NCERT Solutions Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 the Constitution of India an Introduction

F R E E S T U D Y M AT E R I A L F O R E V E R Y S T U D E N T

CLASS 7 · SOCIAL SCIENCE

NCERT Solutions

Chapter 10: The Constitution of
India — An Introduction

NCERT Textbook — Exploring Society: India And Beyond (Part I)

BOOK PAGES SECTIONS QUESTIONS MEDIUM

209 – 228 12 32 English

Solutions, notes, sample papers & more at 32 pages

Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An Introduction AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

CLASS 7 · SOCIAL SCIENCE · EXPLORING SOCIETY: INDIA AND BEYOND (PART I)

NCERT Solutions — Chapter 10: The Constitution of
India — An Introduction
Complete NCERT Solutions for Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An
Introduction, from Theme D Governance and Democracy of the textbook Exploring Society: India and Beyond
(Grade 7, Part 1). Every question of the chapter is answered — The Big Questions, all five LET'S EXPLORE
boxes, LET'S REMEMBER, the DON'T MISS OUT box that asks a question, the in-text questions on pages 210,
213 and 216, and all seven Questions and activities including the crossword — with the Preamble page (Fig.
10.16), the infographic of Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles (Fig. 10.14), the
chart of what a constitution contains and the crossword grid read carefully off the printed page.

TEXTBOOK BOOK PAGES

Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part I) (Class 209 – 228
7)

SECTIONS QUESTIONS

12 32

MEDIUM

English

The Big Questions — Page 209
Chapter opening — Theme D, Governance and Democracy

THE BIG QUESTIONS

Q1 What is a constitution, and why do we need one?

A constitution is a document that spells out a nation's basic principles and laws. The chapter
calls it something like a rulebook for the country.
The chapter says a constitution lays out four things:

the framework of the three organs of the government — legislature, executive and
judiciary — and their roles and responsibilities;
checks and balances amongst the three organs, to ensure fairness, responsibility and
accountability;
the rights and duties of the citizens;
an outline of the long-term goals and aspirations of the nation.

Most constitutions, including ours, also state the values and ideals the country is committed to
— equality and justice for all, fraternity, pluralism and freedom. In fact those values are usually
the basis for the laws in the constitution.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An Introduction AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Why we need one — think of the kabaddi match in the chapter. A dispute broke out, and it was
settled peacefully only because the referee could pull out an official rulebook that both captains
had already accepted. A country is far bigger and far more diverse than a kabaddi field:

WITHOUT A CONSTITUTION WITH A CONSTITUTION

Whoever is strongest decides Power is limited by written rules everyone agreed to

No settled way to make or change laws A clear procedure for making, implementing and testing laws

Rights depend on the goodwill of rulers Rights are guaranteed and can be claimed in court

Every dispute becomes a quarrel Disputes are decided by an independent judiciary

Why it matters: a constitution is not just a list of rules. Because it is written down
and accepted by all in advance, nobody can change the rules in the middle of the
game to suit themselves. That is what makes a government answerable to the
people rather than the other way round.

Q2 How was the Indian Constitution prepared?

It was written by a Constituent Assembly over a period of almost three years.

1946 — a Constituent Assembly is formed to answer the big questions of self-rule

9 December 1946 — the Assembly is constituted; members elected by the legislative

assemblies of the provinces (whose own members had been elected by the people)

389 members at the start → 299 after the Partition of India; 15 of them women

Dr. Rajendra Prasad — Chairman of the Constituent Assembly

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar — chairman of the Drafting Committee, which prepared the initial

text

26 November 1949 — the drafting work is completed and the Constitution is adopted

26 January 1950 — it comes into effect, and we celebrate the day as Republic Day

The members deliberately came from India's diverse regions, professions and social groups,
so that the document would speak for the whole country. Dr. Sachidananda Sinha, who presided
at the very start of the process, wished the Assembly's proceedings to be marked “not only by

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An Introduction AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

good sense, public spirit, and genuine patriotism, but also by wisdom, toleration, justice, and
fairness to all”.

Did you know? The final text was written out by hand by the calligrapher Prem
Behari Narain Raizada, and Nandalal Bose and his team illustrated its pages with
scenes from Indian history. The original is kept in a helium-filled glass case in
Parliament, because helium does not react with paper or ink.

Q3 How did our freedom struggle and civilisational heritage influence the
Constitution?

Both fed straight into it, because many of the people writing the Constitution had themselves
lived through the freedom struggle and had grown up in that civilisational heritage.

SOURCE WHAT IT GAVE THE CONSTITUTION

The freedom Its ideals: equality of all, justice for all, freedom, fraternity, preservation of
movement India's cultural heritage — and the idea of using the Constitution itself as a tool
for achieving those ideals. Leaders of the movement sat in the Constituent
Assembly and brought their experience with them.

The freedom Answers to the ‘how’ and ‘what’ questions — how to give every adult citizen the
movement's vote, how to keep executive, legislature and judiciary separate, how to guarantee
practical lessons fundamental rights, how the Constitution should be amended, and what the
Centre–State relationship should be.

India's Acceptance that people may hold different points of view, Nature as sacred, the
civilisational pursuit of learning and knowledge, respect for women, and the ideas of
heritage vasudhaiva kutumbakam (“the world is one family”) and sarve bhavantu sukhinah
(well-being of all creatures).

