Read the passage and answer the following questions.
'Dominant caste' is a term used to refer to those castes which had a large population and were granted land rights by the partial land reforms effected after independence.
Examples of such dominant caste include Yadavs of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the Vokkaligas of Karnataka, the Reddys and Khammas of Andhra Pradesh, the Marathas of Maharashtra, the Jats of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh and Patidars of Gujrat.
One of the most significant yet paradoxical changes in the caste system in the contemporary period is that it has tended to become 'invisible' for the upper caste, urban middle and upper classes. For these groups, who have benefitted the most from the developmental policies of the post colonial era, caste has appeared to decline in significance precisely because has done its job so well. Their caste status had been crucial in ensuring that these groups had the......
Which among these gave legal recognition to the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → The Government of India Act of 1935
Option (2) The Government of India Act of 1935 — Correct. Towards the end of the colonial period the administration took an interest in the welfare of the ‘depressed classes’. As part of these efforts, the Government of India Act of 1935 gave legal recognition to the lists or ‘schedules’ of castes and tribes marked out for special treatment by the state. That is how the terms ‘Scheduled Castes’ and ‘Scheduled Tribes’ came into being.
Note: The passage of Q6-Q10 is taken from the NCERT chapter ‘Social Institutions: Continuity and Change’, the section ‘Caste and the Caste System’. Read this section closely; its paragraphs on caste in the colonial and post-colonial periods carried five questions.
NCERT (2025-26): “Colonialism and Caste … The administration also took an interest in the welfare of downtrodden castes, referred to as the ‘depressed classes’ at that time. It was as part of these efforts that the Government of India Act of 1935 was passed which gave legal recognition to the lists or ‘schedules’ of castes and tribes marked out for special treatment by the state. This is how the terms ‘Scheduled Tribes’ and the ‘Scheduled Castes’ came into being. Castes at the bottom of the hierarchy that suffered severe discrimination, including all the so-called ‘untouchable’ castes, were included among the Scheduled Castes.…” |