Society Topicwise PYQs
Syllabus Topic: Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India.
- How does Indian society maintain continuity in traditional social values? Enumerate the changes taking place in it. [UPSC-2021]
- Examine the uniqueness of tribal knowledge system when compared with mainstream knowledge and cultural systems. [UPSC-2021]
- Customs and traditions suppress reason leading to obscurantism. Do you agree? [UPSC-2020]
- Is diversity and pluralism in India under threat due to globalisation? Justify your answer. [UPSC-2020]
- Has caste lost its relevance in understanding the multi- cultural Indian Society? Elaborate your answer with illustrations. [UPSC-2020]
- “Caste system is assuming new identities and associational forms. Hence, caste system cannot be eradicated in India.” Comment. [ UPSC: 2018]
- The spirit tolerance and love is not only an interesting feature of Indian society from very early times, but it is also playing an important part at the present. Elaborate. [UPSC- 2017]
- In the context of diversity of India, can it be said that the regions form cultural units rather than the States? Give reasons with examples for your viewpoint. [UPSC-2017]
- Has the formation of linguistic States strengthened the cause of Indian Unity? [UPSC-2016]
- Describe any four cultural elements of diversity in India and rate their relative significance in building a national identity. [UPSC-2015]
- Debate the issue of whether and how contemporary movements for assertion of Dalit identity work towards annihilation of caste. [UPSC-2015]
- What makes Indian society unique in sustaining its culture? Discuss. (क्या बात है जो भारतीय समाज को अपनी संस्कृति को जीवित रखने में अद्वितीय बना देती है ? चर्चा कीजिए | )[UPSC-2019]
- Do we have cultural pockets of small India all over the nation? Elaborate with examples. (क्या हमारे राष्ट्र में सर्वत्र लघु भारत के सांस्कृतिक क्षेत्र हैं ? उदाहरणों के साथ सविस्तार स्पष्ट कीजिए | ) [UPSC- 2019]
- Discuss whether formation of new states in recent times is beneficial or not for the economy of India. [UPSC- 2018]
- The life cycle of a joint family depends on economic factors rather than social values. Discuss. [UPSC-2014]
Syllabus Topic: Role of women and women’s organization.
- Critically examine the contribution of major women’s organisations in contemporary India. [UPSC-2020]
- “Empowering women is the key to control population growth”. Discuss (“महिला सशक्तिकरण जनसंख्या संवृद्धि को नियंत्रित करने की कुंजी है |” चर्चा कीजिए | ) [UPSC-2019]
- What are the continued challenges for women in India against time and space? (भारत में महिलाओं के समक्ष समय और स्थान संबंधित निरंतर चुनोतियाँ क्या-क्या है ?) [UPSC-2019]
- ‘Women’s movement in India has not addressed the issues of women of lower social strata. Substantiate your view. [UPSC-2018]
- How do you explain the statistics that show that the sex ratio in Tribes in India is more favourable to women than the sex ratio among Scheduled Castes? [UPSC-2015]
- How does patriarchy impact the position of a middle class working woman in India? [UPSC-2014]
- Discuss the various economic and socio-cultural forces that are driving increasing feminization of agriculture in India. [UPSC-2014]
- Why do some of the most prosperous regions of India have an adverse sex ratio for women? Give your arguments. [UPSC-2014]
- Male membership needs to be encouraged in order to make women’s organization free from gender bias. Comment. [UPSC-2013]
Syllabus Topic: population and associated issues. Poverty and developmental issues.
- Discuss the main objectives of Population Education and point out the measures to achieve them in India in detail. [UPSC-2021]
- COVID-19 pandemic accelerated class inequalities and poverty in India. Comment. [UPSC-2020]
- ‘Despite implementation of various programmes for eradication of poverty by the government in India, poverty is still existing.’ Explain by giving reasons. [UPSC- 2018]
- Mention core strategies for the transformation of aspirational districts in India and explain the nature of convergence, collaboration and competition for its success. [UPSC-2018]
- “An essential condition to eradicate poverty is to liberate the poor from deprivation.” Substantiate this statement with suitable examples. [UPSC-2016]
- Critically examine whether growing population is the cause of poverty OR poverty is the main cause of population increase in India. [UPSC-2015]
Syllabus Topic: urbanization, their problems and their remedies.
