The class 8 social science book social and political — NCERT’s Social and Political Life, the Civics volume of the Class 8 Social Science set — is mapped out on this page: the official NCERT PDFs for all eight chapters are in the table below, and the chapter-by-chapter breakdown shows what each chapter actually teaches.
The PDF gives you the text; this page gives you a map of it. For each of the eight chapters you get its printed page range, its exercise count, and the topics it covers.
That means a student who needs Parliament or Fundamental Rights can jump straight to the right chapter before opening a file. Every count on this page was read from the book itself, so you can check it against the official PDFs on this page.
Class 8 Social Science Book Social and Political: Official NCERT PDFs
All eight files below are NCERT’s own editions, hosted on ncert.nic.in and used by CBSE schools — the first chapter, The Indian Constitution, opens at the official hess301.pdf, and the table links every chapter in the book.
| Ch. | Chapter | Pages | Official PDF |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Indian Constitution | 16 | |
| 2 | Understanding Secularism | 10 | |
| 3 | Parliament and the Making of Laws | 18 | |
| 4 | Judiciary | 14 | |
| 5 | Understanding Marginalisation | 14 | |
| 6 | Confronting Marginalisation | 10 | |
| 7 | Public Facilities | 16 | |
| 8 | Law and Social Justice | 15 |
The Class 8 SST book PDF at a glance
- 8 chapters in the volume, from The Indian Constitution to Law and Social Justice.
- 113 printed pages across the official chapter PDFs.
- All 8 chapter PDFs verified and linked from this page.
- 60 exercise questions, every one at a chapter end.
- No activity boxes anywhere in the book.
- No numbered section headings — the book uses titled sections instead.
What’s inside each chapter
The directory below is read from the book itself. A section is one of NCERT’s numbered headings — this volume uses titled sections, so that column reads 0 throughout — and a question is an end-of-chapter exercise. Use the rows to compare chapters before you open a PDF.
| Ch. | Chapter | Sections | Activities | Figures | Questions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Indian Constitution | — | — | — | 6 |
| 2 | Understanding Secularism | — | — | — | 7 |
| 3 | Parliament and the Making of Laws | — | — | — | 4 |
| 4 | Judiciary | — | — | — | 9 |
| 5 | Understanding Marginalisation | — | — | — | 8 |
| 6 | Confronting Marginalisation | — | — | — | 6 |
| 7 | Public Facilities | — | — | — | 9 |
| 8 | Law and Social Justice | — | — | — | 11 |
Chapter 1: The Indian Constitution (pp. 2-17)
Chapter 1 asks why a society needs a constitution at all, then walks through the key features of the Indian Constitution and ends with the Fundamental Rights — the enforceable rights that later chapters keep returning to (NCERT, pp. 2-17). Every student starting this book should read it first, because that rights vocabulary reappears in Chapters 4, 5 and 6.
- The Indian Constitution: Key Features
- The Fundamental Rights in the Indian Constitution include:
It runs 16 pages and closes with 6 exercise questions and no activity boxes — a short reading that sets up the whole book’s vocabulary.
Chapter 2: Understanding Secularism (pp. 18-27)
The chapter opens inside a government high school to show how state and religion meet in everyday life, then defines secularism as the state’s separation from religion together with its protection of religious freedom (NCERT, pp. 18-27). It suits students who want to see the Constitution’s promise applied in practice, and how different countries arrange that separation differently.
- Government High School
At 10 pages with 7 exercise questions and no activity boxes, it is a compact chapter that turns the abstract promise of Chapter 1 into a working rule.
Chapter 3: Parliament and the Making of Laws (pp. 28-45)
The chapter works from people to power: it starts with representatives, moves to the role of Parliament, introduces national parties, then shows Parliament’s two jobs of selecting and controlling the national government, and ends with how unpopular and controversial laws are dealt with (NCERT, pp. 28-45).
