NCERT Solutions for CBSE Class 8 Social Science Chapter 13 – Free PDF Download

Free PDF download of NCERT Solutions Social Science Class 8 Solutions Chapter 13 – The Indian Constitution solved by Expert Social Science Teachers on CoolGyan.Org. All Chapter 13 – The Indian Constitution 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. Why does a democratic country need a Constitution?
Ans. A democratic country needs Constitution because it serves several purposes, which are mentioned below:

1. It serves as an asset of rules and principles on the basis on which the country has to be governed.
2. The nature of a country’s political system is defined by the Constitution.
3. Many important guidelines are laid out in the constitution that govern decision making within various societies of the country.
4. Many ideals are laid out in the constitution that forms the basis of the kind of country that its citizens aspire to live in.
5. It provides rules to safeguard the interests of less powerful people or groups by any dominant group. It protects minorities against wrongful decisions of majorities.
6. Rules guarding against the misuse of power by any political leader are laid down in the constitution.
7. It also protects citizens against any decisions that may not be in their interests in future.

2. Look at the wordings of the two documents given below. The first column is from the 1990 Nepal Constitution. The second column is from the more recent interim Constitution of Nepal.

What is the difference in who exercises ‘Executive Power’ in the above two Constitutions of Nepal? Keeping this in mind, why do you think Nepal needs a new Constitution today?
Ans. The difference in who exercises “Executive Power” in the given two Constitutions of Nepal is that in the 1990 Constitution, this power was vested in the King, while in the 2007 Interim Constitution of Nepal, “Executive Power” changed hands to being vested only in the Council of Ministers, thereby making Nepal a democracy from being a monarchy.
Nepal needs a new Constitution today because it is no longer a monarchy. The older Constitution vested power in the King, but when the country is now a democracy, a new Constitution is needed to reflect the “democratic” ideals of Nepal that the people’s movement desired and fought for. In order to achieve this, all its constitutive rules must be changed to smoothly transition towards a democratic environment. The executive powers need to be in the hands of the Council of Ministers who will be elected by the people of Nepal. In addition, the previous Constitution did not reflect the ideals of the country or what the people of that country believed in.

3. What would happen if there were no restrictions on the power of elected representatives?
Ans. If there were no restrictions on the power of elected representatives, then there would be the possibility that the leaders might misuse their authorities. The leaders might misuse the powers given to them. This may lead to gross injustice. There will be injustice and discrimination amongst the people and this may lead to a huge loss of that is resulting in the slow development of that area. The Constitution provides safeguards against this misuse of power by our political leaders. Many of the safeguards are contained in the Section on Fundamental Rights. The Indian Constitution guarantees the right to equality to all persons and says that no citizen can be discriminated against on grounds of religion, race, caste, gender, and place of birth.

4. In each of the following situations, identify the minority. Write one reason why you think it is important to respect the views of the minority in each of these situations.
(a) In a school with 30 teachers, 20 of them are male.
(b) In a city, 5 percent of the population are Buddhists.
(c) In a factory mess for all employees, 80 percent are vegetarians.
(d) In a class of 50 students, 40 belong to more well-off families.
Ans.

1. Female teachers are in minority. The female teachers must be allowed space to voice their opinion so that their efforts at teaching are not hindered by their minority status. It is important to cater even to the female teacher methods of teaching.
2. Buddhists are in minority. Every individual has the right to follow the religion of his/her choice. People of other faith must respect the religion other than their own. They have the full right to practice their religion.
3. Non-vegetarians are in minority. Food choice is a personal wish, so each individual should have the freedom to eat what he/she wants. They have the rights to have the food of their choice.
4. Underprivileged are in minority. Citizens cannot be discriminated on the basis of their birth so their views have to be respected. Everyone should avail the opportunity to develop their talents.

5. The column on the left lists some of the key features of the Indian Constitution. In the other column write two sentences, in your own words, on why you think this feature is important:

Ans. Key features