Students can Download 2nd PUC Sociology Previous Year Question Paper June 2015, Karnataka 2nd PUC Sociology Model Question Papers with Answers helps you to revise the complete Karnataka State Board Syllabus and score more marks in your examinations.

Karnataka 2nd PUC Sociology Previous Year Question Paper June 2015

Time: 3 Hrs 15 Min
Max. Marks: 100

I. Answer the following questions in a sentence each: (10 × 1=10)

Question 1.
How is the word demography derived?
Answer:
The word demography is derived from two Greek words

  • Demos (people) and
  • Graphein (describe) implying the description of people.

Question 2.
What is linguism?
Answer:
Linguism implies love and admiration towards one’s language and a prejudice and hatred towards other languages.

Question 3.
Who advocated the policy of Tribal Panchasheela?
Answer:
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

Question 4.
Name one Backward Classes Commission appointed by the Government of India.
Answer:
B.P. Mandal Commission.

KSEEB Solutions

Question 5.
Where is the headquarters of ‘Lijjat’?
Answer:
Mumbai.

Question 6.
Who is ‘Kartha’?
Answer:
Head of the Hindu Joint Family.

Question 7.
Who is the author of the book called ‘Rural Sociology in India’?
Answer:
A.R.Desai.

Question 8.
Expand TRP.
Answer:
Television Rating Point.

Question 9.
Mention any one type of social movement.
Answer:
Reform movements.

KSEEB Solutions

Question 10.
Write one characteristic of modernization.
Answer:
Education.

II. Answer any ten of the following questions in 2 to 5 sentences each: (10 × 2 = 20)

Question 11.
Mention any two racial groups of India.
Answer:
Negritos and Mongoloids.

Question 12.
What is meant by Social Inequality?
Answer:
Patterns of unequal access to social resources to different classes of people.

Question 13.
Write any two determinants of the dominant caste.
Answer:
Numerical strength and economic and political domination.

Question 14.
Mention any two criteria of backwardness.
Answer:

  • Inadequate or no representation in government services.
  • Low social position in the traditional caste hierarchy.

Question 15.
Write two aims of Streeshakti.
Answer:

  • To strengthen the process of economic development of rural women.
  • To form Self-help groups based on thrift and credit principles to build self-reliance and enable women to have greater access and control over resources.

KSEEB Solutions

Question 16.
Define the empowerment of women.
Answer:
Women Empowerment is the act of empowering women i.e. to give them the power or authority.

Question 17.
Write the definition of Joint Family according to Iravathi Karve.
Answer:
A joint family is a group of people who generally live under one roof, who eat food cooked at one hearth, who hold property in common, participate in common family worships and are related to each other as some particular type of kindred.

Question 18.
Name any two on-line shopping sites.
Answer:
Flipkart.com; Amazon.com

Question 19.
What is Green Revolution?
Answer:
An agricultural practice in which the use of modern technology and farm practices to obtain vastly increased output is called Green Revolution.

Question 20.
Mention any two guiding principles used by George Ritzer for McDonald Company.
Answer:
Efficiency and Calculability.

Question 21.
Write any two causes for Malaprabha Agitation.
Answer:

  1. The Issue of price stability
  2. The levy issue.

Question 22.
Define Westernization.
Answer:
The changes brought about in Indian society and culture as a result of over 150 years of British rule and the term includes changes occurring at different levels like technology, institutions, ideology and values.

III. Answer any four of the following questions in 15 sentences each. (4 × 5 = 20)

Question 23.
Explain five major characteristics of the demographic profile of India.
Answer:
The Major characteristics of the Demographic Profile of India:

  1. Size and Growth of India’s population.
  2. Age structure of the Indian population.
  3. Sex-Ratio in India.
  4. Birth rate and Death rate.
  5. Increasing Literacy rate of the Indian population.
  6. Increasing Rural-Urban differences.

1. Size and Growth of India’s Population:
India is the second-most populous country in the world after China. According to the 2011 census, India’s population is 121 crores(1.21 billion). Between 1901-1951 the average annual growth rate did not exceed 1.33%, a modest rate of growth. In fact between 1911 and 1921 there was a negative rate of growth of – 0.03%.

This was because of the influenza epidemic during 1918-19. The growth rate of the population substantially increased after independence from British rule going up to 2.2% during 1961-1981. Since then although the annual growth rate has decreased it remains one of the highest in the developing world.

2. Age structure of the Indian population:
India has a very young population – that is, the majority of Indians tend to be young, compared to most other countries. The share of the less than 15 age group in the total population has come down from its highest level of 42% in 1971 to 29% in 2011. The share of the 15-60 age group has increased from 53% to 63%, while the share of the 60+ age group is very small but it has begun to increase (from 5% to 8%) over the same period.

But the age composition of the Indian population is expected to change significantly in the next two decades. 0-14 age group will reduce its share by about 11% (from 34% in 2001 to 23% in 2026) while the 60 plus age .group will increase its share by about 5% (from 8% in 2001 to about 12% in 2026).

3. The declining Sex-ratio in India:
The sex ratio is an important indicator of gender balance in the population. The sex ratio is defined as the number of females per 1000 males. The trends of the last four decades have been particularly worrying – from 941 in 1961 the sex ratio had fallen to an all-time low of 927 in 1991 before posting a modest increase in 2001.

According to the Census of India 2011, the sex ratio has increased and now it is 940 females per 1000 males. But what has really alarmed demographers, policymakers, social activists, and concerned Citizens is the drastic fall in the child sex ratio. The sex ratio for the 0 – 6 years age group (known as the juvenile or child sex ratio) has generally been substantially higher than the overall sex ratio for all age groups, but it has been falling very sharply.

In fact, the decade 1991-2001 represents an anomaly in that the overall 1 sex ratio has posted its highest ever increase of 6 points from the all-time low of 927 to 933, but the child sex ratio in 2011 census has dropped from 927 to 914, a plunge of 13 points taking it below the overall sex ratio for the first time.

