Given below are two statements: one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other is labelled as Reason (R).
Assertion (A): The Indian constitution abolished the practice of Untouchability.
Reason (R): The Government passed laws to that effect in the 1960s and 1970s.
In the light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Both (A) and (R) are correct but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A)
Assertion (A): The Indian constitution abolished the practice of Untouchability. True. The Constitution abolished the practice of untouchability, as part of its guarantees of equality and justice.
Reason (R): The Government passed laws to that effect in the 1960s and 1970s. True. The government passed laws to that effect in the 1960s and 1970s.
Why R does not explain A: The laws came two or three decades after the Constitution, to give effect to the abolition it had already made. They tell what the government did later; they do not say why the Constitution abolished untouchability. So (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
Note: This question is taken from the chapter ‘Rise of Popular Movements’ which was there in the pre-rationalised NCERT and has been deleted from subsequent editions of NCERT, including the NCERT book (2026-27).
NCERT (Pre-rationalised): “Origins … In the post-Independence period, Dalit groups were mainly fighting against the perpetual caste based inequalities and material injustices that the Dalits faced in spite of constitutional guarantees of equality and justice. Effective implementation of reservations and other such policies of social justice was one of their prominent demands. You know that the Indian Constitution abolished the practice of untouchability. The government passed laws to that effect in the 1960s and 1970s.…” |