Civics Class 9 : Chapter 2 - Constitutional Design

In this page you get NCERT Solution Class 9 Social Science (Civics) Chapter 2 Constitutional Design being given. Social Science have four parts. Social Science (Civics) Class 9th has been set by the CBSE Board. The speciality of this page is that here you can download pdf of NCERT Solution Class 9 Social Science (Civics). I expect that the given Class 9 Social Science (Civics) Solution Chapter 2 Constitutional Design will be immensely useful to you. 

CHAPTER 2
CONSTITUTIONAL DESIGN

 

Exercises

1. Here are some false statements. Identify the mistake in each case and rewrite these correctly based on what you have read in this chapter.

a) Leaders of the freedom movement had an open mind about whether the country should be democratic or not after independence.

b) Members of the Constituent Assembly of India held the same views on all provisions of the Constitution.

c) A country that has a constitution must be a democracy.

d) Constitution cannot be amended because it is the supreme law of a country.

Answer:

a) Leaders of the freedom movement had a consensus that after independence, India will be a democratic nation.

b) Members of the constituent assembly of India held the same views on the basic principles of the Constitution.

c) A country that is a democratic country must have a Constitution.

d) A Constitution can be amended with time and the needs of the citizens.

2. Which of these was the most salient underlying conflict in the making of a democratic constitution in South Africa?

a) Between South Africa and its neighbours

b) Between men and women

c) Between the white majority and the black minority

d) Between the coloured minority and the black majority

Answer: d) Between the coloured minority and the black majority.

3. Which of these is a provision that a democratic constitution does not have?

a) Powers of the head of the state

b) Name of the head of the state

c) Powers of the legislature

d) Name of the country

Answer: b) Name of the head of the state

4. Match the following leaders with their roles in the making of the Constitution:

a) Motilal Nehru          I) President of the Constituent Assembly

b) B.R. Ambedkar.       II) Member of the Constituent Assembly

c) Rajendra Prasad     III) Chairman of the Drafting Committee

d) Sarojini Naidu          IV) Prepared a Constitution for India in 1928

Answer.

a) Motilal Nehru - Prepared a Constitution for India in 1928

b) B.R. Ambedkar - Chairman of the Drafting Committee

c) Rajendra Prasad - President of the Constituent Assembly

d) Sarojini Naidu - Member of the Constituent Assembly

5. Read again the extracts from Nehru’s speech ‘Tryst with Destiny’ and answer the following:

a) Why did Nehru use the expression “not wholly or in full measure” in the first sentence?

b) What pledge did he want the makers of the Indian Constitution to take?

c) “The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye”. Who was he referring to?

Answer:

a) Jawahar Lal Nehru in his speech, ‘Tryst with Destiny’ used the expression, ‘not wholly or in full measure’ as for him nation-building was a challenging task which can’t be achieved overnight. Hence, for nation-building, he wanted it to be a gradual process.

b) Nehru wanted makers of the Indian constitution to take a pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.

c) Nehru was referring to Mahatma Gandhi, the father of our nation.

6. Here are some of the guiding values of the Constitution and its meaning. Rewrite them by matching them correctly.

a) Sovereign      i) The government will not favour any religion

b) Republic         ii) People have the supreme right to make decisions

c) Fraternity      iii)Head of the state is an elected person

d) Secular          iv) People should live like brothers and sisters

Answer.

a) Sovereign - People have the supreme right to make decisions

b) Republic - Head of the state is an elected person

c) Fraternity - People should live like brothers and sisters

d) Secular - The government will not favour any religion

7. Here are different opinions about what made India a democracy. How much importance would you give to each of these factors?

a) Democracy in India is a gift of the British rulers. We received training to work with representative legislative institutions under the British rule.

b) Freedom Struggle challenged the colonial exploitation and denial of different freedoms to Indians. Free India could not be anything but democratic.

c) We were lucky to have leaders who had democratic convictions. The denial of democracy in several other newly independent countries shows the important role of these leaders.

Answer:

a) Democracy was chosen as the prime value of our nation during the freedom struggle that we fought against the British. Yes, with the Indian Councils Act, Indians started participating in the councils and hence, their experiences paved the way for legislative institutions in independent India.

b) Freedom struggle did challenge the colonial exploitation but it worked for democracy by making laws with consensus and not imposing anything on anyone.

c) Our freedom struggle fought a bloodless struggle with tools like ‘Satyagraha’ and ‘Ahimsa.’ These struggles were undertaken to free India from the clutches of Britishers and give Indian the freedom they deserve.