4. Increasing literacy rate of Indian population:
Literacy varies considerably across gender, regions, and social groups. The literacy rate for women is almost 22% less than the literacy rate for men. However, female literacy has been rising faster than male literacy, partly because it started from relatively low levels. Female literacy rose by about 11.2 percent between 2001 and 2011 compared to the rise in male literacy of 6.2 percent in the same period.

Female literacy which was 8.9% in 1951, has increased to 65.4 in 2011. Male literacy in the same period was 27.2% which has increased to 82.17. The total literacy rate of 18.3% in 1951 has increased to 74.04 in 2011.

5. Increasing Rural-Urban differences:
According to the 2011 Census, 68.8% of the population lives in rural areas while 31.2% of people live in urban areas. The urban population has been increasing steadily, from about 17.3% in 1951 to 31.2 in 2011, an increase of about two-and-a-half times.

KSEEB Solutions

Question 24.
Explain briefly the changes in caste system during British rule.
Answer:
The impact of British rule on the caste system in India may be studied under the following heads.

  1. Introduction of Universalistic Legal system.
  2. Impact of English Education.
  3. Impact of Social Reform Movements.
  4. Influence of New Social Formation.
  5. Impact of Freedom Struggle.
  6. Impact of Industrialization and Urbanization.

1. Introduction of Universalistic Legal System:
The establishment of British courts removed authority from the purview of caste panchayats. Under this new principle of justice, all are equal before the law, and the caste panchayats lost their former importance.

Some major legislations were the following:
a. The Caste Disabilities Removal Act of 1850. This act served to remove some of the disabilities associated with castes including the practice of untouchability.

b. The Hindu Widow Remarriage Act 1856, This act made legal, provision for the Hindu widows to remarry.

c. The Special Marriage Act of 1872 considered marriage as a civil contract and legalized inter-caste or inter-religious marriages.

d. Other legislative and administrative measures were put into effect, like Government schools to be open to all classes of subjects, stopping of gran s to schools and refusing admission to the depressed class, public places to be men to everybody and constitutional provisions for representation in legislative bodies for them.

2. Impact of English Education:
British education was based on scientific, secular and universal principles. It was made accessible to everyone, irrespective of caste or community. It remained liberal in content. It propagated principles such as the liberty equality and fraternity.

As education spread to the lower strata, it kindled libertarian impulses among them. Western education provided an indispensable passport to new economic opportunities. Members from the lower castes became professionals and embraced the new commercial opportunities offered by western education.

3. Impact of Social Reform Movements:
Social reform movements brought changes in the caste system in the British period. They set out to eradicate caste and to establish a casteless and, classless society.

Brahma Samaj by Rajaram Mohan Roy, Prarthana Samaj by Atmaram Pandurang, Arya Samaj by Swamy Dayananda Saraswathi, Ramakrishna Mission by Swami Vivekananda, Theosophical Society by Annie Besant and Divine Life Society by Maharshi Arabindo Ghosh were leading movements. All these organizations aimed at the destruction of caste system and the social reconstruction of Indian society.

4. Impact of New Social Formations:
The new economic system brought about a new grouping of the population in the economic sphere. The Indians got differentiated into capitalists, workers, peasants, propritiators, merchants, tenants, land lords, doctors, lawyers, teachers and technicians. Each category being composed of individuals belonging to various castes, but having identical material and political interests. This division weakened the vertical caste lines.

Thus there came into existence such, organizations as Mill Owners Associations, All India Trace Union Congress. All India Kishan Sabha and etc., these groups struggled for their own interests. In the process of this struggle they developed a new consciousness and outlook and a new solidarity, which slowly weakened the caste consciousness.

5. Impact of Freedom Struggle:
The growth of the nationalist movement played a great role in weakening caste consciousness. In India, the presence of foreign rule was a permanent stimulus to the Indians to unite on a national basis. Thus the growth of the national movement undermined the caste consciousness.

6. Impact of Industrialization and Urbanization:
The growth of Industries destroyed the old craft and provided new ways to earn a livelihood. Occupational mobility and movement from compact ancestral villages started breaking down the caste norms. New transport facilities, specially crowded trains and buses, threw together millions of people of all castes and left little room for the necessities of ceremonial purity.

Taboos on food and water gradually weakened when industrial workers belonging to various castes started working under one roof and having food at a common canteen. The demarcation observed by the members of different castes regarding eating food, physical contact with those of other castes, steadily crumbled in cities.

KSEEB Solutions

Question 25.
Explain strategies for Empowerment of Women
Answer:
The strategies for empowerment of women can be classified as legal, social and economic.
1. Legal Strategies: After Independence, several laws were drafted with the aim to treat women on par with men. Some of the legislation are as follows:

  1. Hindu Marriage Act of 1955
  2. Hindu Succession Act of 1956.
  3. Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act of 1956.
  4. Dowry Prohibition (Amendment) Act of 1984
  5. Domestic Violence Act 2005 etc.

2. Social Strategies:
Social strategies are as follows:

  1. Establishment of Women Welfare Services.
  2. Legal literacy of women through mass media.
  3. Help of neighbours to be sought in the cases of abused women.
  4. Conducting public education and awareness programmes in order to help women.
  5. Males are also to be educated to realize their new roles in the changing times and the necessity of their own contribution to family life.

3. Economic Strategies:
Economic strategies are as follows:

  1. Educational and vocational training for women which will enable them to seek jobs and become economically dependent.
  2. Technological aids that will be labor-saving devices and will lighten women’s burden, of heavy daily tasks.
  3. Training for women in both formal and non-formal education.
  4. Credit facilities to start small-scale industries/self-employment.
  5. Programmes of placing women in CM important positions at various levels.

Question 26.
Explain functional changes of joint family.
Answer:
Changes in Joint Family: Changes in joint family can be divided into structural and functional changes.
Changes in the Structure of the Joint Family system:
1. Changes in the Size of the Joint family:
The size of the joint family is decreasing. A joint family consists of people belonging to two or three generations, which may be comprised of 8 – 10 members.

