Chapter-01 Civics

The Indian Constitution

• Why Does a Country Need a Constitution:

(i) A Constitution lays out certain ideals that form the basis of the kind of country that we
as citizens aspire to live in.
(ii) A Constitution tells about the fundamental nature of our society.
(iii) A Constitution helps serve as a set of rules and principles that all persons in a country
can agree upon as the basis of the way in which they want the country to be governed.
(iv) This includes the type of government and also an agreement on certain ideals that
they all believe the country should uphold.
(v) When Nepal was a monarchy, it reflected the final authority of the king. After
transition of Nepal into a democracy, it started the process of writing a new
constitution for the country.
(vi) In a democracy, leaders exercise their power responsibly on the behalf of the people.
(vii) In democratic societies, the constitution lays down rules that guard against the misuse
of authority by our political leaders.
(viii) A Constitution plays an important function in a democracy to ensure that a dominant
groups does not use its power against any person, group, organization, etc.
(ix) Consititution prevents tyranny or domination by the majority of a minority.
(x) The Constitution helps to protect us against certain decisions that we might take and
which may have an adverse effect on the larger principles that the country believes in.
• The Indian Constitution Key Feature:
(i) The Indian National Movement had been active in the struggle for Independence from
British rule for several decades.
(ii) Fedaralism: Refers to the existence of more than one level of government in the
country.
(iii) Parliamentary Form of Government: The Constitution of Indian guarantees
universal adult suffrage for all citizens. This means people have a direct role in
electing their representatives.
(iv) Separation of Powers: There are three organs of the states: (a) the Legislature (b)
the Executive and (c) the Judiciary.
 (v) The legislature refers to our elected representative, the executive is a smaller group of
people who are responsible for implementing laws and running the government. The
judiciary refers to the system of courts in the country.
• Fundamental Rights:
(i) The Fundamental Rights are referred to as the ‘conscience’ of Indian Constitution.
Fundamental Rights protect citizens against the arbitrary and absolute exercise of
power by the state.
(ii) The Constitution guarantees the rights of individuals against the State as well as
against other individuals.
(iii) There are six Fundamental Rights in the Indian Constitution, which are: (i) Right to
Equality; (ii) Right to Freedom; (iii) Right against Exploitation; (iv) Right to Freedom
of Religion; (v) Cultural and Education as Rights; (vi) Right to Freedom of Religion; (v)
Culture and Education as Rights; (iv) Right to Constitution Remedies.
(iv) In addition to Fundamental Rights, the Constitution has a section called Directive
Principles of State Policy. It ensures greater social and economic reforms and to serve
as a guide to independent Indian state to institute laws and policies that help reduce
the poverty of the masses.
(v) A secular state is one in which the state does not officially promote any one religion as
the state religion.
(vi) The Constitution plays a crucial role in laying out the ideals that we would like all
citizens of the country to adhere to, including the representatives that we elect to rule
us.
 Chapter – 02 Civics
Understanding Secularism

• Secularism Refers to Separation of Religion:

(i) The Indian Constitution allows individuals the freedom to live by their religious
beliefs and practices.
(ii) Indian adopted a strategy of separating the power of religion and the power of the
state.
• Why is it important to Separate Religion from the State:
(i) It prohibits the domination of one religion over another.
(ii) To protect the freedom of individuals to exit from their religion, embrace another
religion or have the freedom to interpret religious teachings differently.
• What is Indian Secularism:
(i) The Indian Constitution mandates that the Indian state be secular state.
(ii) One religious community does not dominate another in a secular state.
(iii) In a secular state, some members do not dominate other members of the same
religious community.
(iv) The state does not enforce any particular religion nor take away the religious freedom
of individuals.
(v) The government schools can not promote any one religion.
(vi) In order to respect the sentiments of all religions and not interfere with religious
practices, the state makes certain expections for particular religious communities.
(vii) The Indian secularism works to prevent the domination.
(viii) In order to prevent this religion based exclusion and discriminationof lower castes,
the Indian Constitution bans untouchability.
(ix) To ensure that laws relating to equal inheritance rights are respected, the state may
have to intervene in the religion based ‘personal laws’ of communities.
(x) The intervention of the state can be in the form of support.
(xi) The first amendment of the US constitution prohibits the legislature from making laws
“respecting an establishment of religion” or that prohibits the free exercise of religion.
(xii) The Indian state is secular and works in various ways to prevent religious domination.
 Chapter – 03 Civic
Why Do We Need a Parliament

