Kerala Plus Two Sociology Board Model Paper 2022 with Answers

Teachers recommend solving Kerala Syllabus Plus Two Sociology Previous Year Question Papers and Answers Pdf Board Model Paper 2022 to improve time management during exams.

Kerala Plus Two Sociology Board Model Paper 2022 with Answers.

A. Answer any 4 questions from 1 to 6. Each carries 1 Score. (4 × 1 = 4)

Question 1.
The concept of “Look at yourself from others’ view point” is called.
Answer:
Self Reflexivity/Perspective taking

Question 2.
The number of females per 1000 male in a given area at a specified time period is ______.
Answer:
Male-female sex ratio Nation

Question 3.
Community that succeeded in acquiring a state of its own is known as ______.
Answer:
Nation

Question 4.
In traditional political system of Khasies each clan has its own council known as ______.
Answer:
Durbar Kur

Question 5.
Migrant workers have been termed as by Jan Breman.
Answer:
Footloose labourers

Question 6.
Name the personality who opinioned that media has to function as the watchdog of democracy. (Mahatma Gandhi, Jawahar Lai Nehru, Annie Besant)
Answer:
Jawaharlal Nehru

B. Answer all questions from 7 to 10. Each carries 1 score. (4 × 1 = 4)

Question 7.
Awell known American Sociologist observed that sociology can help to map the link between individual problem and cosial issue.
Answer:
C. Wright Mills

Question 8.
According to Satish Saberwal, the three aspects of modern framework of changes in colonial India.

Answer:
Modes of Communication

Question 9.
The Chief Architect of Indian Constitution is _____.
Answer:
B.R. Ambedkar

Question 10.
The sale of government owned public sector shares is called ______.
Answer:
Disinvestment

Part – II

A. Answer any 3 questions from 11 to 15. Each carries 2 scores. (3 × 2 = 6)

Question 11.
Define fertility rate.
Answer:
Fertility rate is the average number of children born to women during their reproductive years.

Question 12.
Define Matriarchal family.
Answer:
A family where the woman has the authority to decide things is called a matriarchal family. The Mother is Mistress of the family.

Question 13.
What is status symbol?
Answer:
It was Max Weber, the German Sociologist, who used the term status symbol to show people’s attitude to buy and use some products to show their status in the society. Many luxury goods like expensive cars or diamond necklaces are often considered status symbols. People think by having these things their status in the society gets better.

Question 14.
Give a short note on Industrialisation.
Answer:
Industrialization led to high specialization as jobs were divided into small parts. The workers do not even see the final product for the production of which they have contributed because they have done only a small thing in the process. A worker may prqduce only a small thing for the final product, He goes on doing that the whole day and it becomes very boring for him because of repetition.

Industrialization has merits and demerits. As per the modern theories, industrialization is good and inevitable. The people of the entire world are on the path of industrialization and modernization. All countries want to achieve the same goal represented by the Western industrialised world.

Question 15.
Give a short note on Culture and Consumption.
Answer:
Culture is a broad term which includes the social behaviour, institutions, and norms found in human societies. It includes the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups. Culture is often originated from or attributed to a specific region or location

Thus we have the Indian culture, the American culture, the Arab culture etc.In sociology, consumption is about much more than just taking in or using up resources. Humans consume to survive, of course, but in today’s world,we also consume to entertain and amuse ourselves, and as a way to share time and experiences with others. We consume not only material goods but also services, experiences, information, and cultural products like art, music, film, and television. In fact, from the sociological perspective, consumption todayis a central organizing principle of social life. It shapes our everyday lives, our values, expectations and practices, our relationships with others, our individual and group identities, and our overall experience in the world.

B. Answer any 2 questions from 16 to 18. Each carries 2 scores. (2 × 2 = 4)

Question 16.
Explain the term ‘Reservation’.
Answer:
Initially reservation was for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Some seats were reserved for members of the STS’SC in the Centre and State legislatures, in government jobs, and in institutions of learning. Because of the activities of contemporary political parties and organizations like Bahujan Samaj Party ¡n the U.P. and Dalit Sangharsh Samiti in Kamataka, the national I participation of the Dalits has considerably increased.

