NCERT Solutions for Class 5th English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat
Updated on 2026-09-19
About this chapter
Who is in the story. There are four people who matter: the farmer , who works hard and buys land bit by bit; his neighbour , who is cunning — that means clever in a tricky, dishonest way; the village chief , who is a woman and who heads the Panchayat; and the villagers , who come to watch and who try to reason with the cunning man. What happens first. The farmer has two fields. He works very hard, he prospers — that means he grows better off — and he buys a third field. Next to that field there is a well. He needs water for his crops, so he buys the well from his neighbour. The trick. The next day the neighbour is standing at the well. He will not let the farmer draw water. He says, “I sold only the well to you, not the water. The water still belongs to me.” This is the trick the whole sto
- The Decision of the Panchayat (story)
- A. Answer the following questions
- B. Think and discuss
- A. Match the words with their meanings
- B. Fill in the blanks with the correct prepositions
- C. Rearrange the events in the correct order
- The four-picture story of the fallen coconut
- A. A letter to your friend
- B. The suffix ‘-less’
- Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
Quick revision
| Word | What it means | Where it appears | A sentence of your own |
|---|---|---|---|
| panchayat | The elected council of a village. The villagers choose its members, and it settles local matters. | New Words, page 94 · “The village chief fixed a day for a meeting of the Panchayat.” | Our panchayat has put a new hand pump near the school. |
| adamant | Refusing to change your mind, however much people try. | New Words · “he was adamant” | He was adamant that he would not say sorry. |
| cunning | Clever in a tricky, dishonest way. | New Words · “The neighbour was a cunning man.” | The cunning fox tricked the crow. |
| apologise | To say sorry for something wrong you have done. | New Words · “He had to pay a fine as well as apologise to the farmer.” | I had to apologise for breaking my friend’s pencil. |
| wisdom | The good sense to judge a matter rightly and fairly. | New Words · “The villagers praised the wisdom of the Panchayat.” | My grandmother settles our quarrels with great wisdom. |
| prospered | Grew better off; began to earn well. | “When he prospered, he bought another field.” | The shop prospered after the new road was built. |
| summoned | Ordered to come to a particular place. | “Both the farmer and his neighbour were summoned.” | The two boys were summoned to the head teacher’s room. |
| judgment | A decision made by a group or by a judge after hearing a matter. | “Then they stood up to give the judgment.” | Everyone accepted the judgment of the panchayat. |
| reason (with) | To try to make someone see sense by talking calmly. | “The members … tried to reason with him.” | I tried to reason with my little brother, but he kept crying. |
| relieved | Glad because a worry is over. | “The farmer was relieved and gave a shout of joy.” | I was relieved when I found my lost bag. |
| fine | Money you must pay as a punishment. | “He had to pay a fine.” | He paid a fine for throwing rubbish on the road. |
| suffix | A small part added to the end of a word to make a new word — like -less, meaning “without”. | Let us Write, B · price + less = priceless | Adding the suffix -less to fear gives fearless. |
| banyan tree | A very large Indian tree whose branches send roots down to the ground. It is our national tree. | “gathered under the banyan tree in the centre of the village” | The old men sit and talk under the banyan tree. |
| twig | A short, thin stick that grows out of a branch. | Let us Do, A · “People use the twigs of the neem tree as a toothbrush” | She cleaned her teeth with a neem twig. |
Exercises
- The Decision of the Panchayat (story) — Let us Read Page 91–94
- A. Answer the following questions — Let us Think Page 95
- B. Think and discuss — Let us Think Page 95
- A. Match the words with their meanings — Let us Learn Page 96
- B. Fill in the blanks with the correct prepositions — Let us Learn Page 96–97
- C. Rearrange the events in the correct order — Let us Learn Page 97
- The four-picture story of the fallen coconut — Let us Speak Page 98–99
- A. A letter to your friend — Let us Write Page 100
- B. The suffix ‘-less’ — Let us Write Page 100
- Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa — Let us Listen Page 101–102
- A. The Neem Tree — Let us Do Page 103
- B. Point out 11 differences in the two pictures — Let us Do Page 104