• Parliament enables citizens of India to participate in decision making and control the
government, thus making it the most important symbol of Indian democracy and a key
feature of the Constitution.
• Why Should People Decide:
(i) Under the colonia rule, the people did not critised British government but the
freedom movement changed this situation.
(ii) The Constitution in independent India laid down the principle of universal adult
franchise i.e, that all adult citizens of the country have the right to vote.
• People and their Representatives:
(i) A democracy is the idea of consent, i.e., the desire, approval and participation of
people.
(ii) The basic idea in democracy is that the individual or the citizen is the most important
person and that in principle the government as well as other public institutions need
to have the trust of these citizens.
(iii) The Parliament, which is made up of all representatives together, controls and guides
the government.
• The Role of the Parliament:
(i) The Indian Parliament is an expression of the faith that the people ind India have in
the principles of democracy.
(ii) The Parliament in our system has immense powers because it is the representative of
the people.
(iii) The Lok Sabha is elected once every five years. The country is divided into a number
of these constituencies. Each of these constituencies elect one person to the
parliament.
(iv) Once elected, the candidates become members of parliament or MPs. These MPs
together make up the Parliament.
• Parliament Performs the Following Functions:
(i) The Parliament in India cosists of the President, the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.
 (ii) There are 543 elected plus 2 nominated members in Lok Sabha.
(iii) The Prime Minister of India is the leader of the ruling party in the Lok Sabha.
(iv) Coalition government is formed when one political party does not get simple majority.
In such a condition, a group of different political parties come together to form a
government.
(v) The Rajya Sabha functions primarily as the representation of the states of India in the
Parliament.
(vi) It has an important role of reviewing and altering the laws initiated by the Lok Sabha.
(vii) The members of the Rajya Sabha are elected by the elected members of the Legislative
Assemblies of various states.
(viii) In the Rajya Sabha there are 233 elected members plus 12 members nominated by the
President.
• To Control, Guide and Inform the Government:
(i) The Parliament, while in session, begins with a question hour.
(ii) The question hour is an important mechanism through which an MP can elicit
information about the working of the government.
(iii) The Opposition parties play a crucial role in the healthy functioning of the democracy.
(iv) The highlight drawbacks in various policies and programmes of the government and
mobilise popular support for their own policies.
(v) The government gets valuable feedback and is kept on its toes by the questions asked
by the MPs.
(vi) Law-making is a significant function of the parliament.
• Who are the People in Parliament:
(i) The Parliament has more and more people from different backgrounds.
(ii) There has been an increase in political participation from the Dalit and backward
castes and the minorities.
(iii) Some seats are reserved in the Parliament for SCs and STs.
(iv) It has recently been suggested that there should be reservation of seats for women.
 Chapter – 04 Civics
Understanding Laws

• Do Laws Apply to All:

(i) All persons in independent Indian are equal before the law.
(ii) The law cannot discriminate between persons on the basis of their religion, caste or
gender.
(iii) All laws apply equally to all citizens of the country and no one can be above the law.
(iv) Any crime or violation of law has a specific punishment.
(v) In ancient India, there were innumerable and overlapping local laws which did not
apply equally to all.
(vi) The punishment for the same crime varied depending upon their caste background
with lower castes being more harshly penalized.
(vii) The British colonialists introduced the rule of law in India. The colonial rule was
arbitrary.
(viii) The British law of the Sedition Act of 1870 set a perfect example of the arbitrariness.
(ix) Under this Act, a person protesting or ciriticising the British government could be
arrested without due trial.
(x) Indian nationalists began protesting and criticizing the arbitrary use of authority by
the British.
(xi) They 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.
(xii) By the end of 19th century, the Indian legal profession began emerging and demanded
respect in colonial courts.
(xiii) Indian judges began to play a greater role in making decisions.
(xiv) With the adoption of the constitution, laws for the country began to the made by the
representatives.
• How Do New Laws Come About:
(i) The Parliament has an important role in making laws.
(ii) An important role of Parliament is to be sensitive to the problems faced by people.
 (iii) The issue of domestic violence was brough to the attention of the Parliament and the
process adopted for this issue to become law.
(iv) The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 was implemented to
protect women from being abused and injured by male.
(v) The role of citizens is crucial in helping Parliament frame different concerns that
people migh have into laws.
• Unpopular and Controversial Laws:
(i) Sometimes the Parliament passes laws that turn out to be very popular.
(ii) Sometimes a law can be constitutionally valid and legal, but it can continue to be
popular and unacceptable to people because they feel that the intention behind it is
unfair and harmful.
(iii) People might criticize this law, hold public meetings, write about it in newspaper,
report to TV news channels etc.
(iv) In a democracy, citizens can express their unwillingness to accept repressive laws
framed by the Parliament.
(v) When a large member of people begin to feel that a wrong law has been passed, then
there is pressure on the Parliament to change this.
(vi) If the law favours one group and disregards the other, it will be controversial and lead
to conflict.
(vii) The court has the power to modify or cancel laws if it finds that they don’t adhere to
the Constitution.
(viii) In India, people have the right to protest against unjust laws.
 Chapter – 05 Civics
Judiciary