Question 17.
Define ‘Untouchability1.
Answer:
Untouchability is a form of social institution that legitimises and enforces practices that are discriminatory, humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative against people belonging to the lower social groups. The basis of this is the purity-impurity concept. People who are outside the main castes are considered untouchables. They are impure. Even their touch will make the members of the upper castes impure. If the untouchables touch the members of the upper castes, they will be subjected to severe punishments. The members of upper castes who are touched by the untouchables have to perform purification rituals.

Question 18.
Define feminisation of Agriculture.
Answer:
The increasing migration of rural men especially from poor family has led to the feminization of the agriculture sector. Apart from all the household chores, women also have to do the agricultural work, making their life more difficult. The migration of men to cities has caused the feminization of the agriculture sector.

Part – III

A. Answer any 3 questions from 19 to 23. Each carries 4 scores. (3 × 4 = 12)

Question 19.
Distinguish between geographical map and social map.
Answer:
There are many differences between social maps and geographical maps. Ageographical map helps us to find out the location of a place, to know the different forms and shapes of countries, boundaries of places and nations and also about the distribution of population. Asocial map helps us to find out our place in the society ourselves. It helps us to know where we and in comparison with others. It also tells us about the chains of social relations, community identities, social groups and their mutual relations. It also shows us how community groups influence us in our personal as well as social life.

Knowing the details about the Indian society and its structure will help a student to make social mapping and decide his place in it. It helps to determine our social relations and on the basis of that our own position in the society. As a student 17 or 18 years old, you come in the Group of youngsters. You will be able to find out that the population of your group is 40% of the total population of India. You belong to a certain place to a certain linguistic group. For example you will know that those who speak Gujarati are from Gujarat and those who speak Telugu are from Andhra Pradesh.

According to the income of your parents and other incomes of the family, you know to which class you belong. Thus you know whether you belong to upper class, middle class or the lower class. You may belong to certain religion, caste or tribe. Thus social mapping helps you to know your social groups and your social identity. It also helps you know the chain of your social relations, Social science tells you about the different social groups and their mutual relations and the influence these groups exert in your life.

Question 20.
Give fourfeatures of cake system.
Answer:

1. Birth decides the caste. A baby is born into the caste of its parents.
2. Caste groups marry from the same groups. They are supposed to marry only from their particular caste.
3. Caste tells its members what food to eat what not to eat. There are restrictions in sharing food with other castds.
4. Each individual has a caste. Each caste has its own place in the hierarchy of priests.

Question 21.
How did globalization affected Indian Industry?
Answer:
In the 1990s, the Indian government implemented liberalization. This was part of globalization. Private companies, especially foreign companies, were allowed to take shares in the public sector undertakings here, and they were encouraged to invest capital here. The foreign companies started taking share in ’sectors like Air transport and Telecom. There was no need for any licence to start any industry. As a result of globalization there were Trans National Corporations.

They made foreign good available to many countries. Some of the most famous Trans National Corporations are Coca Cola, General Motors, Colgate Palmolive, Mitsubishi etc. Coca Cola spent Rs. 400 crores for advertisement and so naturally their products were easily sold. There was the process of Disinvestment by which the shares of the Public Sector Undertakings were sold to private individuals and International Monopolies.

