Solution-Class 10-Political Science-Chapter-1-Working of the Constitution-Maharashtra Board

(d) 50%

(b) Dowry Prohibition Act

(b) decentralisation of power.

True :

• Indian Constitution cancelled all the conditions which were put for voting before independence thereby increasing the number of voters.
• The Constitution adopted adult suffrage which has facilitated all adult men and women to cast their vote.
• The age limit to vote was reduced to 18 years from 21 years which gave opportunity of political participation to the young generation.
• No other democratic country in the world has voters in such large numbers.
• Hence, Indian democracy is the largest democracy in the world.

False :

• To strengthen democracy and increase mutual trust between the government and the people, it is very important that the people should know about the functioning of the government.
• Transparency and accountability are the hallmarks of good governance.
• With Right to Information given to the citizens, Government become more transparent.

Thus, the Right to Information has reduced element or secrecy in administration.

True :

• Parliament has the powers to make changes in the constitution according to the changing circumstances and conditions.
• However, it should be done without tampering or changing the basic structure of the constitution
• As it has kept itself abreast with the changes, the Constitution became a live and dynamic document instead of a rigid one.

• India adopted democracy after independence. Each government which came to power took efforts to make the democratization process more profound.
• In the initial stages, these governments considered citizens as .'beneficiaries'.
• After the year 2000, the approach towards citizens changed. Democratic reforms were considered as ‘rights’ of citizens.
• Hence, the Right to Information, Education and Food Security was granted not as beneficiaries but as rights of the citizens.

This approach is known as Rights Based Approach.

• In order to bring transparency in the administration and make it accountable, Indian citizens are given Right to Information.
• Right to Information helped in promoting harmony between government and people and empowered the citizens.
• It brought transparency in administration, made the government realize that they are answerable to people.
• It has helped to reduce the element of secrecy which surrounded the functioning of the government. It made the government open and transparent.
• Women representation in the Loksabha.

• Earlier the Indian Constitution had fixed the voting age of 21 years.
• The voting age was lowered to 18 years.
• The young voters secured the right to vote and the increased number of voters was unparalleled.
• They got the right to decide how their representative should be.
• Moreover, it provided to the unrepresented youth an opportunity to become part of political process being literate and politically conscious.
• It increased the scope of democracy by including the youth of the country thus making it the largest democracy in the world.

Establishing social justice means :

• To eliminate the practices and beliefs which are responsible for injustice towards a person or a community and which hampers collective progress of society should be eliminated.
• Government policies should be all inclusive which means it should aim at accommodating different sections of society.
• There should not be any discrimination based on caste, creed, religion, gender, language, property, region or place of birth.
• All should get equal opportunities for development.

To establish justice and equality, efforts are to be made at all levels of society. But the government’s efforts and policies on this front are more important.

Some of the important subjects on which the Court has given judgements include rights of children; protection of human rights; protection of the honour and dignity of women; individual freedom; and tribal empowerment.

• The apex court has given several judgments which have helped in protection of honour and prestige of women.
• Court gave judgment on Right to alimony as well as Right to equal remuneration.
• Women have an equal share in the property of husband and father. This gave them financial security.
• Dowry prohibition Act was a measure for women empowerment.
• The Act against sexual harassment, Domestic Violence Prohibition Act are also very important in the direction of women empowerment.
• All these acts emphasised the need to protect women and protect their self-esteem and dignity rejecting the traditional forms of domination and authoritarianism.