Read the passage and answer the questions:
Charkha
What I object to, is the craze for machinery as such. The craze is for what they call labour-saving machinery. Men go on “saving labour”, till thousands are without work and thrown on the open streets to die of starvation. I want to save time and labour, not for a fraction of mankind, but for all; I want the concentration of wealth, not in the hands of few, but in the hands of all.
YOUNG INDIA, 13 NOVEMBER 1924
Khaddar does not seek to destroy all machinery but it does regulate its use and check its weedy growth. It uses machinery for the service of the poorest in their own cottages. The wheel is itself an exquisite piece of machinery.
YOUNG INDIA, 17 MARCH 1927
What is the writer opposing in the passage?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Mindless craze for machinery
The passage opens: ‘What I object to, is the craze for machinery as such.’ The writer does not oppose all machinery; khaddar, he says, only regulates its use and checks its ‘weedy growth’.
Option (1) Quest for modernisation — Incorrect. He does not object to modernisation as a whole; he objects to the blind rush for machines that throw people out of work.
Option (2) Setting up of factories — Incorrect. Factories are not mentioned; the passage speaks of labour-saving machinery in general.
Option (3) Changing trends in modern times — Incorrect. This is too vague; the writer names one thing he objects to, the craze for machinery.
Option (4) Mindless craze for machinery — Correct. This is what he says in his first sentence.
NCERT: Themes in Indian History Part III — Chapter 11: Mahatma Gandhi and the Nationalist Movement (2026-27)
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