2. Changes in Ownership of Property:
The ownership of the property of the joint family has changed due to the implementation of The Hindu Inheritance and Succession Act 1956 and other legislatives and legal facilities that provide equal property rights for women.

3. Changes in Authority:
In the present day, the authority of the head of the family or Kartha has changed. The patriarchal character of joint family is losing its importance.

4. Changes in the Status of Women:
In post-independent India, women have a very respectable position, if not entirely an equal position on par with men. This is a positive improvement in this regard.

5. Change in the selection of mates and:
Conjugal relationships: Earlier, elder members of the family used to select partners for their children without consulting them. But nowadays, both parents and children jointly make the selection of spouses.

6. Changes in the Relations of In-laws:
In recent times, the relationships among in-laws in a joint family have undergone drastic changes.

7. Weakening of Family Norms:
Due to the impact of ideas like liberty, egalitarianism, and democracy, the traditional norms and values of joint families have changed.

8. Increasing popularity of dependent Nuclear Family:
Education, economic and employment opportunities have compelled young men and women to go out of the family to faraway places and settle in the places of their choice. But at times of difficulties and happy situations, these families seek support from the joint family and are ready to provide necessary assistance to the basic family.

Question 27.
Explain the importance of village studies.
Answer:
The importance of village studies are summarized below.
1. Field Work is an Antidote to Book View:
According to M.N. Srinivas, studies of Indian village communities would be of great significance for planners and administrators. Information provided by a Sociologist is based on his intensive fieldwork experience and no account of book knowledge can ever be a substitute for this.

M.N.Srinivas undertook a study on Rampura village near Mysore, with a view to highlight that the agricultural practices of the Indian peasant can only be understood in the context of his Technology, level of knowledge, legal and social institutions, religion and way of life. He has recorded his experience in Rampura village in his work ‘Remembered Village’.

2. Calculated opposition to change:
Over the last hundred years or more, the peasant has been represented as extremely conservative, pigheaded, ignorant and superstitious. But the Sociological studies do not subscribe to this view. McKim Marriot’s study of Kishan Garhi village in Uttar Pradesh reveals that the peasants had accepted new crops, techniques of cultivation, etc., and had opposed only a few changes.

Thus, the headman of Rampura village wanted bull-dozers and electricity, but not a school. Electricity and bull-dozer would get him name and fame, his authority over others becomes stronger, etc. But, a school would make labour scarcer, educated poor people may lose the respect they have for the rich and soon.

There are key persons in each village thus, who exploit every change to their benefit. If he then opposes the tool or process, it is not because of stupidity but because of his intelligence. Only a field-study of the village community could shed light on aspects that otherwise go unnoticed.

3. Literary Bias:
Literature on caste states that caste is immobile. This is not a fact as through Sanskritization, castes have tried to move up on the local hierarchy. This is also true of the conditions of women. The condition of women prevalent among the upper castes was generalized to include all Hindus. But, the truth is that the women of lower castes are better placed in comparison to women of upper castes.

Observation of Hindu social life has been vitiated by book view and the upper-caste view. Thus, the only solution for this literary bias lies in doing field research. Field-studies suggest something different, from what is found in religious texts. It is clear that the book-view and upper-caste view may be biased and need not be a fact always. Only field research can help us to overcome literary bias and accept facts about village communities.

4. Recording for later evaluation:
Prof. Yogesh Atal states that “Roots of the present are always to be found in the past and an analysis of the present would guide the future. Hence, a comparison and evaluation of the impact of planned change at a later date necessarily demands that the present be recorded”.

5. Development of Analytical Categories:
The study of an Indian village community has helped in developing certain analytical categories. Field studies conducted in different parts of the country point to the existence of certain processes of change which have been labeled either locally or on an all India basis.

For instance, analytical models like Sanskritization and Westernisation (M.N. Srinivas), Kulinisation (N. Prasad), De-Sanskritization (Majumdar), Universalisation and Parochialisation (McKim Marriot), Great tradition and little tradition (Robert Redfield), etc., have helped in the analysis of transformation that the village communities are undergoing. A. R. Desai’s Rural Sociology in India is an important work in this regard.

6. Village Studies are important for Social Reformation:
Prof. Ramakrishna Mukher-jee’s analysis makes it clear that the village has become the centre of all discussions and debates. Plan, Budget, Administrative strategy, etc., all have become rural area oriented. Thus, planners, economists, administrators, sociologists, reformers, and others concentrate on village and are busy collecting data on them. Under the impact of planned and non-directed changes, villages are undergoing a transformation. Thus, there is a need for the study of village communities in India.

KSEEB Solutions

Question 28.
Write about the Karnataka Dalit Movement in the post-independence period.
Answer:
Dalit Movement in the Old Mysore Region:
In the old Mysore region, the Dalit movement did not happen as an independent movement, but, it had the inspiration of the Mysore Maharaja and Praja Mithra mandati and miller committee.

Dalit Movement in the Mumbai Karnataka: The social, economic, educational and political conditions of Dalits of the Mumbai Karnataka region were no different from those of other parts of India. The majority of them were very poor and were unable to educate their children. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar spent considerable time in organising and reforming dalits in order to improve their social, economic and educational conditions.

Two major Dalit movements emerged inKamataka in the post-independent period. They are;

  1. Bhimsena
  2. Dalit Sangharsha samiti (DSS)

1. Bhimasena:
In the year 1970, B. Shamsundar started an organization called Bhimsena in the Hyderabad Karnataka region. Bhimsena had an Ideology to fight against untouchability and oppression in a radical way. Dalits were trained to defend themselves against oppression. The then government banned activities of Bhimsena in order to avoid caste conflicts.

After the demise of Shamsundar in the year 1975, due to the lack of leadership, activities of the Bhimsena movement came to a standstill. Basavalingappa was one of the prominent Dalit politician. In a program, he stated that Kannada literature is like fodder (boosa) because; Kannada writers are not sympathetic to the woes of Dalits and thus are dishonest in their writings.

