Class 10 Civics Chapter 3 Previous Year Questions - Gender Religion and Caste (Old Syllabus)

Ans: In India, the number of women involved in politics has significantly increased in the past few years. The increasing number of women running for office, holding elected positions, and actively participating in decision-making processes at all levels of government is evidence of this growing trend.

Ans: (a)
Women around the world have indeed organized themselves to fight for equal rights, which is stated in Assertion (A). The Reason (R) highlights that the women's movement also focused on achieving equality in personal and family life, supporting the idea that their activism encompassed various aspects of life, including social, economic, and personal rights. Since both statements are true and one explains the other, option (a) is the correct choice.

Ans: Two ways in which women face discrimination in our society are:

• Limited access to education: A smaller proportion of girls students go for higher studies compared to boys. Due to various social and cultural norms, girls often face restrictions in pursuing education beyond a certain level. This discrimination deprives them of opportunities for personal and professional growth.
• Occupational segregation: The proportion of women among highly paid and valued jobs is still very small. Women often face discrimination in the workplace, where they are confined to certain industries and job roles that are considered traditionally feminine. This limits their chances of career advancement and equal pay.

Ans: (d)
Family laws typically cover personal matters related to family life, such as marriage, adoption, and inheritance. These laws focus on how families are structured and how issues like property and custody are handled. However, finance relates to money management and economic matters, which are not specifically included in family laws, making it the correct answer.

Ans: Partly due to the efforts of political leaders and social reformers like Jotiba Phula Gandhiji, B.R. Ambedkar etc. and partly due to other socio-economic changes castes and caste system in modern India have undergone great changes.

(i) With the economic development, large scale urbanisation, growth of literacy and education, occupational mobility and the weakening of the position of landlords in the villages, the old notions of caste hierarchy are breaking down.

(ii) Now, most of the times, in urban areas it does not matter much who is walking along next to us on a street or eating at the next table in a restaurant.

(iii) The Constitution of India also prohibits any caste based discrimination and lays down the foundations of policies to reverse the injustices of the caste system.

In spite of these changes yet caste has not disappeared from contemporary India. Some of the older aspects of caste have persisted.

Ans: Women can take help from NGO or Mahila Aayog.

Ans: Better implemention of 'Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 which provide equal wages to be paid to equal work.

Ans: 33% or one-third of reservation is given to women in local administration in India. This reservation is provided to ensure adequate representation of women in decision-making bodies at the grassroots level, such as Panchayats and Municipalities.

Ans: One way to solve this problem is to make it legally binding to have a fair proportion of women in the elected as well as nominated bodies.

Ans: 

• Political parties are not giving tickets to women candidates to fight elections in proportion to their population.
• The lack of representation has led many feminists and women's movements to conclude that unless women control power, their issues will not receive adequate attention.
• India is lagging behind the averages for several developing countries in terms of women's representation in the legislature, placing India among the bottom group of nations in the world.

Ans: In our country, women still lag much behind men despite some improvements since Independence. Women face disadvantage, discrimination and oppression in various ways :
(i) The literacy rate among women is only 64.60 per cent as compared with 80.90 per cent among men (2011 data).
(ii) Similarly, a smaller proportion of girl students go for higher studies. Girls are performing as well as boys in school. But they drop out because parents prefer to spend their resources for their boy’s education rather than spending equally on their sons and daughters.
(iii) The proportion of women among the highly paid and valued jobs is still very small. On an average an Indian woman works one hour more than an average man every day.
(iv) In some parts of India, parents prefer to have sons and find ways to have the girl child aborted before she is born. Such sex selective abortion has led to a decline in child sex ratio.
(v) Women often face harassment, exploitation and violence on the domestic front.

Ans: Spread awareness about unity and integrity.

Ans: Enforcement of dowry prohibition act can bring a remarkable change in the family law of all religions.

Ans: The Indian Constitution provides to all individuals and communities freedom to profess, practise and propagate any religion because of secularism. Secularism is one of the fundamental principles of the Indian Constitution, which ensures that the state remains neutral in matters of religion and treats all religions equally. This allows individuals and communities to freely exercise their religious beliefs without any discrimination or interference from the state.