Question 22.
Write short notes on the following:
a) The trans national corporation
b) The electronic economy
Answer:
a) Transnational Corporations
Transnational Corporations are those which sell their products and give their services in more than one country. Some of the more famous of them are Coca Cola, General Motors, Colgate- Palmolive, and Mitsubishi. They have markets all over the world. They make huge profits. Many Indian monopolies have become transnational monopolies and many transnational monopolies are spreading their markets throughout India. Such expansions have their merits and demerits. Transnatidnal corporations help in the growth of globalization and they play a big role in it.

b) Electronic Economy
This is another aspect of economic globalization. It is the revolutionary changes in the communication sector that made this possible. As computer and the Internet etc. became widespread, banks, corporations, fund managers and individual depositors could transfer money to any corner of the world in seconds. This electronic money, which can be transferred with just one click on the mouse of the computer or a finger touch on the mobile, has many risks. The rising and falling of share values is an example for this. Investors buy shares to make profits, but suddenly if the share market is down, they will suffer huge losses. In short electronic economy has made the transfer of funds easy but it has increased the possibilities of loss.

Question 23.
Explain
a) Redemptive social movement
b) Revolutionary social movement
Answer:
a) Redemptive Social Movements bring about changes in the activities of its members. They create awareness in them. A good example is the call made by Sri Narayana Guru to bring about changes in the Ezhava community,

b) Revolutionary Movements are those which bring drastic changes very quickly in the social relations and social order. Revolutionary Movements grab power and then make changes in the society. Then Bolshevik Revolution in Russia wanted to establish a Communist Government there armed through armed revolution. The Naxalite Movement in India is trying to destroy evil landlords and corrupt government officials by using force.

B. Answer any 1 Question from 24 to 25. Carries 4 scores. (1 × 4 = 4)

Question 24.
How does liberalization affect the Indian Market?
Answer:

1. The Indian government started its liberalization policy in the 1990s.
2. Private companies, especially foreign companies, were encouraged to take shares and invest in the public sector companies under the government.
3. Foreign companies were given shares in sectors like Air-traffic, and Telecom.
4. No licence was needed to start industries.
5. In Indian shops foreign made goods became available.
6. As a result of liberalization, multinational companies bought shares from Indian companies becoming their owners.

For example, Parle Drinks was taken over by Coca Cola. The business turnover of Parle at that time was 250 crores. For advertisement alone, Cocoa Cola spent 450 crores in a year and the turnover was greatly increased, by pushing the local products backward.

Question 25.
What is the importance of community identity in India?
Answer:
Community identity is what we get by our birth. “What we are” is our community identity and not “what we become”. We get our fam ily, community, nation etc. by our birth. All these are given to us, we don’t earn them. They were decided by the chance of our birth. Our mother tongue and our cultural values by which we are known are given to us by our society. Each. person needs an identity to live in this world.

It is through our birth we get our community identity. Our identity changes by acquiring qualifications and achievements. Since the identity and community are» given to us by birth, and not chosen by us, they are not our achievements. We are born as a member of a family, a community and the citizen of a nation. These are not chosen by us but they are imposed on us.

Question 26.
Write short note on :
a) Commoditisation
b) Marketisation
c) Liberalisation
Answer:
a) Commoditisation
Commoditization is the process by which something is made into a commodity that can be bought and sold. In the early times it was ‘ not like that. An example is the bottled water for sale. Some two decades ago nobody would think of buying drinking water in a bottle. In those days if somebody wanted to drink some water, he would go to a nearby house and ask for it. Today we carry bottled water with us or we buy it from a shop when we need it. Not only a thing, but a service can also be commoditised. The modern man is ready to sell his profession and his skills for money. This is an example of commoditization.

b) Marketisation
A series of personal exchanges can be called Marketisation. Market economy is not something that individuals create deliberately. Each person looks at his own interests. When we try to gain our personal interests, the interests of the society are also protected. That means what individual do for their personal interests become beneficial for the society.

c) Liberalization
Liberalization means privatizing public sector undertakings, removing government control from capital, labour and trade, reducing important duties and other tariffs, giving easy entry to foreign companies etc.

