Recent years have seen a great focus on making Indian cities global cities. For urban planners and dreamers, Mumbai urgently needs north-south and east-west connectivity. Towards this, they argue for the need to construct an 'express ring freeway' to circle the city 'such that a freeway can be accessed from any point in the city in less than 10 minutes'. 'Quick entry and exit', and 'efficient traffic dispersal' are seen as critical to the smooth functioning of the city...
For the less privileged the streets have a different role to play. They are more than freeways of connectivity. Streets, for good or bad, all too often become effectively bazaars, and meals combining the different purposes of pilgrimage, recreation (transportation) and economic exchange. As people blur the boundaries between public and private space by living on the street, buying and selling, eating, drinking tea, playing cricket or even just standing, urban planners point to how these activities impeded traffic and cause congestion.
In order to decongest, poor people are shifted to the outskirts. In the Vision Mumbai document prepared by the private consultancy from McKinsey...mass housing for the poor is being planned in the salt pan lands outside the city. What happens to their livelihood? The long quote below captures the voice of the poor.
"We are in fact human earthmovers and tractors. We levelled the land first. We have contributed to the city. We carry your shit out of the city. I don't see citizens' groups dredging sewers and digging roads. The city is not for the rich only. We need each other. I don't beg. I wash your clothes. Women can go to work because we are there to look after their children. The staff in Mantralaya, the collectorate, the BMC, even the police live in slums. Because we are there, women can walk safely at night...Groups such as Bombay First talk about Mumbai a world class city. How can it be a world-class city without a place for its poor? (Anand 2006: 3422)
Identify the organisation that is formed towards achieving legitimate control of government through the electoral process.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Political parties
Option (1) Interest groups — Incorrect. Interest groups are organised to pursue specific interests in the political arena, and they work mainly by lobbying the members of legislative bodies. They try to influence those who govern; they do not seek to take control of the government themselves.
Option (2) N.G.Os — Incorrect. A non-governmental organisation (NGO) is a voluntary body formed by citizens. It is part of civil society, which is neither state-controlled nor run for profit. An NGO takes up issues and draws the government’s attention to them, but it does not contest elections to run the government.
Option (3) Pressure groups — Incorrect. When some groups feel that their interests are not being taken up by the parties, they form pressure groups that lobby with the government. They press the government from outside; winning power through elections is not their aim.
Option (4) Political parties — Correct. In a democracy political parties are key actors. A political party is an organisation oriented towards achieving legitimate control of government through an electoral process. It is set up to win governmental power and to use that power to pursue a specific programme, based on its own understanding of how society ought to be.
Note: The chapter ‘The Story of Indian Democracy’ of the pre-rationalised NCERT, which NTA followed in 2023, has been renamed ‘The Constitution and Social Change’ in the NCERT book (2025-26). Its section on political parties, pressure and interest groups is still there.
NCERT: Social Change and Development in India — Chapter 3: The Constitution and Social Change, 3.2 Political Parties, Pressure and Interest Groups in Democratic Politics (2025-26)
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