Q 1 Why do you think the nationalist movement
supported the idea that all adults have a right to vote?
Ans. The national movement supported the idea that
all adults have a right to vote because of the following reasons:
Ø Every responsible citizen should participate
in the government.
Ø Law-making and decision-making should also be
shared by the adults of the country.
Q 2 In this 2004, map of Parliamentary constituencies,
roughly identify the constituencies in your State. What is the name of the MP
from your constituency? How many MPs does your state have? Why are certain
constituencies coloured green while others are coloured blue?
 |
| 2004 Map of Parliamentary constituencies |
Ans.
|
My State is |
Haryana |
|
My constituency is |
Sonipat |
|
M.P. from my constituency is |
Ramesh Chander Kaushik (Elected
Year - 2019) |
|
Our state has MPs |
10 |
|
Green constituencies are |
Reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST) |
|
Blue constituencies are |
Reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) |
Q 3 You have read in Chapter 1 that the ‘Parliamentary
form of government’ that exists in India has three tiers. This includes the
Parliament (Central Government) and the various State Legislatures (state
governments).
Fill in the following table with information on the various representatives
from your area:
|
State Government |
Central Government |
|
|
Which political
party/parties is/are currently in power? |
BJP+JJP |
BJP (NDA) |
|
Who (name) is the
current representative from your area? |
SURENDER PANWAR of CONGRESS MLA won the Sonipat seat |
Ramesh
Chander Kaushik (MP) |
|
Which political parties
currently form the Opposition? |
INC - Bhupinder Singh Hooda (Opposition Leader) |
Lok Sabha - Opposition Leader - Vacant (no opposition with
at least 10% seats) Rajya Sabha – INC Opposition Leader - Mallikarjun
Kharge |
|
When elections were last
held? |
HARYANA Assembly Election 2019 |
The previous general elections were held in April–May
2019. After the election, National Democratic Alliance, led by Bharatiya
Janata Party, formed the union government, with Narendra Modi
becoming Prime Minister. |
|
When will the next
elections be held? |
The next Haryana Legislative Assembly election is
scheduled to be held on or before October 2024 to elect all 90
members of the state's Legislative Assembly. |
2024 |
|
How many women representatives
are there (from your state)? |
10 women win in State Legislative Assembly
Election (MLA) |
78 in Lok Sabha (MP), 29 in Rajya Sabha (As on 12th November, 2021) |
Note - The answer will vary
for each state. Above is one of the examples of this variation.
Q 4 When India became independent?
Ans. On 15 August 1947
Q 5 When Indian National Congress demanded that
there should be elected members in the legislature with a right to discuss the
budget and ask questions to the British government?
Ans. 1885
Q 6 When the British government allowed some
elected representation?
Ans. By the Government of India Act 1909
Q 7 What is the full form of EVM and VVPT?
Ans. EVM is stand for Electronic Voting Machine
and VVPAT is stand for Voter verifiable paper audit trail.
 |
| EVM and VVPAT |
Note - An
EVM consists of two units, a control unit (CU), and the balloting
unit (BU). Now a days VVPT (Voter verifiable paper audit trail) also
used with EVM.
The EVM was designed
by two professors of IIT Bombay, A.G. Rao and Ravi Poovaiah. The use of
EVMs and electronic voting was developed and tested by the state-owned Electronics
Corporation of India and Bharat Electronics in the 1990s. They were
introduced in Indian elections between 1998 and 2001, in a phased manner. Prior
to the introduction of electronic voting, India used paper ballots and manual
counting.
Q 8 When EVMs were used throughout the country for
the first time in the general elections?
Ans. The EVMs were used first time in the general
election (entire state) to the assembly of Goa in 1999. In 2003, all
by-elections and state elections were held using EVMs, encouraged by this
election commission decided to use only EVMs for Lok Sabha elections in 2004.
Note – The use of the EVMs in 2004 saved around 1,50,000 trees which
would have been cut to produce about 8,000 tons of paper for printing the
ballot papers.
Q 9 What is the Parliament (Lok Sabha)?
Ans. The Parliament, which is made up of all
representatives together, controls and guide the government. In this sense
people, through their chosen representative, form the government and also
control it.
Q 10 What are the two Houses of the Indian
Parliament? OR What do you understand the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha?
Ans. The parliament of India (Sansad) is the
supreme law-making institution. It has two Houses, the Rajya Sabha and the Lok
Sabh.
Rajya Sabha (Council
of States), with a total strength
of 245 members, is chaired by the Vice-President of India. The vice president
(Jagdeep Dhanker) is the Speaker of the Rajya Sabha now.
Lok Sabha (House of
the People), with a total
membership of 543, is presided over by the Speaker. Currently Om Birla is the
Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
Q 11 Why India needs a new parliament building?
Ans. The Old
Parliament of India was designed by architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker
in 1912-13, based on the Chausath Yogini temple, Morena, Madya Pradesh, one of
the oldest heritage sites in India, inaugurated in the year 1927. It’s Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and Central Hall have
seating capacities of 552, 245 and 436 respectively, with no facility of desk
space before most of the seats.
