Social Science

Social and Political Life – II

Textbook for Class VII

2020-21
 ISBN 81-7450-672-1
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2020-21
Foreword
The National Curriculum Framework (NCF), 2005, recommends that children’s
life at school must be linked to their life outside the school. This principle marks
a departure from the legacy of bookish learning which continues to shape our
system and causes a gap between the school, home and community. The syllabi
and textbooks developed on the basis of NCF signify an attempt to implement this
basic idea. They also attempt to discourage rote learning and the maintenance of
sharp boundaries between different subject areas. We hope these measures will
take us significantly further in the direction of a child-centred system of education
outlined in the National Policy on Education (1986).

The success of this effort depends on the steps that school principals and
teachers will take to encourage children to reflect on their own learning and to
pursue imaginative activities and questions. We must recognise that given space,
time and freedom, children generate new knowledge by engaging with the
information passed on to them by adults. Treating the prescribed textbook as the
sole basis of examination is one of the key reasons why other resources and sites
of learning are ignored. Inculcating creativity and initiative is possible if we perceive
and treat children as participants in learning, not as receivers of a fixed body of
knowledge.

These aims imply considerable change in school routines and mode of

functioning. Flexibility in the daily timetable is as necessary as rigour in
implementing the annual calendar so that the required number of teaching days
is actually devoted to teaching. The methods used for teaching and evaluation
will also determine how effective this textbook proves for making children’s life at
school a happy experience, rather than a source of stress or boredom. Syllabus
designers have tried to address the problem of curricular burden by restructuring
and reorienting knowledge at different stages with greater consideration for child
psychology and the time available for teaching. The textbook attempts to enhance
this endeavour by giving higher priority and space to opportunities for
contemplation and wondering, discussion in small groups, and activities requiring
hands-on experience.

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)

appreciates the hard work done by the textbook development committee responsible
for this book. We wish to thank the Chairperson of the advisory group in Social
Sciences, Professor Hari Vasudevan, the Chief Advisor, Sarada Balagopalan and
the Advisor, Arvind Sardana for guiding the work of this committee. Several
teachers contributed to the development of this textbook; we are grateful to their
principals for making this possible. We are indebted to the institutions and
organisations which have generously permitted us to draw upon their resources,

2020-21
 material and personnel. We are especially grateful to the members of the
National Monitoring Committee, appointed by the Department of Secondary
and Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resources Development under
the Chairpersonship of Professor Mrinal Miri and Professor G.P. Deshpande,
for their valuable time and contribution. As an organisation committed to
systemic reform and continuous improvement in the quality of its products,
NCERT welcomes comments and suggestions which will enable us to
undertake further revision and refinement.

Director
New Delhi National Council of Educational
20 November 2006 Research and Training

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Textbook Development Committee
CHAIRPERSON, ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR SOCIAL SCIENCE TEXTBOOKS AT THE UPPER
PRIMARY LEVEL
Hari Vasudevan, Professor, Department of History, University of Calcutta, Kolkata

CHIEF ADVISOR
Sarada Balagopalan, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Rajpur
Road, Delhi

ADVISOR
Arvind Sardana, Eklavya–Institute for Educational Research and Innovative
Action, Madhya Pradesh

MEMBERS
Anjali Monteiro, Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai
Anjali Noronha, Eklavya – Institute for Educational Research and Innovative
Action, Madhya Pradesh
Anuradha Sen, H-701, Som Vihar, R.K. Puram, New Delhi
Dipta Bhog, Nirantar – Centre for Gender and Education, New Delhi
Krishna Menon, Reader, Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi
Latika Gupta, Consultant, Department of Elementary Education (DEE), NCERT
M.V. Srinivasan, Lecturer, Department of Education in Social Sciences and
Humanities (DESSH), NCERT
Malini Ghose, Nirantar – Centre for Gender and Education, New Delhi
Mary E. John, Director, Centre for Women’s Development Studies (CWDS),
New Delhi
N.B. Sarojini, Sama – Resource Group for Women and Health, New Delhi
Rangan Chakravarty, A 4/7, Golf Green Urban Complex, Phase 1, Kolkata
Sanjay Dubey, Reader, DESSH, NCERT
Shobha Bajpai, Government Middle School, Uda, District Harda, Madhya Pradesh
Sukanya Bose, Eklavya Research Fellow, 66 F Sector 8, Jasola Vihar, New Delhi