This statement sparked controversy and led to violent protests throughout the state. In the year 1975, a state-wide meeting of the members of various Dalit organizations was called and a committee was formed to frame manifesto for the organization.

In the year 1977, a state-level meeting of all Dalit organizations was held and a unified ‘Karnataka Dalita Sangharsha Samiti was born’. The first convention of the DSS was held in Bhadravati and Prof. B Krishnappa was chosen as the State convenor of DSS.

2. Karnataka Dalit Sangharsha Samiti:
Since it’s inception, it was not interested in affiliation to any political party and maintained distance from politicians. The organization grew strong, some of the leaders began to establish relationships with politicians.

But, Devanoor Mahadeva, a prominent leader of DSS expressed support to Janata Party when he was the State convenor of DSS, meanwhile Prof. Siddalingaiah, a think tank of DSS was nominated to Karnataka legislative council. Interestingly, at a later stage, Prof. Krishnappa himself contested the Kolar Loksabha election through DSS and lost in 1991.

IV. Answer any four of the following questions in 15 sentences each. (4 × 5 = 20)

Question 29.
Discuss briefly the challenges of National Integration.
Answer:
There are many challenges to National integration. They are as follows;

  1. Regionalism.
  2. Communalism.
  3. Linguism and
  4. Extremism and Terrorism.

1. Regionalism:
Regionalism is expressed in the desire of people of one region to promote their own regional interest at the expense of the interests of other regions. It has often led to separatism and instigated separatist activities and violent movements. Selfish politicians exploit it. Thus, regionalism has challenged the primacy of the nationalistic interests and undermines national unity. Regionalism is mainly of four forms namely

  • Demand for separation from the Indian union
  • Demand for a separate statehood
  • Demand for a full-fledged statehood
  • Inter-states disputes-Border disputes.

2. Communalism:
Communalism is the antagonism practiced by the members of one community against the people of other communities and religions. Communalism is the product of a particular society, economy, and polity, which creates problems. Communalism is an ideological tool for the propagation of economic and political interests. It is an instrument in the hands of the upper class to concentrate power by dividing people. The elites strive to maintain a status quo against transformation by dividing people on communal and religious lines.

3. Linguism:
Linguism implies one-sided love and admiration towards one’s language and prejudice and hatred towards other languages. India is a land of many languages and it has been called a ‘Museum of languages’. Diversity of languages has also led to linguism. It has often been manifested into violent movements posing threat to national integration. Linguistic tensions are prevailing in the border areas which are bilingual.

4. Extremism and Terrorism:
Extremism and terrorism have emerged during recent years as the most formidable challenges to national integration. Extremism refers to the readiness on the part of an individual or group to go to any extreme even to resort to undemocratic, violent and harmful means to fulfill one’s objectives.

In the past India has been facing the problems of terrorism since independence. India has faced this problem in Nagaland (1951), Mizoram (1966), Manipur (1976), Tripura (1980) and West Bengal (1986).

Terrorism in India is essentially the creation of politics. According to Prof. Rama Ahuja, there are four types of terrorism India,

  1. Khalistan oriented terrorism in Punjab
  2. Militants terrorism in Kashmir.
  3. Naxalite terrorism in West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh Telangana, Maharastra, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh.
  4. ULFA terrorism in Assam.

The Khalistan oriented Sikh terrorism was based on a dream of a theocratic state, Kashmir militants are based on their separate identity. Naxalite terrorism is based on class enmity. Terrorism in North-Eastern India is based on the identity crisis and the grievance situation. In addition to these factors, corruption, poverty, unemployment/ youth unrest, widening gap between rich and poor, which are also the major challenges for national integration.

KSEEB Solutions

Question 30.
Write a short note on gender discrimination.
Answer:
Gender is a socially constructed component of human sexuality. It is an inner feeling that one is masculine, feminine or somewhere in between. Society has set certain behavioral expectations and norms in portraying this gender. Gender discrimination is discrimination against people based on their gender.

On the first level, women are not treated at pat with men in the male-dominated Indian society. Men are held superior, a male offspring a blessing and a female one a curse. Women are subjugated to a dependent status not having financial powers.

They are allowed only a second class position and in most of the jobs, paid less than men. Even in corporate sectors, there is a glass ceiling stopping them from reaching the top position in most of the places. The anatomical differences were viewed as related to emotional and intellectual capacities as well as physical abilities. In the entire world, the percentage of women leaders are negligible – hardly 5%.

In the male patriarchal society, only the interest of the male sex was catered for. Men were meant for production and women only for reproduction. The unpaid, unseen and unremunerative work of women in the houses has no value compared to what men earn outside, maybe with lesser effort and strain.

On another level, the ones belonging to the in-between gender are not even accepted as part of society. They are made fun of, ridiculed and ostracised from every walk of life. Nowadays, social organisations are taking their issues as major problems and are working towards getting them a better deal.

Question 31.
Explain any five-factor causing changes in Joint Family.
Answer:
1. Industrialization:
With the establishment of factories in many places of the country, agriculture was pushed to the background and with it changed those social institutions which were its products. The industrial centers pulled persons out of the traditional peasant society comprising of joint families.

This struck at the roots of joint families and the process of change started. Furthermore, the process of change in the joint family gained momentum from the rapid development of transport and communication.

2. Urbanization:
The percentage of workers dependent on agriculture has come down and more and more people migrate to cities and towns in search of jobs. The urban centers also provide people with various amenities of life concerning transport and communication, sanitation and health, education and employment, etc., People are tempted by the lure of urban facilities and there is a rural to urban type of migration. A gradually joint family hold is losing its control and nuclear families in cities have become the norm.

3. Rapid Growth of Population:
The rapid growth of the population has brought a corresponding increase in pressure on land. Agriculture is the prime occupation of the villagers, the rural youth face the problem of unemployment. People have begun to move to cities and industrial centers in search of jobs. Thus they had to leave the traditional joint families which have resulted in the breakdown of jointness.

