Social and Political Life-I

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SOCIAL SCIENCE

SOCIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE I

Textbook for Class VI


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FOREWORD

The National Curriculum Framework (NCF), 2005, recommends thatchildrens life at school must be linked to their life outside the school. Thisprinciple marks a departure from the legacy of bookish learning whichcontinues to shape our system and causes a gap between the school, homeand community. The syllabi and textbooks developed on the basis of NCFsignify an attempt to implement this basic idea. They also attempt todiscourage rote learning and the maintenance of sharp boundaries between

different subject areas. We hope these measures will take us significantlyfurther in the direction of a child-centred system of education outlined in theNational Policy on Education (1986).

The success of this effort depends on the steps that school principals andteachers will take to encourage children to reflect on their own learning andto pursue imaginative activities and questions. We must recognise that givenspace, time and freedom, children generate new knowledge by engaging withthe information passed on to them by adults. Treating the prescribedtextbook as the sole basis of examination is one of the key reasons why otherresources and sites of learning are ignored. Inculcating creativity andinitiative is possible if we perceive and treat children as participants in

learning, not as receivers of a fixed body of knowledge.These aims imply considerable change in school routines and mode of

functioning. Flexibility in the daily time-table is as necessary as rigour inimplementing the annual calendar so that the required number of teachingdays is actually devoted to teaching. The methods used for teaching andevaluation will also determine how effective this textbook proves for makingchildrens life at school a happy experience, rather than a source of stress or

boredom. Syllabus designers have tried to address the problem of curricularburden by restructuring and reorienting knowledge at different stages withgreater consideration for child psychology and the time available forteaching. The textbook attempts to enhance this endeavour by giving higher

priority and space to opportunities for contemplation and wondering,discussion in small groups, and activities requiring hands-on experience.

National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)appreciates the hard work done by the textbook development committeeresponsible for this book. We wish to thank the Chairperson of the advisorycommittee for Social Science textbooks at the Upper Primary Level,Professor Hari Vasudevan and the Chief Advisor for this book, SaradaBalagopalan, for guiding the work of this committee. Several teacherscontributed to the development of this textbook; we are grateful to theirprincipals for making this possible. We are indebted to the institutions and


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organisations which have generously permitted us to draw upon theirresources, material and personnel. We are especially grateful to the members

of the National Monitoring Committee, appointed by the Department ofSecondary and Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Developmentunder the Chairpersonship of Professor Mrinal Miri and Professor G.P.Deshpande, for their valuable time and contribution. As an organisationcommitted to the systemic reform and continuous improvement in thequality of its products, NCERT welcomes comments and suggestions which

will enable us to undertake further revision and refinement.

Director

New Delhi National Council of Educational20 December 200 5 Research and Training


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TEXTBOOK DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

CHAIRPERSON, ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR SOCIAL SCIENCE TEXTBOOKS AT THE

UPPER PRIMARY LEVEL

Hari Vasudevan, Professor, Department of History, University of Calcutta,Kolkata

CHIEF ADVISOR

Sarada Balagopalan, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS),Rajpur Road, Delhi

MEMBERS

Anjali Noronha, Eklavya Institute for Educational Research and InnovativeAction, Madhya Pradesh

Arvind Sardana, Eklavya Institute for Educational Research and InnovativeAction, Madhya Pradesh

Dipta Bhog, Nirantar Centre for Gender and Education, SarvodayaEnclave, New Delhi

Jaya Singh, Lecturer, DESSH, NCERT

Krishna Menon, Reader, Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi, Delhi.

Latika Gupta, Consul tant , DEE, NCERT

Mohan Deshpande, Coordinator,Aabha (Arogya Bhan), Aundh, Pune

M.V. Srinivasan, Lecturer, DESSH, NCERT

Sanjay Dubey, Reader, DESSH, NCERT

Shobha Bajpai, Government Middle School, Uda, District Harda, MadhyaPradesh

Swati Verma, Heritage School, Sector-23, Rohini, Delhi

MEMBER-COORDINATOR

W. Themmichon Ramson, Lecturer, DESSH, NCERT


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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The collective effort that this textbook represents extendsbeyond the formal writing team. Several friends and colleagueswere involved with this book in many ways. As members of ourself-initiated internal review committee Mary John, S.Mohinder, Aditya Nigam and C.N. Subramaniam provided us

with detailed feedback and inputs.

In addition, Solly Benjamin, Rajeev Bhargav, Anu Gupta,Sarah Joseph, Prakash Kant, Prabhu Mahapatra, Farah Naqvi,

Awadhendra Sharan, Sujit Sinha, Bhupendra Yadav andYogendra Yadav read particular chapters and commented onthem. Alex M. George played multiple roles in terms of providingus with ideas, feedback and information. Keshab Das helped us think through one of

our chapters with his detailed draft. Sumangala Damodaran provided us the wordingof the IPTA song that we have used in the first chapter. Ben eagerly worked at providingus with information on rice cultivation in Chizami, Nagaland.

We specially would like to thank Urvashi Butalia who generously agreed to edit thebook at short notice. Her detailed editing and comments greatly enriched the quality ofthe book, its presentation of ideas and our writing style.

We would like to thank R.K. Laxman (The Times of India), Sheila Dhir,Poile Sengupta and Anjali Monteiro for permitting us to use their work and writings.

We duly acknowledge, Penguin, Tulika and the Government of Maharastra forallowing us to use their publications.

Some of the illustrations in this book have been done by children. The children ofGovernment Middle School, Uda, District Harda have drawn the pictures used in the

collage on rural livelihoods. Aditi, Aishwarya, Anisha, Bali, Meenakshi and Sahar alsoprovided us with their drawings. Saswati Chaudhury has painted two of theillustrations that we have used in the first chapter.

The photographs were generously provided byDown to Earth, Hind ustan TimesandNehru Memorial Library. We specially thank Outlook for the help and understandingextended to us and to Jan Breman and Parthiv Shah for their Photographs.

The Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS); Eklavya; Nirantar Centrefor Gender and Education and Ankur Society for Alternatives in Education played animportant institutional role in the evolution of the book by being patient with ourconstant absences, our excessive demands and lending their help in whichever way werequired. Mr. Adhikari, Vikas, Sachin and Ghanshyam at CSDS, Dinesh Patil atEklavya and Shalini Joshi, Purwa Bhardwaj, Malini Ghosh, Prasanna and Anil Hasdaat Nirantar have helped us a great deal.

All of the above individuals as parents, teachers or students have a knowledgeof textbooks and became involved in this process out of a commitment to bettering the

ways in which we introduce children to new ideas.

Special thanks are due to Savita Sinha, Professor and H ead, DESSH, NCERT for hersupport during the development of this book.

The Council also gratefully acknowledges the contributions of Arvind Sharma,DTP Operatorduring the preparation of the book.

The efforts of the Publication Department, NCERT in bringing out this book are alsohighly appreciated. This textbook is a reflection of all of our efforts. Suggestions andcritical feedback on this book are welcome.


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Why 'So cial and Politic al Life'?

Members of the team that drew up the National Curriculum Framework 2005 were of theopinion that the subject 'Civics' grew out of a certain colonial past and therefore required

to be changed. In addition, members of the curriculum committee felt that civics had beenfocused only on describing government institutions and programmes and needed todevelop a critical outlook. "Social and Political Life" is the new subject that emerged outof this exercise. This new subject has also simultaneously expanded its scope byincluding within its purview topics that deal with various aspects of social, political andeconomic life.

What is different about 'Social and Political Life'?

A great deal of effort has gone into consciously devising a different approach while writingthis textbook. The textbook incorporates a mix of the following three elements:

1) Recognising that children learn best through concrete experiences. We have triedto discuss institutions and processes through incorporating these either in theform of fictional narratives, or case-studies or exercises that draws on the child'sexperiences.

2) Introducing concepts with a view to enabling comprehension rather than theretention of facts. Some of the ways in which we have done this is throughminimising a listing of information, through asking questions that encourage thechild to think, and through avoiding definitions wherever possible.

3) Keeping in mind that the child is already deeply enmeshed within familial and

social networks, we have tried to balance the ideal with the real in our discussionof topics.

Children bring in a lot of what happens in the outside world to the classroom. Thediscussion of topics draws upon as well as interrogates these understandings. The realityis portrayed along with an analysis of how we could move towards the ideal. This ideal isemphasised through the values that are enshrined in the Constitution and throughpeople's struggles to achieve these.

ON USING THIS BOOK


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This book is divided into four sections that focus on different concepts i.e. diversity,government, local government and administration and livelihoods. Each section containschapters that elaborate and expand on these concepts.

