Read the passage given below to answer the following questions:
Welcoming the Objectives Resolution introduced by Jawaharlal Nehru, N.G. Ranga said:
Sir, there is a lot of talk about minorities. Who are the real minorities? Not the Hindus in the so-called Pakistan provinces, not the Sikhs, not even the Muslims. No, the real minorities are the masses of this country. These people are so depressed and oppressed and suppressed till now that they are not able to take advantage of the ordinary civil rights. What is the position? You go to the tribal areas. According to law, their own traditional law, their tribal law, their lands cannot be alienated. Yet our merchants go there, and in the so called free market they are able to snatch their lands. Thus, even though the law goes against this snatching away of their lands, still the merchants are able to turn the tribal people into veritable slaves by various kinds of bonds, and make them hereditary bond-slaves. Let us go to the ordinary villagers. There goes the money-lender with his money and he is able to get the villagers in his pocket. There is the landlord himself, the zamindar, and the malguzar and there are the various other people who are able to exploit these poor villagers. There is no elementary education even among these people. These are the real minorities that need protection and assurances of protection. In order to give them the necessary protection, we will need much more than this Resolution.
How do the merchants exploit the tribal people?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → The merchants snatch the lands of the tribal people by taking advantage of free market.
Each option is checked against what Ranga says the merchants do in the tribal areas.
Option (1) The merchants sell the commodities of luxury use to the tribals at very high prices. — Incorrect. Ranga says nothing about selling goods to the tribals; his charge is that the merchants take their lands and bind them by bonds.
Option (2) They demand too much revenue from the tribals. — Incorrect. Revenue is demanded by the state and its officials, not by merchants; the speech does not mention revenue at all.
Option (3) The merchants snatch the lands of the tribal people by taking advantage of free market. — Correct. By their own tribal law the lands of the tribals cannot be alienated, yet the merchants go there and in the so-called free market they are able to snatch their lands.
Option (4) The merchants give support to the tribals for their agricultural produce. — Incorrect. This is the opposite of what Ranga describes: the merchants exploit the tribals, they do not support them.
NCERT: Themes in Indian History Part III — Chapter 12: Framing the Constitution (2026-27)
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