This GSEB Class 8 Social Science Notes Chapter 13 Independent India covers all the important topics and concepts as mentioned in the chapter.
Independent India Class 8 GSEB Notes
→ After independence the princely states were merged into the Indian Union. We had adopted the federal system of government. Hence, there arose a question of forming and reorganizing states as the major components of the Union of India.
→ The constitution was implemented on 26th January, 1950 At that time India emerged as a Union with four categories of states, namely, A, B, C and D in India.
→ The Telugu speaking community of Madras (group – A states) launched a strong protest for their own separate state. The government accepted their demand. So on 1st October, 1953 Andhra Pradesh was formed as a new state on linguistic basis.
→ In December 1953, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru appointed the ‘States Reorganization Committee’ to reorganize all Indian states. This was headed by Fazal Ali, retired chief justice of the Supreme Court.
→ The bill regarding reorganization of states was implemented from 1st November, 1956.
→ According to the recommendation of the ‘States Reorganization Committee’ the four categories were renounced and fourteen new states and six union territories were formed. Most of the states (except Bombay and Punjab) were formed on the basis of language.
→ T\vo major linguistic groups – Marathi and Gujarati – lived in Bombay. There arose strong demands to separate Gujarat and Maharashtra on linguistic basis.
→ On the day when the bilingual recommendation for the state of Bombay was passed in the parliament, a group of students of Law College in Ahmedabad organized a meeting and started a series of demonstrations.
→ Gradually this movement known as the ‘Maha Gujarat Movement’ became more aggressive and violent. It became more widespread across Gujarat with series of protests and demonstrations.
→ Indulal Yagnik, Jayanti Dalai, Brahmkumar Bhatt were the prominent leaders of this movement.
→ The ‘Maha Gujarat Janta Parishad’ was formed under the leadership of Indulal Yagnik in September, 1956, with support from a few political parties. The Parishad demanded a separate Gujarat state.
→ Indulal Yagnik became a very popular leader and was known as ‘Chacha of Janta’.
→ The movement compelled the parliament to divide the bilingual state of Bombay into two separate states- Gujarat and Maharashtra in 1960.
→ The new state of Gujarat was inaugurated by honourable Ravishankar Maharaj.
→ The new state of Gujarat was established on 1st May, 1960 at Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad.
→ Mehndi Nawaz Jung became the first Governor and Dr Jivraj Mehta was the first Chief Minister of Gujarat state.
→ Even after India declared itself as an independent sovereign nation, certain regions – Pondicherry, Karaikal (Tamil Nadu), Mahe (Kerala), Yanam (Andhra Pradesh) and Chandranagar (West Bengal) were under French and Portuguese control. The people of these colonies wanted to join the Indian Union so they launched aggressive movements.
→ People of Pondicherry gave the slogan of ‘Quit India’ to French people in 1948.
→ After peaceful negotiations with the Indian Government, the French Government agreed and surrendered all these colonies on 31st October, 1954.
→ Goa and Dadra-Nagar Haveli, Diu and Daman were under Portuguese control in 1950 C.E. For the Portuguese Goa was a symbol of prestige so they did not want to cede these colonies to India.
→ All negotiations and Satyagraha failed. So the Indian Government decided to take more radical steps. The Indian Government launched ‘Operation Vijay’ to free Goa. This military operation started at midnight of 17th, 18th December under the leadership of General Chaudhary and was done by noon the next day.
→ The Indians won Goa, Diu and Daman and hoisted the national flag.
→ Relations between India and Pakistan have always been bitter. The dispute over the marking of boundaries has never been resolved and this has led to constant cross-border infiltration.
→ The Kashmir issue has added fuel to this fire and worsened the relations of the two countries.
→ India and Pakistan were at war thrice; in the years 1948, 1965 and 1971. Pakistan was defeated at all three times.
→ Tashkent Agreement and Shimla Agreement were the two post war agreements signed by India and Pakistan. However, Pakistan has not followed the clauses of these agreements.
→ When Pakistani forces entered Kargil in 1999. India had to use her military force.
→ India conducted nuclear tests in 1998 followed by Pakistan. Thus, both countries have nuclear weapons today.
→ Implementation of Five Years Plans has ushered the age of industrial development in India. Notable development is seen in cotton textile, sugar, cement, iron and steel, engineering, chemical industries, coal mining, etc. India has also made marked progress in the fields of electronics, energy, computer, microchips, telecommunication, steel, fertilizers, cement, petrochemicals, etc.
→ On the other hand caste discrimination still prevails in many parts. Communal riots are common, many people live below poverty line. Corruption and inflation are increasing. These problems have not made India a completely successful democracy.
→ A lopsided focus on economic development has been at the cost of environmental degradation.
→ Meerabahen (Miss Madeleine Slade), a disciple of Gandhiji wrote in 1949, “Science and technology would surely benefit humanity to a great extent, but finally it will lead to destruction only. We should lead our life in coherence with nature to maintain natural balance, only then can we ensure a longer and healthy survival of the human race.”