4. Education:
Education changes the attitude of people. It enables people to get into various better-paying jobs or professions. Modern education leads to occupational mobility. It has not only brought changes in the attitudes, beliefs, values, and ideologies of the people but has also created the individualistic feelings. The increasing education not only brings changes in the philosophy of life of men and women but also provides new avenues of employment leading to economic independence.

5. Changing Status of Women:
Social reform movements and awareness among the women of their own position, all these have affected the patriarchal authority of the joint family system. The spread of modern education has enlightened women. Education has made them conscious of their rights and status in society. It has brought about drastic changes in the practices and ideals of family.

They are no longer prepared to remain within the four walls of the household in the traditional subordinate position. Social reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Keshab Chandra Sen, Jyothiba Phule, Maharshi Karve, Pandit Ramabai and many others have worked and achieved considerable success to the cause of women.

All these factors affected the patriarchal authority of the joint family. As a sequel to that, the process of disintegration has set in the joint family system.

6. Social Legislations:
Legislation enacted during the British rule proved harmful for joint family. Gains of Learning Act of 1930, the Rights of Women to share in the property of the joint family by the Hindu Law of Inheritance Act of 1929, and the Hindu women’s Right to Property Act of 1937. Sati Prevention Act 1782, Hindu Widow Remarriage Act 1856, Child Marriage Restraint Act 1902 has brought changes in family relations.

After independence, the process has continued and fundamental changes in the law of inheritance have been brought about by the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and the Civil Marriage Act, 1957 gave the freedom to adult males and females to many according to their choice and helped the women to seek divorce on certain grounds.

All these legislations gave enough facility to the members to divide the joint family immediately after the death of the father. The necessity of jointness has also weakened due to various governmental provisions relating to old-age pension, widow pension, etc.

Question 32.
Write about the social problems of Indian villages.
Answer:
a. Illiteracy:
Illiteracy is a major social problem in Indian villages. Lack of educational institutions and poor quality education coupled with a high rate of dropout rate has aggravated the situation. The majority of educational institutions are suffering from educational infrastructures like adequate buildings, libraries, and reading rooms, sports grounds, etc. There is a great disparity among rural and urban regions of Indian society regarding educational opportunities. Further, basic facilities like drinking water, sanitation facilities, transport and communication facilities are not up to the mark.

b. Rural Poverty:
On the basis of an empirical study in seven districts in Rajasthan in 1996 sponsored by the World Bank it has identified the following causes of poverty in rural areas:

  • Inadequate and ineffective implementation of anti-poverty programs
  • The low percentage of the population engaged in non-agricultural pursuits.
  • Non-availability of irrigational facilities and erratic rainfall.
  • Dependence on traditional methods of cultivation and inadequate exposure to modern skills.
  • Non-availability of electricity for agriculture.
  • Poor quality of livestock.
  • Imperfect and exploited credit market, communication facilities and markets.
  • Low level of education.
  • Absence of dynamic community leadership.
  • Failure to seek women’s cooperation in developmental activities and associating them with planned programmes.
  • Inter-caste conflicts and rivalries.
  • Spending a large percentage of annual earnings on social ceremonies like festivals, marriages, death feasts, etc., and people unwilling to discard expensive customs.

c. Health Problems:
About 74% of the doctors are in urban areas while 70% of the country’s population lives in villages. This shows the extent to which skilled medical care is lacking in rural areas. Fertility and Birth rate, as well as death rates, are very high in the villages.

Infant mortality and maternal mortality are also high. The problems of Malnutrition, the sporadic outbreak of epidemic diseases like Cholera, Malaria, Plague, Dengue and other communicable diseases are quite common. The housings are very much unsanitary while the addiction to alcohol & nicotine drugs makes the state of health condition even worse.

Pesticides like Endosulfan also have caused much health hazards in rural areas. There are more than 5000 people affected by endosulfan in Uttara Kannada District alone. At the same time soil has been degraded rendering it infertile due to excessive use of chemicals and-fertilizers. It affects not only the yield but also the health of the agriculturists.

KSEEB Solutions

Question 33.
Write the nature and core values of Indian Democracy.
Answer:
Out of syllabus.

Question 34.
Explain the five major factors contributing to Globalisation.
Answer:
Globalization refers to the growing interdependence of societies across the world, with the spread of the same culture and economic interests across the globe. For example, media and consumer products are often produced for a world market, by the same firms running business all over the world.

Factors Contributing to Globalization:
Anthony Giddens has explained the following factors as contributing to Globalization:

1. The Rise of Information and Communications Technology:
The explosion in global communications has been facilitated by a number of important advances in technology and the world’s telecommunication infrastructure. The spread of communication satellites has also been significant in expanding international communications. Today a network of more than 200 satellites is in space to facilitate the transfer of information around the globe.

The use of Satellite, Internet, Telephones, Computer Networking, known as Information and Communication Technologies – ICT have revolutionized the way the world communicates. You could be chatting online, through the internet, with your friend or family, who is thousands of miles away, and feel that you share your everyday travails much more than a person who is closer home like your neighbor.

You could be working in India for a company that is located in the United States of America through telecommunication technologies.

2. Information Flows:
It has also facilitated the flow of information about people and events in distant places. Every day, the global media brings news, images, and information into homes, linking them directly and continuously to the outside world. Some of the most gripping events of the past three decades – such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the violent crackdown on democratic protesters in China’s Tiananmen Square and the Terrorist attacks on Mumbai on 11 September 2001, Spring movement in Arabian countries, have unfolded through the media before a global audience.

Such events, along with thousands of information, have resulted in a reorientation in people’s thinking from the level of the nation-state to the global stage. In the case of natural disasters, such interventions take the form of humanitarian relief and technical assistance. In recent years, earthquakes in Armenia and Turkey, floods in Mozambique and Bangladesh, famine in Africa and hurricanes in Central America have been rallying points for global assistance.

