Which of the following is an example of 'Civil society'?
A. Private media institutions
B. Doordarshan
C. Trade Unions
D. Car Manufacturing Company
E. Non-Government Organisations
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → A, C, and E only
A. Private media institutions Correct. Civil society is the non-state and non-market part of the public domain, where citizens get together voluntarily to form organisations, and media institutions are part of it. A private channel is not controlled by the state.
B. Doordarshan Incorrect. An organisation is part of civil society only if it is not state-controlled. Doordarshan is the state-owned broadcaster, so it is left out.
C. Trade Unions Correct. Workers form trade unions voluntarily to pursue their collective interests.
D. Car Manufacturing Company Incorrect. The second test is that the organisation is not a purely commercial profit-making entity. A car company exists to make profit, so it is not part of civil society, though the trade union its workers belong to is.
E. Non-Government Organisations Correct. NGOs are voluntary associations of citizens that take up social issues.
Note: The lines that give Doordarshan and a car manufacturing company as examples, in the section ‘State and Civil Society’ of the chapter ‘The Challenges of Cultural Diversity’, were there in the pre-rationalised NCERT, which NTA followed in 2023. These lines have been deleted from the NCERT book (2025-26), though the definition of civil society and its two criteria are still there.
NCERT (2025-26): “6.4 State and Civil Society … Civil society is the name given to the broad arena which lies beyond the private domain of the family, but outside the domain of both state and market. Civil society is the non-state and non-market part of the public domain in which individuals get together voluntarily to create institutions and organisations. It is the sphere of active citizenship: here, individuals take up social issues, try to influence the state or make demands on it, pursue their collective interests or seek support for a variety of causes.…” “…It includes political parties, media institutions, trade unions, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), religious organisations, and other kinds of collective entities. The main criteria for inclusion in civil society are that the organisation should not be state-controlled, and it should not be a purely commercial profit-making entity.” NCERT (Pre-rationalised): “6.4 State and Civil Society … Thus, Doordarshan is not part of civil society though private television channels are; a car manufacturing company is not part of civil society but the trade unions to which its workers belong are.…” |