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Preparatory Course in Social Sciences (OSS 101)

SECTION 1

Maximum Marks: 50 Answer all the questions in about 200 words each.

Each question carries 10 marks.

1. What is ‘regionalism? List down the major economic factors responsible for regionalism in

India.

Ans:

“Regionalism is an approach to study the behaviour that emphasizes the geographical region

as the unit of analysis, stressing the relationship between man and his immediate physical

environment. Economic social and cultural organisations are analyzed in terms of their

interrelationships and functions within the geographic region” -W.P. Scott.

Regionalism is a kind of feeling or loyalty towards the interest of their own region and it is an

ideology among a section of people residing in a same particular geographical area. This

regionalism is also more of a mindset that one develops over the time, even nationalism is no

different.

This kind of ‘isms’ just restrict one’s horizon it gives one a limited armory to choose from. It

originates in many ways, for example, this is being united by unique language, culture, language

traditions etc. Regionalism can also rise with development wherein religion and cultural attitude

of people are brought together and Unity and Diversity are created and so there arise many

cultures linguistic diversity and in the particular region of a developing area. In a negative sense,

they were creating a particular kind of divisions in a way of separate religion, language,

customs, traditions, etc… But in a positive way, they are coming together and celebrating these

differences in a way of uniting themselves through literature, writing newspapers, across the

country and also through writings of the poems etc…

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Major Factors for Regionalism:

1. Apprehension on the part of linguistic ethnic or religious minorities in view of uniform system

of administration and policies. Many of these groups dominant in specific region became suspicious as to whether their cultural

ties, ethos and symbols would be taken care by the Indian state. Perhaps, this explains the fact

that most regional forces have strike roots in non-Hindi belt (Tamil Nadu, Andhra etc.). 2. Uneven pattern of socio-economic development have created regional disparities. What is

worst is the naming of these states as BIMARU (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar

Pradesh) etc. The categorization and sub-categorization of the states on the basis of socio-economic

indicators have generated resentment against the central leadership. 3. The elitist character of leadership and unwarranted intervention by the centre in the affairs of

the state has rendered the state vulnerable to regional forces.

2. Explain the concept of ‘Fundamental Rights’. List down the six Fundamental Rights

enshrined in the Constitution of India.

Ans:

The Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles of State Policy and Fundamental Duties are

sections of the Constitution of India that prescribe the fundamental obligations of the State to

its citizens and the duties and the rights of the citizens to the State. These sections comprise a

constitutional bill of rights for government policy-making and the behaviour and conduct of

citizens. These sections are considered vital elements of the constitution, which was developed

between 1947 and 1949 by the Constituent Assembly of India.

The Fundamental Rights are defined as the basic human rights of all citizens. These rights,

defined in Part III of the Constitution, apply irrespective of race, place of birth, religion, caste,

creed, or gender. They are enforceable by the courts, subject to specific restrictions. The

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Directive Principles of State Policy are guidelines for the framing of laws by the government.

These provisions, set out in Part IV of the Constitution, are not enforceable by the courts, but the

principles on which they are based are fundamental guidelines for governance that the State is

expected to apply in framing and passing law's.

The Fundamental Duties are defined as the moral obligations of all citizens to help promote a

spirit of patriotism and to uphold the unity of India. These duties, set out in Part IV–A of the

Constitution, concern individuals and the nation. Like the Directive Principles, they are not

enforceable by the law.

The constitution of India guarantees six fundamental rights.

1. Right to Equality

2. Right to Freedom

3. Right against Exploitation

4. Right to Freedom of Religion

5. Cultural and Educational Rights

6. Right to Constitutional Remedies 1. Right to Equality

The Right to Equality is one of the chief guarantees of the Constitution. It is embodied in Articles

14–16, which collectively encompass the general principles of equality before law and non-

discrimination, and Articles 17–18 which collectively encompass further the philosophy of social

equality. Article 14 guarantees equality before law as well as equal protection of the law to all

persons within the territory of India. This includes the equal subjection of all persons to the

authority of law, as well as equal treatment of persons in similar circumstances. The latter

permits the State to classify persons for legitimate purposes, provided there is a reasonable

basis for the same, meaning that the classification is required to be non-arbitrary, based on a

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method of intelligible differentiation among those sought to be classified, as well as have a

rational relation to the object sought to be achieved by the classification.

