LAW AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
Learning Objectives:
To analyze the role played by the government in promoting the welfare of the people.
To list and describe the laws made for the welfare of workers, children and consumers.
To analyze how safety and environment laws are enforced.
Short Answer Type Questions
1. What does the right against exploitation state?
Answer: The Right against Exploitation says that no one can be forced to work for low wages or
under bondage.
2. Why do the workers willingly work in unsafe conditions?
Answer: Since there is so much unemployment, there are many workers who are willing to work
in unsafe conditions in return for a wage.
3. Why are companies and contractors able to violate environmental laws?
Answer: Companies and contractors are able to violate environmental laws because these laws are
not strictly enforced.
4. What does Article 21 of the Constitution state?
Answer: Right to Life is a Fundamental Right under Article 21 of the Constitution and it includes
the right to the enjoyment of pollution-free water and air for full enjoyment of life.
5. Who sets the minimum wages?
Answer: The Minimum Wages Act 1948 is an Act of Parliament concerning Indian labour law
that sets the minimum wages that must be paid to skilled and unskilled labours.
6. Why do we need laws?
Answer: We need laws because it protects our general safety, and ensure our rights as citizens
against abuses by other people, by organizations, and by the government itself.
7. Can you suggest some ways in which enforcement can be improved?
Answer: Ways to improve the enforcement
• Recruitment of adequate number of enforcement staff
• Anyone found violating the law must be penalised with a strict punishment
8. What are the problems in enforcement?
Answer: Problems in enforcement are:
• Inadequate staff
• Lack of training
• Large population
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9. What are the three basic rights of workers?
Answer: Basics rights of workers are:
• Right to work
• Right to a fair wage
• Decent work conditions
10. Why do we need a law on minimum wages?
Answer: We need a law on minimum wages so that workers may get fair wages by their
employers. Most often they are denied fair wages by their employers. The employers usually take
advantage of their poverty and pay them low wages.
11. How can the government ensure social justice?
Answer: Through making, enforcing and upholding the laws, the government can control the
activities of individuals or private companies so as to ensure social justice. Many of these laws
have their basis in the Fundamental Rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution.
12. Can you point to a few other situations where laws (or rules) exist but people do not follow
them because of poor enforcement?
Answer: Yes, they are
• Over-speeding by motorists
• Boarding a running bus
• Not using Zebra crossing for crossing the road
13. Why do you think enforcement of safety laws is important in any factory?
Answer: Enforcement of safety laws is important in any factory for the safety of the workers and
general public. As the lawmaker and enforcer, the government is supposed to ensure that safety
laws are implemented. It is also the duty of the government to ensure that the Right to Life
guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution is not violated.
14. Why are advanced countries relocating the toxic and hazardous industries to developing
countries?
Ans. Advanced countries are relocating the toxic and hazardous industries to developing countries
to take advantage of the weaker laws in these countries and keep their own countries safe. South
Asian countries – particularly India, Bangladesh and Pakistan – play hosts for industries producing
pesticides, asbestos or processing zinc and lead.
15. How can the government meet the challenges where everyone can benefit from the clean
environment?
Answer: One way this can be done is to gradually move to cleaner technologies and processes in
factories. The government has to encourage and support factories to do this. It will need to fine
those who pollute. This will ensure that the workers livelihoods are protected and both workers
and communities living around the factories enjoy a safe environment.
16. Point out the role of government and citizens in establishing a state of law and social
justice?
Answer: A major role of the government is to control the activities of private companies by
making, enforcing and upholding laws so as to prevent unfair practices and ensure social justice.
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While the government has a leading role in this respect, people can exert pressure so that both
private companies and the government act in the interests of society.
17. A ‘clean environment is a public facility.’ Can you explain this statement?
Answer: The environment is something that people over generations will share, and it could not
be destroyed merely for industrial development. The courts also gave a number of judgments
upholding the right to a healthy environment as intrinsic to the Fundamental Right to Life. It
includes the right to the enjoyment of pollution-free water and air for full enjoyment of life.
Long Answer Type Questions
1. How can laws ensure that markets work in a manner that is fair? Give two examples to
support your answer.
Answer: To ensure that workers are not underpaid, or are paid fairly, there is a law on minimum
wages. A worker has to be paid not less than the minimum wage by the employer. There are also
laws that protect the interests of producers and consumers in the market. These help ensure that
the relations between these three parties – the worker, consumer and producer – are governed in a
manner that is not exploitative.
2. Suggest ways on how the environment can be protected?
Answer: Ways to protect environment
• Use reusable bags
• Print as little as necessary
• Recycle
• Use a reusable beverage container
• Save electricity!
• Save water
• Avoid taking cars or carpool when possible
3. Write a short note on Child Labour Prevention Act.
Answer: According to the 2001 census, over 12 million children in India aged between 5 and 14
work in various occupations including hazardous ones. In October 2006, the government amended
the Child Labour Prevention Act, banning children under 14 years of age from working as domestic
servants or as workers in dhabas, restaurants, tea shops etc. It made employing these children a
punishable offence. Anyone found violating the ban must be penalised with a punishment ranging
from a jail term of three months to two years and/or fine of Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000.
4. What are the advantages to foreign companies in setting up production in India?
Answer: Advantages to foreign companies in setting up production in India are:
Cheap Labour: India provides cheap labour compare to some other countries. Wages that the
companies pay to workers, say in the U.S.A., are far higher than what they have to pay to workers
in poorer countries like India. For lower pay, companies can get longer hours of work. Additional
expenses such as for housing facilities for workers are also fewer. Thus, companies can save costs
and earn higher profits.
Cost Cutting: Cost cutting can also be done by other more dangerous means. Lower working
conditions including lower safety measures are used as ways of cutting costs.
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To be written in notebook
1. Explain law enforcement. Who is responsible for enforcement? Why is enforcement so
important?
Answer: Law enforcement is any system by which some members of society act in an organized
manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who
violate the rules and norms governing that society. The government is responsible for the
enforcement of law. Enforcement is so important because merely making laws is not enough. The
government has to ensure that these laws are implemented. Enforcement becomes even more
important when the law seeks to protect the weak from the strong. For instance, to ensure that
every worker gets fair wages, the government has to regularly inspect work sites and punish those
who violate the law.
2. Write a paragraph on the various roles of the government that you have learnt in this
lesson.
Answer: The government plays a large number of roles in any state. This includes providing
public facilities like water supply, healthcare and sanitation and ensuring that these amenities are
not overtaken by private enterprises; the government also plays a pivotal role in law enforcement,
which is of utmost importance in the economic sector. The government makes laws to protect
workers in production factories- laws on minimum wages, controlling working conditions and
safety measures. It also makes laws for markets that protect consumers against over-pricing and
sub-standard products. The government has a law against child labour and it also punishes
organizations that do not follow policies put in place to protect the environment against pollution.
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