NCERT Solutions for CBSE Class 8 Social Science Chapter 12 – Free PDF Download

Free PDF download of NCERT Solutions Social Science Class 8 Solutions Chapter 12 – India After Independence solved by Expert Social Science Teachers on CoolGyan.Org. All Chapter 12 – India After Independence Questions with Solutions for NCERT to help you to revise complete Syllabus and Score More marks.
Science Revision Notes for Class 8

NCERT SOLVED

1. Name three problems that the newly independent nation of India faced.
Ans : The three problems that the newly independent nation of India faced are mentioned below:

1. The problem of the rehabilitation of 8 million refugees who had come into the country from newly born Pakistan.
2. The problem of the princely states. There were almost 500 princely states, each ruled by a Maharaja or a Nawab, and each of them had to be persuaded to join the new nation.
3. The new nation had to adopt a political system that would best serve the hopes and expectations of its population.

2. What was the role of the Planning Commission?
Ans. The role of Planning Commission was to help design and execute suitable policies for the economic development of India.

3. Fill in the blanks:

1. Subjects that were placed on the Union List were ______, ______ and _____.
2. Subjects on the Concurrent List were_______ and _______.
3. Economic planning by which both the state and the private sector played a role in development was called a _______ model.
4. The death of _______ sparked off such violent protests that the government was forced to give in to the demand for the linguistic state of Andhra.

Ans : (a) Subjects that were placed on the Union List were taxes, defence and foreign affairs.
(b) Subjects on the Concurrent List were forest and agriculture.
(c) Economic planning by which both the state and the private sector played a role in development was called a mixed-economy model.
(d) The death of Potti Sriramulu sparked off such violent protests that the government was forced to give in to the demand for the linguistic state of Andhra.

4. State whether true or false:
(a) At the time of Indian independence, the majority of Indians lived in villages.
Ans: The given statement is True

(b) The Constituent Assembly was made up of members of the Congress party.
Ans: The given statement is False

(c) In the first national election, only men were allowed to vote.
Ans: The given statement is False

(d) The Second Five Year Plan focused on the development of heavy industry.
Ans: The given statement is True

5. 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”?
Ans : According to Dr Ambedkar, political democracy had to be accompanied by economic and social democracy. Giving the right to vote would not automatically lead to the removal of other inequalities such as between rich and poor, or between upper and lower castes. He believed that India needed to work towards eradicating all forms of inequality in the economic and social spheres. Only then would the equality granted by the Constitution in the sphere of politics (i.e., one vote for every adult Indian citizen) be of any value. Otherwise, India would just be a land of contradictions – following the principle of “One man, One vote and One value” in its political life, and denying the principle of “one man, one value” in its economic and social lives.

6. After Independence, why was there a reluctance to divide the country on linguistic lines?
Ans : In the 1920s, the Congress had promised that once the country won independence, each major linguistic group would have its own province. However, after independence, it did not take any steps to honour this promise. There was a reason for this. The division of the country was done on the basis of religion. As a result of this division more than a million people had been killed in riots between Hindus and Muslims. In such circumstances, it was not wise to further divide the country on the basis of language. Nor the country would have afforded further division on the basis of language.
Therefore, both Prime Minister Nehru and Deputy Prime Minister Patel were against the creation of linguistic states.

7. Give one reason why English continued to be used in India after Independence.
Ans : People of the south India those who could not speak Hindi, opposed Hindi as National Language. They threatened to separate from India if Hindi was imposed on them. The Constituent Assembly finally decided that Hindi would be the “official language” of India and English would be used in the courts, the services, and communications between one state and another.

8. How was the economic development of India visualised in the early decades after Independence?
Ans : The economic development of India visualised in the early decades after Independence were:

1. Objectives: Lifting India and Indians out of poverty, and building a modern technical and industrial base were among the major objectives of the new nation.
2. Planning Commission and Five Year Plans: A Planning Commission was set up to help design and execute suitable policies for economic development.
3. Mixed-economy: There was a broad agreement on ‘mixed economy’ model. Here, both the state and the private sector would play important and complementary roles in increasing production and generating jobs.
4. Focus on heavy industries and dams: In 1956, the Second Five Year Plan was formulated which focused on the development of heavy industries such as steel, and on the building of large dams.
5. It was on the Planning Commission to define which industries should be initiated by the state and which by the market and how to achieve a balance between the different regions and states.
6. ​​​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 policy for the next few decades. This approach was criticised because:
   1. It put inadequate emphasis on agriculture​​​​​​​
   2. It neglected primary education
   3. It did not take into account the environmental implications of concentrating on science and machinery.