Very Short Answer Type Questions
1: When was the Indian Constitution adopted?
Answer: The Indian Constitution was adopted on 26 January, 1950.
2: Which step has been described as revolutionary?
Answer: All Indians above the age of 21 would be allowed to vote in state and national elections.
3: On what point did Nathuram Godse disagree with Gandhiji?
Answer: Nathuram Godse disagreed with Gandhiji’s conviction that Hindus and Muslims should live together in harmony.
4: Name two subjects of the State List.
Answer: Education and health.
5: Name two subjects of the Concurrent List.
Answer: Forests and agriculture.
6: Who was Potti Sriramulu?
Answer: He was a veteran Gandhian who went on a hunger strike demanding the formation of Andhra state to protect the interests of Telugu speakers.
7: When did the new state of Andhra Pradesh come into existence?
Answer: The new state of Andhra Pradesh came into existence on 1 October, 1953. .
8: What were the points of focus of the Second Five Year Plan?
Answer: • Development of heavy industries.
• Building of large dams.
9: How was the Bhilai Steel Plant viewed?
Answer: The Bhilai Steel Plant was viewed as an important sign of the development of modem India after Independence.
10: What was the basic objective of the foreign policy of Independent India?
Answer: The basic objective of the foreign policy of Independent India was non-alignment, i.e., the American and Soviet alliances.
11. What is meant by ‘Universal Adult Franchise’?
Answer: Universal Adult Franchise meant that everybody above the age of 18 regardless any caste, class, religion, gender and race can have a right to vote.
12. Who was appointed as Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution? Answer: Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
Short Answer Type Questions
Ques 1. Mention the challenges faced by independent India.
Answer:
- Framing a new constitution for India
- Integration of states into the Indian union.
- Planning for development of nation (5year plan).
- To develop an independent foreign policy for country.
2. After Independence why was there a reluctance to divide the country on linguistic lines?
Answer: India had been divided on the basis of religion: despite the wishes and efforts of Gandhi, freedom had come not to one nation but to two. As a result of the partition of India, more than a million people had been killed in riots between Hindu & Muslims.
3. What did Dr. Ambedkar mean when he said that “In politics we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality?
Answer: Dr. Ambedkar meant that in politics everybody regardless gender, class and education will have right to vote and everybody will be equal but in social and economic life there would be great difference between high castes and low castes, rich and poor; Hindu communities and Indian who practiced different faiths. Rich people will live in multi –storied buildings and poor will live in villages.
4. What were the major objectives of new nation?
Answer:
1. Lifting India and Indians out of poverty by building a modern technical and industrial base
2. In 1950, the planning commission was set up to help design suitable politics for economic development.
3. In 1956, the Second Five Year Plan was formulated.
4. This focused strongly on the development of heavy industries such as steel, and on the building of large dams.
5. These sectors would be under the control of the State.
5: What created problems in unifying the people of India after it got independence?
Answer: The points that created problems were:
(a) At the time of independence, India’s population was large. It was divided too. There were divisions between high castes and low castes, between the majority Hindu community and Indians who practised other faiths.
(b) The citizen of this country spoke different languages, wore different kinds of dresses, ate different kinds of foods and practised different professions.
6: What was the label of development of India at the time it got independence?
Answer: At the time India got independence the label of its development was very low. A vast majority of Indians lived in the villages. Farmers and peasants depended on the monsoon for their survival. So did the non-farm sector of the rural economy, for if the crops failed, barbers, carpenters, weavers and other service groups would not get paid for their services either.
In the cities too the condition was not good. Factory workers usually lived in crowded slums. They had little access to education and health care.
7: What special privileges were offered for the poorest and most disadvantaged Indians by the constitution?
Answer: First of all the practice of untouchability was abolished. Hindu temples were thrown open to all including the former untouchables.
- A certain percentage of seats in legislatures as well as jobs in government were reserved for members of the lowest castes.
- Alongwith the former untouchables, the adivasis also known as the Scheduled Tribes were also granted reservation in seats and jobs. They too had been deprived and discriminated against like the Scheduled Castes.
8: How have powers and functions of the Central and State Governments been divided by the Constitution?
Answer: The Indian Constitution gives the division of power in the form of three lists, known as Union List, State List and Concurrent List. The Union List includes subjects such as taxes, defence and foreign affairs. On these subjects the central government makes the laws. The State List includes subjects such as education and health. It is the exclusive responsibility of the state government to take care of these subjects. In the last comes the Concurrent List which contains subjects such as forests and agriculture. On these subjects the Centre and the States have joint responsibility.
Long Answer Type Questions
1: Under what circumstances a compromise was made with respect to language?
Answer: Several members of the Constituent Assembly believed that the English language should be driven out of India with the British rule. They were of the opinion that Hindi should take place of English language. However, those who did not speak Hindi were of different opinion. T.T. Krishnamachari on behalf of the people of the south strongly opposed Hindi. Some threatened to separate from India if Hindi was imposed on them. Finally, a compromise was made. It was decided that while Hindi would be the ‘official language’ of India, English would be used in the courts, the services, and communications between one state and another.
2: Under what circumstances did the new state of Andhra Pradesh come into being?