• What is the Role of the Judiciary:

(i) The judicial system provides a mechanism for resolving disputes between citizens,
citizens and the government, two state governments and the central and state
governments.
(ii) The judiciary has the power to strike down particular laws passed by the Parliament if
it believes that these are a violation of the basis structure of the Constitution. This is
called judicial review.
(iii) Every citizen of India can approach the Supreme Court or the High Court if his/her
Fundamental Rights have been violated.
• What is an Independent Judiciary:
(i) India has an independence of the judiciary that allows the courts to play a centra role
in ensuring that there is no moisture of power by the legislature and the executive.
(ii) It 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 isolated.
• What is the Structure of Courts in India:
(i) There are three different levels of courts in our country.
(ii) At district level, we have subordinate or district courts. At the state level, we have
several High Courts. The High Court is the highest judicial authority in a state. At the
top is the Supreme Court.
(iii) The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial authority. It is located in New Delhi
and is presided over the Chief Justice of India. The decisions made by the Supreme
Court are binding on all other courts in India.
(iv) In India, we have an integrated judicial system, meaning that the decision made by
higher courts are binding on the lower Courts.
• What are the Different branches of the Legal System:
(i) Court cases are broadly divided into civil cases and criminal cases.
(ii) Civil laws deals with any harm or injury to rights to individuals.
(iii) Criminal law deals with the conduct or acts that the law defines as offences.
 (iv) In civil cases, a petition has to be filled before the relevant court by the affected party
only.
(v) In criminal cases, it usually begins with the lodging of our First Information Report
(FIR) with the police who investigate the crime after which a case is filled in the court.
• Does Everyone Have Access to the Couts:
(i) In principle, all citizens of India can access the courts in this coutry. This implies that
every citizen has a right to justice through the courts.
(ii) Legal procedures involve a lot of money and paper work which take up a lot of time.
Poor people often avoid to go the court to get justice.
(iii) The Supreme Court devised a mechanism of Public Interest Litigation or (PIL) to
increase access to justice in 1980’s. It allowed any individual or organization to file a
PIL in the High Court or the Supreme Court on behalf of those whose right were being
violated.
(iv) The legal process was simplified and even a letter or telegram addressed to the
Supreme Court or the High Court could be treated as a PIL.
(v) The court exercise a crucial role in interpreting a Fundamental Rights of Citizens.
(vi) The judiciary serves as a check on the powers of the executive and the legislature and
protecting the Fundamental Rights of the citizens.
 Chapter – 06 Civics
Understandign Our Criminal Justice System

• There are four people who play a key role in our criminal justice system. They are Police,
Public Prosecutor, the Defence Lawyer and the Judge.
• What is the Role of Police in Investing a Crime:
(i) The important function of the police is to investigate any complaint about the
combination of a crime.
(ii) An investigation includes recording statements of witness and collecting different
kinds of evidence.
(iii) If the police think that the evidence points to the guilt of the accused person, then they
file a chargesheet in the court.
(iv) The police investigations always have to be conducted in accordance with law and full
respect for human rights.
(v) Article 22 of the Constitution and criminal law guarantee to every arrested person the
following Fundamental Rights.
(vi) The Right to be informed at the time of arrest of the offence for which the person is
being arrested.
(vii) The Right not to be ill treated or tortured during arrest or in custody.
(viii) Conffessions made in police custody cannot be used as evidence against the accused. (
ix) 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:
(i) In court, Public Prosecutor represents the interests of the State.
(ii) The role of the Public Prosecutor begins once the police has conducted the
investigation and filed the chargesheet in the court.
(iii) The Public Prosecutor must conduct the prosecution on behalf of the State.
(iv) The Public Prosecutor is expected to act impartially and present the full and material
facts, witnesses and evidence before the court.
• What is the Role of the Judge:
(i) The judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the
prosecution and the defence.
(ii) The judge decides whether the accused person is guilty or innocent on the basis of the
evidence presented and in accordance with the law.
(iii) If the accused is convicted, the judge pronounces the sentence.
• What is a Fair Trial:
(i) According to 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.
(ii) A fair trial ensures that Article 21 of the Constitution is upheld.
(iii) Every citizen, irrespective of his class, caste, gender, religious and ideological
backgrounds should get a fair trial when accused.
(iv) The rule of law 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.
 Chapter – 07 Civics
Understanding Marginalisation