- What are the main socio-economic implications arising out of the development of IT industries in major cities of India? [UPSC-2021]
- Account for the huge flooding of million cities in India including the smart ones like Hyderabad and Pune. Suggest lasting remedial measures. (भारत में दशलक्षीय नगरों जिनमे हैदराबाद एवं पुणे जैसे स्मार्ट सिटीज भी सम्मिलित हैं, में व्यापक बाढ़ के कारन बताइए l स्थायी निराकरण के उपाय भी सुजाइए l) [UPSC-2020]
- How is efficient and affordable urban mass transport key to the rapid economic development of India? (दक्ष और किफायती (अफोर्डेबल) शहरी सार्वजनिक परिवहन किस प्रकार भारत के द्रुत आर्थिक विकास की कुंजी है ?) [UPSC-2019]
- “The ideal solution of depleting ground water resources in India is water harvesting system.” How can it be made effective in urban areas? [UPSC-2018]
- The growth of cities as I.T. hubs has opened up new avenues employment but has also created new problems. Substantiate this statement with examples. Urbanization. [UPSC-2017]
- With a brief background of quality of urban life in India, introduce the objectives and strategy of the ‘Smart City Programme’. [UPSC-2016]
- Major cities of India are becoming more vulnerable to flood conditions. Discuss. [UPSC-2016]
- Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata are the three mega cities of the country but the air pollution is much more serious problem in Delhi as compared to the other two. Why is this so? [UPSC-2015]
- Smart cities in India cannot sustain without smart villages. Discuss this statement in the backdrop of rural urban integration. [UPSC-2015]
- Discussion the various social problems which originated out of the speedy process of urbanization in India.[UPSC-2013]
Syllabus Topic: Effects of globalization on Indian society.
- What is Cryptocurrency? How does it affect global society? Has it been affecting Indian society also? [UPSC-2021]
- Discuss the changes in the trends of labour migration within and outside India in the last four decades. [UPSC-2015]
- Are we losing our local identity for the global identity? Discuss. (क्या हम वैश्विक पहचान के लिए अपनी स्थानीय पहचान को खोते जा रहे हैं ? चर्चा कीजिए | ) [UPSC- 2019]
- ‘Globalization is generally said to promote cultural homogenization but due to this cultural specificities appear to be strengthened in the Indian Society. Elucidate. [UPSC-2018]
- Discuss the positive and negative effects of globalization on women in India. [UPSC-2018]
- To what extent globalization has influenced the core of cultural diversity in India? Explain. [UPSC-2016]
- Critically examine the effects of globalization on the aged population in India. [UPSC-2013]
Syllabus Topic: Social empowerment
- Examine the role of ‘Gig Economy’ in the process of empowerment of women in India. [UPSC-2021]
- How have digital initiatives in India contributed to the functioning of the education system in the country? Elaborate your answer. [UPSC-2020]
- What are the two major legal initiatives by the State since Independence, addressing discrimination against Scheduled Tribes (STs)? [UPSC-2017]
- Why are the tribals in India referred to as the Scheduled Tribes? Indicate the major provisions enshrined in the Constitution of India for their upliftment. [UPSC-2016]
- Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, despite having divergent approaches and strategies, had a common goal of amelioration of the downtrodden. Elucidate. [UPSC-2015]
Syllabus Topic: Communalism, Regionalism and Secularism.
- Do you agree that regionalism in India appears to be a consequence of rising cultural assertiveness? Argue.[UPSC- 2020]
- How the Indian concept of secularism is different from the western model of secularism? Discuss. [UPSC- 2018]
- ‘Communalism arises either due to power struggle or relative deprivation. Argue by giving suitable illustrations. [UPSC-2018]
- Distinguish between religiousness/religiosity and communalism giving one example of how the former has got transformed into the latter in independent India. [UPSC-2017]
- What is the basis of regionalism? Is it that unequal distribution of benefits of development on regional basis eventually promotes regionalism? Substantiate your answer. [UPSC- 2016]
- How do the Indian debates on secularism differ from the debates in the West? [UPSC- 2014]
- Growing feeling of regionalism is an important factor in the generation of demand for a separate state. Discuss. [UPSC-2013]
- What are the challenges to our cultural practices in the name of secularism. (धर्मनिरपेक्षता के नाम पर हमारी सांस्कृतिक प्रथाओं के सामने क्या-क्या चुनौतियां हैं ?) [UPSC- 2019]
