UPSC Mains Answer Writing Practice  GS -Test 22

9. There is no lack of welfare schemes in India, but still the real empowerment and upliftment of vulnerable sections are absent. Discuss the major reasons for the ineffectiveness of welfare schemes and suggest some measures to improve the situation. (15 Marks)

Answers

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1. Is overemphasis on preserving diversity a threat to India’s unity? Discuss. (10 Marks) (150 Words)

ANSWER: India is blessed with a multicultural, multireligious and multilingual society that has immense diversity among the world. Its unity in diversity is unique in comparison to the global community.

At times, emphasis on diversity acts as a threat to the unity of country as seen in:

(a) Religious diversity at times causes troubles to the secular fabric of the nation as witnessed in communalist tendencies, mob lyinching based on religion etc.
(b) Ethnic diversity in India and tensions between different ethnic groups do tend to compartmentalise the society. This could lead to episodes of ethnic hate speeches and pose a potential threat of ethnic cleansing as well. Eg: Attack against North East Indians in Bangalore.
(c) Diversity leads to the emergence of regionalism based on affinity towards a particular region or a place. This can undermine the unifying factor of national unity. Eg: Demands for separate Dravidanadu.
(d) Diverse groups coexist in each place on the basis of caste, class etc. The majoritarian groups try to impose their opinions on the minority. It can threaten the unity supplemented by the diversity in India. Eg: Dalit atrocities such as in Una, Bhima Koregaon etc.
(e) Emergence of caste based politics due to favouring vote banks around the time of elections create a wedge in society.
(f) Demands for separate states such as Khalistan, Gorkhaland etc. due to the ethnic and cultural diversity within a state itself.

Yet, the existence of diversity is supportive for the unity of India itself. This is evident in the fact:
(a) Diverse groups coexist in India and cherish the common values of freedom fighters and nationalism.
(b) Diverse geography is co promoted together by the Incredible India campaign to promote the tourism sector in India.

(c) Diverse groups in India have common traits such as Vasudaiva Kutumbakam entrenched in them as they welcome and respect one another.

A country like India can only exist if the diversity and heterogeneous entities are mutually helping and supportive. Even after 70 years of independence, India still exists as a unified nation due to its unique unity in diversity.

2. Has the tribes in India been assimilated or Integrated into society? Illustrate using examples. (10 Marks) (150 Words)

ANSWER: Tribes are a social group characterised by the features such as isolation from the rest of mainstream society in terms of demography, economy, cultural practises etc. They also do not have any social stratification and role- specialization among themselves. Even though they are culturally distinguishable from others, their integration and assimilation into society has happened in varying degrees.

Tribes- Integration into society:

Integration of the tribal groups include preservation of the tribal people’s rich social and cultural heritage in their private sphere but adoption of common cultural traits and values of nationalism in the public sphere. It was essentially the result of Nehruvian policy. Tribes are integrated into society as seen in the following cases:

●The constitutional safeguards such as the incorporation of Schedule V and Schedule VI states recognise the importance of safeguarding cultural traits, customs and practises.
●Similarly, the measures like Tribal Panchsheel, Tribal Sub Plan etc. are policies of integration as well. The policies of tribal Panchsheel include non interference in tribal lives, respect to tribal rights in forest areas.
●Policy of integration into society include protective safeguards like protection from social injustice, abolition of bonded labour and political safeguards like reservation of seats in Parliament and developmental safeguards like promoting the educational and economic interests of the Scheduled Tribes

●No over-administration of tribal areas. Efforts are made for administration and development of tribals through their own social and cultural institutions. Eg: Encouraging tribal dormitories among youth.

