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NCERT Class 7 Social Science Chapter 20 Struggles For Equality
Also, you can read the NCERT book online in these sections Solutions by Expert Teachers as per Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Book guidelines. CBSE Class 7 Social Science Solutions are part of All Subject Solutions. Here we have given NCERT Class 7 Social Science Chapter 20 Struggles For Equality and After, NCERT Class 7 Social Science Textbook of Our Pasts – II: History, Social and Political Life – II: Civics, Our Environment: Geography. for All Chapters, You can practice these here.
Struggles For Equality
Chapter: 20
Social And Political Life-II [Civics]
QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS
Q.1. What do you think is meant by the expression ‘power over the ballot box’? Discuss.
Ans: The expression ‘Power over the ballot box’ means the power to vote. Every adult (a person of 18 years or above) in India has the equal right to vote during elections. This right has been used by people to elect or replace their representatives.
Q.2. Can you think of one person in your family, community, village, town or city whom you respect because of their fight for equality and justice?
Ans: Yes, my cousin Ramanvir, Ravi in community, Param in my village, Simmi in town nearby my village are few people whom I respect because of their fight for equality and justice.
[This is activity based answer. Students can answer from the surrounding.]
Q.3. What issue is the Tawa Matsya Sangh (TMS) fighting for?
Ans: The Tawa Matsya Sangh (TMS) is fighting for the right of displaced forest dwellers of the Satpura forest in Madhya Pradesh.
Q.4. Why did the villagers set up this organization?
Ans: The villagers set up this organization to protect their rights.
Q.5. Do you think that the large-scale participation of villagers has contri-buted to the success of the TMS? Write two lines on why you think so.
Ans: Yes, the large-scale participation of the villagers has contributed to the success of the TMS. It shows that when people are united, they can successfully fight for their rights. It is the power of the voice of the people in a democracy which ultimately wins. The committee of government recommended their right to catch fish in the Tawa Reservoir.
Q.6. Read the following lines of the poem and answer the questions that follow:
The Right to Know
My dreams have the right to know
Why for centuries they have been breaking
Why don’t they ever come true
My hands have the right to know
Why do they remain without work all along
Why do they have nothing to do
My feet have the right to know
Why from village to village they walk on their own
Why are there no signs of a bus yet
My hunger has the right to know
Why grain rots in godowns
While I don’t even get a fistful of rice
My old mother has the right to know
Why are there no medicines
Needles, dispensaries or bandages
My children have the right to know
Why do they labour day and night
Why is there no school in sight
1. What is your favourite line in the above song?
Ans: My hunger has the right to know.
2. What does the poet mean when he says, “My hunger has the right to know”?
Ans: The poet means is that a sufferer must have a right to know the cause of his suffering. If he is victimised for any reason he must know who is responsible for that.
Q.7. What does the poet mean when he says, “My hunger has the right to know”?
Ans: When poet says, “My hunger has the right to know” he means that his hunger has the right to know why grain rots in godowns.
Q.8. What role does the Constitution play in people’s struggles for equality?
Ans: The Indian Constitution plays a great role in people’s struggle for inequality.
(i) The Indian Constitution is a living document which recognises the equality to all persons.
(ii) Movements and struggles for equality in India continuously refer to the Indian Constitution to make their point about equality and justice for all.
(iii) The Constitution highlights the challenges to equality in democracy like privatisation of health services in the country, the increasing control that business houses exert on media, the low value given to women and their work.
(iv) Whenever any Fundamental Right is violated, we can go to the court.
Q.9. Read the poem on page 120 NCERT. Why grains rots in godowns while I don’t even get a fistful of rice. What does the poet mean when he says, “My hunger has the right to know?”
Ans: It means we have plenty of grains stored in godowns but because of hoarders and merchants the poor people are still not getting a single bit of rice. They are still facing hunger.
SOME OTHER IMPORTANT QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION
Very Short Answer Type Questions
Q.1. Write the year in which Tawa dam began to be constructed and in which year it was completed?