- People and their Representatives
- The Role of the Parliament
- National Parties
- A. To Select the National Government
- B. To Control, Guide and Inform the Government
- Unpopular and Controversial Laws
At 18 pages it is the longest chapter in the book, yet it carries only 4 exercise questions — it is read for understanding, not drilled.
Chapter 4: Judiciary (pp. 46-59)
Chapter 4 takes up the judiciary — the courts — and explains why the independence of courts matters, how disputes are settled and how rights are protected through the rule of law (NCERT, pp. 46-59). Read it as the middle of the institutions trio, after Parliament and before the marginalisation chapters.
With 14 pages, 9 exercise questions and no activity boxes, it is one of the three chapters — along with Chapters 7 and 8 — where the book’s practice weight concentrates.
Chapter 5: Understanding Marginalisation (pp. 60-73)
The chapter explores minorities and marginalisation through two case studies. It starts with Adivasis — their marginalisation, the stereotyping they face and their experience of development — then turns to Muslims and marginalisation, supporting the argument with three data tables on basic amenities (2008–2009), literacy by religion (2011) and public employment of Muslims (NCERT, pp. 60-73).
- Adivasis and Marginalisation
- Adivasis and Stereotyping
- Adivasis and Development
- Minorities and Marginalisation
- Muslims and Marginalisation
It spans 14 pages, ends with 8 exercise questions and sets no activity boxes; its three data tables are the kind of evidence a full answer can cite directly.
Chapter 6: Confronting Marginalisation (pp. 74-83)
Where Chapter 5 describes marginalisation, Chapter 6 confronts it. It shows how groups invoke Fundamental Rights, what protective laws exist for the marginalised, and how law targets specific injustices — the rights of Dalits and Adivasis, the scourge of manual scavenging, and Adivasi demands under the 1989 Act (NCERT, pp. 74-83).
- Invoking Fundamental Rights
- Laws for the Marginalised
- Promoting Social Justice
- Protecting the Rights of Dalits and Adivasis
- The Scourge of Manual Scavenging
- Adivasi Demands and the 1989 Act
At 10 pages with 6 exercise questions and no activity boxes, it is the lighter half of the pair — revise it together with Chapter 5, since this chapter is the legal answer to that chapter’s description of the problem.
Chapter 7: Public Facilities (pp. 84-99)
The chapter builds its argument on water supply. It opens with water and the people of Chennai, asks what public facilities are and why the government’s role in providing them exists, and extends the same logic to sanitation, with a detour into alternatives to public supply and the public water system of Porto Alegre (NCERT, pp. 84-99).
- Water and the People of Chennai
- The Government’s Role
- In Search of Alternatives
- Public Water Supply in Porto Alegre
- Extending Sanitation Facilities
With 16 pages and 9 exercise questions and no activity boxes, it is one of the book’s three heaviest practice chapters.
Chapter 8: Law and Social Justice
The final chapter opens with the Bhopal Gas Tragedy to make one point: a law on paper is worth little without enforcement of safety laws. From there it covers new laws to protect the environment, asks why the environment should count as a public facility, and closes with the Constitution as a living ideal of social justice.
- Bhopal Gas Tragedy
- Enforcement of Safety Laws
- New Laws to Protect the Environment
- Environment as a Public Facility
- The Constitution as a Living Ideal
The chapter runs 15 pages with 11 exercise questions — the most of any chapter — and no activity boxes, which makes it the heaviest practice chapter in the volume.
Chapter study pages on this site
The list below shows the status of the chapter study pages for this book — a live chapter links to its page, and a chapter still being prepared stays named without a link.
| Ch. | Chapter page |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Indian Constitution |
| 2 | Understanding Secularism (coming soon) |
| 3 | Parliament and the Making of Laws (coming soon) |
| 4 | Judiciary (coming soon) |
| 5 | Understanding Marginalisation (coming soon) |
| 6 | Confronting Marginalisation (coming soon) |
| 7 | Public Facilities (coming soon) |
| 8 | Law and Social Justice (coming soon) |
How to use this Class 8 NCERT book for Social Science
A working order for this volume, from first reading to practice:
- Read Chapter 1 first — the Fundamental Rights it introduces are used again by Chapters 4, 5 and 6.