2. Right to Freedom

The Right to Freedom is covered in Articles 19-22, with the view of guaranteeing individual

rights that were considered vital by the framers of the Constitution, and these Articles also

include certain restrictions that may be imposed by the State on individual liberty under

specified conditions. Article 19 guarantees six freedoms in the nature of civil rights, which are

available only to citizens of India. These include the freedom of speech and expression, freedom

of assembly without arms, freedom of association, freedom of movement throughout the

territory of our country, freedom to reside and settle in any part of the country of India and the

freedom to practice any profession. All these freedoms are subject to reasonable restrictions

that may imposed on them by the State, listed under Article 19 itself. The grounds for imposing

these restrictions vary according to the freedom sought to be restricted, and include national

security, public order, decency and morality, contempt of court, incitement to offences, and

defamation. The State is also empowered, in the interests of the general public to nationalise

any trade, industry or service to the exclusion of the citizens.

3.Right against Exploitation The Right against Exploitation, contained in Articles 23–24, lays down certain provisions to

prevent exploitation of the weaker sections of the society by individuals or the State. Article 23

prohibits human trafficking, making it an offence punishable by law, and also prohibits forced

labour or any act of compelling a person to work without wages where he was legally entitled

not to work or to receive remuneration for it. However, it permits the State to impose

compulsory service for public purposes, including conscription and community service. The

Bonded Labour system (Abolition) Act, 1976, has been enacted by Parliament to give effect to

this Article. Article 24 prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 years in

factories, mines and other hazardous jobs. Parliament has enacted the Child Labour (Prohibition

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and Regulation) Act, 1986, providing regulations for the abolition of, and penalties for

employing, child labour, as well as provisions for rehabilitation of former child labourers.

4. Right to Freedom of Religion

The Right to Freedom of Religion, covered in Articles 25–28, provides religious freedom to all

citizens and ensures a secular state in India. According to the Constitution, there is no official

State religion, and the State is required to treat all religions impartially and neutrally. Article 25

guarantees all persons the freedom of conscience and the right to preach, practice and

propagate any religion of their choice. This right is, however, subject to public order, morality

and health, and the power of the State to take measures for social welfare and reform. The right

to propagate, however, does not include the right to convert another individual, since it would

amount to an infringement of the other's right to freedom of conscience.[70]

Article 26

guarantees all religious denominations and sects, subject to public order, morality and health,

to manage their own affairs in matters of religion, set up institutions of their own for charitable

or religious purposes, and own, acquire and manage property in accordance with law. These

provisions do not derogate from the State's power to acquire property belonging to a religious

denomination.

5. Cultural and Educational Rights The Cultural and Educational rights, given in Articles 29 and 30, are measures to protect the

rights of cultural, linguistic and religious minorities, by enabling them to conserve their heritage

and protecting them against discrimination. Article 29 grants any section of citizens having a

distinct language, script culture of its own, the right to conserve and develop the same, and thus

safeguards the rights of minorities by preventing the State from imposing any external culture

on them. It also prohibits discrimination against any citizen for admission into any educational

institutions maintained or aided by the State, on the grounds only of religion, race, caste,

language or any of them. However, this is subject to reservation of a reasonable number of

seats by the State for socially and educationally backward classes, as well as reservation of up

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to 50 percent of seats in any educational institution run by a minority community for citizens

belonging to that community.

Right to Constitutional Remedies

The Right to Constitutional Remedies empowers citizens to approach the Supreme Court of India

to seek enforcement, or protection against infringement, of their Fundamental Rights.[78]

Article 32 provides a guaranteed remedy, in the form of a Fundamental Right itself, for

enforcement of all the other Fundamental Rights, and the Supreme Court is designated as the

protector of these rights by the Constitution. The Supreme Court has been empowered to issue

writs, namely habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari and quo warranto, for the

enforcement of the Fundamental Rights, while the High Courts have been empowered under

Article 226 – which is not a Fundamental Right in itself – to issue these prerogative writs even in

cases not involving the violation of Fundamental Rights. The Supreme Court has the jurisdiction

to enforce the Fundamental Rights even against private bodies, and in case of any violation,

award compensation as well to the affected individual. Exercise of jurisdiction by the Supreme

Court can also be suo motu or on the basis of a public interest litigation. This right cannot be

suspended, except under the provisions of Article 359 when a state of emergency is declared.