India's older The janapadas, sanghas, rulers and their councils, Kauṭilya's saptānga, rājadharma
systems of — all of which stressed the duties and role of the people. That emphasis
governance reappears as the Fundamental Duties.

The unity behind The Grade 6 idea of ‘Many in the One’ — the sense of India as one country — is
India's diversity embedded in the Constitution.

The framers also followed the Indian tradition of ā no bhadrāh kratavo yantu viśhwatah — “Let
noble thoughts come to me from every side” — and studied the constitutions of France, USA,
UK, Ireland and Australia. From France came ‘liberty, equality, fraternity’; from Ireland, the
Directive Principles of State Policy; from the USA, the idea of an independent judiciary.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An Introduction AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

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The key features, as the chapter sets them out:

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Three organs of government with separated powers — the legislature makes laws, the
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A three-tier system of government — central, state and local (Panchayati Raj) — with some
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An electoral system that enables every eligible citizen of the country to vote.

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Fundamental Rights — promises that must be kept, and that you

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Fundamental Duties — what each citizen owes the nation.
Directive Principles of State Policy — the social and economic vision the framers had for

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India; goals the government should work towards.

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A Preamble that holds the guiding values — sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic

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republic; justice, liberty, equality, fraternity.
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1992; and in 2004 the Supreme Court held that flying the national flag at home is part of the
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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An Introduction AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

LET'S REMEMBER — Page 210
Recalling the meaning of ‘constitution’ from Grade 6

LET'S REMEMBER

Q1 Recall that in Grade 6, we saw the meaning of the word ‘constitution’ — a document
that lays down the basic principles and laws of a nation. In small groups of three,
list all the questions that come to your mind about a country's constitution.

This is a group activity, so the point is to ask well, not to answer yet. Work in threes, let each
person write down whatever they genuinely want to know, then sort the list into groups before
sharing it with the class.
How to do it: give each member two minutes of silent writing, pool the questions, strike out
repeats, and arrange the rest under headings — Who made it? What is in it? How does it work?
What if it needs changing? Keep the list; by the end of the chapter you will be able to answer
most of them yourself.
Sample answer: a list our group made —

THEME QUESTIONS WE THOUGHT OF ANSWERED ON
PAGE…

Who made Who wrote our Constitution? Were people from all parts of India in 214
it it? Were there any women? How long did it take?

What is in How many pages and parts does it have? Does it say what the 211, 212, 220–222
it government may and may not do? Does it list my rights? Does it list
my duties?

How it Who has to obey it? What happens if a law goes against it? Who 211, 220
works decides that?

Changing Can it be changed? Who can change it? Has it been changed 223
it already?

Its values What ideals does it stand for? Where are they written? 224–225

Where it is Where is the original copy kept, and how is it protected? 210

Tip: a good question is one that can actually be answered by evidence — “How many
women were in the Constituent Assembly?” is better than “Was the Constitution
good?” Save the second kind for a class discussion.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An Introduction AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

In-text Questions — Page 210
Republic Day and the book in the glass case

Q1 But what exactly is a constitution, and why is it so important?

A constitution is the document that lays down the basic principles and laws of a nation —
how it will be governed, who will hold power, how that power is limited, and what citizens can
claim and must do.
It is important for three plain reasons the chapter brings out:

It binds even the most powerful. The President takes an oath to “preserve, protect, and
defend” it. The prime minister, the council of ministers and the judges all promise to follow
its provisions. No one in office is above it.
It settles disputes without a fight. Like the referee's rulebook in the kabaddi match, it is a
written authority that all sides have accepted in advance.
It records what the country stands for. Equality, justice, freedom and fraternity are not left
to anyone's mood — they are written into the Preamble and into the Fundamental Rights.

Did you know? Because the original handwritten copy is so precious, it is kept in a
helium-filled glass case in Parliament (Fig. 10.2). Helium does not react with paper
or ink, so the pages do not decay.

LET'S EXPLORE — Page 212
The kabaddi rulebook — why we need a constitution

LET'S EXPLORE

Q1 Discuss in your group what might have happened if there was no official rulebook
that the referee and the team captains could refer to. What is required to ensure
everyone agrees to abide by the rulebook? What might happen if the team captains
did not agree to refer to the rulebook at all?

If there had been no official rulebook, the dispute would have had no honest way of ending.
The two captains would each have insisted on their own version; the referee's word could have
been challenged as personal opinion; the match might have been stopped, replayed, or
awarded by shouting rather than by rule. The team that was stronger, louder or better
connected would have won the argument — not the team that was actually right.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An Introduction AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

What is required for everyone to abide by the rulebook:

The rules must be written down and public before the match, not invented during it.
They must be the same for both teams — no special rule for the favourites.
Everyone must have agreed to them in advance, so that following them is a promise
already given.
There must be a neutral person — the referee — with the authority to apply them.
The rules must be seen as fair; people obey rules willingly when they believe the rules
protect them too.

If the captains refused to refer to the rulebook at all, the game would collapse into a
quarrel. There would be no way to decide who won, the tournament could not continue, and
future matches would be pointless because no result could be trusted.

Why it happens: a rulebook works not because it is powerful but because it is
accepted in advance by everyone it applies to. The moment one side refuses to
accept it, the only thing left to decide the outcome is force. That is exactly the
danger a country without a constitution would face.

