Political Science Test - 10

The correct answer is Tehri Garhwal.

Key Points

• Chipko Andolan:
  • It was a non-violent movement that started in the year 1973 in the Chamoli district of Uttar Pradesh (now Uttarakhand).
  • The movement got its name 'Chipko' because of the 'hugging of trees', as the trees were embraced by the villagers during the movement.
  • To protect the trees from being cut, a human circle was built around them.

Additional Information

• Sunderlal Bahuguna started the Chipko movement to protect the trees of the Himalayas.
  • He is known for coining the slogan of Chipko 'Eco is a sustainable economy.
  • He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in the year 2009.
• The Western Ghats -
  • The mountain range situated on the western coast of India is called the Western Ghats or Sahyadri.
• ​The Eastern Ghats extend from West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu.

The correct answer is Andhra Pradesh.

Key Points

• The anti-arrack movement started in the Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh in 1992 and quickly spread to other parts of the state.
• The poor rural women of the district started the movement as a fight against arrack(liquor) but it soon turned into a full-fledged women's movement.
• Arrack is rectified spirit, which is obtained by distilling fermented molasses.

Ms.MedhaPatkar is associated with the SardarSarovar Project.

• MedhaPatkar has been a central organizer and strategist for Narmada BachaoAndolan (NBA).
• NBA is a people’s movement organized to stop the construction of a series of dams planned for India’s largest westward flowing river, the Narmada. 
• Through the NBA, Patkar sought help for those rendered homeless and without livelihoods because of the construction of the SardarSarovar and other large dams along the Narmada.
• MedhaPatkar is a graduate in social work from TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences), a premier institute of social science research in India.
• She moved to live among the tribals of the Narmada Valley in the mid-1980s and alerted them to the fate that awaited them with the dams.
• In 1985, Patkar began mobilizing massive marches and rallies against the project and, though the protests were peaceful, was repeatedly beaten and arrested by the police.
• She almost died during a 22-day hunger strike in 1991.

The Correct Answer is Option 4 i.e Ashok Mehta, T.S. Ramanjuam and G.G. Mehta.

• The Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) is a National Trade Union Centre in India.
• It was founded in West Bengal in 1948.
• Its founders included Basawan Singh (Sinha), Ashok Mehta, R.S. Ruikar, Mani Benkara, Shibnath Benerajee, R.K. Khedgikar, T.S. Ramanujam, VS. Mathur, G.G. Mehta.
• Mr. R.S. Ruikar was elected President and Ashok Mehta as its General Secretary.
• The HMS absorbed the Royists Indian Federation of Labour and the Socialist Hind Mazdoor Panchayat.

The correct answer is Karnataka.

Key Points

• The Appiko Movement, a movement similar to the Chipko Movement, was begun in September 1983 by the representatives of a Yuvak Mandali to protect the Western Ghats in Southwest India.
• The protest within the forest continued for 38 days and finally, the felling orders were abolished.
• The success of this agitation spread to other places and the movement has now been started in eight areas covering the entire Sirsi forest division in Uttara Kannada and Shimoga districts.

Important Points

• Objectives:
  • The movement’s objectives can be classified into three major areas.
  • First, the Appiko Movement is struggling to save the remaining tropical forests in the Western Ghats.
  • Second, it is making a modest attempt to revive the greenery in deforested areas.
  • Third, it is striving to propagate the idea of rational utilization to reduce the pressure on forest resources.
  • To save, to grow, and to use rationally – popularly known in Kannada as Ubsu (“save”), Belesu (“grow”), and Balasu (“rational use”) – is the movement’s popular slogan.
  • The Appiko Movement uses several techniques to raise awareness: foot marches in the interior forests, folk dances, street plays, and so on.

Pressure groups are organisations that attempt to influence government policies. These organisations are formed when people with common occupations, interests, aspirations and opinions come together in order to achieve a common objective.

