What is Government? Class 6 NCERT Solutions – Complete Guide

These What is Government? Class 6 NCERT solutions cover the complete legacy exercise from Social and Political Life–I: the level-of-government activity plus all five questions. The answers are exam-ready, but they also connect the chapter with current civic institutions and global democratic history.

2026–27 learning note: “What is Government?” belongs to the older Class 6 Civics sequence. NCERT’s current Class VI Social Science textbook is the integrated Exploring Society: India and Beyond. This page preserves the legacy exercise while updating factual context where the old wording has aged.

Exercise part	What it tests
Level-of-government activity	Local vs State vs Union/Central responsibilities
Question 1	Meaning and daily impact of government
Question 2	Why laws must apply to everyone
Question 3	Essential features of democratic government
Question 4	Suffrage movement and expansion of voting rights
Question 5	Universal adult franchise and discrimination

Watch & Learn: One English + One Hindi Solution Video

English: What is Government? – NCERT Solutions

This public Magnet Brains 2025–26 lesson is dedicated to the NCERT exercise and covers Questions 1–5.

If the player does not load, open the English NCERT-solutions lesson on YouTube.

हिंदी: सरकार क्या है? – प्रश्न उत्तर

यह सार्वजनिक OnEducationPoint lesson कक्षा 6 सामाजिक एवं राजनीतिक जीवन Chapter 3 “सरकार क्या है?” के प्रश्न-उत्तर हिंदी में समझाता है।

यदि वीडियो लोड न हो, तो YouTube पर हिंदी प्रश्न-उत्तर lesson खोलें.

Level-of-Government Activity

Decision	Best level	Why?
India maintaining peaceful relations with Russia	Union / Central	Foreign affairs are handled at the national level.
West Bengal deciding whether government schools should hold a Class 8 Board exam	State	School education involves major state-level responsibilities.
Two new long-distance trains between Dibrugarh and Kanyakumari	Union / Central	Indian Railways is a Union-level institution.
Locating a common well in a village	Local	A village water facility is primarily a local civic matter.
Constructing a children’s park in Patna	Local	Neighbourhood parks are generally handled through urban local government.
Haryana deciding to provide free electricity to farmers	State	The policy is being made by a state government for people in that state.
Introducing a new ₹1000 banknote	Union / Central	Currency issuance operates through the Union legal framework and the Reserve Bank of India.

Current-context note: the ₹1000 item is a legacy textbook example, not a statement that a new ₹1000 note is currently in circulation. The older ₹1000 Mahatma Gandhi-series notes ceased to be legal tender in November 2016. The exercise remains useful because it correctly tests that currency is a Union-level matter.

NCERT Exercise Answers

Q1. What do you understand by “government”? List five ways government affects daily life.

Solution: Government is the system of public institutions and authorities that makes collective decisions, implements laws, provides services and manages public affairs for a country, state or local area.

1. Roads and transport: governments plan roads, public transport, traffic rules and rail systems.
2. Schools and education: public authorities fund schools, set many education rules and support educational programmes.
3. Health and sanitation: governments run public-health programmes, hospitals, vaccination systems, sanitation and disease-control measures.
4. Safety and justice: police, courts, disaster response and defence protect people and resolve disputes.
5. Public utilities and welfare: water, electricity policy, food-support programmes, pensions and other public schemes affect everyday life.

A strong answer can also mention taxes, environmental rules, digital services, passports, elections or international relations.

Q2. Why does government need to make rules for everyone in the form of laws?

Solution: Societies need common rules so that rights are protected, disputes can be resolved fairly, harmful actions can be controlled and public resources can be managed. Laws create standards that apply beyond personal preference. They also tell public authorities what they may and may not do.

In a constitutional democracy, an important principle is the rule of law: citizens and public authorities are both subject to law. Laws are therefore not only instructions for citizens; they also limit government power.

Q3. Name two essential features of a democratic government.

Solution:

1. Popular participation through elections: citizens choose representatives through regular elections under the country’s constitutional and electoral rules.
2. Accountability: elected governments must explain and defend their decisions and can be questioned through legislatures, elections, courts, media and other democratic institutions.

Other democratic features—such as rights, rule of law and political equality—are also important, but these two directly answer the legacy textbook question.

Q4. What was the suffrage movement? What did it accomplish?

Solution: “Suffrage” means the right to vote. Suffrage movements were campaigns to extend voting rights to people who had been excluded, especially women. Campaigners used petitions, public meetings, writing, lobbying, marches and, in some countries, civil disobedience or militant tactics.

