RBSE Class 8 Social Science Important Questions Civics Chapter 10 Law and Social Justice

Rajasthan Board RBSE Class 8 Social Science Important Questions Civics Chapter 10 Law and Social Justice Important Questions and Answers.

RBSE Class 8 Social Science Important Questions Civics Chapter 10 Law and Social Justice

Multiple Choice Questions

Question 1. 
To protect people from exploitation, the government 
(a) opens factories
(b) distributes free grains
(c) make laws
(d) does not implement safety laws properly
Answer:
(c) make laws
 
Question 2. 
In which of the following laws it has been ensured that the wages of any person should not be less than the prescribed minimum amount?
(a) In a law preventing child labour in the workplace
(b) In minimum wage law
(c) In the law related to the formation of trade union/organisation
(d) In the law that determines the quality of things.
Answer:
(b) In minimum wage law

Question 3. 
According to the 2011 census, how many children between the ages of 5 to 14 work in various occupations in India?
(a) 1.2 lakh 
(b) 12 lakh
(c) 12 thousand 
(d) more than 40 lakh
Answer:
(d) more than 40 lakh

Question 4. 
Which Fundamental Right states that no child below the age of 14 years can be employed in a factory or mine or any other hazardous occupation
(a) Right to Equality
(b) Right against Exploitation
(c) Right to Freedom
(d) Right to Religious Freedom 
Answer:
(b) Right against Exploitation

Question 5. 
Which of the following is benefitted from the Minimum wage law?
(a) Agricultural labour
(b) Factory labour
(c) Domestic servants
(d) All of the above 
Answer:
(d) All of the above 

Question 6. 
What colour is painted at the pumps by the government around the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal?
(a) Black 
(b) Red
(c) Yellow 
(d) Blue
Answer: 
(b) Red

Question 7. 
Union Carbide factory is located in
(a) Bhopal 
(b) Jaipur 
(c) Indore 
(d) Udaipur 
Answer:
(a) Bhopal 

Question 8. 
When did the Bhopal gas tragedy happen?
(a) On 2 December 1971
(b) On 2 December 1981
(c) On 2 December 1984
(d) On 2 December 1992
Answer: 
(c) On 2 December 1984

Question 9. 
Which of the following comes under labour rights? 
(a) Right to work
(b) Right to decent work condition
(c) Right to a fair wages
(d) All of the above
Answer: 
(d) All of the above

Question 10. 
What work is done in the greed for more profit?
(a) Paying fewer wages to labourers
(b) Getting children to work
(c) Not taking care of the environment
(d) All of the above
Answer:
(d) All of the above

Fill in the blanks

Question 1. 
People faced ................... or an unfair situation, everywhere in the market.
Answer:
exploitation

Question 2. 
According to ..................., no worker has to be paid not less than the minimum wage.
Answer:
law on minimum wages
 
Question 3. 
The government is supposed to ensure that...................are implemented.
Answer:
safety laws

Question 4. 
In 1984, there were very few laws protecting the...................in India.
Answer:
environment
 
Question 5. 
Strict...................should be made to protect workers' rights.
Answer:
laws.

State True or False

Question 1. 
Private companies, contractors, and business people usually try to make the least profit.
Answer:
False

Question 2. 
Most textile mills were closed in the 1980s and 1990s due to increased, competition with power looms.
Answer:
True

Question 3. 
One reason why foreign companies come to India is for cheap labour.
Answer:
True

Question 4. 
Developing countries are moving their toxic and hazardous industries to developed countries. 
Answer:
False

Question 5. 
The courts also gave a number of judgments upholding the right to a healthy environment as intrinsic to the Fundamental Right to Life.
Answer:
True

Match Correctly

(a)	(b)
Law on minimum wages	electrical appliances have to meet safety standards.
Law on safety measures in workplaces	wages should not be below a specified minimum
Child Labour Act.	emergency exits
The law requires that the quality of goods meet certain prescribed standards	banning the employment of children below the age of 14 years in all occupations.

Answer:

(a)	(b)
Law on minimum wages	wages should not be below a specified minimum
Law on safety measures in workplaces	emergency exits
Child Labour Act.	banning the employment of children below the age of 14 years in all occupations.
The law requires that the quality of goods meet certain prescribed standards	electrical appliances have to meet safety standards.

 

Very Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1. 
What does the government do to protect people from exploitation in the market?
Answer: 
The government make certain laws to protect people from such exploitation. These laws try to ensure that unfair practices are kept at a minimum in the markets.

Question 2. 
What law has the government made to ensure that labourers get fair wages?
Answer: 
Minimum Wages Act.

Question 3. 
Why was the law required to state the quality of goods should meet certain prescribed standards?
Answer: 
Because consumers might be put at risk by the poor quality of products such as electrical appliances, food, and medicines.

Question 4. 
What does Right against Exploitation mean?
Answer: 
Right against Exploitation means that no one can be forced to work for low wages or under bondage.

Question 5. 
Which Act has been amended to provide that employing children below the age of 14 years is a serious crime?
Answer: 
In the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act.

