Chapter -18

Governing ourselves

Back exercise question

Question 1: Which provision in the constitution help in the proper governance of the country?

Answer 1: The constitution provides for a government at the center and one in each state. The powers of the central and state government have been clearly written down in the constitution. This has been done for the proper governance of the country.

Question 2: Write three differences between the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

Answer 2:

LOK SABHA

1. The Lok Sabha is the highest law-making body in our country. It is known as the house of the people or the lower house.

2. Its members are elected directly by the people for a term of five years.

3. The Lok Sabha can have a maximum of 552 members.

RAJYA SABHA

1. The Rajya Sabha is the upper house of the parliament. Its members are not directly elected by the people.

2. The members are elected for a term of six years.

3. There can be a maximum of 250 (238+12) members in the Rajya Sabha.

Question 3: How is the central government formed?

Answer 3: There are many political parties in our country. In a national election, different parties field their candidates. People vote for their candidates. The party that gets the maximum seats in the Lok Sabha forms the central government. The president appoints the leader of this party as a prime minister. The prime minister forms the Union cabinet. The ministers in the Union cabinet can be either from the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha.

Question 4: What is a legislative assembly? How is it formed?

Answer 4: The body that makes laws for the state is called a legislative assembly. They are elected for a term of five years. The people of the state who are more than 18 years of age elects the members of the state legislative assemblies. The members of the legislative assembly are elected by people who are more than 18 years of age.

Question 5: Write a short note on the Judiciary.

Answer 5: The constitution of India provides for an independent judiciary. The supreme court has the highest judicial body in the country. It gives the final judgement in any legal case. There can be a maximum of 31 judges in the supreme court. All the judges are appointed by the president of India. The chief justice is the highest judicial position. The high court is the highest judicial body in a state. There are lower courts in every state. Each district has its own district court.

Think and answer

Question: Manu has lost a case in the High court. However, he does not think of it as the final judgement. Why?

Answer: Manu knows that he can appeal against the High court judgement in the supreme court. It is the supreme court that gets the final judgement in any legal case.