Country	Major milestone	Important nuance
United States	The 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920, prohibiting denial of the vote on account of sex.	This did not immediately remove all discriminatory barriers faced by many Black women and other minority voters.
United Kingdom	Some women gained the parliamentary vote in 1918; equal voting rights with men came in 1928.	The 1918 law applied only to certain women over 30; the 1928 Equal Franchise Act created equal terms.
India	Independent India adopted universal adult suffrage from the beginning of its constitutional democracy.	Voting rights were not made dependent on wealth, literacy or gender.

The global lesson is that democratic voting rights were not always universal. They expanded through long political struggles over who should count as an equal citizen.

Q5. Should illiterate or poor adults be denied the right to vote? Would that be discrimination?

Solution: No. Denying adults the vote merely because they are poor or cannot read would be discriminatory and would contradict the democratic principle of political equality.

1. Citizenship is not an exam: the right to participate in democracy should not depend on passing a literacy or wealth test.
2. Government decisions affect everyone: poor and non-literate citizens are affected by prices, schools, healthcare, jobs, roads, welfare programmes and laws just as other citizens are.
3. Literacy does not determine political judgement: people can understand their interests, communities and public problems through experience, discussion and many forms of information.
4. Exclusion would favour the powerful: if only wealthy or educated groups could vote, governments would have less reason to listen to everyone else.
5. Political equality protects dignity: one adult citizen’s vote should not be worth less because of income, schooling, caste, gender or social position.

In present-day India, an Indian citizen who has attained 18 years of age on the qualifying date and is otherwise eligible can be registered as an elector. Literacy or wealth is not a qualification for voting.

Global Comparison: What Does “Equal Voting Rights” Mean?

Different democracies reached broad adult suffrage at different times. The important comparison is not which country was “best,” but how voting rules changed from restricted participation toward wider political equality. Students should ask three questions when comparing any democracy:

1. Who is legally allowed to vote?
2. Are some groups still prevented from voting in practice?
3. Is each eligible voter treated equally under the election system?

Real-World Civic Challenge

Imagine a city says only people who have completed Class 12 can vote in a local election. Evaluate the proposal using the ideas from Question 5:

• Who would be excluded?
• Would the excluded people still be affected by local taxes, roads, water and public services?
• Would education level make one citizen’s interests more important than another’s?
• What democratic principle would the rule violate?

This kind of scenario turns the textbook answer into civic reasoning rather than memorisation.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Do not write: “All American women fully gained equal access to voting in 1920.” The 19th Amendment was a major legal milestone, but discriminatory barriers continued for many women.
• Do not write: “UK women got the same voting rights as men in 1918.” Equality on the same terms came in 1928.
• Do not write: “Government makes every law by itself.” Legislatures make laws through constitutional processes; the executive implements them and courts interpret them.
• Do not write: “A new ₹1000 note currently exists because the old textbook says so.” Treat it as a legacy classification example.

Exam-Ready Revision

Remember	One-line answer
Government	Public institutions that make and implement collective decisions.
Laws	Common public rules that protect rights, regulate conduct and limit power.
Democracy	People choose representatives and government remains accountable.
Suffrage	The right to vote.
Universal adult franchise	Adult citizens can vote without wealth, literacy, caste or gender qualifications, subject to election law.

Quick Self-Test

1. Which level handles foreign relations?
2. Why are laws necessary in a democracy?
3. Name two essential features of democratic government.
4. When did UK women gain voting rights on the same terms as men?
5. Why should literacy not be a condition for voting?

Answers: (1) Union/Central. (2) To create common rules, protect rights, resolve disputes and limit public power. (3) Elections/popular participation and accountability. (4) 1928. (5) Political equality should not depend on education level, and government decisions affect all citizens.

What is Government? NCERT Solutions – FAQs

How many questions are in the legacy exercise?

There is one level-of-government activity followed by five numbered exercise questions.

Is the ₹1000 note question still current?

The classification principle is still useful, but the example is outdated. The older ₹1000 banknotes referred to in that era are no longer legal tender. Students should answer Union/Central for the exercise and understand it as a legacy example.

Is voting in India restricted by literacy?

No. Literacy is not a qualification for voter registration. Eligible Indian citizens aged 18 or above can register subject to election-law requirements.

Authoritative Learning Sources

• SATHEE / legacy NCERT chapter
• Election Commission of India
• UK Parliament – women and the vote
• US National Archives – 19th Amendment
• Reserve Bank of India – banknote FAQs

Related Class 6 Civics Resources

• What is Government? – Class 6 Notes
• Diversity and Discrimination – NCERT Solutions
• Key Elements of a Democratic Government – Class 6 Notes
• Class 6 Notes Hub

Study path: Use the focused Civics links above—notes → solutions → next Civics chapter. The unrelated subject catalogues have been removed so the page stays useful rather than artificially long.