Answer: The decision of the Congress leaders not to divide the country on linguistic lines disappointed the Kannada speakers, Malayalam speakers and the Marathi speakers. They had all looked forward to having their own state. The Telrtgu-speaking districts of what was the Madras Presidency raised the strongest protests. In October 1952, a veteran Gandhian named Potti Sriramulu went on a hunger fast demanding the formation of Andhra state to protect the interests of Telugu-speakers. The fast went on and with hartals and bandhs began to be observed. Meanwhile, Potti Sriramulu died. This incidence intensified the situation. The protests now became widespread and intense. This forced the Central Government to give in to demand. On 1 October, 1953, the new state of Andhra Pradesh came into being.
3: Give a detailed description of the features of the Indian Constitution.
Answer: We have a writtten Constitution which was adopted on 26 January 1950.
Features:
(a) One feature of the Indian Costitution was that it adopted universal adult franchise. All Indians above the age of 21 (now 18) would be allowed to vote in state and national elections.
(b) Our Constitution guaranteed equality before the law to all citizens, regardless of their caste or religious affiliation.
(c) The Constitution offered special privileges for the poorest and most disadvantaged Indians. The evil practice of untouchability was abolished. Hindu temples were thrown open to all, including the former untouchables. After a long debate, the Constituent Assembly also recommended that a certain percentage of seats in legislatures as well as jobs in government be reserved for members of the lowest castes, including the adivasis.
(d) Our Constitution clearly defined the powers and functions of the central and the state governments. It gave division of power in the form of three lists—a Union List with subjects such as taxes, defence and foreign affairs, which would be the exclusive responsibility of the Centre, a State List of subjects such as education and health, which would be taken care of mainly by the States, a Concurrent List under which would come subjects such as forests and agriculture in which the Centre and the States would have joint responsibility.
4: Write in brief the process of state formation.
Answer: The Congress leaders were in no mood to further divide the country on linguistic lines. This created great disappointment among the Kannada speakers, Malayalam speakers, and the Marathi speakers, and the Telugu speakers, because they had all looked forward to having their own state. The Telugu speakers, however, showed the strongest protests. Their leader Potti Sriramulu went on a hunger fast demanding the formation of Andhra state to protect the interests of Telugu speakers. As the fast went on, it attracted much Hartals and bandhs began to be observed. Meanwhile, Potti Sriramulu died. This incidence intensified the situation. The protests took intense form. This forced the Central Government to give in to the demand and the new state of Andhra Pradesh came into existence on 1 October, 1953.
After the formation of Andhra Pradesh, other linguistic communities also demanded their own separate states. Hence, a State Reorganisation Commission was set up, which submitted its report in 1956. It recommended the redrawing of district and provincial boundaries to form compact provinces of Assamese, Bengali, Oriya, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu speakers respectively. The large Hindi-speaking region of north India was broken up into several states. Then in 1960, the bilingual state of Bombay was divided into separate states for Marathi and Gujarati speakers. In the year 1960, the state of Punjab was also divided into Punjab and Haryana, Punjab for the Punjabi speakers and Haryana for the rest who spoke Haryanvi or Hindi.
5: Give an account of the successes and failures of the country during sixty-two years of its independence.
Answer: Sixty-two years of independence have passed. This duration covers a long journey. A lot have been achieved during this time. But at the same time there have been a number of failures.
Successes:
(a) India is still united and it is still democratic. These achievements definitely make us proud. Many foreign observers had felt that India could not survive as a single country. Others believed that it would come under military rule. Neither of these predictions proved to be true. As many as thirteen general elections have been held since independence, as well as hundreds of state and local elections.
(b) There is a free press and an independent judicially.
(c) The fact that people speak different languages or practise different faiths has not come in the way of national unity.
Failures:
(a) Deep divisions are still there. Despite constitutional guarantees, people belonging to the lowest castes, such as dalits face violence and discrimination. In many parts of rural India they are not allowed access to water sources, temples, parks and other public places.
(b) The gulf between the rich and the poor has grown over the years. Some groups of people avail all facilities while many others continue to live below the poverty line.
(c) Our Constitution provides equality before the law but in real life this does not happen. Some Indians are more equal than others.
6. When was the Indian constitution adopted and what were its features?
Answer: The Indian constitution was adopted on 26th January1950.
Features of the Indian Constitution:
1. Adoption of Universal Adult Franchise: It adopted universal adult franchise. According to this Indians above the age of 21 would be allowed to vote in state and national elections.
2. Equality to all citizens: It guaranteed equality before the law to all citizens, regardless of their caste or religious affiliation. All the people of different religious would be given the same opportunities when it come to seeking jobs in government or the private sector, the same rights before the law.
3. Granting special privilege to SC and ST: It offered privileges for the poorest and most disadvantaged Indians.
4. Abolition of Untouchability: The practice of untouchability was abolished. The Hindu temples were open to all including the untouchables.
5. Reservation of seats in Govt offices: Constituent Assembly recommended that a certain percentage of seats in legislatures as well as jobs in govt. be reserved for members of the lowest castes.
