NCERT Solutions for Class 7th Social Science Chapter 18 A class discussion on 75 years of the republic — LET’S EXPLORE

Book page 165 Updated on2026-09-19

Q1.

List five major achievements of our country in improving the lives of ordinary people in your village, town or city. Which level of government made this possible and how?

Answer

How to do this activity. This one is about your own place, so the material has to come from there. Ask three people who have lived in your village, town or city for at least thirty years — a grandparent, a shopkeeper, a teacher — what exists today that did not exist when they were your age. Write down five, and for each ask two follow-up questions: which government office made it happen, and how do you know. Then check the level: local (panchayat or municipality), state, or union. Bring the list to class and pool everybody’s answers on the board.

What a good answer needs: five specific, local, checkable things — not “India has progressed”; the name of the office or scheme behind each; the level of government; and one line on how it changed daily life. If more than one level was involved, say so — that is usually the truthful answer.

Sample answer (for a small town; replace with your own):

Achievement	Level, and how	What changed in daily life
A government higher secondary school in the town	State government built and staffed it, under a union law (the Right to Education Act) and schemes such as Samagra Shiksha	Girls no longer have to travel 12 km for Classes 9–12, so far more of them finish school
Tap water in the house	Local body laid and maintains the pipes; state and union funds paid for the scheme	Hours a day that used to be spent carrying water are free for school and work
An all-weather road to the highway	State public works department, with union rural-roads funding	Vegetables reach the market unspoilt; an ambulance can come in the monsoon
A primary health centre with vaccination and maternity care	State health department; ASHA and anganwadi workers at the grassroots	Children are vaccinated in the village itself; fewer risky home deliveries
Electricity, and mobile and internet coverage	State electricity board for power; union policy and telecom regulation for the network	Studying after dark; bill payments, tickets and forms filled online instead of a day’s travel

The chapter’s own summary of the same period: “We have come a long way by increasing literacy of our people, improving roads, trains, and airports, and strengthening communication systems such as the telephone and the internet.”

Notice the pattern: almost nothing on the list was done by one level alone. Money often comes from the union, the work is usually done by the state, and the delivery happens through a local body and grassroots workers. That is exactly what Fig. 6.19 shows for school education — three organs and three levels, “different, yet interconnected, roles”.

Q2.

List five problems that ordinary people face frequently. At which level of government should these be addressed and how?

Answer

How to do this activity. Make the list from things you can actually see or have heard about at home this year — not from the news about far-away places. For each problem, ask which level owns that subject (use the list on page 163), and then name the specific step a citizen could take. Keep it about the problem and the office; do not turn the list into praise or blame of any party or leader, which is not what the exercise asks for.

What a good answer needs: five real, frequent, ordinary problems; the correct level for each; and a concrete first step — whom to approach and with what.

Sample answer:

Problem	Level	How it should be addressed
Garbage not cleared; blocked drains flooding the lane in the rains	Local	Complaint to the ward councillor or municipal office / panchayat; raise it in the ward or gram sabha meeting so it enters the plan and budget
Irregular water supply	Local, with state support for the source and pipeline	Written complaint with dates to the water works office; if there is no reply, use the state grievance portal
Teacher vacancies in the government school; poor building repair	State (education is a concurrent subject, so union schemes help)	School Management Committee and parents raise it with the Block Education Officer; an RTI can be filed on sanctioned versus filled posts
Doctor or medicines not available at the primary health centre	State	Complaint to the district health officer; grievance portal; the matter can also be raised through the local body
A road built badly, or a bus route that keeps being cancelled	State (a national highway would be union)	RTI on the funds sanctioned and the contract, as the citizens of Bagepalli did; then approach the officials together, and write to the MLA if needed

The chapter is honest that such problems remain: “We still encounter many issues that need to be addressed — people in difficult socio-economic conditions, lack of access to good education and healthcare, infrastructure that is of poor quality, inadequate access to government schemes, and so on… But we still have a long way to go in addressing India’s challenges.”

Why matching problem to level is the whole skill: a complaint sent to the wrong office is not refused, it is forwarded — and forwarding takes weeks. Get the level right and you save the time; get it wrong and you may conclude nothing works when in fact nobody responsible has yet heard you. Then use the tools from page 157 onwards in order: complaint, then RTI to find out what was decided, then media or a citizens’ group, then your representative, and finally the vote.

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