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NCERT Solutions Exploring Society: India and Beyond Chapter 12 Chapter opener — The Big Questions

Book page 143 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.
What does it mean to be a citizen, not just legally, but in everyday life?
Answer

Legally, a citizen is someone who legally belongs to a country and is a member of its political community — that is, they can participate in the decision-making of the country. In India, the Citizenship Act of 1955 and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019 set the rules for gaining or losing citizenship, and all citizens are equal under the Constitution despite differences of language, religion or culture.

In everyday life, citizenship is something you do. The chapter opens with Kruti, a new student teased on the playground for her accent. Sonali and Harshada told the bullies to stop — and then invited Kruti to join their badminton team, so she finally felt like she belonged. No law was being broken and no court was involved. They were simply being good citizens: they stood up for someone who needed help and made sure everyone felt included.

Why the chapter gives two answers: citizenship is both a legal identity and a social responsibility. As a legal identity it formally connects people to their country. As a social responsibility it creates a sense of belonging and unites people through shared values, rights and duties. Drop the second half and citizenship becomes only a document.

Everyday citizenship, as the chapter describes it, is active participation. It has two halves that pull in the same direction:

  • Duties you fulfil — obeying the law, paying taxes, respecting others, helping others in need, protecting the environment, keeping society safe.
  • Rights you use — the power to question unfair practices and stand up for what is right, shaping the future of your society.
Did you know? Living in a place makes you a resident; citizenship is a formal, legal membership in a country. Not every resident of a country is a citizen — a person can be a resident without being a citizen, and a citizen can even reside in another country.
Q2.
Why are both rights and duties essential?
Answer

Because a right is a claim on how other people behave. It becomes real only when someone else accepts the matching duty. The chapter states this directly: “Every right has a matching duty.”

If I have the right to……then I have the duty to
be treated with respecttreat others with respect
express my opinions freelylisten to and respect other people’s views, even when I disagree, and to do so without causing harm
live in a clean, safe neighbourhoodnot throw my wrappers on the ground (Fundamental Duty 7)
free and compulsory education, 6–14 years (Article 21A)as a parent or guardian, see that the child actually gets that education (Fundamental Duty 11)

Notice how the two halves of each row need each other. If nobody carried the second column, the first column would still be printed in the Constitution — but it would not be lived.

Why it happens: the two are enforced in completely different ways, and that is exactly why we need both. Rights are protected by law — if someone’s rights are violated, even by the government, they can go to court for help. Duties are moral and social responsibilities — we are expected to follow them, but not doing so may not always lead to legal action. A court can order a ramp to be built. No court can supervise every playground, classroom and street to see that children are not teased. That everyday work is what duties do.

This is why the chapter opens with Mahatma Gandhi’s line: “The true source of rights is duty.” Fulfilling our duties helps protect everyone’s rights and keeps society fair and peaceful.

Q3.
How can we help build a society where everyone is treated fairly, respected, and included?
Answer

By working at three levels the chapter sets out one after the other — stop discrimination, move from equality to equity, and then design for inclusion.

  1. Recognise and stop discrimination. Discrimination is mistreating a person or group because of their caste, religion, ethnicity, disability, race, physical appearance, gender, sexuality or economic background. Much of it is invisible — a jibe, a nickname, not asking someone into a project. The book warns that invisible discrimination is difficult to prove, and hence difficult to penalise, so it has to be stopped by people, not only by law.
  2. Give support according to need — equity. Fig. 5.3 shows that the same box for everyone does not give everyone the same view; differences, some carried historically, mean identical support gives unequal benefit. The chapter’s example of an equity initiative is the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign, which built awareness in society and supported girls’ education.
  3. Remove the barrier — inclusion. Inclusion goes beyond just giving reservations; it means making sure everyone feels accepted and supported, and removing barriers to participation. In the chapter: ramps for Gaganjit, a tactile map in a school for the blind (Fig. 5.4), braille books and classroom support, and Smt. Amita widening her reading club to regional-language books, after which membership grew and all children joined regardless of their fluency in a particular language.
Why all three are needed: stopping discrimination is not doing harm; equity is compensating for a difference; inclusion is changing the arrangement so the difference stops mattering. Fig. 5.14 makes the point sharply — the fence itself is gone, and nobody needs a box at all.

At the level of a student, the chapter’s own closing list is the practical answer: speak up against unfairness, follow the law, help others feel respected and included, listen with empathy and act with responsibility. Democracy is strengthened through enabling and facilitating participation of all.

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