Question 27.
Explain
a) Sanskritisation
b) Westernisation
c) Modernisation
Answer:
a) Sanskritization:
It was the social scientist M.N. Srinivas who coined the term Sanskritization. When the lower castes imitate the rituals, conventions, beliefs, ideas and life style of the upper cases, there is Sanskritization. In those areas where the castes are not Sanskritised, the influence of the majority castes was very high. This can be called Desanskritization. In the process of Sanskritization, there are regional differences. For example, in Punjab, culturally the influence of. Sanskrit was not strong. Until the end of the 19th century Persian influence was very strong. In India following the rituals and conventions of the upper castes is not an easy thing for the lower castes.

If the lower castes showed the courage to follow the rituals and conventions of the higher castes, they would be punished. Sanskritization approves the rituals and conventions of the upper castes. An example for this can be found in adopting the ‘dowry system’ instead of paying bride price. The tasks the Dalits did were considered undignified. This was different from the ideas adopted during the industrialization period. The discrimination based on the work one did was intolerable.

b) Westernisation:
It was M.N. Srinivas who first talked about the concept of westernization. He said that westernization is the changes that happened .in the Indian society as a result of the British rule in India for more than 150 years.
Westernization includes changes in technology, institutions, ideas and values. First there was the subculture that developed among the Indians that first came into contact with the Western life style. They started imitating the westerners and persuaded others to do so.

1. Westernisation is different kinds. One style is the subculture of the westernised people.
2. This way there was a minority in India that had contact with the western culture.
3. They imitate the thoughts and life styles of the westerners.
4. Many Indians thought in the western style and copied their ways of dressing.
5. They showed great interest in things like modern technology, western dresses, and western foods.
6. Although they copied many material cultural aspects of the West, they did not seem to imbibe things like equality and democracy from there.

There are three levels in Westernisation:

• A subculture of the western culture is formed. This comes from a small minority that had contact with western culture.
• A very small minority adopts western life style. They are influenced by the Western ideas.
• Only the external aspects of the western culture are imitated.
  1. Westernisation influenced even the arts and literature of India.
  2. Prominent cultural leaders of India like Rabindranath Tagore, Chandu Menon, Bankim Chandra Chatopadhyaya, Ravi Varma, etc. were influenced by the Western culture.
  3. Ravi Varma painted a picture of a Matriarchal Nair family. This painting was very much like a western painting of a nuclear family of the west where the families are patriarchal.
  4. In the view of M.N. Srinivas, an Indian Sociologist, as the upper castes tried to westernise themselves they also tried to Sanskritize the lower castes.
  5. Among the “Thiyyas” in Kerala, those in the upper strata wished to westernise themselves.
  6. The upper strata among the Thiyyas accepted the British culture to show their stance on the caste system and thus they made themselves people with broader national outlook.
  7. In North India many western educated people got good job opportunities. Many of them married westerners. Giti Sen has written a story about the religious relations and the Naga Tribals. The Naga tribals realised that education was inevitable to achieve progress and it was their door to development.

c) Modernization
Modernization today is linked to useful and welcome changes. For some modernization means mechanization in the production sector. Modernization means accepting universal values, behavioural patterns and like styles. Modernization is closely associated with logic and scientific tradition. It also means secular and democratic development.

1. Traditional ways of thinking go away and global awareness comes in. Modernization gives greater importance to utility and proper calculations.
2. Emotions, ideas not based on facts, spiritual thoughts etc. give way to scientific ideas.
3. An individual is an integral part of the society and politics.
4. People can live places of their choice and do the work they like. Their place and work are not determined by birth.
5. One’s personality is earned by him. It is not something written at birth.

All these modern ides are applicable to the whole of India. Even now we insist on marrying from the same community. We give much importance to religious rituals and conventions. Although our secular, democratic set up is strong, we continue with our old system of caste and creed.

In the opinion of many social scientists, secularism in the west means the influence of religion on the people is getting less. The modern people show a lot of secularism in their behaviour. The lack of interest of the people in places of worship shows their reduced zeal in their religion. However, in some places we can still see fanaticism and religious quarrels.

