JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 3 Mineral and Power Resources

JAC Board Class 8th Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 3 Mineral and Power Resources

→ A mineral is a naturally occurring substance that has a definite chemical composition.

  • Minerals are not evenly distributed over the areas. They are concentrated in a particular area or rock formations.
  • Some minerals are found in regions which are not easily accessible such as the Arctic ocean bed and Antarctica.
  • Minerals are created by natural processes without any human interference. On the basis of their physical properties such as colour, density, hardness and chemical property such as solubility, they are classified and identified.

→ Types of Minerals:

  • On earth, there are over three thousand different minerals.
  • On the basis of composition, minerals are categorised as:
    • Metallic minerals
    • non-metallic minerals.
  • Metals in raw form are present in metallic minerals.
  • The hard substances that conduct heat and electricity and have a characteristic lustre or shine are known as metals. Iron ore, bauxite, manganese ore are some examples.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 3 Mineral and Power Resources

→ Metallic minerals are of two types:

  • Ferrous minerals are such as iron ore, manganese and chromites contain iron.
  • A non-ferrous mineral does not contain iron but may contain some other metal such as gold, silver, copper or lead.

→ Non-metallic minerals do not contain metals.

  • Limestone, mica and gypsum are non- metallic minerals.
  • The mineral fuels like coal and petroleum are also non-metallic minerals.
  • Minerals can be extracted by mining, drilling or quarrying.
  • Mining is the process of taking out minerals from rocks buried under the earth’s surface.

→ Mining is categorised into two:

  • Open cast mining
  • Shaft mining

→ In open-cast mining, minerals that lie at shallow depths are taken out by removing the surface layer.

  • In shaft mining, deep bores known as shafts, have to be made to reach mineral deposits that lie at great depths.
  • Petroleum and natural gas occur deep below the earth’s surface. Drilling is done to take them out and deep wells are bored.
  • Quarrying is the method in which minerals that lie near the surface are simply dug out.

→ Distribution of Minerals:

  • Metallic minerals are found in igneous and metamorphic rock formations that form large plateaus.
  • Iron-ore in north Sweden, copper and nickel deposits in Ontario, Canada, iron, nickel, chromites and platinum in South Africa are some of the examples of minerals found in these rocks.
  • Non-metallic minerals are found in sedimentary rock formations of plains and young fold mountains contain such as limestone.
  • Limestone deposits of Caucasus region of France, manganese deposits of Georgia and Ukraine and phosphate beds of Algeria are some examples. Coal and petroleum, the mineral fuels are also found in the sedimentary strata.

→ Asia:

  • China and India have large iron ore deposits. The continent produces more than half of the world’s tin.
  • The world’s leading tin producers are China, Malaysia and Indonesia.
  • China is in the leading position in production of lead, antimony and tungsten.
  • Asia also has deposits of manganese, bauxite, nickel, zinc and copper.

→ Europe:

  • Europe is the leading producer of iron-ore in the world.
  • Russia, Ukraine, Sweden and France have the large deposits of iron ore.
  • In eastern Europe and European Russia, minerals found are copper, lead, zinc, manganese and nickel.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 3 Mineral and Power Resources

→ North America:

  • The mineral deposits are situated in three zones:
    • the Canadian region north of the Great Lakes,
    • the Appalachian region and
    • the mountain ranges of the west.
  • In the Canadian Shield Region, iron ore, nickel, gold, uranium and copper are found.
  • In the Appalachians region, coal is found.
  • In Western Cordilleras, vast deposits of copper, lead, zinc, gold and silver are found.

→ South America:

  • The largest producer of high grade iron-ore in the world is Brazil.
  • The leading producers of copper are Chile and Peru.
  • Among the world’s largest producers of tin are Brazil and Bolivia.
  • In Venezuela, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Columbia, mineral oil is found.

→ Africa:

  • The world’s largest producer of diamonds, gold and platinum is Africa.
  • A major portion of the world’s gold is produced by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zaire.
  • Copper, iron ore, chromium, uranium, cobalt and bauxite are found here.
  • In Nigeria, Libya and Angola, oil is found.

→ Australia:

  • The largest producer of bauxite in the world is Australia.
  • The largest deposits of gold is found in Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie areas of western Australia.
  • It is a leading producer of gold, diamond, iron ore, tin and nickel.

→ Antarctica:

  • Iron ore, gold, silver and oil are present in commercial quantities.
  • Sufficient and significant amount of deposits of coal in the Transantarctic Mountains and iron near the Prince Charles Mountains of East Antarctica is predicted.

→ Uses of Minerals:

  • Minerals are used in many industries in different forms.
  • Minerals which are used for gems and jewellery are usually hard. These are later processed.
  • Copper is used in almost everything from coins to pipes.
  • Silicon is used in the computer industry and is obtained from quartz.
  • Aluminum obtained from its ore.
  • In automobiles, airplanes, bottling industry, buildings and even in kitchen cookware, bauxite is used.

→ Conservation of Minerals:

  • Minerals are a non-renewable resource.
  • In the process of mining, it is necessary to reduce the wastage.
  • Another way in which the mineral resources can be conserved is recycling of metals.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 3 Mineral and Power Resources

→ Power Resources:

  • We need power or energy for industry, agriculture, transport, communication and defense.
  • Power resources may be broadly categorised as:
    • conventional resources
    • non-conventional resources.

→ Conventional Sources:

  • Those energy which have been in common use for a long time are known as the conventional energy.
  • The two main conventional energy sources are:
    • Firewood
    • Fossil fuels

→ Firewood:

  • More than fifty per cent of the energy used by villagers comes from firewood in our country.
  • It is mainly used for cooking and heating.

→ Fossil Fuel:

  • Fossil fuels are the fuel which are formed by the natural processes.
  • For millions of years, remains of plants and animals which were buried under the earth got converted by the heat and pressure into fossil fuels.
  • Fossil fuel such as coal, petroleum and natural gas are the main sources of conventional energy.

→ Coal:

  • Electricity from coal is known as thermal power.
  • Coal is also known as Buried Sunshine because the coal which we are using today was formed millions of years ago when giant ferns and swamps got buried under the layers of earth.
  • In India, the coal producing areas are Raniganj, Jharia, Dhanbad and Bokaro in Jharkhand.
  • The leading coal producers of the world are China, USA, Germany, Russia, South Africa and France.

