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You can Download Change and Development in Industrial Society Questions and Answers, Notes, Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Kerala Chapter 5 help you to revise complete Syllabus and score more marks in your examinations.

Kerala Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Chapter 5 Change and Development in Industrial Society

Change and Development in Industrial Society Questions and Answers

Question 1.
The Harmony Theory was. put forward by:
a) Max Weber
b) Emile Durkheim
c) Clark Kerr
d) Karl Marx
Answer:
Clark Kerr

Question 2.
Who argued that the machines ruin the skill of workers?
a) Karl Marx
b) Harry Braverman
c) Clark Kerr
d) Max Weber
Answer:
Harry Braverman

Question 3.
Karl Marx and Gandhi thought that ………. would endanger employment.
Answer:
Mechanization

Question 4.
Who was the social scientist that developed the concept of scientific management?
Answer:
Frederick Winslow Taylor

Question 5.
According to a great thinker named ………. the use of machines kills the abilities of the workers.
Answer:
Karl Marx

Question 6.
The process of Government selling the shares of public sector companies is called ………….
Answer:
Disinvestment

Question 7.
In 1982 the Bombay Textiles Protest was led by the famous labor leader ………..
Answer:
Dr. Dutta Samanth

Question 8.
Match the following.

Answer:

Question 9.
Write about the social features of industrialization.
Answer:
Most of the great sociology texts were written during the industrialization and mechanization era. Thinkers like Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim pointed out many social features of industrialization. Urbanization, loss of face- to- face contacts, division of labor, alienation, etc. are some of them. Urbanization is an important feature of industrialization. With industrialization, villages turn into cities. New cities also come up.

In an industrial society, face-to-face relations cease to exist. In village communities, there were face-to-face relations between farmers and farmers, and farmers with landlords. But all this is lost in industrial societies. Instead, in the modern factories and workshops, unknown professional relations take place.

Another feature of industrialization is division of labor. Laborers make just one small part of something. They don’t even see the complete product. Their job is repetitive and boring. But of course, it is better than no job. Marx calls that situation alienation. Here the workers do not enjoy their work. They look at their job as a means of their livelihood.

Question 10.
Describe the harmony theory.
Answer:
This is a theory presented by the modern thinker Clark Kerr. This theory said that the industrialized India of the 21st century shows more features of America or China. With the coming of the new technology, India’s culture, languages, and traditions are slowly disappearing. Kerr says that India is moving towards new cultures and new products. Industrialization brings equality in some spheres.

For example, now we can enter trains, buses or cyber cafes without thinking to which caste we belong! But, at the same time, new types of discrimination are found in factories and workplaces. Although social inequalities are reduced, economic inequalities are on the increase. For example in professions like medicine and journalism which offer huge salaries, there is dominance by upper-class people. In some cases, for the same work, women are paid less than men.

Early sociologists found industrialization as a process with advantages and disadvantages. By the middle of the 20th century, they started thinking of it as good and inevitable. The change in their attitude came from the theory of modernization. Theory of modernization argues that societies are on the way to modernization. The theory also points out that it is the western world that represents modem society.

Question 11.
Compare India’s industrialization with the developed countries.
Answer:
Industrialization in India has similarities and dissimilarities with the industrialization in the western world. Let us first look at the dissimilarities.

• In the western countries, most people work in the service sector. The next is industry. Only 10% work in the agricultural sector.
• But in India, 60% of the people work in the agricultural and mining sector. 17% work in the construction sector. The remaining work in the industry, transport, and finance sector. This is the position according to the 1999-2000 statistics.

If we look into the income generated by these sectors we find.that although 60% of the population work in the agricultural sector, its contribution to national economy is very little. This is not at all a good thing. Another difference between developed nations and developing nations like India is the difference in the number of permanent employees. In the developed nations, the majority of people are officially employed. But in India, more than 50% of the people are self- employed. Only 14% are permanent employees. 30% are temporary workers.

Question 12.
Discuss the differences between organized and unorganized sectors.
Answer:
8 Sociologists have often differentiated between organized and unorganized sectors. They also define these sectors.

• All institutions where 10 or more people work are called organized sector. These institutions must be registered with the government It is done to ensure that the employees there get regular salaries and pensions.
• Institutions, where less than 10 people work and not registered with the government, come under unorganized labor. There is no job security there. More than 10% of Indians work in the unorganized sector.

Question 13.
What are the social indicators given by the organized sector?
Answer:
Firstly, only a few people in India have the experience of working in large organizations. Most of the Indians work in small establishments. Here the conditions of work are decided by the employer. If the employer likes a worker, he may be paid better. Otherwise, he may even lose his job and he won’t get any benefit. But in big establishments things are different. There employment is more transparent. There are provisions for complaints and getting problems solved. Secondly, only very few Indians have the opportunity of getting secure and well-paid jobs. Two-thirds of them are government officials.

That is why there is such a great demand for government jobs here. Government jobs have a social angle. It helps in overcoming the boundaries of caste, creed, and region. There are no communal riots in places like Bhilai because, in the huge public sector steel company there, people from different parts of India work together and live together. This was the opinion of a sociologist. Thirdly, In the unorganized sector, only very few are members of any union. Naturally, such workers don’t have the ability or experience to fight for better wages and job security. Although the government has made laws to inspect the unorganized sector and to make it better, they are not of much use. Things happen as per the wishes of the employer or the contractor. They are not much worried about the welfare of the workers.

Question 14.
How does liberalization bring inequality?
Answer:
Employment opportunities are getting less and less in large scale industries. They are not able to give employment even to the people around them. At.the same time, these industries pollute their surroundings. The effluents from factories pollute even water sources. The plight of the farmers and Adivasis who have been ousted from their homes for establishing the industries is really bad. They were not given deserving compensations. They were forced to take up temporary jobs. Often they had to sleep on the streets or big cities.

Question 15.
What is knowledge economy?
Answer:
To explain the growth of IT industry in India, the term ‘Knowledge Economy’ is used. But the expertise of a farmer in deciding what crops to grow based on his knowledge of the climate, soil and seeds can’t be compared to the expertise of a software professional. Both are experts in their own way. A famous sociologist Harry Braverman says that the use of machines actually destroys the expertise of workers. For example, in the past, the plans of buildings and other structures were made by expert architects and engineers. But today plans are made by computers.

Question 16.
Explain the changes brought in the sphere of Indian Industry by liberalization and globalization.
Answer:
India Government starred its liberalization policy in the 1990s. According to this, the government encouraged investment by private companies, especially foreign companies in India. The government allowed investment in areas like Telecom, Civil Aviation, and energy which were up to then reserved for the government. The licensing system was simplified or stopped. With this, it was not necessary to have a license to start many of the industries. Import restrictions were removed. With this, foreign goods were easily available in the local shops.

As part of liberalization, multinationals bought many of the Indian companies. For example, the Indian company ‘Parle Drinks’ was bought by the American Company Coca Cola. The annual sale of Parle Drinks was Rs. 250 crores. But Coca Cola spends 400 crores only for advertisement. Through attractive advertisements, the sale of coca-cola increased. Many traditional companies making soft drinks crumbled. As part of liberalization, some Indian companies became multinationals. As part of liberalization, the government is selling its shares in the public sector companies. This process is called disinvestment. This resulted in the loss of jobs of thousands of people working there.

The first public sector company to be sold like that was ‘Modem Foods’ which was formed to give people healthy food at a cheap price. 60% of the workers in this company were forced to retire within 5 years. This tendency to reduce the number of workers is found everywhere in the world. Big companies are reducing the number of their workers and the jobs are outsourced to smaller companies or houses. Multinationals give their jobs to developing countries as they can get the work done for less money.

Since the small companies compete to get orders from bigger companies, the situation in small companies is also bad. Employees are paid small salaries and other conditions are not good enough. In mall companies trade union activities are difficult. Today most big companies give their various jobs to smaller companies on contract basis. This process is called outsourcing. This is seen more in the private sector.

Question 17.
Explain the employment procedure followed in India for appointment to public sector companies and private enterprises.
Answer:
For getting employed in public sector companies, certain qualifications^are essential. The qualifications will be mentioned in the advertisement calling for applications for jobs. Information regarding salary structure, house rent, promotion possibilities, etc. can be obtained.

But for jobs in private companies qualifications are flexible. Salary is not fixed. Employment may be on contract basis. Each company may have its own work culture. Through employment exchanges and advertisements, only a small percentage of people can get employment. Many find their own jobs. Thus we have many self-employed plumbers, electricians, teachers who give private tuition, architects, free-lance photographers and so on.

Most of them depend on personal relations for their work. Their advertisement is their sincerity, commitment, and expertise in their job. With the coming of the mobile phone, they have been able to establish more contacts and thus get more jobs.

Laborers are recruited into factories in another way. In the past workers were given by contractors or agents. In the cloth mills of Kanpur, these agents were known as ‘Mistries’. A mistry was also a worker. Mysteries came from the same location and same community. But they could behave like the boss of the workers because of the support they got from the owners of the factory. To keep the laborers under check, they used their hold in the community and. other pressure tactics.

Agents (Dallals) have lost their significance. Now it is the Managements and the Unions that decide on employment matters. Many factories now employ temporary’ workers. These temporary’ workers may continue working in the same factory for years. But they are not made permanent. In the organized labor sector this is known as contract work.

Question 18.
Explain the meaning of scientific management.
Answer:
The manner to increase production is to organize labor in a proper way. In the 1890s, an American named ‘ Frederick Winslow Taylordiscovered a new process for this. He called it ‘scientific management’. It is also known as ‘Taylorism’ and ‘industrial engineering’. In this system, the work in an enterprise is divided among the employees. With.the help of a stopwatch, the. working hours of the employees are decided. They are also given specific jobs for each day. To increase productivity, assembly line was also introduced.

This is a process in which workers and machines are set in such a way that with each step there is some progress in the making of a thing. Each worker is standing near a conveyor belt. His job is to add just one thing to the intended product. The conveyor belt then moves to the next worker. He adds another part to the product. This continues until the finished product is ready. The speed of the conveyor belt and the worker are adjusted. Some changes were tried in this system in the 1980s, but they did not succeed. Taylor’s process continues

Question 19.
Explain the concept of Time bondage’ or ‘Slavery to Time’ in relation to IT sector.
Answer:
In the IT sector, there is a kind of bondage to time. The working time for an IT company is usually 10 to 12 hours. If the project is not finished, the worker may have to spend his night in the office to finish it. This is called ‘night out’. Long hours are part of the work culture in the IT industry. The projects IT companies take are time-bound. Naturally, professionals are required to work for long hours to complete the projects in time.

To make long hours of work legitimate, IT management has introduced a system called ‘Flex Time’. According to this, workers can choose their own working hours. But the project must be completed in time. This system does not reduce the burden of work for the employees.

Even when there is no pressure of work, workers leave their offices very late. They do it because of the pressure from their colleagues and also to impress their employers about their sincerity in. the job.

Question 20.
Describe the pitiable and risky circumstances of work found in the Indian industrial sector.
Answer:
Workers work in very bad, hard and risky circumstances to make various things for us. In many factories, the working conditions are very bad. There are many factories and mines where the health and life of the workers are not safe. They are forced to work hard for long hours with very little pay. The Government has passed many laws for the welfare and protection of the workers.

Let us take the mining sector as an example. Many people work in this sector. In the coal mines alone there are more than 5lakh workers. The 1952 Mines Act fixed the working hours of mine workers. It fixed the number of hours a miner has to work. It also stipulated that if a person is made to work over and above the fixed number of hours, he should be given overtime. It al§0stipulated security measures for workers. The Big companies were required to obey the laws. But in the small mines and quarries, these rules were not followed. The contractors and subcontractors created problems.

Many contractors did not maintain proper records of workers. So whenever there was an accident, they could escape from their responsibilities. They also refused to give deserving compensations to workers. There is a rule that when mining is completed in one place, the dug part should be filled up and the place must be made to look like it was before. But contractors don’t do these things.

The workers in mines work in very risky conditions. Floods, fire outbreak, crumbling ceilings, gas leaks, defects in the oxygen supply systems and so on create very risky conditions. Many laborers are afflicted with breathing problems, tuberculosis and silicosis. Those who work in open mines are forced to work in terrible heat or rain. Many get injured by* the splinters that come flying, during the breaking of rocks by using explosives. The accident rate in India is much higher than in other countries.

In some other industries also, the condition of workers is very miserable. Many workers are migrants. workers. In the fish processing factories of the coastal regions of India workers from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, etc. work. Many of the workers, both males, and females, are unmarried. They are given common accommodation. Sometimes, about 12 people stay in the same room. They have no connection with the outside world. Many married people are without their families. They go to faraway places seeking jobs. They get no time even to mingle with others. In short, globalization leads workers to a world of isolation and emotional wounds.

Question 21.
Describe the importance of home-based handicrafts in the modem industrial society.
Answer:
Home-based making of things is important in the Indian economic system. Many things like ‘kasavu’, ‘chitrapattambaram, carpets, bidi, incense sticks, etc. come in this category. Most of these types of work are done by women and children. The raw material for their production is made available to houses by contractors or their agents. They also buy the finished goods at a fixed rate. Let’s take the bidi industry as an example. The start of this industry was from villages close to forest areas. Villagers collect bidi leaves and give them to the forest department or private contractor.

The contractors who buy them also sell them to the forest department. A person collects up to 100 bundles of leaves a day. Each bundle has 50 leaves. Owners of bidi factories get these bundles from the forest department through auction. These are then again given to contractors. They give these leaves to the houses where they make bidis. Mainly women are engaged in bidi making. The leaves are cut to size. The cut leaf is filled with tobacco and rolled and is tied with a thread. Contractors buy these and give them to the factory owners. The owners pack them and label them and through tobacco outlets they sell bidis. The greatest profit in this business is for the factory owners. The workers get only nominal

Question 22.
How do trade unions and protests bring changes in the industrial society?
Answer:
There are trade unions in many establishments. They try to organize the workers to fight for their rights. Trade unions face problems like regionalism and caste problems. The Marathi workers in the Bombay Cloth Mills may behave in a friendly way with the workers from North India. But they will not drink even water from their hands. They never visit them in their homes or share meals with them.

When working conditions get tough .and unbearable, workers strike work. Without going for work, they will be protesting. Managements’ will try to break the strikes. They declare lockouts. They close the gates of factories and prevent workers from entering them. Sometimes they bring workers from outside to keep the production going. So the decision to strike work is a difficult one. The workers will have a tough time living without getting their wages.

Let’s see the Bombay Textile Mill strike of 1982. It was led by the trade union leader Dutta Samant. This strike lasted 2 years. More than 214 lakh workers were involved in it and it adversely affected their families. They struck work demanding better wages and the right to establish their own trade unions. According to the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, only those unions who abandon the idea of strike will be given recognition. The only wages. Since they have to sit down for long hours, they develop problems like back pain.

was Rashtriya Mill Mazdoor Sangh, led by the Congress. They supported the Managen ent, colluding with it to bring workers from outside. Government was not willing to recognize the demands of the striking worl^rs. Slowly the intensity of the strike got less address. Workers refused to listen to the call of the trade union leaders who wanted the strike to continue. They went back to their work.

More than one lakh workers lost their jobs. Some went back to their villages. Those who were skilled in machine weaving got employment as temporary workers or moved to smaller cities seeking jobs. The owners of the factories did nothing to bring new machines or improve the working conditions. Some of the factory owners even tried to sell the land of the factory to builders to make apartment blocks and thus get huge amounts of money.

You can Download Change and Development in Rural Society Questions and Answers, Notes, Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Kerala Chapter 4 help you to revise complete Syllabus and score more marks in your examinations.

Kerala Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Chapter 4 Change and Development in Rural Society

Change and Development in Rural Society Questions and Answers

Question 1.
What are the factors of the New Economic Policy?
a) Liberalization
b) Privatization
c) Globalization
d) All the above
Answer:
All the above

Question 2.
Whose was the usage “A change from patronage to exploitation”?
a) Jan Breman
b) M.N. Srinivas
c) K.Santaram
d) M.S. Swaminathan
Answer:
Jan Breman

Question 3.
According to ………… system, real farmer should pay the tax.
Answer:
Zamindari

Question 4.
The Jati which had more members and more land was called ……….. by M.N. Srinivas.
Answer:
Prabala Jati (Strong Jati)

Question 5.
According to the … Act, the land a family can keep was limited
Answer:
Land Ceiling

Question 6.
Match the following

Answer:

Question 7.
What is the relation between agriculture and culture?
Answer:
There is close relation between agriculture and culture. The natur@4nd manner of agriculture will differ according to the region in the country. This difference will be reflected in the culture of those regions. The social structure and culture of rural Indian is related to agriculture and the lifestyle of agriculturists.