MEMBER-COORDINATOR
Malla V.S.V. Prasad, Lecturer, DESSH, NCERT

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Acknowledgements
This book has benefited from its association with M. Quraishy at SARAI also extended his help
several individuals and institutions. These when required and we thank him for this.
include Poonam Batra, Piu Dutt, S. Mohinder and
Aditya Nigam who read most of the chapters in The photographs that this book uses were
the book and gave us helpful feedback. In addition, procured from various sources and we are deeply
Rajeev Bhargav, Kaushik Ghosh, Anu Gupta, grateful to all these institutions and individuals.
Sunil and A.V. Ramani discussed ideas and The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)
commented on particular chapters. V.Geetha was was more than generous with their photographs
gracious in agreeing to read all of the chapters and Amit Shankar and Anil with their time.
and her extensive comments have enriched Outlook Magazine also shared with us, at very
this book substantially. Anjali Monteiro and short notice, photos from their archives. Sheeba
S. Shankar shared with us their ideas on the
Chacchi provided us with her photos for the
media at different stages and helped us expand
photo-essay on the women’s movement. Salil
upon that particular chapter in meaningful ways.
Chaturvedi and Shahid Datawala helped provide
appropriate images from their collection.
Tultul Biswas helped us in finding an
appropriate poem for our last chapter and Vinay Mahesh Basadia provided us with photos of the
Mahajan was gracious in allowing us to use this. Tawa Matsya Sangh (TMS) and the Mahila
Sanchira Biswas and Dipta Bhog translated this Balvikas Department at Dewas gave us the
poem into English while Ravikant assisted in image of the Anganwadi. Harsh Man Rai and Baji
finalising this translation. Smriti Vohra also Rao Pawar also contributed their photos as well
agreed to do some last minute editing without as helped click new photos that we needed. M.V.
realising how much she had taken on, and we Srinivasan helped with coordinating the photos
thank her for her time and careful editing. from Erode. We thank Navdanya for some of the
Similar to his role in the Class VI book, Alex images used for the collage on health. Sarada
George has been of significant help with his Balagopalan also helped click some of the images
insights, ideas and information. Urvashi Butalia used in this book.
continues to be generous with her time and
willingness to serve as editor, thereby ensuring The passion and patience that Orijit Sen and
that this text has gained from her perceptive Salil Chaturvedi have invested as the main
reading. illustrator and designer of this book can be seen
in every page, and we thank them for this.
We thank Zubaan for allowing us to use poster
images from their book Poster Women: A Visual Eklavya played a crucial role in the translation
History of the Women’s Movement in India. We of this book into Hindi and we would, in
would also like to thank Trimurti Films Private particular, like to thank Rashmi Paliwal for her
Ltd. for allowing the use of the Deewar clip. supervision of the process and Tultul Biswas for
Partners For Law and Development graciously
helping facilitate this.
allowed us to use their image on page 63. The
Principal, teachers and students of Class VI B at
Several institutions have played a key role in
the Kendriya Vidyalaya II at Hindon, Ghaziabad
readily agreed to work on the wallpaper and the not only being understanding about our pre-
collage that we have used in the book and were occupation with this book but in actively assisting
kind in allowing us to photograph this as well. its development in numerous ways. The Centre
We would also like to thank Geetanjali, Sr. PRO, for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS),
Northern Railway, for the public advertisement Eklavya, Nirantar, Centre for Women’s
and the UNDP India for the material about the Development Studies (CWDS) and Sama have
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). been generous in their support.

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Introductory note for teachers
There is a substantial difference between Civics
and Social and Political Life, not only in terms of
the topics covered but also in the pedagogic
approaches required in each subject area.
Keeping these in mind, this Introduction
attempts to clarify certain aspects of Social and
Political Life.

What is Social and Political Life?

Social and Political Life (SPL) is a new subject

area in middle school social science that has
replaced the earlier subject of Civics. The
National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005
strongly argues that Civics should be
discontinued and its focus on government
institutions and functioning should be tempered
in the new subject that replaces it. SPL, as its
name suggests, focuses on topics related to
social, political and economic life in
contemporary India. Case studies and narratives used in SPL
are a mix of rural and urban examples.
What pedagogical
approach does SPL use?

