NCERT Solutions For Class 8 Social Science Chapter 3
The Indian Constitution

The Indian States, which share borders with Bangladesh, are West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, and Tripura.

The Indian States, which share borders with Bhutan, are West Bengal, Assam, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh.

The Indian States, which share borders with Nepal, are West Bengal, Bihar, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.

If there are no restrictions on the power of the elected representatives, the leaders might misuse the powers given to them. The Constitution provides safeguards against this misuse of power by our political leaders.

Their misuse of authority can result in gross injustice to society.

They can use their power against other, less powerful people or groups.

They can enforce decisions that exclude minorities and go against their interests.

Key features:

1. Federalism: It ensures national unity and at the same time allows individual progress. A federal government allows the Centre to hold supreme power but its Constituent States have some power as well.

2. Separation of Powers: This serves two purposes: firstly, tyrannical use of power is avoided since it does not vest power in any single authority. Secondly, the three organs of power also work as a check on each other, thereby maintaining a good balance.

3. Fundamental Rights: These are important because they conform to a humane society. They also protect citizens against arbitrary and absolute use of power by the State.

4. Parliamentary Form of Government: It upholds universal adult franchise. This entails the fact that the people of a country play a direct role in electing their representatives to run the state as well as the nation.

(a) Female teachers are in minority. The female teachers must be allowed space to voice their opinion so that their efforts at teaching are not hindered by their minority status.

(b) Buddhists are in minority. Every individual has the right to follow the religion of his/her choice. People of other faith must respect the religion other than their own.

(c) Non-vegetarians are in minority. Food is a personal choice so he/she should have the freedom to eat what he/she wants.

(d) Under privileged are in minority. Citizens cannot be discriminated on the basis of their birth so their views have to be respected.

The difference in who exercises "Executive Power" in the two given Constitutions of Nepal is that in the 1990 Constitution, this power was vested in the King and his Council of Ministers, while in the 2007 Interim Constitution of Nepal, "Executive Power" changed hands to being vested only in the Council of Ministers, thereby making Nepal a democracy from being a monarchy.

Nepal needs a new Constitution today because it is no longer a monarchy. The older Constitution vested power in the King, but when the country is now a democracy, a new Constitution is needed to reflect the "democratic" ideals of Nepal.

A democratic country needs a Constitution because:

→ It lays out the important guidelines that govern decision making within the various societies of the country.

→ It lays down the ideals that form the basis of the kind of country that its citizens aspire to live in.

→ It serves as a set of rules and principles which forms the basis by which a country has to be governed.

→ It provides rules to safeguard the interests of minorities and prevent any kind of domination by the majority section of the society.

→ It lays down rules that guard against the misuse of power by any politician leader.

→ It also provides rights to its citizens and protects their freedom.