NCERT Solutions Exploring Society: India and Beyond Chapter 11 End-of-chapter exercise — Questions, activities and projects

Book page 171 Updated on2026-09-05

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:

Tier	Who is in it	Key functions
Gram Panchayat village level	Members elected directly by the Gram Sabha; headed by the Sarpanch or Pradhan; helped by the Panchayat Secretary and the Patwari	Drinking water, wells and hand pumps Village roads and lanes, street lights, drains Cleanliness, sanitation and waste Care of the primary school building and mid-day meal arrangements Village pond, grazing land and other common property Records, and certificates such as birth and death Carrying out development schemes in the village
Panchayat Samiti block level	Members elected by local people, plus other members such as the Sarpanchs of the area and local MLAs; composition differs from State to State	“The link between the Gram Panchayat and the Zila Parishad” Collects the development plans of all Gram Panchayats and puts them together Coordinates matters that cross village boundaries — a road, a canal, a school serving several villages Supervises and supports the Gram Panchayats, and passes schemes down to them
Zila Parishad district level	Members elected by the people of the district, plus members such as the chairpersons of the Panchayat Samitis and the MLAs and MPs of the district	Plans and supervises for the whole district Presents the combined plans at the district or State level, which “facilitates the allotment of funds” Handles district-level works — bigger roads, high schools, hospitals, water schemes Distributes scheme funds, such as those of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, among the blocks

Do not forget the body that is not a tier: the Gram Sabha. It is not one of the three tiers, because it is not elected — it is all the adult voters of the village. It elects the Gram Panchayat and holds it to account. A full answer mentions it.

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:

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.

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.

Quality	Why it matters in a Gram Panchayat	The chapter’s own example
Honest	Public money passes through the Panchayat. A member must be able to show the accounts to the Gram Sabha without fear	Every one of the three Sarpanchs on page 166 is remembered for work done, not position held
Willing to serve	The post brings work rather than comfort — meetings, inspections, complaints at all hours	Dnyaneshwar Kamble’s motto, lok seva, gram seva — “Service to the village is service to the public”
Fair to everyone	The hand pump must go where the need is, not where the member’s relatives live. Every hamlet, caste and family must be treated alike	The special rules so that “disadvantaged sections of the population can make their needs and problems heard”
A good listener	A member must hear women, the elderly, landless families and children, not only those who speak loudest	Vandana Bahadur Maida “convinced women in the village to attend the Sabha meetings”
Courageous	Some right decisions are unpopular — stopping a child marriage, clearing an encroachment on common land	Vandana “defied patriarchal norms to become the first female Sarpanch of her village”
Able to take people along	A Panchayat cannot do much alone; big change needs the whole village to join in	Hiware Bazar became green “with the collaboration of the villagers”
Thinking of the long term	Water, trees and schools show results years later, not before the next election	Popatrao Baguji Pawar’s watershed work, awarded the Padma Shri in 2020
Able to read papers and accounts	Estimates, muster rolls and scheme guidelines have to be checked. It need not be high education, but it does need care	The Panchayat Secretary keeps the records — the member must still understand them

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.”

Q4.

Let us suppose that you study in a village school. The school is located next to a highway and students find it difficult to cross the road when they come to school or leave at the end of the day. What are the options to solve this issue? Which institutions in the Panchayati Raj can help you? What can the students do?

Answer

Part 1 — the options. There are several, from the quickest to the most permanent. A good answer gives more than one and says what each costs and how long it takes.

Option	How well it works	How soon
Speed breakers, rumble strips and warning boards before the school on both sides	Slows traffic at the exact spot — the cheapest real improvement	Weeks
A marked zebra crossing with clear ‘SCHOOL AHEAD’ signs and a speed limit	Tells drivers a crossing exists; works only if traffic is already slowed	Weeks
A person on duty at opening and closing time — a traffic volunteer, a home guard, or trained senior students with flags	Very effective, because the danger lasts only about half an hour twice a day	Immediately
Railing or fencing along the roadside so that children cannot run onto the highway, with one opening at the crossing point	Prevents sudden dashes across the road	A few months
Street lights at the crossing	Needed in winter, when children leave school in poor light	A few months
A foot overbridge or an underpass	The safest and most permanent answer	The costliest and slowest — needs the highway authority
Shifting the school gate to a side lane away from the highway	Simple and cheap where a side lane exists	Weeks
Staggering the closing time of different classes	A stop-gap that reduces the crowd at the roadside	Immediately

Part 2 — which institutions can help, and in what order to approach them:

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 Sarpanch)	The first stop. It can put up warning boards and street lights, arrange a volunteer, shift the gate, and write formally to the Panchayat Samiti and the highway authority
School Management Committee	Works with the Panchayat, changes the closing arrangement, and organises road-safety training for students
Panchayat Samiti (block level)	Takes up what one village cannot manage — this is exactly the tier that is “the link between the Gram Panchayat and the Zila Parishad”. It can include the work in the block plan
Zila Parishad (district level)	Can sanction or fund a bigger work and take the matter to the district administration; the District Collector and the district road-safety committee sit at this level
The highway authority and the police	A highway usually belongs to the State or the National Highways authority, not to the 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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