Sociology
Q.1. What is meant by the age structure of the population ?
Answer: The age structure of the population refers to the proportion of persons in different age groups in relation to the total population. The age structure varies in response to changes in the level of development and the average life expectancy.
Eg: 0-14, 15-59 and 60 + age groups.
Q.2. What are the two important issues which gave rise to tribal movements ?
Answer:
- The issues relating to control over vital economic resources like land and especially forests and matters relating to ethnic-cultural identity.
- The coming of private property in land has also adversely affected tribes.
The most recent such example is the series of dams being built on the Narmada.
- Dikus-migrant traders and money lenders-grabbed wealth, leading to impoverishment.
- Acquisition of land for large irrigation projects and firing ranges.
- Survey and settlement operations, which were held up, camps closed down etc.
- Collection of issue rent and cooperative duse which were resisted.
Q.3. What is meant by laissez-faire ?
Answer: The French term ‘Laissez Faire’ means ‘Leave alone’ or ‘Let it be’. This policy or norm is in favour of giving freedom to an individual so that, he is able to fulfil his desires and look after his interests. Adam Smith supported the idea of ‘free market mechanism’ or where there is no regulation by the government.
Q.4. State any two factors that encourage regionalism.
Answer: The two factors which encourage regionalism are diversity of languages and cultures. Either geographical concentration of diverse identity markers in a region or regional deprivation affects regionalism.
Q.5. Why should the minorities be given constitutional protection ?
Answer: The minority groups are considered disadvantageous group which are subjected to prejudice and discrimination, since a long time. The religious and cultural minorities need special constitutional protection due to demographic dominance of the majority which makes them politically vulnerable.
Q.6. How did colonial laws favour the owners and managers of tea plantations ?
Answer: Colonial law favoured the owners and managers of tea plantation. The owners and managers of tea industry were Britishers.
- They often used unfair means to employ labourers and many a times forced them to work in tea plantation.
- They used harsh measures against the labourers for the benefit of the tea plantation owners.
Q.7. Explain Sanskritization as a process of change.
Answer: Sanskritization refers to a process by which a low Hindu caste or tribal group, changes its custom, ideology, rituals and ways of life in the direction of high and twice-born caste. It is followed by a claim, after a long time, to belong to a higher position in the caste hierarchy.
Q.8. What is the role of Nyaya Panchayats in providing justice at grass root levels ?
Answer: Role of Nyaya Panchayats :
- Nyaya Panchayats have been constituted in some states. They possess the authority to hear some petty, civil and criminal cases. They can impose fines but cannot award a sentence.
- These village courts have often been successful in bringing about an agreement among contending parties. They have been particularly effective in punishing men who harass women for dowry and perpetrate violence against them.
Q.9. What do you understand by the idea of imagined communities’ that Benedict Anderson wrote of?
Answer:
- Benedict Anderson stated that the people who do not even know of each other’s existence feel like members of the family, can be named as ‘imagined community’.
- It gave people who never meet each other, a sense of togetherness.
Q.10. What are national dailies ? Name any two.
Answer: The Newspapers which circulate across regions are often called National Dailies and circulate across all regions.
Two national dailies are Hindustan Times and the Times of India.
Q.11. How has automation brought about a change in the making of the newspaper ?
Answer: The newspaper production has become fully automatic. From the reporter’s desk to final page proof, automation has led to creation of e-newspaper and use of paper has been completely eliminated. It has become possible due to networks of computers (LAN) and use of news making software like ‘Newsmaker’.
Q.12. What do you understand by Universal Adult Franchise ?
Answer: Universal Adult Franchise means that the right to vote should be given to all adult citizens without the discrimination of caste, class, colour, religion or gender. Example—in India, above 18 years of age, every adult citizen has the right to vote.
Q.13. What were the demands of the Bombay textile workers.
Answer: The Bombay Textile Strike of 1982, was led by the trade union leader, Dr. Datta Samant.
Their demands were :
- The workers wanted better wages and also wanted the right to form their own union.
- According to Bombay Industrial Relations Act (BIRA), a union was required to be approved and the only way it could get approval was if it gave up the idea of strikes.
Q.14. Differentiate between Reformative and Revolutionary Movement.
Answer: Reformist social movements strive to change the existing social and political movements through gradual, incremental steps. Example: Rights to Information Campaign.
Revolutionary social movements attempt to radically transform social relations often by capturing state power. Example : Naxalite movement in India.
Q.15. According to demographers and sociologists, what are the reasons for the decline in child sex ratio in India ?
OR
Q.15. Identify the reasons for regional variations of displacement levels in India.
Answer: The factors responsible for the decline in sex-ratio include severe neglect of girl-child during infancy leading to higher death rates; sex specific abortions leading to death of girl babies even before being born and female infanticide (or killing of the girl child due to religious and cultural sentiments). The practice of female infanticide was prevalent since ages and modern medical techniques such as sonogram leads to sex-specific abortion.
