Very Short Answer Type Questions

Question. Which form of social division is unique in India ?
Answer : Caste division is unique in India.

Question. Correct the following statement and rewrite.
There is no official religion for the Indian states i.e., unlike Sri Lanka (Buddhism), Pakistan (Islam) and America (Judaism).
Answer : There is no official religion for the Indian states i.e., unlike Sri Lanka (Buddhism) Pakistan (Islam) and England (Christianity).

Question. Which Act provides that equal wage should be paid for equal work ?
Answer : Equal Wages Act provides that equal wages should be paid for equal work.

Question. How are caste inequalities still continuing in India ? Explain.
Answer : Caste problems have not completely been disappeared from India. Most people cease to marry outside their caste. Untouchability is still practiced in some parts of India.

Short Answer Type Questions

Question. ‘‘Caste inequalities are still prevalent in India.’’ Examine the statement.
Answer : people still now marry within the same caste.

Question. “Our society is still a male dominated society.” Explain the statement with the help of examples.
OR ‘‘Women still are behind men in India despite some improvement since independence’’ Analyse the statement.
Answer : India is considered to be a patriarchal society because men are in authority over women in all aspects of the society.
(i) Political participation of women in India is very less when compared to other countries. Only 10% of the total members in Lok sabha are women. The situation is worse in state assemblies where only 5% of the total members are women. The Women reservation bill to encourage the participation of women is still pending since past decade.
(ii) Women have entered into every field but they are still paid less than their male counter parts. Proportion of women in highly paid jobs is still less and studies have showed that on an average they work more than men and yet paid less. Although the Equal Remuneration Act provides provisions for equal wages should be paid for equal work. (iii) The literacy rate amongst the women is also low as compared to the men. Literacy rate is only 54% as compared to 76% among the men. This shows the discrimination women have to face. Men are still considered to be the head of the family. A lot of dowry issues still emerge everywhere. Men are known to dominate women in every field using strength as a factor. Women are made to stay quiet even in cases of rapes, betrayal etc.

Question. Complete the following
Secular state is a state which ______.
Answer : has no official religion of its own.

Question. Discuss the ideological basic of communalism. Is it flawed ?
Answer : Religious differences are the basis of communalism. It is flawed in many ways as it is the situation where one community promotes its interest at the cost of another. The followers of one religion face discrimination as the State power promotes the interest of one religious group. When religion is used in politics it becomes a major problem for any country, as the people of the country start considering that religion is the basis of the nation and this gives birth to communal polities. In India , many parties are formed along the communal lines like the Muslim League during freedom struggle, Akali Dal in Punjab, DMK in Tamil Nadu are formed. Parties consider religion as one of the most important criteria while choosing candidates for elections. People vote for their religion in elections. Sometimes, this becomes a grave problem and leads to riots and massacres.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question. Discuss how caste affect the political parties.
Answer : Parties consider caste as one of the important criteria while choosing candidates for elections. They refer to the caste composition of a constituency before declaring their candidate. People vote for their religion and caste in elections and sometimes fail in choosing the right candidate. During the formation of the government, it is mentioned that all religions and castes should be represented. Political parties use communal issues during campaigning.

Question. Discuss the sexual division of labour.
Answer : The sexual division of labour (SDL) is the delegation of different tasks between males and females. Among human foragers, males and females target different types of foods and share them with each other for a mutual or familial benefit. In some species, males and females eat slightly different foods, while in other species, males and females will routinely share food, but only in humans these two attributes combined. The few remaining hunter-gatherer populations in the world serve as evolutionary models that can help to explain the origin of the sexual division of labour. Many studies on the sexual division of labour have been conducted on hunter-gatherer populations, such as the Hadza, a gatherer population of Tanzania. Boys and girls are brought up to believe that the main responsibility of women is household work and bringing up children. This is reflected in sexual division of labour.

Question. State different forms of communal politics with one example each.
Answer : When religion is used in politics it becomes a major problem for any country, as the people of that country start considering religion as the basis of the nation and this gives birth to communal politics. In a communal society, one religion is given preference over another. The followers of one religion face discrimination as the State power promotes the interest of one religious group. In India, many parties are formed along communal lines. Like Muslim League during freedom struggle, Akali Dal in Punjab, DMK in Tamil Nadu etc. Parties consider religion as one of the important criteria in choosing candidates for elections. People vote for their religion in elections. Sometimes, this becomes a problematic thing and leads to agitation among people.