I. Beginning Each Chapter

Each Chapter begins with twoelements that have beenintroduced to create an interestin the child to find out what theChapter is about. The first ofthese is the Introductory Box

that provides a brief glimpseinto the contents of what thatChapter will deal with. At timesit has questions that aredesigned both to generatecuriosity as well as to elicit thechild's experiences on theparticular topic. We have also

begun each Chapter with a largevisual. The reason behind this isonce again to enable the child toconjecture, with the help of thepicture provided, what theparticular Chapter seeks to getacross. Teachers areencouraged to come up withtheir own questions and visualsin addition to using thoseprovided in this book.

II. In-text Ques tions and Exercis es

You will notice that all of the Chapters includeboxes that contain in-text questions, discussionboxes or exercises. These serve several purposes.One is to help the teacher gauge the extent to

which the student has understood what has beendiscussed earlier in the Chapter.

Chapter 2In the previous chapter you ha ve discussed

the meanin gs of divers i t y . Somet imes

people wh o are 'di f ferent ' f rom others are

teased, laughed at or not included in a

certain act ivi ty or group. We feel hurt ,

angry, help less or sad w hen f r iends orothers treat us in such w ay s. Hav e you ever

w ondered w hy th is happens?

In this chapter we w i l l t ry and explore how

such experi ences are related to the society

w e live in. We w i l l look at how they are

connected to the inequal i t ies that exis t

around us.

Diversity and

Discrimination

What were Hector and his classmates protesting about?List five ways in which the non-whites werediscriminated against:1.2.3.


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Second is to expand on the student's understanding

of concepts by attempting to locate these within achild's own experiences.

The third is toallow the studentto recall and makeconnections with

what has beentaught earlier.

The discussion boxes are meant for discussionin small groups which then later gets shared withthe whole class. These discussion boxes are centralto the student experientially expanding upon theirunderstanding of particular concepts and should

therefore in no way be ignored for the sake of timeconstraints.

III. End-Tex t Que st ions

In drafting the end-text questions, care has been taken to encourage the student tounderstand rather than to blindly memorise the contents of the book. Students should beencouraged to write the answers in their own words. Various types of questions have beenused. A brief explanation of three different types of questions are provided:

3. Talk to a vegetable vendor or hawkerand find out how do they organise their

work, their way of preparing, purchasing,selling etc.

4. Bachchu Manjhi has to think twicebefore taking a day off from work. Why?

The decision of the Indian government to maintain peacefulrelations with Russia.

Exercise: Look at the statements in the column on the left.Can you identify which level they belong to? Place tick marksagainst the level you consider most appropriate.

The decision of the West Bengal Government on whether tohave Board exam in Class 8 for all government schools.

Introduction of two new train connections between Jammuand Bhubaneswar.

Local State Central

Discuss

Why do you think Samir Do did not attend school?Do you think it would have been easy for him toattend school if he wanted to? In your opinion is ita fair situation that some children get to go to schooland others don't?

Nature of the

service providedName of the shop

or office

5. Fill in the following table to show theservices provided by people in themarkets which you visit frequently.

QUESTIONS

1. What is the work of the police?

2. List two things that the work of aPatwari includes.

One type requires the child to specifically recallsom e of the main ideas of the Chapter.

Another type asks the studentto ans wer based ontheir own experiences.


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Questions also ask thestudent to imag ine asi tuat ion that they haveread about and react to theissues it throws up.

Another type has usedvisuals/ photos to ask thestudent to describe what theysee and how it relates to whatthey have read in the Chapter.

These various types of questions will allow the teacher to evaluate whether the childhas not only understood a concept but that this learning includes an ability to relate to

the concept meaningfully. The teacher is encouraged to set questions of various types, likethe ones described above, when evaluating the student. It is important that we formulatenew questions, similar to the end-text questions. We must try to abandon the practice ofstudents 'learning' answers to a fixed set of questions. Expressing opinion, or debating oncertain issues is part of engaging with or learning a concept.

6. Read the following news item....The incident came to l ight when some vi llagers brought a badly in jured Lad to

hospital for treatment. In the FIR recorded by th e pol ice Lad said th at he w asat tacked w hen he ins is ted that the w ater in the tanker must be empt ied into the

storage tanks construc ted as par t of the w ater supply scheme by Nimone Gram

Panchaya t so that there would b e equal dist r ibution of w ater. How ever, he al leged

that the upper caste men w ere against th is and told him tha t the tanker w ater was

not meant for the low er castes.

Adapted from Indian Express, May 1, 2004a. Why was Bhagvan beaten?

b. Do you think that the above is a case of discrimination? Why?

SEKAR RAMALINGAM

Landcultivated

Labourrequired

Selling ofharvest

6. Compare the situation of Sekar and Ramalingam by fillingout the following table:

7. Discuss:

In the two photographsyou see different ways ofcollecting and disposinggarbage.

i) Which way do youthink provides safety tothe person disposinggarbage?

There are compare and contrast

questions that ask the student to thinkthrough the information presented tothem


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IV. Use of Narratives

This book uses several narratives, both fiction and non-fiction, to enable the child to understand ideas andinstitutions. These narratives should be used to encourageintrospection as well as discussion, with the effort being tohave the student identify as much as possible with thestory. In some Chapters we have asked students to writenarratives of their own based on their experiences of similarsituations. Thestudent should

be encouragedto be as creative

as possible while writing and narrating these

stories. The teacher is also encouraged to lookfor linkages that can be made with conceptsthat are being taught in the other subjects.

I meant i t as ajo k e. A jo k e for the

smal l ragged boy w ho

so ld newspapers a t

the traff ic l ight at the

busy in te rsec t i on .

Every t ime I cycled

pas t he wou l d run

after me, holding out

the Engl ish paper and

screaming ou t the

evening's headlin es in a mixture of Hindi

and Engl ish. This t ime, I stopped by the

pavement and ask ed for the Hindi paper.

His m outh fel l open...

Bachchu Manjhi A Cycle-Ricksh aw Puller

I come from a vil lage in Bihar w here I w orked as a ma son.

My w ife and th ree children live in the vil lage. We don't own

land. In the vil lage I did not get masonry w ork regularly.

The income that I earned w as not sufficient for our fam ily.

After I reached this city, I bought an old cycle rickshaw and

paid for i t in insta lments. This wa s many years ago.. .

Imagine that you are a writer or an artist who lives in the placedescribed above. Either write a story or draw a picture of your life here.

Do you think you would enjoy living in a place like this? List fivedifferent things that you would miss the most if you lived here.

V. Use of Image s

This book contains several illustrations andphotographs. These are as integral to the Chapter as thenarrative is and the teacher is encouraged to use thesein explaining the narrative contents of this book. Inaddition pictures help the child visualise a situationeven if the child is not familiar with it. The teacher isencouraged to use relevant visual material in theclassroom in addition to what is provided here. Thelibrary, newspaper, magazines, the internet are all apotential source of visuals and should be used wheneverpossible.


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VI. Use of other Sources

A textbook is important butonly one among manysources that can be usedin a classroom. Studentsshould be encouraged toread outside their textbooks.One way would be to findout answers to some of thequestions raised in theclass in other sources likethe newspaper, magazines,

books etc.

Not bad! One of the taps in the

nearby vil la ge must be getting

w ater !

Letters to the editor


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CONTENTS

UNIT I DIVERSITY

Chapter 1 Understanding Diversity 3Chapter 2 Diversity and Discrimination 1 3

Foreword i i iOn Using this Book vii

UNIT II GOVERNMENT

Chapter 3 What is Government? 2 7Chapter 4 Key Elements of a Democratic Government 3 5

UNIT III LOCAL GOVERNMENT ANDADMINISTRATION

Chapter 5 Panchayati Raj 4 3Chapter 6 Rural Administration 4 9Chapter 7 Urban Administration 5 7

UNIT IV LIVELIHOODS

Chapter 8 Rural Livelihoods 6 7Chapter 9 Urban Livelihoods 7 6

References 8 6


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Look around you in the classroom: do you see

any one w ho looks exact ly l ik e you do? In this

chapter you w il l lear n tha t people are different from

each other in ma ny w ay s. Not only do they lookdifferent but they might also belong to different

regional, cultural or religious ba ckgrounds . These

dif ferences enrich our l ives in ma ny w ay s and also

mak e them more fun!

