NCERT Solutions for Class 9th Social Science Chapter 7 End of chapter — Questions and activities

The chapter says the ECI's inclusion measures work along two lines — infrastructure accessibility and technology-assisted inclusion — aimed particularly at Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), senior citizens, transgender persons and Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). Group by group:

a. People with Disabilities (PwDs)

• Accessible polling stations — ramps, wheelchairs and volunteers to guide voters to the booth, as the case study in Question 8 describes.
• EVMs with Braille (Fig. 7.7), so a voter with a visual impairment can identify the candidate's position on the machine independently.
• The Saksham App, which the chapter says offers customised services to ease voter identification and registration for PwDs, and helps them register and find their polling station.
• Voting from home for PwDs with a benchmark disability of 40%, which the chapter records was extended across India for the first time during the 2024 General Elections.

b. Service Voters

• ETPBS — the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System. It was developed for service voters and allows them to receive and cast their postal ballot electronically from anywhere outside their own constituency. The ballot is transmitted electronically and returned by post, which gives a voter on distant duty enough time to actually use it.

c. Senior citizens above 85 years of age

• Voting from home (Fig. 7.8), also extended across India for the first time during the 2024 General Elections. A polling team visits the elector's residence with the ballot, so age or frailty no longer decides whether the vote is cast.

d. Prisoners

The chapter describes no inclusion measure for this group, and it is important not to invent one. Under the Representation of the People Act, 1951 — the Act the chapter names as governing voting procedures — a person who is confined in a prison, whether under a sentence or otherwise, or who is in the lawful custody of the police, is not entitled to vote at any election while that confinement lasts. So the position is a legal disqualification during confinement, not a facility that has been extended.

e. Persons in preventive detention

Preventive detention is treated differently from imprisonment. A person under preventive detention retains the right to vote, and votes by postal ballot rather than in person, since they cannot come to the polling station. The distinction is deliberate: preventive detention is not punishment for a proved offence, so the electoral right is preserved and only the manner of voting changes.

The Constitution vests in the ECI the superintendence, direction and control of the entire process for the conduct of elections (Articles 324–329). It is an autonomous permanent constitutional body, established on 25 January 1950, and it conducts the elections to the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha, the Vidhan Sabha, the Vidhan Parishad, the President and the Vice President of India.

Its functions, as the chapter sets them out

Which is most important? This calls for a judgement, so give one and defend it. The preparation and revision of an accurate electoral roll is the foundation on which every other function rests.

Yes — with one important qualification that the chapter itself supplies.

Why the statement is true. The chapter's recap puts it in these words: "Elections are the soul of democracy as they give every citizen an equal voice in the formation of a government." Four things follow, and none of them is available in any other way:

• Consent. A government's right to rule comes from a mandate that has to be asked for, not assumed.
• Accountability. Because the term is fixed at five years, representatives must return to the voters and answer for their record — which is why Gurmat cannot simply continue as CR, and a government cannot continue beyond its term.
• Equality. Every adult citizen has one vote, whatever their wealth, religion, caste, language or region. Nowhere else in public life are people counted so exactly equally.
• Peaceful change. A government can be replaced by counting votes instead of by force — and the chapter shows even the losing side keeping a defined role, as the Opposition that ensures accountability (Fig. 7.11).

The qualification. The chapter is careful not to say that holding an election is enough. On page 169 it warns that if candidates are influenced by personal favours, votes are not counted accurately, or some people cannot exercise their right to vote, then "although elections may be held, their democratic value is reduced. This shows that democracy is not only limited to conducting elections, but also in ensuring that the electoral process is inclusive, impartial, and trustworthy." Page 161 adds the other half: with only one party contesting, a vote cannot express a choice at all.

The differences follow from the recognition criteria the ECI applies (Fig. 7.12). Here are four.

Work two of the thresholds out, so the wording becomes concrete.

There is no single correct order here — the question asks for your ranking and, more importantly, for the reasons behind it. What makes an answer good is that each position is justified, and that the justification draws on the chapter rather than on feeling alone.

Method

1. Read all four options and ask of each: what would be lost if this reason disappeared?
2. Rank them by how much would be lost, not by which sounds best.
3. Write one sentence of reasoning per rank, and tie it to something the chapter says.
4. Compare your order with a classmate's. If you disagree, work out whether you disagree about the facts or about what matters more — that difference is the discussion the question wants.

Sample answer: my order is a → c → d → b.

The Special Intensive Revision is the ECI's exercise of updating, verifying and correcting the electoral rolls — a thorough re-checking of the list of voters rather than a routine addition of new names.

