Social and Political Life - II

"On Equality" (Chapter 1 of Class 7 Civics – Social and Political Life II) explains how the Indian Constitution recognises all persons as equal regardless of caste, religion, gender, or economic background, and explores the ongoing struggle to make this constitutional promise a reality in daily life.

• 1The Indian Constitution recognises every person as equal regardless of caste, religion, tribe, gender, or educational and economic background.
• 2Four constitutional provisions on equality: equality before the law, non-discrimination on grounds of religion/race/caste/place of birth/gender, access to all public places (playgrounds, hotels, wells, roads, bathing ghats), and abolition of untouchability.
• 3Article 15 prohibits the State from discriminating against any citizen on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth, and guarantees access to publicly maintained places.
• 4The midday meal programme improves school attendance of poor children, reduces the burden on mothers, helps children of all castes eat together reducing caste prejudice, and addresses hunger that stops students from concentrating.
• 5Universal adult franchise gives every adult citizen aged 18 and above the right to vote, irrespective of social or economic background.

'Role of the Government in Health' explains that health encompasses more than freedom from disease — it includes clean water, adequate food, proper housing, and mental well-being. The chapter examines India's public health system, the gap between public and private healthcare, and the constitutional duty of the government to provide health services free or at low cost to all citizens.

• 1Health means the ability to remain free of illness and injuries, but also depends on clean drinking water, adequate food, proper housing, pollution-free environment, and freedom from mental strain — not just absence of disease.
• 2India's public health system links village health centres (nurse + village health worker) → Primary Health Centres (PHCs covering many villages) → District Hospitals → specialised government hospitals in large cities, all funded by taxes.
• 3The Constitution makes it the government's primary duty to ensure welfare and safeguard the Right to Life; courts can direct state governments to reimburse citizens who pay for emergency treatment the public system failed to provide.
• 4Only 20% of the population can afford all medicines required during illness; 40% of people admitted to hospital have to borrow money or sell possessions to pay medical expenses.
• 5Private health facilities — doctors' clinics, RMPs in rural areas, private hospitals, labs offering X-ray/ultrasound, and medicine shops — charge high fees for every service and are concentrated in urban areas.

This chapter explains how state governments work in India — how MLAs are elected from constituencies, how the ruling party forms the government, and how the Legislative Assembly debates issues and authorises decisions, illustrated through a health crisis in Patalpuram.

• 1Every state in India has a Legislative Assembly; each state is divided into constituencies, and voters in each constituency elect one MLA.
• 2A political party that wins more than half the total constituencies gains a majority and becomes the ruling party; all other elected members form the opposition.
• 3In Himachal Pradesh's 2017 assembly elections, the BJP won 44 of 68 seats, gained majority, and formed the ruling party; Shri Jairam Thakur was chosen as Chief Minister by BJP MLAs.
• 4The Governor is the Head of the State, appointed by the Central Government to ensure the state government works within the Constitution.
• 5MLAs from both the ruling party and opposition meet in the Legislative Assembly to debate issues, ask questions of ministers, and authorise government decisions — ministers must answer to the Assembly.

This chapter examines how societies assign different roles to boys and girls from childhood — through toys, dress, games, and schooling — and shows why the housework and care-giving work done mainly by women is unpaid, physically demanding, and undervalued despite consuming far more of women's time than men's.

• 1In Samoa in the 1920s, boys around age nine joined older boys to learn outdoor jobs like fishing and planting coconuts, while girls continued caregiving until their teens when they gained more freedom.
• 2In Madhya Pradesh in the 1960s, boys and girls attended separate schools from Class VI; girls' schools had enclosed courtyards and girls walked home in groups fearing teasing or attack, while boys used streets casually.
• 3Society signals different adult roles through everyday things — boys are given toy cars and girls are given dolls — shaping expectations about their futures from a very young age.
• 4Housework is described as invisible (unpaid and unrecognised as real work), physically demanding (fetching water, carrying firewood, cooking over hot stoves), and time-consuming.
• 5A Central Statistical Organisation of India study (1998–1999) found women in Haryana worked 23 paid hours and 30 housework hours per week (total 53), while men worked 38 paid hours and only 2 housework hours.