3. Discuss the role of civil society in upliftment of the socio-economic condition of the

marginalized people in society. Ans: The term civil society was used by writers such as Locke and Rousseau to describe civil

government as differentiated from natural society or the state of nature. The Marxist concept

derives from Hegel. In Hegel civil or bourgeois society as the realm of individuals who have left

the unity of the family to enter into economic competition is contrasted with the state or

political society. Marx uses the concept of civil society in his critique of Hegel. It is used as a

yardstick of the change from feudal to bourgeoisie society. Civil society arose, Marx insists from

the destruction of medieval society. Previously individuals were part of many different societies

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such as guilds or estates each of which had a political role so that there was no separate civil

realm. As these partial societies broke down, civil society arose in which the individual became

all important. The old bonds of privilege were replaced by the selfish needs of atomistic

individuals separated from each other and from the community.

The fragmented conflictual nature of civil society with its property relations necessitates a type

of politics which does not reflect this conflict but is abstracted and removed from it. The modern

state is made necessary and at the same time limited by the characteristics of civil society. The

fragmentation and misery of civil society escape the control of the state which is limited to

formal negative activities and is rendered impotent by the conflict which is the essence of

economic life. The political identity of individuals as citizens in modern society is severed from

their civil identity and from their function in the productive sphere as tradesmen, day labor or

landowner. Although Gramsci continues to use the term to refer to the private or non state

sphere, including the economy, his picture of civil society is very different from that of

Marx.Gramsci insists on its complex organization as the ensemble of organisms commonly

called private where hegemony and spontaneous consent are organized.

He argues that any distinction between civil society and the state is only methodological since

even a policy of non intervention like laissez faire is established by the state itself. A fully

developed civil society is presented as a trench system able to resist the incursions of economic

crises and to protect the state. Whereas Marx insists on the separation between the state and

civil society, Gramsci emphasizes the inter relationship between the two. The state narrowly

conceived as government is protected by hegemony organized in civil society while the coercive

state apparatus fortifies the hegemony of the dominant class. In any actual society the lines of

democration between civil society and the state may be blurred but Gramsci argues against any

attempt to equate or identify the two. And while he accepts a role for the state in developing

civil society, he warns against perpetuating state worship.Gramsci redefines the withering away

of the state in terms of a full development of the self-regulating attributes of civil society. In

Marx's writings civil society is portrayed as the terrain of individual egotism.

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• Common features between Civil Society and Social movement

• Marginalization and role of civil society

• Development and marginalization

• Empowerment of the marginalized

• Literacy and Civil Society

Marginalization and role of civil society

Marginalization has been defined as a complex process of relegating specific groups of people to

the lower or outer edge of society. It effectively pushes these groups of people to the margin of

society economically, politically, culturally and socially following the policy of exclusion. It denies

a section of the society equal access to productive resources and avenues for the realization of

their productive human potential and opportunities for their full capacity utilization.

This pushes the community to poverty, misery, low wage and discrimination and livelihood

insecurity. Their upward social mobility is being limited. Politically this process of relegation

denies people equal access to the formal power structure and participation in the decision

making processes leading to their subordination to and dependence on the economically and

politically dominant groups of society.

As a consequence of the economic, political and cultural deprivation a vast chunk of the

population has emerged to be socially ignorant, illiterate, uneducated and dependent. Devoid of

the basic necessities of life they are relegated to live on the margins of society.

In developing countries like India, civil societies have assumed much significant role for the

social development of the marginalized people. The marginalized community look upon the civil

society with expectation as state's development initiatives have failed to percolate to the

bottom strata of the society.In the contemporary development scenario, the concept of

empowerment of the marginalized has got a special focus and civil society initiatives have been

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given special emphasis. As the role of civil society has acquired a role for the social

development, it has developed relationship with marginalized community.

4. Can social reality be interpreted objectively? Discuss.

Ans: No, social reality cannot be interpreted objectively because what is one person's social reality

may not be another person's social reality. So how can one person interpret the other person's

needs objectively if they can't "walk a mile in their shoes" per se? They honestly can't. Until you

have honestly been where another person has been you can't possibly understand and even

then you haven't lived their exact life so you won't have their exact perspective on their

circumstance, so will you truly understand things as they are understanding them, I doubt it.

Social reality is distinct from biological reality or individual cognitive reality, representing as it

does a phenomenological level created through social interaction and thereby transcending

individual motives and actions. The product of human dialogue, social reality may be considered

as consisting of the accepted social tenets of a community, involving thereby relatively stable

laws and social representations. Radical constructivism would cautiously describe social reality

as the product of uniformities among observers (whether or not including the current observer

themselves).