SPL’s use of ‘real-life’ situations is a marked

departure from Civics. SPL uses these real there is a wrong answer. Teachers should try to
situations to teach concepts because it recognises gauge whether an answer to a question
that children learn best through concrete adequately reflects the learner’s understanding
experiences. It uses material that draws upon of the concept being discussed.
the experiential understanding of familial and
social issues that middle school children bring Given that children learn best through
to the classroom. SPL further develops the understanding and applying concepts to
learner’s abilities to critically understand and local realities, can a ‘national’ textbook
analyse these issues in keeping with the tenets adequately reflect the many ‘locals’ that
of the Indian Constitution. make up the nation?
This pedagogical approach tends to avoid the SPL functions by the pedagogic principle that
use of definitions to sum up a concept. Instead, children learn best through an experiential
it uses case studies and narratives to explain understanding of concepts. This poses a
concepts. The concepts embedded within the contradiction when the effort is to write a
narratives are made clear through the in-text ‘national’ textbook, because a national text can
and end-text questions. The aim is to have the neither sufficiently represent all the various
learner understand the concept through their aspects of the various locals, nor fix the
own experiences and write about it in their own sociocultural background of the child for whom
words. the book is intended. Therefore, the case studies
and narratives used in SPL are a mix of rural
This often means that there is seldom one and urban examples in which the assumed
‘correct’ answer to the questions posed. However learner is not easily discernible.

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 always only discussed the ideal and seldom
deliberated upon the reality that was very
different. Since the learner is already aware of
such realities, to avoid discussing them would
make the learning of social and political concepts
didactic and disconnected. Instead, SPL uses this
embedded awareness to make the learner
understand and accept not only the legitimacy
but also the urgency of the values enshrined in
the Constitution. Additionally, this approach
allows the learner to understand the role of
The SPL text specifically names people’s struggles in the realisation of these
communities, for example, Dalit, Muslim, values.
poor, etc. SPL counts on the teacher to What are the issues included in the
transact the material with a firm Class VII textbook?
committment to respecting the dignity
of all students. The theme for the Class VII grade book is the
crucial role that equality plays in Indian
democracy. This theme also serves as one of the
In addition to the important job of Units in addition to which the book has four more
transacting the text, what crucial role Units. These include Health and State
does SPL expect teachers to play in the Government; Gender; Media; and Markets.
classroom? Units 2, 3 and 5 consist of two consecutive
chapters, except in the case of the first Unit in
SPL counts on the teacher to play a very which they make up the first and the concluding
significant role in the classroom for the following chapters of the text.
reasons. First, the SPL text specifically names
communities (for example: Dalit, Muslim, poor What elements does the Class VII book
etc.) in its discussion of various issues and this utilise to explain selected issues?
may lead to some discomfort in a classroom that
has a student population from different ◆ Storyboards: One component of the feedback
sociocultural and (perhaps) economic regarding Class VI book (Social and Political Life-I)
backgrounds. We expect the teacher to play a was that teachers needed more assistance in
crucial role in transacting this material with a understanding where fictional narratives began
sensitivity and firm commitment to respecting the and ended and in identifying the central concepts
dignity of all students in the classroom and the
school. Second, given the limited ability of this
‘national’ text to engage the local we also envision
the teacher playing a major role in adding local
examples to the discussion of concepts, provided The house looks like it Did you expect it to remain in exactly
these remain true to the logic and understanding was hit by a hurricane! the same condition in which you left
it this morning, dear?
of each concept as intended by the book’s
authors.

How does the SPL help the learner

assimilate the values enshrined in the
Constitution?

At first glance it might appear to some that unlike

Civics, SPL’s focus on ‘real’ examples contradicts
the tenets of the Constitution. Such a focus,
however, is a technique utilised in SPL in
response to a critique of Civics textbooks that

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within these. With this in mind, this year’s book
introduces storyboards to clearly indicate which
segments have been fictionalised, and to draw
the learner into the narrative through the use of
visuals that are often more expressive than lines
of text. Specific concepts raised through the
storyboards are analysed in the accompanying
text.

◆ Unit Pages: Each Unit begins with a Unit Page

for teachers to help highlight the main points
raised in the chapters.

