(a) Citing some case studies, expand the concept of 'Development-induced Displacement'. (10 marks) (b) Examine the concept of…

(a) Development-induced displacement

Development-induced displacement is the involuntary uprooting of people for dams, mines, industry, roads or conservation. Michael Cernea's Impoverishment Risks and Reconstruction model names its risks: landlessness, joblessness, homelessness, marginalisation, food insecurity, illness, loss of common property and social disarticulation.

Case studies show who bears the cost. Hirakud (1950s) and the Sardar Sarovar Project on the Narmada uprooted hundreds of thousands, mostly Adivasis and small farmers, and gave rise to the Narmada Bachao Andolan. Polavaram is submerging tribal habitations in Andhra Pradesh, Kalinganagar (2006) saw police firing on tribals resisting a steel plant, and in Niyamgiri the Dongria Kondh won a Gram Sabha veto over bauxite mining (2013). Such displacement is unlike voluntary migration, because it cuts people from land, forest and community. The LARR Act 2013 now requires social impact assessment, consent and rehabilitation, but implementation remains weak.

(b) Cultural pluralism and India's unity in diversity

Cultural pluralism, in Horace Kallen's sense, is a "mosaic" in which groups keep their languages, religions and customs within one political order, rather than a melting pot. India's unity in diversity rests on accommodation, not assimilation: Articles 29 and 30 protect minority culture and educational institutions, Article 350A provides mother-tongue instruction, the Eighth Schedule recognises languages, and federal reorganisation on linguistic lines has defused separatism.

Pluralism also works socially, through shared pilgrimages, syncretic traditions such as Sufi shrines and bhakti, and the composite culture Nehru and Zakir Husain described. Tension persists: caste hierarchy, communal mobilisation, language disputes and majoritarian homogenisation strain it. Pluralism in India is therefore a continuing democratic negotiation, not a settled fact.

(c) Salient features of the National Education Policy 2020

NEP 2020 replaces the 10+2 structure with a 5+3+3+4 design and treats early childhood care and education (ages 3–6) as part of formal schooling. Foundational literacy and numeracy by Grade 3 is a national mission.

It recommends instruction in the mother tongue or home language at least till Grade 5, preferably Grade 8, under a three-language formula with no language imposed. Vocational exposure and internships start from Grade 6, and board exams are to test competence rather than rote recall. In higher education it proposes multidisciplinary institutions, four-year undergraduate programmes with multiple entry and exit, an Academic Bank of Credits, a single regulator (HECI), a National Research Foundation, a GER target of 50% by 2035 and public spending of 6% of GDP.

Sociologically, it aims at inclusion through Special Education Zones and gender-inclusion funds, but the digital divide and fee inequality may deepen stratification.

(d) Social media and mass mobilisation in India

Manuel Castells' "networked social movements" show how digital networks create autonomous publics that bypass party and media gatekeepers. Social media gives speed, low cost, horizontal organisation and amplification. In India, the India Against Corruption movement (2011), the Nirbhaya protests (2012), anti-CAA protests and Shaheen Bagh (2019–20), the farmers' movement (2020–21) and #MeToo (2018) used platforms to recruit, frame demands and coordinate action.

The link is two-edged. Echo chambers, misinformation, troll networks and lynching rumours spread through WhatsApp show the same tools enable polarisation; the state answers with shutdowns and takedown orders, and Section 66A of the IT Act was struck down in Shreya Singhal (2015). The digital divide excludes the poor, women and rural groups. Online virality needs offline organisation to last.

(e) Regional variations in sex ratio in India

Census 2011 gives an overall ratio of 943 females per 1,000 males, with a child sex ratio (0–6) of 919. Kerala (1,084) and Puducherry lead, while the north-west is lowest: Haryana (879) and Punjab (895), with child ratios of 834 and 846. Southern and north-eastern states, including Meghalaya with its matrilineal Khasi and Garo, do better.

Causes are cultural and economic. Patrilineal and patrilocal kinship, dowry, village exogamy and strong son preference in the north-west, sharpened by access to sex-selective technology and, historically, female infanticide, explain the low ratios. Higher female literacy, employment and autonomy, and weaker dowry norms in the south and north-east explain the better ones. Amartya Sen's "missing women" captures the demographic cost. The PCPNDT Act 1994 and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao are the policy response; NFHS-5 shows a sex ratio at birth of 929.