NCERT Solutions for Class 7 Social Science Civics Chapter 3 How the State Government Works
1. Use the terms 'constituency' and 'represent' to explain who an MLA is and how is the person elected?
MLA is a member of the legislative assembly who represents people and also forms the government. (i) Each state has a legislative assembly.
(ii) Each state is divided into different areas or constituencies.
(iii) From each constituency, people elect one representative who then becomes a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA).
(iv) MLA is elected by people who contest in an election by voting.
2. How did some MLAs become Ministers? Explain.
(i) After the elections, a political party whose MLAs have won more than half the number of constituencies in a state becomes the ruling party.
(ii) The MLAs belonging to the ruling party elect their leader who later becomes the chief minister.
(iii) The chief minister then selects other people as his ministers.
(iv) The Governor of the state then appoints the chief minister and other ministers.
3. Why should decisions taken by the Chief Minister and other ministers be debated in the Legislative Assembly?
(i) In a democratic government, participation is important from each and every section of the society.
(ii) Thus, whatever decisions are being taken, have to be approved by the members of the legislative assembly. (iii)These members then ask questions, debate an important issue, decide where money should be spent, etc.
(iv) After that, they have the main authority to finalize any decision.
4. What was the problem in Patalpuram? What discussion/action was taken by the following? Fill in the table.
Main problem in Patalpuram:
(i) Lack of proper sanitation and hygiene.
(ii) Scarcity of clean drinking water.
(iii) No proper medical facilities.
(iv) Spread of diarrhea
Discussion/action was taken by the following:
Public meeting: Demand for the improvement of healthcare and sanitation facilities from the officials.
Legislative Assembly: Intend to supply drinking water to every village through tanker trucks and also explained the steps the government had taken. Collection of garbage.
Press conference: Organized by the health minister. Newspapers and media widely discussed the issue and prompted the government to hold a press conference.
Chief Minister: Visited Patalpuram district. He went to visit the families who had lost their relatives and also visited people in the hospitals. Promised funds for the works and also planned to start a campaign to create awareness.
5. What is the difference between the work that MLAs do in the Assembly and the work done by government departments?
(i) Act of making laws on certain issues is done by MLAs in the Legislative Assembly of each state while the implementation of these laws is done by various government departments.
(ii) Whatever work is done by these government departments has to be approved by the members of the legislative assembly or MLAs.