All these different people, w ho come from all k ind s of

back ground s, and belong to all k ind s of religions and

cultures help to make Ind ia so interesting and so

diverse. What d oes diversity ad d to our lives? How

did India become like this? Are all kin ds of difference

a pa rt of diversi ty? Can d iversi ty a lso be a par t of

unity ? Read this chapter to f ind some answ ers.

Chapter 1

Understanding

Diversity

hree children around your age have drawnthe figures above. Use the empty box to

draw your human figure. Is your drawingsimilar to any of the others? The chances arethat your drawing is quite different from theother three, which you can see are quitedifferent from each other. This is because eachone of us has a unique drawing style. We notonly don't look exactly like each other but alsodiffer in terms of the language we speak, ourcultural backgrounds, the religious rituals weobserve and, of course the way we draw!

T


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Now ask your teacher to help youcheck, how many of you have similaranswers. Is there anyone whose listmatches yours exactly? Probably not.But many of you may have similaranswers. How many like reading thesame kind of books? How manydifferent languages are spoken by thestudents in your class?

By now you must have recognisedthe many ways in which you are quitelike some of your classmates andother ways in which you are differentfrom them.

Making friends

Do you think it would be easy for youto make friends with someone whowas very different from you? Read the

following story and think about this.

I had meant it as a jok e. A joke

mad e up for a smal l ragged boy w ho

sold new spape rs a t the Janpa t

cross ing a t the busy in te rsec t ion .

Every t ime I cycled past he w ould run

after me, holding out the English paper

and screaming ou t the even ing 's

headl ines in a mixture of Hin di an d

Engl ish w ords. This t ime, I stopped by

the pavement and asked for the Hind i

paper. His m outh fell open.

"You mean y ou know H ind i?" he

asked.

"Of course," I said as I pa id f or the

paper.

"Why? What d id y ou th ink ?"

He paused. "But y ou look soso

an grez," he said . "You mean y ou caneven read H ind i?"

"Of course I can," I said , this tim e a

l i t t le impat ient ly. "I can speak, read

and w ri te Hind i . Hind i is one of the

sub jects I stud y in school."

"Subj ects?" he ask ed. How could Iexplain w hat a su bject w as to someone

w ho ha d never been to school? "Well, it

is somethin g" I began , but th e lights

changed, and th e honk ing behind me

grew a hu ndredfold an d I le t mysel f be

pushed along w i th the rest of the

traff ic.

Fill out the fol lowing information

about yourself

When I go out I like wearing

At home I speak in

My favourite sport is

I like reading books about


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Understanding Diversity / 5

The next day he w as there aga in ,

smi l ing a t me and ho ld ing ou t a H ind i

paper. "Bha iyy a , " he sa id , "aap k a

ak hbaa r. Ab Bathaa iye yeh sub ject

k ya cheez ha i? " the Eng l ish w ord

sounded s t r ange on h i s t ongue .

I t sounded l ike i t s o ther mean ing

in E ngl is h to be ruled by someone

else.

"Oh, it 's just something to stud y ," I

said . And then because the red l ight

had come on, I ask ed him, "Ha ve you

ever been to school?" "Never," he

answ ered. And he added proudly , " I

began w ork ing w hen I w as so high."

He measu red h imse l f aga ins t my

cycle-seat. "First my mother used to

come w ith me but I can d o it al l alone."

"Where is y our mother now ?" I

ask ed, but then the l ights chan ged a nd

I w as o f f. I hea rd h im y e ll f rom

somew here behin d m e, "She 's in

Meerut w i th" The rest w as d row ned

out.

"My n ame is Samir," he said the

next day . And very shy ly he asked,

"What 's yours?" It w as in credible. My

bicycle w obbled. "My name is Samir

too," I said . "What?" His ey es lit up.

"Yes," I grinn ed a t h im. "It 's another

name fo r Hanuman 's fa ther , you

kn ow ." "So now you are Samir Ek and

I 'm Samir Do," he said tr ium phan t ly."Something l ik e that," I answ ered and

then I held out my hand . "Ha ath mi lao,

Samir Do!" H is han d nest led in mine

lik e a lit t le bird. I could sti l l feel its

w armth as I cyc led aw ay.

The next day , he did n ot have his

usu al smile for me. "There is trouble in

Meerut ," he said. "Many people are

being k i l led th ere in t he riots." I looked

at th e head l ines. Commun al Riots, i t

blazed. "But Samir" I began. "I 'm a

Mus l im Samir," he said in a nsw er.

"And a l l my people are in Meerut ." H is

eyes f i lled w i th tears and w hen I

touched h is should er, he w ould n ot

look u p.

He w as not at the crossing the day

after. Neither the day after nor ever

again. And no new spaper, in Engl ish or

Hind i , can te l l me w here my Samir Do

ha s gone.

(The Lights Ch angedby Poile Sengupta)

While Samir Ek is more familiarwith English, SamirDospeaks Hindi.Although they both are more at homein different languages they stillcommunicated with each other. Theymade the effort to do so because thiswas what was important to them.

SamirEkand SamirDoalso come

from different religious and culturalbackgrounds. While Samir Ek is aHindu, Samir Do is a Muslim.Different religious and culturalbackgrounds such as these are anaspect of diversity.

Name three ways in which SamirEk and Samir Do were different?

Did these differences preventthem from becoming friends?


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In addition to their

diverse religious andcultural backgrounds,there are other waysin which Samir Ekand Samir Do aredifferent from eachother. For example,while SamirEkgoes toschool, SamirDosellsnewspapers.

Samir Do did not have theopportunity to attend school. Perhapsyou've noticed that there are severalpeople in the area where you live whoare poor and who don't have enoughto eat or wear and sometimes not evena place to live. This difference is notthe same as the one we have seen

earlier. Here, we're talking not ofdifference but of inequality. Inequalitycomes about when a person does nothave the resources and opportunititesthat are available to other persons.

The caste system is anotherexample of inequality. According tothis, society was divided into differentgroups depending upon the work thatpeople did and they were supposed toremain in those groups. So if yourparents were potters you could onlybecome a potter, nothing else. Thissystem was considered irreversible.And because you were not supposedto change your profession, it was notconsidered necessary for you to knowanything more than what you neededin your profession. This created asituation of inequality. You will readmore about this and other inequalitiesin the following chapters.

What does diversity add to ourlives?

Just like Samir Ek and Samir Dobecame friends, you might havefriends who are very different fromyou. You have probably eatendifferent kinds of food in their homes,celebrated different festivals withthem, tried out the clothes they wear,and learnt some of their languages

as well.

Discuss

Why do you think SamirDodidnot attend school? Do you thinkit would have been easy for himto attend school if he wanted to?In your opinion is it a fairsituation that some children getto go to school and others don't?

Make a list of the festivals thatmight have been celebrated by

the two boys.

SamirEk:

SamirDo:

Can you think of a situation inwhich you made friends withsomeone who was very differentfrom you? Write a story thatdescribes this.

Make a list of the food that youhave eaten from different parts ofIndia.

Make a list of the languages besidesyour mother tongue that you canspeak at least one or two words of.


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You probably like reading and

hearing stories and adventures aboutdifferent animals, people and evenghosts. Perhaps you even enjoymaking up stories yourself ! Manyyoung people feel happy when theyread a good story because it givesthem lots of ideas to make up morestories. People who write stories gettheir ideas from all sorts of differentplaces from books, and real life and

from their imagination.

Some may have lived in forestsclose to animals and chosen to writeof their fights and friendships. Othersread real accounts of kings andqueens and wrote stories about loveand honour. Some dipped into theirown childhood memories of schooland friends and wrote stories ofadventure.

Imagineif all thestorytellersand writersthat youhave heardand read so

far were forced to live in aplace where all people worethe same two colours red andwhite, ate the same food(maybe potatoes!), took careof the same two animals,for example, the deer andthe cat, and to entertainthemselves played snakesand ladders. What kind ofstories do you think theywould write?

DIVERSITY IN INDIA

India is a country of many diversities.We speak different languages, havevarious types of food, celebratedifferent festivals, practise differentreligions. But actually, if you thinkabout it, we do many things that aresimilar except that we do them indifferent ways.

How do we explain Diversity?

A little more than two hundred yearsago or long before the train,aeroplane, bus or car became a part ofour lives, people travelled from onepart of the world to another, in ships,on horses, on camels or on foot.

Imagine that you are a writer oran artist who lives in the placedescribed above. Either write astory or draw a picture of yourlife here.

Do you think you would enjoyliving in a place like this? List fivedifferent things that you wouldmiss the most if you lived here.


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Through singing ahymn

Through signing aregister in the court

In Manipur womenwear a fanek

Different ways inwhich people greet

each other

Different ways inwhich people dress

Different ways inwhich people get

married

Different ways inwhich people pray

List at least three different ways in which people in India do the following.