Q2 Think of a game that you play often and list the rules you follow. Each group will
then present their set of rules to the rest of the class. Listen to each presentation,
discuss the rules, and work together to decide on a common set of rules for the
game. What challenges do you face in reaching a consensus on rules that everyone
agrees with?

How to do this activity: pick one game the whole class knows — gilli-danda, kho-kho, langdi,
cricket in the gully. Each group writes down the rules exactly as it plays them (do not correct
them yet). Present, compare, then argue your way to one shared set. Write the final set on a
chart and put it on the wall.
Sample answer: our group chose gully cricket.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An Introduction AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

RULE HOW OUR GROUP HOW ANOTHER GROUP
PLAYED IT PLAYED IT

Ball hit into the neighbour's Batter is out Six runs, and the batter fetches the ball
compound

One-tip-one-hand catch Counts as out Not out

Number of players per side Six Whoever turns up, split evenly

Who bats first The team that owns the bat Toss a coin

Deciding an lbw No lbw at all The bowler's team decides

The challenges we faced in reaching consensus:

Every group thought its own habit was the ‘real’ rule, simply because it had always played
that way.
Some rules quietly favoured whoever proposed them — the bat owner batting first, for
instance.
The strong players wanted strict rules and the beginners wanted flexible ones.
A few disputes had no neutral judge, so both sides felt cheated.
Getting everyone to give up something was the hardest part — consensus needs
compromise.

Why it matters: the Constituent Assembly faced exactly this problem, only on a
national scale — 299 members from different regions, professions and social
groups, all with different ideas of what was fair. Dr. Rajendra Prasad warned that
democratic institutions need “willingness to respect the viewpoint of others, capacity
for compromise and accommodation”. That is the same skill you needed for one set
of gully-cricket rules.

Q3 What could be the ‘rulebook’ for a country? How would it be made?

The rulebook for a country is its constitution. As the chapter says immediately after this
question: “Our Constitution is something like a rulebook for the country.”
How it would be made — and how ours actually was made:

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The people elect representatives → the representatives form a Constituent Assembly
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→ the Assembly adopts the final document
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→ it comes into effect on a fixed date and binds the whole country
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what the Preamble's opening words — ‘WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA’ — are saying.
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DON'T MISS OUT — Page 212

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The Parts and Schedules of the Constitution

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DON'T MISS OUT

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1950 — 22 Parts, 8 Schedules
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The chapter itself gives two of the reasons:

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An Introduction AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

New responsibilities were written in for citizens. ‘Part IV-A: Fundamental Duties’ was
added in 1976 — a whole new Part.
New institutions were created. The Panchayati Raj system was not in the original
Constitution; it was integrated through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992,
bringing local self-government into the document.

In general, numbers grow when:

a subject becomes important enough to need its own Part (local government, duties of
citizens);
lists have to be extended — Schedules are mostly lists (of States and Union Territories, of
languages, of subjects for the Centre and the States), and lists change as new States are
formed and new languages are recognised;
society itself changes, and the framers deliberately left room for that.

Why it happens: the framers knew they could not foresee everything. Rather than
freeze the document, they built in a careful procedure for change — debated in
Parliament, sometimes in the State legislatures, often with public opinion sought.
Growth in Parts and Schedules is therefore a sign that the Constitution is working,
not that it was badly written.

In-text Questions — Page 213
The questions India had to answer before independence

Q1 What type of government should we have?

India chose a democratic republic with a parliamentary form of government.

Democratic — the people enjoy equal political rights, elect their rulers and hold them
accountable, and the government is run according to some basic rules.
Republic — the head of the state is an elected person, not a hereditary king.
Parliamentary — the executive, headed by the prime minister, is drawn from and
answerable to the legislature.
Three organs with separated powers — legislature, executive and judiciary, with checks
and balances between them.
Three tiers — central, state and local (Panchayati Raj), each with its own functions and
responsibilities.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An Introduction AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Why this choice: India had just ended rule by a power it had not elected. A
hereditary or unaccountable government would have repeated the very thing the
freedom struggle had fought. A republic in which the highest office is filled by
election was the natural opposite of colonial rule.

Q2 What rules and principles should guide us?

The principles chosen were the ones the freedom movement had lived by and the ones India's
own heritage had long held. The chapter lists them as equality of all, justice for all, freedom,
fraternity and the preservation of India's cultural heritage.
They were then written into the Constitution in three layers:

LAYER WHAT IT DOES EXAMPLE

The Preamble States the guiding values in a single Justice, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
paragraph

Fundamental Turns values into promises that can be Article 14, equality before law
Rights claimed in court

Directive Turns values into goals the government Article 47, nutrition, standard of living
Principles should work towards and public health

Some principles came from India's own culture — acceptance that people may hold different
points of view, Nature as sacred, the pursuit of learning, respect for women, vasudhaiva
kutumbakam and sarve bhavantu sukhinah. The old emphasis on the duties of people in
governance reappears as the Fundamental Duties.

Q3 Who should have the right to vote?

Every adult citizen — this is called universal adult franchise.
The chapter records that one of the ‘how’ questions the framers had to answer was: “How do we
make sure that every adult citizen has a right to vote?” Their answer was that the electoral
system “has been laid down to ensure that every eligible citizen of the country is enabled to
vote”.
That means the vote does not depend on:

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An Introduction AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

caste, religion, community or gender;
how much property or wealth a person owns;
whether a person can read and write;
where in India the person lives.