Objectives

• To ensure that no eligible citizen is left out of the roll — in particular young voters who have just turned 18, whom the chapter singles out as likely to be missed through lack of awareness.
• To ensure that no ineligible person is included. The SIR deletes names on four stated grounds: death of the voter, change of residence, duplicate enrolment, and the voter being permanently untraceable.
• To settle disagreements fairly: the ECI gives time to raise claims or objections against the revised roll and disposes of them before publishing the final electoral roll.

Why it is necessary

1. The roll is the gate to the vote. The chapter states that only those whose names appear on the roll are allowed to vote. An omission is therefore not a clerical error — it is the loss of a citizen's vote for that whole election.
2. A population does not stand still. Between two elections people turn 18, people die, families move, and some get enrolled twice. A roll that is not revised drifts further from reality every year.
3. Both kinds of mistake damage the result. Missing names shrink the electorate; duplicate or dead names inflate it. The first weakens representation, the second weakens trust in the count — and the chapter warns that when fairness is not ensured, "public confidence in electoral institutions may gradually weaken."
4. Scale makes accuracy hard. India had over 96.8 crore eligible voters in 2024, spread across diverse regions and terrains. A list that large cannot be kept correct by exception alone; it needs a periodic intensive check.

The symbols printed in the right-hand column of the table on page 180, reading downwards, are: a hand (open palm), an elephant, a broom, a book, a hammer, sickle and star, and a lotus. Matched to the parties in the left-hand column:

a. Initiatives taken by the ECI to enable the voters to cast their vote

Read the passage line by line and each initiative shows up in it:

• Online voter registration — Ishani "had registered to vote through the ECI's online portal", so a first-time voter did not have to travel to an office to get on the roll.
• Security at the polling station — the station was "well guarded by the police personnel", so voters could come without fear. This answers the "intimidation" pothole of Fig. 7.13.
• Accessibility for PwDs — "A wheelchair was made available to them, and volunteers guided them to the polling booth", for her disabled elder brother.
• Alternative identity documents accepted — she had forgotten her voter ID card and Aadhaar card, but "her identity was verified with an alternative document", so a missing card did not cost her the vote.
• VVPAT — "After casting her vote, she was also able to see the VVPAT slip", which lets a voter verify that the vote was recorded for the intended candidate.
• Home voting for the very elderly — her 89-year-old grandmother cast her vote from home, the facility the chapter describes for senior citizens above 85 years of age.

b. Which other document might she be carrying that is valid for voting?

The ECI publishes a list of alternative photo identity documents that a polling officer may accept when the EPIC is not produced. Any one of these would have served, provided it carries her photograph — for example a passport, a driving licence, a PAN card, a bank or post office passbook with photograph, a service identity card with photograph issued by a Central or State Government, PSU or public limited company, a health insurance smart card, an MGNREGA job card, a pension document with photograph, or a Unique Disability ID (UDID) card. Since Ishani is a school or college student, the most likely one in her bag would be a photo identity card issued by her school or college or her passport.

c. Examples of violations of the Model Code of Conduct

The passage is set the day before polling, and that timing is what makes the campaigning in it a problem:

• Campaigning during the silence period — pamphlet distribution and slogan-raising by large groups of campaigners in the market on the day before the poll. Public campaigning must stop 48 hours before the close of polling, so that voters have a quiet period in which to make up their minds.
• Defacement of property — "wall writing and campaign posters pasted everywhere". Writing on and pasting posters on walls without the owner's permission, and on public property, is a Model Code violation.
• Large, unregulated gatherings — processions and loud slogan-raising in a crowded market need prior permission; the chapter notes the ECI's Suvidha app exists precisely so that candidates can apply for permission for meetings, rallies, vehicles and loudspeakers.

Two further violations that the RPA 1951 lists, and that a student should watch for even though the passage does not show them, are any gift, offer or promise made to influence a vote, and appeals on the basis of religion, caste, race, community or language. The chapter also names the remedy: any voter can report a Model Code violation through the cVIGIL app within minutes, and flying squads reach the spot using auto-location.

d. A suitable title for the passage

"Ishani's First Vote" — it names the person, the event and the sense of a first time, which is what holds the passage together.