One of the possible answers has been provided for you already.

Different ways inwhich people cook

rice

By making Bi r iyan iwith meat orvegetables

In Jharkhand manyadivasis say "joh a r"to greet each other

Often, they went in search of newlands, or new places to settle in, or forpeople to trade with. And because ittook so long to travel, once they got toa place, people stayed there, often fora long time. Many others left theirhomes because there were faminesand drought and they could not get

enough to eat. Some went in search ofwork while others left because therewas a war.

Sometimes, as they began to maketheir homes in new places, peoplebegan to change a little and at othertimes they managed to do things inthe old ways. So their languages, food,

music, religions became a mix of theold and the new, and out of this inter-mixing of cultures, came somethingnew and different.

The history of many places showsus how many different culturalinfluences have helped to shape lifeand culture there. Thus regions

became very diverse because of theirunique histories.

Similarly diversity also comesabout when people adapt their lives tothe geographical area in which theylive. For example living near the sea isquite different from living in amountainous area.


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Ladakh is a desert in themountains in the eastern part of

Jammu and Kashmir. Very littleagriculture is possible here sincethis region does not receive anyrain and is covered in snow for alarge part of the year. There are

very few trees that can grow in theregion. For drinking water, peopledepend on the melting snowduring the summer months.

People here keep sheep andthe sheep in this region are

special because they producepashmina wool. This wool isprized and pashmina shawls costa lot of money. The people inLadakh carefully collect the woolof the sheep and sell this totraders from Kashmir. Pashminashawls are chiefly woven inKashmir.

The people eat meat and milkproducts like cheese and butter.

Each family owns some goats,cows and dzos (yak-cows).

Being a desert didnot mean thatLadakh did notattract its share oftraders. It wasconsidered a goodtrade route as ithad many passesthrough which

caravans travelledto what is todaycalled Tibet. Thesecaravans carriedtextiles and spices,raw silk andcarpets.

Not only do people have differentclothing and eating habits, but even thekinds of work they do are different. Incities it is often easy to forget how closelypeople's lives are tied to their physicalsurroundings. This is because in the citypeople seldom grow their own vegetablesand grain. Instead they depend on themarket to buy all the food and othergoods that they need.

Let us try to understand what wemean when we say that historical and

geographical factors influence thediversity of a region. We can do this byreading about life in two different parts ofthe country, Kerala and Ladakh.

Look at the map of Ind ia in an At las a nd

locate Kera la and Ladak h. Can you l is t

th ree w ay s in w h i ch the d i f f eren t

geograph ica l loca t ion o f th ese tw o

regions w ould inf lu ence the follow ing?

1. The food people eat:2. The clothes they w ear:3. The w ork they do:

The dry ba rren landscape of the mounta inous

deser t of Lada kh .


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Buddhism reached Tibet via Ladakh. Ladakh isalso called Little Tibet. Islam was introduced in

this region more than four hundred years agoand there is a significant Muslim populationhere. Ladakh has a very rich oral tradition ofsongs and poems. Local versions of the Tibetannational epic the Kesar Sagaare performed andsung by both Muslims and Buddhists.

Woman w eaving a pashmina shaw l


Kerala is a state in the south-west corner of India. It issurrounded by the sea on oneside and hills on the other. A

number of spices like pepper,cloves and cardamoms are grown on thehills. It is spices that made this region

an attractive place for traders. Jewishand Arab traders were the first to comehere. The Apostle of Christ, St. Thomasis believed to have come here nearly

2000 years ago and he is credited withbringing Christianity to India.

Many Arab traders also came andsettled down here. Ibn Battuta, who

travelled here a little less than sevenhundred years ago, wrote a travelogue in

which he describes the lives of Muslimsand says that they were ahighly respected community. ThePortuguese discovered the searoute to India from Europe when

Vasco da Gama landed with hisship here.

Because of all these varioushistorical influences, people in

Kerala practise different religionssuch as Judaism, Islam, Chris-tianity, Hinduism and Buddhism.

The fishing nets used here lookexactly like the Chinese fishingnets and are called cheena-vala.

Even the utensil used for frying is calledthe cheenachatti, and it is believed thatthe word cheencould have come fromChina. The fertile land and climate aresuited to growing rice and a majority of

people here eat rice, fish andvegetables.

Chin ese Fishin g Nets

The boat ra ce is an impor tant pa r t of

the Onam fest iva l celebrated in Kerala.


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While Kerala and Ladakh are quitedifferent in terms of theirgeographical features, the history of

both regions has seen similar culturalinfluences. Both regions wereinfluenced by Chinese and Arabtraders. It was the geography ofKerala which allowed for thecultivation of spices and the specialgeographical location of Ladakh andits wool that drew traders to theseregions. Thus history and geographyare often tied in the cultural life of a

region.

The influence of diverse cultures isnot merely a thing of the past. Ourpresent lives are all about movingfrom place to place for work and witheach move our cultural traditions andway of life slowly become part of thenew place we are in. Similarly in ourown neighbourhoods we live close topeople from several communities. Our

daily lives are about the ways inwhich we do things together and hearstories about each other's lives,customs and traditions.

UNITY IN DIVERSITY

India's diversity has always beenrecognised as a source of its strength.When the British ruled India, womenand men from different cultural,

religious and regional backgroundscame together to oppose them. India'sfreedom movement had thousands ofpeople of different backgrounds in it.They worked together to decide jointactions, they went to jail together, andthey found different ways to opposethe British. Interestingly the British

thought they could divide Indiansbecause they were so different, andthen continue to rule them. But the

people showed how they could bedifferent and yet be united in theirbattle against the British.

Don't forget the da y s of blood, O fr iend

In the midst of your h appin ess remember

to shed a tear for us

The hunter has torn aw ay every s ing le

f low er

Do plant a f low er in the desert gardendear fr iend

Ha ving fal len to bul lets w e slept in

Ja l l ianw a la Bagh

Do l ight a lamp on this lonely grav e

O fr iend

The blood of Hind us and Musl ims f low s

together toda y

Do soak y our robe in this r iver of blood

dear fr iend

Some rot in jai ls w hi le others l ie in th eir

graves

Do shed a few tears for them O fr iend.

Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA)

This song was sung after theJallianwala Bagh massacre inAmritsar in which a British generalopened fire on a large group of

unarmed, peaceful people killingmany and wounding even more. Menand women, Hindus, Sikhs andMuslims, rich and poor had gatheredto protest against the British. Thissong was composed and sungto honour the memory of thosebrave people.


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QUESTIONS

1. Draw up a list of the different festivals celebrated in your locality.Which of these celebrations are shared by members of differentregional and religious communities?

2. What do you think living in India with its rich heritage of diversityadds to your life?

3. Do you think the term "unity in diversity" is an appropriate term to

describe India? What do you think Nehru is trying to say aboutIndian unity in the sentence quoted above from his book Th eDiscovery of Ind ia?

4. Underline the line in the poem sung after the Jallianwala Baghmassacre, which according to you, reflects India's essential unity.

5. Choose another region in India and do a similar study of thehistorical and geographical factors that influence the diversity foundthere. Are these historical and geographical factors connected toeach other? How?

Songs and symbols that emergedduring the freedom struggle serve as aconstant reminder of our country'srich tradition of respect for diversity.Do you know the story of the Indianflag? It was used as a symbol ofprotest against the British by peopleeverywhere.

In his book TheDiscovery o f Ind ia

Jawaharlal Nehru saysthat Indian unity is notsomething imposedfrom the outside butrather, "It wassomething deeper andwithin its fold, thewidest tolerance ofbelief and custom waspractised and everyvariety acknowledged

and even encouraged."It was Nehru, who

coined the phrase, "unity in diversity"to describe the country.

India's national anthem,composed by Rabindranath

Tagore, is another expressionof the unity of India. In what

way does the nationalanthem describe this unity?

Pt. Nehru d eliver ing an Ind ependence Day sp eech


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Chapter 2

Difference and Prejudice

here are many things that makeus what we are how we live, the

languages we speak, what we eat,wear, the games we play and thethings we celebrate. All of these areinfluenced both by the geography andhistory of the place where we live.

You will get an idea of how diverseIndia is if you look even briefly at thefollowing statement:

There are eight major religions in the

w orld. Every single one of them is

pra ctised in India . We ha ve more tha n

1600 languages that are people 's

mother tongues, and there are more

than a hund red d ance forms.

