Back to: MBOSE Social Science Class 10

Following are the different aspects of life in which women are discriminated or disadvantaged in India.

• Work Division: There is a dominant belief that the main responsibility of women is housework and bringing up children. Men therefore are supposed to do the work outside.
• Role in Public Life: Despite the fact that women constitute half of the humanity, their role in public life is restricted and they always depend on men.
• Unequal wages: Distinctions are made even in wages. Women are paid less than men for the same work.
• Discrimination by parent or family: In the families even the parents make distinction between boys and girls in terms of education, quality upbringing and even food served.

Different forms of communal politics with one example each.

• The expression of communal superiority in everyday beliefs – Militant religious groups.
• The desire to form a majoritarian dominance or a separate state – Separatist leaders in Kashmir.
• The use of religious symbols and leaders in politics to appeal to the voters – This technique is applied by many politicians to influence voters from the two largest religious communities in the country.
• Communal politics can take the form of Communal violence and riots – The riots in Gujrat in 2002.

State how caste inequalities are still continuing in India.

• Most people marry within their own caste and tribe.
• Despite provision in the constitution untouchability has not ended completely.
• There have been rich and educated people from lower caste also now- a days but their percentage is much less as compared to upper caste.
• Large mass of low caste people still do not have access to education and have remained illiterate and uneducated.

State two reasons to say that caste alone determined election results in India.

• No parliamentary constituency in one country has a clear majority of one single caste.
• Every candidate of more than one caste and community to win elections.
• No party wins the vote of all community.
• Many political parties may put up candidates from the same caste.
• Some voters have more than one candidate from their caste.

In India, the proportion of women in the legislative has been very low.

• Central legislature: Less than 10% of its total strength are women in 2014.
• State legislature: Less than 5% of its total strength are women.
• Panchayati Raj: 1/3 of the seats are reserved for women.

India is among the bottom groups of nations in the world in women’s representation in politics.

India is behind the averages of several developing countries of Africa and Latin America. In the government,

Cabinet are largely all male even though women can become the Chief Minister, the President of the Prime Minister.

Constitutional provisions that make India a secular state.

• No Official religion: There is no official religion in the Indian State. Unlike the status of Buddhism in SriLanka, Islam in Pakistan and Hinduism in Nepal, our constitution does not give a special status to any religion
• Fundamental Rights: Under the Right to Freedom of Religion, our constitution provides to all citizens freedom to profess, practice and propagate any religion. Under the Cultural and Educational Rights our constitution prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion
• Equality: The Constitution of India puts ban on the discrimination on grounds of religion.
• Intervention of the state with religious Communities: According to constitution state cannot intervene in the matters of religion in order to promote religious equality.