Class 8 History Chapter 10 India After Independence Extra Questions and Answers are provided here. These Extra Questions with solution are prepared by our team of expert teachers who are teaching in CBSE schools for years. Extra questions for Class 8 History Chapter 10 will help you to properly understand a particular concept of the chapter.

India After Independence Class 8 History Extra Questions and Answers

Very Short Answer Type Question

1. Write any two subjects of the State List.

Answer: Education and Health

2. Write any two subjects of the Concurrent List.

Answer:  Forests and Agriculture

3. When was Indian Constitution adopted?

Answer: The Indian Constitution was adopted on 26 January 1950.

4. Who is called the father of Indian Constitution?

Answer:  Dr. B.R. Ambedkar is called the father of Indian Constitution.

5. When did new state of Andhra Pradesh come into existence?
Or
When did the new state of Andhra Pradesh come into being?

Answer: On 1 October 1953, the new state of Andhra Pradesh came into being.

6. What was the basic objective of foreign policy of independent India?

Answer: The basic objective of foreign policy of independent India was Non-alignment.

7. Who was the first deputy prime minister of Independent India?

Answer: Vallabhbhai Patel was the first deputy prime minister of Independent India.

8. When was the Bhilai Steel Plant set up?

Answer: The Bhilai steel plant was set up with the help of the former Soviet Union in 1959.

9. Who was Potti Sriramulu?

Answer: Potti Sriramulu was the Gandhian leader who died fasting for a separate state for Telugu speakers.

10. What were the points of focus of the Second Five Year Plan?

Answer: Second Five Year Plan focused strongly on the development of heavy industries such as steel, and on the building of large dams.

11. How was the Bhilai steel plant seen?

Answer: The Bhilai steel plant came to be seen as an important sign of the development of modern India after Independence.

Short Answer Type Questions

1. What was the role of the Planning Commission?

Answer: In 1950, the government set up a Planning Commission to help design and execute suitable policies for economic development.

2. Which step has been described as revolutionary?

Answer: One feature of the Constitution was its adoption of universal adult franchise. All Indians above the age of 21 would be allowed to vote in state and national elections. This was a revolutionary step – for never before had Indians been allowed to choose their own leaders.

3. Who was Mira Behn? Find out more about her life and her ideas.

Answer: Madeleine Slade, also known as Mirabehn or Meera Behn, was a British woman who left her home in Britain to live and work with Mohandas Gandhi, the leader of the Indian Independence Movement. She devoted her life to human development and the advancement of Gandhi’s principles. She was the daughter of the British Rear-Admiral Sir Edmond Slade.

4. What did Dr Ambedkar mean when he said that “In politics we will have equality, and in social and economic life we will have inequality”?

Answer: Through this statement in his final speech to the Constituent Assembly, Dr Ambedkar pointed out that political democracy had to be accompanied by economic and social democracy. Giving the right to vote would not automatically lead to the removal of other inequalities such as between rich and poor, or between upper and lower castes.

5. What was the level of development of India at the time it got independence?

Answer: At Independence, the vast majority of Indians lived in the villages. Farmers and peasants depended on the monsoon for their survival. So did the non-farm sector of the rural economy, for if the crops failed, barbers, carpenters, weavers and other service groups would not get paid for their services either. In the cities, factory workers lived in crowded slums with little access to education or health care.

6. Give one reason why English continued to be used in India after Independence.

Answer: In the Assembly, T.T. Krishnamachari conveyed “a warning on behalf of people of the South”, some of whom threatened to separate from India if Hindi was imposed on them. A compromise was finally arrived at: namely, that while Hindi would be the “official language” of India, English would be used in the courts, the services, and communications between one state and another.

Long Answer Type Questions

1. Name three problems that the newly independent nation of India faced.

Answer: The three problems that the newly independent nation of India faced were:

• As a result of Partition, 8 million refugees had come into the country from what was now Pakistan. These people had to be found homes and jobs.
• Maharajas or nawabs of princely states (almost 500) had to be persuaded to join the new nation.
• The new nation had to adopt a political system that would best serve the hopes and expectations of its population.