• What does it mean to be Socially Marginalised:

(i) To be marginalized it t be forced to occupy the sides or fringes and thus not be at the
centre of things.
(ii) Sometimes marginalized groups are viewd with hostility and fear.
(iii) To make certain groups in society feel marginalized, there are economic, social,
cultural and political factors. Thus, marginalization is seldom experienced in one
sphere.
• Who are Adivasis:
(i) The term ‘Adivasis’ refers to the original inhabitants.
(ii) Adivasis are communities who lived and often continue to live in close association
with forests.
(iii) Adivasis are particularly numerous in states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan,
Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, and in the north-eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh,
Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. Orrisa is home to more
than sixty different tribal groups.
(iv) Adivasis practice a range of tribal religions that are different from Islam, Hinduisma
and Christianity.
(v) Adivasis worship ancestors, own village and nature spirits. They have been influenced
by different religions, like Shakta, Buddhist, Vaishnav, Bhakti and Christianity.
(vi) Adivasis have their own languages, Santhali has the largest number of speakers and
has a significant body of publication.
• Adivasis and Stereotyping:
(i) Adivasis are invariably portrayed in very stereotypical ways-in colourful costumes,
headgear and through their dancing.
(ii) Adivasis are blamed for their lack of advancement as they are believed to be resistant
to change or new ideas.
(iii) People believe that the Adivasis have a primitive background.
• Adivasis and Development:
(i) Forests play a crucial role in the development of all empires and settled civilization in
India.
(ii) Adivasis had deep knowledge of forest. Often empires heavily depended on Adivasis
for the crucial access to forest resources.
(iii) In today’s world. Adivasis are considered marginal and powerless communities.
(iv) In the pre-colonial world, they were traditionally ranged hunter-gatherers and
nomads and they lived by shifting agriculture and cultivating at one place.
 (v) For the past two hundred years, Adivasis have been forced through economic
changes, forest policies and political force applied by State to migrate as workers in
plantations, industries and as domestic workers.
(vi) Forest lands have been cleared for timber and to get land for agriculture and industry.
(vii) Huge tracts of lands have gone under the waters of hundreds of dams that have been
built in independent India.
(viii) Losign their lands and access to the forests means that tribals lose their main source
of livelihood and Adivasis have migrated to cities in search of work.
(ix) They get caught in the cycle of poverty and deprivation. Almost 45% of tribal groups
in rural areas and 35% in urban areas live below the poverty line.
• Minorities and Marginalisation:
(i) The term minority is most commonly used to refer to communities that are
numerically small in relation to the rest of the population.
(ii) Safeguards are needed to protect minority communities against the possibility of
being culturally dominated by the majority.
(iii) 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:
(i) Muslims are 13.4% of India’s population and are considered to be a marginalized
community in India.
(ii) They have over the years been deprived of the benefits of socio-economic
development. They have been deprived of basic amenities, literacy and public
employment.
(iii) Recognizing that Muslims in India were lagging behind in terms of various
development in indicators, the government set up a high-level committee in 2005.
(iv) The report of the community suggests that Muslim community is comparable to that
of other marginalized communities like Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
(v) Muslim customs and practices such as wearing burqa and fez make them different
from others. Because of this, they tend to be identified differently and some people
think they are not like the ‘rest of us’. This often becomes an excuse to treat them
unfarily.
(vi) This social marginalization of Muslims in some instances has led to their migration
from places where they have lived, often leading to the ghettorisation of the
community.
• Conclusion:
(i) In India, there are several more marginalized communities like Dalits.
(ii) Marginalized communities want to maintain their cultural distinctiveness while
having access to rights, development and other opportunities.
 Chapter – 08 Civics
Confronting Marginalisation

• Invoking Fundamental Rights:

(i) The Fundamental Constitutional Rights are equally available to all Indians including
marginalized groups.
(ii) 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.