Other good titles, each defensible: "No Voter to Be Left Behind" (the chapter's own phrase, which fits the wheelchair, the alternative document and the grandmother's home vote), "A Day at the Polling Station", or "Every Vote Finds a Way". When you give a title, add one line saying why it fits — that is what earns the mark.

e. How police and army personnel cast their votes

• Armed forces personnel are registered as service voters in their home constituency and vote by postal ballot. Under ETPBS the ballot is transmitted to them electronically wherever they are posted; they print it, mark it and return it by post in time for the count. Members of a State armed police force serving outside their State, and government employees posted outside India, are service voters on the same footing.
• Police and other officials on election duty within their own State are usually not able to be at their own polling station on polling day. They vote either by postal ballot, or on an Election Duty Certificate, which allows a person on duty to vote at the polling station where they are deployed instead of their own.

First, set out what the chart on page 181 actually says, because both answers depend on reading it carefully.

a. The difference between a voting right in a multi-party system and in a single-party system

In both countries the citizen holds a vote and elections are held periodically. What differs is what that vote is able to do.

So in a multi-party system the vote is a choice and a check; in a single-party system it can at most be an endorsement. The chapter states the principle at the very start of the chapter: asked whether we can exercise our choice if only one political party is contesting, "the answer… is No."

b. In which of the above countries would you like to stay and why?

This asks for a personal opinion, so the mark is for the reasoning, not the country. A good answer must (i) use both dimensions in the chart, political and economic, (ii) say plainly what it is trading away, and (iii) not simply assert that one country is better.

Sample answer: I would choose to stay in Country A. Its standard of living is only average, and both B and C are materially better off, so I am giving something up. But Country A is the only one of the three where I could take part in deciding how the country is run: it has periodic elections with more than one party, so I could choose my representative, reject a non-performing one at the next election, and hear more than one side of every public question. In Country B I would hold a vote but no real choice, and in Country C I would have no vote at all. A high standard of living that I cannot influence depends entirely on those in power continuing to provide it, whereas in Country A, if living standards are poor, citizens have a lawful, peaceful way of demanding change — the next election. I value keeping that power more than the difference in comfort.

The chapter frames the problem by scale first: conducting elections for over 96.8 crore voters (in 2024), with thousands of polling stations and hundreds of political parties, spread across diverse regions and socio-economic realities, is in itself a challenging task. Within that, the specific challenges are these.

What is done about them. The chapter lists the ECI's response: the RPA 1950 and 1951, the Model Code of Conduct, EVMs, the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), voters' awareness campaigns and other measures, backed by the digital tools of Fig. 7.6 — cVIGIL for reporting violations within minutes, ERONET for clean rolls, Suvidha for regulated campaign permissions, and the Voter Helpline and Saksham apps for voters.

This is a role-play. Plan it as a real election with three phases — before, during and after the poll — and give every role a written task so that nobody is merely standing on stage.

What each role does

How to run it

1. Before: the Commissioner announces the dates and the code of conduct; the Returning Officer prepares the roll of voters (the classes entitled to vote) and receives nominations; candidates file papers and get symbols.
2. Campaign: a fixed number of days, with posters only in permitted places, no personal attacks, no inducements of any kind — and a silence period on the day before the poll, as in a real election.
3. Polling day: a sealed ballot box shown empty to all polling agents before polling begins; a screened voting compartment for secrecy; one voter at a time; the box sealed again at the close.
4. Count: in the presence of the polling agents and the Journalist; the result read out and signed by the Returning Officer.
5. After: a short debrief. What worked? Did the code of conduct hold? What would you change next year?

Sample answer — one line of a report the Journalist could file: Polling for Head Girl, Head Boy and Sports Captain was held today in the school hall between 10 a.m. and 12 noon. The ballot box was shown empty to all six polling agents before polling began and was sealed in their presence. Of 240 registered voters, 216 cast their votes, a turnout of 90%. The count began at 12.30 p.m. before the polling agents; the Returning Officer announced the results at 1 p.m., and both losing candidates congratulated the winners.

Treat this as a short scripted piece — 60 to 90 seconds — with one clear message, one piece of evidence from the chapter, and one thing you ask the listener to do.

Method

1. Pick one topic and write it as a single sentence you want the listener to remember.
2. Write a script first. Aim for about 150 words for a 60-second piece; do not improvise on camera.
3. Build it in four beats: hook → the fact → why it matters → the ask.
4. Use only facts from the chapter or from the ECI website, and say your source aloud or on screen. A video about misinformation must not itself carry an unverified claim.
5. Keep it non-partisan. Never name a party, a leader or a candidate. The subject is the process, not the contest.
6. Record in a quiet room, add captions so it is accessible, and keep the file short enough to share.