→ Petroleum:

  • A thick black liquid is known as Petroleum. Since they are very valuable, petroleum and its derivatives are called Black Gold.
  • Petroleum is found between the layers of rocks and is drilled from oil fields which is located in off-shore and coastal areas. Then sent to refineries which process the crude oil and produce a variety of products such as diesel, petrol, kerosene, wax, plastics and lubricants.
  • The chief petroleum producing countries are Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
  • The leading producers in India are Digboi in Assam, Bombay High in Mumbai and the deltas of Krishna and Godavari rivers.

→ Natural Gas:

  • Natural gas is found with petroleum deposits and is released when crude oil is brought to the surface. Very few countries in the world have sufficient amount of natural gas reserves of their own.
  • Russia, Norway, UK and the Netherlands are the major producers of natural gas. In India, Jaisalmer, Krishna Godavari delta, Tripura and some areas off shore in Mumbai have natural gas resources.
  • The consumption of fossil fuels has increased which led to their depletion at an alarming rate. The toxic and poisonous pollutants released from burning these fuels are major cause for concern.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 3 Mineral and Power Resources

→ Hydel Power:

  • Rainwater or river water stored in dams produce electricity by a specific method. This electricity is known as Hydro electricity.
  • The water discharged after the generation of electricity is used for irrigation. The world’s electricity is produced by hydel power is one fourth.
  • Paraguay, Norway, Brazil, and China are the leading producers of hydroelectricity.
  • In India, some important hydel power stations are Bhakra Nangal, Gandhi Sagar, Nagarjun Sagar and Damodar valley projects.

→ Non-Conventional Sources of Energy:
There is need for using non-conventional sources such as solar energy, wind energy, tidal energy which are renewable because the increasing use of fossil fuels is leading to its shortage.

→ Solar Energy:

  • Solar energy trapped from the sun can be used in solar cells to produce electricity. Many of these cells are joined into solar panels to generate power for heating and lighting purpose.
  • Solar energy is also used in solar heaters, solar cookers, solar dryers and traffic signals.

→ Wind Energy:

  • Wind mills have been used for grinding grain and lifting water since ancient times. In modem time, the wind mills with high speed winds rotate the wind mill which is connected to a generator to produce electricity.
  • Windfarms are found in Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, UK, USA and Spain which are known for their wind energy production.

→ Nuclear Power:

  • Nuclear power is obtained from energy stored in the nuclei of atoms of naturally occurring radioactive elements such as uranium and thorium.
  • Rajasthan and Jharkhand have large deposits of Uranium. Thorium is found in large quantities in the Monozite sands of Kerala.
  • In India, the nuclear power stations are situated in Kalpakkam in Tamilnadu, Tarapur in Maharashtra, Ranapratap Sagar near Kota in Rajasthan, Narora in Uttar Pradesh and Kaiga in Karnataka.

→ Geothermal Energy:

  • Geothermal energy is the heat energy which is obtained from the earth. This heat energy can be used to generate power.
  • USA has the world’s largest geothermal power plants followed by New Zealand, Iceland, Philippines and Central America. In India, geothermal plants are situated in Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh and Puga Valley in Ladakh.

→ Tidal Energy:

  • Tidal energy is the energy generated from tides.
  • Electricity is produced during high tide the energy of the tides is used to turn the turbine installed in the dam.
  • Russia, France and the Gulf of Kachchh in India have huge tidal mill farms.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 3 Mineral and Power Resources

→ Biogas:

  • Biogas is a gaseous fuel made of organic waste such as dead plant and animal material, animal dung and kitchen waste. These wastes are converted into the gaseous fuel.
  • The organic waste is decomposed by bacteria in biogas digesters to emit biogas which is a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 8 Confronting Marginalisation

JAC Board Class 8th Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 8 Confronting Marginalisation

→ Religious solace, armed struggle, self improvement and education, economic uplift – there appears to be no one way of doing things. Adivasis, Dalits, Muslims, women and other marginal groups argue that simply by being citizens of a democratic country, they possess equal rights that must be respected.

→ Invoking Fundamental Rights:

  • The marginalised have drawn on the rights in two ways: first, by insisting on their Fundamental Rights, they have forced the government to recognise the injustice done to them. Second, they have insisted that the government enforce these laws.
  • In some instances, the struggles of the marginalised have influenced the government to frame new laws in keeping with the spirit of the Fundamental Rights.
  • Article 17 of the Constitution states that untouchability has been abolished, this means that no one can henceforth prevent Dalits from educating themselves, entering temples, using public facilities, etc.
  • Untouchability is a punishable crime now.
  • Article 15 of the Constitution notes that no citizen of India shall be discriminated
    against on the basis of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. This has been used by Dalits to seek equality where it has been denied to them.
  • Dalits can ‘invoke’ or ‘draw on’ a Fundamental Right (or Rights) in situations where they feel that they have been treated badly by some individual or community or even by the government.
  • By granting different forms of cultural rights, the Constitution tries to ensure cultural justice to such groups.
  • The Constitution does this so that the culture of these groups is not dominated nor wiped out by the culture of the majority community.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 8 Confronting Marginalisation

→ Laws for the Marginalised:

  • There are specific laws and policies for the marginalised in our country.
  • There are policies or schemes that emerge through other means like setting up a committee or by undertaking a survey, etc.

→ Promoting Social Justice:

  • As part of their effort to implement the Constitution, both state and central governments create specific schemes for implementation in tribal areas or in areas that have a high Dalit population.
  • One such law/policy is the reservation policy that today is both significant and highly contentious.
  • The laws which reserve seats in education and government employment for Dalits and Adivasis are based on an important argument.
  • Governments across India have their own list of Scheduled Castes (or Dalits), Scheduled Tribes and backward and most backward castes. The central government too has its list.
  • Students applying to educational institutions and those applying for posts in government are expected to furnish proof of their caste or tribe status, in the form of caste and tribe certificates.

→ Protecting the Rights of Dalits and Adivasis
In addition to policies our country also has specific law’s that guard against the discrimination and exploitation of marginalised communities.

→ The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989

  • In order to indicate to the government that untouchability was still being practised and in the most hideous manner, Dalit groups demanded new laws that would list the various sorts of violence against dalits and prescribe stringent punishment for those who indulge in them.
  • The Act contains a very long list of crimes some of which are too horrible even to contemplate.
  • The Act does not only describe terrible crimes but also lets people know what dreadful deeds human beings are capable of.
  • The Act distinguishes several levels of crimes. Firstly, it lists modes of humiliation that are both physically horrific and morally reprehensible and seeks to punish.
  • Secondly, it lists actions that dispossess Dalits and Adivasis of their meagre resources or which force them into performing slave labour.
  • At another level, the Act recognises that crimes against Dalit and tribal women are of a specific kind and, therefore, seeks to penalise anyone who assaults or uses force on any woman belonging to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe with intent to dishonour her.

