(a) Examine how structural transformation in economy is affecting traditional social relationships in agrarian society. (20…

(a) Structural Transformation of the Economy and Traditional Agrarian Social Relations Structural transformation is the shift of labour and output from agriculture to industry and services, with commercialisation, mechanisation and market integration of farming. In India agriculture still engages about 45% of the workforce but contributes a much smaller share of GDP, so the economy has moved faster than employment.

Effects on social relations:

• Jajmani system (Wiser): traditional caste-based hereditary exchange of services for grain has largely given way to cash wages and market contracts, loosening patron-client bonds between landowners and service castes such as the Barber, Washerman and Blacksmith.
• Land relations: zamindari abolition, tenancy reform, the Green Revolution and land fragmentation created rich peasant and "bullock capitalist" classes (Rudolph) and growing numbers of landless labourers and marginal farmers, shifting from caste to class-based relations (Thorner, Breman's footloose labour).
• Caste: occupational links weaken, and dominant castes lose some control, though caste persists in new political and economic forms and in atrocities against Dalit labourers.
• Kinship and family: male out-migration to cities, remittances and feminisation of agriculture increase women's roles and burdens; joint families give way to nuclear ones; and dowry spreads.
• Community: shared institutions such as village commons and labour exchange (changing labour) decline, and agrarian distress strains solidarity.

Contemporary policy, such as contract farming and market reforms, continue the shift, as seen in farmer protests against the 2020 farm laws, later repealed. Thus economic change alters, but does not simply erase, traditional relationships.

(b) Constitutional Safeguards for Religious Minorities The Constitution is secular, with "secular" in the Preamble (42nd Amendment, 1976), and part of basic structure (Kesavananda, 1973; S.R. Bommai, 1994).

General protections: equality and non-discrimination on grounds of religion (Articles 14, 15, 16); freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practise and propagate religion (Article 25); right of religious denominations to manage religious affairs (Article 26); no compulsory taxes for any religion (Article 27); and freedom from religious instruction in state-funded institutions without consent (Article 28). Article 25 is subject to public order, morality and health.

Minority-specific rights: Article 29 protects the right of any section to conserve its language, script and culture and bars denial of admission on grounds of religion; Article 30(1) gives religious and linguistic minorities the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice, and Article 30(2) bars discrimination in state aid. Articles 350A and 350B provide mother tongue instruction and a Special Officer for linguistic minorities.

Institutions and judgments: the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992, the Ministry of Minority Affairs (2006) and the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions Act, 2004. TMA Pai (2002) and St. Stephen's (1992) shaped Article 30. Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains are notified as minorities.

(c) Causes of Tribal Unrest in North-East India The North-East has over 200 ethnic groups, with a high tribal share, and a history of insurgency and conflict.

Political: demand for self-determination and autonomy (Naga movement since the 1950s, the Mizo uprising of 1966, Bodo and Karbi demands) and incomplete implementation of the Sixth Schedule's autonomous councils. Peace accords (Mizo Accord 1986, Bodo Accord 2020) show some resolution.

Economic: underdevelopment, unemployment, poor infrastructure, loss of land and jhum (shifting cultivation) restrictions, and unequal sharing of resources such as oil, forests and hydropower.

Social and demographic: influx of outsiders, particularly migration from Bangladesh and the plains, has altered demography and alarmed communities, as in Tripura, where tribals became a minority. The Inner Line Permit system (Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873) and Article 371A protect Nagaland's land and custom.

Ethnic and identity: competition among communities for land, ST status and autonomy has produced conflicts such as the Bodo-Santhal violence (1996) and Naga-Kuki and Meitei-Kuki-Zo tensions (the 2023 Manipur conflict).

Administrative: a sense of neglect from the centre, corruption, and use of special security laws (AFSPA) fuel alienation. The borders are porous, and external support aids armed groups.

Solutions lie in dialogue, inclusive development and respect for customary rights.