(iii) Mnay among them look up to the Constitution to address their concerns.
(iv) By insisting on their Fundamental Rights , they have forced the government to
(v) The struggles of the marginalized groups have influenced the government to frame
recognize the injustice done to them and they have insisted that the government
new laws, in keeping with the spirit of the Fudamental Rights.
should enforce these laws.
(vi) Article 17 of the Constituion states that untouchability has been abolished.
(vii) This means that no one can henceforth prevent Dalit from educating themselves,
entering temples, using public facilities, etc.
(viii) Article 15 of the Constitution states 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.
• Laws for the Marginalised Goups:
(i) There are specific laws and policies for the marginalized groups in our country.
(ii) The government makes an effort to promote such policies to give opportunities to
specific groups.
(iii) The government tries to promote social justice by providing for free or subsidized
hostels for the students of Dalit and Adivasi communities.
(iv) The reservation policy is significant and highly contentious.
(v) The laws which reserve seats in education and government employment for Dalits
and Adivasis are based or an important argument that in a society like ours, where for
centuries sections of the population have been denied opportunities to learn and to
work in order to develop new skills or assist these sections.
(vi) Governments across India have their list of Scheduled Castes or Dalits, Scheduled
Tribes and backward and most backward castes. The cenral government too has its
list.
(vii) 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:
 (i) Our country has specific laws that guard against the discrimination and exploitation of
marginalized communities.
(ii) The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was
framed in 1989 to protect Dalits and Adivasis against the domination and violence of
the powerful castes.
(iii) A number of assertive Dalit groups came into being and asserted their rights-they
refused to perform their so-called caste duties and insisted on being treated equally.
(iv) In the 1970’s and 1980’s Adivasi people successful organized themselves and
demanded equal rights and for their land resources to be returned to them.
(v) This Act distinguishes several levels of crimes.
(vi) It lists-modes of humiliation that are both physically horrific and morally
reprehensible.
(vii) Actions that disposess Dalits and Adivasis of their meagre resources or which force
them into performing slave labour.
(viii) Crime against Dalit and tribal women are of a specific kind and therefore seeks to
penalize who use force on these women.
(ix) Manual scavenging referes to the practice of removing human and animal
water/excreta using brooms, tin plates and baskets from dry latrines and carrying it
on the head to the disposal ground some distance away.
(x) In 1993, the government passed the Employment of Manual Scavengers and
Contruction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act. This law prohibits the employment of
manual scavengers as well as the construction of Dry latrines.
• Adivasis Demands and the 1989 Act
(i) The 1989 Act is important because Adivasi refer to it to defend their right to occupy
land that was traditionally theirs.
(ii) Adivasis often unwilling to move from their land, are forcibly displaces.
(iii) This act merely confirms that the land belonging to the tribal people cannot be sold to
or bought by non-tribal people.

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 Chapter – 09 Civics
Public Facilities

• Water and the People of Chennai:

(i) Mr Ramgopal lives in Anna Nagar, Chennai. This area looks lish and green with lawns
maintained by a generous spraying of water.
(ii) Likewise, in an apartment where Mr Subramaniam lives water supply is inadequate.
They have to spend Rs 500-600 per month to buy water.
(iii) Water as a public utility is available in different quanta to different people.
• Water as Part of the Fundamental Rights to Life:
(i) Water is essential for life and for good health.
(ii) India has one of the largest number of causes of water related diseases such as
diarrhea dysentery, cholera.
(iii) The Constitution of India recognizes the right to water as being a part of the Right to
Life under Article 21.
(iv) The High Courts and Supreme Court have held that the right to safe drinking water is
a Fundamental Right.
• Public Facilities:
(i) Things like electricity, public transport, schools and colleges, etc. are known as public
facilities.
(ii) Public facilities are provided so that its benefits can be shared by many people.
• The Government’s Role:
(i) One of the most important functions of the government is to ensure that these public
facilities are made available to everyone.
(ii) Private companies operate for profit in the market. Public facilities relate to people’s
basic needs.
(iii) The main source of revenue for the government is the taxes collected from the people
and the government is empowered to collect these taxes and use them for such
programmes.
 (iv) For instance, to supply water, the government has to incur costs in pumping water,
carrying it over long distances, laying down pipes for its distribution, treating the
water for impurities and finally collecting and treating waste water.
(v) It meets these expenses partly from the various taxes that it collects and partly by
charging a price for water. This price for water. This price is set so that most people
can afford a certain minimum amount of water for daily use.
• Water supply to Chennai: is it Available to All:
(i) Water supply in Chennai is marked by shortage. Municipal supply meets only about
half the needs of the people of the city, on an average.
(ii) The burden of shortfalls in water supply falls mostly on the poor.
(iii) In search of Alternatives.
(iv) The Scenario of shortage and acute crisis during the summer months is common to
other cities of India.
(v) A shortage of municipal water is often taken as a sign of failure of the government.
(vi) Throughout the world, water supply is the responsibility of the government. There
are very few instances of private water supply.
(vii) There are areas in the world where public water supply.
• Conclusion:
(i) Public facilities relate to our basic needs and the Indian Constitution has recognized
the right to water, health, education, etc. as being a part of the Right to Life.
(ii) The major role of the government is to ensure adequate public facilities for everyone.
 Chapter – 10 Civics
Law and Social Justice

