Revision

Constitutional Design (9th)

Multiple Choice Questions

1 . Who was the chairman of the drafting committee of Indian constitution ?

a) Dr B.R. Ambedkar

b) Pt. J.L. Nehru

c) Baldev Singh

d) Gandhiji

2. The Indian constitution has borrowed from:

i. Ideas from the French Revolution.

ii. The British Constitution.

iii. The Bill of Rights of the US.

iv. Israeli Constitution.

a) i, ii

b) i, ii, iii

c) i, ii, iv

d) ii, iii, iv

3. How many members were there in the Constituent Assembly that wrote the Indian Constitution?

a) 101 members

b) 206 members

c) 299 members

d) 36 members

4. The Constitution of India is :

a) rigid

b) partly flexible and partly rigid

c) smallest constitution in world

d) flexible

5. When was the Constitution of India completed or adopted?

a) 26 October, 1949

b) 26 January, 1950

c) 26 November, 1949

d) 17 December, 1947

6. This term means that the head of the state, i.e. the President of India is an elected person and it is not a hereditary position. Choose the term from options.

a) Sovereignty

b) Secular

c) Fraternity

d) Republic

Read the source given below and answer the questions that follow:

Despite all these difficulties, there was one big advantage for the makers of the Indian Constitution. Unlike South Africa, they did not have to create a consensus about what a democratic India should look like. Much of this consensus had evolved during the freedom struggle. Our national movement was not merely a struggle against a foreign rule. It was also a struggle to rejuvenate our country and to transform our society and politics. There were sharp differences of opinion within the freedom struggle about the path India should take after Independence. Such differences exist even today. Yet some basic ideas had come to be accepted by almost everyone. Motilal Nehru and eight other Congress leaders drafted a constitution for India. The resolution at the Karachi session of the Indian National Congress dwelt on how independent India’s constitution should look like. Both these documents were committed to the inclusion of universal adult franchise, right to freedom and equality and to protecting the rights of minorities in the constitution of independent India. Thus some basic values were accepted by all leaders much before the Constituent Assembly met to deliberate on the Constitution. The familiarity with political institutions of the colonial rule also helped develop an agreement over the institutional design. The British rule had given voting rights only to a few. On that basis, the British had introduced very weak legislatures. Elections were held to Provincial Legislatures and Ministries all over British India. These were not fully democratic governments. But the experience gained by Indians in the working of the legislative institutions proved to be very useful for the country in setting up its own institutions and working in them. That is why the Indian constitution adopted many institutional details and procedures from colonial laws like the Government of India Act. Years of thinking and deliberation on the framework of the constitution had another benefit. Our leaders gained the confidence to learn from other countries, but on our own terms. Many of our leaders were inspired by the ideals of the French Revolution, the practice of parliamentary democracy in Britain, and the Bill of Rights in the US. The socialist revolution in Russia had inspired many Indians to think of shaping a system based on social and economic equality. Yet they were not simply imitating what others had done. At each step, they were questioning whether these things suited our country. All these factors contributed to the making of our Constitution.

Answer the following MCQs by choosing the most appropriate option:

i. Arrange the following events in chronological order:

I. Enactment of Government of India Act.

II. Elections were held to Provincial Legislatures and Ministries all over British India.

III. Motilal Nehru and eight other Congress leaders drafted a constitution for India.

IV. Karachi session of the Indian National Congress.

a. III, IV, I, II

b. I, II, IV, III

c. I, III, IV, II

d. II, IV, I, II

ii. According to ____________ the elections were held to provincial legislatures in India in 1937?

a. Government of India Act, 1935

b. Government of India Act, 1919

c. Government of India Act, 1909

d. None of the above

iii. Which of these features were accepted by all the Indian leaders much before they sat down to make the Constitution?

a. Universal adult franchise

b. Right to press

c. Protection of the rights of majority

d. All the above

iv. Which of these inspired our leaders while framing the Constitution?

a. Ideals of the Indian Revolution

b. Parliamentary democracy in France

c. Bill of Rights in US

d. All the above