The village court is called

Concept

In the civics/Panchayati Raj curriculum used for competitive exams such as UPTET, rural local self-government separates governance functions from judicial functions at the village level. The elected/deliberative bodies (the general village assembly and the elected village council) administer local development and civic affairs, while a distinct quasi-judicial body — conventionally named Nyaya Panchayat — is described as the one constituted to hear and decide minor civil and criminal disputes arising within the village.

Application

The stem asks which of the four bodies is conventionally described as "the village court." Nyaya Panchayat is the body the standard civics curriculum designates for exactly this role — hearing petty disputes at the village level so villagers get speedy, local access to justice without approaching the formal district court hierarchy. That judicial role is why the curriculum names it "the village court."

Contrast

• Gram Sabha is the general assembly of all adult residents/registered voters of the village — a deliberative, participatory body that discusses local plans and holds the village council accountable.

• Gram Panchayat is the elected executive body of the village — it administers roads, sanitation, water supply, and development schemes.

• "Gram Adalat" is not the term the standard civics curriculum uses for this body; separately, some statutory village-level courts created later under a dedicated Act are termed "Gram Nyayalayas" — a distinct, formally created institution, not the conventional civics-curriculum term being tested here.

Cross-check

Civics textbooks and Panchayati Raj literature consistently teach Nyaya Panchayat as the body handling petty village-level disputes, which is why it is the standard/expected answer among the options offered for this stem.