• To protect people from exploitation the government makes certain laws. These laws try to
ensure that the unfair practices are kept at a minimum in the markets.
• To ensure that workers are not underpaid but are paid fairly, there is a low on minimum
wages.
• There are laws that protect the interests of producers and consumers in the market.
• The government has to ensure that these laws are implemented which means that the law
must be enforced.
• Enforcement becomes even more important when the laws, the government can control the
activities of individuals or private companies so as to ensure social justice.
• Fundamental Rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution like ‘Right against Exploitation’
say that no one can be forced to work for low wages or under bondage.
• The Constitution lays down ‘no child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work in
any factory or mines or engaged in any other hazardous employment.
• Bhopal Gas Tragedy:
(i) The world’s worst industrial tragedy took place in Bhopal 24 years ago.
(ii) Union Carbide (UC) an American company had a factory in the city in which it
produced pesticides. MIC, a highly poisonous gas, started leaking on 2 December
1984, at midnight from the factory.
(iii) Within three days more than 8,000 people were dead, Hundreds of thousands were
maimed.
(iv) Us stopped its operations but left behind tons of toxic chemicals.
(v) 24 years later, people are still fighting for justice, for safe drinking water, for
healthcare facilities and jobs for the people poisoned by UC.
• What is a Worker’s worth:
(i) Foreign companies come to India for cheaper labour.
(ii) Wages in USA are higher than that compared to workers in poorer countries like in
India.
(iii) For lower pay, companies can get longer hours of work.
(iv) Cost cutting can be done by other more dangerous means, e.g., lower working
conditions including lower safety measures are used as ways of cutting costs.
(v) Since there is as much unemployement, there are many workers who are willing to
work in unsafe conditions in return for a wage.
• Enforcement of Safety Laws:
(i) As the lawmaker and enforcer, the government is supposed to ensure that safety laws
are implemented.
(ii) It is the duty of the government to ensure that the Right to Life guaranteed under
Article 21 of the Constitution is not violated.
 (iii) Instead of protecting the interests of the people, their safety was being disregared
both by the government and by private companies.
(iv) With more industries being set up both by local and foreign business in India, there is
a great need for stronger laws protecting workers rights and better enforcement of
these laws.
• New Laws to Protect the Environment:
(i) In 1984, there were very few laws protecting environment in India and there was
hardly any enforcement of these laws.
(ii) Environment was treated as a ‘free’ entity and industry could pollute the air and
water without any restricted.
(iii) Whether it was our rivers, air or groundwater the environment was being polluted
and the health of people disregarded.
(iv) The polluter was to be held accountable for the damage done to environment.
(v) The Government is responsible for setting up laws and procedures that can check
pollution, clean rivers and introduce heavy fines for those who pollute.
• Environment as a Public Facility:
(i) Environment issue in India has highlighted the fact that the growing concern for the
environment among the middle classes is often at the expense of the poor.
(ii) The challenge is to look for solutions where everyone can benefit from a clean
environment.
(iii) The government has to encourage and support factories to gradually move to cleaner
technologies.
(iv) This will ensure that the workers livelihoods are protected and both workers and
communities living around the factories enjoy a safe environment.
• Conclusion:
(i) Laws are necessary in many situations, whether this be the market, office or factory
so as to protect people from unfair practices.
(ii) Laws that are weak and poorly enforced can cause serious harm.
(iii) While the government has a leading role in the respect, people can exert pressure so
that both private companies and the government act in the interests of society.