→ Adivasi Demands and the 1989 Act:

  • The 1989 Act is important for another reason – Adivasi activists refer to it to defend their right to occupy land that was traditionally theirs.
  • Activists have asked that those who have forcibly encroached upon tribal lands should be punished under this law.
  • C.K. Janu, an Adivasi activist, has also pointed out that one of the violators of Constitutional rights guaranteed to tribal people are governments in the various states of India.
  • She has also noted that in cases where tribals have already been evicted and cannot go back to their lands, they must be compensated.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 8 Confronting Marginalisation

→ Conclusion:

  • The existence of a right or a law or even a policy on paper does not mean that it exists in reality.
  • People have had to constantly work on or make efforts to translate these into principles that guide the actions of their fellow citizens or even their leaders.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 7 Understanding Marginalisation

JAC Board Class 8th Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 7 Understanding Marginalisation

→ What Does it Mean to be Socially Marginalised?

  • To be marginalised is to be forced to occupy the sides or fringes and thus not be at the centre of things.
  • In the social environment too, groups ‘ of people or communities may have the experience of being excluded. Their marginalisation can be because they speak a different language, follow different customs or belong to a different religious group from the majority community.
  • They may also feel marginalised because they are poor, considered to be of ‘low’ social status and viewed as being less human than others.
  • They experience a sense of disadvantage and powerlessness vis-a-vis more powerful and dominant sections of society who own land, are wealthy, better educated and politically powerful.
  • Economic, social, cultural and political factors work together to make certain groups in society feel marginalised.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 7 Understanding Marginalisation

→ Who are Adivasis?
Adivasis, the term literally means ‘original inhabitants’ are communities who lived and often continue to live in close association with forests.

  • Around 8 per cent of India’s population is Adivasi and many of India’s most important mining and industrial centres are located in Adivasi areas – Jamshedpur, Rourkela, Bokaro and Bhilai among others.
  • • There are over 500 different Adivasi groups in India.
  • Adivasis are particularly numerous in states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and in the north-eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.
  • Adivasi societies are also most distinctive because there is often very little hierarchy among them.
  • Adivasis practise a range of tribal religions that are different from Islam, Hinduism and Christianity.
  • It often involves the worship of ancestors, village and nature spirits, the last associated with and residing in various sites in the landscape – ‘mountain-spirits’, ‘river- spirits’, ‘animal-spirits’, etc.
  • Adivasis have always been influenced by different surrounding religions like Shakta, Buddhist, Vaishnav, Bhakti and Christianity.
  • Adivasis have their own languages (most of them radically different from and possibly as old as Sanskrit), which have often deeply influenced the formation of ‘mainstream’ Indian languages, like Bengali.
  • Santhali has the largest number of speakers and has a significant body of publications including magazines on the internet or in e-zines.

→ Adivasis and Stereotyping:

  • Often Adivasis are blamed for their lack of advancement as they are believed to be resistant to change or new ideas.
  • Adivasis are invariably portrayed in very stereotypical ways – in colourful costumes, headgear and through their dancing.
  • This often wrongly leads to people believing that they are exotic, primitive and backward.

→ Adivasis and Development:

  • Metal ores like iron and copper, and gold and silver, coal and diamonds, invaluable timber, most medicinal herbs and animal products (wax, lac, honey) and animals themselves (elephants, the mainstay of imperial armies), all came from the forests.
  • Forests covered the major part of our country till the nineteenth century and the Adivasis had a deep knowledge of, access to, as well as control over most of these vast tracts at least till the middle of the nineteenth century.
  • Often empires heavily depended on Adivasis for the crucial access to forest resources.
  • In the north-east, their lands remain highly militarised.
  • India has 104 national parks covering 40,501 sq km and 543 wildlife sanctuaries covering 1,18,918 sq km. These are areas where tribals originally lived but were evicted from.
  • When they continue to stay in these forests, they are termed encroachers.
  • Having gradually lost access to their traditional homelands, many Adivasis have migrated to cities in search of work where they are employed for very low wages in local industries or at building or construction sites.
  • 45 per cent of tribal groups in rural areas and 35 per cent in urban areas live below the poverty line.
  • Many tribal children are malnourished. Literacy rates among tribals are also very low.
  • Destruction in one sphere naturally impacts the other. Often this process of dispossession and displacement can be painful and violent.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 7 Understanding Marginalisation

→ Minorities and Marginalisation

  • The term minority is most commonly used to refer to communities that are numerically small in relation to the rest of the population.
  • It encompasses issues of power, access to resources and has social and cultural dimensions.
  • Safeguards are needed to protect minority communities against the possibility of being culturally dominated by the majority. They also protect them against any discrimination and disadvantage that they may face.
  • The Constitution provides these safeguards because it is committed to protecting India’s
    cultural diversity and promoting equality as well as justice.

→ Muslims and Marginalisation

  • Recognising that Muslims in India were lagging behind in terms of various development indicators, the government set up a high-level committee in 2005.
  • Chaired by Justice Rajindar Sachar, the committee examined the social, economic and educational status of the Muslim community in India. The report discusses in detail the marginalisation of this community.
  • The social marginalisation of Muslims in some instances have led to them migrating from places where they have lived, often leading to the ghettoisation of the community. Sometimes, this prejudice leads to hatred and violence.
  • The experiences of all the groups point to the fact that marginalisation is a complex phenomenon requiring a variety of strategies, measures and safeguards to redress this situation.

→ Conclusion:

  • Marginalisation is linked to experiencing disadvantage, prejudice and powerlessness.
  • Marginalisation results in having a low social status and not having equal access to education and other resources.
  • Marginalised communities want to maintain their cultural distinctiveness while having access to rights, development and other opportunities.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 4 Understanding Laws

JAC Board Class 8th Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 4 Understanding Laws

→ Do Laws Apply to All?

  • Members instituted several provisions in the Constitution that would establish the rule of law.
  • The most important of these was that all persons in independent India are equal before the law.
  • The law cannot discriminate between persons on the basis of their religion, caste or gender.
  • What the rule of law means is that all laws apply equally to all citizens of the country and no one can be above the law7.
  • Any crime or violation of law has a specific punishment as well as a process through which the guilt of the person has to be established.
  • In ancient India, there were innumerable and often overlapping local laws.
  • Different communities enjoyed different degrees of autonomy in administering these laws among their own.
  • The British colonialists introduced the rule of law in India.

