Diversity, government and livelihoods
Class 6 Social Science · Civics · 26 questions with answers
Civics questions look like definitions and are marked as reasoning. Why does a village need a panchayat, why does diversity matter, why is a gram sabha held at all - each needs a purpose, not a description.
- Explains what local government bodies actually do
- Says why a rule or institution exists rather than what it is
- Connects a livelihood to the place and conditions it depends on
Exercise 1 of 3 · 10 questions
Who does this, and why them?
Write the answer · Warm-up
Here’s one done for you
Deciding how to spend village funds → the gram panchayat, because it is elected by the village. The reason matters as much as the name. Note the difference in the third one: the panchayat decides, but the gram sabha - every adult in the village - approves and questions. That relationship is the most examined idea in the chapter.
- 1)Deciding how to spend village funds on a new well
- 2)Keeping a record of births and deaths in a village
- 3)Approving the panchayat's plans and questioning its spending
- 4)Running schools and hospitals across a whole district
- 5)Repairing a village road
- 6)Deciding the state budget for education
- 7)Settling a small dispute between two villagers
- 8)Providing electricity across the state
- 9)Approving the annual accounts of the village
- 10)Building a new district hospital
Answers
- 1) The gram panchayat, because it is elected by the village to make decisions for it.
- 2) The gram panchayat, because it keeps the official village records.
- 3) The gram sabha, because it is the meeting of all adult voters and the panchayat answers to it.
- 4) The district or state administration, because the work is far larger than one village.
- 5) The gram panchayat, because village roads are its responsibility.
- 6) The state government, because education across the state is far beyond one village.
- 7) The gram panchayat, because settling small local disputes is one of its duties.
- 8) The state government, because the supply covers the whole state.
- 9) The gram sabha, because the panchayat must place its accounts before all the voters.
- 10) The state government, because a district hospital serves far more than one village.
Exercise 2 of 3 · 7 questions
Answer in one or two sentences.
Write the answer · Guided
Here’s one done for you
Why is the gram sabha important? → because it lets every adult question the spending, keeping the panchayat answerable. The answer gives the purpose. 'Because it is a meeting of villagers' is a description and earns nothing - the question asked why it matters, not what it is.
- 1)Why is the gram sabha important even though the panchayat makes decisions?
- 2)Why does India have people speaking so many different languages?
- 3)Why is it wrong to treat someone differently because of the work they do?
- 4)Why does the Constitution guarantee equality rather than leaving it to people to be fair?
- 5)Why is diversity described as a strength rather than a problem?
- 6)Why do people migrate from villages to cities?
- 7)Why is it important that women take part in panchayat decisions?
Answers
- 1) Because it lets every adult in the village question how money is being spent, which keeps the panchayat answerable to the people who elected it.
- 2) Because different regions developed their own languages over a very long history, and people also moved and settled in new places bringing their languages with them.
- 3) Because the work a person does is not a measure of their worth, and treating them as lesser denies them the equality every person is entitled to.
- 4) Because fairness left to individuals depends on their goodwill, while a guarantee gives every person something they can demand as a right.
- 5) Because people with different languages, foods, skills and ways of living bring more ideas and abilities than any single group could.
- 6) Mostly for work, since cities offer more kinds of jobs, and also for education and health care that villages may not have.
- 7) Because women make up half the village and face problems - water, health, schooling - that will not be raised if they are not in the room.
Exercise 3 of 3 · 9 questions
What does each livelihood depend on? One sentence.
Write the answer · Practice
Here’s one done for you
A fisherman → depends on the sea and the weather, since a storm means no fishing. The answer names what the livelihood needs and what happens when it is missing. Adding the consequence is what turns a listed fact into an explanation, and it is what the mark is for.
- 1)A fisherman on the coast
- 2)A farmer growing rice
- 3)A weaver in a small town
- 4)A shopkeeper in a city market
- 5)A potter in a village
- 6)A construction worker in a city
- 7)A daily-wage farm labourer
- 8)A bus driver
- 9)A vegetable seller with a handcart
Answers
- 1) On the sea and the weather, since a rough sea or a storm means no fishing at all.
- 2) On rain or irrigation, since rice needs a great deal of water at the right time.
- 3) On a supply of thread and on people wanting to buy the cloth that is made.
- 4) On enough customers passing through the market and on being able to get goods to sell.
- 5) On a supply of suitable clay and on people still buying clay pots rather than plastic or steel.
- 6) On building work being available, which stops if construction slows down or during heavy rain.
- 7) On there being work in the fields, which comes only in certain seasons and not all year.
- 8) On the bus running and on enough passengers, and on fuel prices staying affordable.
- 9) On being able to buy fresh vegetables cheaply each morning and sell them the same day before they spoil.
While your child works
- The panchayat decides and the gram sabha approves. That relationship is the most examined idea in the chapter and children reliably blur it.
- 'Why is it important' never wants a description. Ask 'what would go wrong without it?' - the answer to that is usually the mark.
- In livelihood answers, adding what happens when the thing is missing turns a fact into an explanation.