Very Short Answer Type Question
1. What are the two Houses of Parliament?
Answer: The Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha
2. What does EVM mean?
Answer: EVM means Electronic Voting Machine.
3. How does the Parliament session begins?
Answer: The Parliament, while in session, begins with a question hour.
4. When were EVMs used for the first time?
Answer: EVMs were used throughout the country for the first time in the 2004 general elections.
5. What is a constituency?
Answer: Constituency is an area whose voters elect a representative to a legislative body.
6. Who presides over Lok Sabha?
Answer: Lok Sabha (House of the People), with a total membership of 545, is presided over by the Speaker.
7. What is the purpose of parliament?
Or
What is the main function of the parliament?
Answer: Parliament enables citizens of India to participate in decision making and control the government.
8. What is the principle of universal adult franchise?
Answer: The principle of universal adult franchise means that all adult citizens of the country have the right to vote.
9. How many members does the President nominates in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha?
Answer: The President nominates 2 members to the Lok Sabha and 12 members to the Rajya Sabha.
10. Who makes the opposition party?
Answer: The Opposition in Parliament is formed by all the political parties that oppose the majority party/coalition formed. The largest amongst these parties is called the Opposition party.
Short Answer Type Questions
1. Parliament is the most important symbol of Indian Democracy. Explain.
Answer: Parliament enables citizens of India to participate in decision making and control the government, thus making it the most important symbol of Indian democracy and a key feature of the Constitution.
2. Which house of parliament is more powerful with regard to financial matters and how?
Answer: Lok Sabha is more powerful with regard to financial matters because money bills can only be introduced in the Lok Sabha. Thus, it controls the finances of the government.
3. Give reasons for the reservation of seats in Parliament for SCs, STs and OBCs.
Answer: Some seats are reserved in Parliament for SCs and STs. This has been done so that the MPs elected from these constituencies will be familiar with and can represent Dalit and Adivasi interests in Parliament.
4. Opposition plays an important role in democracy. Justify.
Or
What is the role of opposition in democracy?
Answer: The Opposition parties play a critical role in the healthy functioning of a democracy. They highlight drawbacks in various policies and programmes of the government and mobilise popular support for their own policies.
5. What are the basic ideals of democracy?
Answer: The basic ideals of democracy are:
- The ideas of participation in decision-making.
- The need for all democratic governments to have the consent of their citizens.
6. What are the major functions of the parliament?
Answer: The major functions of the parliament are:
- To select the National Government
- To control, guide and inform the government
- Law-Making
7. Enlist the components of Indian Parliament.
Answer: The Parliament of India is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the President of India and the two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the People).
8. State the demands of the Indian National Congress in 1885.
Answer: The nationalists began to openly criticise the British government and make demands. In 1885, the Indian National Congress demanded that there be elected members in the legislature with a right to discuss the budget and ask questions.
9. What are reserved constituencies? What is the purpose behind such constituencies?
Answer: Reserved constituencies are those constituencies in which seats are reserved for SCs and STs on the basis of their population. This has been done so that the MPs elected from these constituencies will be familiar with and can represent Dalit and Adivasi interests in Parliament.
10. How many seats should a political party acquire in Lok Sabha to have a majority?
Answer: For a political party to form the government, they must have a majority of elected MPs. Since there are 543 elected (plus 2 Anglo-Indian nominated) members in Lok Sabha, to have a majority a party should have at least half the number i.e. 272 members or more.