→ Historians have disputed this claim on several grounds, two of which include:

  • first that colonial law was arbitrary, and
  • second that the Indian nationalists played a prominent role in the development of the legal sphere in British India.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 4 Understanding Laws

→ The Sedition Act of 1870 – The idea of sedition was very broadly understood within this Act. Any person protesting or criticising the British government could be arrested without due trial.

  • Indian nationalists also began fighting for greater equality and wanted to change the idea of law from a set of rules that they were forced to obey, to law as including ideas of justice.
  • By the end of the nineteenth century, the Indian legal profession also began emerging and demanded respect in colonial courts.
  • There w7ere several ways in which Indians played a major role in the evolution of the rule of law during the colonial period.
  • Every year our representatives pass several new laws as well as amend existing ones.

→ How Do New Laws Come About?

  • The Parliament has an important role in making laws.
  • An important role of Parliament is to be sensitive to the problems faced by people.
  • The role of citizens is crucial in helping Parliament frame different concerns that people might have into laws.
  • The voice of citizen can be heard through TV reports, newspaper editorials, radio broadcasts, local meetings, all of which help in making the work that Parliament does more accessible and transparent to the people.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 4 Understanding Laws

→ Unpopular and Controversial Laws:

  • Sometimes a law can be constitutionally valid and hence legal, but it can continue to be unpopular and unacceptable to people because they feel that the intention behind it is unfair and harmful.
  • In a democracy like ours, citizens can express their unwillingness to accept repressive laws framed by the Parliament.
  • When a large number of people begin to feel that a wrong law has been passed, then there is pressure on the Parliament to change this.
  • If the law favours one group and disregards the other it will be controversial and lead to conflict.
  • People who think that the law is not fair can approach the court to decide on the issue.
  • The court has the power to modify or cancel laws if it finds that they don’t adhere to the Constitution.
  • We should bear in mind that it is the extent, involvement and enthusiasm of the people that helps Parliament perform its representative functions properly.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 5 Judiciary

JAC Board Class 8th Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 5 Judiciary

→ As an organ of government, the judiciary plays a crucial role in the functioning of India’s democracy. It can play this role only because it is independent.

→ What is the Role of the Judiciary?

  • Courts take decisions on a very large number of issues.
  • The work that the judiciary does can be divided into the following:
  • Dispute Resolution: The judicial system provides a mechanism for resolving disputes between citizens, etc.
  • Judicial Review: As the final interpreter of the Constitution, the judiciary also has the power to strike down particular laws passed by the Parliament if it believes that these are a violation of the basic structure of the Constitution. This is called judicial review.
  • Upholding the Law and Enforcing Fundamental Rights: Every citizen of India can approach the Supreme Court or the High Court if they believe that their Fundamental Rights have been violated.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 5 Judiciary

→ What is an Independent Judiciary?

  • Rich and powerful people in India sometimes try to influence the judicial
    process, the Indian Constitution protects against this kind of situation by providing for the independence of the judiciary.
  • One aspect of this independence is the ‘separation of powers’.
  • The other branches of government, the legislature and the executive cannot interfere in the work of the judiciaiy. The courts are not under the government and do not act on their behalf.
  • It is the independence of the judiciary that allows the courts to play a central role in ensuring that there is no misuse of power by the legislature and the executive.
  • It also plays a crucial role in protecting the Fundamental Rights of citizens because anyone can approach the courts if they believe that their rights have been violated.

→ What is the structure of Court in India?

  • There are three different levels of courts in our country.
  • The courts that most people interact with are called subordinate or district courts. These are usually at the district or Tehsil level or in towns and they hear many kinds of cases.
  • Each state is divided into districts that are presided over by a District Judge.
  • Each state has a High Court which is the highest court of that state.
  • At the top is the Supreme Court which is located in New Delhi and is presided over by the Chief Justice of India.
  • In India, we have an integrated judicial system, meaning that the decisions made by higher courts are binding on the lower courts.
  • A person can appeal to a higher court if they believe that the judgment passed by the lower court is not just.

→ What are the Different Branches of the Legal System?
In addition to criminal law, the legal system also deals with civil law cases.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 5 Judiciary

→ Does Everyone Have Access to the Courts?

  • In principle, all citizens of India can access the courts in this country. This implies that every citizen has a right to justice through the courts.
  • While the courts are available for all, in reality access to courts has always been difficult for a vast majority of the poor in India.
  • Legal procedures involve a lot of money and paper work as well as take up a lot of time.
  • The Supreme Court in the early 1980s devised a mechanism of Public Interest Litigation or PIL to increase access to justice.
  • The legal process was greatly simplified and even a letter or telegram addressed to the Supreme Court or the High Court could be treated as a PIL.
  • For the common person, access to courts is access to justice.
  • The courts exercise a crucial role in interpreting the Fundamental Rights of citizens and the courts interpreted Article 21 of the Constitution on the Right to Life to include the Right to Food.
  • There are also court judgments that people believe work against the best interests of the common person.
  • Another issue that affects the common person’s access to justice is the inordinately long number of years that courts take to hear a case.
  • The members of the Constituent Assembly had quite correctly envisioned a system of courts with an independent judiciary as a key feature of our democracy.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 6 Understanding Our Criminal Justice System

JAC Board Class 8th Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 6 Understanding Our Criminal Justice System

→ After a person is arrested, it is a court of law that decides whether the accused person is guilty or not.

  • According to the Constitution, every individual charged of a crime has to be given a fair trial.
  • According to Article 22 of the Constitution, ‘ every person has a Fundamental Right to be
    defended by a lawyer.
  • Article 39A of the Constitution places a duty upon the State to provide a lawyer to any citizen who is unable to engage one due to poverty or other disability.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 6 Understanding Our Criminal Justice System

→ What is the Role of the Police in Investigating a Crime?

  • One important function of the police is to investigate any complaint about the commission of a crime.
  • An investigation includes recording statements of witnesses and collecting different kinds of evidence.
  • Police investigations always have to be conducted in accordance with law and with full respect for human rights.

→ Article 22 of the Constitution and criminal law guarantee to every arrested person the following Fundamental Rights:

  • The Right to be informed at the time of arrest of the offence for which the person is being arrested.
  • The Right to be presented before a magistrate within 24 hours of arrest.
  • The Right not to be ill-treated or tortured during arrest or in custody.
  • Confessions made in police custody cannot be used as evidence against the accused.
  • A boy under 15 years of age and women cannot be called to the police station only for questioning.