Why it matters: in several older democracies the vote was given first to landowners,
then to educated men, and only much later to women. India gave it to every adult
from the very first election. If all citizens are equal before the law, it would make
no sense to weigh their votes differently.

Q4 How should we decide on disputes?

Through an independent judiciary, using the Constitution and the law as the standard — not
by force and not by the government's own preference.

A dispute arises (between citizens, or between a citizen and the State)
→ it goes to a court

→ the judge decides whether a law has been broken and what punishment is necessary

→ if the dispute is about a law itself, the judiciary checks whether that law is in accordance

with the Constitution

→ the highest court in the country is the Supreme Court, which protects the Constitution

Two features make this work. First, the judiciary is one of the three separate organs of
government, so it can rule against the executive or the legislature. Second, the idea of an
independent judiciary was one of the things the framers took from the American Constitution.

Check it yourself: the flag case of 2004 is a real example — a citizen who believed a
rule was wrong took the government to court, and the Supreme Court agreed with
him. That is a dispute decided by law rather than by power.

LET'S EXPLORE — Page 215

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An Introduction AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Members of the Constituent Assembly from your own region

LET'S EXPLORE

Q1 In small groups, try to find out the names of people from your region who may have
participated in the making of the Constitution.

How to do it: the Constituent Assembly's 299 members were elected by the provincial
legislative assemblies, so every province and princely state region sent members. Start from
your present State, and remember that in 1946 the province may have had a different name and
boundary — Bombay Presidency, Madras Presidency, the Central Provinces, Bihar, the United
Provinces, Assam, Punjab, and so on.
What a good answer must contain:

the names of two or three members connected with your region;
the constituency or province each represented;
one sentence on what each contributed — a committee they served on, a debate they
spoke in, or work they did in the freedom movement;
the source you got each fact from.

Sample answer: “Our school is in Bihar. From the Bihar province, Dr. Rajendra Prasad was a
member — he was elected Chairman of the Constituent Assembly, and later became India's
first President. Shri Krishna Sinha and Anugrah Narayan Sinha, both leaders of the freedom
movement in Bihar, were also members. We found this in a book in our school library and
confirmed the names on the Constituent Assembly pages of the Sansad website.”

Tip: present your findings as a small table — Name · Province represented · One
contribution · Source. It makes the class comparison much easier, and it teaches you
to keep track of where each fact came from.

Q2 What sources can you use to gather this information? (Hint: Look for books in your
school or local library. You could also ask your teacher, parents and other elders in
the neighbourhood. Explore about/constituent-assembly )

Use several kinds of source and cross-check them against one another.

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KIND OF EXAMPLES WHAT IT IS GOOD FOR
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Why cross-check: oral memory
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a written list can miss a person's local connection. Using both, and noting your
source next to every fact, is exactly how a historian works — the same method you
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a In-text Questions — Page 216
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The ‘how’ and ‘what’ questions answered by the freedom struggle

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as every adult citizen has a right to vote?
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The only condition is adulthood and citizenship — not caste, gender, religion, wealth,
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Elections are conducted by an independent authority, so that the party in office cannot run
the election in its own favour.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An Introduction AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Because the head of state is elected and governments are formed by elected
representatives, the vote is the tool by which people “elect their rulers and hold them
accountable”.

Why it happens: a right that is only promised can be withdrawn; a right written into
the Constitution can be defended in court. That is the difference the framers were
aiming at.

Q2 How do we ensure that the powers of the executive, legislature and judiciary are
kept separate?

By the principle of separation of powers, backed by checks and balances — both written into
the Constitution.

ORGAN ITS OWN WORK CHECK ON THE OTHERS

Legislature Makes the laws Debates and questions the executive;
passes or refuses its proposals

Executive Implements the laws; headed by the prime Answerable to the legislature and bound
minister by the courts' rulings

Judiciary Decides whether a law has been broken and Ensures every law made is in accordance
what punishment is necessary with the Constitution

The Constitution “clearly defines the roles, functions, responsibilities, and accountability
measures for each organ of government”, so that no organ can quietly take over another's
work.

Did you know? The idea of an independent judiciary — a court that can strike
down a law made by the government of the day — was one of the features the
framers studied in the American Constitution before adopting it for India.

Q3 How do we guarantee that every individual's fundamental rights are respected?

By making Fundamental Rights enforceable. The chapter draws the contrast sharply: Directive
Principles are goals, but “Fundamental Rights, on the other hand, are promises that must
be kept. If someone treats you unfairly because of who you are, you can actually go to court

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An Introduction AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

and the judge can help you.”
So the guarantee has three parts:

the rights are written into the Constitution — Right to Equality (Article 14, equality before
law), Right to Freedom (Article 21, protection of life and personal liberty), Right against
Exploitation, Right to Education (Article 21-A);
an independent judiciary, with the Supreme Court at its head, can be approached when a
right is denied;
the judiciary can test any law against the Constitution, so a law that violates a Fundamental
Right cannot stand.

Why it happens: a right is only as strong as the remedy behind it. By giving every
person the ability to go to court, the Constitution turns a fine sentence into
something a schoolchild, a farmer or a worker can actually use.

Q4 What should be the process if we want to amend the Constitution?

