Q5
Answer the following questions in about 150 words each: (a) 'The transfer of land from cultivating to the non-cultivating owners is bringing about transformation in Indian society.' Justify your answer by giving suitable illustrations. (10 marks) (b) Bring out various factors responsible for declining of village Industries in India. (10 marks) (c) Discuss the social bases of political mobilization in Independent India. Has some change occurred in these during the last 60-70 years? (10 marks) (d) What are the major problems faced by the labour migrants while working in informal sectors of Indian States? Discuss. (10 marks) (e) Do you think that law has been able to abolish child labour in India? Comment. (10 marks)
हिंदी में प्रश्न पढ़ें
निम्नलिखित में से प्रत्येक प्रश्न का उत्तर लगभग 150 शब्दों में दीजिए : (a) 'भूस्वामित्व खेतिहर से गैर खेतिहर स्वामियों को हस्तांतरित किये जाने से भारतीय समाज रूपांतरण (ट्रांसफॉर्मेशन) हो रहा है ।' उपयुक्त उदाहरण दे कर अपने उत्तर की पुष्टि कीजिए । (10 अंक) (b) भारत में ग्रामीण उद्योगों के पतन के लिए उत्तरदायी विभिन्न कारकों का वर्णन कीजिए । (10 अंक) (c) स्वतंत्र भारत में राजनीतिक गतिशीलता के सामाजिक आधारों की विवेचना कीजिए । क्या पिछले 60-70 वर्षों में इन में (आधारों में) कोई परिवर्तन हुआ है ? (10 अंक) (d) भारतीय राज्यों में अनौपचारिक क्षेत्रों में कार्य करने वाले प्रवासी श्रमिकों की प्रमुख समस्याएं क्या हैं ? विवेचना कीजिए । (10 अंक) (e) क्या आप सोचते हैं कि कानून भारत में बाल श्रम को समाप्त करने के लिए सक्षम है ? टिप्पणी कीजिए । (10 अंक)
Directive word: Discuss
This question asks you to discuss. The directive word signals the depth of analysis expected, the structure of your answer, and the weight of evidence you must bring.
See our UPSC directive words guide for a full breakdown of how to respond to each command word.
How this answer will be evaluated
Approach
The question demands five distinct short answers (~30 words each) with mixed directives: 'justify' for (a), 'bring out' for (b), 'discuss' for (c) and (d), and 'comment' for (e). Structure each sub-part as: brief context → 2-3 analytical points → micro-conclusion. Allocate roughly equal time (4-5 minutes) per part since marks are equal; prioritize precision over elaboration. For (a), use Marxist/neo-Marxist agrarian transition theory; for (b), combine economic and sociological factors; for (c), trace caste-class-region shifts from Congress dominance to BJP's OBC mobilization; for (d), apply informal economy theories (Breman, Harriss-White); for (e), balance legal sociology with empirical reality.
Key points expected
- (a) Land transfer: depeasantization, agrarian capitalism vs. semi-feudalism debate; illustration from Punjab/Green Belt capitalist farmers or Bihar's absentee landlordism
- (b) Village industries: technological obsolescence, credit squeeze, raw material monopoly, competition from organized sector, caste-based occupational decline
- (c) Political mobilization: caste (Mandal politics), class (Left movements), region (Dravidian, regional parties); shift from single-dominant to competitive multi-polar mobilization
- (d) Labour migrants: lack of social security, wage theft, housing precarity, exclusion from welfare, circular migration disrupting family/child education
- (e) Child labour law: Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment 2016 loopholes (family enterprise exception), enforcement gaps, poverty-driven compulsion, UNICEF/ILO data persistence
Evaluation rubric
| Dimension | Weight | Max marks | Excellent | Average | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demand-directive understanding | 20% | 10 | Correctly interprets each directive: 'justify' for (a) builds evidence-backed argument; 'bring out' for (b) systematically enumerates factors; 'discuss' for (c)-(d) presents balanced analysis; 'comment' for (e) offers critical evaluation with personal stance; no conflation of directives. | Recognizes different directives but treats them similarly—mostly descriptive with weak justification in (a) and superficial comment in (e). | Misreads directives—treats 'justify' as 'define', 'comment' as 'describe', or uses identical structure for all five parts. |
| Theoretical framing | 20% | 10 | Deploys appropriate theories: agrarian transition (Lenin/Kautsky debate or Byres) for (a); informal economy theories (Breman, Castells) for (d); political sociology (Kothari's Congress system, Yadav's second democratic upsurge) for (c); legal sociology (law in books vs. law in action) for (e). | Names theorists or concepts but applies them mechanically without integration; e.g., mentions 'Marx' without specifying agrarian class analysis. | No theoretical apparatus—purely empirical description or commonsense observation across all parts. |
| Indian / empirical examples | 20% | 10 | Specific illustrations: (a) Green Revolution regions (Punjab, Haryana) or tribal land alienation; (b) Khadi/coir industry decline in Kerala/Tamil Nadu; (c) BSP's dalit mobilization, BJP's OBC outreach; (d) circular migrants in construction (Delhi NCR), garment (Bangalore); (e) Census 2011, ILO 2021 data on child labour persistence. | Generic references—'village industries declined', 'migrants face problems'—without regional or sectoral specificity. | No Indian examples; uses hypothetical or foreign cases (e.g., African land grabs for (a)). |
| Multi-paradigm analysis | 20% | 10 | Shows analytical tension: (a) capitalist transition vs. semi-feudal persistence; (c) class reductionism vs. identity politics; (e) legal formalism vs. socio-economic realism; (d) informal as exploitation vs. entrepreneurship; acknowledges complexity without fence-sitting. | Presents one dominant view with brief nod to alternative; doesn't explore the tension or synthesize. | Single-factor determinism—economic reductionism or cultural essentialism across all parts. |
| Conclusion & sociological imagination | 20% | 10 | Each sub-part closes with sociological insight: (a) links land transfer to rural proletarianization; (c) connects mobilization shifts to democratic deepening/erosion; (e) suggests law-society gap requires structural intervention; overall shows ability to connect micro-processes to macro-transformations. | Summarizes points made without analytical lift; conclusions are restatements rather than syntheses. | Missing or abrupt conclusions; no connection between specific phenomena and broader social transformation. |
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