, and follow it up
at the next meeting until something is actually done.

The lesson hidden in this question: the problem sits exactly where two
governments meet — the school and the children belong to the village, but the
highway does not. That is why the answer runs upward through the tiers: Gram
Sabha → Gram Panchayat → Panchayat Samiti → Zila Parishad → the highway
authority. Knowing which door to knock on is half of good citizenship.

Check it yourself: is there a speed breaker or a warning board outside your own
school? If not, you now know exactly whom to ask, and in what order.

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Chapter at a glance
The chapter’s one idea: the government nearest to a village should be run by the
villagers themselves. Lakshmanpur, the imaginary village in the Himalayan foothills, has
200 houses and about 700 people. Its needs — water for the fields, a road washed away by
rain, the primary school, a land dispute — are all local. Nobody can “run to the State or the
national capital for every such issue”. So India has a system of local government called the
Panchayat, “which refers to a village council”.
Panchayati Raj is a form of self-government. Panchayats “bring governance closer to the
people, making it possible for them to actively participate in decision-making processes”.
They address local issues, promote development, and make sure “that the benefits of
government schemes reach the grassroots level”.
It works at three levels — a ‘three-tier system’. Fig. 11.1 on page 164 draws it as a
pyramid, from bottom up: the village level (Gram Panchayat / Village Parishad), the block
level (Panchayat Samiti / Block Panchayat / Mandal Parishad) and the district level (Zila
Parishad / District Panchayat). Together their responsibilities “cover almost all aspects of life
in the district” — agriculture, housing, roads, water resources, education, health care, social
welfare and cultural activities.
The Gram Sabha is the base of everything. It is “a group of adults from a village (or group
of neighbouring villages) who are enrolled as voters”. Nobody elects the Gram Sabha —
every registered adult voter of the village is already a member. In it “women and men
discuss all matters related to their area and take decisions”, and it directly elects the
members of the Gram Panchayat. Each Gram Panchayat has a head called the Sarpanch or
Pradhan, and “in recent years, more and more women have become Sarpanchs”.
Panchayats are helped by officials, and they listen to children too. A Panchayat
Secretary calls meetings and maintains records; a Patwari keeps the villagers’ land records,
sometimes with maps “generations old”. Under the Child-Friendly Panchayat Initiative,
Bal Sabhas and Bal Panchayats let children speak — Maharashtra’s Bal Panchayats worked
against child labour and child marriage, Sikkim’s Sangkhu Radhu Khandu Gram Panchayat
built school compound walls and kitchens, and Rajasthan’s ‘Children’s Parliament’ won the
World’s Children’s Honorary Award in 2001.
Above the village: the Panchayat Samiti and the Zila Parishad. The Panchayat Samiti at
the block level “is the link between the Gram Panchayat and the Zila Parishad at the district
level”. Members are elected by local people, but there may be other members “like
Sarpanchs of the villages in the area and local members of the State Legislative Assembly”.
Samitis collect the development plans of all Gram Panchayats and present them at the
district or State level — which “facilitates the allotment of funds”, for example under the
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana for all-weather rural roads.
Special rules protect those who are usually left out. At all three levels there are rules so
that “disadvantaged sections of the population can make their needs and problems heard”,
and “a provision for reserving one-third of the seats for women”. Structures differ a little
from State to State, because the States have authority over these institutions — but the

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

objective is the same everywhere: to let villagers take an active part in managing and
developing their own area. The chapter closes with Kauṭilya’s Arthaśhāstra, which planned a
village-to-capital administrative ladder some 2,300 years ago.

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Quick revision

TERM WHAT IT MEANS WHERE IT WORTH REMEMBERING
APPEARS IN
THE CHAPTER

Panchayat “A system of local government Page 164 The word comes from panch, ‘five’
called ‘Panchayat’, which refers to a — today it means an elected
village council” village council

Panchayati Raj The Panchayat system, “a form of Page 164 It brings governance closer to the
self-government” people so they can take part in
decisions

Three-tier The system “works at three levels — Page 165, Fig. Village → Block → District. Learn
system from bottom up — the village, the 11.1 on page 164 the pyramid bottom-up, the way
block and the district” the book draws it

Gram Sabha “A group of adults from a village (or Page 165 Nobody elects it. Every
group of neighbouring villages) who registered adult voter of the
are enrolled as voters” village is already a member

Gram The elected council at the village Page 165 “Its members are elected directly
Panchayat level, “which is closest to the people by the Gram Sabha”
in rural areas”

Sarpanch / “A head or president” of the Gram Page 165 “In recent years, more and more
Pradhan Panchayat women have become Sarpanchs”

Panchayat An official who “performs Page 167 Appointed, not elected — the
Secretary administrative functions such as Panchayat’s office, not its voice
calling meetings and maintaining
records”

Patwari An officer “who maintains the Page 167 “In some cases, the Patwari keeps
villagers’ land records” maps that are generations old!”

Bal Sabha / Bal Children’s assemblies under the Pages 167–168 Maharashtra’s Bal Panchayats
Panchayat Child-Friendly Panchayat Initiative worked to end child labour and
child marriage

Panchayat The block-level body — “the link Pages 164 and Also called Block Panchayat or
Samiti between the Gram Panchayat and 169 Mandal Parishad. It collects the
the Zila Parishad” plans of all Gram Panchayats

Zila Parishad The district-level body, the top tier Pages 164 and Also called District Panchayat.
of Fig. 11.1 169 Plans reach the district or State
level through it

Page 33 of 34

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Class 6 Social Science Chapter 11 Grassroots Democracy – Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

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