Peter L. Berger argued for a new concern with the basic process of the social

construction of reality. Berger stated that the social construction of reality was a process made

up of three steps: externalization, objectivation and internalization. In similar fashion, post-

Sartrians like R. D. Laing stress that, "once certain fundamental structures of experience are

shared, they come to be experienced as objective entities...they take on the force and character

of partial autonomous realities, with their own way of life".Yet at the same time, Laing insisted

that such a socially real grouping "can be nothing else than the multiplicity of the points of view

and actions of its members...even where, through the interiorization of this multiplicity as

synthesized by each, this synthesized multiplicity becomes ubiquitous in space and enduring in

time"

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One aspect of social reality is the principle of the "big lie", which states that an outrageous

untruth is easier to convince people of than a less outrageous truth. Many examples from

politics and theology (e.g., the claim that the Roman Emperor was in fact a "god") demonstrate

that this principle was known by effective propagandists from early times, and continues to be

applied to this day. The propaganda model of Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman supports

the "big lie" thesis with more specifics.

5. Explain the social manifestation of industrialization. Ans: On the whole there is a pull towards homogeneity and uniformity. This is in fact one (though not

the only) way of recognizing and identifying the industrial stage. This is also the stage about

which maximum knowledge is available with us. As a result we are in a position to refer to the

third stage in the singular as the Modern World and narrate its story in a well-connected

manner. Quite apart from increasing the wealth of the world, what other social and political

transformations did industrialism bring about? The very process of capitalist expansion was

such that it created major upheavals in the social life of mankind. Industrial production required

the mobilization and concentration of potential workers at one place. This and the requirement

of a market led to huge migrations from rural areas into the cities. Those who left the villages

did not just leave their places, they left their whole world behind, which was eventually

irretrievably lost to them. Their natural ties (of family, caste, clan, village, religion, community,

language) began to be loosened and eroded. It was like leaving the familiarity and coziness of

their 'cultural nests' and landing in unfamiliar surroundings and places that were alien to them.

The cultural nests or cozy cocoons that were abandoned were also gradually eroded. The

community lives that these men and women shared were gradually replaced by a different type

of life in which they lived not as members of the old community but as individuals - members of

an atomized, anonymous mass society. The hardships and brutalities of this life were noticed

and commented upon by philosophers like Karl Mam and novelists like Charles Dickens.

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Most of the social changes that we mentioned at the beginning of this question

(urbanization and creation of large cities, emergence of new social classes, emergence of an

anonymous mass society, increasing individualization and atomization and populations, decline

of religion etc.) were related to this process mentioned above. We may briefly take note of some

of them.

Even in the advanced agrarian societies more than 90 per cent of the people lived in

villages. This picture changes in industrial societies where the majority lives in the urban centres.

In advanced industrial societies as much as 90 per cent of the population consists of city

dwellers. To take an example, in USA in 1800, only six per cent of people lived in cities. By rnid-

1980s the proportion of urban population had risen to more than 75 per cent. Likewise, there

has also been a growth of very large cities as well as an increase in their numbers. Cities of more

than one million people in the world numbered only 16 in 1900. This figure had gone up to 250

by 1985. The size of the cities has also grown. The population of the city of Delhi was only nine

lakh in 1941. In a period of six decades it has gone up to around 12 million. Urbanization and the

creation of large cities is only one example. Various other examples of other social changes can

also be related to the process of industrialization and the manner in which it has spread

throughout the world.

To conclude this section, two things need to be kept in mind while emphasizing the generation

and diffusion of wealth at an unprecedented level. One, there has been a phenorrlenal

unevenness regarding the distribution of this wealth. This unevenness pertains both to groups

and societies. This has created a huge disparity among both regions and classes. The

consequent coexistence of huge prosperity and acute poverty is not just an aberration but an

important feature of Modem World. Two, this affluence has come at a tremendous cost.

Destruction of the environment, erosion of the traditional connumeration life leading to a

feeling of isolation and alienation, and unprecedented violence and brutalities may all be

regarded as heavy social costs paid by humankind for modem economic development.