2. How have the powers and functions of the central and state governments have been divided by the constitution?
Or
How does the Constitution divide power between central and state governments?
Or
How are the powers divided between state and Centre?

Answer:  The Constitution of India provides for a division of powers between the Union (Centre) and states. It divides all the subjects into 3 lists: a Union List, with subjects such as taxes, defence and foreign affairs, which would be the exclusive responsibility of the Centre; a State List of subjects, such as education and health, which would be taken care of principally by the states; a Concurrent List, under which would come subjects such as forests and agriculture, in which the Centre and the states would have joint responsibility.

3. What created the problems in unifying the people of India after it got independence?

Answer: The problems were:

• India’s population in 1947 was large, almost 345 million. It was also divided. There were divisions between high castes and low castes, between the majority Hindu community and Indians who practised other faiths.
• The citizens of this vast land spoke many different languages, wore many different kinds of dress, ate different kinds of food and practised different professions.

4. After Independence, why was there a reluctance to divide the country on linguistic lines?

Answer: Back in the 1920s, the Indian National Congress had promised that once the country won independence, each major linguistic group would have its own province. However, after independence the Congress did not take any steps to honour this promise. There was a reason for this. India had been divided on the basis of religion. As a result of the partition of India, more than a million people had been killed in riots between Hindus and Muslims. Country could not afford further divisions on the basis of language. Both Prime Minister Nehru and Deputy Prime Minister Vallabhbhai Patel were against the creation of linguistic states.

5. What special privileges were offered to the poorest and most disadvantaged Indians by the constitutions?

Answer: It offered special privileges for the poorest and most disadvantaged Indians.

• The practice of untouchability was abolished.
• Hindu temples, previously open to only the higher castes, were thrown open to all, including the former untouchables.
• A certain percentage of seats in legislatures as well as jobs in government be reserved for members of the lowest castes.
• Along with the former Untouchables, the adivasis or Scheduled Tribes were also granted reservation in seats and jobs.

6. Under what circumstances a compromise was made with respect to language?
Or
Why a compromise was made with respect to language?

Answer: Many members believed that the English language should leave India with the British rulers. Its place, they argued, should be taken by Hindi. However, those who did not speak Hindi were of a different opinion. Speaking in the Assembly, T.T. Krishnamachari conveyed “a warning on behalf of people of the South”, some of whom threatened to separate from India if Hindi was imposed on them. A compromise was finally arrived at: namely, that while Hindi would be the “official language” of India, English would be used in the courts, the services, and communications between one state and another.

7. Under what circumstances a new state of Andhra Pradesh came into being
Or
How did Andhra Pradesh come into being?

Answer: The Kannada speakers, Malayalam speakers, the Marathi speakers, had all looked forward to having their own state. The strongest protests, however, came from the Telugu-speaking districts of what was the Madras Presidency. When Nehru went to campaign there during the general elections of 1952, he was met with black flags and slogans demanding “We want Andhra”. In October of that year, a veteran Gandhian named Potti Sriramulu went on a hunger fast demanding the formation of Andhra state to protect the interests of Telugu speakers. As the fast went on, it attracted much support. Hartals and bandhs were observed in many towns. On 15 December 1952, fifty-eight days into his fast, Potti Sriramulu died. The protests were so widespread and intense that the central government was forced to give in to the demand. Thus, on 1 October 1953, the new state of Andhra Pradesh came into being.

8. How was the economic development of India visualised in the early decades after Independence?

Answer: The economic development of India in the early decades after Independence:

• In 1950, the government set up a Planning Commission to help design and execute suitable policies for economic development.
• There was a broad agreement on what was called a “mixed economy” model. Here, both the State and the private sector would play important and complementary roles in increasing production and generating jobs.
• It was on Planning Commission to define which industries should be initiated by the state and which by the market, how to achieve a balance between the different regions and states.
• In 1956, the Second Five Year Plan was formulated. This focused strongly on the development of heavy industries such as steel, and on the building of large dams.
• These sectors would be under the control of the State. This focus on heavy industry, and the effort at state regulation of the economy was to guide economic policy for the next few decades.