Tribes- Assimilation into society:

Assimilation is a process in which the culturally unique set of demography like tribes take over the culture and identity of mainstream society and becomes a complete part of that group. The assimilation of the tribes involves complete elimination of cultural differences of tribal groups and non-tribals. This can be generally observed in three different nature:
●Least Assimilated Tribals: The hill section of tribals which has exhibited greater power of resistance to the alien cultures that have passed upon their border. Eg: Kukis of Manipur.
●Moderately Assimilated Tribals: They are group of tribals who are partly assimilated and adopts practises of mainstream society like teetotalism, rituals and practises etc.
●Successfully Assimilated Tribals: Raj Gonds of Central India accepted manifold relations with mainstream populations. It is visible in the case of vertical stratification among the Gonds itself.
●Education of the mainstream society is assimilated into tribals. But the tribal students have different backgrounds from their non-tribal schoolmates and they do not understand the tribal students.

Tribes- Isolation from Society:

●Even though a lot of tribal groups are assimilated or integrated, yet there are tribal groups in India who are isolated from the mainstream society.
●Some of the examples include tribal groups like Sentinelese, Jarawas, Shompens etc. who live in extremely isolated situations and do not want the presence of any other groups near them.
●Such tribal groups are mainly in the category of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups.

The Report of the Working Group for Empowering STs appointed by Government of India emphasised on the three major changes in the tribal development policy of India over the years:
●Gradual shift in the strong protective role of the state towards the disadvantaged communities like tribals into justification of exploitation for

●Alienation of tribal lands to non-tribals happened over the years. Eg:
Displacement of Gonds in Hasdeo Arand forest region for coal mining.
●Addressing the problems faced by tribal regions in India such as Naxalism, political disturbances etc. as a case of law and order problems rather than as socio economic problems.

Thus it can be mentioned that a large portion of tribal groups in India are assimilated and integrated into the Indian society with varying success.

3. Social exclusion is more often a reason for poverty rather than a consequence of poverty. Discuss. (10 Marks) (150 Words)

ANSWER: Amartya Sen defines poverty as the lack of what one needs to live in society; not only to survive, but also for contribution and participation in society. The Tendulkar committee notes that 21.9% of the population in India is living below the poverty line.

Social exclusion refers to the omission of a person or a social group from the prevailing social system and its rights and privileges. This can occur due to the prevalence of poverty and also as a consequence of poverty.

Social exclusion as a reason of poverty:

●Caste determined occupational roles: There is a strong traditional association between positions in the caste and occupational hierarchies. The caste system forces lower castes to work as manual scavengers. Eg: Valmiki caste employed as manual scavengers.
●Inequality: Social inequalities like gender, caste systems, or tribal affiliations means there is no access to the resources to keep or lift a family out of poverty.
●Feminisation of poverty: The traditional gender roles associated with women in India increases inequality in living standards between men and women and as a result widening the gap in poverty. Women are forced to spend time on unpaid activities such as household work and care-giving for the elderly or for children, leaving little time for paid labour.

basic reading skills and arithmetic knowledge.
●Corruption: Government through various schemes try to alleviate the poverty situation, allegedly only 30-35% actually reaches the beneficiaries due to wide-spread practices of corruption in the country.

Social exclusion as a consequence of poverty:

●Inadequate access to basic facilities: The poor and vulnerable are denied food and nutrition forcing them to further poverty and hunger. Eg: Denial of PDS benefits for those living below poverty line in Jharkhand.
●Gender inequality, poor standards in health etc. in turn contribute to the secondary factors such as lack of markets, poor infrastructure, poor leadership, bad governance, under-employment among various sections of people in India.
●Low social development indicators: Economic Survey has highlighted the challenges faced by the students belonging to poor and underprivileged sections of the society in getting a formal education, observing that they are pushed out of the education system in absence of suitable financial support system and the high burden of the course fee, especially in the higher education sector.
●Inadequate access to financial resources: It hinders the social mobility of the vulnerable sections in India. National Strategy for Financial Inclusion notes that some women in India still do not have the freedom and choice to access financial services because of cultural barriers.
●Demographic reason: Overpopulation in India affects the poverty figures and it remained more or less consistent because of great dependency on government capacity.

Poverty alleviation programmes and simultaneous economic development programmes have to be encouraged as well in India to develop capabilities of the citizens and reduce the threat of poverty in India. This requires the government assistance through programmes like MGNREGA, organisation of Self Help Groups etc.