A deliberately careful and public process — easy enough that the Constitution can grow, hard
enough that it cannot be changed casually.

A change (an amendment) is proposed

→ it is rigorously debated in Parliament before it is accepted

→ some amendments require a debate in the legislative assemblies of the States as well

→ many times, opinions are sought from the general public

→ some changes are even initiated by popular movements

→ only then does the amendment become part of the Constitution

Two amendments named in the chapter show the process at work: Part IV-A Fundamental
Duties (1976) and the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992, which brought the
Panchayati Raj system into the Constitution.

Tip: the government also invites citizens to comment on proposed laws and rules —
the chapter shows a real example on page 224, a public consultation on draft
amendments to a set of rules, with a start date and an end date for sending in
comments.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An Introduction AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Q5 What should be the relationship between the Central and State governments? And
so on.

A relationship of divided but coordinated responsibility, written down so that neither level
has to guess what it may do.

India has a three-tier system of government — central, state and local (the Panchayati Raj
system).
Some functions and responsibilities are reserved for the central government, and
others are assigned to the state government.
The Constitution “addresses these points comprehensively”, defining roles, functions,
responsibilities and accountability for each.
Both levels are bound by the same Constitution, and the judiciary can decide disputes
between them.

Why it happens: India is very large and very diverse. Subjects such as defence and
foreign affairs make sense only at the national level; schools, local roads, water
supply and sanitation are best handled close to the people. Writing the division
down keeps the two from working against each other — and adds a third tier so that
a village or town can decide its own local matters.

LET'S EXPLORE — Page 221
Begum Aizaz Rasul on the equality of women, 22 November 1949

LET'S EXPLORE

Q1 Read the quotation given below. Which article of the Constitution do you think she
was referring to?

She was speaking of the Right to Equality — Article 14, ‘equality before law’, the article the
chapter's own infographic (Fig. 10.14) lists first among the Fundamental Rights.
Look at what she actually claims: “the women of India are happy to step into their rightful
heritage of complete equality with men in all spheres of life and activity” and “the rights of
women in law will be wholly honoured in the Indian Republic”. Two words settle it — equality
and in law. That is Article 14.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An Introduction AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Tip: the same idea runs through the Preamble as well, where the Constitution
secures to all citizens “EQUALITY of status and of opportunity”. In the Preamble
panel of Fig. 10.16, ‘Equality’ is explained as: all are equal before the law, social
inequalities have to be ended, and the government should ensure equal opportunity
for all.

A fair note: more than one answer can be defended here. A student who names the
wider Right to Equality group (Articles 14–18), which includes the ban on
discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth, is reading her
sentence “in all spheres of life and activity” just as reasonably. What matters is that
you point to the equality guarantee and quote the line that supports your choice.

Q2 Why do you think she said that the equality of women was not a new concept for
India? Discuss in the class.

Because she was making a distinction between an ideal India had long held and the social
practice that had fallen away from it. Read her own words carefully: this is “no new concept
which has been postulated for the purposes of this Constitution, but is an ideal that has long
been cherished by India, though social conditions for some time had tragically debased it in
practice”.
Her reasoning has two halves:

The ideal is old. The chapter lists respect for women among the fundamental principles
“embedded in our culture”, alongside the acceptance of different points of view, Nature as
sacred and the pursuit of learning. In earlier chapters you have met women rulers, poets,
philosophers, donors and traders — India's past is not short of them.
The practice had slipped. She says so plainly — social conditions had “debased it in
practice”. She is not claiming that Indian society had always treated women equally; she is
claiming that the equality being written into the Constitution was a return, not an import.

Why she chose to say it that way. A right that people believe is foreign is resisted; a right
people recognise as their own is accepted. By calling equality an Indian ideal being reaffirmed,
she made it much harder to argue against — and she made the Constitution's promise feel like
a homecoming rather than an instruction.

Page 18 of 32

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LET'S EXPLORE — Page 223
The Constitution is a living document
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Why it happens: notice the two different routes in those examples — one change
came through Parliament, the other through a citizen's case in court. Both are
ways the Constitution keeps up with the country. That is what ‘living document’
means in practice.

LET'S EXPLORE — Page 226
The features of the Preamble in everyday life

LET'S EXPLORE

Q1 Below is the list of features given in the Preamble. Read them closely from the
image above and write down examples of the application of these values in daily
life around you. Two have been completed to help you with the exercise.

Read the Preamble panel (Fig. 10.16) first, then look for the value happening around you. The
two filled rows show the level expected — one everyday situation, described in one sentence.
This is the Preamble exactly as it is printed on the handwritten page reproduced in Fig. 10.16:

WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a

SOVEREIGN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:

JUSTICE, social, economic and political;

LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;

EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;

and to promote among them all

FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity of the Nation;
IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do

HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An Introduction AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Note the book gives: “The terms ‘Socialist’, ‘Secular’ and ‘Integrity’ were added in
the Preamble through the 42nd Constitutional Amendment in 1976.” The
photograph in Fig. 10.16 is of the original 1949 page, so those three words are not
in the handwriting. In the Preamble as it stands today the opening reads
“SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC”, and the last clause reads
“the unity and integrity of the Nation”. That is why the exercise below lists Secular as
one of the features to be filled in.