Yet this diversity is not alwayscelebrated. This is because we feelsafe and secure with people who look,talk, dress and think like us.

Sometimes when we meet peoplewho are very different from us we mayfind them strange and unfamiliar. Attimes we may not understand or knowthe reasons why they are differentfrom us. People also form certainattitudes and opinions about otherswho are not like them.

T

In the previous chapter y ou have discussed the

mean ings of diversity . Sometimes people w ho are

'different' from others are teased, lau ghed at or not

includ ed in a certain activity or group. We feel

hurt, an gry, helpless or sad w hen fr iends or others

treat us in such w ay s. Ha ve you ever w ondered

w hy th is happens?

In this chapter w e w il l try and explore how such

experiences are related to the society w e live in.

We w il l look at how they a re connected to the

inequal i t ies that exist around us.

D i v e r s i t y a n dD i s c r i m i n a t i o n


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Some of the statements above seevillagers as dirty, ignorant andsuperstitious, and see people in citiesas money-minded, lazy and cunning.

When our opinions about certainpeople are always negative seeingthem as lazy, cunning, stingy assome of the statements above, thenthese become prejudices that we carryabout them.

Prejudice means to judge otherpeople negatively or see them asinferior. When we think that only oneparticular way is the best and rightway to do things we often end up notrespecting others, who may prefer todo things differently. For example ifwe think English is the best languageand other languages are notimportant, we are judging these otherlanguages negatively. As a result, wemight not respect people who speaklanguages other than English.

We can be prejudiced about manythings: people's religious beliefs, thecolour of their skin, the region they

come from, the accent they speak in,the clothes they wear etc. Often, ourprejudices about others are so strongthat we don't want to form friendshipswith them. At times, we may even actin ways that hurt them.

Look again at the statements that

you believed to be true about rural

and urban life in India. Do yo u have

a prejudice against rural or urbanpeople? Find out i f this i s shared

by others and discuss the reasons

why people have the se prejudices .

Can you l is t som e of the prejudices

that you have not iced around you.

How do they af fect the ways in

which people treat each oth er?

Below are some statements onpeople living in rural and urban areas.

Tick mark those that you agree with:

On Rural People

More than 50% of all Indianslive in villages.

Villagers do not care abouttheir health. They are full ofsuperstition.

People in villages are backwardand do not like to use modern

agricultural technology.

In peak harvesting and planta-tion season, families spend 12to 14 hours working in thefields.

Villagers are forced to migrateto cities in search of work.

On Urban People

Life in the city is easy. Peoplehere are spoilt and lazy.

In cities families spend verylittle time with each other.

People in cities only care aboutmoney, not about people.

Living in a city is expensive. Alarge part of people's earningsis spent on rent and transport.

City people cannot be trusted,

they are cunning and corrupt.


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Creating Ste reot ypes

All of us are familiar with gender

differences. What does it mean to be aboy or a girl? Many of you would say,"We are born as boys and girls. It is agiven. What is there to think about?"Let's see if this is the case.

If we take the statement ''Theydon't cry", you'll see that this is aquality that is generally associatedwith boys and men. As babies orchildren when boys fall and hurtthemselves, their parents and otherfamily members often console them bysaying "Don't cry. You are a boy. Boys

are brave, they don't cry." As childrengrow up they start believing that boysdo not cry so that even if a boy feelslike crying he stops himself fromdoing so. He also believes that cryingis a sign of weakness. So, even thoughboth boys and girls sometimes want tocry, especially if they are angry or in

Arrange the statements given below inthese two sections, according to what

you think is appropriate for the section.

They are well behaved.They are soft spoken and gentle.They are physically strong .They are naughty.They are good at dance and painting.They don't cry.They are rowdy.They are good at sport.They are good at cooking.They are emotional.

Girls Boys

1 12 2

3 3

4 4

5 5

Now check, with your teacher's help, who has put which statementwhere. Find out and discuss people's reasons for doing this. Are thequalities you put in for boys something that boys are born with?

Diversity and Discrimination / 15


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The children you see in theillustrations here were seenas 'disabled'. This term has

been changed and now theterm used is 'children withspecial needs'. Commonstereotypes about them aregiven in large letters. Theirown feelings and thoughts tooare given.

Discuss what these childrenare saying about stereotypesregarding them and why.

Do you think children withspecial needs should be a partof regular schools or study ina separate school? Givereasons for your answer.

Source: Why are you afra id to holdmy hand ,by Sheila Dhir



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pain, as they grow older boys learnorteach themselves not to cry. If agrown boy cries, then he feels thatothers will either tease him or laughat him, and so he stops himself fromdoing so in front of others.

Th is is the w ay boys a reand th is ishow gir ls are: these are statements wehear constantly and accept withouteven thinking, and we start believingthat each one of us must behaveaccordingly. We fit all boys and allgirls into an image that society creates

around us.

When we fix people into one imagewe create astereotype . When peoplesay that those who belong to aparticular country, religion, sex, raceor economic background are "stingy,""lazy," "criminal" or "dumb," they areusing stereotypes. There are stingyand generous people everywhere, inevery country, in every religion, inevery group whether rich or poor,

male or female. And just becausesome people are like that it is not fairto think that everyone will be thesame.

Stereotypes stop us from looking ateach person as a unique individualwith his or her own special qualitiesand skills that are different from

others. They fit large numbers ofpeople into only one pattern or type.Stereotypes affect all of us as theyprevent us from doing certain things,that we might otherwise be good at.

Ine quality and Discrim ination

Discrimination happens when peopleact on their prejudices or stereotypes.If you do something to put otherpeople down, if you stop them fromtaking part in certain activities andtaking up jobs, or stop them from

living in certain neighbourhoods,prevent them from taking water fromthe same well or hand pump, or notallow them to drink tea in the samecups or glasses as others, you arediscriminating against them.

Discrimination can take placebecause of several reasons. Youprobably recall from the previouschapter that SamirEkand SamirDo

were different from each other inmany ways. For example, theybelonged to different religions. This isan aspect of diversity. However, thisdiversity can also be a source ofdiscrimination. Groups of people whomay speak a certain language, followa particular religion, live in specificregions etc., may be discriminatedagainst as their customs or practices

may be seen as inferior.Another difference between the two

Samirs was in their economicbackgrounds. Samir Dowas poor.This difference, as you have readearlier, is not a form of diversity but ofinequality. People who are poor donot have the resources or the money

You can take other statements suchas They are soft and gentle orThey are wel l behaved and discusshow these are applied to girls. Dogirls possess these qualities at birthor do they learn such behaviourfrom others? What do you thinkabout girls who are not soft andgentle and those who are naughty?


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Dalit is a term thatpeople belonging to so-called lower castes useto address themselves.

They prefer this wordto 'untouchable'. Dalitmeans those who have

been 'broken'. Thisword according toDalits shows howsocial prejudices anddiscrimination have'broken' the Dalitpeople. The govern-

ment refers to thisgroup of people asScheduledCastes(SC).

Being ma de to sit seperately in th e classroom

because of one's background is a form of

discrimination.

What is the difference betweendiscrimination and stereotypes?

How do you think a person who isdiscriminated against might feel?

caste and sawthemselves assuperior. Thegroups whowere placedat the bottomof the ladderwere seen asunworthy andcalled "untou-chables".

Caste ruleswere set whichdid not allowthe so-called"untouchables"

to take on work, other than what theywere meant to do. For example, somegroups were forced to pick garbageand remove dead animals from thevillage. But they were not allowed toenter the homes of the upper castes ortake water from the village well, or

even enter temples. Their childrencould not sit next to children of othercastes in school. Thus upper castes

acted in ways, which did not give theso-called "untouchables" the samerights as they enjoyed.

Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, one of thegreatest leaders of India, shares his firstexperience of caste-based discrimi-nation, which took place in 1901 when

he was just nine years old. He had gonewith his brothers and cousins to meethis father in Koregaon which is now inMaharashtra.

Long did w e w ai t , but no one turned

up. An hour elapsed and the stat ion-

ma ster came to enquire. He ask ed us

for our tickets. We show ed them to him.

He asked us w hy w e tarr ied . We told

him th at w e w ere bound for Koregaon

and that w e w ere w ai t ing for fa ther orhis serva nt to come, bu t tha t neither

had tu rned up and tha t w e d id no t

kn ow how to reach Koregaon.

We w ere w e l l-d ressed ch i ld ren .

From our d ress or talk no one could

ma ke out tha t w e w ere chi ldren of the

un touchab les . Indeed the s ta t ion -

mas te r w as qu i t e su re w e w e re

Brahm in ch i ld ren a nd w as extremely

touched at th e pl ight in w hich he foun dus. As is usua l among the Hind us, the

sta t ionma ster asked us w ho w e w ere.