→ What is the Role of the Public Prosecutor?

  • A criminal offence is regarded as a public wrong.
  • What is meant by this is that it is considered to have been committed not only against the affected victims but against society as a whole.
  • In court, it is the Public Prosecutor who represents the interests of the State.
  • As an officer of the court, it is his/ her duty to act impartially and present the full and material facts, witnesses and evidence before the court to enable the court to decide the case.

→ What is the Role of the Judge?

  • The judge decides whether the accused person is guilty or innocent on the basis of the evidence presented and in accordance with the law.
  • If the accused is convicted, then the judge pronounces the sentence.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 6 Understanding Our Criminal Justice System

→ What is a Fair Trial?

  • A fair trial ensures that Article 21 of the Constitution is upheld.
  • For a trial to be fair, several different procedures have to be observed. Article 21 of the Constitution that guarantees the Right to Life states that a person’s life or liberty can be taken away only by following a reasonable and just legal procedure.
  • It is significant that the judge decided the matter only on the basis of the evidence before the court.
  • All need to work to ensure that every citizen, irrespective of their class, caste, gender, religious and ideological backgrounds get a fair trial when accused.
  • The rule of law which says that everyone is equal before the law would not make much sense if every citizen were not guaranteed a fair trial by the Constitution.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Geography Chapter 1 Resources

JAC Board Class 8th Social Science Solutions Geography Chapter 1 Resources

JAC Class 8th Geography Resources InText Questions and Answers

Question 1.
List out five resources you use in your home and five you use in your classroom.
Answer:
Five resources we use in our home are:
Question 2.
Circle those resources from Amnia’s list that are regarded as having no commercial value.
JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Geography Chapter 1 Resources 1

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Geography Chapter 1 Resources 2

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Geography Chapter 1 Resources 3

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Geography Chapter 1 Resources 4

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Geography Chapter 1 Resources 5

Five resources we use in our classroom are:

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Geography Chapter 1 Resources 6

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Geography Chapter 1 Resources 7

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Geography Chapter 1 Resources 8

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Geography Chapter 1 Resources 9

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions GeographyChapter 1 Resources 10

Amma’s List

  • Cotton cloth
  • Iron ore
  • Intelligence
  • Medicinal plants
  • Medical knowledge
  • Coal deposits
  • Beautiful scenery
  • Agricultural land
  • Clean environment
  • Old folk songs
  • Good weather
  • Resourcefulness
  • A good singing voice
  • Grandmother’s home remedies
  • Affection from friends and family

Answer:
Student need to do it on their own.

Question 3.
Think of a few renewable resources and mention how their stock may get affected by overuse.
Answer:
Some of the renewable resources that regenerate over-time such as trees, crops, wind, solar energy and water. Their stock may get affected by overuse or over utilisation because of certain reasons such as land degradation, deforestations, pollution, etc. Rivers are drying up, air becomes more polluted due to smoke from vehicles and industries. Trees are cut down to make more buildings, etc.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions History Chapter 1 Resources

Question 4.
Make a list of five human made resources that you can observe around you.
Answer:
A list of five human made resources that we observe around are:

  • Phones
  • Buildings
  • Vehicles
  • Aeroplanes
  • Roads

JAC Class 8th Geography Resources Textbook Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Answer the following questions.
(i) Why are resources distributed unequally over the earth?
Answer:
The resources are distributed unequally over the earth because it is controlled by different factors. One of the factors is physical nature which includes climate, altitude, terrain which vary from place to place.

(ii) What is resource conservation?
Answer:
Resource conservation is to use the resources efficiently, carefully and properly and giving time to get renewed and to regenerate the resource so that it will be available for the coming generations.

(iii) Why are human resources important?
Answer:
Human resources are important because they can utilise the natural resources in a best possible way to generate more resources as they have an intelligent mind. Human resources also include technology and skills to find the suitable resource. Advantage and usefulness of resources can be best judged by human beings only.

(iv) What is sustainable development?
Answer:
Sustainable development is to use the resources in a balanced way so that we conserve it for the future generation and utilise it efficiently for our needs.

Tick the correct answer.

Question 2.
(i) Which one of the following does NOT make substance a resource?
(a) utility
(b) value
(c) quantity
Answer:
(c) quantity

(ii) Which one of the following is a human made resource?
(a) medicines to treat cancer
(b) spring water
(c) tropical forests
Answer:
(a) medicines to treat cancer

(iii) Complete the statement. Non-renewable resources are
(a) those which have limited stock
(b) made by human beings
(c) derived from non-living things
Answer:
(a) those which have limited stock

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions History Chapter 1 Resources

Question 3.
Activity:
“Rahiman paani raakhiye, Bin paani sab soon. Paani gaye na ubere Mod, manus, choon…” [Says Rahim, keep water, as without water there is nothing. Without water pearl, swan and dough cannot exist.] These lines were written by the poet Abdur Rahim Khankhana, one of the nine gems of Akbar’s court. What kind of resource is the poet referring to? Write in 100 words what would happen if this resource disappeared?
Answer:
The poet is referring to the water. If this resource disappear then we will face serious difficulties as water is one of the most invaluable and irreplaceable resource of life. Without water, we cannot survive and sustain. It serves many purposes such as to drink, to clean clothes and utensils and bath. For irrigation and farming, water is required very much. It is also used for cooking food. Water helps in generating electricity, industries and factories. Apart from human beings, animals, plants and trees also require water to sustain. Without water, the earth will become desert and no life will sustain. For Fun

Question 1.
Pretend that you live in the prehistoric times on a high windy plateau. What are the uses you and your friends could put the fast winds to? Can you call the wind a resource? Now imagine that you are living in the same place in the year 2138. Can you put the winds to any use? How? Can you explain why the wind is an important resource now?
Answer:
Wind has long been in use, since ancient time. It has been used for sailing boats, for navigation. Gradually wind mills were built to grind crops also to pump out water. Wind was regarded as a potential resource. However due to lack of technology it could not be harnessed completely. In 2138, we can surely see wind being used to the fullest as an actual resource. We have built wind turbines to generate electricity. We can see more and more wind turbines brings used in industrial areas, in agricultural farms to meet irrigation and electricity needs.

Question 2.
Pick up a stone, a leaf, a paper straw and a twig. Think of how you can use these as resources. See the example given below and get creative!