- Take Chapter 2 immediately after, so rights and the separation of state and religion stay connected.
- Work through the two institution chapters in order: Parliament (Chapter 3), then Judiciary (Chapter 4).
- Read Chapters 5 and 6 together — one describes marginalisation, the other confronts it with law.
- Finish with Chapters 7 and 8, the case study pair on government and law.
The practice weight sits in the second half. The last five chapters — Judiciary through Law and Social Justice — carry 43 of the book’s 60 exercise questions, and Chapters 4, 7 and 8 together hold 29 of those 60. Chapters 1 to 3 read lighter, so revision time is best spent from Chapter 4 onward.
The mistake to avoid is judging a chapter by its page count: the 18-page Parliament chapter has only 4 exercise questions, while the 15-page Law and Social Justice chapter has 11 exercise questions.
Finding your topic in the Class 8 SST book
Arrived with a question? Jump straight to the chapter that answers it:
- Fundamental Rights — Chapter 1 (pp. 2-17), and again in Chapter 6 (pp. 74-83), where they are invoked against injustice.
- Secularism, state and religion — Chapter 2 (pp. 18-27).
- How laws are made, the role of Parliament — Chapter 3 (pp. 28-45).
- Courts and the judiciary — Chapter 4 (pp. 46-59).
- Adivasis, Muslims, marginalisation data — Chapter 5 (pp. 60-73).
- Protective laws, manual scavenging — Chapter 6 (pp. 74-83).
- Water, sanitation, public facilities — Chapter 7 (pp. 84-99).
- Bhopal Gas Tragedy, environmental law, social justice — Chapter 8, the final chapter of the book.
Related NCERT resources
This listing is maintained for the 2026-27 academic session using the NCERT textbook information available to us. NCERT remains the authority for confirming the latest edition.
- NCERT books root — the catalogue of textbook pages on this site.
- Class 8 hub — every Class 8 NCERT book this site indexes.
- Class 8 Science book — the textbook most students study alongside Social and Political Life.
Sources and data verification
- The chapter tables and counts on this page describe the NCERT Social and Political Life textbook for Class 8, using the official PDFs hosted on ncert.nic.in — the same editions linked in the table above.
- This page covers that Civics volume only, not the full Class 8 Social Science set, which also includes separate History and Geography textbooks.
- The listing is maintained for the current session using the NCERT files available to us.
- NCERT settles textbook editions and PDFs; CBSE settles the curriculum, syllabus and examinations. Textbook contents and the examinable syllabus are not always identical — check the current official syllabus before planning exam study.
Reference: NCERT Class 8 Social Science textbook, official edition on ncert.nic.in. Figure captions and section titles quoted from the textbook; page references are to the official PDF.
Class 8 Social Science book FAQs
How many chapters are in the Class 8 Social Science book Social and Political Life?
Eight. They run from The Indian Constitution to Law and Social Justice across 113 printed pages, with all 60 exercise questions at chapter ends.
Where can I download the official Class 8 SST book PDF for free?
From the table at the top of this page. Every chapter links to NCERT’s own official PDF on ncert.nic.in — the same files CBSE schools use — and they are free to download.
Which chapter of the Class 8 Social Science book covers Fundamental Rights?
Chapter 1, The Indian Constitution (pp. 2-17), introduces them. Chapter 6, Confronting Marginalisation (pp. 74-83), returns to them as the legal tool against injustice.
Which chapter explains the judiciary and how courts work?
Chapter 4, Judiciary (pp. 46-59). It explains why independent courts matter, how disputes are settled and how rights are protected through the rule of law.
Which chapter uses the Bhopal Gas Tragedy to explain law and social justice?
Chapter 8, Law and Social Justice, the final chapter. It opens with the tragedy to show why enforcing safety laws matters more than the law on paper, then treats the environment as a public facility.