B-2 Ch-7 Social and New Social

CBSE Test Paper 01

Class 12 - Political Science (B-2 Ch-7 Rise of Popular Movements)

Prime minister Pt.Nehru gave the provision of _____ % reservation to schedule tribe in Indian constitution.
1. 8.5
2. 7
3. 7.5
4. 8
When and where was the movement for Right to Information started?
Highlight any one advantage of the popular movements.
When was the RTI bill tabled in Parliament and received presidential assent?
Where did the Chipko Movement take place?
Mention demands of Chipko movement.
Describe the achievements of Narmada Bachao Aandolan.
Describe the lessons from popular movements.
What was Narmada Bachao Andolan? What was the criticism against it?
What was the Chipko Movement? What role did the women play in this movement?
Read the poem given below and answer the questions that follow:
Turning their backs to the sun, they journeyed through centuries.
Now, now we must refuse to be pilgrims of darkness.
That one, our father, carrying, carrying the darkness is now bent;
Now, now we must lift the burden from his back.
Our blood was spilled for this glorious city And
what we got was the right to eat stones Now, now we
must explode the building that kisses the sky!
After a thousand years we were blessed with sunflower giving fakir;
Now, now, we must like sunflowers turn our faces to the sun.
1. Who wrote this poem originally in Marathi?
2. What do you understand by ‘pilgrims of darkness’?
3. Who was the ‘Sunflower giving fakir’ that blessed the ‘pilgrims of darkness’?
4. What is expressed by the poems like this?
See the picture given below and answer the questions that follow:
1. What does the above picture show?
2. Describe the main features of the developmental project in the Narmada Valley.
3. What were the main demands of the NBA?
Identify the reasons which led to the Chipko movement in UP in the early 1970s. What was the impact of this movement?

CBSE Test Paper 01
Class 12 - Political Science (B-2 Ch-7 Rise of Popular Movements)
Answer