Chapter 5 of Class 7 Civics explores how gender stereotypes restrict women's opportunities in work and education, and traces how pioneering women and the women's movement have challenged this discrimination.

• 183.6% of working women in India are engaged in agricultural work—planting, weeding, harvesting, threshing—yet a 'farmer' is typically imagined as a man (NSS 61st Round, 2004–05).
• 2Laxmi Lakra from Jharkhand became the first woman engine driver for Northern Railways after earning a diploma in electronics and passing the railway board exam on her first attempt.
• 3Rashsundari Devi (1800–1890) taught herself to read and write in secret after marriage; her Bangla autobiography Amar Jiban, written at age 60, is the first known autobiography by an Indian woman.
• 4Ramabai (1858–1922) received the title 'Pandita' for mastering Sanskrit and in 1898 opened a Mission near Pune teaching widows carpentry and printing-press skills alongside literacy.
• 5Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880–1932) wrote Sultana's Dream in 1905 at age 25 and opened a school for girls in Kolkata in 1910 that continues to function today.

Media refers to all means of communication — from a phone call to the evening news on TV. TV, radio, and newspapers that reach millions of people are called mass media.

• 1Media is the plural of medium and describes all ways of communicating in society; TV, radio, and newspapers that reach millions are called mass media.
• 2Cable television and the widespread use of the internet are recent phenomena that have been around for less than twenty years.
• 3Mass media is expensive to run — TV studios require lights, cameras, sound recorders, and transmission satellites — so most channels and newspapers are owned by big business houses.
• 4Mass media earns money through advertising; the cost to advertise on a TV channel varies from ₹1,000 to ₹1,00,000 per 10 seconds depending on the channel's popularity.
• 5In a democracy, media informs citizens about government functioning and enables action through letters to ministers, public protests, and signature campaigns.

Markets Around Us explains the different types of markets — weekly markets, neighbourhood shops, shopping complexes, and malls — and how goods travel through a chain of traders from producers to consumers before reaching buyers.

• 1Weekly markets are held on one specific day per week; traders set up and dismantle shops each day and may move to different locations the next day.
• 2Goods in weekly markets are cheaper because sellers store stock at home, use family labour instead of paid workers, and avoid rent, electricity, and government fees.
• 3Weekly markets have a large number of sellers offering the same goods, creating competition that keeps prices low and allows buyers to bargain.
• 4Neighbourhood shops are permanent or roadside stalls open every day, close to home; the buyer and seller often know each other and credit is available — buyers can pay later.
• 5Shopping complexes and malls are large multi-storeyed air-conditioned buildings in urban areas selling both branded and non-branded goods; branded goods are expensive, promoted through advertising.

This chapter traces the journey of a shirt from cotton grown by Swapna, a small farmer in Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh), through weavers in Erode, a garment factory near Delhi, and finally to a buyer in the United States, showing how unequal market power leaves small farmers, weavers, and factory workers with very little despite their hard work.

• 1Swapna, a small cotton farmer in Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh), borrowed ₹2,500 from a local trader to buy seeds, fertilisers, and pesticides, and was made to promise to sell her entire harvest only to him; after the trader deducted ₹3,000 for loan and interest, she received only ₹3,000.
• 2The Erode bi-weekly cloth market in Tamil Nadu is one of the largest cloth markets in the world, where cloth made by village weavers and traders from many south Indian towns is bought and sold.
• 3Under the putting-out system, a merchant supplies yarn to weavers who produce cloth at home; the merchant controls raw materials and the market, leaving weavers with low earnings despite working up to 12 hours a day for about ₹3,500 per month.
• 4Each powerloom costs ₹20,000; a small weaver with two looms must invest ₹40,000, often by borrowing at high interest rates.
• 5Weavers cooperatives help reduce dependence on merchants by collectively procuring yarn and handling marketing; the Tamil Nadu government supports cooperatives through the Free School Uniform programme and Co-optex stores.