Which of the following characterises the nature of caste based discrimination?
(A) excluding access to resources
(B) unequal status ascribed at birth
(C) use of a purity-pollution scale
(D) legislations to increase OBC reservation
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → (A), (B) and (C) only
(A) excluding access to resources Correct. Stratification ranks categories of people in a hierarchy, and this hierarchy shapes their access to resources and opportunities. Caste discrimination works by keeping the castes at the bottom away from such resources.
(B) unequal status ascribed at birth Correct. A person’s social position is ascribed: children take the position of their parents, and within the caste system birth dictates occupational opportunities. Endogamy keeps these unequal positions fixed over generations.
(C) use of a purity-pollution scale Correct. The caste system is justified in terms of the opposition of purity and pollution, with the Brahmins treated as the most superior and Dalits as the most inferior by birth and occupation. Untouchability punishes the castes at the bottom of this scale.
(D) legislations to increase OBC reservation Incorrect. Reservation laws are steps taken by the state to fight caste inequality, giving backward groups a share in education and jobs. They are a remedy for discrimination, not a part of its nature.
NCERT (2025-26): “Social Inequality … Sociologists use the term social stratification to refer to a system by which categories of people in a society are ranked in a hierarchy. This hierarchy then shapes people’s identity and experiences, their relations with others, as well as their access to resources and opportunities. Three key principles help explain social stratification:” “1. Social stratification is a characteristic of society, not simply a function of individual differences. Social stratification is a society-wide system that unequally distributes social resources among categories of people. In the most technologically primitive societies – hunting and gathering societies, for instance – little was produced so only rudimentary social stratification could exist. In more technologically advanced societies where people produce a surplus over and above their basic needs, however, social resources are unequally distributed to various social categories regardless of people’s innate individual abilities.…” “2. Social stratification persists over generations. It is closely linked to the family and to the inheritance of social resources from one generation to the next. A person’s social position is ascribed. That is, children assume the social positions of their parents. Within the caste system, birth dictates occupational opportunities. The ascribed aspect of social inequality is reinforced by the practice of endogamy. That is, marriage is usually restricted to members of the same caste, ruling out the potential for blurring caste lines through inter-caste marriage.” “3. Social stratification is supported by patterns of belief, or ideology. No system of social stratification is likely to persist over generations unless it is widely viewed as being either fair or inevitable. The caste system, for example, is justified in terms of the opposition of purity and pollution, with the Brahmins designated as the most superior and Dalits as the most inferior by virtue of their birth and occupation.…” |