Ans: Tawa dam began to be constructed in 1958 and it was completed in 1978.
Q.2. Why is a dam built?
Ans: A dam is built across a river at sites where one can collect a lot of water.
Q.3. What is meant by ‘Equality during elections’?
Ans: It means that all adults in India have the equal right to vote.
Q.4. Why were people reluctant to lease an apartment to Ansaris?
Ans: The reason behind this the religion of Ansaris.
Q.5. What we learnt by TMS?
Ans: We learnt by the TMS is that when people’s organisations get their rights to livelihood, they can be good managers.
Q.6. ‘Om Prakash Valmiki have to sweep the school yard.’ Do you agree with this? Why?
Ans: Yes, Om Prakash Valmiki have to sweep the school yard because he was a dalit.
Q.7. Why are people displaced?
Ans: When the construction of dam start and forest areas are declared sanctuaries for animals, a large number of people are displaced.
Q.8. Give the reason why many people living in India are unequal.
Ans: This is because the resources are not distributed equally among the people.
Q.9. Write the basis on which people are treated unequally.
Ans: These bases are:
(i) Caste, religion, class, sex, education.
Q.10. When did the government give the rights for fishing to private contractors?
Ans: 1994.
Q.11. Write the full form of TMS.
Ans: TMS stands for Tawa Matsya Sangh.
Q.12. Define the term ‘Discrimination’.
Ans: When someone do not treat people equally or with respect he/she is indulging in discrimination. It happens when people or organisations act on their prejudices.
Q.13. What kind of methods used by women’s movement to fight for women’s right?
Ans: They used campaigning, raising aware-ness, protesting in their movement to fight for women’s right.
Q.14. Write the major disadvantage of construction of dam.
Ans: When dams are constructed, forest areas are sanctuaries due to this, wild animals and centuries suffer a lot, thousands of people are displaced.
Q.15. Give the reason why most of the dalit, SCs, STs, girls drop out of the school.
Ans: This happened because of the combined outcomes of poverty, social discrimination and lack of good quality school facilities for these communities.
Short Answer Type Questions
Q.1. What were the benefits of TMS to the fish workers?
Ans: (i) Fish workers have now began to earn three times more than they earned before.
(ii) A co-operative was formed which would buy the lish from the fish workers at a fair price.
(iii) The fish workers were able to increase their earning substantially.
(iv) The co-operative would also arrange to transport and sell this in markets where they would get a good price.
Q.2. Describe the Tawa Matsya Sangh (TMS).
Ans: It is a federation of Fisherworker’s cooperatives. This organisation was formed to fight for the rights of the displaced forest dwellers of the Satpura forest in Madhya Pradesh.
Q.3. Write about the factors which are considered significant in ‘treating people unequally in India’.
Ans: Discrimination on the basis of a person’s caste, religion, sex and so on are the significant factors for treating people unequally in India.
For instance: Omprakash Valmiki was forced to sweep the school yard because he was a Dalit, Ansaris were not given apartment on lease because they were Muslims.
Q.4. The construction of Tawa Dam in 1958 led to many adverse changes in the lives of the people’. Explain.
Ans: The construction of Tawa dam led to many adverse changes in the lives of the people. These situations can be explained as:
(a) Some of the displaced people settled around the reservoir and apart from their meagre farms found a livelihood in fishing.
(b) It submerged large areas of forest and agricultural land.
(c) The forest dwellers were left with nothing.
Q.5. Explain the struggle of TMS to get their rights back for fishing.
Ans: (i) Tawa Matsya Sangh (TMS) organised rallies and a Chakka Jam (Road blockade) demanding their right to continue fishing for their livelihood.
(ii) The government created a committee to assess the issue. The committee recommended that fishing rights be granted to the villagers for their livelihood.
(iii) In 1996, the Madhya Pradesh Government decided to give to the people displaced by the Tawa dam the fishing rights for the reservoir. On January 2, 1997, people from 33 villages of Tawa started the new year with the first catch.
Q.6. How you can say that the private contractors were very harsh in case of fishing in Tawa reservoir?
Ans: (i) The contractors began to threaten the villagers, who did not want to leave, by bringing in handlooms.
(ii) These contractors drove the local people away and got cheap labour from outside.
(iii) The villagers stood united or in majority and decided that it was time to set up an organisation and take some steps to protect their rights.
Q.7. What are the effects of displacement of poor people in urban area?
Ans: (i) In urban area, bastis (localities) in which poor people live are often uprooted. As a result, some of these poor people are relocated to areas outside the city.
(ii) Its consequences are that poor people’s work as well as their children’s schooling is severely disrupted.
(iii) It is because of the distance from the outskirt of the city to these locations.
Q.8. Why is it difficult for most poor people to get good quality health care?
Ans: The increasing privatization of health services and the neglect of government hospitals have made it difficult for most poor people to get good quality health care.
Q.9. Name some groups of people who continue to struggle for justice and equality.
Ans: Beedi workers, fisherfolk, agricultural labourers, slum dwellers continue to struggle for justice and equality.
Q.10. Why some persons become more widely recognised for their struggles of equality as compared to others people?
Ans: Some persons become more widely recognised because they have support or represent large numbers of people who have united to address a particular issue in which people have come together to fight for issues that they believe are important.
Long Answer Type Questions
Q.1. Write the effects of Tawa Matsya Sangh on the lives of fishermen.
Ans: (i) Cooperatives would arrange to transport and sell catch in markets where they would get a good and fair price.
(ii) The TMS has also begun giving the fish workers loans for repair and the buying of the newnets.
(iii) With this the fishworkers were able to increase their earnings.
(iv) This was because, they set up the cooperatives which would buy the catch from them at a fair price.
(v) They have now began to earn three times more than they earned earlier.
Q.2. What are the effects of Tawa Dam on people’s lives living in the area around?
Ans: (i) The Tawa Dam began to be built in 1958 and was completed in 1978.
(ii) It has many effects. It submerged large area of forests and agricultural land.
(iii) The forest dwellers were left with nothing.
(iv) Some of the displaced people settled around the reservoir and apart from their mearge farms found livelihood in fishing. They earned very low wages.
Q.3. Explain the Tawa Matsya Sangh in detail.
Ans: (i) In 1994, the government gave the right for fishing in the Tawa reservoir to private contractors.
(ii) These contractors drove the local people away and got cheap labour from outside.
(iii) The contractors began to threaten the villagers, who did not want to leave, by bringing in hoodlums.
(iv) The villagers stood united and decided that it was time to set up an organisation and do something to protect their rights.
Q.4. How are people affected when dams are built or forests are declared sanctuaries for animals?
Ans: When dams are constructed or forests are declared sanctuaries for animals, people are affected in the following ways:
(a) Thousands of people are displaced.
(b) Whole villages are uprooted and people are forced to go and build new homes, start new lives else where.
(c) In urban areas too, bastis in which poor people live are often uprooted.
(d) People’s work as well as their children’s schooling is severely disrupted because of the distance from the outskirts of the city to these locations.
Higher Order Thinking Skill
Q.1. “People’s lives in India are highly unequal”. Discuss,
Or
So many people’s lives in India are highly unequal. Name key factors responsible for this.
Ans: People like juice seller in India does not have the resources to compete with all the major companies who sell branded drinks. Farmers do not have sufficient resources to grow cotton and so they have to take loan from traders. Similarly, millions of domestic workers across the country are forced to endura the insults and hardship of working as domestic help because they have no resources to set up something of their own. Key factors responsible for this in equality are:
(a) Poverty.
(b) Lack of resources.
(c) Discrimination on the basis of a person’s religion, caste and sex.
Q.2. Why is the Indian Constitution called a living document? Elaborate in your words.