Question 6. 
Who is responsible for properly enforcing security laws?
Answer: 
It is the responsibility of the government to properly enforce security laws.

Question 7. 
State one reason for openly violating safety standards at the Union Carbide plant. 
Answer: 
In India, safety measures were low and they were also not being implemented properly. 

Question 8. 
Why did Union Carbide not have to spend anything to clean up the pollution? 
Answer: 
In India, the environment was treated as a free entity. So Union Carbide did not have to spend money to clean up the pollution.

Question 9. 
What decision was given by Supreme Court in Subhash Kumar vs. State of Bihar (1991)?
Answer: 
The Supreme Court held that the Right to Life is a Fundamental Right under Article 21 of the Constitution and it includes the right to the enjoyment of pollution-free water and air for full enjoyment of life.

Question 10. 
What has been revealed by file recent research on environmental issues in India? 
Answer: 
Recent research on environmental issues in India has highlighted the fact that the growing concern for the file environment among the middle classes is often at the expense of the poor. 

Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
What is the Minimum Wages Act? Why is it necessary and whose interests does the law protect?
Answer: 
Minimum Wages Act:
Minimum Wages Act specifies that wages should not be below a specified minimum. This law is necessary because many workers are denied fair wages by their employers. Because they badly need work, workers have no bargaining power and are paid low wages. This law is meant to protect the interests of all workers and domestic workers.

Question 2. 
Why there is a need to make a law to form worker's unions/associations?
Answer: 
It is necessary to make a law to form worker's unions/associations because by organising themselves into unions, workers can use their combined power to demand fair wages and better working conditions.

Question 3. 
Explain the difference in the safety systems in Union Carbide’s Bhopal and U.S.A. plants.
Answer: 
(1) Union Carbide in the U.S.A. plant has a computerised warning and monitoring systems were in place, whereas the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal relied on the manual Ganges and the human senses to detect gas leaks.

(2) At the U.S.A. plant, emergency evacuation plans were in place, but non-existent in Bhopal.

Question 4. 
Why are there such sharp differences in safety standards across countries like U.S.A. and India? And even after the disaster happened, why was the compensation to the victims in India so low?
Answer:
'The value of Indian worker is not perceived as the worth. Since there is so much unemployment, there are many workers who are willing to work in unsafe conditions in return for a wage. Making use of the workers’ vulnerability, employers ignore safety in workplaces.

Question 5. 
What amendments were made in the year 2016 to the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986?
Answer: 
In 2016, Parliament amended the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, banning the employment of children below the age of 14 years in all occupations and of adolescents (14-18 years) in hazardous occupations and processes. It made employing these children or adolescents a cognizable offence.

Question 6. 
In recent years while the courts have come out with strong orders on environmental issues, these have sometimes affected people’s livelihoods adversely. Justify by giving one example.
Answer: 
The courts directed industries in residential areas in Delhi to close down or shift out of the city.
Several of these industries were polluting the neighbourhood and discharge from these industries was polluting the river Yamuna, because they had been set up without following the rules. But, while the court’s action solved one problem, it created another. Because of the closure, many workers lost their jobs.

Question 7. 
Has the pollution problem been eliminated by moving the polluting factories from One place to another? If not, surest a solution for this problem.
Answer: 
Moving the polluting factories from one place to another has eliminated the pollution problem in the first place but now the pollution problem has started in these new places. These areas are now becoming polluted. Secondly, by closing the factories or shifting them to far-off areas, the conditions of employment and the issue of the safety conditions of workers still remained unaddressed.
The solution to this challenge is that we should insist on adopting cleaner techniques and processes and strict safety standards. For this, the government should encourage the factory owners and help them as well. Also, find those who pollute.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
Explain the reasons for the open violation of safety standards at the Bhopal Union Carbide plant.
Answer:
Following are the major reasons for the open violation of safety standards at the Bhopal Union Carbide plant:
(1) Lower safety measures:
At that time, safety measures were lacking in India. The company benefitted from lower safety measures.

(2) Poor enforcement of laws by the government:
Even these weak safety laws were not enforced properly by the government. As:
(i) Government officials refused to recognise the plant as hazardous.

(ii) The government has no objection to opening this plant in a populated locality. When some municipal officials in Bhopal objected that the installation of a MIC production unit in 1978 was a safety violation, the position of the government was that the still needs the continued investment in the Bhopal plant, which provides jobs.

(iii) It was unthinkable, according to the government, to ask Union Carbide to shift to cleaner technology or safer procedures.

(iv) Government inspectors continued to approve the procedures in the plant, even when repeated incidents of leaks from the plant made it obvious to everybody that things were seriously wrong.

(3) Ignoring safety measures by the company:
The company ignored the safety measures to reduce the cost. In the Union Carbide plant, every safety device was malfunctioning or was in short supply. The period of safety training for workers was brought down from 6 months to 15 days. The post of night-shift worker for the MIC plant' was abolished. It is clear from this that the government that framed and enforced the law ignored the safety standards. Instead of protecting the interests of the people, both the government and the company ignored their safety.