Important Points

Pressure groups and movements have deepened democracy in the following manner:

• Pressure groups and movements can easily put pressure on the government to pay attention to them.
• The government can often bend under high pressure from a small group of rich and powerful people.
• Putting pressure on the rulers is not an unhealthy activity in a democracy as long as everyone gets this opportunity.
• Governments can often come under undue pressure from a small group of rich and powerful people.
• Public interest groups and movements perform a useful role in countering this undue influence and reminding the government of the needs and concerns of ordinary citizens.

Thus, option 2 is the correct answer.

Additional Information

Pressure groups and movements exert influence on politics in a variety of ways:

• They try to gain public support and sympathy for their goals and their activities by carrying out information campaigns, organising meetings, filing petitions, etc. 
• They often organise protest activities like strikes or disrupting government programmes. 
• Business groups often employ professional lobbyists or sponsor expensive advertisements. Some persons from pressure groups or movement groups may participate in official bodies and committees that offer advice to the government.
• In some instances, the pressure groups are either formed or led by the leaders of political parties or act as extended arms of political parties. 
• Sometimes political parties grow out of movements.
  • For example, when the Assam movement led by students against the ‘foreigners’ came to an end, it led to the formation of the Asom Gana Parishad.
  • The roots of parties like the DMK and the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu can be traced to a long-drawn social reform movement during the 1930s and 1940s.
• In most cases, the relationship between parties and interest or movement groups is not so direct.
  • They often take positions that are opposed to each other.
  • Yet they are in dialogue and negotiation.
  • Movement groups have raised new issues that have been taken up by political parties.
  • Most of the new leadership of political parties comes from interest or movement groups. 

The correct answer is Option 3.

 Key Points

• Mahendra Singh Tikait was a renowned farmer leader from Uttar Pradesh. He was instrumental in spearheading several movements in the interest of farmers.

Bharatiya Kisan Union(BKU) 

• Bharatiya Kisan Union(BKU) was Formed by Mahendra Singh Tikait on 17 October 1986, Bhartiya Kisan Union, or BKU is a non-political farmers' organization that succeeded Punjab Khetibari Union (PKU), founded by Chaudhary Charan Singh in 1978.
• The organization was formed to counter farmers' oppression in the country. Here is a backstory of how Mahendra Singh Tikait was elected as the president of BKU. In the year 1986, farmers from all over Uttar Pradesh were agitated against the hike in electricity tariffs. They also demanded a waiver of water and electricity dues, higher remunerative prices for sugarcane produce, fair prices of crops, etc.
• The need for a farmers' organization was then realized as they were unable to pressurize the state government to meet their demands. On 17 October 1986, a maha panchayat was held in Sisauli, which was attended by several Khap heads and thousands of peasants and peasant representatives belonging to all castes and religions. Consecutively, Chaudhary Mahendra Singh Tikait was unanimously given the command of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) as its national president. 
• Recently BKU has also garnered attention for its proactive role in protests against the so-called 'Black Farm Laws' during 2020-21.

Bishnoi movement was started against cutting of trees in 1730 when Amrita Devi, a member of the sect inspired 362 other Bishnois die in protest of the cutting down of Khejri trees.

The correct answer is option 1, i.e. Chipko Revolution - Tamil Nadu.

• Sunderlal Bahuguna is a prominent environmentalist from Garhwali, and member of the Chipko movement.
• The idea of the Chipko movement was of his wife and he took the action.
• He has been fighting for forest protection in the Himalayas for years, first as a leader of the Chipko movement in the 1970s, and then led the Anti-Tehri Dam campaign from the 1980s until early 2004.
• The Chipko movement was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 1987 "for its commitment to conserving, preserving and ecologically sustainable use of the natural resources of India."
• Chipko-type movements date back to 1730 AD when 363 Bishnois sacrificed their lives in the village of Prasanna Khamkar in Rajasthan to save the Khejri trees.

The Mandal Commission, officially known as the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Commission (SEBC), was set up on 1st January 1979 by the Indian Government under the then Prime Minister Morarji Desai.

• It was established with a mandate to "identify the socially or educationally backward classes" of India.
• The decision was based on a report submitted on 31 December 1980 that recommended reservations for OBCs not just in government jobs but also in central educational institutions.
• The recommendation was chaired by B.P. Mandal.