Society Mains (GS I) Previous Year Questions

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Salient features of Indian Society; Diversity of India

  1. Customs and traditions suppress reasons leading to obscurantism. Do you agree? 2020
  2. What makes Indian society unique in sustaining its culture? Discuss. (10m,150 words) 2019
  3. Do we have cultural pockets of small India all over the nation? Elaborate with examples. (15m,250 words) 2019
  4. The spirit of tolerance and love is not only an interesting feature of Indian society from very early times, but it is also playing an important part at the present. Elaborate. 2017
  5. In the context of diversity of India, can it be said that the regions form cultural units rather than the States? Give reasons with examples for your viewpoint. 2017
  6. Describe any four cultural elements of diversity in India and rate their relative significance in building a national identity. 2015
  7. The life cycle of a joint family depends on economic factors rather than social values. Discuss. 2014

Role of women and women’s organization

  1. “Empowering women is the key to control population growth”. Discuss (10m,150 words) 2019
  2. What are the continued challenges for women in India against time and space? (15m,250 words) 2019
  3. ‘Women’s movement in India has not addressed the issues of women of lower social strata. Substantiate your view. 2018
  4. How do you explain the statistics that show that the sex ratio in Tribes in India is more favorable to women than the sex ratio among Scheduled Castes? 2015
  5. How does patriarchy impact the position of a middle-class working woman in India? 2014
  6. Discuss the various economic and socio-cultural forces that are driving increasing feminization of agriculture in India. 2014
  7. Why do some of the most prosperous regions of India have an adverse sex ratio for women? Give your arguments. 2014
  8. Male membership needs to be encouraged in order to make women’s organization free from gender bias. Comment. 2013

Poverty, Population

  1. COVID-19 pandemic accelerated class inequalities and poverty in India. Comment. 2020
  2. ‘Despite implementation of various programmes for eradication of poverty by the government in India, poverty is still existing.’ Explain by giving reasons. 2018
  3. “An essential condition to eradicate poverty is to liberate the poor from deprivation.” Substantiate this statement with suitable examples 2016
  4. Critically examine whether growing population is the cause of poverty OR poverty is the main cause of population increase in India. 2015
  5. Discuss the changes in the trends of labour migration within and outside India in the last four decades. 2015

Communalism

  1. ‘Communalism arises either due to power struggle or relative deprivation. Argue by giving suitable illustrations. 2018
  2. Distinguish between religiousness/ religiosity and communalism giving one example of how the former has got transformed into the latter in independent India. 2017

Regionalism

  1. Do you agree that regionalism in India appears to be a consequence of rising cultural assertiveness? Argue. 2020
  2. Has the formation of linguistic states strengthened the cause of Indian Unity? 2016
  3. What is the basis of regionalism? Is it that unequal distribution of benefits of development on a regional basis eventually promotes regionalism? Substantiate your answer. 2016
  4. Growing feeling of regionalism is an important factor in the generation of demand for a separate state. Discuss. 2013

Secularism

  1. What are the challenges to our cultural practices in the name of secularism? (10m,150 words) 2019
  2. How the Indian concept of secularism is different from the western model of secularism? Discuss. 2018
  3. How do the Indian debates on secularism differ from the debates in the West? 2014

Social Empowerment

  1. How have digital initiatives in India contributed to the functioning of the educational system in the country? Elaborate your answer. 2020
  2. Has castle lost its relevance in understanding the multi-cultural Indian Society? Elaborate your answer with illustrations. 2020
  3. “Caste system is assuming new identities and associational forms. Hence, the caste system cannot be eradicated in India.” Comment. 2018
  4. What are the two major legal initiatives by the State since Independence, addressing discrimination against Scheduled Tribes (STs)? 2017
  5. Why are the tribals in India referred to as the Scheduled Tribes? Indicate the major provisions enshrined in the Constitution of India for their upliftment. 2016
  6. Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, despite having divergent approaches and strategies, had a common goal of amelioration of the downtrodden. Elucidate. 2015
  7. Debate the issue of whether and how contemporary movements for assertion of Dalit identity work towards annihilation of caste. 2015

Development and associated issues

  1. Discuss whether formation of new states in recent times is beneficial or not for the economy of India. 2018
  2. Mention core strategies for the transformation of aspirational districts in India and explain the nature of convergence, collaboration and competition for its success. 2018

Globalization and it’s effects on Indian society

  1. Is diversity and pluralism in India under threat due to globalization? Justify your answer. 2020
  2. Are we losing our local identity for the global identity? Discuss. (15m,250 words) 2019
  3. ‘Globalization is generally said to promote cultural homogenization but due to this cultural specificities appear to be strengthened in the Indian Society. Elucidate. 2018
  4. Discuss the positive and negative effects of globalization on women in India. 2015
  5. To what extent globalization has influenced the core of cultural diversity in India? Explain. 2016
  6. Critically examine the effects of globalization on the aged population in India.

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