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Predicted Questions with Model Answers
Q1 (5 marks — 50 words): What are the attributes of a dominant caste according to M.N. Srinivas?
Model Answer:
M.N. Srinivas (1959) identified four attributes of a dominant caste: (1) numerical strength in the village; (2) economic dominance through landownership; (3) political influence in local governance; (4) high ritual status in the caste hierarchy. A caste is truly dominant when it possesses all four simultaneously. Examples: Jats (Haryana), Patidars (Gujarat), Rajputs (Rajasthan).
(Word count: 53 — within range)
Q2 (5 marks — 50 words): Distinguish between caste and class with reference to Indian society.
Model Answer:
Caste is birth-ascribed, hereditary, endogamous, and based on ritual purity-pollution hierarchy — rigid and largely unchangeable. Class is achievement-based, economically defined (income, occupation, wealth), open to mobility, and not governed by ritual rules. In India, both overlap: upper-caste Brahmins historically dominated economically; post-Mandal, some OBCs have gained class power while retaining lower ritual rank.
(Word count: 54 — within range)
Q3 (5 marks — 50 words): What is Sanskritisation? What are its limitations?
Model Answer:
Sanskritisation (M.N. Srinivas, 1952) is the process by which lower castes adopt rituals, customs, and diet of higher twice-born castes to gain upward mobility. Limitations: (1) It does not dismantle caste hierarchy — only repositions within it; (2) reinforces Brahminic supremacy as the ideal; (3) Ambedkarite Dalits rejected it, preferring Buddhism and constitutional rights over ritual imitation.
(Word count: 53 — within range)
Q4 (5 marks — 50 words): Explain the Mandal Commission recommendations and their impact on Indian society.
Model Answer:
The Mandal Commission (B.P. Mandal, 1978–80) identified 3,743 OBC castes (~52% of population) and recommended 27% reservation in central government jobs and educational institutions. Implemented in 1990 by V.P. Singh; upheld in Indra Sawhney (1992) with a 50% ceiling. Impact: created an OBC political class; triggered anti-Mandal protests; deepened caste-based political mobilisation permanently.
(Word count: 54 — within range)
Q5 (5 marks — 50 words): What is the difference between vertical and horizontal social mobility? Give examples.
Model Answer:
Vertical mobility = movement up or down the social hierarchy. Upward example: A Dalit youth becoming an IAS officer through reservation. Downward example: A businessman losing his enterprise and wealth. Horizontal mobility = movement between positions of equal social rank. Example: A teacher changing from government to private school at the same pay grade. Both reflect India's gradual shift from ascription to achievement.
(Word count: 54 — within range)
Q6 (5 marks — 50 words): What is the EWS (Economically Weaker Sections) reservation? How is it different from OBC reservation?
Model Answer:
EWS reservation (103rd Constitutional Amendment, January 2019) provides 10% reservation for general category citizens with annual income below ₹8 lakh and agricultural land below 5 acres. Upheld by Supreme Court in Janhit Abhiyan (2022). Difference from OBC: OBC reservation is based on social/educational backwardness (caste-based); EWS is purely economic — SC/ST/OBC are excluded from EWS benefit even if economically poor.
(Word count: 52 — within range)