FEATURES OF HOW WE SEE THEM IN OUR DAILY LIVES
THE PREAMBLE

Sovereign Only our own elected government decides matters inside India — no outside power can
dictate our laws, our school syllabus or our taxes. When India signs an agreement with
another country, it does so as an equal, by its own decision.

Secular Given in the book: A person does not have to take permission from the State to
practice the rituals of their religion if the practice does not interfere with anyone
else's day-to-day life.

Republic Our head of state, the President, is elected and holds office for a fixed term — the post is
not inherited by anyone's son or daughter. In the same way, our sarpanch, MLA and MP
hold their posts because people voted for them.

Justice Given in the book: The State provides equal opportunity to all in jobs, regardless of
gender, caste, religion, etc.

Liberty We may say what we think, follow the faith we choose, read what we like and form clubs
and associations — as long as we do not harm others. A citizen may even take the
government to court, as happened in the national flag case of 2004.

Equality Every child in our class sits in the same room, uses the same library and eats the same
mid-day meal, whatever their family's caste, religion or income. The same rule applies in a
queue at the ration shop or the railway ticket counter — no one is served first for being
rich or powerful.

Fraternity Neighbours of different communities join in each other's festivals, and the whole locality
helps out when a family faces a flood, an illness or a death. Nobody is treated as a lesser
citizen because of who they are.

Tip: your own examples will be better than these if they come from your street, your
school or your panchayat. For each row, ask “where have I seen this happen?” rather
than “what does the word mean?”

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An Introduction AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Questions and activities — Page 227
End-of-chapter exercise

QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES

Q1 “The Constituent Assembly had representatives from diverse backgrounds in India.”
Why do you think it was important to have a diverse set of representatives from all
over India?

Because the Constitution had to work for the whole of India, and only people who know a
region's life can speak for it. The chapter notes that the members “represented India's diverse
regions, professions, and social groups”, and that of the 299 members, 15 were women.
Four reasons a diverse Assembly mattered:

No region's needs would be forgotten. A hill State, a coastal district, a desert region and a
dense city do not face the same problems. Members from each could say so while the rules
were still being written.
No group would be left out of the rights. Women, farmers, workers, lawyers, teachers and
members of communities that had long been treated unfairly were all in the room when
equality and non-discrimination were being framed.
The document would be accepted. People obey a rulebook they helped write. A
Constitution drafted by a narrow group would have been seen as one group's law imposed
on everyone else.
Better decisions. Different points of view test each other. Dr. Rajendra Prasad said
democratic institutions need “willingness to respect the viewpoint of others, capacity for
compromise and accommodation” — that begins with having different viewpoints present.

Why it matters: the Preamble opens with ‘WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA’. Those words
are only true if the people writing it actually reflected the people of India. Diversity in
the Assembly is what made that opening line honest.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An Introduction AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Q2 Read the statements below carefully and identify which key features / values in the
Constitution of India are reflected in each statement. a. Sheena, Rajat, and Harsh
are standing in a line. They are excited to cast their first vote in the general
elections. b. Radha, Imon, and Harpreet study in the same class in the same school.
c. Parents must make arrangements to ensure their children's education. d. People
of all castes, genders, and religions can use the village well.

Match each statement to the feature it shows:

STATEMENT FEATURE / VALUE OF THE WHERE IT COMES FROM
CONSTITUTION

a. Sheena, Rajat and Universal adult franchise — and Every adult citizen has the right to vote;
Harsh, excited to cast their the democratic republic in which the electoral system is laid down so that
first vote people elect their rulers every eligible citizen is enabled to vote

b. Radha, Imon and Right to Equality and the secular Article 14 (equality before law); Article 21-A
Harpreet in the same class character of the State; also the (Right to education)
in the same school Right to Education

c. Parents must make A Fundamental Duty Duty (f): “if a parent or guardian, to
arrangements to ensure provide opportunities for education to his
their children's education or her child or, as the case may be, ward
between the age of six and fourteen
years”

d. People of all castes, Equality and Justice, and the Citizens cannot be discriminated against
genders and religions can value of Fraternity on the grounds of caste, religion or
use the village well gender; social inequalities have to be
ended

Tip: more than one value can fit a statement, and that is fine — statement (b) shows
equality, secularism and the right to education at the same time. What the question
wants is that you can name the value and say why. Always add the reason, not just
the label.

Page 23 of 32

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It is said that ‘All citizens in India are equal before the law’. Do you think this is a
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fact? If yes, why? If not, why not? Formulate your arguments.

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a A person who does not know their rights, or cannot
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EQUALITY of status and of opportunity to all panel itself says “social inequalities have to be ended”,

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minister, ministers and judges all take an oath or — a decent standard of living, nutrition, public health

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promise to uphold the Constitution. — are goals, and cannot be demanded in court.

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Q4 You have learnt that ‘India is the only country that provided universal adult
franchise to its citizens from the beginning.’ Can you explain why India did it?

