NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Political Science Chapter 7 Rise of Popular Movements

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Political Science Chapter 7 Rise of Popular Movements will help students developing deeper into the chapters and get a vast understanding of the concepts that are applied. It will help in building a great foundation of knowledge and make easy for the students to understand basics.

Rise of Popular Movements Class 12 Political Science II Textbook NCERT Solutions are prepared as per the current CBSE guidelines. By using these solutions, you can easily achieve a high score.

Chapter 7 Rise of Popular Movements Class 12 Political Science II NCERT Solutions

1. Which of these statements are incorrect? The Chipko Movement
(a) was an environmental movement to prevent cutting down of trees.
(b) raised questions of ecological and economic exploitation.
(c) was a movement against alcoholism started by the women.
(d) demanded that local communities should have control over their natural resources.

Solution

(c) was a movement against alcoholism started by the women.

2. Some of the statements below are incorrect. Identify the incorrect statements and rewrite those with necessary correction.
(а) Social movements are hampering the functioning of India’s democracy.
(b) The main strength of social movements lies in their mass base across social sections.
(c) Social movements in India emerged because there were many issues that political parties did not address.

Solution

(a) Social movements involve a gradual process of coming together of people with similar problems.
(c) Social movements in India emerged to reduce the possibility of deep social conflict and disaffection of groups from democracy.

3. Identify the reasons which led to the Chipko Movement in U.P. in early 1970s. What was the impact of this movement?

Solution

Chipko movement began in two or three villages of Uttrakhand when the forest department refused permission to the villages to fall ash tress for agriculture products and tools. The forest department allotted the same piece of land to some sports contractor for commercial use. Thus, the villagers protested against this decision of the government. This movement ignited by hugging the tress to prevent them from being cut down and linked the issue of environmental degradation.

Impact of movement:

• It soon spread across many parts of Uttarakhand and larger issues of ecological and economic exploitation were also raised.
• Government issued a ban on felling of tress in Himalayan region for fifteen years until green cover was fully restored.
• This was not only a movement to save environment but also seen as a ‘feminist movement’ not only because of their active participation but also because deforestation was seen affecting women’s life in the hills in their search fuel and fodder.
• This movement was started with a single issue but became symbol of many such popular movements emerging in different parts of country during 1970s.

4. The Bharatiya Kisan Union is a leading organisation highlighting the plight of farmers. What were the issues addressed by it in the nineties and to what extent were they successful?

Solution

The Bharatiya Kisan Union was established in 1980. It is mainly active in Punjab and Western U.P. In 1986 Mahender Singh Tikait became its chief. Bharatiya Kisan Union is an organization highlighting the plight of the farmers. The state failed to take any action against the farmer for non-payment of bills because the farmers were fully involved in the moment.

The BKU addressed many economic issues:

• It demanded ending zonal recession on movement of food grains.
• Electricity rate should be reduced.
• Price of sugarcane and milk should be raised.
• It demanded writing of government Levies payable by farmers of Punjab for provision of canals.
• Adequate compensation in case of natural disaster.
• Government should take the responsibility for selling the produce. Many demands of BKU were accepted by the government. In most of the cases government made concession. The Bharatiya Kisan Union familiarized the farmers with latest farming techniques, equipment, methods, etc. It inspired farmers to start small scale agro industries.

BKU became the most successful social movements. It sustained for a longtime due to clan networks among its members. These networks mobilised funds, resources and activities of BKU. An outcome of political bargaining powers by its members. BKU farmers dominated regional electoral politics also.

5. The anti-arrack movement in Andhra Pradesh drew the attention of the country to some serious issues. What were these issues?

Solution

Men in the villages of Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore region were regular drinkers of arrack. Alcoholism was wreaking havoc on people’s health. Moreover, financial conditions of the families were also ruined. Women and childern were the worst sufferers of these ill-effects of alcohol. Women in Nellore district came together and they started anti-arrack movement.

In Nellore, many wine stores were closed. The Nellore district arrack sales were postponed 17 times. This movement began in the Nellore region and eventually expanded throughout the state. In 1992, women marched in a large procession through Hyderabad to oppose the selling of arrack. The anti-arrack movement’s motto was “Prohibition on the sale of arrack.”

Anti-arrack movement of Andhra Pradesh draws the attention of the country to some serious issues such as domestic violence, custom of dowry, sexual abuse at work and public places etc.

6. Would you consider the anti-arrack movement as a women’s movement? Why?

Solution

The anti-arrack campaign in Andhra Pradesh was clearly female. Women in Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore region came together in spontaneous local initiatives against arrack (local alcohol) and the forced closure of a wine store.

The news spread quickly, and women from approximately 5000 villages were motivated to hold meetings, approve resolutions for total ban, and send these resolutions to the District Collector and higher authorities.

