Dokchory Learns About The Panchayat: Lesson-4: Class- viii.

Dokchory Learns About ThePanchayat: Lesson-4: Class- viii.

do you know who build our roads, bridges, and buildings? From where does the money to build all this come? In this lesson, you will read about how Panchayat spend money for the people.

Dokchory is a student of class viii of Disangmukh Janajati High School. Her Ba-bu (father) Konke Mili takes her to school on his bicycle. She loves the bicycle ride for she gets to know new things every day. 'Dokchory' means a necklace of beads the misings usually wear in festival time.

Let's see the questions and answers.

Question no -1.

Here are some words from the text and their meanings. Test your understanding by matching the words on the left with their meanings on the right.

institution:             Manner of governing or ruling

elections:               angry dispute, unfriendly relations with someone

sincerity:               organization or society

differently-abled:  the exercise through which we vote for new leaders

schemes:               the money citizens of a country have to pay the government to help it do different                                    kind of work

substantial:           plans

rural:                     large in size or amount

tax:                        relating to a village or the countryside

quarrel:                 having a physical or mental condition that makes it difficult for a person to do all the                               work that other people do

governance:         devotion to a purpose

Answer:

institution:    organization or society

elections:      the exercise through which we vote for new leaders

differently-abled: having a physical or mental condition that makes it difficult for a person to do all the                                work that other people do               

        

sincerity:       angry dispute, unfriendly relations with someone

schemes:       plans

substantial:   large in size or amount

rural:             relating to a village or the countryside

tax:                the money citizens of a country have to pay the government to help it do a different kind                         of  work

quarrel:          devotion to a purpose

governance:   Manner of governing or ruling

Question no-2.

Complete the following sentences with information from the text:

(a)  Dokchory studies in class----.

Answer:  Dokchory studies in class viii.

(b)  The name of her school is -------.

Answer:  The name of her school is Dasangmukh Janajati High School.

(c)  Her father's name is ---------.

Answer:  Her father's name is Konke Mili(Ba-bu) 

(d)  He works in the ---------

Answer:  Panchayat office.

(e)  Dokchory goes to school by -------

Answer:  bicycle.

(f)  She loves the ride because she -------

Answer:  To know new things every day'

(g)   To contest the Panchayat elections, one has to be -----------

Answer:  Above 21 years.

Question no-3.

Answer the following questions to understand the text better:

(a)   What was the meaning of Panchayat long ago?

Answer:   Long ago, the meaning of Panchayat was a system of governance by five elderly men called Panch Gramin Pramukh.

(b)   What is the meaning of Panchayat now?

Answer: Nowadays, the meaning of Panchayat, anyone who is above 21  can contest Panchayat elections. A Panchayat is a body that is responsible for the development of villages. The Constitution of India grants power to the Panchayat to raise taxes, plan development schemes, and work for local development.

(c)    What kind of work is done by the Panchayat?

Answer:    The Panchayat is doing work, build and repair rural roads, house for the poor, and so on. The Panchayat raises a little money from taxes on vehicles, river ghat, bazaars, and lakes, etc.

(d)    From where does the Panchayat get money to perform all its work?

Answer:    The Panchayat gets an annual grant from the Panchayat and Rural Development Department of the government.

(e) how did the Panchayat help Dhaniram?

Answer:    Dhaniram got a house in last year from the Panchayat.

(f)   How did Dhaniram spend the cold December nights?

Answer:   Dhaniram spend the cold December nights on the open verandah of the school building.

Question no-4.

You have just read about the Panchayat. Use information from the lesson, fill in the table below:

The Panchayat

Meaning:-

Minimum age to contest:-

Powers of a Panchayat:-

Kinds of work a Panchayat does:-

Sources of money:-

Answer:

Meaning:-   Panchayat meant a system of governance by five elderly men called Panch Gramin Pramukh. 

Minimum age to contest:-  Above 21 years

Powers of a Panchayat:-  The Constitution of India grants power to the Panchayat to raise taxes, plan development schemes, and work for local development.

Kinds of work a Panchayat does:- Build and repair rural roads, bridge, house for the poor, and so on.