OR
Answer: Reasons for regional variation of displacement is the breaking of traditional patronage bonds between labourers or tenants and landlords because the seasonal demand for agriculture, labour increased in the prosperous green regions like Punjab, where people migrated in a specific season in areas with demand for labour and better wages. These migrant workers mainly come from droughts prone and less productive regions and they go to work for some months in the Punjab and Haryana, or in brick kilns in U.P., or construction sites of Bengaluru or Delhi.
Q.16. “Tribals have paid a disproportionate price for the development of the rest of Indian society.” Highlight the sources of conflict between ‘national development’ and ‘tribal development’.
Answer: Conflict between National development and Tribal development:
- National development in the Nehruvian era, focused on the building of large dams, factories and mines etc.
- As the tribal areas were rich in minerals, they paid a heavy price for the development activities, which benefited the rest of the nation.
- The displacement of tribes has been a result of setting up of dams and factories using the forested areas for various mining activities and other development work.
- The idea of private property in land, also, adversely affected the tribes. Tribes which mostly had collective community-based ownership were at a disadvantage in the new system. Example : series of dams being built over the Narmada river.
- Many tribal regions have experienced heavy in-migration of non-tribals. This threatens to disrupt their cultures and communities. Example : Jharkhand and Tripura.
Q.17. Do you agree that all sections of people have benefitted from the liberalisation policy in India ? Justify your answer with examples.
Answer: Liberalisation refers to the relaxation of government rules and regulations on trade and commerce. However, it would be wrong to say that liberalisation policies have benefitted all sections in India. For example, sectors such as software and information technology have been benefitted by liberalisation. However, sectors such as electronics, automobiles and oilseeds lose because of their inability to compete with the foreign producers. Moreover, farmers failed to get subsidies and support prices which were essential for their livelihood.
Q.18. Differentiate between a democratic and an authoritarian State.
OR
Q.18. What is community identity ? How have Indian politics provided national identity ?
Answer: Difference between Democratic and Authoritarian States :
Answer: Community Identity: Community provides us the language and cultural values through which we comprehend the world. Community identity is based on birth and belonging rather than on some form of acquired qualifications or accomplishment. Birth based identity is called ascriptive because this does not involve any choice on the part of the individuals concerned. These ascriptive identities are very hard to shake off because irrespective of our efforts to disown them, others may continue to identify us by those markers of belonging.
Indian Policies and National Identity :
- Policies of integration seek to assert a single national identity by attempting to eliminate the national and cultural differences from the public and political arena.
- Adopting the dominant group’s language as the only official national language and making its use mandatory in all public institutions.
- Imposing a unified legal and judicial system based on dominant group’s tradition and abolishing alternative system used by other groups.
Q.19. Historically, what role did coastal cities play in the economic system of empires ?
Answer:
- Historically, the big cities were built near the coastal areas from the old age empire due to ease of movement and world wide trade through waterways.</li><li>Due to economic development, coastal cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai got importance and favour.
- Primary commodities could be easily exported and manufactured goods could be imported at low cost.
- These cities became prime link between economic centres throughout the world, as Goa was linked to Portugal, Chennai and Kolkata with Eastern Asia, Fizi, China etc.
Q.20. “The varied social reform movements had common themes yet were different.” Explain.
Answer:
- The varied social reform movements did have common themes yet there were also significant differences. For some, the concerns were confined to the problems that the upper caste, middle class women and men faced. For others, the injustices suffered by the discriminated castes were the central questions.
- For some, social evils had emerged because of a decline of the true spirit of Hinduism. For others, caste and gender oppression was intrinsic of the religion.
- There were movements for Muslim women. One group had argued against the practice of polygamy whereas, other group had fought for the abolishment of Triple Talaq.
- Debates within communities were common in various movements. For instance, Sati was opposed by the Brahmo Samaj. Orthodox members of the Hindu community in Bengal formed an organisation called “Dharma Sabha” and petitioned the British arguing that reformers had no right to interpret sacred texts.
Q.21. What were the social welfare responsibilities of the Panchayats ?
Answer: According to the Constitution, panchayats should be given powers and authority to function as institutions of self-government. Panchayats had the following social responsibilities :
- To prepare plans and schemes for economic development : The development activities include the construction of roads, public buildings, wells, schools, small irrigation works etc.
- To promote schemes that will enhance social justice : Nyaya Panchayats have been constituted in some states. They possess the authority to hear some petty civil, criminal and domestic violence cases. They can impose fines but cannot award a sentence against a ‘guilty’ person.
- To levy, collect and appropriate taxes, duties, tolls, and fees: The main income of the Panchayats is from tax levied on property, animals, vehicles, tax on land revenue and rentals. The resources are further increased by the grants received through the Zila Panchayat or Zila Parishad.