8. Read the following extract from a conduct book for ‘married women’, published in 1912. ‘God has made the female species delicate and fragile both physically and emotionally, pitiably incapable of self-defence. They are destined thus by God to remain in male protection – of father, husband and son – all their lives. Women should, therefore, not despair, but feel obliged that they can dedicate themselves to the service of men’. Do you think the values expressed in this para reflected the values underlying our constitution? Or does this go against the constitutional values?

Answer.

The values expressed in the above-mentioned para do not reflect the values underlying our Constitution. Our constitution gives fundamental rights to each of its citizens regardless of gender, caste, sex, place of birth and religion. Women are given equal rights as men in our constitution through various Acts.

10. Read the following statements about a constitution. Give reasons why each of these is true or not true.

a) The authority of the rules of the constitution is the same as that of any other law.

b) Constitution lays down how different organs of the government will be formed.

c) Rights of citizens and limits on the power of the government are laid down in the constitution.

d) A constitution is about institutions, not about values

Answer.

a) Not true because the Constitution is the supreme law.

b) True, as the constitution decided the legislature, executive and judiciary role and powers.

c) True, as the Constitution has provided Fundamental Rights to each and every citizen of India.

d) Not true as the Constitution holds values on which all institutions work. Our preamble states about values – justice, liberty, fraternity, and equality.

EXTRA  QUESTIONS

1. How did the blacks of South Africa fight against apartheid?

Ans. (a) Since 1950, the blacks, coloured and the Indians had started their fight against the apartheid system. They started protestmarches and strikes.

(b) The African National Congress (ANC)led the struggle against the policies of segregation. This included workers' unions and the Communist Party.

(c) They were also joined by many sensitivewhites who opposed apartheid and played a leading role in this struggle. Severalcountries also denounced apartheid as unjust and racist.

2. Mention any three changes that were brought about in the constitution of South Africa after 1994?

Ans. The three changes that were bought in the constitution of South Africa were as follows.

(a) Discriminatory laws were repealed.

(b) Ban an political parties and restrictions on media were lifted.

(c) Nelson Mandela was released after 28 years of imprisonment.

3. How was the Indian Constituent Assembly formed?

Ans. The Indian Constituent Assembly was formed for the task of framing the Constitution for independent India. The elections to the Provisional Legislative Assembly were held in July 1946. The elected members of the Provisional Legislative Assembly elected the members for the Constituent Assembly through proportional representation system.

There were in total 389 members in the Constituent Assembly. Later with the Partition of India into India and Pakistan, 299 members wrote the constitution.

4. Why is constitution of India acceptable to Indians even today?

Ans. The reasons for acceptability of the constitution till today are as follows:

(a) The constitution does not reflect the views of its members alone. It expresses a broad consensus of its time.

(b) The Constituent Assembly represented the people of India. Since there was no universal adult franchise at that time, the Constituent Assembly could not have been chosen directly by the people. It was elected, mainly by the members of Provincial Legislatures, which ensured a fair share of all the regions of the country.

(c) The Constituent Assembly worked in a systematic, open and consensual manner. The nature of work done by the Constituent Assembly gave sanctity to the Constitution.

 

5. Write a short note on the Drafting Committee.

Ans. (a) It was a committee that prepared a draft of the constitution for discussion.

(b) Its chairman was Dr BR Ambedkar.

(c) These were several rounds of thorough discussions on the draft of the constitution clause by clause.

(d) The members worked for 114 days spread over three years. Later it was presented to the public to get their opinion.

SHORT ANSWER

1. What is known as the supreme law of the country?

Ans. The constitution of the country.

2. What does constitution include?

Ans. The constitution includes the rights of citizens, the powers of the government and how the government should function.

3. Who was Nelson Mandela?

Ans. Nelson Mandela was the leader of African National Congress (ANC).

4. Why was Nelson Mandela imprisoned?

Ans. He was imprisoned for opposing the apartheid regime.

 

5. What does 'apartheid' mean?

Ans. Apartheid was the policy of racial discrimination.

6. Who were called the blacks in south Africa?

Ans. The natives of South Africa.

7. Which group of people in South Africa were classified as coloured?

Ans. People of mixed races were classified as 'coloured'.

 

8. For whom was apartheid system particularly oppressive?

Ans. Apartheid system was oppressive for the blacks.

9. With what condition blacks were permitted to work in white areas?

Ans. If they had a permit than only blacks were permitted to work in white areas.

10. What does segregation mean in South Africa?

Ans. Segregation means a practice when trains, buses, taxis, hotels, hospitals, schools and colleges, libraries, cinema halls, theatres, beaches, swimming pools were all separate for the whites and the blacks in South Africa.