Ans: Problems of communalism in Indian politics.
(i) Communalism routinely involves religious prejudices, stereotypes of religions communities and belief in the superiority of one's religion over other religions.
(ii) For those belonging to the minority community, it can take the form of a desire to form a separate political unit.
(iii) Communalism takes its most ugly form of communal violence, riots and massacre. India and Pakistan suffered some of the worst communal riots at the time of partition. The post-independence period has also seen large scale communal violence.

Ans: The makers of our Constitution were aware of religion related challenge. That is why they chose the model of a secular state. The important provisions that makes India a secular state are :
(i) There is no official religion for the Indian states. Unlike the status of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, that of Islam in Pakistan and that of Christianity in England, our Constitution does not give a special status to any religion.
(ii) The Constitution provides to all individuals and communities freedom to profess, practice and propagate any religion, or not to follow any.
(iii) The Constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.
(iv) At the same time the Constitution allows the state to intervene in the matters of religion in order to ensure equality within religious communities. For example, it bansuntouchability.

• The most common expression of communalism is in everyday beliefs. These involve the spread of religious prejudices, stereotypes of religious belief, and the superiority of one's religion over other religions. This is so common that we often fail to notice it, even when we do not believe in it.
• It often leads to a quest for political dominance of one's own religious community. This takes the form of majoritarian dominance. For those belonging to the minority community, it leads to the formation of a separate political unit.
• Political mobilization on religious lines is another frequent form of communalism. This involves the use of sacred symbols by religious leaders. Emotional appeals are made to bring the followers of one religion together in the political arena.
• Sometimes communalism can lead to communal violence, riots, and massacres.

Ans: One measure to abolish caste system is increasing the literacy rates in our country.

Ans: Proper laws should be passed to separate elections from casteism.

Ans: Occupational mobility/implementation of laws.

Ans: Caste matters in electoral politics, but it is not the sole determining factor. Other factors such as economic condition and gender also play a role. People from the same caste can have different interests based on their economic status. This results in differences in voting patterns within the same caste. Caste groups may also form coalitions, leading to the emergence of new caste groups such as "backward" and "forward." 

Ans: Problems of casteism in India:
(i) There is discrimination between upper and lower castes. Still there is wide gap and difference between different castes.
(ii) Upper castes still enjoy respectable position in the society.
(iii) Political leaders contest election on the name of castes, for the vote bank.

Ans: (i) Gender division is a form of hierarchical social division based on social expectation and stereotypes.
 (ii) Boys and girls are brought up to believe that the main responsibilities of women is house work and bringing up children.
(iii) There is a sexual division of labour in most families where women do all the household chores and men work outside the home.
(iv) Majority of women may do some paid work in addition of domestic labour both in rural and Urban areas but their work is not valued and does not get recognition.

Ans:

• By improving the literacy rate. Presently the literacy amongst women is only 65.46% as compared to over 82% in men. This would improve the political awareness amongst women.
• The percentage of women in highly paid jobs is still very small. At many workplaces, women are paid less than men for the same job. When equal pay comes, the voice of women will get strengthened.
• The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 removes discriminatory gender practices. The daughters now have an equal right of inheritance to their father's estate as sons. This definitely has increased the political power of females.
• The political representation of women has been very poor in the Indian legislatures. Even in the cabinet, the number of women ministers is very low. The political parties must give more representation to female candidates in union and state elections. The Supreme Court of India must intervene in this matter.
• One-third of seats in local government bodies have been reserved for women candidates. This has helped in increasing women’s representation in panchayats and municipalities. There is a need to enhance this to 50%.

Ans: It is absolutely correct to say that politics and social divisions should not be allowed to mix. This is because:
(i) It can make social divisions into political division and lead to conflict, violence or even disintegration of a country.
(ii) In Northern Ireland, there has been a violent and bitter ethno-political conflict for many years.
(iii) It caused disintegration of Yugoslavia into six independent countries. ln Sri Lanka, when the ethno-social difference between Sinhalas and Tamils were politicised, the result was the Civil War in the country.