Question 28.
a) Give three responsibilities of Panchayath.
b) Define Nyaya Panchayath
Answer:
a)

1. Preparing plans and schemes for economic development.
2. Encourage schemes to broaden social justice.
3. Collect taxes, duties and fees in the right way.

b) Nyaya Panchayat has the power to deal with small civil and criminal cases.

Question 29.
Explain three social consequences of Green revolu-tion in India.
Answer:
Social- Consequences of the Green Revolution in India:

1. Only middle class and big landowners were benefited by the Green Revolution.
2. The peasants who used to take fields on lease for cultivation could not get fields.
3. People who did manual labour in the fields did not have work.
4. As the peasants got money as their wages, their condition became pathetic.
5. The commercialization of agriculture and the monoculture system caused a reduction in the prices of the crops causing financial crunch to the farmers.
6. It helped in increasing regional inequality.

B. Answer any 2 questions from 30 to 32. Each carries 6 scores. (2 × 6 = 12)

Question 30.
Tribal community is classified based on their acquired traits. Explain’
Answer:

• By tribal communities we mean the ancient communities of the Indian subcontinent.
  1. They were neither Hindus nor farmers.
  2. They had no religious practices.
  3. They had no role in politics.
  4. There was no class distinction or caste distinction among them.
• Tribal communities can be divided into two:
  1. Tribes that have features of religion, language, physical specialties and have environmental dwelling system.
  2. Those who earned their livelihood and were members of the Hindu community.
• Acquired Features:
  1. Depending on the ways of earning their livelihood there were hunters, nomadic peasants, agriculturists, estate labourers, and industrial labourers.
  2. Some tribal communities lean towards Hinduism.
  3. Some were against Hinduism.
  4. Although very few are in the higher group of the Hindu community, most of them are at the lower strata.

Through deforestation, the lands of the tribal communities were made into colonies and some communities were absorbed into Hindu community. But there are some sociologists who believe that the ancient tribal communities were not keeping themselves away from cultural progress. They want to look at them as the product of the ancient communities and the changes that took place. Just to differentiate them,from others they were called “Tribal Communities”.

Question 31.
a) Define the term-Mass Media.
b) Give one example.
c) Explain the role of Mass Media in Independent India
Answer:
a) Mass Media is the media that lets the public know about the various development plans and activities of the Government and the happenings in the society.

b) Radio

c) The growth of the mass media helps the people in developing their self sufficiency and also for the people to help with the development. The mass media helps people to be aware of the various programmes and policies of the government. It helped the people to dislike social evils like untouchability, child marriage, and various restrictions for widows. In the modern industrialised society, mass media helped in propagating scientific values and reasoning power among the people.

Part – IV

Answer any 3 questions from 26 to 29. Each carries 6 scores.(3 × 6 = 18)

Question 32.

A	B
All India Trade Union Congress	Agrarian Struggle
Formation of Jharkhand	Dalit Movement
Chipko Movement	Tribal Movement
Mahar Movement	Mancur Olson
The logic of collective action	Workers’ Movement
Tebhaga Movement	Ecological Movement

Answer:

A	B
All India Trade Union Congress	Workers’ Movement
Formation of Jharkhand	Tribal Movement
Chipko Movement	Ecological
Mahar Movement	Movement
The logic of collective action	‘Dalit Movement
Tebhaga Movement	Mancur Olson

Part – V

Answer any 2 questions from 33 to 35. Each carries 8 scores. (2 × 8 = 16)

Question 33.
i) Explain the Malthusian theory of population growth.
ii) Explain the theory of Demographic Transition.
Answer:
Malthusian Theory of Population Growth
One of the most popular theories on demography is that of Thomas Robert Malthus, He was an economist from England. In 1798 he published a book titled “An Essay on the Principle of Population”. In this book he explained his demographic theory. His theory is pessimistic. Here are the important ideas of his theory.