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions History Chapter 1 Resources 11

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions History Chapter 1 Resources 12

Answer:
Students can do the other two on their

JAC Class 8th Geography Resources Important Questions and Answers

Multiple Choice Questions

Question 1.
A substance is made a resource when it has………
(a) Value
(b) usability
(c) utility
(d) all of these
Answer:
(d) all of these

Question 2.
Value means
(a) worth
(b) deserves
(c) both ka’ and ‘b’
(d) neither ‘a’ nor ‘b’
Answer:
(c) both ka’ and ‘b’

Question 3.
Time and technology are two important factors that can change substances into .
(a) stock
(b) resource
(c) patent
(d)value
Answer:
(b) resource

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions History Chapter 1 Resources

Question 4.
Natural resources contains
(a) air
(b) wind
(c) water
(d) all of these
Answer:
(d) all of these

Question 5.
The distribution of natural resources depends on…….
(a) terrain
(b) altitude
(c) both ka’ and kb’
d. none of these
Answer:
(c) both ka’ and kb’

Question 6.
Non-renewable resource is…….
(a) natural gas
(b) solar energy
c. wind energy
d. soil
Answer:
a. natural gas

Question 7.
Water is a………
(a) non-renewable resource.
(b) renewable resource.
(c) either ‘a’ or ‘b’
(d) none of these
Answer:
(b) renewable resource.

Question 8.
Resources to conserved for…..
(a) future generations.
(b) present generations.
(c) not required to conserve.
(d) both ‘a’ and kb’
Answer:
(d) both ‘a’ and kb’

Question 9.
Human resource refers to the
(a) quantity
(c) mental ability
(b) physical ability
(d) all of these
Answer:
(d) all of these

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions History Chapter 1 Resources

Question 10.
Buildings, bridges are
(a) human-made.
(b) non-renewable.
(c) renewable resource.
(d) resource conservation.
Answer:
(a) human-made.

Very Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
Which value is associated with resources?
Answer:
Economic value is associated withresources.

Question 2.
What do you mean by patent?
Answer:
Patent means the full and unshared right over any idea or invention of any particular thing.

Question 3.
What are the different types of resource?
Answer:
The different types of resources are:

  1. Natural resources
  2. Human made resources
  3. Human resources

Question 4.
What do mean by natural resource?
Answer:
Natural resources are the resources which are drawn from nature, environment and used without much alterations and moderations.

Question 5.
Name the two natural resources.
Answer:
The two natural resources are:

  1. Renewable resource
  2. Non-renewable resource

Question 6.
Which resource has a limited stock? Answer: Non-renewable resource has a limited stock.

Question 7.
What do mean by human made resource?
Answer:
Human made resources are the resources which are generated and made by human beings.

Question 8.
Define human resource development.
Answer:
Human resource development means to improve the caliber, standard and quality of human expertise in order to make them more efficient and useful.

Short Answer Type Questions 

Question 1.
Mention few concepts of Sustainable Development.
Answer:
Few concepts of Sustainable Development are:

  1. Respect and care for all forms of life.
  2. Improve the quality of human life.
  3. Conserve the earth’s vitality and diversity.
  4. Minimise the depletion of natural resources.
  5. Change personal attitude and practices toward the environment.
  6. Enable communities to care for their own environment.

Question 2.
What is the importance of time and technology in making a substance a resource?
Answer:
Two major and important factors are time and technology that can change substances into resources. Each invention opens new routes to many others. The invention of fire led to the practice of cooking and other processes while the invention of the wheel resulted in development of newer modes of transport. The technology to create electricity from water i.e., hydroelectricity has turned energy in fast flowing water into an important resource.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions History Chapter 1 Resources

Question 3.
Our duty is to maintain and preserve the life support system that nature provides us. What are they?
Answer:
Our duty is to maintain and preserve the life support system that nature provides us. They are:

  • All uses of renewable resources are maintained at a certain level.
  • The varied range of life on the earth is conserved.
  • The damage to natural environmental system is lessened and reduced.

Question 4.
Stock of certain renewable resources may get affected by overuse. How?
Answer:
If we don’t use certain renewable resources efficiently such as water, soil and forest, these can affect their stock. Though water seems to be an unlimited renewable resource but shortage and drying up of natural water sources is a major issue in many parts of the world nowadays.

Question 5.
Describe the term resource and how they are classified.
Answer:
Any object, substance or material that has utility or usability makes a resource. The substances which have certain values become a resource.
Resources are classified into three parts:
Natural Resources These resources are those which are taken from nature.

Human made Resources:
These resources are those which are made by the humans and used their skill and knowledge to make the things for their own use.

Human Resources:
These resources includes human beings who serves in many ways such as teachers, doctors, etc.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
Distinguish between natural resources and human made resources.
Answer:

Natural Resources Human Made Resources
Natural resources are the resources that are used from nature and used without much alteration and changes. When humans use natural things to make something new that provides utility and value to our lives, it is called human-made resources. For instance, when we use metals, wood, cement, sand, and solar energy to make buildings, machinery,
Most of these resources can be used directly as they are free gifts of nature. vehicles, bridges, roads, etc. they become man-made resources.
Natural resources are the air we breathe, the water in our rivers and lakes, the soils minerals. Natural substances become resources only when their original form has been changed or modified to use such as iron is extracted from iron ore.

 

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 6 Understanding Media

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 6 Understanding Media

→ Media can be anything and everything ranging from the stall at the local fair to the program that we see on TV.

  • Media is the plural form of Medium. There are different ways through which we communicate with people and society. It is a means of communication.
  • Television, radio and newspapers are a form of media that reaches millions of people or the masses all over the country and the world thus, they are called mass media.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 6 Understanding Media

→ Media and Technology:

  • The technology that mass media uses keeps changing from time to time. Television and the use of the Internet is a very recent phenomenon as these have come into existence for less than twenty years.
  • Due to certain use of technologies, newspapers, television and radio can reach millions of people.
  • Newspapers and magazines are the part of the print media and Television and radio are the part of the electronic media.
  • Technology are making us more modem. Changing technology, or machines helps media to reach more people. It not only improves the quality of sound and the images that you see. But also changes the ways in which we think about our lives.
  • Television has enabled us to think as members of a larger global world. Television images travel huge distances through satellites and cables and allows us to view news and entertainment channels from other parts of the world.
  • Television, cell phones, internet has brought the world closer to us.

→ Media and Money:

  • The various technologies which mass media uses are very expensive. In a news studio, it is not only the newsreader who needs to be paid but also a number of other people who help to put the broadcast together, this includes those who look after the cameras and lights etc.
  • Most of the television channels and newspapers are part of big business houses.
  • To meet the expenses, they do number of things. One of them is advertising. The mass media earns money by advertising different things such as cars, chocolates, clothes, mobile phones, etc.
  • Advertisements are repeated in the hope that you will go out and buy what is advertised. It is the way of convincing the common people.

