NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science Civics Chapter 10 Law and Social Justice

NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science Civics Chapter 10 Law and Social Justice

These Solutions are part of NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science. Here we have given. NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science Civics Chapter 10 Law and Social Justice.

Question 1.

Talk to two workers (for example, construction workers, farm workers, factory workers, workers at any shop) to find out if they are receiving the minimum wages laid down by law.
Answer:

  • Construction workers: They do not receive the minimum wages.
  • Farm workers: They do not receive the minimum wages.
  • Factory workers: They receive minimum wages.
  • Workers at the shop: They get minimum wages.

Question 2.
What are the advantages to foreign companies in setting-up production in India?
Answer:
Foreign countries have many advantages of setting up their factories in India like:

  • Availability of cheap labour. There is a vast difference in the wages that the workers get in the U.S.A. and European countries as compared to what they get in India.
  • For lower wages, companies get longer hours of work.
  • Their additional expenses for housing insurance are also less.
  • They are able to use lower safety measures due to weak laws.
  • They do not even spend money on clearing the pollution they create.
  • Thus are able to cut and save costs on safety measurement, and earn profits.

Question 3.
Do you think the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy got justice? Discuss.
Answer:
No, As the gas victims are still not rehabilitated:

  • They are still suffering from effects of gas leaks.
  • Their cases are still pending in numerous courts.

Question 4.
What do we mean when we speak of law enforcement? Who is responsible for enforcement? Why is enforcement so important?
Answer:
Law enforcement means to compel obedience to the law. Laws passed by the government have to be enforced otherwise the benefit of the laws will not reach the citizens. It is the duty of the government to enforce the laws.

By enforcing and upholding these laws, the government can control the activities of individuals or private companies so as to ensure social justice. Enforcement is even more important when the law seeks to protect the weak from the strong.

Question 5.
How can laws ensure that markets work in a manner that is fair? Give two examples to support your answer.
Answer:
The government has passed laws that ensure that essential products such as food grains, sugar, and kerosene are not highly-priced. It is necessary that such restrictions are placed on people who market these products; otherwise the poor will not be able to afford these goods.

The government has also passed the Consumers’ Protection Act which ensures that the consumers are not created by the sale of sub-standard products.

‘Hallmark’ certification helps the consumer to buy standard gold ornaments and ‘Agmark’ certification ensures that the food products on sale are of good quality.

Question 6.
Imagine yourself to be a worker working in a chemical factory, which has received orders from the government to move to a different site 100 kms away from the present location. Write about how your life would change? Read out your responses in the classroom.
Answer:
My life would change drastically.

  • There will not be any pollution.
  • Wages would increase. .
  • Housing facilities may be provided.
  • Some problems would come initially regarding transport, housing, etc.
  • Employer would pay more attention to the workers.

Question 7.
Write a paragraph on the various roles of the government that you have read about in this unit.
Answer:
Various Roles of the Government:

  • Enactment of Minimum Wages Act.
  • Law protecting the interests of the producers and consumers in the market.
  • Law relating to adequate safety measures at the workplace.
  • Quality standards to be fixed.
  • Law against hoarding and black marketing of essential commodities.
  • Law against sexual harassment of women at workplace.
  • Law against child labour at workplace.
  • Law to form workers/labour unions.

Question 8.
What are the sources of environmental pollution in your area? Discuss with respect to
(a) air
(b) water and
(c) soil.
What are the steps being taken to reduce pollution? Can you suggest some other measures?
Answer:
Causes of Pollution in our Area:
(a) Air pollution: Vehicles, thermal power station.
(b) Water pollution: Dry latrines, sever age water, water drawing industries, tanneries.

(c) Soil: Industrial effluents and ash of the thermal power station.

Steps being taken to reduce the pollution:

  • Appropriate measures need to be taken by countries/regions of the world to stop misuse or overuse of resources.
  • Corrective steps to improve the quality of degraded resources must be taken for treatment of Sewage.
  • Banning the use of certain dangerous pesticides like D.D.T.
  • Safe disposal of wastes and garbage.

Other Measures:

  • Check harmful emissions from automobiles, industries.
  • Using Rs. 3
  • Limiting use of non-renewable resources.

Question 9.
How was the environment treated earlier? What has been the change in perception? Discuss.
Answer:

  • Environment was treated as a “free” entity and all were allowed to degrade or pollute it.
  • No attention was paid by the governments as it was believed “nature cleans itself’.
  • But, now the perception has changed and countries are introducing new legislations to protect the environment.

Question 10.
What do you think the famous cartoonist R.K. Laxman is trying to convey in this cartoon?
Answer:

NCERT Solutions for Class 8 civics Chapter 10

  1. R.K. Laxman is trying to show that we ourselves are responsible for increasing child labour.
  2. We are not sensitive towards the needs and aspirations of other children.
  3. It relates to the law of prohibiting children below 14 years to be employed as domestic servants.

Law and Social,Justice NCERT Class 8 Social and Political life Extra Questions

Question 1
How do government certifications like the ISI certification help the consumer?
Solution:
When a product has the ISI mark the consumer can be certain that the product is of good quality and it is safe. Hall mark certification assures the consumer of the purity of gold they buy.
ISO certification assures the consumer that a company has a good Quality Management System.
Consumers might be put to risk by the poor quality of products such as electrical appliances, food, medicines if the government had not set up the Bureau of Indian Standards.

Question 2
How can the government ensure social justice?
Solution:
Through making, enforcing and upholding certain laws, the government can control the activities of individuals or private companies so as to ensure social justice.

Question 3
Write a brief note on the Bhopal gas tragedy.
Solution:
Union Carbide was an American Company which had a factory in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India, which produced pesticides. At midnight on 2nd December, 1984, methyl-isocyanides – a highly poisonous gas – started leaking from the factory plant.
Within three days, more than 8,000 people were dead. Hundreds of thousands were maimed. Most of those exposed to the poison gas came from poor, working-class families.
There are nearly 50,000 people today who are too sick to work. Among those who survived, many developed severe respiratory disorders, eye problems and other disorders. Children developed peculiar abnormalities.
The Bhopal disaster is frequently cited as the world’s worst industrial disaster.

Question 4
What were the reasons for the Bhopal tragedy?
Solution:
The Union Carbide tank’s alarms had not worked for 4 years. The steam boiler, intended to clean the pipes, was out of action and water sprays designed to “knock down” gas leaks were poorly designed. No action plans had been established to cope with incidents of this magnitude. The local authorities were not informed of the quantities or dangers of chemicals used and manufactured at the factory. These were the reasons for the Bhopal tragedy.

Question 5
What are the reasons for the sharp differences in safety standards between the 2 Union carbide factories in the USA and India?
Solution:
India has a high rate of unemployment and due to this workers are willing to work in unsafe conditions. One worker can easily replace another due to over population. Ignorance and the vulnerability of Indian workers is also another reason why the safety standards in the Indian factory were very much lower than the factory in USA.

Question 6
In what way was the Government responsible for the Bhopal tragedy?
Solution:
Safety laws were lax in India and these weak safety laws were not enforced.
Government officials refused to recognise the plant as hazardous and allowed it to come up in a populated locality. Though there was some objection regarding the safety violation, the government allowed the factory to start production as it was providing jobs for the local people.
The government did not take the initiative to ask the Union Carbide Company to shift to cleaner technology or safer procedures. Government inspectors continued to approve the procedures in the plant, even when there were repeated incidents of poisonous gas leaks. So the government has to bear certain responsibility for the tragedy.

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