1. 7.5
  Explanation: 7.5% seats were given reserved by Pt. Nehru's govt.
The movement started in 1990 when a mass-based organisation called the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan(MKSS) in Rajasthan took the initiative in demanding records of famine relief work and accounts of labourers. The demand was first raised in Bhim Tehsil in a very backward region of Rajasthan.
The advantage of popular movement is such movement ensured effective representation of diverse groups and their demands. Hence, it reduces the possibility of deep social conflicts and disaffection among groups.
In 2004 Right To Information bill was tabled in Parliament and received Presidential assent in June 2005.
The Chipko movement took place in Reni village of Chamoli district, Uttarakhand.
The demands of Chipko Movement are given below:
1. The villagers demanded that no forest exploiting contracts should be given to outsiders.
2. Local communities should have effective control over natural resources like water, land and forests.
3. They wanted the government to provide low-cost materials to small industries and ensure the development of the region without disturbing the ecological balance.
The achievements of Narmada Bachao Aadolan were:
1. Right to rehabilitation has been recognised by the government and the judiciary.
2. A Comprehensive National Rehabilitation Policy formed by the government in 2003. However, its demand to stop the construction of the dam was severely criticised by many as obstructing the process of development, denying access to water and to economic development for many.
3. The Supreme Court upheld the government's decision to go ahead with the construction of the dam while also instructing to ensure proper rehabilitation.
The following are the lessons from popular movements in India:
1. It helps us to understand better the nature of democratic politics. These movements are not sporadic in nature and do not create any problem. These movements have come up to rectify some problem in the functioning of party politics and are an integral part of our democratic politics.
2. These movements represent new social groups whose economic and social grievances were not redressed by the political parties. Popular movements, therefore, represent various diverse groups and their demands. For example, Dalit Panthers represented the Dalits and their demands.
3. Popular movements help us in reducing the social conflict and dissatisfaction of various groups from democracy.
4. These movements suggested new forms of active participation and thus broadened the idea of participation in Indian democracy.
1. Meaning of Narmada Bachao Andolan: It is an Indian social movement spearheaded by native tribals (Adivasis), farmers, environmentalists, and human rights activists against a number of large dam projects across the river Narmada, which flows through the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra.
2. The criticism against the NBA: Narmada Bachao Andolan continued a sustained agitation for more than twenty years. It used every available democratic strategy to put forward its demands. These included appeals to the judiciary, mobilization of support at the international level, public rallies in support of the movement etc. Critics argue that the dam's benefits include the provision of drinking water, power generation, and irrigation facilities. However, it is believed that the campaign, led by the NBA activists, has held up the project's completion and NBA supporters have attacked local people who accepted compensation for moving.
The villagers of Uttarakhand protested against the practices of commercial logging that the government had allowed in early 1973. The villagers (men and women) used a novel tactic for their protest-that of embracing or hugging the trees to check them from being cut down. These enthusiastic protests marked the beginning of a world-renowned environmental movement in India “The Chipko Movement”.
The role played by the women in the Chipko Movement:
1. Women’s zealous and active participation in the Chipko movement was an unusual aspect of the movement. The forest contractors of the area usually doubled up as suppliers of alcohol to men. However, women started continuous agitations against the habit of alcoholism and enhance the agenda of the movement to cover other social topics.
2. The Chipko Movement got a victory when the government issued a ban on the felling of trees in the Himalayan belt for 15 years until the green cover completely restored.
1. Namdeo Dhasal wrote this poem originally in Marathi.
2. ‘The pilgrims of darkness’ were the Dalit communities who had experienced brutal caste injustices for a long time in our society.
3. The 'sunflower giving fakir' was Dr. B. R. Ambedkar who has been referred to as their liberator.
4. Such poems were expressions of anguish that the Dalit masses continued to face even after twenty years of independence. The Dalits were full of hope for the future, a future that Dalit groups wished to shape for themselves.
1. The above picture shows a boat rally organised by Narmada Bachao Aandolan.
2. The main features of the developmental project in the Narmada Valley were:
  1. The developmental project in the Narmada Valley consisted of 30 big dams, 135 medium-sized and around 3,000 small dams to be constructed on the Narmada and its tributaries.
  2. Sardar Sarovar Project in Gujarat and the Narmada Sagar Project in Madhya Pradesh were multipurpose dams planned under the project.
3. The main demands of the NBA were:
  1. Proper and just rehabilitation of all those who were directly or indirectly affected by the project.
  2. Local communities must have a say in such decisions and they should also have effective control over natural resources like water, land, and forests.
1. The reasons which led to the Chipko Movement in UP (Now Uttarakhand) were as given below:
  1. The movement began in two or three villages of Uttarakhand when the forest department refused permission to the villagers to fell ash trees for agricultural tools.
  2. The villagers protested against the practice of commercial logging that the government had permitted. The government had allotted the same patch of land to a sports manufacturer for commercial use.
  3. This enraged the villagers and they protested against the move of the government.
  4. The larger issues of ecological and economic exploitation of the region. The villagers demanded that no forest-exploiting contracts should be given to outsiders and local communities should have effective control over natural resources like land, water, and forests.
  5. People wanted the government to provide low-cost materials to small industries and ensure the development of the region without disturbing the ecological balance.
  6. The movement took up economic issues of landless forest workers and asked for guarantees of a minimum wage.
  7. Women's active participation in the Chipko movement was a very novel aspect of the movement.
  8. The forest contractors of the region usually doubled up as supply of alcohol to men. Women held sustained agitations against the habit of alcoholism and broadened the agenda of the movement to cover other social issues.
2. Impact of the movement:
  1. The movement achieved a victory when the government issued a ban on felling of trees in the Himalayan regions for fifteen years, until the green cover was fully restored.
  2. The Chipko Movement, which started over a single issue, became a symbol of many such movements which emerged in different parts of the country during the 1970s and later.

B-2 Ch-7 Social and New Social - Test Papers