→ Media and Democracy:

  • The media plays an important role in providing news and discussing events taking place in the country and the world in democracy.
  • The ways in which they can take action on the basis of news is by writing letters to the concerned minister, organising a public protest, starting a signature campaign, asking the government to rethink its programme etc.
  • It is important that the information should be balanced as the media has been given the role in providing information.
  • A balanced report is one that discusses all points of view of a particular story and then leaves it to the readers to make up their minds.
  • A balanced report write ups depends on the media being independent. An independent media means that no one should control and influence its coverage of news. No one should tell the media what to write or what not to write.
  • In a democracy, an independent media is very important.
  • In reality, the media is far from independent. Reasons are there for it.
  • The control that the government has on the media is the first reason. When the government bans or cut either a news item or scenes from a movie or the lyrics of a song from being shared with the larger public this is known as censorship. There have been periods in Indian history when the government censored the media. Between 1975-1977, the worst of these was the Emergency period.
  • The second reason is that despite the absence of censorship by the government, most of the newspapers nowadays fail to provide a balanced story because the business houses control the media. At times, it is in the interest of these businesses to focus on only one side of the story. Since, media needs money to run, hence it links to advertising means that it becomes difficult for media to be reporting against people who give them advertisements.
  • Apart from these factors, to make the news story more interesting they show only one side of the story and to increase the public support.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 6 Understanding Media

→ Setting Agendas:

  • The media also plays an important role in deciding what stories to focus and emphasize on and decides on what is newsworthy.
  • By emphasizing and focusing on particular issues, the media influences our thoughts, feelings and actions, and brings those issues to our attention. Due to this significant influence, it plays in our lives and in shaping our thoughts and it is generally said that the media ‘sets the agenda’.
  • The media positively help us to focus on an issue that affects our lives and one that we might not even have been aware of it, had it not been for media reporting.
  • Though there are several occasions when the media fails to focus on issues that are very much significant in our lives.
  • Since it is a democratic country, the media has a very important role to play in our lives because it is through the media that we hear about issues related to the working of the government. The media decides what to focus on and in this way it ‘sets the agenda’.
  • This is important for us to be aware that the ‘factual information’ that a news report provides is often incomplete and can be one-sided. Therefore, we need to analyse the news before coming into conclusion of the issue or news.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 7 Markets Around Us

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 7 Markets Around Us

→ There are many types of markets that we may visit for our everyday needs: these can include shops, hawker’s stalls in our neighbourhood, a weekly market, a large shopping complex, perhaps even a mall.

→ Weekly Market:

  • The market which is held on a specific day of the week is known as the weekly market.
  • Weekly markets do not have permanent shops. Traders set up shops for the day and then close them up in the evening. Then they may set up at a different place the next day.
  • Many things are available at cheaper rates in weekly markets. The reason is when shops are in permanent buildings, they incur a lot of expenditure, they have to pay rent, electricity, fees to the government, etc. They also have to pay wages to their workers. In weekly markets, these shop owners store the things at home.
  • One of the advantages of weekly markets is that most things you need are available at one place.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 7 Markets Around Us

→ Shops in the Neighbourhood:

  • We also buy things from other kinds of markets. There are many shops that sell goods and services in our neighbourhoods.
  • Many of these are the permanent shops while others are roadside stalls such as the vegetable hawker, the fruit vendor, the mechanic, etc.
  • Shops in the neighbourhood are useful in many ways. They are near our home and we can go there on any day of the week. Generally, the buyer and seller know each other and these shops also provide goods and things on credit.

→ Shopping Complexes and Malls:

  • There are other markets in the urban area that have many shops, popularly called shopping complexes.
  • These days in many urban areas there are large multi-storeyed air-conditioned buildings with shops on different floors known as malls.
  • In these urban markets, both branded and non-branded goods are found.
  • The companies producing the branded products, sell them through shops in large urban markets and at times through special showrooms as compared to non-branded goods, fewer people can afford to buy branded ones.

→ Chain of Markets:

  • The people who is present in between the producer and the final consumer are the traders. The wholesale trader first buys goods in large quantities.
  • Through these connections of traders that goods reach distant places. The retailer is the trader who finally sells this to the consumer.
  • This could be a trader in a weekly market, a hawker in the neighbourhood or a shop in a shopping complex.
  • A chain of markets is set up. Every city has areas for wholesale markets. This is where goods first reach and are then supplied to other traders. From these traders, the retailers buy and finally the buyers get it.

→ Markets Everywhere:

  • Buying and selling takes place in different ways, not through shops in the market only. People use phones and internet to place orders and get the things at their home.
  • There are markets that we are not so aware of because a large number of goods are bought and sold that we don’t use directly.
  • Generally, we don’t see all the buying and selling processes but only the final product.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 7 Markets Around Us

→ Markets and Equality:

  • We can be buyers or sellers in these different markets which depends among other things and on the money that we have.
  • The weekly market trader earns very less compared to the profit of a shop owner in a shopping complex.
  • When things are sold, it encourages production and new opportunities are created for people to earn. Hence, there is inequality in the market.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 8 A Shirt in the Market

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 8 A Shirt in the Market

→ A chain of markets links the producer of cotton to the buyer of the shirt in the supermarket. Buying and selling takes place at every step in the chain.

→ A Cotton Farmer in Kurnool:

  • Cultivation of cotton is a very tough and difficult job. Cultivation of cotton is very expensive and requires high levels of inputs such as fertilisers and pesticides.
  • The farmers have to bear heavy expenses on account of these. The small farmers need to borrow money to meet these expenses.
  • Local traders were giving loans to farmers and in return they were buying their cottons from them at cheaper rates. They were very clever and making good amount of money.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 8 A Shirt in the Market

→ The Cloth Market of Erode

  • Different varieties of cloth are sold in Erode’s bi-weekly cloth market in Tamil Nadu.
  • It is one of the largest cloth markets in the world.
  • Cloth that is made by weavers in the villages around is also brought in the market for sale. Offices of cloth merchants are present in the market who buy this cloth. Other traders from many south Indian towns also come and purchase cloth in this market.
  • On market days, weavers bring cloth that has been made on order from the merchant. These merchants supply cloth on order to garment manufacturers and exporters around the country. Merchants purchase the yam and give instructions and directions to the weavers about the kind of cloth that is to be made.