Question 8.
Critically examine the influence the land reform made in Indian villages during the colonial period.
Answer:
Before the colonial rule, the people who did agriculture were members of the Upper Castes. But they were not owners of the land. The land was in the control of regional kings and zamindars. The zamindars. who were politically strong, were Kshatriyas of such higher caste people. Zamindars were not owners of the land. Their duty was to collect the tax and give it to the government. They got a shore of the tax they collected.

These zamindars collected a got part of the harvest as tax from the farmers. When the British colonized India, they ruled many parts through zamindars. With the intention of maximizing their income, the British brought new land tax systems and reforms. The most important of them were the Zamindari system (Permanent Settlement) and the Ryotwari system. The Zamindars had to pay huge amounts to the government.

So they started collecting big amounts from farmers. The zamindari system was harmful to both zamindars and farmers. As a result agriculture got stunted and ruined. Many farmers left their homes as they could not stand the torments from zamindars. Constant famines, earthquakes, and wars reduced the population considerably.

The British implemented the zamindari system in Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. In the regions which they were directly ruling, they brought another land tax system. This is known as ryotwari system. ‘Ryot’ in Telugu means farmer. It was an agreement between the British government and the farmer. There were no middlemen. Farmers gave the tax directly to the government. As per the ryotwari system, the farmers became the owners of the land.

In the ryotwari regions, the tax was comparatively less. So the farmers were ready to invest money in their lands. There was much progress and prosperity in these regions. To know about the present agricultural structure we should know the background of land tax system in the colonial rule. The present system came from the changes that were brought during the colonial period.

Question 9.
Critically examine the land reform laws of India after independence.
Answer:
After independence, the Nehru government started a planned development process. The stress was on agricultural reforms and industrialization. The condition of agriculture in India at that time was pitiable. The country depended on imported foodstuff. People in the villages were in poverty. In the circumstances, the government felt the need to reform the agricultural sector. It realized that there should be drastic changes in the ownership of the land and its distribution. To bring these changes there was a series of land reform bills. The reforms were carried. out at the Centre and in the States.

The first important land reform law was to end the zamindari system. With this, the middlemen between the government and the farmers were ceased to exist. The ownership of the land by zamindars was canceled. The land of the zamindars was taken from them and it was distributed to the farmers who farmed it. With this, the power of zamindars weakened. It improved the condition of the real farmers.

Although zamindari system was ended by this law, landlord-ship, tenancy, share-cropping, etc. did not end. In the agricultural sector, there were many layers and zamindars were the top layer. The top layer was removed but other layers remained. The second series of land reforms tried to end tenancy system. It made a condition that till the tenant paid the rent, he could not be ousted from the land. This law could offer some kind of protection to the tenants. The rent to be given to the landlord was also reduced by this law.

But in many States, this law was not properly implemented. Since the tenants were not given any written documents, the law proved useless in many cases. Only in Wet Bengal and Kerala, the law was effectively implemented. These States were able to restructure the agricultural system by giving the tenants the right to their land. The third land reform law related the maximum land a family could own. The limit for maximum land would depend on each region. For example, in Assam, it could be 50 acres but in Bengal, it might be only 25 acres. The ceiling was determined according to the type of land and fertility of soil.

If the land was well- productive and fertile, the land area one could retain would be smaller than less productive and infertile land. The extra land taken from the families would be taken and distributed among the landless poor. But all this did not happen as planned. Landowners used different techniques to keep their land by using various loopholes of the law Many landowners escaped from the law by giving away their extra lands to their relatives.

Even their servants were given land. Thus they were able to keep control of their land. To escape from the land ceiling laws, in some regions, rich landowners and farmers officially divorced their wives, although they lived together. This way they could keep the land by giving a share to the wives. The efficacy of the land reform laws was not similar in all States. It is true that some changes did happen. But there was hardly any big difference in the inequality prevailing in the agricultural sector. It affected the production of agricultural goods. The land reform laws are important in India. Such reforms will remove the poverty i villages and bring social justice.

Question 10.
Examine the social repercussion of the Green Revolution in India.
Answer:
Green Revolution is part of the programme that the Government implemented in the 1960s and 70s. In the 1960s there was a serious food shortage. To overcome it, government came out with an agricultural plan and this led to the Green Revolution. For this financial assistance was obtained from International Agencies. The government gave farmers high-yield seeds, insecticides and fertilizers at subsidized prices. They were also given agricultural loans. The government gave them guarantee that it would buy the produce at a minimum fixed price.

This was the basis of the Green Revolution. The Green Revolution took place only in places which had irrigation facilities. The new seeds and manner of agriculture needed a lot of water. It concentrated on areas fit for wheat and paddy cultivation. Therefore initially the benefit of this scheme went to Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Green Revolution had a great impact. Since latest technology was used, there was a huge increase in the production. India became self-sufficient in food grains. The Green Revolution was considered as a great achievement of the Government and the scientists who helped in the process. But sociologists say that it also had its negative results. It helped only middle class and high class farmers.

The small scale farmers did not get any benefit from it. To carry out the programme a big capital was needed. Small farmers did not have the capital to buy new breed of seeds, fertilizers and insecticides. They could not afford to use latest technology. The small farmers did not do farming aiming at the market. They did it for their own use. But the middle class and rich fanners did farming with the market in their mind. They produced a lot and sold the extra yield in the market making huge profits. Thus agriculture was commercialized.

Thus in fact, in the first stage of the Green Revolution, the inequalities only increased It also caused the ousting of tenants from their lands. Since agriculture became profitable, the landowners topk their land back from the tenants and that way he tenants lost their means of livelihood. Rich fanners became richer. The tillers, tractors harvesters and threshers that were brought took away the jobs of the poor people who managed their lives doing different jobs in the farms. It was they who ploughed the land, harvested, and threshed. Many of these people went away to cities seeking employment. Thus migration to cities increased.

It is true that because of the high demand for labor, laborers got better wages. But this rise did not help them as the price of essential commodities shot up. There was another thing also. Before the Green Revolution, the laborers got their wages in kind (various agricultural products). But now they got their wages in cash and this made thing s worse for him because of the high prices he had to pay for various products.

The second stage of the Green Revolution was carried out in areas which were dry and where availability of water was less. There were great changes now. Government made arrangements for better irrigation facilities. The way of planting, the kinds of crops, etc. were changed. Agriculture was commercialized. Stress was given to cash crops like cotton. This also increased the insecurity of farmers.

Before the Green Revolution, farmers produced different things for their use. But now they concentrated on one crop. When concentrating on crops there would be problems at times. Fall in the prices, crop failure etc. would be very dangerous then. Some farmers suffered from these dangers. Green Revolution led to regional inequalities. Some places prospered greatly. But others stayed backward. Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh prospered. But Bihar, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, etc, remained poor. The gross inequalities there later led to riots.

Green Revolution also proved harmful to the traditional ways of agriculture. It was hoped that scientific methods would improve the condition of the farmers. New style of farming, new breeds of seeds, chemical fertilizers and insecticides created serious environmental problems. In this situation, scientists and agricultural organizations asked the people to go .back to their traditional methods of cultivation. The high-yield seeds were found harmful to health.

Question 11.
Evaluate the changes that globalization and liberalization brought to the Indian village communities.
Answer:
It was in the 1980s that India started its liberalization policies. It was a policy stressing free market, privatization and globalization. Liberalization made it necessary for India to become part of the World Trade Organization. The purpose was to bring free International trade and open Indian markets for imports. Liberalization policy had a big influence in agriculture and village communities.

Before liberalization, the Indian farmers had the support of the nation and protection in the market from imported goods. But as a result of liberalization and globalization, farmers faced competition from global market. We can see imported fruits and other food items even in the small shops of our villages. But a few years ago such imported things were not available here. There was heavy import duty and so many things were not imported. But globalization removed all such restrictions.

This badly affects the farmers here. For example, India decided to import wheat. This adversely affected the wheat farmers. Some farmers in Punjab and Karnataka entered into contract with Multinational companies to grow some crops like tomato and potato. The companies had agreed to buy these crops for export. There are some dangers in this ‘contract agriculture’. The company decides what should be grown. It is the company that provides seeds, capital, and technology. The company also agrees to buy the product at a fixed price.

This contract-agriculture is common in India. It may look as if it is good for the farmers as it gives them financial guarantee. But the problem here is that the farmers have to depend on the companies for their livelihood. It removes the freedom of the farmer to grow what he likes. He has to work like an employee of the company. Sometimes they have to produce only flowers for export and so they cannot cultivate any food crops.

Local knowledge of agriculture does not have any role here. The farming is to be done as suggested by the company. Through contract-farming, things need by the rich people are produced. Ordinary people have no use of such things. Moreover these crops need a lot of chemical fertilizers and insecticides which will bring .a lot of damage to the environment. Agriculture has now become highly globalized. The multinationals entered this field as sellers of seeds, insecticides, chemical fertilizers and so on. But now they dictate to the farmers what to cultivate and how to cultivate it.

You can Download The Story of Indian DemocracyQuestions and Answers, Notes, Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Kerala Chapter 3 help you to revise complete Syllabus and score more marks in your examinations.

Kerala Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Chapter 3 The Story of Indian Democracy

The Story of Indian Democracy Questions and Answers

Question 1.
When did the ‘Nagarapalika’ Arrangement come into existence?
a) 1 June 1993
b) 1 July 1993
c) 15 August 1993
d) 2 October 1993
Answer:
1 June 1993

Question 2.
Who was connected to the Panchayati Raj in Tribal Regions?
a) Ambedkar
b) K. Shantaram
c) Tiplut Nongbri
d) Mahatma Gandhi
Answer:
Tiplut Nongbri

Question 3.
The ultimate interpreter of the Indian Constitution?
Answer:
The Supreme Court

Question 4.
It was the ……… amendment of the Constitution that brought Panchayati Raj.
Answer:
Answer:
73^rd

Question 5.
In 1931 the India National Congress held its Annual Meeting in …….. and it declared the draft plan of the Constitution of free India.
Answer:
Karachi

Question 6.
The cornerstone of Indian democratic system.
Answer:
The Indian Constitution

Question 7.
The suggestion to amend the Constitution about Grama Panchayat mentioned the Directive Principles of the Indian Constitution was made by………..
Answer:
K. Shantaram

Question 8.
Gandhiji suggested that self- sufficient villages or ……… were models that could continue even after
Answer:
Gramaswarajyam

Question 9.
The Karachi Meeting of the Indian National Congress took place in ?
Answer:
1931

Question 10.
In the opinion of the social scientist ……… the Panchayats of the Hill Tribes do not conform to the democratic principles in structure and activities.
Answer:
Tiplut Nongbri

Question 11.
According to the 73^rd Amendment of the Constitution ……….. seats in the Panchayats are served for women.
Answer:
33.3%

Question 12.
……… has the right to hear some small civil and criminal cases.
Answer:
Nyaya Panchayat

Question 13.
The slogans of the …….. Revolution were Liberty, Equality & Fraternity.
Answer:
French

Question 14.
Article ………. refers to the right to life and freedom.
Answer:
Twenty-one (21)

Question 15.
Problems like troubling women for dowry are solved in ………
Answer:
Nyaya Panchayat

Question 16.
In the ………….. problems like troubling women in the name of dowry etc. are solved.
Answer:
Nyaya Panchayats

Question 17.
Match the following

Answer:

Question 18.
Codify some discussions in the Constitution-Making Committee.
Answer:
K.T. Shah: The nation should give jobs to all able and qualified citizens.
B. Das: The main responsibility of the government is to remove the hunger of people and ensure that social justice and security is given to all.

Ambedkar: As done in some other countries, Constitution is not gimmick to install a certain political party in power. The people will decide who should be in power. Those who get into power will have no freedom to act as they want. They will have to follow the Directive Principles. If they breach them they will have to answer to the voters in the coming elections.

Nehru: Laws can’t stop reforms. Social forces are so strong. If laws and the Parliament can’t absorb changes they won’t be able to control the circumstances. The Tribals and their interests should be protected. They should be protected from greedy neighbors. Their progress should be the aim of the nation.

K. Santaram: Grama Panchayats should be formed. They should be given power and strength to become effective partners in local self-government.

T.A. Ramalingam Chettiar: In the villages, rural industries should be organized on a cooperative basis.
Thakurdas Bhargava: The Nation should organize. agriculture and animal husbandry in modem scientific ways.

Question 19.
Discuss the Amendments to the Indian Constitution which made Panchayati Raj possible.
Answer:
The literal meaning of Panchayati Raj is ‘rule by five persons’. Its aim is to bring democracy at the village level and ensure the participation of ordinary citizens. This basic democratic concept is not something imported from abroad. In India, from time immemorial panchayats had existed. In the administration of villages, jati-panchayats had a big role. But they were not fully democratic.

In Jati Panchayats, strong groups had representation. Lower castes had little representation there. The strong sections who ruled the Panchayats had conservative views. Their decisions were often against law and legal procedures.

There were gross inequalities based on jati, varna, and gender. This prevented proper democratic participation by all. When the Constitution was prepared, there was no mention of any Panchayat there. Many people raised their, voice against it. They showed their sorrow, despair, and anger. But leaders like Ambedkar argued’ that the panchayats would be monopolized by the strong castes and they would exploit the lower castes and the poor.

He felt that the repressed groups will be further exploited through grama panchayats. But Gandhi had a different view. The concept of local self-government was much dear to him. He saw each village as a self-sufficient unit. He thought that each village would be able to manage its own affairs without depending on anybody else. He felt that ‘grama- swarajya’ was something that could continue after independence.

But we had to wait until 1992 to establish democracy at the village level (decentralized rule). In 1992, with the 73^rd Amendment, this was made possible.

The 73^rdAmendment gave panchayat raj institutions constitutional status. Elections to the panchayats were made compulsory every five years. The control of local resources was to be in the hands of Panchayat Samitis.

The 73^rd and 74^th Amendments brought a revolutionary change, in the local self-government institutions one- third seats (33.3%) were reserved for women. In this 1?% were reserved for SC’s and ST’s. These I Amendments have great historical importance. With I this women got representation and partnership. They got the right to take decisions. Thus the 73^rd and 74^th Amendments were strong steps in the direction of women empowerment. 1/3 seats were reserved for women in regional Samiti, grama panchayats, municipalities, corporations, and district Samiti. in the 1993-94 elections for (he local self-governments more than 8 lakh women became partners in the national developmental processes

Question 20.
Explain the powers and responsibilities of Panchayati Raj Institutions.
Answer:
The Constitution demands that panchayats should be given all powers and strength to work as self-government institutions. The State governments have been asked to give a hew life to the panchayats. Here are the powers and responsibilities of Panchayats.
a. Encourage programs for economic development.
b. Encourage programmes to ensure social justice.
c. Taxes, tolls, and fees can be imposed, collected and used.
d. Help the State governments to carry out its responsibilities.

Panchayats also have to carry out social welfare schemes. These include maintaining crematoriums, keeping birth and death records, establish child and maternal welfare centers, maintain pounds to keep wandering cattle, encourage family planning, encourage agricultural activities, etc. Panchayats also have to make roads, public buildings, wells, schools, etc. They should encourage village industries and small irrigation projects, it is the members of Panchayat that supervise government schemes like joint village development schemes and joint child- development schemes.

The main income for the Grama Panchayat is from property tax, professional tax, vehicle tax, land tax, and rent. They also get financial help from district Panchayats. Income and expenditure statements are to be displayed by the Grama Panchayats on the notice boards in front of the office. By this, people at the grass-root level can understand what is happening in their panchayats. They have a right to seek information about the welfare schemes undertaken by the Panchayats and also ask for reasons for taking certain decisions.

In some states, there are Nyaya Panchayats. They have the right to handle small civil and criminal cases They have no right to give punishments. These Nyaya panchayats have been successful in settling quarrels among individuals. They have been successful in preventing dowry-related violence against women.

Question 21.
Explain about the working of the Panchayati Raj among Hill Tribes.
Answer:
Some Tribal areas of the country had certain democratic traditions. In Meghalaya, for example, Tribal groups like Khasis, Jaintias, Garos have their own traditional political institutions. These have been in existence for centuries. They were well-developed institutions. They worked at different levels like village, kulam and State. For example, Khasis had their own Council for each Kulam. It was known as ‘Durbar koor’. The head of the Kulam chaired this Council
a. The 73^rd Amendment does not cover the major portion of Hill Tribe areas.
b. Our policymakers were not keen on interfering with the institutions of the Tribals.

That is why they were kept outside the purview of the 73^rd Amendment, tiplut Nongbri, a sociologist, points out that the structure and activities of the Tribal Institutions may not be democratic. She argued that although they have concepts of equality there are many inequalities in their community. The Tribal institutions were intolerant to women. Social changes have brought changes in these institutions also. Now it has become difficult to know what is traditional and what is not.

