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Chapter 3 Constitutional Design

Question 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.
Answer:
Leaders of the freedom movement had been clear that the country should be democratic after independence.

(b) Members of the Constituent Assembly of India held the same views on all provisions of the Constitution.
Answer:
Members of the Constituent Assembly of India had different ideas on all provisions of the Constitution. They arrived at a solution only after long discussions and debates and a consensus was reached.

(c) A country that has a constitution must be a democracy.
Answer:
A country that has a constitution may not be a democracy.

(d) Constitution cannot be amended because it is the supreme law of a country.
Answer:
A constitution can be amended even if it the supreme law of a country’.

Question 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 minority and the black majority
(d) Between the coloured minority and the black majority
Answer:
(c) Between the white minority and the black majority.

Question 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.

Question 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

Question 5.
Read again the extracts from Nehru’s speech ‘TFyst with Destiny’ and answer the following:
(a) Why did Nehru use the expression “not wholly or in full measure” in the first sentence?
Answer:
Because the task of nation-building is very tremendous and cannot be achieved fully in one’s lifetime. It has to go for a long time.

(b) What pledge did he want the makers of the Indian Constitution to take?
Answer:
The pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.

(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:
He was referring to Gandhiji.

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

(a) Sovereign

(i) 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 – Poeple should live like brothers and sisters.
(d) Secular – Government will not favour any religion.

Question 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 British rule.
Answer:
Democracy in India was not a gift of the British. We had fought with the British to get independence in 1947. It was decided by our Constituent Assembly which had decided that India will have a democratic form of government. At the same time, we cannot ignore the fact that India received some training to work with representative legislative institutions under the Acts of 1919 and 1935.

(b) Freedom Struggle challenged the colonial exploitation and denial of different freedoms to Indians. Free India could not be anything but democratic.
Answer:
It is true India had fought against the colonial exploitation and denial of different freedoms to the Indians. Under the leadership of Gandhiji, the Indians started a satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act 1919 and the Salt Act 1930. Thus after independence, there could have been no government except democracy.

(c) We are 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:
India had leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Azad, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar who were in favour of democracy. So they drafted a democratic constitution. They were determined to live up to democratic ideals. Leaders like Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, General Musharraf of Pakistan, and the military leaders of Myanmar left democratic convictions and denied democracy.

Question 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 the 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:
These values are not given in our constitution. The Indian constitution makes no differences in respect to sex. Equal rights are given to women that is, they can vote, take up any job, have a property, and are paid equal wages for equal work. This statement of 1912 makes women inferior to men and does not give them equal status.

Question 9.
Read the following statement 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.
Answer:
Not true. The constitution is the supreme law. Its authority cannot be challenged even by the government. It is not like an ordinary law.

(b) Constitution lays down how different organs of the government will be formed.
Answer:
Yes, it is true, It defines the role of the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary and how they should be formed.

(c) Rights of citizens and limits on the power of the government are laid down in the constitution.
Answer:
Yes, true the fundamental rights clearly states the rights of the citizens. They also state the
power of the executive, lay down the rules how the legislature and the judiciary can control as to the government accounting to three lists, that is Union List, State List and Concurrent List. No government can go against these.

(d) A constitution is about institutions, not about values.
Answer:
Not true. The constitution contains all the values, which the institutions have, to promote. The Preamble of the constitution is a shining example of this and states clearly that justice, liberty, equality and fraternity have to be promoted. Secularism should be followed, socialism and democracy should be the basis of the government.

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