Without a moment 's thought I blu rted

out that w e w ere Mahars. (Maha r is

one of the communit ies w hich w ere

treated a s untouchables in the Bombay

Pres idency. ) He w as stunn ed. His face


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Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar (1891-1956)is considered the father of theIndian Constitution and is also the

best known leader of the Dalits.Dr Ambedkar fought for the rightsof the Dalit community. He was

born into the Mahar caste, whichwas considered untouchable. TheMahars were poor, owned no landand children born to them also hadto do the work their parents did.

They lived in spaces outside themain village and were not allowedinto the village.

Dr Ambedkar was the first personfrom his caste who completed hiscollege education and went to

England to become a lawyer. Heencouraged Dalits to send theirchildren to school and college. Healso urged Dalits to take on differentkinds of government jobs in order tomove out of the caste system. He ledmany efforts of Dalits to gain entryinto temples. Later in life heconverted to Buddhism in his searchfor a religion that treatedall members equally.Dr Ambedkar believed

that Dalits mustfight the castesystem and worktowards a society

based on respectnot just for a few butfor all persons.

und erw ent a sud den change. We couldsee tha t he w as overpow e red by a

stran ge feel ing of repulsion. As soon as

he heard m y rep ly , he w en t aw ay to h is

room and w e stood w here w e w ere.

Fif teen to tw enty m inu tes elapsed; the

sun w as alm ost set t ing . Our fa ther had

no t tu rned up no r had he sen t h i s

servant , and now the sta t ionmaster had

also lef t us. We w ere quite bew ildered,

and the joy and happ iness , w h ich w e fel t

a t the beginn ing of the jour ney, gave w ayto a feel ing of extreme sa dn ess.

After half an hour the stationmaster

returned an d ask ed us w hat w e proposed

to do. We said that if w e could get a

bu l lock-car t on h ire w e w ould go to

Koregaon, and if i t was not very far w e

w ould like to start stra ightw ay. There

w ere many bullock-carts ply ing for hire.

But my reply to the station ma ster that w e

w ere Mahars ha d gone round among thecar t men an d no t one of them w as

prepared to suffer being polluted a nd to

demean himself carrying passengers of

the un touchab le classes. We w ere

prepared to pay double the fare but w e

found tha t money d id no t w ork . The

stationmaster, w ho w as n egotiat ing on our

behalf , stood si lent , not kn ow ing

w hat to do.

Source: Dr B. R. Ambedk ar, Writings andSpeeches, Volum e 12, Edited Vasant Moon,Bombay Education Department, Govt. ofMaharashtra.


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Imagine how diff20--icult it wouldbe if people could not move --easilyfrom one place to the other, howinsulting and hurtful it is to have

people move away, refuse to touchyou or allow you to drink water fromthe samesourceas theydo.

This small incident shows how asimple task of going from one place toanother in a cart was not available tothe children even though they couldpay the money. All the cart men at thestation refused to take the children.They acted in a discriminatory

manner.

So, clearly, as this story shows us,caste based discrimination is not onlylimited to preventing Dalits fromundertaking certain economicactivities but it also denies them therespect and dignity given to others.

Striving for Equality

The struggle for freedom from Britishrule also included within it thestruggle of large groups of people whonot only fought against the British butalso fought to be treated more equally.Dalits, women, tribals and peasantsfought against the inequalities theyexperienced in their lives.

As pointed out earlier, many Dalitsorganised themselves to gain entryinto temples. Women demanded thatthey should have as much a right toeducation as men did. Peasants andtribals fought to release themselvesfrom the grasp of the moneylenderand the high interest they werecharged.

When India became a nation in1947 our leaders too were concernedabout the different kinds ofinequalities that existed. Those whowrote the Constitution of India, adocument that laid out the rules bywhich the nation would function,were aware of the ways in which


Despite the children

offering money the cartmenrefused them. Why?

How did people atthe station discriminateagainst Dr Ambedkar andhis brothers?

How do you thinkDr Ambedkar felt as achild, when he saw thestationmaster's reaction tohis statement that they

were Mahars?Have you ever experiencedprejudice or witnessed anincident of discrimination?How did this make you feel?

Discuss

In addition to the lower castesbeing discriminated against, thereare also various other communitiesthat are subject to discrimination.

Can you think of a few otherexamples of discrimination.

Discuss the ways in which personswith special needs might besubject to discrimination.


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discrimination had been practisedin our society and how peoplehad struggled against this. Manyleaders of these struggles such asDr Ambedkar had also fought for therights of the Dalits.

So these leaders set out a visionand goals in the Constitution toensure that all the people of Indiawere considered equal. This equalityof all persons is seen as a key valuethat unites us all as Indians.Everyone has equal rights andopportunities. Untouchability is seen

as a crime and has been legallyabolished by law. People are freeto choose the kind of work theywish to do. Government jobsare open to all people. In addition,the Constitution also placedresponsibility on the governmentto take specific steps to realise thisright to equality for poor and othersuch marginal communities.

The writers of the Constitutionalso said that respect for diversity

was a significant element inensuring equality. They felt thatpeople must have the freedom tofollow their religion, speak theirlanguage, celebrate their festivalsand express themselves freely.They said that no one language,religion or festival should becomecompulsory for all to follow. Theysaid that the government musttreat all religions equally.

Therefore, India became asecular country where people ofdifferent religions and faiths have

Some of the members w ho w rote the

Constitution of Ind ia.

Women at a rally d emanding their r ights



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the freedom to practise and followtheir religion without any fear ofdiscrimination. This is seen as animportant element of our unity thatwe all live together and respect oneother.

Though these ideals are enshrinedin our Constitution, this chapterpoints out that inequalities exist eventoday. Equality is a value that wehave to keep striving for and notsomething which will happen

automatically. People's struggles andpositive actions by the governmentare necessary to make this a realityfor all Indians.

QUESTIONS

1. Match the following statements in a way that challenges stereotypes.

a. Two surgeons were sitting down tolunch when one of them made a call onthe mobile phone

b. The boy who won the drawingcompetition went to the dias

c . One of the fastest athletes in theworld

d. She was not that well-off but had adream

1 . suffers from chronic asthma.

2 . to become an astronaut which shedid.

3 . to speak with her daughter who hadjust returned from school.

4 . on a wheelchair to collect his prize.

The first page of the Constitu tion tha t clearly

states that all Ind ians a re entitled to equality of

status and opportunity .


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2. How can the stereotype that girls are a burden on their parents affect

the life of a daughter? Imagine this situation and list at least fivedifferent effects that this stereotype can have on the way daughtersget treated in the house.

3. What does the Constitution say with regard to equality? Why do youthink it is important for all people to be equal?

4. Sometimes people make prejudiced comments in our presence. We areoften not in a position to do anything about this because it is difficultto say something right then and there. Divide the class into groupsand each group discuss what they could do in one of the following

situations:a. A friend begins to tease a classmate because he is poor.

b. You are watching TV with your family and one of themmakes a prejudicial comment about a particularreligious community.

c. Children in your class refuse to share their food with aparticular person because they think she is dirty.

d. Someone tells you a joke that makes fun of a communitybecause of their accent.

e. Some boys make remarks about girls not being able toplay games as well as them.

Discuss in class what the different groups have suggested for theabove situations, and also talk about the problems that can come up

when raising the issue.


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Chapter 3

What is

Government?

very country needs a governmentto make decisions and get things

done. These can be decisions aboutwhere to build roads and schools, or

how to reduce the price of onionswhen they get too expensive or waysto increase the supply of electricity.The government also takes action onmany social issues, for example it hasseveral programmes to help the poor.It does other important things such asrunning postal and railway services.

You mu st have heard the w ord 'government '

ment ioned several t imes. In this chapter you

w i ll learn about w hat a government is and the

importan t role i t play s in our l ives. What d o

governments do? How do they decide w hat to

do? Wha t is the di f ference betw een d i f ferent

ty pes of governm ents such as monarchies and

democracies? Read m ore an d f in d out.

Look at the newspaper headlines aboveand list the different kinds of activitiesthat the government is reported to bedoing in these newspaper headlines.

1.

2.

3.

4.

Isn't this a wide range of activities?

What do you think government is?Discuss in class.

