Class 7 Civics Chapter 1 Question Answers - On Equality

Short Answer Type Questions

Q.1. Why universal adult franchise is important in a democracy?

Ans. In a democracy, the universal adult franchise is important for the following reasons:

• Democracy is the people's government, by the people, and for the people.
• Every adult, irrespective of caste, creed, religion, region, sex, rich or poor people are allowed to vote. 
• This is called a universal adult franchise.
• The concept of a universal adult franchise is based on equality.
• In a democracy, every citizen is equal.

Universal Adult Franchise

Q.2. What is one of the main reasons that is responsible for the continuance of discrimination?

Ans. One of the main reasons for the continuance of discrimination is that attitudes change very slowly.

• Persons are aware that discrimination is against the law. Still, they continue to treat people unequally based on their caste, religion, disability, economic status, and sex.
• It is only when people begin to believe that no one is inferior and that every person deserves to be treated with dignity that attitudes change.
• Establishing equality in a democratic society is a continuous struggle.
• Person 12321s, as well as various communities in India, contribute to removing inequalities.
  
  

Q.3. Give an example to show all people are equal according to the Indian constitution.
Ans. The right to vote is given to all adults irrespective of their gender, caste, creed, or socio-economic status.

Q.4. Write a brief note on the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Ans. 

• The Civil Rights Act was passed in the year 1964. 
• The Act prohibited discrimination based on race, religion, or national origin. It also stated that all schools would be open to African-American children and that they would no longer have to attend separate schools specially set up for them. 
• However, most African Americans continue to be among the poorest in the country.

Q.5. What is the position of equality in India, a democratic country?

Ans.

• The Indian Constitution recognizes every person as equal.
• This means that every person in the country, both male and female from all castes, religions, tribes, and educational and economic backgrounds, is equal.
• Inequality still exists. But at least, in democratic India, the principle of the equality of all persons is recognized.
• Earlier, no law existed to protect people from discrimination and ill-treatment.
• Now there are several laws that work to see that people are treated with dignity and as equals.

Q.6. Why do people refuse to think of Dalits as equal, even though the law says it?

Ans. This is because of the attitude and individual’s nature that cannot be changed immediately. It will take some more time for people to accept that all are equal and wonderful creations of god. No one is inferior or superior.

Q.7. List the provision in the constitution for recognition of equality.
Ans. 

• Every person, right from the president to domestic workers, is equal before the law.
• No person can be discriminated against based on caste, color, race, religion, place of birth or gender.
• Each and every person has access to all public places like parks, markets, hotels, etc.
• All persons can use publicly available wells, roads, swimming pools, markets, etc.

Q.8. What do you mean by a mid-day meal program?

Ans. The mid-day meal program is a program introduced in all government elementary schools to provide students with cooked lunches.

Q.9. Does Kanta have enough reason to doubt the equality level of citizens?

Ans. Yes, Kanta has enough reasons to doubt whether she is equal. The reasons behind it are:

• She cannot skip work when her daughter is ill
• She does not have enough money to take her to the doctor
• She has to stand in line in the government hospital for her turn to show her daughter to the doctor.

Q.10. What do you mean by the term “All persons are equal before the law”? Why do you think this is important in a democracy?

Ans. By the term “All persons are equal before the law.”

• The law applies to everyone irrespective of class, caste or gender
• The law expects everyone to treat others as equals in matters of using public places, under law and all the fundamental rights.
• This is important in a democracy so as to preserve the true nature of a democratic society where everyone’s dignity is respected.

Q.11. What is it that makes Kanta unsure? 
Ans.

• She lives in a slum and has a drain behind her house.
• Her daughter is sick, but she cannot take the day off from work because she needs to borrow money from her employers to take her child to the doctor.
• Her job as a domestic helps tire her out, and finally, she ends her day by standing in a long line again.
• This line, in front of the government hospital, is unlike the one in the morning because most people standing there are poor.

Q.12. Are all the people who have voting rights equal?
Ans. People like Kanta have voting rights, but their daily living conditions are far from equal. They experience inequality in different ways.

Long

Answer Type Questions

Q.1. Re-read the box on Article 15 and state two ways in which this Article addresses inequality.
Ans. Article 15 addresses inequality on two fronts.

• The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, or any of them.
• No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, or any of them, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction, or condition with regard to –
  • access to shops, public restaurants, hotels, and places of public entertainment; or
  • the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads, and places of public resort maintained wholly or partly out of State funds or dedicated to the use of the general public.

Q.2. Mention two different kinds of inequalities that exist in our country. Give examples.  

Ans. 

• Two different kinds of inequalities that exist in our country are—inequalities based on the caste system and those based on religion.
• Omprakash Valmiki was treated extremely unequally because he was a Dalit. In school, his headmaster made him sweep the school and the playground.
• The Ansaris were treated unequally on the basis of differences in religion. They were looking to rent an apartment in the city. 
• They were about to take an apartment at first sight. But the moment the landlady knew their names, she declined to rent the house.

Q.3. When persons are treated unequally, their dignity is violated. How?

Ans.

• When persons are treated unequally, their dignity is violated because they feel humiliated.
• The dignity of both Omprakash Valmiki and the Ansaris was violated because of the way in which they were treated.
• By picking on him and making him sweep the school because of his caste, Omprakash Valmiki’s schoolmates and teachers badly hurt his dignity and made him feel as if he was less than equal to all other students in the school.
• Being a child, Omprakash Valmiki could do very little about the situation that he was in. 
• It was his father who felt angry by this unequal treatment. 
• He confronted the teachers.
• The Ansaris’ dignity was also hurt when people refused to lease their apartments to them.
• The suggestion of the property dealer to change their name also violated their dignity or self-respect. Hence, they refused this suggestion.
• Omprakash and the Ansaris do not deserve to be treated like this. They deserve the same respect and dignity as others.

Q.4. List four benefits of the midday meal program.

Ans. 

The following are the benefits of the mid-day meal program:

• It has helped increase the enrolment and attendance of poor children in school.
• Students used to go home for lunch and never returned after that. This practice has been stopped.
• It has also helped reduce caste prejudices because both lower and upper-caste children in the school eat this meal together, and in quite a few places, Dalit women have been employed to cook the meal.
• The midday meal program also helps reduce the hunger of poor students who often come to school and cannot concentrate because their stomachs are empty.
• This led to an increase in the literacy rate of a state and the removal of inequality among rich and poor children from schools.