In Kesarpur, a village in central India, the villagers' general meeting was held last month to discuss a new drinking water scheme. A few large landowners did almost all the talking. Many women sat at the back and did not speak, and most landless labourers left early to reach their daily wage work. The panchayat secretary noted that the water scheme was approved by those who stayed till the end.
The villagers' general meeting described in the passage is a meeting of which body?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → The Gram Sabha of the village
Option (1) The Gram Sabha of the village — Correct. The Gram Sabha is the entire body of citizens in a village, the base unit of Panchayati Raj. A general meeting open to all villagers, landowners, women and labourers alike, is a Gram Sabha meeting.
Option (2) The local government elected by the villagers — Incorrect. The local government is the small body that the Gram Sabha elects and charges with set duties. A meeting of all the villagers is not that elected body.
Option (3) The caste panchayat of the village — Incorrect. A caste panchayat is a traditional village council that has usually represented dominant groups and held conservative views. It speaks for one caste, so it cannot be the meeting of every villager called to approve a public water scheme.
Option (4) Both the Gram Sabha and the local government — Incorrect. The Gram Sabha and the local government are two different bodies. The meeting of all villagers is the Gram Sabha alone, and it elects the local government.
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