Sources of money:-  The annual grant from the Panchayat and Rural Development Department of the government.

Question no-6.

Discuss in small groups:

(a)   If you want to help the needy, would it be fine to do it immediately? Why and why not?

(b)   How would you like to help a person with special needs? Share your ideas in your group.

(c)   Did Konke Mili plan the right thing to help Dhaniram? Give more suggestions.

Question no-7.

Dokchory will work for the Panchayat when she finishes school. Write a paragraph on what you will do for your village or town when you grow up.

Question no 8.

In class vii, you learned about Reported Speech and Reporting Verbs. In this lesson, we see more of such sentences.

Look at this sentence from the lesson:

She said to her father, "What is a Panchayat?"

The reported clause starts with a 'wh' question. Wh word are who, when, whom, whose, what, where, which, why, and how. A wh- question is changed into the indirect form by using the question word at the beginning of the reported clause.

e.g. She asked her father what a Panchayat was.

Let's practice-changing other questions into the reported form:

(a)   She said to her father, " What kind of work do you do?"

(b)   She said to her father, " Where do you get all the money from?"

(c)   She said to her father, " Is that enough to do so much work?"

(d)   She asked him, " Why don't you build a house for poor Dhaniram?"

(e)   She said to him, " What is a Panchayat?"

Now read this sentence. It is another type of reported sentence:

 

(a)   She said to her father, " Do something for the old man."

Here the reported clause is an Imperative sentence. In an Imperative sentence, the subject, which is usually the second person 'you'. is generally left unwritten,

(b)   Do something for the old man. (= you do something for the old man.)

There are other types of imperatives such as negative and emphatic imperatives. For example, the imperative sentence.

(c)   Come in, please.

can be turned into:

Negative: Don't come in, please.
Emphatic: do come in, please.

Find out how much you have understood. Change the following imperative sentences into negative and emphatic forms:

(a)  Repair the roads.

(b)  Build a house for Dhaniram.

(c)  Work for local development.

(d)  Close the door, please.

(e)  Please wash your hands.

Answer:

(a) Don't repair the road. (negative)

(a) Do repair the road. (emphatic)

(b) Don't build a house for Dhaniram. (negative)

(b) Do build a house for Dhaniram. (emphatic)

(c) Don't work for local development. (negative)

(c) Do work for local development. (emphatic)

(d) Don't close the door, please. (negative)

(d) Do close the door, please. (emphatic)

(e) Don't wash your hands, please. (negative)

(e) Do wash your hands, please. (emphatic)

Question no-9.

Say the words in the box aloud:

Panchayat,  child,  Dockchory

much,  change,  Panch

Did you notice that they all have the sound ch?

Now, find other words from the lesson which have similar ch sound in them. Write them in your notebook. Add a few more and practice saying them aloud.

ANSWER; schemes, chores, etc.

Question no-10.

Here is a crossword puzzle for you to find out the adjectives (describing words) in the puzzle to fill up the blanks on the right. One is done for you. See the image.

Answer:

(a)   open  verandah

(b)   annual grant

(c)   rural roads

(d)   important institution

(e)   new  things

(f)   social change

(g)   good questions

(h)   bitter cold

Read more- Louis Pasteur

Question no 11.

Let's play a game. Look at the following pairs of words quickly. Each pair looks the same, but are different in meaning as well as in spelling. The different meanings are given against each pair. Fill in the blanks by putting in one or two-letter(s) to show the difference in spelling. The one who completes it first will be the winner.

(a)   d---ry:    ( a record of every day's events or thoughts)

       d---ry:    ( a place where milk is processed to make different milk products)

(b)   w---ther:  ( temperature of a place)

       w---ther:  ( expressing of doubt)

(c)   l---ke:    ( a large area of water)

       l---ke:    ( similat to)

(d)   w---sh:    ( to make something clean by using water)

       w---sh:    ( to want something to happen)

(e)   n---w:     ( fresh,not old or used)

       n---w:     ( the present time)

Answer:

(a)    dairy

        diary

(b)   weather

        wether

(c)   lake

       like

(d)   wash

       wish

(e)   new

       now