Question 22.
Critically examine the influence of pressure groups in democratic politics.
Answer:
The definition of democracy by Abraham Lincoln is world-famous. “It is a government of the people, for the people and by the people.” However, the differences among different groups of people are not addressed here. As we all know all the people are not of one group. There are many groups with different interests. Each group tries to protect its interests. Each group will try to get the attention of the government to its needs.
a. All interest groups are of similar. Therefore it is difficult to compare them.
b. An illiterate farmer or laborer can’t present his problems in a convincing way.

But an educated industrialist or businessman has the capacity to present things in an appropriate manner. People do not present problems individually but collectively as a group. Interest groups form organizations to get their interests protected and to bring government’s attention to the things they like. For example, industrialists have organizations like FICCI and ASSOCHAM. Farmers have organizations like ‘Shetkari Sanghatana’. Workers have their unions. There are also many Tribal Organizations and other environmental, social and religious organizations.

Question 23.
in a democratic government, political parties play a big role. What are political parties?
Answer:
They are organizations that want to form government through elections using legitimate means. They are formed with the intention of getting political power and using that to do things that are of special interest to them. Political parties have some ideas about how the society should be. They represent the interests of different groups. Different groups also try to influence political parties. When some groups feel that their interests are not served, they form new parties. Or they work as pressure groups and try to influence the government. Some political organizations try to get power but they do not get it. Such organizations can be seen only as certain institutions.

Max Weber says that Caste is concerned with economic matters, communal organizations worry about social matters and political parties think about getting power (authority). Each party has certain aims. It will try all it can to achieve these aims.

Not every organization has the power to influence government. It is the strong sections of the society that exert pressure on the rulers. These sections form organizations based on caste, race, and gender. They influence government. Social organizations and interest groups play a big role in democracy.

Question 24.
Discuss the Constitutional laws and social justice.
Answer:
There is an important difference between law and justice. The essence of law is force. Law has means to enforce it. The power of the nation is also behind it. But the essence of justice is righteousness. Law works through a chaff of authority: All laws and authorities come from the Constitution.

Constitution is the basic document that forms the laws of a nation. The basic law of India is the Indian Constitution. All other laws are made and enforced by the authorities specified by the Constitution.

The Constitution has made a chain (Hierarchy) of courts. It is these courts that interpret laws when there is a controversy. The highest court in India is the Supreme Court. It is the Supreme Court that gives the ultimate interpretation of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court has tried in many ways to expand the fundamental rights given in the Constitution. The right to life and the right to freedom are given by the 21^st article. They were expanded to include right to livelihood, health, housing, education, and dignity. In. the different judgments given by the Supreme Court the meaning of ‘life’ has been expanded to include many things. Life is not just physical existence. Such interpretations are beneficial to the exploited and persecuted people. It also helped to free people working as slaves and rehabilitating them. It also prevented activities harmful to the environment, maintenance of primary health and imparting primary education.

Keeping the Directive Principles within the purview of Fundamental Rights, the Supreme Court declared Right to Equality as a fundamental right. This was a relief to many plantations and agricultural workers. Constitution is not just a pointer telling the people what should be, or should not be, done for social justice. It has the strength to expand the meaning and importance of social justice. Cultural organizations have helped the Courts and authorities to interpret fundamental rights and directive principles to suit the contemporary understanding of things.

Law courts are places where controversial issues come for solutions. Constitution remains as a means of renewing political power and it directs authorities towards social welfare. The Indian Constitution has the strength to help people. It is baaed on the fundamental principles of social justice. The diredive principle regarding grama panchayat was presented in the Look Sabah by K. Santaram. After the 73rd Amendment of 1992 it became a constitutional law.

You can Download Cultural Changee Questions and Answers, Notes, Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Kerala Chapter 2 help you to revise complete Syllabus and score more marks in your examinations.

Kerala Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Chapter 2 Cultural Change

Cultural Change Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Muslim Reformists of the society like ………. criticized polygamy and purdah system.
Answer:
Jahanara Shanavas

Question 2.
……… was a modern social reform movement.
Answer:

Question 3.
The modem social reform movement ………. was founded in Punjab.
Answer:
Arya Samaj

Question 4.
M.N. Srinivas used the term … to show how lower castes imitated the lifestyle of the higher classes.
Answer:
Sanskritization

Question 5.
As a result of 150 years of British rule, there were Changes in the Indian-ness and Indian culture. M.N. Srinivas called these changes …………
Answer:
Westernization

Question 6.
………… started the first school for women in Pune
Answer:
Jyotiba Phule

Question 7.
M.N. Srinivas used the term Sanskritization in 1952 when he was studying about the……….
Answer:
Jati System

Question 8.
Match the following:

Answer:

Question 9.
Who is the author of Induprakash?
a) Vidyasagar
b) Jahanara Shanavas
c) Ranade
d) Satish Sabarwal
Answer:
Answer:
Vidyasagar

Question 10.
Who coined the word Sanskritization?
a) Jyotiba Phule
b) M.N. Srinivas
c) Ranade
d) K.T. Shah
Answer:
M.N. Srinivas

Question 11.
Match the following:

Answer:

Question 12.
Describe the 3 levels of social change in India during the colonial rule as suggested by the sociologist Sathish Sabarval.
Answer:
a) Communication system
b) organizational forms
c) Nature of ideas
During the colonial period, there were a lot of changes in the communication system. Different technological advances increased the speed of communication. Printing Press, telegraph, microphone, steamships and railway helped people to communicate fast. Using the latest means of communication, reformists in different areas exchanged their views.

They could travel to different parts of the country and propagate their ideas. For example, in 1864, Keshav Chandra Sen from Bengal visited Madras. Pandita Ramabai traveled to different parts of the country. Some reformists even went abroad to visit different places and see things. Christian missionaries reached even the remotest villages in Nagaland, Mizoram, and Meghalaya.

Organizational forms: During this period many modem cultural organizations were formed. In Bengal, there was Brahma Samaj and in Punjab, there was Arya Samaj. In 1914 all India Muslim Women Conference . was established, Indian reformists conducted public, meetings to spread their ideas. They also made use of media like newspapers, bulletins, and journals. Some of the books of the reformists were translated into different Indian languages. For example, the 1868 book “Indu Prakash” by Vidyasagar was translated by Vishnu Sastri into Marathi.

Nature of ideas: The ideas propagated at this time were revolutionary and drastic. The new ideas of liberalism and freedom spread among the people. There were new concepts with regard to marriage and family. Mothers and daughters were assigned

Question 13.
Explain the contributions of women social reformists.
Answer:
In the middle decades the 19th century, the idea of woman education was discussed widely and intensively. Social reformer Jyotiba Phule opened the first school for girls in 1848 in Pune. All social reformers advocate women education. They argued that for the progress of the society, women had to be educated. Many of them believed that many women of the pre-modern India were educated.

But some did not agree with this view. They pointed out that, only a few privileged women had such education in the pre-modem India. However, reformers wanted to give priority to woman education. They started discussing the meanings of tradition and modernity. People like Jyotiba Phule showed that India was a great country before the coming of the Aryans. But people like Bal Gangadhar Tilak stressed the glory India had during the Aryan era. In short, the reformers of the 19th century questioned meaningless rituals and traditions prevalent in the society. At the same time, they pointed out the good traditions.

Thus they started an era of social revolution. There were some questions that reform movements raised. Some movements gave importance to the problems faced by women in the upper castes. But some concentrated on the inequalities of jati system. Some people felt that jati system was against essential Hindu principles. Some argued jati and gender-related persecutions were part of religious dogma.

Muslim reformists raised their voices against polygamy and purdah system. In an All-India Muslim Women Conference, Jahanara Shanavas got ah anti-polygamy resolution passed. Jahanara argued that polygamy was against the teachings of the Koran. She asked educated women to end this injustice. This resolution against polygamy became an issue of great debate and discussion, especially in the Muslim papers. A women-oriented paper – Tahzib-i-Niswan – supported the resolution. But some papers opposed it. Debates were common among communities.

For example, Brahma Samaj strongly opposed ‘Sati’. But some conservative Hindus in Bengal formed an organization called ‘Dharma Sabha’ and demanded that Sati should be continued. They said that reformers have no right to interpret holy books. They complained to the British government against the reformers. Many Dalits turned against the inequalities preached by upper caste’ Hindus. A13-year old girl named Muktabar, a student in Jyotiba Phule’s school . in Pune wrote very strongly against a religion that upheld the rights of a few upper castes and rejected the rest.

Question 14.
Describe the Social Reform Movements of the 19th and 20th century India
Answer:
Colonialism brought many changes to the Indian society. The 19th and 20th century Reform Movements came up to find solutions to the problems faced by the society. There were many useless and harmful social customs and rituals in the society. The worst things were Sati, child marriage, and Jati- discriminations. There were also female infanticide and untouchability. Fights against social ills had started in India even before the colonial period. Buddhism and Bhakti-Sufi Movements had tried to eradicate many evils. There are two special features about the Reformists of the 19th century.

First, they were brought up in the modern background. Secondly, they were influenced by the Western concepts of liberalism and a new reading and interpretation of the traditional literature of India and Indian concepts. In objecting Sati, Rajaram Mohan Roy made use of Western concepts like humanity and natural rights and also the Hindu Sastras. Ranade, the leader of the Prarthana Samaj also made use of Western concepts and Hindu Sastras in justifying widow- remarriage. In his books “The Text of the Hindu Law on the Lawfulness of the Remarriage of Widows” and “Vedic Authorities for Widow Remarriage”, he has shown that Hindu Sastra had approved widow re-marriages.

Modern education was liberal. Its contents included European Renaissance, Religious Reform Movements and Philosophical Thoughts. Their theme was humane, secular and liberal.

Sir Sayed Ahmed Khan was the leader of Aligarh Movement. His interpretation of the Koran stressed free research. He pointed out the similarities between the revelations of the Koran and the natural laws discovered by modem science.
Viresalingam was the leader of the Reform Movement in Andhra Pradesh. His book ‘Sources of Knowledge’ shows his scholarship about modern jurisprudence and oratory. He also translated Julius Huxley’s book.

Question 15.
Give short notes on Westernization, Secularization, Modernization, and Sanskritization.
Answer:
Westernization, Secularization, Modernization, and Sanskritization are different concepts and in different contexts, they are used differently. Even then these
concepts often stand together or in a hierarchical order. This mutual relation between these ideas is quite natural in the Indian context.

Sociology may have its own interpretations about each of them. Colonial modernity is full of paradoxes. Let us take the example of Western education. Western education was brought to India by the British colonial government. This helped the growth of an educated middle class. This middle class had big dreams about western philosophical thoughts and liberal democracy. At the same time, they were ashamed of the colonial rule of their motherland and they upheld the traditional wisdom and scholarship . of ancient India. In the Reform Movement of the 19th century also we had this tendency. In short, the educated middle class and reformists received Western concepts and at the same time, they upheld India’s tradition.

Colonial modernity not only presented new ideas, but it also caused the re-thinking and re-interpretation of Indian traditions. Culture and tradition are living concepts. People study them .and make timely changes. For example, we can think of the traditional dress, sari, worn by Indian women. Today some Indian women wear sari, with a Western touch. The old and the new are fused. They wear saris and at the same time, they use petticoats and blouse.

In India, we have many structural and cultural diversities. India is a land of diversities. These diversities are found in geography, race, language, religion, politics, and culture. It is these diversities that cause different things like Sanskritization, Modernization, Westernization, Secularization and so on to influence the diverse people. First, we talk about Sanskritization. There is a reason for that. Sanskritization had started even before the colonial rule. Through many ways, it continued to exist during and after the colonial rule.

The other three happened during the colonial period. These were brought about by the Western concepts like freedom and individual rights. Awareness of these concepts made Indians feel about the injustice of the colonial rule. It also gave them a sense of shame. It also created in them a desire to go back to their own tradition and heritage.

Question 16.
As a process of cultural change, explain the effect of modernization!
Answer:
Modernization has a long history. Modernization means the path Western Europe and America followed in the 17-19 centuries. Spokespersons for modernization say that other societies also must follow this very same path. From 19^th century, there have been changes in the viewpoints regarding modernization. Modernization was evaluated relating it to creative and desirable values. People and societies wanted to become modem. In the 20th century, this view became strong. The progress in technology and manufacturing process was considered modernization. The shift from traditional society to a more cultured society is also called modernization.

It was considered the opposite of tradition In India, modernity began during the colonial rule. It is this colonial background that marks our modernization and secularization different from those of the Westerners. Modernization and secularization are mutually related. They both are modem concepts. So we discuss them together here. Sociologists have tried to define and interpret the meaning and content of the process of modernization. In their views the following are the features of modernization:

• Modernization denies regional limitations and narrow views, it gives importance to universality and cosmopolitan attitudes.
• it. gives preference to science and reason above emotion and irrationality.
• St treats the individual, and not groups, as the basic unit the society.
• Birth should not be the basis for one’s profession or status. It should be chosen by individuals.
• St should be wisdom that must determine our approach to nature. Fate or destiny has no place here.The identity of a person must be chosen and acquired, not imposed.
• In the bureaucratic system, family, residence, community, etc. should have separate existence.

Question 17.
Explain the concept of secularism. How did it affect Indian Jati system?
Answer:
In the Western world, secularism means the process by which the influence of religions is reduced. Supporters of modernism believe that the influence of religion is getting less in modern societies. The indicators of secularism are people’s distancing themselves from religious institutions (like not going to church or temple), the fall in the influence of religious organizations in social and material thinking of people and people becoming less faithful in their beliefs. But somehow there are terrible religious clashes in many parts of the world. The feeling that the growth of modernity will reduce the influence of religion on people exited long ago. But this is not fully right.

Western and modem thoughts, modern communication systems, etc. did not reduce the influence of religion. On the contrary, some new kind of religious reform organizations are coming up. For the rituals, they gave some non-religious connotations. Rituals have certain non-religious meanings. For example, marriage is an occasion where people get an opportunity to mingle with their colleagues and also bosses. It also gives people an opportunity to show off their wealth – their fine clothes and ornaments. Such festivities have also acquired political and economic implications. For example, the long rows of cars of guests, the VIPs attending the function and the sumptuous meals served, etc. will show the status of the family in the community.

Jati system is also adversely affected by secularism. In traditional India, Jati system worked within a religious framework. Purity-Pollution concept was a basic tenet. Today Jati works as political pressure groups. In contemporary India there are many communal organizations, and political parties are formed on communal basis. To achieve their goals they go on exerting pressure on the nation. This kind of change that has happened is what is called as secularization of Jati.

Question 18.
What are the criticisms that have come up against Sanskritization?
Answer:
The concept of Sanskritization as propounded by M.N. Srinivas has been severely criticized by many. Here some of the criticisms.
a) Sanskritization exaggerates the upward mobility of the lower castes. Sanskritization tried to say that it will help the lower caste to reach the higher steps of the Jati ladder. But it did not bring any structural change. It brought some changes in the position of some people. They made their position better by keeping themselves within the framework of their Jati. In other words, the inequalities still continue.
b) Sanskritization viewed the lifestyle of the higher caste as superior and that of the lower castes as inferior. Therefore it was natural for the lower castes to imitate the superior lifestyle of the higher castes.
c) Sanskritization tries to justify a system based on inequality and exclusion. It speaks as if there is nothing seriously wrong with untouchability and purity-pollution concepts. With such an attitude, a society with equality is unthinkable.

Here is the concept of a low caste person regarding purity- pollution:
“Although goldsmiths are a higher caste than us, our caste-laws prohibit us from accepting food or water from them. We think that goldsmiths are very greedy and to dig out gold they can even wash human excreta. Therefore, although they are of a higher caste, they are more impure than us. We don’t accept any food from even higher caste people who do dirty jobs.” This shows how discriminatory feelings change lives of people. What is seen here is not to bring out a society with equality but to prolong the attitude that accepts discrimination and exclusion. This is an anti-democratic viewpoint.
d) As a result of Sanskritization’s low caste, people accept the conventions and rituals of the higher castes. This results in the isolation of girls and women, dowry stem and discrimination against other castes.
e) Critics also point out that as a result of Sanskritization, the special features of Dalit community and culture have been destroyed. For example, the value of the jobs done by the lower castes was reduced. Such jobs were pictured as shameful. Their traditional knowledge in local medicine and herbs, environment, agriculture, animal husbandry, artisanship, etc. was presented as useless in an industrial age.

