Very Short Answer Type Questions
5. For admission to colleges, especially to institutes of professional education, governments define a set of ‘cut-off’ marks. What does this mean? [V. Imp.]
Answer: This means that not all Dalit and tribal candidates can qualify for admission, but only those who have done well and secured marks above the cut-off point.
Short answer type questions
1: What are the ways in which marginalized communities tried to overcome the discriminations they faced?
Answer: The marginalized communities tried many ways to overcome the discrimination they faced. They are:
Religious solace
Armed struggle
Self improvement
Education
Economic progress.
Answer: The central government passed the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. The Act states that the injustice meted out to the Adivasis must be undone. This Act recognises their right to their homestead, cultivable and grazing land and to non-timber forest produce. It points out that the rights of forest dwellers include conservation of forests and bio-diversity.
8: Why did the Safai Karamchari Andolan file a PIL in 2003? What did they complain about in their petition?
Answer: The safai karamcharis filed a PIL in 2003 to get the manual scavenging banned. They complained in their petition that manual scavenging which is an inhuman job still existed like in railways. Since this job violates the fundamental right against exploitation so the petitioners sought enforcement of their fundamental rights.
9: Why do you think the Dalit families were afraid of angering the powerful castes?
Answer: The Dalit families were afraid of angering the powerful castes because the Dalits belonged to the socio-economically poor background of the society and were of meager resources also. Many of them had to work on the fields of the powerful castes for earning their livelihood. These are the reasons because of which Dalit families were afraid angering the powerful castes.
10: Why was the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 framed?
Long Answer Type Questions
1. What does government do to promote social justice among Dalits and Adivasis?
2. How does government’s reservation policy work? [V. Imp.]
Answer: Governments across the country have their own list of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and backward and most backward castes. The central government too has its list. Students applying to educational institutions and those applying for posts in government are expected to furnish proof of their caste and tribe certificates. If a particular Dalit caste or a certain tribe is on the government list, then a candidate from that caste or tribe can avail of the benefit of reservation.
3. How did Kabir look at the division in society in India?
Answer: Kabir strongly criticised caste system in his poetry. He attacked those who attempted to define individuals on the basis of their religious and caste identities. In his view every person had the ability to reach the highest level of spiritual salvation and deep knowledge within themselves through their own experience. His poetry brings out the powerful idea of the equality of all human beings and their labour. He writes about valuing the work of the ordinary potter, the weaver and the woman carrying the water pot–labour that in his poetry becomes the basis of understanding the entire universe.
4. What happened in parts of southern India into 1970s and 1980s? Or What did Dalit groups do in 1970s and 1980s to assert their rights? [Imp.]
Answer: During 1970s and 1980s, in parts of southern India, several strong Dalit groups came into being and asserted their rights. They refused to perform their so-called caste duties and insisted on being treated equally. They refused to follow practices which were based on humiliation and exploitation of Dalits. The powerful castes reacted violently against them. In order to indicate the government that untouchability was still being practised, Dalit groups demanded new laws that would list the various sorts of violence against Dalits and prescribe strict punishment for those who indulge in them.
5. Who in C.K. Janu? According to her how do governments violate the rights of tribal people?
Answer: C.K. Janu is an Adivasi activist. According to the real violators of the rights of tribal people are governments in the various states of India. It is they who allow non-tribal encroachers in the form of timber merchants, paper mills etc, to exploit tribal land. They forcibly evict tribal people from their traditional homelands i.e., forests in the process of declaring forests as reserved or as sanctuaries. She has pointed out that in cases where tribals have already been evicted and cannot go back to their lands, they must be compensated.
6. What is the Scheduled Tribe and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act about? [Imp.]
7. What crimes have been dealt with by the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act? [V. Imp.]
(a) It lists modes of humiliation that are both physically horrific and morally reprehensible and seeks to punish those who l force a member of a SC or ST to drink or eat any inedible or obnoxious substance, l forcibly removes clothes from the person of a member of a SC or a ST or parades him or her naked or with painted face or body or commits any similar act which is derogatory to human dignity.
(b) It enlist actions that dispossess Dalits and Adivasis of their meagre resources or which force them into performing slave labour. Thus, the Act sets out to punish anyone who wrongfully occupies or cultivates any land owned by, or allotted to, a member of a SC or a ST or gets the land allotted to him transferred;
(c) The Act recognises that crimes against Dalit and tribal women are of a specific kind and, therefore, seeks to penalise anyone who assaults or uses force on any women belonging to a SC or ST with intent to dishonour her.
8: Mention a few crimes listed in the Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989.
9: How did the Dalits assert themselves?
10: State one reason why you think reservations play an important role in providing social justice to Dalits and Adivasis?
Answer: In addition to providing certain facilities, the Government also made some laws to ensure that concrete steps are taken to end inequalities in our society. One such law or policy is the reservation policy by which a certain percentage of seats in education and Government employment are reserved for Dalits, Adivasis and other backward castes. The reservations play an important role in providing social justice to Dalits and Adivasis since the objective behind this policy is to bring the Dalits and the Adivasis at par with the forward castes in the society.
11: What do you understand by manual scavenging? Or write a note on ‘Manual Scavenging’.
Answer: Manual scavenging means doing the scavenging work by hand. Manual scavenging is the practice of removing human and animal waste or excreta using brooms, tin plates and baskets from dry latrines and carrying it on the head to the disposal grounds some distance away. A manual scavenger is the person who does the job of carrying this filth. This job is mainly done by Dalit women and young girls. Manual scavengers are exposed to subhuman conditions of work and face serious health hazards. They are constantly exposed to infections that affect their eyes, skin, respiratory and gastrointestinal systems. They get very low wages for the work they perform. In 1993, the Government passed the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act. This law prohibits the employment of manual scavengers as well as the construction of dry latrines.
