How the State Government Works Class 7 Notes Social Science Civics Chapter 3
Government works at three levels-national, state and local.
In states, it is the MLA (Member of Legislature Assembly) who represents the people. The MLAs enter the assembly and form the government.
Every MLA is elected from one area. This area is known as his constituency.
A political party whose MLA’s win more than half the number of constituencies in the state get the majority. The political party is called the ruling party.
All the other members are called opposition.
Working of the Government
- The organization of the state government includes the Governors, the state legislature and the state council of ministers.
- Every state in India has a Legislative Assembly and duration of the Legislative Assembly is five years.
- The head of the state is the Governor while the head of the government consists of the council of ministers headed by the Chief Minister.
- The leader of the ruling party who forms the government is the Chief Minister.
- The Legislative Assembly is a place where leaders debate and discuss on important issues and make important bills.
- In addition to the Legislative Assembly, the press conference is also a mode of knowing what the government does for the people.
- The government works through various departments like public works department, agriculture, health and education.
- The government has the power to make new laws for the state regarding health and sanitation.
- Laws for the state are made by the state Legislative Assembly.
- Laws for the country are made by the Union Parliament.
An MLA is a member of the Legislative Assembly. He is elected by the people. In this way, he represents people.
Every state in India has a Legislative Assembly.
Each state is divided into constituencies.
A constituency is an area from which all the voters living there choose their representatives, who then become Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs).
These MLAs belong to different political parties.
A political party whose MLAs have won more than half the number of constituencies, a state can be said to be in a majority.
The political party that has a majority becomes the ruling party and all other members become the opposition.
After the elections, the MLAs belonging to the ruling party elect their leader who becomes the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister then selects other people as ministers.
The Governor of the state appoints the Chief Minister and other ministers.
The ministers have separate offices.
Some MLAs have dual responsibilities—one as an MLA and the other as a minister.
The debate is generally held in the Assembly to discuss current problems. During debate time MLAs can express their opinions and ask questions related to the issue or give suggestions about what should be done by the government. The minister then replies to the questions and assures the Assembly that adequate steps are being taken.
The Chief Minister and other ministers together are responsible to run the government.
The word ‘government’, refers to government departments and various ministers who head them.
All the MLAs who gather together in the legislative assembly are called the Legislature.
The Legislature Assembly is not the only place where opinions are expressed about the work of the government. There several newspapers, TV channels, and other organizations which also talk about the government.
After the discussion in the assembly, a press conference is generally held by a particular minister who explains the steps taken by the government. Media persons then report these discussions in several newspapers.
The government can also decide to make new laws for the state regarding sanitation and health facilities. The various government departments then implement these laws.
Whenever the government fails to satisfy people’s needs, they organize meetings to voice their opinions and protest against the government.
Constituency: It refers to a particular area from which all the voters living there choose their representatives.
Majority: A political party whose MLAs have won more than half the number of constituencies in a state can say to be in a majority.
Opposition party: The elected representatives who are not the members of the ruling party belong to the opposition party. The representative together plays the role of questioning government decisions and actions. They also raise new issues for consideration in the Assembly.
Ruling party: The political party that has the majority is known as the ruling party.
Press conference: A gathering of media persons who are invited to hear about and ask questions on a particular issue and are then expected to report on this to the larger public.