Malthus argued that population is increasing on a much faster rate than the increase in the means of livelihood (food, clothes, agricultural products etc). He pointed out that there is tremendous growth in population but there is no proportional growth in food production. Therefore mankind is destined to live in permanent poverty. The increase in population always exceeds the increase in agricultural production. Population increases geometrically (in the order 2, 4, 8, 16. 32, 64, 128, etc.). But food production increase is only arithmetical or parallel.

In short, increase in population will always keep food production behind. So Malthus tried to show that mankind will be faced with serious food shortages and ultimate ruin.

Malthus argued that the only way to make progress is by controlling population growth. He said there were two ways of controlling it. One is moral restraints like marrying late, celibacy etc. The other is natural controls which include wars, famine and diseases. Unfortunately, the power of mankind to limit population growth by moral control is very limited. Therefore Malthus believed that only natural controls will help in limiting population growth. He explained that natural controls are Nature’s way of solving the problem created by the geometrical growth of population and the arithmetical growth of good production.

The Theory of Malthus remained influential for long. But theoreticians who showed that economic growth will be greater than population growth proved Malthus wrong. The experiences of European countries showed that the theory of Malthus is not right. By the 2nd half of the 19th century there were changes in the population growth. By the beginning of the 20th century these changes were quite dramatic. Birth rate reduced drastically. (The reason for this is the use of various means of birth control.) Contagious diseases were checked. (This was helped by progress in medical science.) There was tremendous increase in food production. (Improved technologies helped this.)

Although there was considerable increase in population, food production increased and the living standards became better. Thus the predictions of Malthus were proved wrong. The theory of Malthus that the increase in population caused poverty was severely criticised by the Liberals and Marx. They argued that poverty and hunger are not the result of population growth, but the result of inequitable distribution of wealth and other resources. They showed that in an unjust society, the few wealthy live in great luxury whereas the majority of people live in poverty.

Question 34.
i) Define the terms:
a) Social Inequality
b) Social Exclusion
ii) Describe the three principles of social stratification.
Answer:
i) Social Inequality
a) Social equality is the inequality that exits in the availability of social resources. Most of the social equality is not because of the natural or inborn differences between people. It is the society in which people live that creates the inequality. Social inequality and exclusion are related to groups. It is from the attitude of the society regarding individuals this inequality is born. These inequalities have a certain pattern and structure. It is the society itself that creates social inequality.

b) Social Exclusion
Because of social exclusion people are not able to work in the areas they like to work. This is a system by which individuals are banned from interfering in the society in a free manner. Here are many factors that prevent individuals and groups from doing what they like. Everybody has a right in service areas like education, health, insurance, banking, justice system, etc. and also to get the essential commodities. When they are refused these things there is social exclusion. It is^the different structures in the society that make social exclusion. This exclusion is very systematic and is used against the victims.

Continuous insults and discriminatory behaviour might discourage the victims from trying again and again to get their rights. The entry of low castes into the temples was prevented by the high castes. When such rude behaviour is repeated by the higher castes, the lower castes might decide not to go to those temples. Some lower castes organise themselves and try to build their own temples. Some others leave Hinduism and join Buddhism, Christianity or Islam. Then they lose their interest in the temple affairs. Social exclusion works against the interests of the victims.

ii) The Principles of Social Stratification
1) Social stratification is a specialty of the society.
2) Social division survives generations
3) Matters of faith and ideologies support Social stratification

1) Social stratification is a specialty of the society:
This did not happen just because of the differences in people. Social stratification is a system by which the social resources are distributed unequally among different groups. It is not an individual performance. In the primitive communities production was very little. Therefore there was no stratification there. But in the modern societies more things are produced than people need. Here without considering individual capabilities, resources are distributed unequally.

2) Social division survives generations:
The place of an individual in the society is assigned to him. Children through heredity get resources from their parents. In the caste system one’s caste is decided by birth. The Dalits have to plough the fields and do the cleaning jobs. Jobs with higher salaries do not come to him. All the inequalities his parents suffered come to him also and this continues for generations. Until the rule that one should marry only from his community, this social inequality will continue. This custom of endogamy strengthens the assigned nature of social inequality.

