Given below are two statements: one is labelled as Assertion and the other is labelled as Reason:

Assertion: Local governments like the gram sabhas are the closest examples of direct democracy.
Reason: Direct democracy is considered ideal and best to be practised when a decision has to be taken by lakhs and crores of people.

The Assertion is correct but the Reason is incorrect.

The correct answer is Option 4 - The Assertion is correct but the Reason is incorrect.

Assertion: Local governments like the gram sabhas are the closest examples of direct democracy.
Reason: Direct democracy is considered ideal and best to be practised when a decision has to be taken by lakhs and crores of people.

The assertion (A) is true because local governments like gram sabhas involve direct participation of people in decision-making, which is a key feature of direct democracy. However, the reason (R) is false because direct democracy is typically feasible and effective in smaller communities where everyone can participate directly. It becomes impractical and less ideal in scenarios involving large populations, such as "lakhs and crores" of people, where representative democracy is generally more suitable.

Correction in Reason: Direct democracy cannot be practiced when a decision has to be taken by lakhs and crores of people.

A direct democracy is one where the citizens directly participate in the day-to-day decision- making and in the running of the government. The ancient city-states in Greece were considered examples of direct democracy. Many would consider local governments, especially gram sabhas, to be the closest examples of direct democracy (ASSERTION). But this kind of direct democracy cannot be practiced when a decision has to be taken by lakhs and crores of people (REASON). That is why rule by the people usually means rule by people’s representatives. In such an arrangement citizens choose their representatives who, in turn, are actively involved in governing and administering the country. The method followed to choose these representatives is referred to as an election. Thus, the citizens have a limited role in taking major decisions and in running the administration. They are not very actively involved in making of the policies. Citizens are involved only indirectly, through their elected representatives. In this arrangement, where all major decisions are taken by elected representatives, the method by which people elect their representatives becomes very important.