NCERT 6th Class (CBSE) Social Science: Essence of Democracy

Question: Why do you think we need the government to find solutions to many disputes or conflicts?

Answer: Government is a constitutional body that maintains law and order. It consists of the representatives of all classes from all parts of the country. Problems or conflicts arise in states, between two or more states and sometimes between two nations. The government represents the country and also the head of the constitutional system. So, it can resolve conflicts in the interest of the people at large. A system without a government may face crisis and lawlessness. Hence, government is necessary.

Question: What actions does the government take to ensure that all people are treated equally?

Answer: The government ensures that the constitutional provisions are implied in the country. It makes laws and enforces them to abolish all sorts of discriminations. It makes provisions to provide equal facilities to all classes of people, promotion of education among girls and economically backwards. These are some of the actions that the government takes to ensure equality among people.

Question: Read through the chapter and discuss some of the key ideas of a democratic government. Make a list. For example, all people are equal

Answer:

1. All people are equal
2. Justice to all
3. Opportunities for equal education to all
4. Abolition of discrimination
5. Equal status to all religions
6. Abolition of untouchability

Question: What are apartheid laws?

Answer: South Africa was earlier governed by apartheid laws. South African people were divided into white, black, Indian and coloured races. According to apartheid laws, these races were not allowed to mingle with each other, to live near each other or even to use common facilities.

Question: What happened to Hector and his classmates? Why did it happen?

Answer: Hector and his classmates, because they were non-whites luring in one black township named Soweto, were being forced to learn the language of whites i.e. Afrikaans. But they wanted to learn their own language, zulu and joined the protest against learning the Afrikaans language in school. The South African police beat up the protestors ruthlessly and shot at the crowd. One of their bullets killed Hector.