How the State Government Works

Q20. Who have the responsibility of running various government departments and ministries?

Ans. The chief minister and other ministers have the responsibility of running various government departments or ministries.

Q21. Why the chief minister and the minister for health has visited Patalpuram district?

Ans. They went to visit the families who had lost their relatives and also visited people in the hospitals.

Q22. What is the purpose of a press conference?

Ans. A press conference is a meeting, organized for the purposes of officially distributing information to the media and answering questions from reporters.

Q23. What does the term constituency mean?

Ans. Constituency is a particular area from which all the voters living there choose their representatives. This could be, for example, a panchayat ward or an area that chooses an MLA.

Q24. Define the term press conference.

Ans. Press conference is a gathering of journalists from the media who are invited to hear about and ask questions on a particular issue and are then expected to report on this to the larger public.

Q25. Explain the following terms–majority, ruling party, opposition.

Ans. A political party whose MLAs have won more than half the number of constituencies in a state can be said to be in a majority. The political party that has the majority is called the ruling party and all other members are called the opposition.

Q26. Why should decisions taken by the Chief Minister and other ministers be debated in the Legislative Assembly?

Ans. Whatever decisions are being taken have to be approved by the members of the legislative assembly. In a democracy, these members can ask questions, debate an important issue, decide where money should be spent, etc. They have the main authority to finalize the decision.

Q27. Who becomes a chief minister? What is his or her role in a state?

Ans. After the elections, the MLAs belonging to the ruling party will elect their leader who will become the chief minister. The chief minister then selects other people as ministers. The chief minister and other ministers have the responsibility of running various government departments or ministries.

Q28. How does the press conference help you get information on what the government is doing?

Ans. Government also organizes press conference to present information to members of the mass media. Reporters ask many questions at this meeting. These discussions are then reported in different newspapers. Through newspaper we come to know about different issues and about the government plans.

Q29. Use the terms ‘constituency’ and ‘represent’ to explain who an MLA is and how is the person elected?

Ans. Every state in India has a Legislative Assembly. Each state is divided into different areas or constituencies. From each constituency, the people elect one representative who then becomes a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). People stand for elections in the name of different parties. These MLAs, therefore, belong to different political parties.

Q30. In the working of the government, explain the difference between being an MLA and an MLA who is also a minister?

Ans. The chief minister and other ministers have the responsibility of running various government departments or ministries. They have separate offices. A Legislative Assembly is a place where all the MLAs, whether from the ruling party or from the opposition meet to discuss various things. Hence, some MLAs have dual responsibilities: one as an MLA and the other as a minister.