11. Since when the blacks, coloured and the Indians fought against the apartheid system and how?

Ans. Since 1950. By launching protest marches and strikes.

12. What was African National Congress (ANC)?

Ans. It was the umbrella organisation that led the struggle against the policies of segregation.

13. How white racists continued their apartheid despite protests?

Ans. The white racists continued apartheid by detaining, torturing and killing thousands of blacks and coloured people.

14. What is the appeal made by the blacks to their fellow blacks after being democratic?

Ans. Blacks appealed to the fellow blacks that they forgive the whites for the atrocities they had committed while in power.

15. On what basis they wanted to build a new nation?

Ans. They wanted to build a new nation based on equality of all races and men and women, on democratic values, social justice and human rights.

16. Who formed the constitution of neo-democratic South Africa?

Ans. The party that ruled through oppression and brutal killings and the party that led the freedom struggle sat together to draw up a common constitution.

17. Mention a distinguished feature of newly formed South African constitution.

Ans. The constitution of South Africa provides the most extensive rights to its citizens available in any country.

18. What was the major challenge prevailing in the South African society after being democratic?

Ans. In the new democracy, the oppressor and the oppressed were planning to live together as equals. It was difficult for them to trust each other

19. What were the safeguards wished by the black majority?

Ans: The wanted substantial social and economic rights.

20. What were the fears prevailing among the whites?

Ans:. The white minority had a fear of losing their privileges and property.

21. What compromise was made by white minority in South Africa?

Ans. The whites agreed to the principle of majority rule and that of one person one vote. They also agreed to accept some basic rights for the poor and the workers.

22. What compromise was made by black majority in South Africa?

Ans. They agreed that the majority rule would not be absolute. They agreed that the majority would not take away the property of the whites.

23. What was the condition of basic rules made by the South Africans?

Ans. The basic rules will be supreme, that no government will be able to ignore them.

24. What is the title of the autobiography of Nelson Mandela?

Ans. The title of the autobiography of Nelson Mandela is the 'The Long Walk to Freedom'.

25. What advantages did Indian constitution makers have unlike South Africa?

Ans. The advantage was that they did not have to create a consensus about what a democratic India should look like as it was evolved mostly during freedom struggle.

26. Who firstly drafted the constitution for India?

Ans. In 1928, Motilal Nehru and eight other Congress leaders.

 

27. What resolution was made in 1931, Karachi session?

Ans. In 1931, at the Karachi session of the Indian National Congress, worked on how independent India's constitution should look like.

28. What was Constituent Assembly?

Ans. The drafting of the constitution by an assembly of elected representatives is called Constituent Assembly

29. When was the first meeting of Constituent Assembly held?

Ans. The first meeting was held in December 1946.

30. How many members did the Constituent Assembly have?

Ans. The Constituent Assembly that whole the Indian constitution had 299 members.

 

31. When was the constitutional work completed and when did the constitution come into force?

Ans. The assembly adopted the constitution on 26th November 1949. It come into force on January 1950.

 

32. Why had the countries rewritten their constitution?

Ans. Because the basic rules were not acceptable to major social groups or political parties.

33. What is the unusual achievement of our constitution?

Ans. The unusual achievement is that no large social group or political party has ever questioned the legitimacy of the constitution itself.

34. Which political party dominated the assembly?

Ans. The Indian National Congress.

35. How did the Constituent Assembly work?

Ans. The Constituent Assembly worked in a systematic, open and consensual manner.

36. What was the first task of Drafting Committee? Who was its chairman?

Ans. The Drafting Committee firstly prepared a draft of the constitution for discussion. Its chairman was Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.

37. Who was the President of the Constituent Assembly?

Ans. Dr. Rajendra Prasad

38. How many draft amendments were considered?

Ans. More than 2000 draft amendments

39. How much time was taken to complete the constitution of India?

Ans. About 114 days spread over three years were taken for framing the Indian constitution.

40. What does 'sovereign' mean?

Ans: It means people have the supreme right to make decisions on internal and external matters. No external power can dictate the government of India.

41. What does socialist in a democratic constitution mean?

Ans. It means wealth is generated socially and should be shared equally by society. Government should reduce socio-economic inequalities.

 

42. What does democratic mean?

Ans. Democratic means a form of government where people enjoy equal political rights, elect their rulers and hold them accountable.

43. What does a republic mean?

Ans. In a republic, the head of the state is an elected person and not a hereditary position .

44. What does liberty in the Preamble mean?

Ans. It means there is no unreasonable restrictions on the citizens in what they think how they express, how they wish to follow their thoughts in action.