India did it because anything less would have contradicted the freedom struggle it had just
won. The chapter records that one of the questions the framers set themselves was: “How do
we make sure that every adult citizen has a right to vote?” — and the electoral system was
then laid down so that every eligible citizen is enabled to vote.
The reasons, laid out:

The freedom movement had been a mass movement. Farmers, workers, women and
students had all taken part. It would have been indefensible to tell them, once freedom
came, that only the rich or the educated could vote.
The Constitution rests on equality. If all are equal before the law, votes cannot be handed
out by caste, gender, wealth or literacy. Universal franchise is simply equality applied to
elections.
Colonial rule had denied Indians a say. The obvious opposite of being governed without
consent is everyone getting a say.
‘WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA’. The Preamble says the Constitution was drawn up and enacted
by the people through their representatives. Representatives can only speak for the people if
all the people choose them.
Trust in ordinary Indians. Many observers at the time thought a poor and largely
unlettered country could not manage a full franchise. The framers disagreed — they judged
that the right to be governed by consent does not depend on schooling or income.

A careful note: this statement comes from your earlier reading rather than from
this chapter, and it is worth stating precisely. A few countries had granted a full adult
vote before 1950, but they were small and far more homogeneous. India's
achievement is that it gave every adult citizen the vote from its very first general
election, in a country of that size, poverty and diversity — something no comparable
nation had attempted, and something the older democracies had reached only in
slow stages.

Q5 How did the freedom struggle inspire the making of the Constitution of India? How
did India's civilisational heritage inspire some of the key features in the
Constitution of India? Explain.

The freedom struggle shaped the Constitution in two ways — through its ideals and through
its practical lessons.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An Introduction AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Ideals. The chapter lists them: equality of all, justice for all, freedom, fraternity, preservation
of India's cultural heritage — and the idea of using the Constitution itself as a tool and a
means of achieving those ideals. Those are exactly the words that reappear in the Preamble.
People. A number of leaders of the freedom movement were members of the Constituent
Assembly, so they “carried their experience and ideas from the freedom struggle to the
Constitution”. The Constitution was, as the chapter puts it, the cornerstone for an
independent India.
Practical answers. The experience of the struggle answered the ‘how’ and ‘what’ questions
— the vote for every adult citizen, the separation of the powers of executive, legislature and
judiciary, the guarantee of fundamental rights, the procedure for amendment, and the
Centre–State relationship.

India's civilisational heritage shaped it in three ways:

FROM OUR HERITAGE WHAT IT BECAME IN THE CONSTITUTION

Acceptance that people could have different points Freedom of thought and expression, the secular character of
of view; vasudhaiva kutumbakam, “the world is one the State, and the value of Fraternity in the Preamble
family”; sarve bhavantu sukhinah, the well-being of
all creatures

The old emphasis on the duties and role of the The Fundamental Duties (Part IV-A), and the idea that
people in governance — the janapadas, sanghas, governance is a responsibility rather than a privilege
rulers and their councils, Kauṭilya's saptānga,
rājadharma

Nature as sacred; the pursuit of learning and The duty to protect forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife and to
knowledge; respect for women have compassion for living creatures; Article 48-A on
environment and wildlife; the Right to Education; equality
of women

The sense of India as one country beneath its The unity of the nation, written into the Preamble and into
diversity — ‘Many in the One’ the structure of the Union

The framers also looked outward, in the spirit of ā no bhadrāh kratavo yantu viśhwatah, “Let
noble thoughts come to me from every side”: ‘liberty, equality, fraternity’ from France, the
Directive Principles from Ireland, the independent judiciary from the USA.

Why it happens: a constitution is not written on a blank page. It is written by people
with a memory — of a struggle they had just lived through, and of a civilisation they
had grown up in. Both memories are visible in the finished text.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An Introduction AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Q6 Do you think we, as a society, have achieved all the ideals of the Constitution? If
not, what can we each do as citizens to move our country closer to these ideals?

Not all of them, not yet — and the Constitution never assumed we would have. Its own
design says so: Fundamental Rights are “promises that must be kept” and can be claimed today,
while the Directive Principles are “bigger goals that might take time to achieve as our country
progressed”. Several of those goals — a good standard of living for everyone (Article 47), social,
political and economic justice (Article 38), the protection of the environment (Article 48-A) — are
still being worked towards.
At the same time, a great deal has been achieved: every adult votes, governments change
peacefully by election, courts strike down laws that break the Constitution, education is a right,
and untouchability and discrimination are unlawful.
What each of us can do — small, real things, matched to the values:

IDEAL WHAT A STUDENT CAN ACTUALLY DO

Equality Never let anyone be excluded in class, in the playground or at the water tap because of caste,
religion, gender or income — and speak up when it happens

Justice Learn your rights and tell others about them; report unfairness to a teacher or an elder rather
than staying silent

Liberty Listen to a view you disagree with before answering it; do not shout anyone down

Fraternity Join in the festivals and the sorrows of neighbours from every community; treat no fellow
citizen as inferior

Fundamental Respect the Constitution, the National Flag and the National Anthem; protect trees, lakes,
Duties rivers and animals; keep public property clean; strive for excellence in your own work

Democracy Take part in the school or village assembly; when you turn eighteen, register and vote — and
encourage the adults at home to vote too

Why it works: the Preamble panel says citizens “are also expected to practise these
values to the best of their ability”. A constitution can guarantee a right; only citizens
can make it a habit. Every one of the actions above costs nothing and is available to
a Class 7 student today.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An Introduction AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Q7 Read the clues carefully to solve the crossword on the next page to uncover
important concepts from the Indian Constitution.

Here is the completed crossword. Count the squares in the grid to check each answer as you fill
it in.