Due to women’s protests, the arrack auctions in Nellore district were postponed 17 times. In 1992 women took out a big procession in Hyderabad to protest against the sale of ‘arrack’. Women also raised the issue of domestic violence: Anti-arrack movement became a part of the women’s movement.

7. Why did the Narmada Bachao Aandolan oppose the dam projects in the Narmada Valley?

Solution

In the early 1980s, a development project was started in Central India’s Narmada Valley. The Narmanda project included the construction of 30 large dams, 135 medium-sized dams, and approximately 3000 minor dams.

The Sardar Sarovar Project in Gujarat and the Narmada Sagar Project in Madhya Pradesh were both massive and important projects. Narmada Bachao Aandolan began in 1988-89.

Narmada Bachao Aandolan is opposed to the dam projects because the dam’s building required the submerging of 245 villages. It also needed approximately 2.5 lakh individuals from these villages.

The movement demanded that people who are directly or indirectly impacted by the initiatives be adequately rehabilitated.

The NBA also demanded that local people be involved in decision-making and that they have effective authority over natural resources such as water, land, and forests.

Finally, both the government and the courts recognised the right to rehabilitation. The government established a comprehensive National Rehabilitation Policy in 2003.

8. Do movements and protests in a country strengthen democracy? Justify your answer with examples.

Solution

In the whole world movements and protest are considered a part of democratic system. Movements and protest in peaceful manner strengthen the democratic system. But some critics of movements and protests are of a view that collective actions i.e., strikes, dharna, bandh and demonstrations, etc., disrupt the functioning of the government, delay in decision- making and destabilise the routines of democratic system.

Popular movements and protests ensure effective representation of various groups and their requests. The involvement of various organisations in popular campaigns has increased the engagement of the masses in the democratic system.

The study of popular movements are very helpful in understanding the nature of democratic politics. Non-party movements dare neither sporadic in nature nor are these a problem. These movements have proved very helpful in solving some problems of party-politics and thus these movements should be seen as an integral part of our democratic life.

In general, poor laborers, farmers, and economically and socially disadvantaged members of society engage in these movements. These people have no say in the day-to-day operations of government. As a result, their complaints and voices are heard through these movements.

9. What issues did the Dalit Panthers address?

Solution

Dalit Panthers was a militant organisation of Dalit Youth to be formed in 1972 in Maharashtra. Dalit Panthers explicitly challenged caste system and Brahmanism.

The Panthers aim was to unite the Dalit community and to bring them into their fold.

According to the manifesto of the Dalit Panthers, Dalit word includes scheduled caste and scheduled tribes, new Buddhist, economically backward workers, women, landlords, poor peasants and all those who were being exploited.

According to Dalit Panther’s manifesto, the main problems that dalits faced are lack of food, water and shelters, jobs, land and their unequal social status and atrocities on them.

According to them their problem could be solved by acquiring economic and political power.

Liberalization of scheduled caste is possible only with a basic change in the system through revolution.

They opposed the anti-dalit policy of the government.

Namdev and Dhale formulated a program for the betterment of the dalits in February in 1974 and this program is also known as the ‘Last Struggle’.

Dalit Panthers had concentrated on the problem of Dalit women, land disputes and retailing the Shiv Sena activities.

They demanded Dalitism. It was a demand for separate village settlements for Dalit where there could e no exploitation by superior people.

Dalit Panthers have full faith in constitutional methods.

10. Read the passage and answer questions below:

…., nearly all ‘new social movements’ have emerged as corrective to new maladies – environmental degradation, violation of the status of women, destruction of tribal cultures and the undermining of human rights – none of which are in and by themselves transformative of the social order. They are in that way quite different from revolutionary ideologies of the past. But their weakness lies in their being so heavily fragmented. …… …. …….a large part of the space occupied by the new social movements seem to be suffering from. Various characteristics which have prevented them from being relevant to the truly oppressed and the poor in the form of a solid unified movement of the people. They are too fragmented, reactive, ad hocish, providing no comprehensive framework of basic social change. Their being anti-this or that (anti- West, anti-capitalist, anti-development, etc) does not make them any more coherent, any more relevant to oppressed and peripheralized communities. — Rajni Kothari

(a) What is the difference between new social movements and revolutionary ideologies?
(b) What according to the author are the limitations of social movements?
(c) If social movements address specific issues, would you say that they are ‘fragmented’ or that they are more focused? Give reasons for your answer by giving examples.

Solution

(a) The difference is that like revolutionary ideologies none of new social movements are in and by themselves transformative of the social order but they emerged as corrective of new malodies.

(b) According to the author these social movements are not any more coherent, relevant, to oppressed and peripheralised communities. To some extent these are affected by party politics. All these according to him act as a barrier in social movements.

(c) If social movements address specific issues, we would say that these are fragmented which provide no comprehensive framework of social change i.e., Anti-arrack movement, Dalit Panthers etc.