In a hill district of Country Y, the Tanu, a small community, had for generations gathered food in the woods, grazed cattle on the slopes and drawn their living from the streams under rules set by their own elders. A new law placed all of these under a department of the central government, and outsiders were given permits to use them. A public notice issued by the government explained, in a single phrase, what the woods, slopes and streams had now become.
Going by the report's list, the phrase in the government notice would describe the woods, slopes and streams as:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → 'national resources'
Option (1) 'public property' — Incorrect. Public property means anything owned by a public body for common use, such as roads or parks. This phrase does not appear in the report's list of nation-building moves, so it cannot be the phrase in the notice.
Option (2) 'national resources' — Correct. The UNDP report lists, among assimilationist and integrationist strategies, the seizure of lands, forests and fisheries from minority groups and indigenous people and declaring them national resources. The Tanu's woods, slopes and streams taken over by a central department fit this move.
Option (3) 'reserved areas' — Incorrect. Reserved areas means land set aside and protected for a special group or for wildlife. The Tanu lost their woods, slopes and streams to a central department and to outsiders, so nothing was set aside for them.
Option (4) 'state assets' — Incorrect. State assets means property the government owns and may use or sell. This phrase is absent from the report's list, which ties the seizure of minority lands to building one national identity.
NCERT (2026-27): “Communities, Nations and Nation-States … |