What is the work of the police?
The work of police includes enquire, investigations and to take actions against the crime that is happening within its area. Every police station has an area that comes under its control. All people in that area can report cases or inform the police about any theft, accident, injury, fight etc.
In your neighbourhood are there women who own property? How did they acquire it?
How do women benefit under the new law?
What is the work of a tehsildar?
List two things that the work of a Patwari includes.
Visit a police station and find out the work that the police have to do to prevent crime and maintain law and order in their area especially during festivals, public meetings etc.
Who is in charge of all the police stations in a district? Find out.
In what ways are the work of the Panchayat, that you read about in the previous chapter, and the work of the Patwari related to each other?
What issue is the poem trying to raise? Do you think this is an important issue? Why?
How would Maya's life be different in South Africa today?
What problem did the villagers in Hardas village face? What did they do to solve this problem?
Draw up a list of the different festivals celebrated in your locality. Which of these celebrations are shared by members of different regional and religious communities?
Match the following statements in a way that challenges stereotypes.
a. Two surgeons were sitting down to lunch when one of them made a call on the mobile phone |
1. suffers from chronic asthma. |
b. The boy who won the drawing competition went to the dias |
2. to become an astronaut which she did. |
c. One of the fastest athletes in the world |
3. to speak with her daughter who had just returned from school. |
d. She was not that well-off but had a dream |
4. on a wheelchair to collect his prize. |
Look at the statements in the column on the left. Can you identify which level they belong to? Place tick marks against the level you consider most appropriate.
Why did the children go to Yasmin Khala's house?
You have probably noticed that people in Kalpattu are engaged in a variety of non-farm work. List five of these.
Read and discuss the following description of the living conditions of workers who come to the labour chowk.
Most workers that we find at the labour chowk cannot afford permanent accommodation and so sleep on pavements near the chowk, or they pay Rs 6 a night for a bed at a nearby night shelter run by the Municipal Corporation. To compensate for the lack of security, local tea and cigarette shops function as banks, moneylenders and safety lockers, all rolled into one. Most workers leave their tools at these shops for the night for safekeeping, and pass on any extra money to them. The shopkeepers keep the money safely and also offer loans to labourers in need.
Source: Aman Sethi, Hindu On-line
What are the various ways in which people participate in the process of government?
What, in your opinion, is the importance of the Gram Sabha? Do you think all members should attend Gram Sabha meetings? Why?
Why do you think the government needs to make rules for everyone in the form of laws?
Who is a Municipal Councillor?
Several poor people in the city work as domestic servants as well as work for the Corporation, keeping the city clean. Yet the slums in which they live are quite filthy. This is because these slums seldom have any water and sanitation facilities. The reason often given by the Municipal Corporation is that the land in which the poor have set up their homes does not belong to them and that slum-dwellers do not pay taxes. However people living in middle class neighbourhoods pay very little in taxes compared to the amount of money the corporation spends on them in setting up parks, street lighting facilities, regular garbage collection etc. Also as you read in this chapter, the property taxes collected by the Municipality makes up only 25-30 per cent of its money. Why do you think it is important that the Corporation should spend more money on slum localities? Why is it important that the Municipal Corporation provide the poor in the city with the same facilities that the rich get?
Underline the line in the poem sung after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, which according to you, reflects India's essential unity.
How does the Municipal Corporation earn the money to do its work?
What do you think living in India with its rich heritage of diversity adds to your life?
Why did the children go to Yasmin Khala's house?
How would Maya's life be different in South Africa today?
Take an example of any one task done by a Panchayat in your area/nearby rural area and find out the following:
a. Why it was taken up.
b. Where the money came from.
c. Whether or not the work has been completed.
What did Gangabai do and why?