→ Putting-out System – Weavers Producing Cloth at Home

  • The merchant distributes and hand out the work among the weavers based on the orders he has received for cloth. The merchant give yam to the weavers and in turn the weavers supply him the cloth.
  • Two advantages are there for the weavers. They do not have to spend their money on purchase of yam. Second, the problem of selling the finished cloth is taken care of.
  • But this dependence on the merchants for raw materials and markets means that the merchants has a lot of power. They give orders for what is to be made and they pay a very low price for making the cloth.
  • The weaver never know for whom they are making the cloth or at what price it will be sold. At the cloth market, the merchants sell the cloth to the garment factories. The market works in favour of the merchants most of the time.
  • Weavers invest all their savings or borrow money at high interest rates to buy looms. He cannot work alone so he takes the help
    of another adult family member. They work very hard and earn very nominal amount.
  • The arrangement between the merchant and the weavers is an example of putting-out system where the merchant supplies the raw material and receives the finished product. It is prevalent in the weaving industry in most regions of India.

→ The Garment Exporting Factory Near Delhi

  • The Erode merchant supplies the cotton cloth produced by the weavers to a garment exporting factory near Delhi. The garment exporting factory will use the cloth to make shirts.
  • The shirts will be exported to foreign buyers who are from the US and Europe who run a chain of stores.
  • They do business on their own term and conditions. They demand the lowest prices from the supplier and set high standards for quality of production and timely delivery. Any defects or delay in delivery is dealt with strictly. Hence, the exporter tries his best to meet the conditions.
  • The exporters having these conditions and pressures in turn cut the costs of weavers and maximize their own profit and supply the garment to foreign buyers at cheap rates.

→ The Shirt in the United States
The big businessperson who bought the shirts from the garment exporters in Delhi earn a huge amount of profit. Although, he spent some amount on advertising, storage, etc.

→ Who are the Gainers in the Market?
There were people who made profits in the market and there were some who did not gain as much from this buying and selling. Despite they have been toiled very hard, they earned very little.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 8 A Shirt in the Market

→ Market and Equality

  • Democracy is also about getting a fair wage in the market.
  • The foreign businessperson made maximum profits in the market But, the garment exporter made only moderate profits. Whereas, file workers earned so less at the garment export factory that are barely enough to cover their day- to-day needs. Similarly, the small cotton former and tiie weaver at Erode put in long hours ofhard work but they did not get a lair price in the market for what they produced. The merchants or traders are somewhere in between.
  • Mostly the rich and the powerful that get the maximum earnings from the market. These are the people who have money and own the factories, the large shops, large land holdings, etc. The poor have to depend on the rich and the powerful for different things. They have to depend for loans, for raw materials and marketing of their goods and most often for employment.
  • Due to this dependency and inequality, the poor people are exploited in the market.
  • To overcome these situations, cooperatives of producers are formed and ensures that laws are followed strictly.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 9 Struggles for Equality

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 9 Struggles for Equality

→ The heart of democracy is equality and India is a democratic country. Unfortunately, there is inequality in the society. Only during election, on the polling day all adult citizen of India enjoys the equal rights to vote.

  • We have seen in earlier chapters as well that discrimination was always present with person such as Kanta, Swapna, Ansaris, Kavita, Melani and the list is long. For them, some people take initiatives and starts struggles for equality. For this cause, many people extend their support.
  • The major reason why so many people’s lives in India are highly unequal are poverty and lack of resources.
  • Another significant reason why people are treated unequally in India are discrimination on the basis of person’s caste, sex and religion.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 9 Struggles for Equality

→ Struggles for Equality:
Some of the persons become more widely recognised and well known because they have the support or represent large numbers of people who have united to address a particular issue of inequality.

  • In India, there are several struggles in which people have come together to fight for issues that they believe are important.
  • We can allude and refer the methods used by the women’s movement to raise issues of equality. Another example of people coming together to fight for an issue is the Tawa Matsya Sangh in Madhya Pradesh.
  • There are many such struggles such as those among beedi workers, fisherfolk, agricultural labourers, slum dwellers and each of them is struggling for justice in its own methods.

→ Tawa Matsya Sangh:

  • When dams are built or forest areas declared sanctuaries for animals, thousands of people are displaced. Most of these people are poor and forced to go somewhere else.
  • In urban areas too, bastis in which poor people live are often uprooted. Their work as well as their children’s schooling is severely hampered and disrupted.
  • This displacement of people and communities is a major problem that has become quite widespread in our country. People and activists usually come together to fight for this.
  • The Tawa Matsya Sangh is a federation of Fisherworker’s cooperatives which is an organisation fighting for the rights of the displaced forest dwellers of the Satpura forest in Madhya Pradesh.
  • The Tawa dam began to be built in 1958 and was completed in 1978. It submerged large areas of forest and agricultural land.
  • Some of the displaced people settled around the reservoir and apart from their meagre farms found a livelihood in fishing. They earned nominal amount.
  • In 1994, the government gave the rights for fishing in the Tawa reservoir to private contractors. These contractors drove the local people away and got cheap labour from outside.
  • The villagers stood united and decided that now it was time to set up an organisation and do something to protect the rights.
  • The newly formed Tawa Matsya Sangh (TMS) organised rallies and a chakka jam (road blockade) demanding their right to continue fishing for their livelihood.
  • In response to their protests and agitations, the government created a committee to assess the issue. On January 2,1997, people from 33 villages of Tawa started the new year with the first catch.
  • With the TMS taking over the charges, the fishworkers were able to increase their earnings substantially because they set up the cooperative which would buy the catch from them at a fair price.
  • The TMS has also begun giving the fishworkers loans for repair and the buying of new nets.
  • By managing to earn a higher wage as well as preserving the fish in the reservoir, the TMS has shown that when people’s organisations get their rights to livelihood, they can be good managers.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 9 Struggles for Equality

→ The Indian Constitution as a Living Document:
The Indian Constitution recognises the equality of all persons. Movements and struggles for equality in India continuously refer to the Indian Constitution to make their point about equality and justice for all.

  • By referring to the Constitution the people use it as a ‘living document’, i.e., something that has real meaning in our lives. In a democracy, there are always communities and individuals trying to expand the idea of democracy and push for a greater recognition of equality on existing as well as new issues.
  • The issues substantially affect poor and marginalised communities, and hence, concern economic and social equality in the country.
  • This is the basic principal of the struggle for equality in a democracy. The dignity and self-respect of each person and their community can only be realised if they have adequate resources to support and nurture their families and if they are not discriminated against.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes