Social Studies Answer the following questions in details.

1. The Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, prevents injustice against the people belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes.
2. If any act of atrocity is committed against them, then the guilty person is liable for punishment.

1. In 2005, the Parliament of India enacted new legislation called the ‘Right to Information Act.
2. The main objective of the Right to Information Act is to empower the citizens, promote transparency and accountability in the working of the Government and make our democracy work for the people in a real sense.
3. It increases people’s participation in administration. It also makes administration more responsive to the requirements of people. This increased communication between citizens and government helps in strengthening democracy and in building a relationship of trust between them.
4. Thus, the Right to Information is a big step towards making the citizens informed about the functioning of the Government. Also, it has made the government more transparent and has reduced the element of secrecy in the working of the government.

1. Sometimes elections are conducted in the constituency by Election Commission under special circumstances as follows:

1. If an elected representative in Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly), or local self-government resigns.
2. If there is a vacant seat on account of his/her death.

2. Under both the above circumstances, the elections are held for the vacant seat. This is called a by-election.

1. Consumers face different problems on account of the changing nature of social and economic systems.
2. Some of these problems include adulteration, increased cost of items, frauds in weight and measures, etc.
3. Therefore, the Consumer Protection Act, that came into existence in 1986 led to the emergence of the consumer movement in India.
4. It works to protect consumers from various types of fraud.

1. Regional parties are groups in the region that are proud of their distinct identity of their region and who compete to obtain political power with the objective of the development of their region.
2. For a political party to become a regional party,
   a. It should secure a minimum of 6% of valid votes in the earlier Lok Sabha or State
   b. Assembly elections and a minimum of 2 members should be elected in the Vidhan Sabha or State Assembly.
   c. The party should secure a minimum of 3% of seats out of the total seats of Vidhan Sabha or State Assembly or a minimum of 3 seats.
3. Regional parties focus their attention on resolving regional problems. They demand more autonomy and authority for the development of the region. They co-operate with the federal government while still protecting their autonomy. Moreover, they influence national politics as well.
4. They demand that the regional issues should be handled at the regional level itself, political power should be in the hands of the people of the region, and residents of the region should get preference in administration and jobs.
5. Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference in Kashmir, Assam Gan Parishad in Assam, and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam are some major regional parties in India.

The Election Commission holds midterm elections under the following circumstances:

• If the elected government loses its majority before completing its term in the Parliament.
• If the parties of the coalition government withdraw their support resulting in the loss of majority support for the government.
• If no alternative government is possible.

1. The latter half of the 19th century saw the rise of the textile industry and railway companies in India. The workers demanded solutions to issues faced like unstable employment conditions, contract labour, financial insecurity, absence of legal protection, unlimited working hours, insecurity at the workplace, health hazards, etc.
2. The railway workers went on strike in 1899 for the fulfilment of their demands.
3. Later, in 1920 the first organization, named All India Trade Union Congress was established for resolving the issues of workers. The workers’ movement became more active and organized several agitations in the post-independence period around the 1960s and 1970s.
4. However, in the 1980s, these movements started getting disintegrated. They were mainly affected by globalization.

1. National parties are political parties that exist in democratic regimes; they are social organisations with the goal of gaining political power.
2. It secures a minimum of 6% of the valid votes in four or more states in the earlier Lok Sabha or State Assembly elections.
3. A minimum of 4 members should be elected in the Loksabha from any state or state in the earlier elections.
4. The candidates of a party should be elected from a minimum of 2% of constituencies out of the total Loksabha constituencies (543).
5. The candidates should be selected from at least 3 states.
6. Some of the national parties in India are the Indian National Congress, the Communist Party of India, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Nationalist Congress Party, and All India Trinamool Congress Party.

1. The right of the tribal people to forest resources for their livelihood was deprived by the British government in the pre-independence period.
2. This led to an uprising among various tribes in the country including Kolam from Chota Nagpur, Gond from Orissa, Koli, Bhilla, and Ramoshi from Maharashtra, Santhal, and Munda from Bihar, known as a tribal movement. Since then the tribal struggle has continued.
3. The tribal movement mainly demanded their right over forests. They were of the opinion that they should be allowed to collect products of forests and also have a right to cultivate on forest land.

1. Regionalism arises when the feeling of affinity develops for a language and region which gradually turns into an identity consciousness.
2. Here, people mainly think about the interest and development of their own region and believe that they should have claim over resources and employment opportunities of their region.
3. Due to this, they feel proud about their language, literature, traditions, history of social reforms, educational and cultural movements. This leads to the development of a ‘linguistic identity'.
4. When such linguistic, regional, cultural and other identities get connected, a strong feeling emerges; which is called ‘regional consciousness’.
5. This sometimes gives rise to independent political parties or pressure groups or movements.

1. Lok Sabha consists of 543 members.
2. Every member represents one constituency. This means that there are 543 constituencies of Lok Sabha.
3. These constituencies are created by the Delimitation Commission of the Election Commission.
4. The Delimitation Commission does not succumb to any pressure while restructuring the constituencies.