What a good piece must contain

• One message, not five.
• At least one verifiable fact, correctly attributed.
• A clear call to action a listener can actually carry out.
• Accessible presentation — captions, clear speech, readable text.
• Strict neutrality between parties and candidates.

Sample answer — script for "No Voter to be Left Behind" (about 60 seconds):

[Hook] Imagine reaching eighteen, being eligible to vote — and finding your name is not on the list.
[Fact] India had over ninety-six crore eligible voters in 2024. Only those whose names appear on the electoral roll can vote. That is why the Election Commission conducts the Special Intensive Revision — to make sure no eligible citizen is left out, and no ineligible name is included.
[Why it matters] For a voter with a disability there is an EVM with Braille and a wheelchair at the booth. For a soldier posted far from home there is the electronically transmitted postal ballot. For a citizen above eighty-five there is voting from home, extended across India for the first time in the 2024 General Elections. The system is being redesigned so that no one is left behind.
[The ask] So check the roll. Check it for yourself when you turn eighteen — and check it today for your grandparents and your neighbours. One name restored is one voice restored.
[On screen] Source: NCERT, Understanding Society: India and Beyond, Grade 9 Part 1, Chapter 7; Election Commission of India.

This is a data-collection task, and the whole value of it lies in the sourcing and the arithmetic. Here is the method, the format, and a worked model of how to read the numbers once you have them.

Where each item comes from

Format for the chart

Sample answer — how to work the numbers, using illustrative figures only

Suppose a party contested an Assembly of 90 seats and your report gives: earlier election — 32% of votes, 26 seats, 8 women contested, 3 women elected; later election — 36% of votes, 34 seats, 12 women contested, 6 women elected. Then:

Reading these: a rise of 4 percentage points in votes produced a rise of about 9 percentage points in seat share. That is the FPTP effect the chapter's Electoral Systems table illustrates — under First-Past-The-Post, seats do not move in step with votes, because winning a seat by a small margin counts exactly the same as winning it by a large one.

This is a genuinely contested question and the chapter does not settle it. The task is a structured class debate, so a good answer sets out the strongest form of each case and then says honestly what the disagreement really turns on. Do not use it to argue for or against any party's position.

What the idea means. "One Nation, One Election" is the proposal that elections to the Lok Sabha and to the State Vidhan Sabhas (and in some versions to local bodies) be held together, on a common schedule, instead of separately at different times through the five-year cycle as they are now.

Group 1 — the case that it would improve efficiency

• Cost and machinery. The chapter describes what one election demands: electoral rolls, candidate nominations, campaign regulation, law enforcement, coordination among States, extensive security arrangements, counting and dispute resolution. Doing this once instead of several times would use that machinery fewer times.
• Fewer disruptions to administration. The Model Code of Conduct applies from the announcement of a schedule until the result; frequent, staggered elections mean it is in force somewhere much of the time.
• Teachers, police and officials. The chapter notes that District Magistrates, SDMs, Tahsildars and police personnel are pulled into election duty. Fewer election cycles would mean fewer such diversions from their regular work.
• Voter fatigue. Turnout and attention may be higher when citizens are asked to vote less often.
• Scheduling. The ECI already has to weigh weather, agricultural cycles, examinations and festivals; a single national window would reduce the number of times this puzzle must be solved.

Group 2 — the case that its limitations are serious

• Fixed terms are constitutionally protected. Legislatures are elected for five years and may be dissolved earlier. Synchronising them would require either shortening or extending some Houses' terms — and the chapter's own answer to "can a government continue beyond the prescribed term?" is No.
• What happens when a government falls mid-term? If an Assembly is dissolved after two years, either it stays unrepresented until the next common date, or a fresh election restarts the cycle and the synchronisation is lost again.
• State issues may be crowded out. India's multi-party system, the chapter says, reflects its diversity of languages, cultures, religions and regions. Held together with a national poll, State and local questions could receive less attention in the campaign.
• Accountability points would become fewer. Separate elections give voters several occasions in five years to pass a verdict; a single date reduces those occasions to one.
• Practical load. Polling everywhere at once needs far more EVMs, VVPATs, polling staff and security personnel on the same days, for over 96.8 crore electors.

How to run the debate and close it

1. Each group prepares five points with evidence, not adjectives.
2. Each group must then state the other side's strongest point in its own words before replying to it.
3. Close by identifying what the disagreement actually turns on. Here it turns on a trade-off between administrative efficiency and the flexibility of fixed but separately-timed terms, and on how much weight you give to State-level issues having an election of their own.