Practice

SCRATCH YOUR BRAIN
1. Fill in the blanks:

(a) The Indian Constitution was passed by the Constituent Assembly on 26th November............
(b) The Constituent Assembly met for........days.
(c) The Congress decided to fight for complete independence in its........session.
(d) Rajendra Prasad was the........of the Constituent Assembly.
(e) B.R. Ambedkar was the........of the drafting committee.
Ans. (a) 1949
(b) 114
(c) 1929 Lahore
(d) President
(e) Chairman
2. Match the following:

(a) Secular (i) Free to take your own decisions-both internally and externally.
(b) Republic (ii) Freedom to practise any religion.
(c) Democracy (iii) Right of an adult to vote without any discrimination.
(d) Universal Adult Franchise (iv) Government of the people, by the people and for the people.
(e) Sovereign (v) Head of state is elected and not hereditary.
Ans. (a) - (ii),
(b) - (v),
(c) - (iv),
(d) - (iii),
(e) - (i).
3. 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. [NCERT]
Ans. (a) Leaders of the freedom movement had decided that the country would be democratic after
independence.
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(b) Members of the Constituent Assembly of India deferred on certain provisions of the Constitution but
reached a broad consensus on basis values.
(c) All countries that are democratic will have Constitutions.
(d) A Constitution is not a sacred, static or unalterable law and can be amended.
4. 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 [NCERT]
Ans. (c) Between the white minority and the black majority.
5. 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. [NCERT]
Ans. (b) Name of the head of the state.
6. 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 [NCERT]
Ans. (a) - (iv),
(b) - (iii),
(c) - (i),
(d) - (ii).
7. 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? [NCERT]
2
Ans. (a) He used this expression because though India had become free, it had still to provide social and
economic equality and freedom to everyone.
(b) He wanted them to pledge themselves to work for the welfare of all Indians, to remove poverty,
ignorance and inequality of opportunity.
(c) He was referring to Mahatma Gandhi.
8. Here are some of the guiding values of the Constitution and their 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 [NCERT]
Ans. (a) - (ii),
(b) - (iii),
(c) - (iv),
(d) - (i)
9. 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.
[NCERT]
Ans. (a) The training received by the functioning of the provincial governments helped in the formation of our
Constitution though it is not correct to state that it is a gift of the British rulers.
(b) Undoubtedly, the struggle against colonial rule is instrumental for India choosing a democratic system
of government.
(c) However, this is most important as many newly independent countries fell prey to dictators where even
the basic rights have been denied to the people because their leaders did not believe in democracy.
3
10. 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 paragraph reflected the values underlying our
constitution? Or does this go against the constitutional values? [NCERT]
Ans. No, they do not express the values underlying our Constitution because our Constitution believes in giving
equality to everyone irrespective of caste, creed, sex or race.
11. 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.
Ans. (a) Not true because the Constitution is the supreme law of the land.
(b) True.
(c) True.
(d) Not true. A Constitution reflects the values cherished by its peoples and which are implemented by the
institutions formed by the provisions of the Constitution.

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SCRATCH YOUR BRAIN

1. Fill in the blanks:

2. Match the following:

5. Which of these is a provision that a democratic Constitution does not have?

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