3. Knowledge Society:
The emergence of the knowledge society has been linked to the development of a broad base of consumers who are technologically literate and eagerly integrate new advances in computing, entertainment, and Telecommunications into their everyday lives. The very operation of the global economy reflects the changes that have occurred in the information age. Many aspects of the economy now work through networks that cross national boundaries, rather than stopping at them.

4. Transnational Corporations:
In globalization, the role of transnational corporations is particularly important. Transnational corporations are companies that produce goods or market services in more than one country.

For example Coca-Cola., Pepsi, Johnson and Johnson, Ford, General Motors, Colgate-Palmolive, Indian corporations like Reliance, TATAs, Birla Groups, Infosys, Mahindras, TVS group, Wipro, etc. Even when trans-national corporations have a clear national base, they are oriented towards global markets and global profits. Transnational corporations are at the heart of economic globalization.

5. The Electronic Economy:
Globalization is also being driven forward by the integration of the world economy. In contrast to previous eras, the global economy is no longer primarily agricultural or industrial in its basis. Rather, it is increasingly dominated by activity that is weightless and intangible. This weightless economy is one in which products have their base in information, as is the case with computer software, media and; entertainment products and Internet-based services.

The ‘Electronic Economy’ is another factor that underpins economic globalization. Banks, corporations, fund managers and individual investors are able to shift funds internationally with the click of a mouse. As the global economy becomes increasingly integrated, a financial collapse in one part of the world can have an enormous effect on distant economies.

6. Political changes:
Another driving force behind contemporary globalization is related to political change. These are;

a. The collapse of Soviet-style communism in 1991. The collapse of communism has hastened processes of globalization but should also be seen as a result of globalization itself.

b. The important political factor leading to intensifying globalization is the Growth of International and Regional Mechanisms of Government namely The United Nations and the European Union. SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation) and BRICS (Brazil; Russia, India, China, and South Africa) are the two most prominent examples of international organizations that bring together nation-states into a common political forum.

Finally, globalization is being driven by International Governmental Organizations (IGOs) and International Non-governmental Organizations (INGOs). An IGO is a body that is established by Participating governments and given responsibility for regulating or overseeing a particular domain of activity that is transnational in scope.

The first such body, The International Telegraph Union, was founded in 1865. Since that time, a great number of similar bodies have been created. In 1909, there were only 37 IGOs in existence to regulate transnational affairs; by 1996, there were 260.

Some of the best-known INGOs – such as Greenpeace, Medicines Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders), the Red Cross and Amnesty International are involved in environmental protection and humanitarian efforts. But the activities of thousands of lesser-known groups also link together countries and communities.

V. Answer any two of the following questions in 30 sentences each. (2 × 10 = 20)

Question 35.
Explain the nature of diversity in India.
Answer:
The term diversity denoting collective differences so as to find out dissimilarities among groups of people: geographical, religious, linguistic, etc. All these differences presuppose collective differences or prevalence of variety of groups and cultures. Indian society is characterized by unity as well as diversity.

Primarily there are four major types of diversities in India, which are;

  1. Regional diversities
  2. Linguistic diversities
  3. Religious diversities and
  4. Cultural and Ethnic Diversities

1. Regional Diversities:
India is a vast country. From the Himalayas in the North to the Indian Ocean in the south, there are quite a lot of differences in altitude, temperature, Flora, and Fauna. India has every conceivable type of climate, temperature, and physical configuration. There is the scorching heat of Rajasthan and the biting cold of the Himalayas, Rainfall varies from 1200 to 7.5 ems per year.

The result is that India has some of the wettest and driest areas in the world. India also possesses arid desserts and fertile riverine lands, bare and hilly tracts, and luxuriant open plain.

2. Linguistic Diversities:
Language is another source of diversity. It contributes to collective identities and even to conflicts. The Indian Constitution has recognized 22 languages in the 8th schedule for its official purposes but as many as 1652 languages and dialects are spoken in the country. These languages belong to five linguistic families, namely; Indo – Aryan languages, Dravidian languages, Austric languages, Tibeto – Burman languages and European languages.

This makes language planning and promotion difficult. But the mother tongue does evoke strong sentiments and reactions. As a consequence of this multiplicity, there is considerable bilingualism and administration has to use more than one language. Linguistic diversity has posed administrative and political challenges. Apart from that for people with different mother tongues, communication becomes a problem.

3. Religious Diversities:
There are 8 major religious communities in India. Hindus constitute the majority followed by Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs. Buddhists, Jains, Zoroastrians, and Jews are less than 1% each. Each major religion is further divided along the lines of religious documents, sects, and cults. Hindus are broadly divided into Shaivites, Vaishnavaites and Shaktas (worshippers of Shiva, Vishnu, and Mother Goddess – Shakthi respectively) and other minor sects.

Even though they took birth in India, both Jainism and Buddhism have lost their hold in India and are confined to a few small pockets. Diganibars and Shwetambars are the two divisions of Jains. Indian Muslims are broadly divided into Shias and Sunnis. Indian Christians, apart from Roman Catholics and Protestants have other small regional denominational churches.

Sikhism is a synthesizing religion that emphasizes egalitarianism. Parsis even though a small community has played an important role in India’s industrial development. The Jews have a white and black division.

4. Cultural and Ethnic Diversities:
Another important source of diversity is the cultural diversity. The people differ considerably in their social habits. Cultural difference varies from state to state. The conflicting and varying shades of blood, strains, culture, and modes of life, the character, conduct, beliefs, morals, food, dress, manners, social norms, Socio-Religious customs, rituals and etc.

Causes cultural and ethnic diversities in the country. Dr. R.K. Mukherji rightly said that “India is a museum of cults and customs, creeds and culture, faiths and tongues, racial types and social systems”.

KSEEB Solutions

Question 36.
Explain the disabilities of scheduled castes.
Answer:
I. Social Disabilities:

  • Denial or restriction of access to public facilities, such as wells, schools, and roads.
  • Restrictions on movement were also imposed. Untouchables were not allowed to walk on roads and streets within prescribed distance of the houses or persons of higher castes.