Ans: The Indian Constitution is called a living document because:
(a) Indian Constitution recognizes the equality of all persons.
(b) Indian Constitution has a real meaning in our lives.
(c) The foundation of all movements for justice and the inspiration and for all the poetry and songs is the recognition of equality among people. The Indian Constitution recognises the equality among people.
(d) Movements and struggles for equality in India continuously refer to the Indian Constitution to make their point about equality and justice to all.
Value Based Questions
Q.1. How does the Right to Equality establish the social equality in India? Do you think it is practically achieved in our country?
Ans: Article 15 provides that the state shall not discriminate against citizens on grounds of religion, sex, caste, colour. The same article provides that all the citizens shall have access to the public restaurants and places of public entertainment etc.
However, the right to equality given under Constitution is not practised in reality. The increasing privatisation of health services and the neglect of government hospitals have made it difficult for most poor people to get good quality healthcare, do not have the resources to afford expensive private health services.
Q.2. Name the groups of people who dropout of schools in large numbers. Mention the factors responsible for their dropout.
Ans: The group of people who drop out of schools in large numbers are:
(a) Dalits.
(b) Adivasis.
(c) Muslim girls.
Factors responsible for their dropout are:
(a) Poverty.
(b) Social Discrimination.
(c) Lack of good quality school facilities.
OBJECTIVE TYPE QUESTIONS
1. Multiple Choice Questions
Tick (✔) the right option:
1. When was the Tawa dam begun to be built and when was it completed?
(i) 1968, 1988.
(ii) 1958, 1978.
(iii) 1958, 1970.
(iv) 1959, 1979.
Ans: (ii) 1958, 1978.
2. When did the government give the rights for fishing in the Tawa reservoir to private contractors?
(i) 1994.
(ii) 1996.
(iii) 1992.
(iv) 1988.
Ans: (i) 1994.
3. Where is Tehri dam?
(i) Arunachal Pradesh.
(ii) Madhya Pradesh.
(iii) Himachal Pradesh.
(iv) Uttarakhand.
Ans: (iv) Uttarakhand.
4. What happens when dams are built?
(i) Thousands of villagers are displaced.
(ii) People are forced to go and build new homes.
(iii) Whole villages are uprooted.
(iv) All of these.
Ans: (iv) All of these.
5. TMS stand for ________.
(i) Tawa Matsya Sangh.
(ii) Tawa Matsya Samiti.
(iii) Tawa Masti Sangh.
(iv) None of these.
Ans: (i) Tawa Matsya Sangh.
6. In which state was TMS organised?
(i) Maharashtra.
(ii) Madhya Pradesh.
(iii) Punjab.
(iv) Kerala.
Ans: (ii) Madhya Pradesh
7. Tawa is a _______.
(i) Hill.
(ii) Mountain.
(iii) Valley.
(iv) River.
Ans: (iv) River.
II. Match the tag-lines’ in Column I with their advertisement in Column II.
Ans:
| Column I | Column II |
| 1. 2001 census | (iv) Women 13% of the population |
| 2. Tawa Matsya Sangh | (v) The federation for fish workers cooperatives |
| 3. Mahadeo hills | (i) Chindwara |
| 4. Loans to fist workers | (ii) Repair and buying of new nets |
| 5. Tawa | (iii) Betul |
III. Fill in the blanks:
1. The soul of the Indian democracy is also called _______.
Ans: Equality.
2. People have to face ________ in every sphere of life.
Ans: Discrimination.
3. TMS was formed to fight for right to _______.
Ans: Fishing.
4. In _______ the Tawa dam was begun to built.
Ans: 1958.
IV. True-False Statements:
1. People can used the ‘power over the ballot box’ to elect or replace their representative.
Ans: True.
2. Basti refers to place in which poor people live in Jhuggi-Jhopri and are often uprooted.
Ans: True.
3. The members of TMS were not organised rallies and Chakka Jam for fulfilling their demand for fishing.
Ans: False.
