NCERT Solutions for Class 5th English Chapter 10 Savings accounts, interest and your passbook — Let us Explore

Book page 131 Updated on2026-09-19

Q1.

Do you have a bank account? Yes/ No

Answer

Tick the true answer for yourself. Both answers are perfectly fine — this is not a test.

If you ticked “Yes”: Write the name of your bank and say who opened the account with you. Most children have a minor savings account, which a parent or guardian opens and looks after until the child is eighteen. Some schools help children open one.

If you ticked “No”: Say so honestly, and then say where you keep your money instead — most of us start with a gullak, the clay money box shown in the picture on page 131. Then add one line about what you would like to do.

Sample answer: No, I do not have a bank account yet. I keep my money in a gullak on the shelf near my bed. Last year I saved one hundred and ten rupees in it. I have asked my father to help me open a savings account in my name, so that my money stays safe and also earns a little interest.

Bank account or gullak — what is the difference? A gullak keeps your money safe, and that is all it does. A bank keeps it safe and pays you a little extra for keeping it there. That extra money is called interest. Also, money in a gullak can be lost or stolen; money in a bank cannot.

Q2.

Find out more about Fixed Deposit and Recurring Deposit. Share information on these with your class.

Answer

Both are ways of keeping money in a bank so that it grows. Here they are in the simplest words.

Fixed Deposit (FD) — you give the bank one lump of money once, and promise not to take it out for a fixed time — say one year, or five years. The bank pays you more interest than it pays on a savings account, because it knows you will not take the money back tomorrow.

Example: You put ₹1,000 into an FD for one year. At the end of the year the bank gives you back your ₹1,000 plus the interest it promised.

Recurring Deposit (RD) — you promise to put in a small, equal amount every month for a fixed number of months. It is a way of saving little by little.

Example: You put ₹100 into an RD every month for 12 months. You have put in ₹1,200 in all, and at the end the bank returns that ₹1,200 plus interest.

	Savings Account	Fixed Deposit	Recurring Deposit
How you put money in	Any time, any amount	One amount, once	The same amount every month
Can you take it out any time?	Yes	No — you wait till the fixed date	No — you wait till the last month
How much interest?	Least	Most	More than savings
Best for	Everyday money	Money you already have and do not need now	Building up savings a little at a time

How to share it with your class: Draw this table on a chart. Bring a real passbook or an FD slip from home if you can. Then explain the two words with your own example — “If I save ₹100 from my pocket money every month, that is a recurring deposit.”

The idea behind all three: A bank lends your money to somebody else who needs it. It earns something for doing that, and it shares a part of that with you. The longer you promise to leave your money there, the more it can do with it — and the more interest it pays you. That is the whole rule.

Q3.

(Page 131, the ruled box) Passbook — CHILDREN’S BANK OF INDIA

Answer

The empty box at the bottom of page 131 is your own passbook page. A passbook is the little book in which a bank writes down every rupee that goes in and every rupee that comes out.

What to draw in the box — four columns: Date · What happened · Money in (deposit) · Money out (withdrawal) · Balance. The balance is how much is left in the account after each entry.

Sample answer — a passbook page using the book’s own example:

Date	What happened	Deposit (₹)	Withdrawal (₹)	Balance (₹)
12–04–2025	Birthday money put in	50	—	50
12–04–2026	Interest added by the bank	5	—	55
12–04–2026	Birthday money put in	50	—	105
20–10–2026	Taken out to buy a story book	—	20	85

Check the arithmetic yourself, line by line:

50 → balance 50
50 + 5 = 55
55 + 50 = 105
105 − 20 = 85

What the ₹5 is: The book says that if you keep ₹50 in the account for one year, the bank adds ₹5. That ₹5 is the interest — the bank’s way of thanking you for saving. You did nothing at all to earn it except leave your money alone.

Notice the last line: The balance goes down when you take money out. That is the honest part of saving — the passbook shows everything, the putting in and the taking out.

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