Ans: Different forms of casteism in Indian politics:

• While choosing candidates: When parties choose candidates in elections, they keep in mind the caste composition of the electorate and nominate candidates from different castes so as to get the necessary support to win elections.
• While forming a government: When the governments are formed, political parties usually take care that representatives of different castes and tribes find a place in it.
• While campaigning: Political parties and candidates in elections make appeals to people to give them their votes on the basis of caste. Some political parties are known to favor some castes and are seen as their representatives.
• Universal adult franchise and the principle of one-person-one-vote have compelled political leaders to raise caste-based issues during elections. They do so to mobilize and secure political support. It has also brought new consciousness among the people of castes that were hitherto treated as inferior and low.

Ans: These groups include hundreds of castes or tribes whose names are listed in an official Schedule in the Indian Constitution. Hence, they are called Scheduled.

Ans: The Constitution of India promotes secularism.

Ans: Casteism can be abolished by providing educational, employment opportunities and health facilities to all the citizens of the country without any prejudice of discrimination.

Ans: Sexual division is not based on biology. This can be asserted as follows: 
(1) Women are believed to do housework and look after children and take important decisions, keeping the family’s wellbeing in mind but they are stopped from assuming decision making roles because they are believed to be emotional. 
(2) Traditional roles of women have been successfully performed by men in recent times and vice versa. 
(3) Role of women in public life, especially in politics is minimal because it is believed that they are weak and cannot handle the stress. 
(4) Only men were allowed to work in public affairs, until recently. 
(5) Women are not given equal opportunities to prove themselves outside of their physiological differences. Despite the fact that genders differ biologically, cultural norms, traditions, and expectations have a greater influence on how roles and duties are assigned in society than do innate biological characteristics.

Ans: In India, women lag behind men in various fields and sectors including political participation: 
(1) Women legislators in our parliament are lower than in most of the other democracies. India is placed among the bottom few countries in the world. 
(2) Women have less knowledge about their rights and duties as a citizen. The literacy rate of women is much lower than men in our country.
(3) They also face discrimination in terms of economic and social opportunity. 
(4) The proportion of women working in influential positions in famous companies is comparatively lower than that of men. 
(5) Women are paid less than their counterparts despite working equally hard.

Ans: (i) Education :
(a) Women are deprived of an equal access to education. Thus, the literacy rate among women is only 54 per cent as compared to 76 per cent among men.
(b) A smaller proportion of girl students go for higher education because in spite of their better performance parents prefer to spend their resources on son’s higher education.
(ii) The number of women on highly paid jobs is less than men.
(iii) In spite of the Equal Remuneration Act 1976, women are paid less than men even when both do exactly the same work.
(iv) Parents prefer sons and get girl child aborted before she is born. This has led to decline in child sex ratio to merely 919 (2011 census).
(v) Women are exploited by their employers. They are sexually assaulted do not. They feel safe during journey at night. They are subjected to various forms of domestic-violence such as beating and harassment.

Ans: (a) A secular state is a concept of secularism, whereby a state is or purports to be officially neutral in matters of religion, supporting neither religion nor irreligion. It grants equal status to all religions.
(b) (i) There is no official religion in India like Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
(ii) The Constitution grants every individual freedom to profess, preach and practice their own religion.
(iii) The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion.
(iv) The Constitution allows the state to intervene in the matters of religion in order to ensure equality within religious communities. For example it bans untouchability.
Thus our Constitution makers choose the model of a secular state. It is one of the foundations of our country.

Ans: Three factors that are responsible for breaking down of caste system in India: 
(1) Reformers: Social reformers like Gandhiji and B.R. Ambedkar advocated for a classless/casteless society and worked for it to establish it.
(2) Socio-economic changes: Another factor for breaking down the caste system in India includes some socio-economic changes like urbanisation, growth of literacy, breaking caste based prejudice by education. 
(3) The Constitution of India: It prohibited any caste-based discrimination and laid the foundations of policies like the reservation to reverse the injustice of the caste system.