II. Economic Disabilities :

  • Exclusion from honourable and profitable employments and limited to dirty or menial occupations.
  • Restrictions on style of life, especially in the use of goods indicating comfort or luxury. Riding on horseback, use of bicycles, wearing of gold and silver ornaments, all of these were forbidden in many areas.
  • Liability to unremunerated labour for the higher castes and to the performance of menial services for them.

III. Religious Disabilities:
1. In Indian society, untouchables were subjected to various religious restrictions. They were prevented from entering temples, Monasteries and cremation grounds and could not make use of them because it was believed that these places would become impure by their touch and presence. This was considered sufficient to defile God. They were not1 allowed to read and listen to the Holy Scriptures.

D.N. Majumdar summarized the position of the untouchable castes by maintaining that these castes are not depressed in all states, the same caste may be depressed in one area but may not suffer from any social and political disability in another. The disabilities are rigid where the depressed castes are numerically small, and fewer or on the decline where they numerically strong.

Where the higher castes are not numerous and the depressed castes form the bulk of the population, the degree of ceremonial pollution observed is very small and often we find few disabilities attached to the inferior castes. Caste may be depressed but individual members of the caste who have succeeded in life and who are wealthy and own property have been admitted to a higher social status.

Question 37.
Explain the changes taking place in Indian villages.
Answer:
The setting up of SEZs in the agro-sector was to boost the exports of food and agro-products to benefit the farmers. But in reality, there are against the interests of the people. The land acquired at a subsidized rate is given to industrialists and big corporates, thereby exploiting labour and rendering small farmers landless given them a major compensation.

Question 38.
Explain different types of Electronic Media.
Answer:
1. Electronic Media:
a. Radio:
Radio broadcasting which commenced in India through amateur ‘HAM’ Broadcasting Clubs in Kolkata and Chennai in the 1920s, matured into a public broadcasting system in the 1940s during World War II when it became a major instrument of propaganda for Allied forces in South East Asia. At the time of independence, there were only 6 radio stations located in the major cities catering primarily to an urban audience.

A Radio Transmission center called Akashavani was started by Dr. M.V. Gopalaswamy, at Mysore University in 1935 through private effort. The station was later taken over by the State Government in January 1941 and it was shifted to Bangalore in November 1955.

The first AIR station in the North Karnataka Region started functioning at Dharwad, on 8th November 1950. In 1964, Vividh Bharathi (CBS) was added to Dharwad unit. Auxiliary stations at Bhadravathi and Gulbarga were started in 1965 and 1966 respectively.

Apart from All India Radio (AIR), there is Vividh Bharati, a channel for entertainment that was primarily broadcasting film songs on listeners’ requests. Vividh Bharati, which soon began to carry sponsored programmes and advertisements, grew to become a money-spinning channel for AIR.

Akasha vani (Kannada version of AIR) headquarters is at Bangalore and there are regional centres at Mysore, Bhadravathi, Dharwad, and Gulbarga covering broadcasting news, entertainment, sponsored programmes, and commercial programmes, etc.

b. FM Radio (Frequency Modulator Radio):
The advent of privately owned FM radio stations in 2002, provided a boost to entertainment programmes over the radio. In order to attract audiences these radio stations provide entertainment.

They specialize in ‘particular’ kinds of popular music to retain their audiences. Most of the FM channels which are popular among urbanites and students often belong to media conglomerates. ‘Radio Mirchi’ belongs to Times of India group, Red FM is owned by Living Media and Radio City by the Star Network.

c. Television (T.V.):
Television programming was introduced experimentally in India to promote rural development in early 1959. ‘Krishi Darshaiv was the first programme telecast on Doordarshan. Later, the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment(SITE) was broadcasting directly to community viewers in the rural areas of six states between August 1975 and July 1976. These instructional broadcasts to 2,400 TV sets directly were for 4 hours daily. Meanwhile, Television stations were set up under Doordarshan in 4 cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Srinagar, and Amritsar) by 1975.

Gulbarga was the first centre in Karnataka to have a relay centre, it was inaugurated on 3-9-1977 and at the outset within a radius of 40 km, 240 villages and towns of Raichur and Vijayapura Districts and Gulbarga were benefitted. Community TV sets were maintained and serviced by the Doordarshan Kendra, Gulbarga, Bangalore city was provided with an interim TV Relay center on 1-1-1981.

d. Internet:
Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks consisting of millions of private, public, academic, business networks which are linked with the networking technology. In other words, the Internet is a network of networks.

e Social Networking Sites (SNS):
Social Networking Sites are defined as online platforms that focus on building and reflecting social networks or social relations among people who share interests and activities. Further, social networking sites are a type of virtual community that has grown tremendously in popularly.

VI. Answer any two of the following questions in 15 sentences each. (2 × 5=10)

Question 39.
Explain how Extremism and Terrorism are causing national insecurity.
Answer:
Extremism and Terrorism:
Extremism and terrorism have emerged during recent years as the most formidable challenges to national integration. Extremism refers to the readiness on the part of an individual or group to go to any extreme even to resort to undemocratic, violent and harmful means to fulfill one’s objectives.

In the past India has been facing the problems of terrorism since independence. India has faced this problem in Nagaland (1951), Mizoram (1966), Manipur (1976), Tripura (1980) and West Bengal (1986).

Terrorism in India is essentially the creation of politics. According to Prof. Rama Ahuja, there are four types of terrorism India,

  1. Khalistan oriented terrorism in Punjab.
  2. Militants terrorism in Kashmir.
  3. Naxalite terrorism in West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh Telangana, Maharastra, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh. (4) ULFA terrorism in Assam.