Question 19.
Write a note of Westernization.
Answer:
By westernization, we mean the changes that took place here because of our contact with Western culture and the Westerners. Westernization is a process by which western lifestyle is imitated. It wasM.N.Srinivasthatfirsttalkedaboutthisconcept. He defines westernization thus: “Westernization is the changes that happened in the Indian society as a result of the British rule in India for more than 150. years. That word includes changes in technology, institutions, ideas, and values

Westernization is the imitation of the external forms of Western culture. It is not necessary that people accept modern values like democracy and equality. Westernization is of different kinds. One of them is the subculture of the Indian intellectuals. It is this intellectual group of Indians that first got into contact with Western culture. Their western education gave this opportunity.

They accepted the thought processes and lifestyles of the westerners. They also tried to spread it among their people. Thus it gave birth to a westernized subculture. The 19th-century reformists come in this category. But the western thoughts and lifestyle influenced only a small portion of Indians. But some western features had greater impact here. This is the second level of westernization.

The new technology, dress, ways of eating, etc. of the western culture brought changes in the style and habits of most Indians. Most middle-class families gladly welcomed them. Following the westerners, they bought radio,fridge, sofa set, dining table and chairs for their homes. There were also changes in art and literature. Artists like Ravi Varma and writers like Rabindranath Tagore, Chandu Menon, and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya were influenced by western culture. The style, theme and technique of Ravi Varma pictures were influenced by western as well as traditional art. In 1870, Ravi Varma agreed to make a portrait of the Family of Kizhakke Palat Krishnan Menon.

This picture of a matriarchal family in Kerala resembles very closely to a patriarchal family, with father, mother, and children, of Europe. As part of westernization changes also happened in other spheres. Clashes between generations, as seen today, are of western import! M.N. Srinivas said that lower classes tried Sanskritization whereas the upper classes tried westernization.

In a country with such diversities as India, Srinivasan’s view does not carry much weight. For example, the members of the Thiyya community, especially the elite, deliberately tried to be westernized and wanted to follow British culture. It was part of their efforts to reject Jati system and get into a cosmopolitan lifestyle. In the same way, people belonging to different communities in the North Eastern States were given new opportunities because of their esteem education.

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Kerala Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Chapter 1 Structural Change

Structural Change Questions and Answers

Question 1.
When did the tea industry begin in India?
a) 1850
b) 1851
c) 1880
d) 1881
Answer:
1851

Question 2.
Who was the Chairman of the National Planning Committee formed in 1939?
a) Jawaharlal Nehru
b) K.T. Shah
c) M.N. Roy
d) Rajendra Prasad
Answer:
Jawaharlal Nehru

Question 3.
………. means a specific region, where people live in unity and ruled by a sovereign government.
Answer:
Nation-State

Question 4.
Production of goods with the help of machinery run by steam or electricity is called ………..
Answer:
Industrialization

Question 5.
In 1938 the Indian National Congress formed a National Planning Committee with ………. as its chairman.
Answer:
Jawaharlal Nehm

Question 6.
………… said that when villages and cities have mutual contacts, Indian villages will be subject to urbanization.
Answer:
M.S.A. Rao

Question 7.
The knowledge of ………. opened a way for Indians to the global market.
Answer:
English

Question 8.
In 1690 an English merchant named ……… made arrangements to take three Indian villages on lease. 1690 …………
Answer:
jobChamock

Question 9.
In 1698, the British built ………. for defence.
Answer:
Fort William

Question 10.
Match the following.

Answer:

Question 11.
What are the features of capitalism?
Answer:
Capitalism is an economic system in which means of production like factory, land, etc. are in the hands of private individuals. Capitalist production of goods is aimed at the market, its aim is profit. “Profit, maximum profit” is the slogan of capitalism. Capitalism has the capacity and energy to grow and spread. These are the tendencies that capitalism showed even at the beginning. To get maximum profit, capitalism modernized production, using technology and labour.

Question 12.
Explain the relation between colonialism and nationalism.
Answer:
They are contradictory concepts. Democratic rights are anti-colonial. Colonial rule is foreign rule. Nationalism shows the freedom of the people and their sovereignty. Our leaders knew this paradox. They declared that freedom is our birthright. They fought for our political and economic freedom.

Question 13.
What is colonialism?
Answer:
Colonialism is the rule imposed by one country on another. Here, colonialism is considered a foreign rule. But actually foreign rule is only a part of colonialism. Colonialism is, in fact, a structure and a system. It is a robbery organized by the capitalist countries to exploit other countries.

Question 14.
Describe how the industrialization process in Britain affected India during the colonial rule.
Answer:
As a matter of fact, British industrialization proved to be destructive to India. It led to the ruin of Indian industries. The urban centres in India were also destroyed. The machine-made goods from England • flooded our markets and our goods could not compete with the cheap goods from England. Slowly the traditional industries in India were ruined. The conquest of the Native States by Britain also affected our industries adversely. Industries that produced top quality goods for the kings and queens and nobles and the rich were closed down. The workshops attached to the palaces also stopped working. Thus there was over-all ruin of Indian industries during the colonial rule.

Question 15.
Compare the industrialization and urbanization of England with India.
Answer:
Sociologists have often discussed the paradoxes in colonialism. They have compared the growth of Western industries and the prosperous Middle Class with the experiences in India. These studies show that industrialization is not merely producing goods using machines. It also includes the rise of new social classes and their interrelationships. Industrialization in India brought many changes in the Indian society and the studies discuss them.

Question 16.
Discuss the role played by independent India in encouraging industrialization.
Answer:
Independent India did a lot to boost industrialization. Even during the freedom struggle, our national leaders were aware of the need for industrializing India. India was exploited by the colonial rulers. The leaders believed that pre-colonial India was rich and prosperous and it was the colonial rule that made India poor and backward. They thought they could build a strong economic base by reviving the old industries.

The Swadeshi Movement, which was a result of the Division of Bengal, exhorted people to boycott British goods and use swadeshi goods. This boosted our industrialization. This tradition was taken up by the government of India, after freedom. People were made aware that only industrialization^pould lift them from the pit of poverty into which they had fallen during the colonial rule.

Leaders understood that only the development of heavy industries, machine manufactured goods, growth of the public sector and the co-operative sector, could bring about industrialization in the country. Nehru said that a modern and prosperous India must be built on giant steel factories, huge dams and power stations. Leaders like Nehru also gave importance to industrialization, it was given priority in the Five Year Plans.

Question 17.
Describe the urbanization process in independent India
Answer:
First of all, we see that people from villages are migrating into towns and cities seeking employment. They leave their family members behind in the villages and stay in cities. Most of these people, nearly 75%, who work in the cities, send money to their relatives in the villages. They also visit their kith and kin 4 or 5 times a year. A good number of people have also migrated to foreign cities. For example, many people from Gujarati villages have gone to cities in Africa and Britain. They build beautiful homes in their villages and invest their money in land and industry. They have also founded educational institutions and other Trusts. Secondly, in the villages close to the industrial cities, there is another kind of influence from urbanization.

For example, when a township like Bhilai was established in the middle of many villages, some villages were completely wiped out. Land belonging to many other villages was also taken by making the people vacate the* homes. To those lands, people from other places migrated. This increased the demand for houses. There developed a market. There were also problems of clash between the locals and those who came from faraway places.
Thirdly, some villages located around the cities were absorbed into the cities making them part of the metropolitan or megacities. Entire lands, which were used for cultivation and grazing, were now used for city development.

Question 18.
Discuss the differences in colonization before the capitalist system and during the capitalist system.
Answer:
Sonne foreigners came to India, looted its wealth and resources and went back to their countries. They attacked and established their authority here before the start of the capitalist system. Britain and some other colonial powers came to India during the capitalist time. There were big differences between the colonization before capitalism and after it. those came to India before capitalism just to loot her wealth. They also took tributes from Indian rulers. They did not interfere with the Indian economic system. They went back to their homes after looting India and collecting tributes. Many of those who attacked India later became Indians, like the Mughals. They also lost their foreign traits.

Question 19.
Write a note on the National Planning Committee.
Answer:
1939, the Indian National Congress formed a National Planning Committee. Its chairman was Jawaharlal Nehru and its General Secretary was K.T. Shaw. Although the Committee started working in 1939 itself, Nehru was arrested by the British. In the meantime, the Second World War started. In spite of all these setbacks, the Committee went ahead with its work. There were 27 sub-committees which were grouped into 8. The Committee gave importance to the following areas:
a) Agriculture
b) Industry
c) Profession and Population
d) Exchange and Finance
e) Transport and Communication
f) Health and Housing
g) Education
h) The role of women in the planned economic system. The Committee made a plan for the comprehensive development of India. Even before India had got its independence, many of the subcommittees submitted ad-hoc reports or their final reports. During the 1948 – 49 period, all these reports were published. In March 1950, the government appointed a Planning Commission. Its Chairman was Nehru. It is this Commission that prepared the Five Year Plan.

Question 20.
Describe the beginning of industrialization in India.
Answer:
Industrialization started in India with the establishment of plantation industry. Indigo, tea and coffee were the main plantation industries. Tea plantations were developed mainly in Assam, Bengal, South India and Himachal Pradesh. Government gave all kinds of help to the British plantation owners. It even collaborated with the owners to hire labourers and to force them to work. The owners used all kinds of unjust means to make the workers do maximum work for their own profits. Democratic laws of human values did not mean anything to these profit-motivated British.

Tea industry in India dates back to 1851. Most of the tea plantations were in Assam. At the beginning of the 20th century, some 6 lakh labourers worked in these plantations. Since the population of Assam was small, labourers from other provinces were brought. They were promised high wages by agents because it was risky to work in plantations due to different kinds of diseases including malaria. But owners were not ready to give high wages. They tried cheating and forced to get labourers into their plantations. To help the owners, government also passed some penal laws.

You can Download Suggestions for Project Work Questions and Answers, Notes, Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Kerala Chapter 7 help you to revise complete Syllabus and score more marks in your examinations.

Kerala Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Chapter 7 Suggestions for Project Work

Suggestions for Project Work Questions and Answers

Question 1.
What is Research?
Answer:
Research is a search. Through research, the boundaries of knowledge are expanded. There are some differences between what we read about research and the actual research. Research is something that do after entering a field. First, we choose a problem or a question. To get the answer we go into the field.

Question 2.
What do you understand by the research method?
Answer:
A most important factor in research is choosing an appropriate method for it. Once the problem or question is selected, the next step is deciding the research method.
There are different research methods. They include interviews, observations, surveys and so, son. Sometimes it is possible that the answer to the research problem may not be found by following just one method. In that case, researchers may have to use more than one research method.

When choosing a research method, some factors need special consideration. These factors include technical criteria to practical considerations. Technical criterion means the relation between the questions and the style. Practical consideration includes the time available for the research, the availability of documents and records, the circumstances at the places where research is to be done and so on.

Question 3.
What are the three methods of data collection?
Answer:
The first method interviews. By conducting interviews with different students in different schools you can collect data. You can ask for their honest opinions. You can compare the answers of one group of students with another group from another school. The second method is observation. You can use this method for research. For this you may have to spend time in different kinds of schools, schools for boys, schools for girls and co-education schools: You should then observe how students behave in these different places. By making close observations, you may be able to get the answer to your research problem.

The third method is survey, For this a questionnaire is prepared. The questionnaire should be made in such a way that students should be able to give their franks opinions about their schools. After that, an equal number of the questionnaire should be distributed to each kind of school. After getting them filled, collect them and analyze the answers.

Question 4.
What are the difficulties faced in a research?
Answer:
Researchers may find certain practical difficulties. Imagine that you are doing a survey as part of the research. First of all, you have to get enough copies of the questionnaire. For this you need money, time and efforts. To distribute the questionnaire among the students you will need permission from their teachers. The first time, you may be denied permission. You may be asked to come back at a later date.

Even if you distribute copies of the questionnaire, many students may not fill them and return them. Sometimes they may leave some questions unanswered. Then you will have to decide how to solve.the problem. Or you may take only those copies which are fully answered, and reject those which are only partly answered. You should be able to face any problem that might come up during your research work.

Question 5.
Describe the features of survey method.
Answer:
Survey is the method of collecting information directly from people by making answer a questionnaire you have prepared. Depending on the subject, the number of persons included in the survey could be small or big. After preparing the questionnaire, there are two ways of getting answers. One is reading the questions to the respondent and getting immediate answers. The other is distributing copies of the questionnaire and collecting them later with answers. There are advantages and disadvantages to the survey method.

The biggest advantage is that you can include many people in the survey. Since there are many respondents representing different groups of people, the researcher may get comprehensive answers, One disadvantage of this method is that you can’t make changes in the questionnaire once it is prepared and copies taken, if the questions are understood in a wrong way by the respondent, it will reflect in the answers. If the respondent gives an interesting answer, the researcher can’t ask more questions to get more things from him. Questionnaires are like photographs taken and they can’t be changed at will.

Question 6.
Describe the interview method.
Answer:
Interview is quite different from survey. In survey, information is collected from different people answering the same type of questions. But in
interview, information comes from individuals. In survey there are many people, interview is limited to a few.

Interviews can be structured (planned) or (unstructured) unplanned. When questions are ready-made, the interview will be structured. But when questions are developed on the spot, depending on the answers of the respondent, it will be called unstructured.

Interviews can be intense. The researcher may have to spend a lot of time with the interviewee. Sometimes a person may have to be interviewed more than once.
Interview is an old method of research. In this, researcher can renew the questions, alter them and include new questions. He can forward by correcting, altering and adding. But the problem here is that only a few people can be interviewed. Only opinions of a few selected people can be obtained. This is the major defect of interview method.

Question 7.
Explain the Observation method,
Answer:
Observation involves orderly observation and precise recording. Here the researcher observes what happens in the circumstances which are related to the chosen subject. This may look an easy method. But practically it is not so. The researcher should be able to decide among the things he observes, without prejudice, what is relevant to the research and what is irrelevant.

Sometimes it is possible that things that did not happen might be more interesting and important than the things actually observed. Imagine your research topic is “How are people belonging to different classes making use of certain public places.” The poor or middle-class people may have never come to these public places: For example how many people might have stayed in “The Gateway Hotel at Marine Drive, Kochi? Imagine how important is the thing that has not happened!

You can Download The Challenges of Cultural Diversity Questions and Answers, Notes, Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Kerala Chapter 6 help you to revise complete Syllabus and score more marks in your examinations.

Kerala Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Chapter 6 The Challenges of Cultural Diversity

The Challenges of Cultural Diversity Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Individuals develop their sense of being (identity) through
Answer:
Socialization

Question 2.
A large group of people that successfully claims legal monopolistic rights to use force within a particular region is called ……….. by Max Weber.
a) community
b) country
c) nation-states
d) nation
Answer:
Nation

Question 3.
In 1953, under the leadership of …….. a State Reorganization Commission was appointed,
a) Jawaharlal Nehru
b) DrB.R.Ambedkgr
c) Faisal Ali
d) Drs. Radhakrishnan
Answer:
Fazal Ali

Question 4.
Who was the Congress leader that fasted demanding a new Andhra State based on language?
a) Sriramulu
b) Faisal Ali
c) Gandhiji
d) Nehru
Answer:
Sriramulu

Question 5.
“Minorities are an explosive power. If it explodes the entire nation will crumble.” who said it?
Answer:
Dr.Ambedkar

Question 6.
Article… says that all groups of people will have the right to protect their language, script and culture,
a) Article 27
b) Article 28
c) Article 29
d) Article 30
Answer:
Twenty-nine (29)

Question 7.
Article … says that all minorities will have the right to establish and run educational institutions to suit their interests.
a) Article 27
b) Article 28
c) Article 29
d) Article 30
Answer:
Thirty (30)

Question 8.
Narrow mindedness based on religious dogma, prompting violence is, …………..
a) communalism
b) Casteism
c) Regionalism
d) Secularism
Answer:
communalism

Question 9.
Match the following.

Answer:

Question 10.
What is the meaning of cultural diversity?
Answer:
Diversity means difference. When we say that India is land of cultural diversities we mean that there are different kinds of social groups and communities here. These communities are formed on the basis cultural symbols like language, religion, sect, caste, and jati. When these communities live as part of a nation, there is bound to be cooperation and confrontation.

Question 11.
Why does cultural diversity bring strong challenges?
Answer:
In communities united by language or religion, there will be strong cultural bonds. These bonds are capable of organizing people into strong groups. Challenges are not raised merely by cultural differences. Economic and social inequalities also make problems complex. When steps are taken to end the injustices to one group, other groups often object to such steps. When OBCs were given reservations, the upper caste people came out protesting. Things become worse when limited resources like river water, jobs, and government funds are to be shared.

Question 12.
What are the factors that work against the unity and? indivisibility of India?
Answer:
There are many evil powers that work against the unity of our land. Communal riots, jati-fights, demand for separate countries and regions, etc. are activities against the unity of the country. It is true that many people do not have any patriotic feelings. When we examine the past history of India, we will realize that these kinds of divisive tendencies are not new in the country. Even before independence, such problems existed.

