Hinglish

Governing Our Cities

Class 6 Social Science · Chapter 12: Grassroots Democracy – Part 3: Local Government in Urban Areas · NCERT Exploring Society: India and Beyond section 12.1

Learn

Zara has just moved from a small town to a big city. The streets are packed with buses and scooters, people speak many languages, there are huge markets, tall buildings and busy railway stations. "Who looks after all this?" she wonders. "Who collects the garbage, fixes the roads and supplies the water?"

In a democracy, good governance aims to let citizens take part in how their area and country are run, at the village, town, city, state and national levels. This is called participatory democracy. In Chapter 11 we saw how it works in villages. Cities are bigger, more crowded and more diverse, so their governance is more complex.

Look at the governance pyramid. At the top is the Union Government, below it the State Government, and at the base, closest to the people, local government. Local government has two sides: Panchayati Raj in rural areas, and urban local bodies in towns and cities.

Both sides have a similar idea: people elect their own local representatives, who work on everyday needs. In villages, the base is the Gram Sabha; in cities, it is the people of each ward.

Explore: rural or urban?

  1. Sort each card.

Remember

  • Participatory democracy lets citizens take part at every level, from village and city to nation.
  • Local government has two sides: Panchayati Raj in villages and urban local bodies in cities.

Quick check

Why is governing a big city more complex than a village?

  1. More people, more communities and bigger needs for water, waste and transport
  2. Cities have no needs
  3. Villages have more traffic
  4. It isn't
Answer

More people, more communities and bigger needs for water, waste and transport. So cities need a more detailed system of local government.

Think about it

Make a list of different communities living in a city you know. What does this tell you about the city?

One answer

Cities bring together people of many languages, faiths, regions and jobs. Governing them means listening to many different needs fairly.

Practice

Practise with fresh questions at three levels (easy, medium, hard), some answered hands-on, with hints and worked answers. Get 4 of your last 5 right to finish the topic.