E


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The government also has the job ofprotecting the boundaries of thecountry and maintaining peacefulrelations with other countries. It isresponsible for ensuring that all itscitizens have enough to eat and havegood health facilities. When there arenatural disasters like the tsunami oran earthquake it is the governmentthat mainly organises aid andassistance for the affected people. Ifthere is a dispute or if someone hascommitted a crime you find people in

a court. Courts are also part of thegovernment.

Perhaps you are wondering howgovernments manage to do all this.And why it is necessary for them to doso. When human beings live and worktogether, there needs to be someamount of organisation so thatdecisions can be made.

Some rules have to be made thatapply to everyone. For example, thereis a need to control resources andprotect the territory of a country, sopeople can feel secure. Governmentsdo this on behalf of their people byexercising leadership, takingdecisions and implementing theseamong all the people living in theirterritory.

Levels of Government

Now that you know that thegovernment is responsible for so

Can you list three things thatthe government does which

have not been mentioned.1.

2.

3.

Some exam ples of

inst i tut ions that are

par t of the government:

The Supreme Court,

The Ind ian Rai lway s

and Bhara t Petroleum.



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many different things, can you thinkof how it manages to do all this? The

government works at different levels:at the local level, at the level of thestate and at the national level. Thelocal level means in your village, townor locality, the state level would meanthat which covers an entire state like

Haryana or Assam and the nationallevel relates to the entire country.

Later in this book, you will read abouthow local level government functions,and when you go into the next fewclasses you will learn about howgovernments function at the state andcentral levels.

What is Government? / 29

Delhi

National level

State level


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District level

The decision of the Indian government to maintainpeaceful relations with Russia.

The decision of the West Bengal Government onwhether to have Board exam in Class 8 for allgovernment schools.

Introduction of two new train connections between

Jammu and Bhubaneswar. The decision to locate a common well in a

particular area of the village.

Decision to construct a big children's park inPatna.

The decision of the Haryana government to providefree electricity for all farmers.

Introduction of a new 1000 rupee note.

Exercise: Look at the statements in the column on the left. Canyou identify which level they belong to? Place tick marks againstthe level you consider most appropriate.

Local State Central


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Laws and th e Governme nt

The government makes laws and

everyone who lives in the country hasto follow these. This is the only waygovernments can function. Just likethe government has the power tomake decisions, similarly it has thepower to enforce its decisions. Forexample, there is a law that says thatall persons driving a motor vehiclemust have a licence. Any personcaught driving a vehicle without a

licence can either be jailed or fined alarge sum of money. Without theselaws the government's power to makedecisions is not of much use.

In addition to any actions that

governments can take, there are alsosteps that people can take if they feelthat a particular law is not beingfollowed. If a person feels, forexample, that they were not hired fora job because of their religion or caste,he or she may approach the court andclaim that the law is not beingfollowed. The court can then giveorders about what should be done.

Types of Governme nt

Who gives the government this pow er

to mak e decisions a nd enforce law s?

The answer to this questiondepends on the type of governmentthere is in a country. In a democracy

it is the people who give thegovernment this power. They do thisthrough elections in which they votefor particular persons and elect them.Once elected, these persons form thegovernment. In a democracy thegovernment has to explain its actionsand defend its decisions to the people.

Another form of government ismonarchy. The monarch (king orqueen) has the power to makedecisions and run the government.

The monarch may have a small groupof people to discuss matters with, butthe final decision-making powerremains with the monarch. Unlike ina democracy, kings and queens do nothave to explain their actions or defendthe decisions they take.

Discuss

Think of an example of anotherlaw. Why do you think it isimportant that people abide bythis law?


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Democratic Governments

India is a democracy. Thisachievement is the result of a longand eventful struggle of the Indianpeople. There are other places in theworld where people have alsostruggled to have democracies. Younow know that the main feature of ademocracy is that the people have thepower to elect their leaders. So in asense a democracy is rule by thepeople. The basic idea is that peoplerule themselvesby participating in themaking of these rules.

Democratic governments in our

times are usually referred to asrepresentative democracies. Inrepresentative democracies peopledo not participate directly but,instead, choose their representativesthrough an election process. Theserepresentatives meet and make

Discuss

1. Do you think it is important for people

to be involved in decisions that affectthem? Give two reasons for your answer.2. Which type of government would

you prefer to have in the place you livein? Why?3. Which of the statements below iscorrect? Correct those sentences that

you think need correction.a. In a monarchy the country's

citizens are allowed to elect whomeverthey want.

b. In a democracy a king hasabsolute powers to rule the country.

c. In a monarchy people can raisequestions about the decisions themonarch takes.

Nowhere in theworld have gover-

nments willinglyshared power.All over Europeand USA,women andthe poor havehad to fight forparticipationin government.

Women'sstruggle to vote

got strengthened

during the First WorldWar. This movement is called thewomen's suffrage movement asthe term suffrage usually meansright to vote.

During the War, many men wereaway fighting, and because of this

women were called upon to dowork that was earlier consideredmen's work. Many women beganorganising and managing

different kinds of work. Whenpeople saw this they began towonder why they had created somany unfair stereotypes about

women and what they werecapable of doing. So women

began to be seen as being equallycapable of making decisions.

The suffragettes demanded theright to vote for all women and toget their demands heard theychained themselves to railings in

public places. Many suffragetteswere imprisoned and went onhunger strikes,and they had to befed by force. American women gotthe right to vote in 1920 while

women in the UK got to vote onthe same terms as men some

years later, in 1928.


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decisions for the entire population.

These days a government cannot callitself democratic unless it allows whatis known as universal adult franchise.This means that all adults in thecountry are allowed to vote.

But it was not always like this.Can you believe that there was a timewhen governments did not allowwomen and the poor to participate inelections? In their earliest forms

governments allowed only men whoowned property and were educated, tovote. This meant that women, thepoor, the property-less and theuneducated were not allowed to vote.The country was governed by therules and regulations that these fewmen made!

In India, before Independence, only

a small minority was allowed to voteand they therefore came together todetermine the fate of the majority.Several people including Gandhijiwere shocked at the unfairness of thispractice and demanded that all adultshave the right to vote. This is knownas universal adult franchise.

Writing in the journal Young Ind iain 1931, Gandhiji said, "I cannot

possibly bear the idea that a man whohas got wealth should get the vote buta man who has got character but nowealth or literacy should have no vote,or that a man who honestly works bythe sweat of his brow day in and dayout should not have the vote for thecrime of being a poor man".

Vot ing in a rural a rea: A mark is put on the f inger to

mak e sure that a person casts only one vote.


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QUESTIONS

1. What do you understand by the word 'government'? List five ways inwhich you think the government affects your daily life.

2. Why do you think the government needs to make rules for everyonein the form of laws?

3. Name two essential features of a democratic government.

4. What was the suffrage movement? What did it accomplish?

5. Gandhiji strongly believed that every adult in India should be given

the right to vote. However, a few people don't share his views. Theyfeel that illiterate people, who are mainly poor, should not be giventhe right to vote. What do you think? Do you think this would be aform of discrimination? Give five points to support your view andshare these with the class.


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Chapter 4

In this chapter you w il l read about some of

the key elements tha t influence the w orking

of a democratic government. These include

people's part ic ipat ion, the resolut ion of

confl ict and equality and just ice.

outh Africa is a country that haspeople of several races. There are

black people who belong to SouthAfrica, whites who came there to settle,and Indians who came as labourersand traders.

Maya Naidoo, an eleven-year old

South A frican girl living in the tow n of

Johannesburg, w as helping her motherclear up her old boxes. She found a

scrapbook ful l of pictures and

new spaper art icles. There w ere man y

pictures of a y oung schoolboy of aroun d

fifteen years of age. When she ask ed

her mother w ho the boy w as, she w as

told tha t he w as called, Hector Pieterson.

He had been shot by the police. May a

w as shocked. "Why?" she asked.

Her mother expla ined that South

Afr ica w as ear l ie r govern ed by

apar the id law s. Apar the id means

separa tion on the basis of race. South

African people w ere divid ed into w hite,

b lack, Ind ian and co loured races.

Accordin g to the law , these ra ces w ere

not allow ed to mingle w ith each other, to

live near each other or even to use

common facilit ies.

Maya could not believe her ears.

May a's mother sound ed a ngry w hen

she spoke about life under apa rtheid.

She to ld Maya tha t in those days

Sout h Africa

India

S

Key Elem ent s o f

a Dem oc raticGovernment


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hospitals w ere separa te and so w ere

ambulan ces. An ambu lance meant for

w hite people w ould alw ay s be w ell

equipped w hile one meant for black

people w as not. There w ere separatetrains and buses. Even the busstops

w ere d i f fe ren t for b lack and w h i te

people.

