‘Challenges of Nation Building NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Political Science Chapter 1‘ PDF Quick download link is given at the bottom of this article. You can see the PDF demo, size of the PDF, page numbers, and direct download Free PDF of ‘Ncert Class 12 Political Science Chapter 1 Exercise Solution’ using the download button.
NCERT Class 12 Political Science Textbook Chapter 1 With Answer PDF Free Download
Chapter 1: Challenges of Nation Building
At the hour of midnight on 14-15 August 1947, India attained independence.
Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of free India, addressed a special session of the Constituent Assembly that night. This was the famous ‘tryst with destiny speech that you are familiar with.
This was the moment Indians had been waiting for. You have read in your history textbooks that there were many voices in our national movement.
But there were two goals almost everyone agreed upon one, that after independence, we shall run our country through democratic government; and two, that the government will be run for the good of all, particularly the poor and the socially disadvantaged groups.
Now that the country was independent, the time had come to realize the promise of freedom. This was not going to be easy.
India was born in very difficult circumstances. Perhaps no other country by then was born in a situation more difficult than that of India in 1947.
Freedom came with the partition of the country. The year 1947 was a year of unprecedented violence and trauma of displacement. It was in this situation that independent India started on its journey to achieve several objectives.
Yet the turmoil that accompanied independence did not make our leaders lose sight of the
multiple challenges that faced the new nation The first and immediate challenge was to shape a nation that was united, yet accommodative of the diversity in our society. India was a land of continental size and diversity.
Its people spoke different languages and followed different cultures and religions.
At that time it was widely believed that a country full of such kinds of diversity could not remain together for long. The partition of the country appeared to prove everyone’s worst fears.
There were serious questions about the future of India: Would India survive as a unified country?
Would it do so by emphasizing national unity at the cost of every other objective? Would it mean rejecting all regional and sub-national identities?
And there was an urgent question: How was the integration of the territory of India to be achieved?
The second challenge was to establish democracy. You have already studied the Indian Constitution. You know that the Constitution granted fundamental rights and extended the right to vote to every citizen.
India adopted representative democracy based on the parliamentary form of government. These features ensure that the political competition would take place in a democratic framework.
A democratic constitution is necessary but not sufficient for establishing a democracy. The challenge was to develop democratic practices in accordance with the Constitution.
The third challenge was to ensure the development and wellbeing of the entire society and not only of some sections. Here again, the Constitution clearly laid down the principle of equality and
special protection to socially disadvantaged groups and religious and cultural communities.
The Constitution also set out in the Directive Principles of State Policy the welfare goals that democratic politics must achieve.
The real challenge now was to evolve effective policies for economic development and eradication of poverty.
How did independent India respond to these challenges? To what extent did India succeed in achieving the various objectives set out by the Constitution? This entire book is an attempt to respond to these questions.
The book tells the story of politics in India since independence so as to equip you to develop your own answers to big questions like these.
In the first three chapters we look at how the three challenges mentioned above were faced in the early years after independence.
| Author | NCERT |
| Language | English |
| No. of Pages | 26 |
| PDF Size | 3.6 MB |
| Category | Political Science |
| Source/Credits | ncert.nic.in |
NCERT Solutions Class 12 Political Science Chapter 1 Challenges of Nation Building
1. How has the princely state of Manipur acceded to India?
Answer: Due to the integration of princely states, Maharaja of Manipur Bodhachandra Singh signed the Instrument of Accession with the Indian Government with the assurance to be maintained the internal autonomy of Manipur:
1. The state became a constitutional Monarchy after it conducted elections in 1948 to become the first state to hold elections based on ‘Universal Adult Franchise’.
2. But sharp differences arose in Legislative Assembly over the question of merger of Manipur with India while the state congress wanted the merger other political parties were opposed to this.
2. Describe briefly any four problems faced in the process of partition of India.
Answer: The process of partition had been started in 1940 when Muslim League Propounded the Two-Nation Theory. This process involved various problems:
1. Areas were supposed to be distributed on the basis of religious majority i.e. Muslim majority areas built on Pakistani territory and the rest stayed with India. It created communal riots in the country.
2. No single belt of the Muslim majority was part of British India. They were concentrated in the East and West. Hence, it was decided that Pakistan will comprise two territories namely East and West Pakistan separated by the long expansion of Indian territory.
3. All Muslim majority areas did not want to be merged with Pakistan
i. e. it was opposed in NWFP. But ultimately NW.FP was made to merge with Pakistan.
4. Another problem belonged to minorities on both sides of the border
i. e. Lakhs of Hindus and Muslims and Sikhs from both sides were left with no option except to leave their homes.
3. Name the states divided on the basis of sub-regional culture.
Answer: In the late 20th century, some state sub-regions raised their voice for separate states to accommodate their regional culture on the ground of complaints of regional imbalances. Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Uttaranchal were created in 2000 on the basis of separate regional cultures only.
4. Explain three challenges that independent India faced during the process of Nation Building.
Answer: India had to face many challenges immediately after she got independence, which can be summed up as follows:
1. Challenge to Shape a Nation: India was divided among various states at the time of independence. Hence a great challenge arose to unity and integrate the country into one bond Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel took it upon himself to integrate these states either wilfully or diplomatically to be completed into different stages.
2. To Establish Democratic Setup: India constituted representative democracy based on a parliamentary form of government and it was a great challenge to develop these democratic practices in the nation.
3. To Ensure Development and Well-Being of the Society: Indian polity made herself to achieve welfare goods with the environment of effective economic policies and eradication of poverty and unemployment.
5. What problems were involved in the integration of princely states during nation-building?
Answer: Integration of princely states possessed many difficulties in front of nation builders:
1. British announced the lapse of British
Paramountcy over princely states with the end of their rule over India.
2. British government took the view that all these states were free to join either India or Pakistan or remain independent wilfully. It became a hindrance to the unity of the nation.
3. Ruler of Travancore declared the state’s independent.
4. Nizam of Hyderabad and Bhopal also followed Travancore.
5. These responses created a possibility of division of the country in place of unity and democracy.
Challenges of Nation Building NCERT Textbook With Solutions PDF Free Download