Question 13.
What are the bases of community’s being (identity)?
Answer:
bases of community’s being are birth and inclusion.

Question 14.
What are the features of community being (identity)?
Answer:
Some of the important features of community being are the qualities of being ‘accidental’, unconditional and un-escapable. These qualities emotionally weld an individual to the community. The community gives meaning to the world of the individual and gives the awareness of who he is. That is why when the community is threatened, individuals react emotionally and violently.

The other thing about community is its universality. The members of a particular community will have one land of birth, one mother tongue, one family and one faith. This may not be true for all. But generally, this is the case.

Question 15.
Define nation.
Answer:
A political community with some prerequisites is called a nation. A fixed region, people, a government, and sovereignty are the important factors that make up a nation. A nation has political and legal institutions to control the people who live in that region. Max Weber defines a nation as a large group of people that successfully claims legal, monopolistic rights to use force within a particular region.

Question 16.
“Desom” is different from community. Comment.
Answer:
The question raised here is whether design is different from Tribal group, religious community or regional community. There is no ideological difference between design and community. Any large community can form a de som any time. But it may . not be possible for a particular community to form a de som.

Question 17.
Describe the national policy of integration.
Answer:
India is a land of many languages, regions, and religions with different habits and customs. It is a land of diversity. Integrating the different people here is not an easy task. In some countries, they use force to integrate the people. They suppress regional, religious and linguistic minorities and force them to accept the cultural values and rules of the majority community. This is very unfair. But in India national integration is done keeping the linguistic, regional and religious diversities intact. We seek unity in diversity.

Question 18.
“The right and practical way is allowing the cultural diversities to co-exist.” Give your comment.
Answer:
Countries that suppress minorities alienate them. They develop enmity and hatTed for the nation. Very often such suppressions bring the opposite result, instead of destroying the communal spirit of the suppressed, it increases that spirit. The best way is to allow the cultural difference to co-exist.

Question 19.
Discuss the India approach to communal being.
Answer:
India has a positive approach to communal being since it is a nation of different faiths and beliefs. From the very beginning, India had accepted equal treatment to all manners of people. Although some leaders of the majority community wanted India to be a Hindu nation, the leaders of the country did not approve it. India stresses national integration. The Constitution declares India to be a secular State. But the fact remains that we have not been able to integrate ourselves fully. Even now we have evil things like “Jati’ in our midst.

• India gives strong protection to the religious minorities.
• In India, there is no shortage of ideas or rules. But the difficulty is inputting the rules into practice.
• In spite of our limitations, India is a good example of a secular, democratic State.

Question 20.
Critically examine Regionalism in India.
Answer:
Regionalism has taken deep roots in India. Regionalism comes from one’s loyalty to language, region, religion, culture, and tribe. When all these things are concentrated in one place, the regional tendencies grow fast. The feeling that they are exploited or neglected makes regionalism flare-up. It is hoped that Federalism will be a solution to the problems raised by regionalism.

Question 21.
How were the Indian States formed? Was language the only criterion?
Answer:
Even before independence, the idea that States should be organized on a linguistic basis was discussed. In the 1920s, this idea was approved by the Indian National Congress. Provincial Units of the Congress were made on linguistic basis. Thus there were the unit of Marathi speakers, Oriya speakers and so oh. Gandhiji and other Congress leaders promised that after independence States would be formed on language basis.

But when independence was got, in Congress itself there were different opinions. Some leaders felt that if States are formed on linguistic basis, it would promote regionalism, causing the nation to disintegrate. Nehru, Patel and Rajaji opposed the formation of States on language basis. But a good number of leaders stood firm in their former decision. In this situation of uncertainty, people began to agitate demanding States based on language. Bengalis, Tamils and Telugus joined the agitation.

It was in the Telugu speaking areas that this agitation was the strongest. Sriramulu, a Congress leader and Gandhian, started a fast and he died. His death made the agitation flare-up. People fought on the streets. Finally, the government had to grant Andhra State. In 1953, a State Reorganization Commission under Fazal Ali was appointed. The Commission gave its report. On 1 November 1956, the report was enforced. According to this, 14 States and 5 Centrally administered regions came into existence.

Some leaders including Nehru were afraid that the division of States on linguistic basis might cause disintegration of the country. But things happened the other way. The linguistically formed States helped in unifying the country. It also strengthened democracy. Above all, the language States approved the concept of unity in diversity.

It should, however, be noted that not all states were formed on language basis. In 2000, three States – Chhatisgarh, Uttaranchal, and Jharkhand – were formed. Language did not have a role in their formation. Here the considerations were cultural and economic. India now has 29 States and 2 Central Areas. By merely forming States based on language, regional feelings won’t be satisfied. There is a need for a guarantee for their existence. This is done by the Constitution. It defines clearly the powers jf the States and the Centre.

Question 22.
In India, how has the Constitution allotted administrative subjects?
Answer:
The Indian Constitution has divided the subjects into three: Central List, State List, and Concurrent List. The Central Government has full authority to make laws on the subjects in the Central list. The State government can legislate on their subjects. In the Concurrent List, both States and the Centre can legislate. In the Upper House of the Parliament, members are chosen from the State Assemblies. Moreover, when occasion demands, Committees and Commissions are appointed to determine center-state relations.

Question 23.
What are the problems faced by Federalism in India?
Answer:
Although – Federalism is functioning satisfactorily, many problems and arguments are going on. Things got worse from the 1990s, after implementing the liberalization policies. When Indians and foreigners invest in the country, regional equality was not kept. Many States were ignored. Private investors want to invest in the States which are already rich in industries. They do that because in the developed States there will be roads and such other infrastructure facilities essential for industries.

Market economy will only widen the gap between the developed and developing or under-developed States. In short, liberalization has created regional inequalities and increased them. The only solution to this problem is government and the public sector taking the initiative and do things to bring the underdeveloped States at par with the developed ones.

Question 24.
What are some of the basic problems we face?
Answer:
Some of the basic problems we face are:
a) Secularism Vs Communalism
b) Majority Vs Minority
The problems of secularism and communalism are related to the religious stance of the government. India is a secular State and communalism has no place here. The Majority Vs Minority problems are related to issues of number – a huge group on one side and certain smaller groups on the other side. There are suggestions to the government how it should act towards different religious-linguistic cultural groups which are unequal. India has protected the interests of its minorities through the Constitution itself.

Question 25.
Who are the minorities?
Answer:
Sociologically speaking, minorities are not just people less in number, but also those who are disadvantaged in different ways. Therefore rich people with special rights can’t be called minorities. At the most we can say that they are minorities with special rights. Minorities actually mean people who are less in number and also suffer from certain problems. Sociologically speaking, a small number of people with sufferings of some kind can be called a minority. Statistically, other minorities are those who are left- ‘ handed, born on 29 February and so on.

But they are not considered minorities. There are minorities who suffer in one sense but are economically well off, The Parsis and Sikhs in India are minorities but they are well off economically. But culturally, their condition is not very good. Before the vast majority of Hindus, their number is very small.

Question 26.
What is Communalism?
Answer:
Communalism is narrow-mindedness in which a person thinks that only his religion is right and others are wrong. It often leads to clashes. Those who are blinded by communalism consider followers of other religions as low and even as enemies. Communalism is very dangerous as it often leads to clashes between followers of different religions. It was communalism that caused India’s partition.

Communalism comes from the word communal. If we look into the dictionary meaning of ‘communal’ it means ‘shared by all members of a community’ or ‘for common use’. But in India, it has acquired this negative meaning of blind adherence to one’s religion with enmity for other religions. A word with a positive meaning has been changed into negative meaning.

Question 27.
Codify the special features of communalists
Answer:
All communalists believe in a ‘being’ based on religion. They also show hatred towards followers of other religions. Communalists are often violent. They insult and attack people who do not follow their tenets. Communalism gives too much importance to religion. They believe that religion is above everything else. A person’s wealth, profession or political leanings are not at all important. Only his religion is important. The many similarities among religions and their followers are denied by communalists.

Question 28.
Write a note on the communal riots in India
Answer:
Communalism is an evil that spoils India. It is the source for all kinds*iaf conflicts. During communal riots, persons lose their human face and they become instruments in the hands of communal leaders. They become ready to do anything, to kill, rape or loot just to show their hatred for the other community. They justify their heinous crimes saying that they are taking revenge for what the other community had done to their ancestors or relatives in the past of present. Every region of India has become a prey to communal riots. The minority communities have suffered the most in these riots.

• In the riots, government and political parties have a big role.
• • The worst rioting after independence were witnessed in 1984 and 2002. In 1984 the riots were against the Sikh community, following the murder of Indira Gandhi. In 2002, there are anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat, following the burning 6f a train in Godhra. There were communal riots in India even during colonial rule. Many people believe that the riots were the results of the British policy of ‘Divide and Rule’.

Question 29.
What is secularism?
Answer:
Secularism is the principle of the separation of government institutions and persons mandated to represent the state from religious institutions and religious dignitaries. This is a concept that is related to modernity, science and rationalism. Instead of depending on religious dogma to understand the world, secularism suggests alternative methods.

Question 30.
What is the meaning of a ‘secular’ State (Nation)?
Answer:
In India, we use the word ‘secular1 as the opposite of communal. ‘Secular’ nation therefore means a nation that does not show any special liking forany particular religion. It is a concept against the narrow¬mindedness of communalists. Secularism not against any religion, but it does not have any special preference forany religion. All religions are equal in the eyes of a secular nation.

Question 31.
“India is loyal to secularism and at the same time it is also protecting the minorities.” Is this statement true?
Answer:
This statement istme. It may look paradoxical. On the one hand, we say we are secular. On the other hand, we protect the minorities by giving them special considerations. In India, such a policy is essential because of our peculiar situation. We must not forget that we have so many minority groups and unless they are protected they will be in danger. This paradoxical attitude of the Nation is a highly complex matter.

Question 32.
When we do stray away from the aims of the Nation?
Answer:
The nation strays away from its aims when its citizens are denied their legitimate rights. Despotic nations do not respect the human rights of their citizens. They either deny completely or seriously limit freedom of opinion, freedom of the media, political freedom, freedom from injustice, freedom to go to court etc. Corruption, inefficiency, lack of resources and so on spoil the image of a Nation. Because of these negative things, the institutions of the nation do not respond positively to the needs of the people. Thus often the nation moves away from its real aims. So we have to be vigilant.

Question 33.
What are citizen Groups?
Answer:
Citizenry (Citizen group) is whole body of citizens which goes beyond family, community, market, or region. Here individuals come on their own and form organizations and institutions. It is a field where citizens are active. Here individuals take up social problems and try to exert pressure on authorities for the welfare of people. It consists of voluntary organizations, political parties, media houses, labor organizations, religious organizations, and non-governmental organizations. It works for the common good of the citizens.

Question 34.
The Emergency (1975-77) was a big shock to the people of India. Examine this statement.
Answer:
The emergency declared by Indira Gandhi in 1975 was a big shock to the people. People came out strongly against the Emergency. This resulted in the formation of many citizen organizations. Many social organizations also came up during this period. Today the working of citizen organizations has extended to different spheres. Some of them are strong enough to influence national and international agencies.

Question 35.
Write a note on citizen groups and Right to Information.
Answer:
One of the important spheres where citizen groups work is in the area of Right to Information. This started in the villages of Rajasthan. In the 1990s, a Citizens’ Organization named Mazdoor-Kisan Sakti Sangham wanted to get the records showing how the government money for village development was spent. Soon such demands came from different parts of the country. In spite of the strong objections from officials, government was forced to pass the Right to Information Bill. This ensured that the government has obligations to the people and the country and people can demand information on things they want to know.

Question 36.
Give a description about the Right to Information Act.
Answer:
This Act was passed by the Parliament on 15 June 2005. On 13 October, it became law. With this, the people of India, except in Jammu-Kashmir, got the right to get government documents. Before this law came there were some other laws in India regarding the right of people for information. With the coming of the new law, all other laws of the past in this regard have become irrelevant. With this Law, anybody can seek information from authorities. In 30 days the authorities should reply to the requests. The law demands that each official should keep the information related to his office in the computer. This will help people to get quick replies. This Law empowers the citizens:

• To seek any kind of information.
• To get certified copies of documents related to the subject.
• To get copies as print or on disc, tape, floppy or video cassette.

You can Download Patterns of Social Inequality and Exclusion Questions and Answers, Notes, Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Kerala Chapter 5 help you to revise complete Syllabus and score more marks in your examinations.

Kerala Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Chapter 5 Patterns of Social Inequality and Exclusion

Patterns of Social Inequality and Exclusion Questions and Answers

Question 1.
The process by which people are categorized into different levels is called…. by Sociologists,
a) social inequality
b) Social exclusion
c) Social stratification
d) Social control
Answer:
Social inequality

Question 2.
Keeping, individuals away from all activities of the society is called
a) social inequality
b) Social exclusion
c) Social stratification
d) Social control
Answer:
Exclusion

Question 3.
Who called the untouchables as Harijans (Children of God) and publicized that name?
a) Ambedkar
b) Ayyankali
c) Sri Narayana Guru
d) Gandhiji
Answer:
Gandhiji

Question 4.
Which was the first Backward Community Commission in India?
a) Netter Commission
b) Mandal Commission
c) Kothari Commission
d) Kaka Kalelkar Commission
Answer:
Kaka Kalelkar Commission

Question 5.
Who was the head of the second Backward Community Commission in India?
Answer:
B.P. Mandal

Question 6.
Who was the Chairman of the Backward Community Commission appointed he Kerala government in 1970?
B.P.Mandal
b) V.P. Singh
c) KakaKalelkar
d) Nettur
Answer:
Nettur

Question 7.
Who started the Bengali Social Reform Movement?
a) JyotibaPhule
b) SirSayyed Ahmed Khan
c) Raja Ram Mohan Roy
d) Mahadev Govind Ranade
Answer:
Raja Ram Mohan Roy

Question 8.
Who formed the Brahma Samaj?
Answer:
Raja Ram Mohan Roy

Question 9.
Match the following.
Answer:

Question 10.
Social inequality and seclusion are realities in the life of the Indian society. Explain.
Answer:
Social inequality and seclusion are realities in the life of the Indian society. On the street, we see so many beggars. We also see small children employed to work in households. We see them working as helpers in construction sites, tea shops, and temporary food outlets. We see them engaged in cleaning jobs. We see small children working as servants in households carrying the school bags of children who are much bigger than them.

Often these sights don’t affect us. We may not feel that forcing children to work at their school-going age, preventing them from learning, is injustice. We often read how children are segregated or discriminated in school, we hear about violence against women, hatred to minorities, contempt for the physically or mentally challenged, etc. These news items also may not affect us much. All these are examples of social inequality and seclusion.

Question 11.
What are the social implications of social inequality and seclusion?
Answer:
There are three answers to this question.
a) Firstly, they are not related to individuals. They are concerned with groups and therefore they are social issues.
b) Secondly, they are not economic problems. In this, they are social issues.
c) Thirdly, they are well-established and structural. Social inequalities have a definite pattern.

Question 12.
How can we classify social resources?
Answer:
We can classify social resources into capitals of three kinds:
a) financial (economic) capital.
b) cultural capital.
c) social capital

• Economic capital refers to material wealth and income.
• Cultural capital refers to education and positions.
• Social capital refers to the chains of relations and social organizations.

Question 13.
Explain the principles that help in the stratification of people.
Answer:
a) Social stratification is a feature of society: Social stratification is a feature of society. It is not merely the difference between individuals. It is something that permeates (covers) the entire society. Stratification implies that the societal resources are inequitably distributed among the different classes of people. In backward societies, production was very little and therefore stratification was also only nominal, or very minimal. Societies that lived by hunting and collecting foods are examples for this. But where societies achieved technological progress, stratification was seen in its full color. In such societies, people produced surplus, more than what they required. These resources were unequally distributed among the people of different classes. The innate abilities of people were not considered here.
b) Social stratification has been in existence for generations: Social stratification is related to the family and also to the societal resources that one generation receives from the previous one as hereditary property. The social status of a person is imposed on him. A person gets the social status of his parents. For example, a Dalit is supposed to do only traditional jobs like farming, scavenging or leatherwork. Because of that, he had very limited chances of getting jobs with higher pay. Such social inequalities were further aggravated by rules like marrying in the same caste. This prevented people from removing the boundary lines through mixed marriages.
c) The ways of faith or ideologies support Social stratification: If Social stratification is to continue through generations it must be proved to be inevitable. For example, the Jati system was justified through the ‘Purity-Pollution’ (suddha-asuddha) concept. This made Brahmins high caste and Dalits low caste merely by birth and profession. Not everyone approves inequality as a legitimate system. People with special privileges in the society support systems like Jati and Varna. But those who suffer contempt and negligence raise their voice against them.

