NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science Civics Chapter 1 The Indian Constitution

Question 1.
Why does a democratic country need a Constitution?
Solution:
A democratic country needs a constitution because

• In a democracy people choose their representatives and the leaders might misuse their powers. Constitution provides safeguards against this.
• In a democracy, the constitution ensures that the dominant group does not use power against less powerful groups.
• The constitution guarantees fundamental rights to the citizens for their social, economic, and political welfare.

Question 2.
What is the difference in who exercises Executive Power in the 1990 and Interim Constitutions of Nepal? Keeping this in mind, why do you think Nepal needs a new Constitution today?
Solution:
In the 1990 Nepal constitution, the Executive powers of the Kingdom were entirely in the hands of the King. According to the Interim constitution drafted in 2007, the executive powers of Nepal are in the hands of the council of ministers headed by the Prime Minister.

There was a dire need for a new constitution as the ideals of the people had changed as the country had moved from a monarchy to a democracy. The old constitution was drafted when the country was under the rule of the king. The people of Nepal fought for a democratic government for many years. So the old constitution does not reflect the ideals of the people. The new constitution will change the rules of the old constitution in order to bring in a new society with new ideas.

Question 3.
What would happen if there were no restrictions on the power of elected representatives?
Solution:
If there were no restrictions on the power of elected representatives then:

• These leaders (representatives) might misuse their authority.
• This misuse of authority can result in gross injustice and mismanagement.

Question 4
In each of the following situations, identify the minority. Write one reason why you think it is important to respect the views of the minority in each of these situations.
(a) In a school with 30 teachers, 20 of them are male.
(b) In a city, 5 percent of the population are Buddhists.
(c) In a factory mess for all employees, 80 percent are vegetarians.
(d) In a class of 50 students, 40 belong to more well-off families.
Solution:
(a) 10 female teachers are in minority.
It is important to respect the views of female teachers so that male teachers do not use their power against them.

(b) 5 percent of Buddhists are in minority.
It is important to respect the views of Buddhists so that they will not be dominated by the community in the majority.

(c) 20 percent of non-vegetarian employees are in minority.
Their views should be respected as eating non-vegetarian food is their personal choice.

(d) 10 students belong to poor families and are in minority. Scholarships, special classes, and other welfare schemes like book bank, free supply of books, stationary and free uniform are to be planned to keep in view their requirements.

Question 5
Listed below are the key features of the Indian Constitution. Write two sentences, in your own words, on why you think this feature is an important key feature of

1. Federalism
2. Separation of Powers
3. Fundamental Rights
4. Parliamentary Form of Government

Solution:

1. Federalism:
   means more than one level of government in the country. India has a 3 tier government. India needs a 3 tier government because of the diverse religious and cultural composition of its citizens. A government in the centre alone could not be effective for everyone.
2. Separation of Powers:
   In order to prevent the misuse of power by the elected representative the constitution advocate Separation of powers. Each branch of the government has its powers fixed by the Constitution. The Constitution ensures that a balance of power is maintained between the Legislature Executive and the Judiciary.
3. Fundamental Rights: 
   Fundamental Rights guarantees the rights of individuals against the State as well as against other individuals. It protects minority communities and guarantees rights against the majority.
4. Parliamentary Form of Government:
   In a Parliamentary form of government, the constitution guarantees universal adult franchise for all citizens. That is, all adults have a right to vote, irrespective of whether they are poor or rich, educated or uneducated, a Hindu, Muslim or a Christian. The idea of a universal adult franchise is based on equality.

The Indian Constitution NCERT Class 8 Social and Political life Extra Questions

Question 1
In politics, what is a constitution?
Solution:
In Politics a Constitution can be described as a document outlining the basic laws or principles by which a country is to be governed

Question 2
Write a brief note on the making of the Indian Constitution.
Solution:
The Indian Constitutional Assembly was convened in December 1946. The members of this Assembly were only Indians. This Assembly started drafting the Constitution for Independent India. Dr. Ambedkar was the Chairman of the Constitution drafting committee.
The constitution declares India to be a sovereign, democratic republic and establishes the structure, procedures, powers and duties, of the government and duties of citizens.
?The 308 members of the Assembly signed two hand-written copies of the document (one each in Hindi and English) on the January 24, 1950. Two days later, on January 26, 1950, the Constitution of India became the law of all the Indian lands.

Question 3
In Nepal, when did the Interim Constitution come into effect?
Solution:
In Nepal, the Interim Constitution came into effect from January 15, 2007.

Question 4
Write a brief note on the struggle for freedom in Nepal.
Solution:
In Nepal, there was a people’s struggle for freedom in 1990. Democracy was established and it lasted for 12 years until 2002.
In October 2002, King Gyanendra began taking over the government with the assistance of the army. In 2005 King Gyanendra took over as the head of the government.
In 2006 people’s movement for democracy began gaining immense force. In April 2006 the King restored the Third Parliament and asked the political parties to form a government. In 2007, Nepal adopted an Interim Constitution and Nepal gained political freedom.

Question 5
What are the negative points of a democratic society?
Solution:
In a democratic society Power can be misused. Sometimes the Majority can undermine minority. The citizens need certain rules to save themselves from folly.

Question 6
How can a leader misuse power in a democratic country?
Solution:
A leader misusing his power may send his security guards to beat up his neighbours for a personal reason or ask the police not to take action against a relative who has committed a crime.

Question 7
How does the Indian Constitution safe guard the minorities of the country?
Solution:
The Indian constitution ensures that the dominant group does not use its power against other, less powerful people or groups.
The Constitution contains rules that ensure that minorities are not excluded from anything that is routinely available to the majority. It also prevents the domination of the majority over the minority.

Question 8
Mention the key features of the Indian Constitution.
Solution:
The key features of the Indian constitution are:-
Federalism
Parliamentary Form of Government
Separation of Powers
Fundamental Rights
Secularism

Question 9
What are the factors the drafting committee had to take into consideration while drafting the constitution?
Solution:
The committee had to keep in mind that India was a land of many communities, languages and many religions. India was a land of diverse cultures and the Princely states in India had to be considered. The partition of the country into India and Pakistan was about to happen and the drafting committee had to bear this in mind. Finally the biggest consideration was the socio-economic condition of a majority of Indians which was in a bad state.

Question 10
What were the highlights of the text prepared by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, who was the Chairman of the constitution drafting committee?
Solution:
Highlights of the Text prepared by Dr. Ambedkar are:-
Constitutional guarantees and protections for individual citizens
Freedom of religion
Abolition of untouchability
Outlawing of all forms of discrimination
Economic and social rights for women
Reservations of jobs in the civil services, schools and colleges for members of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

Question 11
What is universal adult franchise?
Solution:
Universal adult franchise is every adult citizen having a right to vote irrespective of sex, caste, creed, education and financial status.

Question 12
What do you mean by the legislature, the executive and the judiciary?
Solution:
The legislature refers to our elected representatives.
The executive is a smaller group of people who are responsible for implementing laws and running the government.
The judiciary refers to the system of courts in this country.

Question 13
What are the key components of fundamental rights?
Solution:
The key components of Fundamental rights are:-
Right to Equality
Right to Freedom
Right against Exploitation
Right to Freedom of Religion
Cultural and Educational Rights
Right to Constitutional Remedies

Question 14
What is secularism?
Solution:
Secularism is the right of the citizens to practice any religion. A secular state is one in which the state does not officially promote any one religion as the state religion.