UPSSSC VDO key terms

The three-tier system of rural local self-government in India, comprising gram panchayat at village level, panchayat samiti at block level and zila parishad at district level, created by the 73rd Constitutional Amendment.

Amendment Act of 1992 that added Part IX and the Eleventh Schedule to the Constitution, giving constitutional status to panchayats and mandating elections, reservations and a State Election Commission.

The body of all registered voters residing in a village panchayat area; it approves plans, audits accounts and exercises powers given by state law. It is a permanent body, unlike the elected panchayat.

The lowest elected tier of Panchayati Raj, covering one village or a group of villages. Its members are directly elected, and it is headed by a sarpanch (pradhan) chosen by the voters or by members as state law provides.

The elected head of a gram panchayat, also called pradhan or mukhiya in different states. The sarpanch presides over meetings, signs resolutions and represents the panchayat before higher authorities.

The intermediate (block-level) tier of Panchayati Raj. Its members are elected from panchayat wards and it coordinates development schemes, supervises gram panchayats and executes works at block level.

The district-level apex tier of Panchayati Raj. It plans district development, distributes funds among block bodies and supervises the panchayat samitis under it.

Committee appointed in 1957 to study community development; it recommended a three-tier Panchayati Raj structure, which led to the first panchayat elections in Rajasthan in 1959.

Committee set up in 1977 that recommended a two-tier panchayat structure, open participation of political parties and a district-level body as the main planning unit. Most recommendations were not implemented nationally.

Body constituted every five years by each state under Article 243-I to review the financial position of panchayats and recommend how taxes and grants should be shared with them.

Government officer in charge of a community development block, responsible for implementing rural development programmes and assisting the panchayat samiti in administrative and financial matters.

Centrally sponsored programmes for villages, such as MGNREGA, PMAY-Gramin, PMGSY and Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-NRLM, aimed at employment, housing, roads and livelihood support for rural households.

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, which guarantees at least 100 days of unskilled wage employment per rural household per year and requires payment within fifteen days.

The arrangement by which the state collects tax on agricultural land. British India used zamindari, ryotwari and mahalwari settlements, each fixing who pays revenue and how it is assessed.

Permanent Settlement introduced by Lord Cornwallis in Bengal in 1793, under which zamindars collected land revenue from peasants and paid a fixed sum to the Company in perpetuity.

Revenue settlement introduced in parts of North India under which the village or estate (mahal) as a whole was assessed for land revenue, with the village headman collecting and depositing it.

Land revenue system used mainly in Madras and Bombay presidencies, where revenue was settled directly with the individual cultivator (ryot) rather than through an intermediary landlord.

दो वर्णों या ध्वनियों के मेल से उत्पन्न परिवर्तन; जैसे विद्या + आलय = विद्यालय। हिन्दी व्याकरण में स्वर सन्धि, व्यंजन सन्धि और विसर्ग सन्धि इसके प्रमुख भेद हैं।

वह सन्धि जिसमें स्वर के बाद स्वर आता है, जैसे राम + अवतार = रामावतार। इसमें दीर्घ, गुण, वृद्धि, यण और अयादि जैसे उपभेद होते हैं।

वह सन्धि जिसमें व्यंजन के बाद स्वर या व्यंजन आता है, जैसे सत् + जन = सज्जन। इसमें श्चुत्व, ष्टुत्व और जश्त्व जैसे परिवर्तन होते हैं।

वह सन्धि जिसमें विसर्ग के बाद स्वर या व्यंजन आता है, जैसे निः + चय = निश्चय। इसमें विसर्ग का लोप, रूपांतरण या स्वर में परिवर्तन होता है।

दो या दो से अधिक शब्दों के मेल से बना संक्षिप्त पद, जैसे राजपुत्र = राजा का पुत्र। हिन्दी में तत्पुरुष, कर्मधारय, बहुव्रीहि, द्विगु, द्वन्द्व और अव्ययीभाव इसके भेद हैं।

वह समास जिसमें उत्तर पद प्रधान होता है और पूर्व पद कारक चिह्न के साथ लुप्त रहता है, जैसे राजपुत्र = राजा का पुत्र।

वह समास जिसमें दोनों पद मिलकर किसी तीसरे अर्थ का बोध कराते हैं, जैसे दशानन = दस मुख वाला (रावण)। इसमें कोई भी पद प्रधान नहीं होता।