Question 14.
What are prejudices? What are their social repercussions?
Answer:
Prejudices are the biased feelings and attitudes people of one class have about members of other classes. This is an opinion formed about a familiar thing without taking into consideration any evidence against it. Some prejudices are developed on mere hearsay. A prejudiced person refuses to examine any evidence. Even if he gets evidences to the contrary, he refuses to give up his previous opinion.

Prejudice can be positive or negative. Usually, it is used in a negative sense. But sometimes it can be positive also. For example, one may feel that his Caste is better than other Castes. Very often such prejudices are found when it comes to women in one’s Caste.

Question 15.
Discrimination is a feature of social inequality and seclusion. Explain.
Answer:
Discrimination is definitely a feature of social inequality and seclusion Prejudices talk about biased opinions and attitudes. But discrimination shows one’s behavior towards people of another class or group, or an individual.

Denying opportunities because of Jati, religion, or gender can be considered discrimination. Denying a job because of gender is discrimination. Discrimination is difficult to prove. Very often discrimination is cleverly hidden behind other reasonable explanations. For example, if a person is refused to be appointed to a post because of his Jati, nobody will tell him that he was rejected because of his Jati. He will be told that he is unfit for the job because of some other reasons.

Question 16.
What is meant by social seclusion?
Answer:
Social seclusion means keeping away individuals from participating in the activities of the society. By these individuals or groups of individuals are denied the opportunities available to the majority of others. To have a reasonable life, persons need food, clothes, and shelter. I.n addition to these essential requirements, they also need education, health, transport, insurance, social security, banking, police services, and court. When these things are denied to people, there is social seclusion.

Social seclusion is hot accidental. It is well established. It is related to the structure of the society, tt is not something that is done with one’s consent. It is done without considering the feelings of the secluded. It is against their will.

Question 17.
How has the Jati System categorized people?
Answer:
Historically, Jai system has classified people based on profession and status. Each Jati is connected with a particular profession. Persons born in particular Jati are supposed to do the work of only that Jati. The Jati rules don’t allow them to choose other jobs. In the same way; in the stratification of classes, their Jati will have a particular slot.

Another feature Jati system is the differentiation between social status and economic status. For example, Brahmins who have high social status are under kings or rulers who belong to Kshatriyas in non-religious matters. At the same time kings, in spite of their wealth and power, are under Brahmins in religious matters like pooja and other rituals.

Question 18.
What is the relation between social status and economic status?
Answer:
There are close relations between them in spite of the differences. Normally, people who have high social status will also have high economic status. The financial status of the lower castes will below. But this situation has changed since the 19th century. The strictness with Jati and profession has been reduced. The religious and ritual control over professions could not be imposed in the changed situation. Now people can choose any job they like without any caste consideration. Now people change jobs as they like.

The relation between Jati and economic power has also weakened. The situation is quite different from the one some 50 or 60 years ago. There are rich people and poor people in all Castes. However, if we look very carefully we can still see that the relation between social class and economic status has some relevance.

Question 19.
What is untouchability? What is its basis?
Answer:
Untouchability is the worst part of the Jati System. Jati system imposes severe social controls and restraints on the lower castes. The suddha-asuddha (Purity- Pollution) concept is behind this heinous system. Those who are outside the Jati system were considered untouchables. They are impure. Even their touch can pollute members of other Jatis. If the Untouchables touch members of the Upper Castes, they would be given severe punishments. Those who were touched by the Untouchables had to undergo complex purification processes.

Question 20.
Describe the three measures of Untouchability.
Answer:
They are:
a) Seclusion
b) Ridicule and submission
c) Exploitation
Seclusion is to be suffered only by the Untouchables. Other Jatis don’t suffer from it. It is the Dalits who suffer the worst form of seclusion. They could not draw water from public wells. They could not worship with other Jatis or take part in any functions of festivities. But they are forced to do low jobs. For example, they were forced to beat the tom-toms (chenda) during religious functions.

Ridicule and submission are important aspects of Untouchability. Dalit and other lower castes are to do certain symbolic signs in public to show respect to the higher castes. They had to remove their head- cover, hold their slippers in their hand, stand with bowed heads, and not wear clean and colorful clothes. They were often scolded and ridiculed public.

Economic exploitation was another factor of Untouchability. Dalits and lower castes were exploited in various ways. They were forced to work without payment or with very little payment. Their properties were often confiscated by the higher castes.

Question 21.
Untouchability is an Indian phenomenon. Comment.
Answer:
Untouchability is certainly an Indian phenomenon. There might be some variations in its intensity and forms, depending on regional, historical and social background.

Untouchables were known by different names in different centuries. In the ancient period, they were called ‘Chandalas’. All those names were contemptuous and degenerative. Some of the names are used even today as abusive words, even though it is a criminal offense. In the 1930s, with a view to remove the contempt in the names, Gandhiji gave the Untouchables a new name ‘Harijans’. It means children of God. He made that name popular.

But the untouchable groups and their leaders gave them their own name ‘Dalits’. Today this name is widely used. ‘Dalit’ means suppressed. Dr. Ambedkar never used this name. But the echo of his philosophy and his Empowering Movement is heard in this name. In the 1970s, during the Jati revolts in Bombay, the word ‘Dalit’ received great popularity. The Dalit Panthers was a revolutionary group from Western India and they used this name to uphold their being and individuality.

Question 22.
What are the legal steps that the Government took against Caste discrimination?
Answer:
Government passed many laws to prevent caste discrimination and to punish offenders. One of them is the Freedom of Religion Act of 1850. This Law says that the rights of citizens should not be reduced or denied if they change their Caste or Religion.

The 93rd Amendment to our Constitution in 2005 also is on similar lines. It came into effect from 23 January 2006. Both the 1850 Act and the 2006 Constitution Amendment Act are related to education. The 1850 Law gave the Dalits admission to government schools. The 2006 Amendment made reservations to Other Backward Classes in our Higher Educational Institutions.

Between 1850 and 2006, many laws were enacted by various governments. The Indian Constitution (1950) itself is one such law. In 1989 the “Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act” came into force. This law was enacted with the specific purpose of preventing atrocities to the members of scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. This law recommended severe punishments to those who committed offenses against Dalits and Adivasis. By the 17th article of the Constitution, Untouchability was abolished.

Question 23.
Codify the steps taken by the Nation to prevent discrimination based on Caste and Tribe.
Answer:

• Reservation
• provisions in the Constitution
• Different kinds of Laws
• Act of 1850
• Act of 1980
• Act of 2006
• Abolition of Untouchability

Question 24.
Give examples of struggles for social justice,
Answer:
Even before independence, people like Jyotiba Phule, lyodi Das, Periyar (E.V, Ramaswami Naicker) and Ambedkar had fought against Caste discriminations. There are many organizations today that fight for the rights of Dalits. The Bahujan Samaj Party of UP, Dalit Sangharsh Samiti in Karnataka, etc. are prominent among them. Dalit writers have given valuable contributions to the literature of various Indian languages like Marathi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi and they have beep highlighting the problems of Dalits and seeking solutions.

Question 25.
What were the struggles against discrimination from non-governmental agencies?
Answer:

• Struggles by Social Reformers
• Dalit Movements
• Contributions in the field of literature

Question 26.
The main problem of Adivasis is migration by other people. Explain.
Answer:
The Adivasi problem is made worse because of migration by other people. Today except in the North-Eastern States, there is no region where only Tribals are living. Only in some places, there are their concentrations. From the mid 19th century, non-Tribals began to migrate into the Tribal districts of Central India. The Tribals in these areas left their habitat and went to other places seeking jobs in estates, mines, and factories.

The economic condition of the Tribals in places where they have concentrated is much worse than the non- Tribals there. Adivasis stay in circumstances of poverty and exploitation. It is the exploitation done by rulers and their agents that pushed the Adivasis into their present miserable situation.

Question 27.
What are some of the challenges that Adivasis face?
Answer:
The Sardar Sarovar Dam in the Narmada River in Western India and the Polavaram Dam in Godavari in Andhra Pradesh have made thousands of Adivasis leave their homes, pushing them into poverty. In the 1990s there were the economic liberalization policies and this has made their condition even worse. With the liberalization policy, many corporate companies appeared. They drove away the Adivasis from their land giving them very little compensation and started schemes to exploit the natural resources there. The word Adivasi means ‘real settlers’ or ‘first settlers’. This word was used as a part of the struggle against those who trespassed into the habitat of Adivasis as part of the Colonial Government’s schemes for the so-called development.

Adivasis are people who have been losing their land and forest in the name of development. This word has also the symbolic meaning of political awareness and claiming their rights.

The Tribals have fought seriously protesting against discrimination and exploitation. They have fought against the intruders and the government. Because of their struggles, Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh became States. At this level, the struggles of Adivasis are different from those of Dalits. As Adivasis live in large numbers in nearby areas, they could demand States of their own. But Dalits are so scattered all over, they can’t make such demands.

Question 28.
Describe the struggles of women for equality with men.
Answer:
From time immemorial, women have been victims of exploitation and inequality. As the Reform Movements of modern India took the problems of women seriously, they were brought to public attention. There were regional differences in the Social Reform Movements that came up in the 19* century. They are often called Middle-Class Reformation Movements.

It is so because most of the Reformists were Middle-Class men who had got western education. Western concepts about democracy and the ancient democratic traditions of India had influenced them in equal measure. Many of them used these ideas in their fight against inequality. Rajaram Mohan Roy in Bengal, Mahadev Govind Ranade in Bombay Presidency and Sir Sayed Ahmed Khan among the Muslims fought for the rights of women. Rajaram Mohan Roy especially fought for women’s rights. Ranade fought for widow-remarriage. Jyotirao Phule fought against gender discrimination. Sir Sayed Ahmed Khan struggled for reforms in Islam.

It was Rajaram Mohan Roy that started the first Reform Movement in Bengal. He tried to bring changes in the Indian society and Hinduism. In 1928 he founded Brahma Samaj. He had started is fight against Sati even before that. Sati was the first ‘problem’ that grabbed public attention. Roy formulated an ideology that was a mixture of European rationalism and Indian tradition. He used both these concepts to fight against Sati. He proved that Sati was anti-human and anti-religious.

Widows in the Upper Castes had to suffer a lot. Their bad condition was noticed by the Reformists. They took up their case. They fought for the rights of widows and also for their right to remarry. Ranade made use of books like “Analogy of Religion, Three Sermons on Human Nature” by Bishop Joseph Butler. Ranade’s books like the “Texts of the Hindu Law “, “Lawfulness of the Remarriage of Widows”, and “Vedic Authorities for Remarriage” established that widow remarriage had the sanction of the Vedas.

Rajaram Mohan RdV and Ranade were Middle-Class Upper Caste Reformists. Reformists from the lower classes also fought for women’s equality. Jyoti Rao Phule from Maharashtra is an example. He fought heroically against gender discrimination and Jati system. He founded a Movement called Satyasodhak Samaj”, seeking truth. This Organization did a lot for the benefit of women and Untouchables.

In the light of Western ideas, Sir Sayed Ahmed Khan tried to reform the Islamic community. He recommended reforms keeping himself within the framework of religion. He argued for the education of Muslim girls. He said that this education could be given in places near their homes. Like Swami Vivekananda, he also stood for women education. He said that in their curriculum, religious principles, training for running a home, skills in handicrafts, and childcare should be included: We must evaluate him by looking at the circumstances in which he made these suggestions. His contributions for women education were really great.

Question 29.
Was it only men that fought for women’s rights? Explain.
Answer:
Some people have said that it was men who actually fought for women’s rights and their ideas were imported from Western nations. Both these ideas are wrong.

There were many women who fought for women’s rights. Pandita Ramabai, Mataji Maharani Thapaswini, Anandibai and Sr. Subbalakshmi were some of them. There were many writers who highlighted the problems of women with their powerful writing. They include Tharabai Shinde and Begum Rokea Sakhawat Hussain.

Question 30.
What were the declarations of the Karachi Meeting of the Congress?
Answer:
The Karachi Meeting of the Congress was in 1931. It made a declaration regarding the fundamental rights of Indian citizens. It highlighted woman-equality. Here are the main points of the declaration:

• All are equal before law irrespective of caste, religion, class, and gender.
• There will be no discrimination against anybody on the basis of religion, caste, class or gender for taking up government jobs, occupying positions of authority and getting any titles. Each person will have the right to do whatever profession he chooses.
• Voting right will be based on adult franchise.
• Women will have the right to vote and take up public positions.

Question 31.
Even after independence, there are unsolved women problems. Explain with examples.
Answer:
Two decades after independence, in the 1970s, women’s problems again came to the forefront. Reform Movements of the 19th century were mainly against evils like Sati and child marriage, They also tried for women education and widow-remarriage. But in the 1970s the problems were ‘modem’. Raping of women in police custody, murders in the name of dowry, women representation in public offices and media, gender discrimination in jobs and positions, etc. were some of them.

In the 1980s there was a demand to restructure laws related to women. Activists pointed out that there were no changes in the laws that were made in the 1911 century.

In the 21^st century, new issues of gender equality surfaced. The most significant of them was the reduction in female population. The fall in the number of females shows society’s wrong attitude towards women. This raises new challenges. Only through prolonged struggles can these injustices be ended.

Question 32.
What are the general concepts about differently-abled people?
Answer:
Everywhere in the world, there are common concepts about differently-abled people. Here are the main points:

• Handicap is a biological phenomenon.
• The problems of the differently-abled person come from his/her handicaps.
• Differently-abled people are considered ‘victims’.
• A person’s handicap is related to his self-respect.
• The very word handicap suggests that the person needs help.

Question 33.
What are the views of the society about handicapped people?
Answer:
Any handicap was seen as a negative feature of that person. Even in the Indian mythology, handicapped term ‘Differently-abled’ for handicapped people challenges the old concepts. It is argued that it is not biological factors that make somebody handicapped, but the attitude of the society. Brisendine has rightly said: “Handicap lies in the structure of the society, and not in the physical condition of the individual.” All structures including courts were built by the society and all this was done without giving any consideration to the handicapped.

They create obstacles for the handicapped. Thus they are denied opportunities for education and jobs. We have now seen that handicap is something that society has made. It has another aspect also. There is a close relation between handicap and poverty. Children with handicaps are born mainly in families suffering from malnutrition. Lack of proper health of parents, regularly repeated childbirth by the mother, lack of preventive medicines, accidents that happen in crowded homes, etc. are main causes for handicaps. This is the reason for having more handicapped people among the poor than among the rich.

Just like poverty creates handicap, handicap creates poverty. People tend to ostracise handicapped persons and this increases their financial problems. The family of the handicapped also falls into poverty. There is no doubt that the poorest people in India are the handicapped, or, to use a more politically correct language, differently-abled people.

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Kerala Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Chapter 4 The Market as a Social Institution

The Market as a Social Institution Questions and Answers

Question 1.
In the 18th century, economics was known as …
a) Social economy
b) Political economy
c) Cultural economy
d) Technical economy
Answer:
Political Economy

Question 2.
Who was the most important political economist of the early period?
a) Karl Marx
b) AmartyaSen
c) Alfred Marshal
d) Adam Smith
Answer:
Adam Smith

Question 3.
………… said that individual transactions affect the market system.
a) Karl Marx
b) Adam Smith
c) Alfred Marshal
d) AmartyaSen
Answer:
Adam Smith

Question 4.
The French word ……… means giving freedom in the matters connected with market and industry (non- regulated market).
a) Laissez-faire
b) Marketization
c) Globalization
d) Liberalization
Answer:
Laissez-faire

Question 5.
Economic activities of the ……… are similar to those of the capitalists.
Answer:
Nagarathars (Also known as Nattukkottai Chettiars)

Question 6.
What is the most important book of Adam Smith?
a) Capital
b) Wealth of Nations
c) Communist Manifesto
d) Market
Answer:
Wealth of Nations

Question 7.
Who is the person who coined the term ‘invisible hand’?.
a) Karl Marx
b) Engels
c) Alfred Marshal
d) Adam Smith
Answer:
Adam Smith

Question 8.
Anthropologist who made studies in the Dorai village pointed out the social importance of market,
a) Adam Smith
b) Alfred Gell
c) Karl Marx
d) Engels
Answer:
Alfred Gell

Question 9.
Who said that In the capitalist production system, labour itself becomes goods’?
a) Adam Smith
b) Karl Marx
c) Alfred Gell
d) Alfred Marshal
Answer:
Karl Marx

Question 10.
Match the following.