- To help in the devolution of governmental responsibilities especially that of finances to local authorities : Many government schemes like, Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) and Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) are monitored by members of panchayat.
Q.22. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Green Revolution.
Answer: Advantages of Green Revolution :
Green revolution was a government programme of agricultural modernisation. It was largely funded by international agencies that was based on high yielding variety of seeds with good pesticides, fertilisers and other inputs to farmers.
- Green revolution programme was started in areas that had assured irrigation facilities, as sufficient water was necessary for the new seeds and method of cultivation. It basically targeted rice and wheat growing areas.
- Agriculture productivity increased sharply because of new technologies. Thereafter, India became self-sufficient in food grain production.
Disadvantages of Green Revolution :
- Since the seeds and cultivation technology was very expensive, the small and marginal farmers could not afford to spend on new technology.
- Since the well-to-do farmers were able to afford the costly HYV seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, they began to take back their lands from tenants and cultivate it directly because new technology cultivation was becoming more profitable. This made rich farmer better off and worsened the condition of the landless and marginal holders.
The ultimate outcome of Green Revolution was a process of “differentiation” between rich and poor farmers. ,
- In most of the green revolution areas, farmers have shifted from single crop per year to multi-crop regime, which allowed them to spread risk in case any crop fails.
Q.23. Are global connections new to India and the world? Discuss.
Answer: Global Connections are new to the World and India as :
- Since early years—India has never been isolated from the world, example—-silk routes, which connected India to the great civilisation which existed in China, Persia, Egypt and Rome.
- Colonial Period (British rule) :
- Throughout India’s long past, people from different parts came here, sometimes as traders, sometimes as conquerors, sometimes as migrants in search of new lands and settled down here.
- The remove Indian villages often, people ‘recall’ a time when their ancestors lived elsewhere, from where they came and settled down where they now live.
Colonialism was part of the system that required new sources of capital, raw materials, energy, markets and a global network that sustained it.
For eg: the greatest movement of people was the migration of European people who settled down in the Americans and Australia.
- Indentured labourers were taken away in ships from India to work in distant parts of Asia, Africa and Americans.
- Slave trade carted thousands of Africans away to distant shores.
Q.24. How are the working conditions in mines detrimental to the workers ?
Answer: 1. In 1952, an act called the Mines Act was passed. The government said that the owners of the mines have to follow certain acts/rules. Still the overall conditions of mine workers have not improved much.
Those workers who are placed in overground mines have to face hot summer & rain and suffer from injuries due to mine blasting and falling objects. In fact, the rate of mining accidents in India is higher than other countries. The contractors refrain from maintaining proper register to workers for avoiding responsibility for accidents and benefits. Moreover, the company does not care to cover up the open holes of the finished area which lead to several accidents.
2. Workers in underground mines face very dangerous conditions, due to flooding, fire, the collapse of roof and sides.
3. Due to lack of fresh air, emissions of gases and ventilation failure, many workers develop breathing problems and diseases like tuberculosis and silicosis.
4. The total lifespan of mine workers are very short. Every year hundreds of workers die due to accidents in mines.
Q.25. Read the passage given below and answer the following questions:
In India labels such as ‘disability’, ‘handicap’, ‘crippled’, ‘blind’ and ‘deaf’ are used synonymously. Often these terms are hurled at people as insults. In a culture that looks up to bodily ‘perfection’, all deviations from the ‘perfect body’ signify abnormality, defect and distortion. Labels such as bechara (poor thing) accentuate the victim status for the disabled person. The roots of such attitudes lie in the cultural conception that views an impaired body as a result of fate. Destiny is seen as the culprit and disabled people are the victims. The common perception views disability a retribution for past Karma (actions) from which there can be no reprieve. The dominant cultural construction in India therefore looks at disability as essentially a characteristic of the individual. The popular images in mythology portray the disabled in an extremely negative fashion.
The very term ‘disabled’ challenges each of these assumptions. Terms such as ‘mentally challenged’, Visually impaired’ and ‘physically impaired’ came to replace the more trite negative terms such as ‘retarded’ ‘crippled’ or flame’. The disabled are rendered disabled not because they are biologically disabled but because society renders them so.
(a) Who form the disabled population in our country ?
(b) Do you think disabled are rendered disabled not because they are biologically disabled but because society rendered them so ? Explain.
Answer: (a) The people with any kind of physical or mental disability such as visual, speech, physical impairment or hearing disability form the disabled population of India.
(b) Yes, disabled are unfit not because of their biological inability but because of the treatment they receive from the society. At first, the people with any kind of impairment are called by insulting terms such as ‘handicap’, ‘blind’, ‘crippled’ or ‘deaf’. Secondly, these people are treated with contempt, and are looked down upon. An impairment is considered to be a result of ill fate which springs from the past deeds. In Hindu mythology also, any kind of impairment is ill-portrayed. In spite of the fact that these people are fully capable of becoming self-reliant, society considers them weak and incapable.