The new Parliament
building is being designed to cater to the present as well as future needs of digitization,
providing for adequate seating space in both Houses, and for joint sittings. The
new building would provide seating capacities of 888 and 384 members for Lok
Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively.
Q 12 Who much Lok Sabha seats in India currently
and how many seats are reserved for representative of Scheduled Castes (SC) and
Scheduled Tribes (ST)?
Ans.
(i)
Currently, the house has
543 seats which are made up by the
election of up to 543 elected members and at a maximum.
(ii)
Between
1952 and 2020, 2 additional members of the Anglo-Indian community were also
nominated by the President of India on the advice of Government of India, which
was abolished in January 2020 by the 104th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2019.
(iii)
A total of 131 seats
(24.03%) are reserved for representatives of Scheduled Castes (84) and
Scheduled Tribes (47).
Q 13 What is the role of the Parliament?
Ans.
(i)
The Indian Parliament
is an expression of the faith of the people in principles of democracy.
(ii)
The Parliament in our
system has immense powers because it is the representative of the people.
(iii)
Elections to the
Parliament are held in a similar manner as they are for the state legislature.
The Lok Sabha is usually elected once in every five years.
(iv)
The country is divided
into 543 constituencies and each of these constituencies elects one person to
the Parliament.
(v)
Parliament of India
consists of the President, the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.
(vi)
Law-making is the
significant function of Parliament.
Q 14 Which state has the highest number of MPs in
the Lok Sabha? Why do you think this is so? Which state has the least number of
MPs in the Lok Sabha?
Ans. Uttar Pradesh had highest number of seats in Lok
Sabha election because UP is most populated state of India and the Lok sabha MP
are decided on the number of people coming under one MP seat. Due to this rule Sikkim
has lowest number of seats in Lok Sabha because it has least population in
the India.
Q 15 Which political party can form the government?
Ans. For a political party to form the government,
they must have a majority of elected MPs. Since there are 543 elected members
in Lok Sabha, to have a majority, a party should have at least half the number
i.e. 272 members or more.
Q 16 Which political party is called the Opposition
party? What is the importance of opposition parties?
Ans. The Opposition in Parliament is formed by all
the political parties that are not part of the majority party / coalition
formed. The largest amongst these parties is called the Opposition party.
The Opposition parties
play a critical role in the healthy functioning of a democracy. They highlight
drawbacks in various policies and programmes of the government and mobilise
popular support for their own policies.
Q 17 When India’s first Lok sabha election was held
and what was the voter turnout in that general election?
Ans. 1951-52 (Voter Turnout was 61.16%)
Q 18 Which Lok Sabha is working currently in India?
Ans. 17th Lok Sabha from May 2019 (Voter
Turnout was 67.11%)
Q 19 What do you means by Coalition? When coalition
governments need to form?
Ans. A temporary alliance of groups or parties
called Coalition.
It refers to the
alliance formed by political parties after elections when no party able
to get adequate seats to form a clear majority. Often times in the
recent past it has been difficult for a single political party to get the
majority. They then join together with different political parties who are
interested in similar concerns to form the government, which is known as a coalition
government.
Q 20 What do you understand by executive?
Ans. One of the most important functions of the Lok
Sabha is to select the executive. The executive, is a group of persons
who work together to implement the laws made by the Parliament. This
executive is often what we have in mind when we use the term government.
Q 21 Explain the power and functions of the leader
of ruling party?
Ans. The Prime
Minister of India is the leader of the ruling party in the Lok Sabha. From the MPs who belong to her party, the
Prime Minister selects ministers to work with her to implement decisions. These
ministers then take charge of different areas off government functioning like
health, education, finance etc.
Q 22 What do you means by Rajya Sabha? How the
members of Rajya Sabha are elected?
Ans. The Rajya Sabha functions primarily as the
representative of the states of India in the Parliament. The Rajya Sabha
can also initiate legislation and a bill is required to pass through
the Rajya Sabha in order to become a law. It, therefore, has an important
role of reviewing and altering (if alterations are needed) the laws initiated
by the Lok Sabha.
The members of the
Rajya Sabha are elected by the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of
various states. There are 233 elected members plus 12 members nominated by the
President.
Q 23 What is the North Block and the South Block of
the Secretariat building situated at Raisina Hill, New Delhi?
Ans. These are the two buildings of the Central
Secretariat, the South Block and North Block which were built during the 1930s.
The photo on the left is of the South Block which houses the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of External Affairs. The North Block is the photo on the right and this has the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Home Affairs. The other ministries of the Union Government are located in various buildings in New Delhi.
The Secretariat Building, with North Block (left) and South Block (right), view looking towards India Gate in the east.
Q 24 What do you means by question hour? What is
its importance in Indian Parliament?
Ans. The Parliament begins with a question hour
while in session. The question hour is an important mechanism through which MPs
can elicit information about the working of the government.
This is a very
important way through which the Parliament controls the executive. By asking
questions the government is alerted to its shortcomings, and also comes to know
the opinion of the people through their representatives in the Parliament, i.e.
the MPs. Asking questions of the government is a crucial task for every MP. The
government gets valuable feedback by the questions asked by the MPs.