Answer:

Question 11.
What are the different meanings of ‘market’?
Answer:
These are the different meanings of market:

• A place for selling and buying things (fruit market, wholesale market).
• The coming together of people for buying and selling (weekly market).
• Trade-Business sector (Car market, Ready-made clothes market).
• Demand for special products or services (market for mobiles phones, market for computer professionals).

Question 12.
What are the sociological views about Markets and Economic System?
Answer:
The main aim of economics is to understand and explain how markets work in the modem capitalist economy. For example, how are prices determined? What are the benefits of certain kinds of investment? What are the factors that make people earn money and spend it? All these questions are answered by economics. Here the question is what contribution the sociologist can make in the study of markets. Sociology tries to go beyond the things that economics tells us. That means, Sociology tells us things about the market which Economics does not tell us. Sociology looks at the changes markets bring in the society.

Question 13.
What role does Sociology have in the study of markets?
Answer:
To answer this question, we have to look into the England of the 18th century and the starting of Economics. Economics was then called political economy. Among the early political economists, the most famous was Adam Smith. He is known as the Father of Economics. He published a book called “The Wealth of Nations” in 1776. In his book, Smith tried to understand the market system that started at that time.

Smith argued that economic system is made by individual transactions, like a series of buying and selling. It slowly becomes a self-working, orderly system. Market system is not something anybody deliberately creates. The millions of people that made transactions did not have any intention to create a market system. Each individual looks at his personal interest or gain.

When we try for our personal interests, automatically the interests of the society get protected. In other words, what individuals do for their benefit will prove beneficial to the society as a whole. Smith argued that this is brought about by an invisible power. He called this invisible power as “invisible hand”. In his opinion, the capitalist economy is propelled forward by the selfish interests of individuals. It is when buyers and sellers take rational decisions, protecting their interests that the capitalist economy goes forward smoothly.

Smith used the concept of ‘Invisible Hand’ to argue that when people pursue their selfish interests in the market, it proves beneficial to the Society. When they work for their personal interests, it awakens the economy and that way more wealth is produced. Because of this Smith supported the idea of free market. Free market means a market without controls from the government or any other agency. This idea is called laissez-faire. It is a French word. It means leave something alone to do its work.

It is from the ideas presented by early political economists like Adam Smith, modern Economics is developed. Modern economics says that the system of wealth should be studied as a separate part of the society. Economic system works with its own principles. It does not worry about the social and political background. But sociologists had an entirely different viewpoint. They tried to study economics within the larger sociological framework. Thus they developed an alternative method for studying economic institutions.

Sociologists look at markets as social institutions. They observe that markets are formed through special cultural ways. For example, markets are organized and controlled by special social classes. They have special relations with other institutions, social processes and structures.

Sociologists say that wealth systems are set in the society. They point out two examples. One is the weekly market of the Tribal Groups, and the second is the traditional business community and its business chains in colonial India.

Question 14.
What is free market?
Answer:
Free market means a market which is not controlled in any way by the government or any other agency. This economic vision is called laissez-faire.

Question 15.
Describe the features of weekly markets.
Answer:
Weekly markets are a central feature of the social and economic activities of agricultural communities. Weekly markets bring people from different villages together. They sell their products and buy those things that are not available in their own villages. Traders from outside, money lenders, artist of various kinds, fortune tellers and such other people also came to the weekly markets with their own purposes. In the Indian villages, there are also special markets at fixed short-term intervals. For example, there are the cattle markets. Such markets bring the economic systems of different places together. They thus get connected to the urban economy and finally to the national economy.

Question 16.
Give a picture of the Doke Market.
Answer:

Question 17.
What were the changes brought into the Indian society by the coming of Colonialism?
Answer:
Studies show that with the coming of Colonialism, the unchanging economic system of India began o crumble. With the establishment of colonial rule, a new economic system came up in money, market and trade. It even penetrated the local agricultural economy. Gradually this agricultural economy became part of a wide exchange chain. With this, self-sufficient villages collapsed.

The old studies say that the coming of the colonial rule brought revolutionary changes in the village and urban communities of India. But modern studies do not support this view. The old studies say that before the colonial rule, the Indian economy was immobile. It was self-sufficient. There, exchanges (barters) took place without any interference of market forces. Economy based on money was not there.

All these arguments were denied by the new studies conducted by Bailey, Burton Stein and Sanjay Subramanian. New studies point out that just before the colonial rule, the system of collecting taxes in cash was started in India. Trade was also done using money. There is no doubt that in many villages of India there still was the barter system as found in the Jajmani system. At the same time, many agricultural products and other goods were also sold for cash in the markets. Recent researches show that extensive trade and business chains were in existence in India before the colonial rule.

Question 18.
How were the indigenous trade chains organized in India?
Answer:
The history of the t mottukkottai Chettiars (Nagarathars) of Tamil Nadu will help us to know about this. The Nagarathars were a famous trade and business community in Tamil Nadu. They had a banking system based on Jati and an extensive business chain. Their community, relatives and family were interested in trade matters. Therefore all their trade activities worked within this social structure. Their banks were institutions run by joint families. Similarly, their trade and banking activities were done through the connections of Jati and relatives. For example, they had extensive Jati-based relations in South East Asia and Sri Lanka. This helped them to extend their business interests into those areas. Some people. say that the economic activities of the Nagarathars were some of kind indigenous capitalism. This raises an important question: Did India have capitalist systems different from those of Europe?

Question 19.
How was the social structure of the markets?
Answer:
ln India there were many traditional trade communities like the Nagarathars. There is a close relation between Jati system and economic system. This relation can be seen in things like ownership of land and differences in professions. For example, the big land (estate) owners during the colonial times were people belonging to the Upper Classes. It was Jati that determined the profession for each Caste. The relations between Jati and economy are also found in trade and market.
The main profession of Vaisyas, one of the 4 Vamas, is trade! It shows that even in ancient India trade and traders had a high status in society.

There are many Vaisya communities here which have taken up trade as their traditional profession. The Banias of North India are good examples. But trade and business were not the monopoly of Vaisyas. In the traditional trade communities of India, there were. Parsis, Sindhis, Bohras, Jains and also members of other communities. In the trade communities, there were also people who did not have a high status in the society. For example, during the colonial period, it was the Banjaras who controlled the export trade of salt. Banjaras are Low Caste Tribals.

Question 20.
Describe the changes that colonial rule brought to India.
Answer:
Describe the changes that colonial rule brought to India.
a) It destroyed the handloom industry. When cheap factory manufactured clothes came to India, the Indian handloom industry could not survive in the competition.
b) The Indian economy was strongly linked to the world capitalist system.
c) Before colonisation, India was a country exporting manufactured goods to the world market. But after colonization, India became a place for collecting raw materials for the British factories, agricultural products for their consumption and market to sell their finished goods. Thus all the benefits went to England.
d) New groups – especially Europeans – entered the. trade and commerce market. The new groups either worked with the existing trading communities or ousted them from their trade.
e) In India, a market economy came. It helped some new trade communities to grow. They tried to take advantage of the new circumstances. These communities continued to remain powerful even after independence.

Question 21.
Show how the.new trade communities made use of the opportunities provided by the colonial rule, citing the example of Marwaris.
Answer:
Marwaris are the most famous and widespread trade community in India. That community includes business magnates like Birla and also the small traders found all over the cities and towns of India. It was during the colonial rule that the Marwaris became so successful in their trade. They took advantage of the opportunities offered by the colonial rule in cities like Calcutta. To engage in trade and money-lending business, they spread across India. Like the Nagarathars, they were able to make use of extensive trade chains and acquire the confidence of the business world.

Many Marwari families made huge amounts of money through trade. They worked like bankers by giving money on interest. Thus they also helped in the development of British trade policies. Towards the end of the colonial rule, and even after independence, the Marwaris continue to march forward successfully. Many Marwari families became modem industrialists. Even now amongst all communities, Marwari community has the biggest share of Indian industries. This story of the Marwaris shows the importance of social background in economic processes.

Question 22.
Examine the evaluation of Marx on capitalism.
Answer:
Marx saw capitalism as a system for the production of goods. All productions in capitalism aim the market. For production, hired labour is used. In Marx’s view, all economic systems are also social systems. Each style of manufacture (slavery, feudalism, capitalism) gives birth to a certain class structure. Marx pointed out that in the economic system, the only important thing is not just the goods. Relations between people are an important aspect also. People are connected through the manufacturing (Production) process.

In the capitalist production system, labour itself becomes a kind of goods. The workers are forced to sell their work power in the market. This creates two important classes – capitalists and workers.

Question 23.
Write about the views of Marx about Capitalist and Labour classes.
Answer:
Capitalists are the owners of the means of production like factory, machinery and land. Labourers are those who live by selling their labour. A product has value because of the work of the labourers. It is the workers

that convert a cheap raw material into a product of high value. The entire profit is taken by the capitalists. (Profit = the cost of the product – production. expenses.) Capitalists try to maximise their profit by giving workers minimum wages. Marx imagined that the labours will fight against this exploitation by organizing themselves and fighting against the capitalists, establishing a Socialist-Communist society. The theory of Marx regarding capitalist economy and society helped in the making of many theories and debates regarding the nature of capitalism.

Question 24.
What is the meaning of materialization?
Answer:
Two important features of capitalist society are materialization and consumerism. As capitalism grew, markets began to spread all over the world. Markets came in all aspects of human life. With this, the process of materialization also started. Materialization takes place when things not available in the market until then become available. It is a process by which non-goods are changed into goods and made part of the economy. For example, drinking water was not an item for sale. Nobody bought and sold water. When drinking water is bottled and sold – in the market, it becomes ‘goods’ for sale. Materialization takes place. Like that, labour, and skill have been materialized.

Question 25.
A special feature of capitalism is consumerism. Clarify.
Answer:
Consumerism is a special feature of capitalism. This is becoming more and more significant. Consumerism has symbolic meanings. This, and not economic reasons, makes the importance of consumerism greater.

In the modern society, consumerism creates social differences. When a consumer buys some things and shows them off he is showing his social and economic status or his cultural concerns. Companies, which want to sell their products, attract customers by presenting them as symbols of status and culture. In the advertisements, we see on television, in the media and even on the advertising boards, these techniques for sale are used.

Question 26.
What is globalization? What are it features?
Answer:
Globalization era means an era when the entire world is mutually connected. The world is connected economically, politically and culturally. This mutual relation is the mark of globalization.

There are many tendencies in globalization. The main tendency liere is the flow of goods, money, information, and people from one country to another. Technology (computer, telecommunication, transport) and internal structure are also factors of globalization. The, most important feature of globalization is the expansion of markets and their linkage.

Question 27.
What are the changes globalization brought in the market?
Answer:
As a result of globalization, markets expanded in a big way. Not only that important markets of the world have also been linked. With this, the change in one market began to affect other markets also. For example, following the 11 September 2001 (9/ 11) terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in New York, there was a crisis in the American economy. It seriously affected the software industry in India. It adversely affected our business and professional fields. Many lost their jobs. It is through Software industry, BPO industries like Call-Centres, etc. we get connected to the global economy. Many Indian companies give cheap services to many consumers in developed nations. Indian software industry and other services have a world market.

Question 28.
What do the liberalization policies show?
Answer:
It was the liberalization policy started in India at the end of the 1980s that led to globalization here. The policy included selling public (government) companies to private organizations, removing control over capital and labour market, reduction of customs and duties on imported goods, allowing foreign companies to start industries in India, etc.

The policy of liberalization is often called marketization. It is solving social, political and economic problems using markets. This includes reducing and removing economic controls, privatizing industries, removing governmental control over prices and wages, etc.

The proponents of marketization believe that it will hasten economic growth and prosperity. It is seen that private industries are far more efficient than public or government industries.

Question 29.
Critically examine the changes liberalization and marketization brought in the Indian economic system.
Answer:
Liberalization and marketization brought many changes in the Indian economic system. They stimulated economic growth and opened Indian markets to foreign goods. Many things that were not available in the Indian markets are now available here. There was an increase in foreign investment. It was hoped it would help economic growth and create employment opportunities. It was also hoped that the privatization of government enterprises would make them more efficient and also reduce the responsibility of the government to run them. But liberalization had mixed results. Some people feel that liberalization and globalization had negative results in India.

Some industries were benefited by globalization. Software industry, technology, fish farming and fruit farming made good progress as they could enter foreign markets and make gains. But areas like automobile industry, electronics and oil seeds suffered setbacks as they could not compete with foreign competitors.
Indian farmers are facing serious competition from foreign farmers. The reason for this is the permission given to import agricultural products here. In the past Indian farmers were protected from foreign competition by the government, giving them subsidies and base prices for their products. Such support helped the farmers. By giving them base price, the government promised the farmers to buy their products at a minimum price.

Since they were given subsidies to farm, their expenses were not high. But liberalization was against such policies of giving subsidies and base prices. It demanded the slow reduction and final abolition of both subsidies and support prices. With this, it was certain that farmers could not live comfortably with the little they got from their farms. The many suicides of farmers in India show the evils of liberalization and globalization. Globalization adversely affected small manufacturers and traders. They faced stiff competition in the market. Foreign goods and foreign brands captured the markets. Many small manufacturing units had to close down. Many small shops were also had to close because of stiff competition.

Globalization brought serious loss of jobs in some areas. Many lost their jobs in the organized sector. But this increased jobs in the non-organized sectors. While organized labour suffered, un-organized labour gained. But this was not beneficial to the workers. In the organized labour sector, workers are ensured stability of jobs and better wages. But in the un-‘ organized sector nothing of this kind is available.

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Kerala Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Chapter 2 The Demographic Structure of Indian Society

The Demographic Structure of Indian Society Questions and Answers

Question 1.
The subject which studies things about birth, death, emigration, marriage, divorce etc. is called
a) Demography
b) Formal demography
c) Social Demography
d) Census
Answer:
Formal Demography

Question 2.
The first census in the world is the American census of the year. ?
Answer:
1790

Question 3.
Who is the social scientist that found that there are personal reasons as well as societal reasons behind every suicide?
Answer:
Emile Durkheim

Question 4.
The function of ……….. is analyzing the features involved in changes in the population.
Answer:
Demography

Question 5.
………. is the scientific study of population.
Answer:
Demography

Question 6.
Who wrote “An Essay on the Principle of Popula¬tion”?.
Answer:
Thomas Malthus

Question 7.
According to the 2011 Census, what is the gender ratio in India?
a) 934
b) 927
c) 933
d) 940
Answer:
940

Question 8.
When did the new Population Policy of India come into force?
Answer:
1, February 2000

Question 9.
Match the following:

Answer:

Question 10.
Which State of India has the highest literacy rate?
Answer:
Kerala

Question 11.
What is the difference in the gender ratio in India according to the 2011 Census?
(i) 16.7 %
(ii) 21,7 %
(iii) 24.8 %
(iv) 26.7 %
Answer:
16.7%

Question 12.
Who was the person who found that increase in population is the cause for poverty?
Answer:
Malthus

Question 13.
Who introduced the Demography Mutation Theory?
Answer:
Kingsley Davis

Question 14.
What is demography?
Answer:
Demography is the scientific study of populations. This word comes from Greek. ‘Demos’ means people. ‘Graphein’ means to write or describe. By combining these two words we get demography. It means describing people. It studies the trends and processes that affect populations.

Question 15.
What is the difference between formal demography and social demography?
Answer:
Formal demography is mainly concerned with measurements. It is concerned with things like birth, death, emigration, marriage, divorce, etc. Social demography stresses the social, economic and political aspects of the population.

The main function of formal demography is measuring and analyzing the components of population change. It stresses evolutionary analysis. For this, it uses mathematical and statistical methods. It is a method that helps in foreseeing changes in population growth and its structure.

Social demography or population studies study the reasons for changes in population and its structures and their results (repercussions). Social demographers believe that demographic processes are controlled by social processes and structures. People like social scientists, demographers also try to find out the social causes for demographic tendencies.

Question 16.
What are the two processes that helped in the growth of demography?
Answer:
pThe two processes are the formation of national states and the growth of statistical science. With the advent of the modern age, national states came up in Europe as important political organizations. With this, the role and responsibility of the modern nations began to increase. For example, administering public health, economic policies related to manufacturing and industry, tax, its collection, increasing incomes, urban management – all these needed the attention of the nation.

The growth of numerical (statistical) science was also important. As the areas of activity of nations increased, there was a need to have precise statistical data. Statistical data were needed in the case of population and economic systems with regard to their number, size and measure.

Question 17.
Who were the people that came out with demographic theories?
Answer:
Different theories about demography have been proposed by different scholars. The theories of Malthus, the Liberals, Marx and Kingsley David have been extensively discussed.

