Many rights that people enjoy today, such as limited working hours an…

Many rights that people enjoy today, such as limited working hours and the right to vote, are taken for granted. What made these rights possible?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 3

The correct answer is Option (3) → The struggles of the past

Option (1) The growth of modern industry — Incorrect. Modern industry brought the factory work-day, but it did not hand workers their rights. Rights such as the eight-hour work-day came from a long struggle by workers.

Option (2) The spread of modern education — Incorrect. Education does not explain how these rights came about. Rights like equal pay, pensions and the vote were gained through social movements.

Option (3) The struggles of the past — Correct. The rights we take for granted did not just happen to exist. The struggles of the past, carried on through social movements, won rights such as the eight-hour work-day and the vote.

Option (4) Laws passed by enlightened rulers — Incorrect. These rights were not gifts from rulers. People won them by struggle, often against strong opposition, as when the suffragettes' movement for women's vote was violently crushed.

NCERT (2026-27): “Social Movements
Agreat many students and office-workers around the world go to work only for five or six days and rest on the weekends. Yet, very few people who relax on their day off realise that this holiday is the outcome of a long struggle by workers. That the work-day should not exceed eight hours, that men and women should be paid equally for doing the same work, that workers are entitled to social security and pension — these and many other rights were gained through social movements. Social movements have shaped the world we live in and continue to do so.”

“We often assume that the rights we enjoy just happened to exist. It is important to recall the struggles of the past, which made these rights possible. …”

Many rights that people enjoy today, such as limited working hours and the right to vote, are taken for granted. What made these rights possible?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 3

The correct answer is Option (3) → The struggles of the past

“We often assume that the rights we enjoy just happened to exist. It is important to recall the struggles of the past, which made these rights possible. …”