7. What were the problems that the newly independence nation of India faced?
Answer: The three problems are:
Political:
- As a result of partition, 8 million refugees had come into the country from what was now Pakistan.
- These people had to be found homes and jobs.
- Then there was the problem of princely states, almost 500 of them, each ruled by a maharaja or a nawab each of whom had to be persuaded to join the new nation.
Social:
- India’s population in 1947 was large 345 million.
- It was also divided there were division between high castes and low caste between majority Hindu community and Indian who practiced different faiths.
- The citizens of this were land spoke different languages, more many different kinds of dress, ate different kinds of food and practiced different profession.
- It was difficult to make them live together in one nation state.
Economic:
- To the problem of unity was added the problem of development.
- At independence, a vast majority of Indian lived in the village farmers and peasants depended on monsoon for their survival.
- In the cities, crowded slums were occupied by factory workers who had little access to education or health care.
- New nation had to lift its masses out of poverty by increasing the productivity of agriculture and by promoting new job-creating industries.
8. What was the role of Planning Commission?
Answer:
1. In 1950, the govt. set up a planning commission to help design and execute suitable policies for economic development.
2. There was a broad agreement on what was called “mixed economy” model. Here both the state and the private sector would play important and complimentary roles in increasing production and generating jobs.
3. These roles were to be- which industries should be initiated by the state and which by the market how to achieve a balance between diff. religions and states – was to be defined by the planning commission.
9. After Independence, why was there a reluctance to divide the country in linguistic lines?
Answer:
1. Back in 1920s, the INC – the main party had promised that once the country won Independence each major linguistic group would have its own provinces.
2. However, after independence the congress didn’t take any steps to honour their promise. That the congress leaders would now go back on their promise created great disappointment.
3. The Kannada speakers, the Marathi speakers, had all looked forward to having theirs own state. The strongest protests however came from Telugu speaking districts of what was Madras presidency.
10. Give reasons why English continued to be used in India after Independence.
Answer:
- Many members believed that the English language should leave India with the British rulers. Its place, they argued should be taken by Hindu.
- But those who did not speak Hindi (TT Krishnamachari) conveyed a warning on behalf of the people of the South, some of whom there threatened to separate from India if Hindi was imposed on them.
- A compromise was finally arrived at: namely, that while Hindu would be the official language of India, English would be used in courts, the services and communications between one state and another.
11. How was Economic development of India visualized in the early decades after Independence?
Answer:
- In 1956, the second five year plan was formulated. This focused strongly on the development of heavy industries such as steel and on the building of large dams.
- These sectors would be under the control of the state. This focus on heavy industry, and the effort at state regulation of the economy was to guide economic policies for the next few decades.
- This approach had many strong supporters but also some vocal critics.
- Some felt that it had put inadequate emphasis on agriculture.
- Others argued it had neglected primary education still others believed that it had not taking account of environmental implications of economic policies.
12. What was the debate in the constitution Assembly over the issue of linguistic states? Finally, what was the compromise arriving at?
Answer:
1. The congress leaders promised before the independence that after the independence each linguistic group would have its own province but this didn’t happen.
2. There were many bandhs and hartals by the Kannada, Malayalam and Marathi speakers for the formation of new provinces.
3. Potti Sriramulu fasted for 58 days and on 15 Dec. 1952 he died. This led to the formation of Andhra on 1st Oct 1953.
Result: After the formation of Andhra, A states Reorganization commission was set up, which submitted a report in 1956 recommending the redrawing of district and provincial boundaries to form compact provinces of Assamese, Bengali, Oriya, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu speakers rash. So finally, Bombay was formed in 1960 forming the separation of Marathi and Gujarati speakers. In 1966, Punjab was also divided into Punjab and Haryana.
13. Do you think that the tasks before the nation at the time of freedom have been completed? Give your comments.
Answer: No because of the following reasons:
1. Despite constitutional guarantees, the untouchables or, as they are now referred to, the Dalit’s face violence and discrimination.
2. In many parts of India they are not allowed access to water source, temples, parks and other public places.
3. There have been clutches between different religious groups and states.
4. The gulf between the rich and poor has grown over the years.
5. Some parts of India and some group of Indians have benefited a great deal from Economic Development.
6. They live in large houses and dine in expensive restaurants, send their children to private school & take expensive foreign holidays.
7. At the same time many others continued to live below poverty line. Housed in urban area’s slums or living in remote villages on land that yield little, they can’t afford to send their children to school.
14. Write a short note on India’s foreign policy.
Answer: 1. India gained freedom after the Second World War.
2. A new international body – The United Nations was formed in 1945.
3. At this time colonial empires were collapsing and many countries were attaining independence.
4. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who was also the foreign minister of India, developed free Indian’s foreign policy in this context.
5. Non alignment formed the bedrock of this foreign policy.
6. This was also the period when the cold was emerged, that is, power rallies and conflicts between the USA and USSR with both countries creating of military alliances.
7. The non –aligned movement urged countries not to join either of the two major – alliance.
8. Non aligned countries such as India played an active role in mediating between the American and Soviet Alliances.
9. They tried to prevent was by taking more stand against war.
10. However, many non- aligned countries including India got involved in wars.