SECTION 2

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Maximum Marks: 50 Note:

i) This section has 25 questions. Each question carries two marks. All questions are

compulsory. 1. The process of mobilization of a group of people who share common attributes in terms of

culture, language, religion, history etc. is called

1. Ethnic Assertion 2. Caste 3. Class 4. Social Mobility

Ans: -1. Ethnic Assertion

2. Who proposed the concept of ‘culture of poverty’?

1. Robert Redfield 2. Oscar Lewis 3. Boris Yeltsin 4. Bill Clinton

Ans: - 2. Oscar Lewis

3. Crude Birth Rate is defined as number of births taking place in a year

1. per 100 population 2. per 10,000 population 3. per 1000 population 4. per 5000 population

Ans: - 3. per 1000 population

4. Jati is

1. a gender-based category 2. a racial category 3. an administrative category

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4. an occupational category

Ans: - 4. an occupational category

5. Which article of the Indian Constitution abolishes untouchability?

1. Article 17 2. Article 16 3. Article 15 4. Article 14

Ans: - 1. Article 17

6. Power to proclaim emergence in India is vested with the

1. President 2. Vice-President 3. Prime Minister 4. Home Minister

Ans: - 1. President

7. In which year did the Indian Sepoys of the British East India Company’s army raise

the banner of revolt for the first time?

1. 1954 2. 1955 3. 1956 4. 1857

Ans: - 4. 1857

8. Which of the following is a Fundamental Rights of Indian citizens?

1. Right to Exploitation 2. Right to Inequality 3. Right to Freedom of Religion 4. Right to Discrimination

Ans: - 1. Right to Exploitation

9. Kshatriya ruling lineages combined to form

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1. Rajyasanghas 2. Loksanghas 3. Ganasabhas 4. Ganasanghas

Ans: - 4. Ganasanghas

10. Which Act allowed the British government to arrest any person without any trial,

aiming to curb the national movement?

1. Rowlatt Act 2. Khilafat Act 3. Khadi Act 4. Swaraj Act

Ans: - 1. Rowlatt Act

11. ‘Primary Sector’ incorporates all activities that are

1. Land or animal centered 2. Technology Centered 3. Communication Centered 4. Industry Centered

Ans: - 1. Land or animal centered

12. Labour Force is defined to include

1. Both employed and unemployed people 2. Only employed people 3. Only unemployed people 4. Neither employed nor unemployed people.

Ans: - 1. Both employed and unemployed people

13. Lack of development by some states/regions in the country as opposed to impressive

progress achieved by other states or regions is referred to as:

1. Regional Balance 2. Regional Imbalance

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3. Regionalism 4. Differentiation

Ans: - 2. Regional Imbalance

14. A level of income that is just enough to meet the food requirements of a person is called.

1. Affluence line 2. Integration line 3. Poverty line 4. Food line

Ans: - 3. Poverty line

15. The liberalized economic policy of the Indian government lifted many restrictions on:

1. Industries and foreign trade 2. Horticulture 3. Entertainment 4. Immigration

Ans: - 1. Industries and foreign trade

16. Which of the following causes soil erosion? 1. Solar energy 2. Deforestation 3. Dense forests 4. Low intensity surface winds

Ans: - 2. Deforestation

17. Size of the population or community that can be supported by the resources available in

the ecosystem is referred to as:

1. Greenhouse effect 2. Carrying capacity 3. Life expectancy 4. Ecology

Ans: - 2. Carrying capacity

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18. Which Indian national leaders formed the Swaraj Party?

1. C R Das and Motilal Nehru 2. Jawaharlal Nehru and Motilal Nehru 3. C R Das and Chandra Shekhar Azad 4. Lala Lajpat Rai and Chandra Shekhar Azad

Ans: - 1. C R Das and Motilal Nehru

19. When the council of Ministers in a state is dismissed, the administration of the state is run by

1. Chief Minister 2. Prime Minister 3. Governor 4. President

Ans:- 3. Governor

20. Polyandry refers to the practice of

1. A woman marrying more than one man 2. A woman marrying one man 3. A man marrying more than one woman 4. A man living with his parents

Ans:- 1. A woman marrying more than one man

21. Statements that provide information to the public on various services offered by

government or public agencies are called:

1. Citizen Charters 2. Right to Information 3. Public Statements 4. Public Charters

Ans: - 1. Citizen Charters

22. Gram Sabha consists of all adults who are registered

1. as voters in the electoral rolls of the village

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2. as teachers in village schools

3. in employment exchange

4. in census of the country

Ans: - 1. as voters in the electoral rolls of the village

23. NREGA guarantees employment of

1. 120 days in a year

2. 100 days in a year

3. 365 days in a year

4. 200 days in a year

Ans: - 2. 100 days in a year

24. Who identified bourgeoisie and proletariat as two classes in a capitalist society?

1. Max Weber

2. Amartya Sen

3. Karl Marx

4. Emile Durkheim

Ans: - 3. Karl Marx

25. In which year did economic planning in the form of Five Year Plans begin in India:

1. 1950

2. 1951

3. 1960

4. 1961

Ans: - 2. 1951

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