Question 18.
Explain the demographic theory of Malthus.
Answer:
One of the most popular theories on demography is that of Thomas Robert Malthus. He was an economist from England. In 1798 he published a book titled “An Essay on the Principle of Population”. In this book, he explained his demographic theory. His theory is pessimistic. Here are the important ideas – of his theory.

Malthus argued that population is increasing on a much faster rate than the increase in the means of livelihood (food, clothes, agricultural products etc). He pointed out that there is tremendous growth in population but there is no proportional growth in food production. Therefore mankind id destined to live in permanent poverty. The increase in population always exceeds the increase in agricultural production.
Population increases geometrically (in the order 2, 4, 8, 16.. 32, 64, 128, etc.). But food production increase is only arithmetical or parallel.

In short, increase in population will always keep food production behind. So Malthus tried to show that mankind will be faced with serious food shortages and ultimate ruin.

Malthus argued that the only way to make progress is by controlling population growth. He said there were two ways of controlling it One is moral restraints like marrying late, celibacy etc. The other is natural controls which inside wars, famine and diseases. Unfortunately, the power of mankind to limit population growth by moral control is very limited. Therefore Malthus believed that only natural controls will help in limiting population growth. He explained that natural controls are Nature’s way of solving the problem created by the geometrical growth of population and the arithmetical growth of good production.

The Theory of Malthus remained influential for long. ’ But theoreticians who showed that economic growth will be greater than population growth proved Malthus wrong. The experiences of European countries showed that the theory of Malthus is not right By the 2nd half of the 19th century there were changes in. the population growth. By the beginning of the 20th century, these changes were quite dramatic.

Birth rate reduced drastically. (The reason for this is the use of various means of birth control.) Contagious diseases were checked. (This was helped by progress in medical science.) There was tremendous increase in food production. (Improved technologies helped this.)

Although there was considerable increase in population, food production increased and the living standards became better. Thus the predictions of Malthus were proved wrong.

The theory of Malthus that the increase in population caused poverty was severely criticised by the Liberals and Marx. They argued that poverty and hunger are not the results of population growth, but the result of inequitable distribution of wealth and other resources. They showed that in an unjust society, the few wealthy live in great luxury whereas the majority of people live in, poverty.

Question 19.
What are the means of population control as suggested by Malthus?
Answer:

Question 20.
Explain the theory of Demographic Transition.
Answer:
Demographic Transition is another important theory in demography. This theory was presented in the 1940s by the American Social Scientist Kingsley Davis. His theory was an optimistic one. This theory argued that population growth is related to all-round economic development. He showed that each community or society follows its own development model in accordance with its population growth. The Theory of Demographic Transition says there are three basic stages in population growth.

In the first stage the society is not developed and the economic condition is backward. At this stage, both birth rate and death rate will be high. Therefore the growth in population will be small.

In the 2nd stage iff a transition stage. There is technological growth in the society and there is a big jump in the growth of population. The birth rate is high and the death rate is low. The growth in population will be very high.

The 3rd and last sage start when there is extensive industrialization. At this stage, birth rate and death rate will below.

It is during the transition between the 1st and 3d stage there is high growth of population or population explosion: When disease control, public health care, and nutritious food bring down the death rate, the birth rate remains high. There is thus population, explosion. The society will take some time to get adjusted to the new situation. The nature of procreation that was in existence during the time of poverty and high death rate will take some time to get used to the new situation of technological progress and high longevity.

This kind of transition took place in Europe at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. This kind of transition (changing the nature of procreation to suit the new circumstances) is also followed by the developing nations. These nations are trying hard to reduce the birth rate as deaths are getting reduced. The transition stage is not yet complete in India. Although death rate is drastically reduced, it has not been possible to reduce birth rate drastically.

Question 21.
What is birth rate and death rate?
Answer:
Birth rate is the number of live births per 1,000 people per year in a place (a country, a State, a district or a geographical region).
Date rate is the number of deaths per 1000 of a population perversion a place.

Question 22.
What are the common indicators affecting population?
Answer:
There are many indicators that affect population.
a. Birth rate: Birth rate is the number of live births per 1,000 people per year in a place (a country, a State, a district or a geographical region).
b. Death rate: Date rate is the number of deaths per 1000 of a population per year in a place.
c. The rate of growth in population: The growth in population is the difference between birth rate and death rate. When this becomes 0 or very low, we can say that the population is stable. In some societies, there is negative growth rate. This is when birth rate is less than the death rate in those societies.
d. Fertility rate: This is the number of live births per 1000 women between the ages of 15 and 49 years. The ages 15 to 49 show the period when women can conceive.
e. Total fertility rate: This is an imaginary rate. It represents the number of children that would be born alive to a woman if she were to live to the end of her childbearing years (5-49) and bear children in accordance with age-specific fertility rates of the specified year.
f. Child death (mortality) rate: The under-5 mortality rate is the number of children who die by the age of five, per thousand live births per year.
g. Maternal mortality rate (MMR): This is the annual number of female deaths during delivery, per thousand deliveries. The high child and maternal death rates indicate poverty and backwardness.
h. Longevity: This is complex concept related to population. It shows the number of years an average person will live.
i. Gender Ratio: It shows how many females are there for thousand males in a region.
j. The Age Structure of the Population: It shows the number of persons in various age groups in proportion to the total population.
k. Dependency Ratio: Many persons cant-do any work either because they are children or they are too old. They have to depend on others. The dependency ratio is a measure showing the number of dependents (aged 0-14 and over the age of 65) to the total population (aged 15-64).

Question 23.
What are the common concepts and indicators of population?
Answer:
The common concepts and indicators of population are:

• Birthrate
• Death rate
• Growth rate
• Fertility rate
• Total fertility rate
• Maternal death rate
• Longevity
• Gender ratio
• Age Structure of the Population
• Dependency Ratio

Question 24.
Describe the size and growth of the Indian population
Answer:
After China, India has the largest population in the world. According to the 2011 Census, the population of India is 121 crores (1.21 billion). The growth rate in India is not always high. Between 1901 and 1951, the annual rate of growth never exceeded 1.33%. This is a moderate growth. In fact, the growth rate between 1911 and 1921 was drastically reduced to the negative growth of -0.03%. In short, the growth until 1921 was very slow. There are some reasons for it. In 1918-19 there was an epidemic which kept population under check. In the epidemic 12.5 lakh people, i.e. 5% of the total population, died. Killer diseases like plague and malaria and famine killed lakhs of people.

During the post-independent period, population growth increased considerably. In the period 1961-1981, it went up to 2.2%. After that, even though our growth rate was reduced, India still continues to be one of the most highly populated countries of the world. The , following table gives the population and the growth rate during the various census years.

Indian Population1901-2011

Question 25.
What are the reasons for the decreased death rate. after 1921?
Answer:
There were two reasons that were responsible for the reduced rate after 1921. One is the control over famines and the other i.sthe control of epidemics. Of these two, the second one is more important. The worst killers of the past were different kinds of fever, plague, smallpox, malaria and cholera. The plague in the 1918-19 period killed 12.5 lakh people, 5% of the total population. It was known as Spanish Plague and it was a global killer. Progress in the treatment of this kind of epidemics, preventive vaccinations, improved hygiene and so on helped in the prevention of these killer diseases.

However, even now diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, dysentery, bloody diarrhoea and so on are killing people. But the death rate is not as high as before. In 1994, there was a plague in Surat. In 2006, diseases like dengue fever and chikungunya were reported from different parts of the country. There were also different kinds of bird flu in the country not long ago. Death rate was reduced because of effective control of famines. Famines caused heavy loss of life in the past. With their control deaths are reduced.

Question 26.
Explain the Age Structure of the Indian population.
Answer:
The majority of Indians are young. Thus India has a youthful population. The average age of India is less compared to many other countries. In 1971 persons below 15 were 42%. From this, in 2001, it was reduced to 34%.

The percentage persons between 15 and 60 increased from 53 to 59. People above 60 increased from 5 to 7% during the period 1971-2001.
AGE STRUCTURE: Depending on age, people are divided into children, adults and senior citizens (old people). Children 0-14; Adults 15-60; Above 60 senior citizens.

Question 27.
There are regional variations in the age structure. Clarify.
Answer:
There are wide variations in regional age structures. States like Kerala have begun to achieve an age- structure that is similar to the one in developed countries. But in Uttar Pradesh, the picture is quite different. There the ratio of young people is more and that of the old people is less. When we look at India as a whole, the age ratio is in between these two extremes, because India has States like Kerala and also like Uttar Pradesh.

Question 28.
Describe the features of gender ratio in India,
Answer:
In the structure of population, gender ratio has an important place. It shows the gender equilibrium. Gender ratio means how many women are there for 1000 males. Historically gender ratio favoured women. It means there were more women than men. But for almost a century the gender ratio shows there are more men than women.

At the start of the 19th century, the gender ratio was 972: 1000. It means 972 women for 1000 men. In the 21^st century, the ratio is 933:1000.
The reduction in the number of women has been going on for the last 4 decades. This is a matter for great concern. In 1961 it was 941: 1000; in 2011, it is 940 : 1000.

Question 29.
Describe the apprehensive change in the gender ratio of children.
Answer:
A fact that shocked demographers, policymakers, social workers and even ordinary citizens is the drastic reduction in the gender ratio of children. It was from 1961 that gender ratio related to age was calculated. The ratio of children aged up to 6 is called child gender ratio. This used to be higher in the past, but unfortunately, it has been seriously decreasing. In the 1991-2001 period, the female-male ratio was 933:1000, which was the highest. It had increased by 6 points from the previous 927:1000. At the same time, child gender ratio went down to 927 from 945, showing a decrease of 18 points. Thus for the first time, the child gender ratio became lower than the common gender ratio.

The decrease in the child gender ratio in some States is cause for greater concern. In 6 States and in the Centrally Administered Regions, the child gender ratio is even lower than 90Q girls to 1000 boys. Punjab is the worst in this case. There it is 798:1000. It is the only state that is below 800 females for 1000 males. Just behind Punjab, there are Haryana, Chhatisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

In Uttaranchal, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, the ratio is less than 925. In Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Jammu-Kashmir, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Orissa, the ratio is above the national average of 914, but it is below 950.

The best ratio is in Kerala. But even here things are not so fine, as the ratio is just 964. Mizoram has the highest ratio in India. There it is 971:1000. Demographers and social scientist point out many reasons for the decrease in the gender ratio, with less women and more men. The most important of them are reasons of health and the attitude of the society towards females.

Question 30.
What are the main reasons for the decrease in the female-male (gender) ratio in India?
Answer;
Demographers and social scientist point out many reasons for the decrease in the gender ratio, with less women and more men. The most important of them are reasons of health and the attitude of the society towards females.

Women have greater health problems than men because of conception and childbirth. In some cases, women die during delivery. The question whether this is the cause for the inequality in gender ratio has much relevance. In the past deaths during or after delivery were common. But with the progress in medical science, such deaths are reduced to a minimum. Maternal death rate has been seriously reduced because of nutritious food, education, awareness, improved medical facilities and transport and communication. So it would e difficult to support the argument that maternal deaths during delivery are a major cause for the unequal gender ratio.
The other reason is said to be the behaviour and attitude of the society to women.

In some societies, birth of females is considered a curse and a burden. In such societies, there are many female foeticides and female infanticides. During pregnancy, through scanning, it is determined whether the child is male or female. If the foetus is female, then abortion is done. This is female foeticide. Some times in some superstitious societies female children are killed (female infanticide) even after their births because of certain cultural and religious superstitions. This points to a serious social issue.

There are evidence that even now this kind of heinous acts are done in India. Using technology like sonograms (ultra-sound echo) the gender of the child is determined before birth, and if it is proved to be female, abortion is done. In all the hospitals we see notices against the determination of child sex using this technology. But unscrupulous gynaecologists take bribes and let the parents know the sex of the unborn child.

Question 31.
What are the uses of literacy?
Answer:

• It empowers people.
• It helps people to choose their jobs.
• It helps in the social and cultural prosperity of the society.

Question 32.
In a table, show the growth in India’s literacy rate.
Answer:
LITERACY RATE IN INDIA

Question 33.
Explain the inequality in literacy fate between male and female.
Answer:
Literacy rate gets different depending on the gender, region and social communities. Female literacy rate is far below male literacy rate. According to the 2011 census, male-female gap in literacy rate is 16.7. Depending on the social communities also, there will be difference in the female literacy rate. Among the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, female literacy rate is very low.

Regional differences also cause disparity in the female literacy rate. States like Kerala are having 100% literacy rate or are very close to it. Kerala has the best literacy rate, both male and female. But States like Bihar are far behind in literacy rate, especially that of female.

The disparities in literacy are very significant. It will create generation gap very acute. Illiterate parents may not be very keen on giving their children higher education. They may not have the circumstances for it. Naturally, then, the present inequality will continue.

Question 34.
The majority of Indians live in villages. Comment.
Answer:
It is very true that the majority of Indians live in villages. According to the 2011 census, 69% of Indians live in villages. Only 31% live in cities and towns. But the urban population is steadily increasing. At the start of the 20th century, the urban population was 11%. By the beginning of the 2181 century, it went up to 28%. Thus in one century, the urban population increased 214 times. The urban population is increasing because of the modem development plans.

Question 35.
The main reason for the increase in urban population is the migration of people from villages to urban areas (cities and towns). How did urban life become more attractive? Why do the rural population migrate to urban centres?
Answer:
Mass media and television played a big role in making rural people migrate to urban centres. The glittering lifestyle and the luxuries that consumer culture has brought in are constantly shown on television and this captivates the rural people. Today even in the remotest villages, people know how the city people live and their high living standards with all sorts of amenities and luxuries. This has tempted the villagers to try their luck in cities.

The gap between the urban and rural people is slowly getting bridged. Even in the past, villages were not inaccessible to market forces. They tried to establish and maintain trade relations with villages to sell their goods. With the growth of the media, especially the visual media, market forces and villages got closer. Now villages also have become part of the consumer culture. Villages are very active in market activities.

Villagers are tempted to move into cities and towns because of their familiarity with the glittery lifestyle available there. Media have been largely responsible for awakening this desire in the rural people.

Greater employment opportunities in towns and cities also attracted people towards them. With urbanization in top gear, the villagers were attracted to the magnetic field of the cities and towns. People who were unemployed in the, villages or those who had only very little work moved into cities and towns

Question 36.
Describe the ill effects (disadvantages) of migration
Answer:
movement of rural people into urban centres quickened the destruction of common properties like ponds, forests and grasslands. These were the sources of the means of livelihood of poor villagers. Those who did not have much land managed to exist by fishing, collecting things from forests and grazing their cattle. With the mass movement of people to urban centres, there was a change everywhere.

Construction work destroyed the grassy plains and the ponds became dry. Forests were cleared either for cultivation or for some other kind of industrialization. Villagers were forced to buy many things which they used to get free. For example, from the public ponds, they could catch fish, from forests they could get firewood and other things, and from the grasslands, they got grass for their cattle. Now nothing was free and people were forced by buy things which were free until now. Thus villagers began to suffer more. Since cash income in hard to come by in villages, their problems got multiplied.

Question 37.
What were the reasons for the migration to cities by villagers?
Answer:

• Influence of the media, especially television.
• Love for consumerist culture.
• Finding better life with good amenities and luxuries.
• Opportunity to look for jobs.
• The unfamiliarity in the cities. Since people don’t know you much, you can do any job and get money. But in villages, one does not like to do jobs which are considered below one’s status.

Question 38.
Describe the population policy of India.
Answer:
Population policy is a very important matter in a country. It is related to the health, prosperity and development of the nation. Population and development are mutually related. For the development of a country, an energetic population is necessary. At the same time, overpopulation can do a lot of harm to development. This problem of overpopulation is felt by the developing nations. The problem of overpopulation was recognized by India at an early stage. In 1952 itself, India declared a population policy.

The population policy of the Indian Government stressed family planning. For this, a Family Planning Board and a Family Planning Department were established. Five Year Plans also gave due importance to family planning. The population policy of India was based on the National Family Planning Programme. The aims of this Programme were:

• Control the rate of growth of the population in a way desirable to the society.
• Encourage various birth control methods and thus reduce the growth rate.
• Improve public health.
• Create awareness in people about the problems of overpopulation and matters related to health.

Question 39.
Describe the gains India made in population control.
Answer:
In the last 6 decades, India has made many gains in the field of population control. They can be summarised thus:

• Crude birth rate reduced to 24.1 in 2004 from 40.8 in 1951.
• Child mortality rate was reduced to 58 per thousand in 2004, from 146 in 1951.
• Welfare of partners increased 4 times from 10.4% in 1971 to 44% in 1998.
• Longevity increased from 37 years of age to 62.
• Awareness was created for the need and methods of family planning.
• Fertility rate became half, from 6.0 in 1951 to 3.0 in 2004.