Ans: The makers of our Constitution were aware of the challenge of communalism. The model of secular state was chosen to prevent these conflicts. This choice was reflected in several constitutional provisions like: 
(1) There is no official religion for the Indian state. 
(2) The Constitution provides to all individuals and communities freedom to profess, practice and propagate any religion, or not to follow any. 
(3) The Constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion. (4) At the same time, the Constitution allows the state to intervene in the matters of religion in order to ensure equality within religious communities.

Ans: (a) Gender division and how is it practised ? : It is a form of hierarchial social division. Generally, it is considered as natural and unchangeable. Actually it is based not on biology but on social expectations and stereotypes as mentioned below :
(i) Women do the iyork inside the house such as cooking.
(ii) Men do all the work outside the home.
(iii) Men do the work such as cooking if these are paid for.
(iv) In urban area women work in offices in addition to their domestic work. But their work do not get recognition.
(b) Consequences :
(i) The role of women has been minimal in politics.
(ii) Thus women began organising themselves, leading to the rise of feminist movements.
(iii) These movements demanded enhancing the political and legal status of women and improving their educational and career opportunities.

Ans: (i) Majoritarian dominance: A majority community tries to dominate other communities in politics. This may compel the minority community to form a separate political unit. The example in Sri Lanka and Yugoslavia or India and Pakistan.
(ii) Religious appeals are made to voters to attract their votes. Sometimes sacred symbols and religious leaders are used to bring the followers of one religion together in the political arena.
(iii) Sometimes communalism takes most ugly form of communal violence, riots and massacre. India and Pakistan suffered some of the worst communal riots at the time of the partition. Even after independence, riots on communal lines have taken place in India.

Ans: (i) In urban areas people do not bother about castes and travel in the bus, metro along with others.
(ii) The economic condition of lower castes has improved. They live in areas where people of upper castes live in the cities.
(iii) Now people of lower class shift/change their profession according to their qualifications and experience. They do not follow the occupations of their ancestors.
(iv) The Constitution too prohibits discrimination on the basis of caste etc. Untouchability has been abolished.
(v) The political leaders and social reformers like Jyotiba Phule, Mahatma Gandhi, BR Ambedkar played an important role in this direction. Gandhiji called untouchables ‘Harijana’

Ans: (i) At the time of election, parties select their candidates on the basis of caste of the voters in a constituency to muster support to win election.
(ii) At the time of formation of government or Council of Ministers, effort is made to have representatives from all castes and communities.
(iii) During election campaign, appeals are made to voters to caste their vote in favour of the candidate of their own caste.
(iv) Universal adult franchise and the principle of one-person-one vote compelled political leaders to gear up to the task of mobilising and securing political support.
(v) Political parties are also formed on the basis of caste to attract the voters in the elections. The BSP in UP, DMK and AIDMK are examples o f such political parties.

Ans: Three such measures are: 
(1) Women should be educated and made aware of their rights and responsibilities towards the society and the country. 
(2) Women should be made self reliant and self independent. 
(3) Women should be encouraged and promoted to positions of greater influence to encourage their participation.

Ans: His act is against the spirit of democracy as the said politician is not working as per the Constitution. This is also because: 
(1) It also exploits the social difference. 
(2) It may create social discard and may lead to social division. 
(3) It is also biased and neglects the principle of equality.

Ans: The relationship between politics and religion can be beneficial: 
(1) Influence of religion can make politics ethical. 
(2) Religious communities can politically express their needs and interests. Politics can help ensure their freedom and equality. 
(3) Political authorities can monitor and control religious oppression. 
The relationship can be also problematic: 
(1) Religion can lead to development of nationalist sentiments leading to birth of conflicts. 
(2) Political parties use religion to make political gains by appeasing one and ignoring others. 
(3) State power may be used to establish the domination of one religious group over another.