3) Matters of faith and ideologies support Social stratification:
People face exclusion on the basis of their sex, religion, language, caste and physical disabilities. Therefore even women from the higher strata are sexually exploited in public places. People have prejudices against members belonging to particular groups. If people are not treated as equals, this social division will continue, caste system is a good example for this. Caste system if justified in the name of the concept of purity and impurity. Because of their birth and their profession the Brahmins are supposed to be pure and Dalits impure. There are many who justify this inequality. Those who are exploited by this unjust system challenge it very strongly.

Question 35.
i) Define the terms:
a) Nation
b) State
ii) Explain three challenges of National Integration
Answer:
i) a) Nation: A nation is a sort of large-scale community. It is a community of communities.
It is a community that has succeeded in » acquiring a state of its own. Members of a nation share the desire to be part of the same political collectivity, which resulted in state formation. Many nations are founded on the basis of common religion, language, ethnicity, history or regional culture. But there may be many languages, religions or ethnicities that are shared across nations. A good example is India which has so many languages, religions, and regions.

b) State: The term state refers to an abstract entity consisting of a sdt of political-legal institutions claiming control over a particular geographical territory and the people living in it. Max Weber defined state as a “body that successfully claims a monopoly of legitimate force in a particular territory”.

ii) Three challenges to National Integration:
a) Communalism: Communalism has been oneof the most complex problems that India has been facing. This is generated when individuals belonging to one religion develop excessive affinity to their religion and hatred towards other religions. This kind of feeling promotes religious fundamentalism and fanaticism and proves to be dangerous for the unity and Integrity of the country.

It is more so for a country like India where people practise all the major religions of the world. But India has been suffering from communalism since independence. As we know, we faced worst kind of communal riots on the eve of independence, and even after. There have been many communal riots in various parts of the country, inflicting immense sufferings on the people.

b) Regionalism: Rgionalism is another obstacle in the way of national integration. On many occasions it encourages peop’e to promote regional interests even at the cost of national priorities. One may think that raising the problems of a particular region is needed to attract the attention of the decision makers and to compel them to fulfil justified regional demands. This thinking is reasonable, because such demands may be based on genuine grievances of the regions and States that have been denied fair shares of projects and industnes in the overall structure of development. Those may also be related to the continued neglect of a particular region.

In spite of over six decades of planned development, all regions in our country have not been developed in the desired manner. Along with other factors, the lack of expected socio economic development results ¡n demands for the creation of new States. When regionalism ignores national interests or encourages people to have negative feelings towards the interests of other regions, it becomes harmful. On many occasions regional protests and demonstrations are based on political considerations. Aggressive regionalism is still more dangerous, as it leads to separatism. We have been experiencing such feelings in certain parts of States of Assam and Jammu and Kashmir.

C) Lingulsm: All of us know that India is a multilingual country. People of India speak nearly 2000 languages and dialects. This plurality has been negatively used on many occasions, particularly in the early decades after independence. Every country needs to have a common official language, but it has not been an easy task for India. When a recommendation was made In the Constituent Assembly to recognise Hindi as the official language of India, It was opposed by representatives of almost all the non-Hindi speaking areas. A compromise had to be made there. While the Constituent Assembly declared Hindi as the officiallanguage, it was provided that English would continue to be used for official purposes of the Union government for a period of 15 years.

When the Official Language Commission set up in 1955 recommended in favour of replacing English by Hindi asan official language, there were widespread protests in all the non-Hindi speaking regions. Such protests and demonstrations were seen once again in 1963, when the Official Language Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha. As a compromise, the Act of 1963 allowed the çontinued use of English for officialpurposes without any time limit. Although the demand for language-based States was met comprehensively when the States were reorganized on linguistic basis in 1956, fresh movements are going on in some parts of the country. Such movements generate many challenges for national integration.