Non-w hi tes w ere not a l low ed to

vote. The best lan d in th e country w as

reserved for the w hite people, an d n on-

w h i t es had to l i ve on the w o rs t

ava i l ab le land . Thus b lacks and

coloured people w ere not consi d ered to

be equal to w hites.

One black tow nsh ip w as the South

Wester n Tow nsh ip (Sow eto). Hector

Pieterson l ived h ere and h e and h is

classmates jo ined the protest again st

learn ing the Afr ikaans language in

school. This w as the lan guage tha t the

w hites spoke. Hector and other school

stud ents w ere being forced to learn

th is language but they w anted to learn

their ow n langua ge, Zulu . The South

Afr ican p ol ice beat u p th e protestors

merci less ly a nd shot at the crow d.

One of their bu llets kil led H ector. This

w as on 16 June 1976 .

The African National Congress, agroup of people who led the struggleagainst apartheid, and their most wellknown leader, Nelson Mandela fought

the apartheid system for severalyears. Finally, they succeeded and in1994 South Africa became ademocratic country in which people ofall races were considered equal.

Let us now try to understand whata democratic government means to allof us.

PARTICIPATION

Why do we have regular elections?You've already read in the previouschapter that people make thedecisions in a democracy. Throughvoting in elections people elect leadersto represent them. These representa-tives take decisions on behalf of the

What were Hector and his classmatesprotesting about?List five ways in which the non-whites

were discriminated against:

1.

2.3.

4.

5.Do you think it is important for allpersons to be treated equally? Why?


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people. In doing so it is assumed thatthey will keep in mind the voices andinterests of the people.

All governments are elected for fixedperiods. In India this period is five years.

Once elected, governments can stay inpower only for that period. If they wantto continue to be in power then theyhave to be re-elected by the people. Thisis a moment when people can sensetheir power in a democracy. In this waythe power of the government getslimited by regular elections.

Other ways of participating

Elections are usually held once in five

years. Besides voting there are otherways of participating in the process ofgovernment. People participate bytaking an interest in the working ofthe government and by criticising itwhen required. In August 2005, whena particular government increased themoney people had to pay forelectricity, people expressed theirdisapproval very sharply. They took

out rallies and also organised asignature campaign. The governmenttried to explain and defend itsdecision but finally listened to thepeople's opinion and withdrew theincrease. The government had tochange its decision because it isresponsible to the people.

Key Elements of a Democratic Government / 37

What approval or disapproval is

being expressed here?

Discuss

Look at some newspapers anddiscuss some elections that youmay have read about. Why do

you think elections are requiredafter a fixed period?

Not bad ! One o f t h e t a ps i n t he nea r by

v i l l a g e mus t be get t i n g w a t e r !

Take Action

It is worrying to know that

the tiger population in India is

falling. Tigers are being

hunted and killed by poachers

for their skins. The

government has not taken the

issue of poaching seriously

enough. It must take action

immediately, arrest the

poachers and implement the

laws protecting the tiger. If

this does not happen the tiger

will become an extinct animal

in the next ten years.

Sohan Pal

Guwahati, Assam

'Government must

give compensation

to flood victims'

Let t er s t o t h e ed i t o r


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There are many ways in whichpeople express their views and makegovernments understand whatactions they should take. Theseinclude dharnas, rallies, strikes,signature campaigns etc. Things thatare unfair and unjust are alsobrought forward. Newspapers,magazines and TV also play a role indiscussing government issues andresponsibilities.

While it is true that a democracyallows people to participate, it is alsotrue that not all sections of people areactually able to do so. Another way forpeople to participate is by organisingthemselves into social movementsthat seek to challenge the governmentand its functioning. Members of theminority community, dalits, adivasis,women and others are often able toparticipate in this manner.

If a country's people are alert andinterested in how the country is run,the democratic character of thegovernment of that country will bestronger.

So the next time we see a rallywinding through the streets of ourcities and towns or villages we shouldpause to find out what the rally isabout, who is participating in it, andwhat they are protesting about. Thiswill help to give us a sense of how ourgovernment works.

NEED TO RESOLVE CONFLICT

In Maya's story you read about howconflicts can often lead to violenceand death because one group decidesthat it is all right to use force toprevent the other group fromprotesting.

Conflicts occur when people ofdifferent cultures, religions, regions oreconomic backgrounds do not getalong with each other, or when someamong them feel they are beingdiscriminated against. People may useviolent means to settle their

differences. This leads to fear andtension among others living in anarea. The government is responsiblefor helping to resolve conflicts.

Let's read about some of theconflicts in our society and the role ofthe government in resolving them.

Read the story again: Do you

think the police shooting ofHector could have beenavoided? How?


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Religious processions andcelebrations can sometimes lead toconflicts. For example, the route aprocession takes may lead to a conflict.

The government, particularly thepolice, play an important role ingetting representatives of concernedcommunities to meet and try andarrive at a solution. At times there isfear that violence may erupt, withpeople throwing stones or trying todisrupt the procession. The police isresponsible for ensuring that violencedoes not take place.

Rivers too can become a source ofconflict between states. A river maybegin in one state, flow through

another and end in a third. Thesharing of river water betweendifferent states that the river goesthrough is becoming an issue ofconflict. For example, you may haveheard about the Cauvery waterdispute between Karnataka andTamil Nadu. The water stored inKrishnasagar dam in Karnataka isused for irrigating a number ofdistricts and for meeting the needs ofthe city of Bangalore. The water storedin Mettur dam in Tamil Nadu is used

for crops grown in the delta region ofthat state.

A conflict arises because both damsare on the same river. The downstreamdam in Tamil Nadu can only be filledup if water is released from theupstream one located in Karnataka.Therefore, both states can't get asmuch water as they need for people intheir states. This leads to conflict. The

central government has to step in andsee that a fair distribution is workedout for both states.

Key Elements of a Democratic Government / 39

The Indian Constitution laysdown the basic rules or laws that

have to be followed by everyone.These laws are for both thegovernment and the people.Conflicts and differences have to

be resolved according to theselaws. We will read more aboutthis in later classes.

Quiet f low s the Cauv ery d espite being at the centre of

heated conf l ic t betw een tw o states for the last 3 0 y ears.


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EQUALITY AND J USTICE

One of the key ideas of a democratic

government is its commitment toequality and justice. Equality andjustice are inseparable.

The earlier practice of untouch-ability is now banned by law. Thisgroup of people were denied education,transport or medical facilities andeven the chance to offer prayers.Dr Ambedkar, whom you have readabout earlier in this book, and manyothers like him, realised that suchpractices must not continue and that

justice can only be achieved whenpeople are treated equally.

The government also recognisesthis and makes special provisions forgroups within society that are unequal.For instance, in our society there is ageneral tendency to value and care forthe boy child more than the girl child.

This means that society does notvalue the girl and boy child equally andthis is unjust. In this context thegovernment steps in to promote justiceby providing special provisions thatcan enable girls to overcome theinjustice that they are subjected to.Thus it is possible that fees for girlsmight be waived or lowered ingovernment schools or colleges.

QUESTIONS

1. How would Maya's life be different in South Africa today?

2. What are the various ways in which people participate in the processof government?

3. Why do you think we need the government to find solutions to manydisputes or conflicts?

4. What actions does the government take to ensure that all people aretreated equally?

5. Read through the chapter and discuss some of the key ideas of ademocratic government. Make a list. For example, all people areequal.

How do you think lowering the schoolfees would help girls attend school?

Can you think of any experience fromyour life in which you have helpedsomeone out of a situation which youthought was unfair? Did everyone elsesee it the same way? What did youhave to say to convince others that

what you did was fair?

Discuss

In Maya's story did the governmentsupport the idea that people areequal?

In Dr Ambedkar's story did thepractice of untouchability supportthe idea that people are equal?


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Chapter 5

Panchayati Raj

t's a special day today! Everyone'srushing to get to the Gram Sabha!

Do you know why? Because the GramSabha is holding its first meeting aftertheelectionofthenewGramPanchayat.

The people of Hardas village are keento find out what their new Panchayatleaders have planned for the village.

Gram Sabha

The Gram Sabha meeting begins w ith

the Pan chayat President (w ho is alsocalled th e Sarpa nch) and th e members

of the Panchayat ( the Panchs)

presentin g a plan on repairin g the road

tha t connects th e vil lage to the ma in

highw ay . Af ter th is , the discussion

moves to the subject of w ater an d

w ater shortages.

The Gram Sabha is a meeting of alladults who live in the area coveredby a Panchayat.

Social and Political Life-I

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