वह समास जिसमें दोनों पद प्रधान होते हैं और 'और' या 'या' का लोप रहता है, जैसे माता-पिता, राम-लक्ष्मण।

वह समास जिसमें विशेषण-विशेष्य या उपमान-उपमेय का संबंध होता है, जैसे नीलकमल = नीला कमल, चरणकमल = चरण रूपी कमल।

वह शब्दांश जो किसी शब्द के पहले जुड़कर उसके अर्थ में परिवर्तन या विशेषता लाता है, जैसे प्र + हार = प्रहार, अनु + शासन = अनुशासन।

वह शब्दांश जो किसी शब्द के बाद जुड़कर नया शब्द या भाव बनाता है, जैसे लड़क + पन = लड़कपन, मानव + ता = मानवता।

काव्य में सौंदर्य बढ़ाने वाला तत्व। शब्दालंकार जैसे अनुप्रास और यमक शब्द की चमत्कारिता पर आधारित हैं, जबकि अर्थालंकार जैसे उपमा और रूपक अर्थ पर आधारित हैं।

शब्दालंकार जिसमें एक ही व्यंजन की आवृत्ति कई बार होती है, जैसे 'चारु चंद्र की चंचल किरणें'। इससे ध्वनि-सौंदर्य उत्पन्न होता है।

अर्थालंकार जिसमें उपमेय की तुलना उपमान से की जाती है और दोनों में समान धर्म रहता है, जैसे 'मुख चंद्रमा के समान सुंदर है'।

अर्थालंकार जिसमें उपमेय और उपमान में कोई अंतर नहीं रखा जाता, बल्कि उपमेय को उपमान ही कह दिया जाता है, जैसे 'चरणकमल बंदौं हरिराई'।

The rule that a verb must match its subject in number and person, as in 'The list of items is on the desk'. Singular subjects take singular verbs, plural subjects take plural verbs, and intervening phrases do not change the agreement.

Two ways of reporting speech: direct speech quotes the speaker's exact words in quotation marks, while indirect speech changes pronouns, tense and time words to report the meaning without quoting.

Voice shows whether the subject performs or receives the action. In active voice the subject acts ('The clerk filed the papers'); in passive voice the object becomes subject and the verb uses a form of 'be' plus past participle.

A singular noun naming a group of persons, animals or things, such as team, jury, herd or committee. It usually takes a singular verb when the group acts as one unit.

A fixed expression whose meaning cannot be worked out from its individual words, such as 'to bury the hatchet' meaning to end a quarrel. Idioms are tested through sentence replacement questions.

Replacing a phrase with a single precise word, for example 'one who loves mankind' becomes philanthropist, or 'a place where bees are kept' becomes apiary. It tests vocabulary precision.

A word that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another word in a given context, such as 'begin' and 'commence'. Exact equivalence is rare, so context decides the best choice.

A word with a meaning opposite to another word, such as 'scarce' and 'abundant'. Antonym questions test whether the candidate can identify contrast rather than similarity.

A fraction expressed out of 100, written with the symbol %. To convert a fraction to a percentage, multiply by 100; to convert a percentage to a fraction, divide by 100 and simplify.

A ratio compares two quantities of the same kind, such as 3:5, while a proportion states that two ratios are equal, as in 3:5 = 6:10. In a proportion the product of extremes equals the product of means.

The sum of a set of values divided by the number of values. If every value is increased or decreased by the same amount, the average changes by that amount, a shortcut used in many questions.

Distance equals speed multiplied by time. Unit conversions matter: 1 km/h equals 5/18 m/s. Relative speed is the sum of speeds when two bodies move towards each other and the difference when they move in the same direction.

Problems about how long persons or machines take to finish a task together. Work done in one day is the reciprocal of the number of days taken, so rates are added when workers combine efforts.

A reasoning topic where letters or numbers in a coded message follow a rule, such as shifting each letter forward by a fixed number of places. The candidate must identify the rule and apply it to a new word.

Reasoning questions that describe family links through statements or a family tree; the candidate must work out how two persons are related, taking care with gender words such as 'his' and 'her'.

Questions requiring the candidate to trace a path of turns and distances on the ground and find the final position or facing direction, usually by drawing a simple diagram with north fixed at the top.

Finding the missing or next item in a sequence of numbers, letters or figures by detecting the pattern, such as repeated addition, multiplication, squares or alternating differences.