The Khalistan oriented Sikh terrorism was based on a dream of a theocratic state, Kashmir militants are based on their separate identity. Naxalite terrorism is based on class enmity. Terrorism in North-Eastern India is based on the identity crisis and the grievance situation. In addition to these factors, corruption, poverty, unemployment/ youth unrest, widening gap between rich and poor, which are also the major challenges for national integration.

KSEEB Solutions

Question 40.
Write about the living conditions of slum dwellers in urban areas.
Answer:
Slums:
The magnitude of the problem of slums is alarming. The Government of India in order to implement the various schemes to urban development has defined a slum area as follows:

“A slum area means any area where such dilapidated dwellings predominate, overcrowding, faulty arrangement of buildings, narrowness and faulty arrangement of street, lack of ventilation, lack of sanitation facilities, inadequacy of open spaces and community facilities or any combination of these factors, are detrimental to safety, health or morale.” These slum areas are also referred to as the ‘Blighted area’; ‘Renewal area’; ‘deteriorated area’, ‘Gray area’; ‘Lower class neighbourhood’; ‘Lower income area, etc.

It is in slums that poor people like industrial workers, casual labourers, hawkers, petty shopkeepers, vegetable-sellers and several others offering useful services to the city find a place to stay.

The National Institute of Urban Affairs, New Delhi, has recorded that the emergence of slums is essentially the product of three forces:

  1. City lifestyle attracting more people from the rural areas offering greater potential for employment;
  2. Its incapacity to meet the rising demand for housing,
  3. The existing urban land policies, which prohibit the access of the poor to the urban land market.

It is further observed that the urban poor is left with no choice but to make or take shelter illegally on any available piece of land. Sometimes a slum is the consequence of blight in the old parts of the city. At times, a slum is inherited in the form of an old village or a haphazardly growing locality within the extended territorial limits of a town.

Characteristics of Slums:
The physical aspects and general conditions of the slums are by and large the same everywhere. The foremost characteristics of slums can be briefly enumerated in the following manner;

i. Dilapidated and in poor condition houses:
Slums are made of poor design and scrap materials. These are often raised on unauthorized land.

ii. High Density of population and Housing:
It leads to overcrowding and congestion; one room is often used for all practical purposes of domestic living. In Mumbai and in many other big cities, it can be seen that in the slum areas one-room tenement with 100 sq.f. to 150 sq.f. of space is occupied by more than 10 persons.

iii. Lack of Public Utilities and Facilities:
Lack of drainage, sanitation, water, electricity, health centers, sanitation, and public parks, etc., are widely observable characteristics of slums.

iv. Apathy and Social Isolation:
Though the slum- dwellers are functionally integrated to city life, apathy and social isolation characterize a slum. Under these circumstances, the slum- dwellers find it almost impossible to improve these conditions through their own efforts.

Question 41.
What are the demands of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha?
Answer:
Rudrappa, Sundaresh, and Nanjundaswamy presented the farmer’s demands to the Chief Minister Gundu Rao on October 17, 1980. They were as follows:

  • Release unconditionally all farmers arrested in various movements and withdraw cases against them.
  • Waive loans owed by farmers so far to the government. Give fresh loans at simple interest, without mediation of banks and co-operatives.
  • The scale of loans should keep pace with the rising expenses of cultivation.
  • Return all property attached and auctioned for non-payment of loans.
  • Abolish land revenue and betterment levy; reduce water rates; abolish water rate for tank water and seepage water, and for lands which are not supplied with water; abolish agricultural income tax.
  • Remove taxes and other restrictions on the use of tractors, trailors of farmers.
  • Abolish purchase tax on sugarcane with effect from 1979-80.
  • Reduce electricity charges to 6 1/2 paise per unit.
  • Fix agricultural prices scientifically, based on man-hours spent, meanwhile, the government should buy the agricultural produce at the supportive price.
  • The principle for price fixation is that price should be real in the sense that they should have parity with the prices of inputs and manhours spent.
  • Declare agriculture as an industry, and extend all facilities enjoyed by industrial labour to agriculturists also.
  • Provide crop insurance throughout the state, without demanding premium from farmers.
  • Every farmer and farm labourer should get old-age pension.
  • Agricultural labourers should be given wages and other facilities as in the case of industrial workers. Not only the right prices to farmers, but also the right wages to labourers should be fixed from time to time.
  • To reduce pressure on land, give governmental land to landless labourers and help them in cultivating it under government supervision.
  • Give lands to tenants without occupancy price and give lump sum compensation to landowners.
  • Allocate 80% of plan expenditure on village development.
  • Provide travel-worthy roads in the countryside.
  • Reserve 50% of seats in educational institutions and employment for farmers’ children.

KSEEB Solutions

Question 42.
Explain the functions of Mass Media.
Answer:
1. Information:
The media like T.V., newspapers, and radio provide a continuous flow of information about the world and reports about the political, sports, entertainment activities and weather reports, the stock market and news stories and issues that affect us personally.

2. Correlation:
The media explains and helps us to understand the meaning of the information. It provides support for established social norms and has an important role in the socialization of children.

3. Continuity:
The media has a function in expressing the culture, recognizing new social developments and forging common values.

4. Entertainment:
The media provides amusement, diversion and reduces social tension.

5. Mobilization:
To encourage economic development, work, religion or support in times of war, the media can campaign to mobilize society to meet these objectives.

6. Social Reformation:
The beginnings of the print media and its role in both the spread of the social reform movement and the nationalist movement have been noted. After independence, the print media continued to share the general approach of being a partner in the task of nation-building by taking up developmental issues as well as giving voice to the widest section of people.

The gravest challenge that the media faced was with the declaration of Emergency in 1975 and censorship of the media.
Fortunately, the period ended and democracy was restored in 1977. India with its many problems can be justifiably proud of free media.

7. National Consciousness:
It was only in the mid 19th century, with further development in technologies, transportation, and literacy that newspapers began to reach out to a mass audience. People living in different corners of the country found themselves reading or hearing the same news. It has been suggested that this was in many ways responsible for people across a country to feel connected and develop a sense of belonging or ‘we feeling’.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *