NCERT Solutions Exploring Society: India and Beyond Chapter 11 Chapter opening — The Big Questions
Book page 163 Updated on2026-09-05
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.
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 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 (base)
Gram Panchayat, also called Village Parishad
One village, or a group of small neighbouring villages
Block (middle)
Panchayat Samiti, also called Block Panchayat or Mandal Parishad
A block — a group of villages inside a 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.
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.
Body
Who is in it
What it does
Gram Sabha (village level)
Every adult of the village (or group of neighbouring villages) who is enrolled as a voter — women and men alike. It is not elected; membership is automatic
Meets and discusses “all matters related to their area and take decisions”; elects the members of the Gram Panchayat; examines what the Panchayat has done and how it has spent money
Gram Panchayat (village level)
Members elected directly by the Gram Sabha, headed by a Sarpanch or Pradhan. Assisted by a Panchayat Secretary and, in many parts of India, a Patwari
Runs the day-to-day work of the village — drinking water, village roads and lanes, street lights, drains and cleanliness, the primary school building, health and sanitation, the village pond and common land, records and certificates, and putting into effect the schemes that reach the village
Panchayat Samiti (block level)
Members elected by the local people, and “other members like Sarpanchs of the villages in the area and local members of the State Legislative Assembly”. Composition “differs from State to State”
“The link between the Gram Panchayat and the Zila Parishad.” It coordinates matters across Gram Panchayats — for instance by “collecting development plans from all Gram Panchayats and putting them together”, and by looking after works too big for one village, such as a road joining several villages
Zila Parishad (district level)
Members elected by the people of the district, with other members such as the chairpersons of the Panchayat Samitis and MLAs and MPs of the district
Plans and supervises for the whole district; presents the combined development plans “at the District or State levels”; this “facilitates the allotment of funds for such development projects and for government schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, which promotes the construction of all-weather roads in rural areas”
And where does the money come from? The chapter mentions the allotment of funds but does not list the sources, so here they are in one place.
Source of funds
What it means
Its own income
Small taxes and fees a Panchayat is allowed to collect — on houses and property, water supply, markets and fairs, vehicles; and rent from Panchayat land, ponds and shops
Money from the State government
Grants, and a share of the State’s own taxes. How much is worked out on the advice of a State Finance Commission, which the State sets up every five years
Money from the Central government
Grants recommended by the Central Finance Commission that go to every Panchayat in the country — partly free for the Panchayat to use, partly tied to drinking water and sanitation
Scheme funds
Money that arrives with a particular scheme and must be spent on it — Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana for all-weather roads, MGNREGA for rural employment, missions for sanitation and drinking water
The villagers themselves
Shramdaan — voluntary labour — and contributions of material or money. This is how Hiware Bazar built much of its water harvesting work on page 166
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.
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.