NO. CLUE ANSWER LETTERS

Across The branch of government that makes laws. LEGISLATURE 11
2

Across The part of the Constitution that outlines the duties FUNDAMENTAL 17
7 of citizens towards the country. DUTIES

Across The highest court in India that protects the SUPREME COURT 12
8 Constitution.

Across A system where the head of state is elected, not REPUBLIC 8
9 hereditary.

Across The process by which the Constitution can be AMENDMENT 9
10 changed over time.

Down 1 The group of people who wrote the Indian CONSTITUENT 19
Constitution. ASSEMBLY

Down 3 The statement at the beginning of the Constitution PREAMBLE 8
that tells us the values it upholds.

Down 4 The document that lays out the rules and laws of a CONSTITUTION 12
country.

Down 5 The gas used to preserve the original Constitution HELIUM 6
safely.

Down 6 Basic rights given to every citizen, like freedom and FUNDAMENTAL 17
equality. RIGHTS

Tip: the two long entries cross each other — FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES (7 Across) and
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS (6 Down) share a letter, and both are 17 squares long. Fill in
the short ones you are sure of first — HELIUM, REPUBLIC, PREAMBLE — and let the
crossing letters give you the long ones.

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Why these ten: put together, they are the chapter in miniature — who wrote the

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Constitution (Constituent Assembly), what it is (Constitution), how it opens
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(Fundamental Duties), how the country is governed (Legislature, Republic), who
aguards it (Supreme Court), how it grows (Amendment), and how the original copy
survives (Helium).
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executive, judiciary) and their roles; the checks and balances among them; the rights and
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The Constitution of India was written by a Constituent Assembly. Formed on 9
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December 1946 with 389 members (reduced to 299 after Partition), of whom 15 were
women, and chaired by Dr.aRajendra Prasad. Its members were elected by the legislative
assemblies of the provinces. The drafting work was done by a Drafting Committee chaired

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effect on 26 January 1950 — which is why that day is Republic Day. m
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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An Introduction AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

The Preamble holds the guiding values. ‘WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA’ — Sovereign,
Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic — securing Justice, Liberty, Equality and
promoting Fraternity. The words ‘Socialist’, ‘Secular’ and ‘Integrity’ were added by the 42nd
Amendment in 1976. The original text was handwritten by calligrapher Prem Behari
Narain Raizada and illustrated by Nandalal Bose and his team; the copy is preserved in a
helium-filled glass case in Parliament.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An Introduction AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

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TERM WHAT IT MEANS WHERE IT WORTH REMEMBERING
APPEARS IN
THE CHAPTER

Constitution A document that spells out a Page 211 India's is the world's largest
nation's basic principles and written constitution
laws, and how it will be
governed

Constituent The body that drafted and Page 214 Formed 9 Dec 1946; 389 → 299
Assembly adopted the Constitution of members; 15 women; Chairman Dr.
India Rajendra Prasad

Drafting The committee that prepared Page 214, Fig. Chaired by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar,
Committee the initial text of the 10.3 independent India's first Law and
Constitution Justice minister

Republic Day 26 January, the day the Pages 210 and Adopted 26 Nov 1949, in force 26
Constitution came into effect 214 Jan 1950
in 1950

Separation of Keeping the powers of Pages 211 and Legislature makes laws · executive
powers legislature, executive and 220 implements them · judiciary tests
judiciary distinct, with them against the Constitution
checks and balances

Fundamental Basic rights guaranteed to Pages 220–222, Right to Equality (Art. 14), Right to
Rights every citizen, which can be Fig. 10.14 Freedom (Art. 21), Right against
claimed in a court of law Exploitation, Right to Education (Art.
21-A)

Fundamental What every citizen is Page 222, Fig. Added as Part IV-A in 1976; six of
Duties expected to do for the nation 10.14 them are listed in the infographic
and for fellow citizens

Directive Principles Goals the government should Pages 220–222 Not enforceable in court;
of State Policy try to achieve — the social guidelines rather than strict rules
(DPSP) and economic vision of the (Arts. 38, 41, 44, 47, 48-A, 49)
framers

Preamble The opening statement of the Page 225, Fig. Sovereign · Socialist · Secular ·
Constitution, which sets out 10.16 Democratic · Republic; Justice ·
the values it upholds Liberty · Equality · Fraternity

Amendment A change made to the Page 223 42nd (1976) added ‘Socialist’,
Constitution after rigorous ‘Secular’, ‘Integrity’; 73rd (1992)
debate in Parliament added Panchayati Raj

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 10 The Constitution of India — An Introduction AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

TERM WHAT IT MEANS WHERE IT WORTH REMEMBERING
APPEARS IN
THE CHAPTER

Parts and The sections into which the Don't Miss Out, 25 Parts and 12 Schedules today;
Schedules Constitution is organised page 212 22 Parts and 8 Schedules in 1950

Helium A gas that does not react with Margin note, The original copy is kept in a
paper or ink, used to preserve page 210, Fig. helium-filled glass case in
the original Constitution 10.2 Parliament

Prem Behari The calligrapher who wrote Don't Miss Out, Nandalal Bose and his team
Narain Raizada the text of the Constitution page 223 illustrated the pages (Figs. 10.6–
by hand 10.13)

Universal adult The right of every adult Pages 216 and India gave it to all citizens from the
franchise citizen to vote, regardless of 220 very beginning
caste, gender, wealth or
education

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