◆ Note on Evaluation: As with the Class VI text,

this book does not contain definitions or a
synthesis of concepts. While we recognise that
this makes it difficult for teachers to evaluate
what the child has learnt, our attempt is also to
try and shift some of the understanding amongst
teachers on what children are expected to learn
and how such learning should be evaluated. This
book contains a short note on evaluation
procedures that we hope will assist teachers in
their efforts to move students away from rote
learning.

◆ Glossary: The inclusion of a Glossary with

each chapter is intended to offer the learner
greater clarity on the language used in the text.
The words of the Glossary are NOT limited to
concepts, and it should not be viewed as
something to be memorised with the expectation
that such rote learning will contribute to
conceptual understanding.

◆ In-text and End-text Questions: As with the

Class VI text, this year’s book includes in-text
and end-text questions, making use of visual
material and experiential analysis. In-text
questions found within the text can be used to
assess the extent to which content has been
assimilated. End-text questions usually cover
the main concepts raised by the chapter and ask
learners to explain these in their own words.

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 Teacher’s note on evaluation
Rethinking the ways in which we evaluate learning is a difficult task but one that
this new subject area requires. Over the years our evaluation system has for the
most part rewarded students who learnt by rote. This involuntarily encouraged
many teachers to mark or underline the answers in the text and in this way a
vicious cycle in which each reinforced the other, was produced. It is this system
that needs to be changed to relieve both the teacher and the student. Teachers
will play a significant role in changing evaluation and this note is an effort in
this direction.

On questions

Teachers need to begin by insisting that evaluation be based on ‘new’ questions. These will be similar
to the ones used in the text, but not the same. Students will be expected to answer these questions
in their own words. The confidence to do this needs to be built in the students and language corrections
should, therefore, be tactful and gentle.

Teachers will also need to design a variety of questions that cover a range of skills. Questions that
demand recalling information by rote should be minimal. Instead, there needs to be different kinds of
questions based on the main conceptual ideas of each chapter. Some may be designed to draw upon
the learner’s ability to reason; to compare and contrast experiences; and to infer and extrapolate
from situations provided.

The following are some examples taken from this text to explain the above:

Ability to reason

These questions aim to gauge the extent to which the learner has understood the concepts
included in the chapter and is able to articulate its main ideas in their own words as well as
apply these to different contexts. Examples of this include:

What do you understand by the Can you list two ways in which
term, “all persons are equal you feel that advertising effects
before the law”? Why do you issues of equality in a
think it is important in a democracy?
democracy?

Why should the decisions taken How do you think your

by the Chief Minister and other neighbourhood shop gets its
ministers be debated in the goods? Find out and explain
Legislative Assembly? with some examples.

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Compare and contrast experiences

These questions require the learner to draw upon the main ideas in the text by comparing and
contrasting concrete situations. These questions often involve the child’s own experiences.
Examples of this include:

What is the difference between the

work that MLAs do in the
Assembly and the work done by
What differences do you find between
government departments?
private and public health services in
your area? Use the following table to
In what ways do the experiences
write about these.
of Samoan children and teenagers
differ from your own experiences
Facility Cost of services Availability of service
of growing up? Is there anything
described in this experience that
Private
you wish were part of your
growing up? Public

Compare the earnings per shirt of

the worker in the garment factory,
the garment exporter and the
shop-owner in the US. What do
you find?

Infer and extrapolate from situations

This type of question is important to SPL because of the extensive use of narratives to explain
concepts as well as the constant reference to the learner’s own experiences. It is these questions
that link the narrative to the underlying concept. The learner’s ability to understand the
narrative as well as its explication of the concept can be gauged through these questions.

Why do you think Omprakash In India it is often said that we

Valmiki was treated unequally are unable to provide health
by his teacher? Imagine yourself services for all because the
as Omprakash Valmiki and write government does not have
four lines about how you would enough money and facilities.
feel if you were in the above After reading the left hand
situation? column above do you think
that this is true? Discuss.
Were Harmeet and Shonali
correct in saying that Harmeet’s What does this ad want me to
mother did not work? feel when I use this brand?

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 Interpreting visual material

Similarly students should have an opportunity to read and interpret visual material. Hence
there should be questions based on pictures, tables, flowcharts, etc.

Look at the photograph and think about

the boy who is being carried down the
stairs. Do you think the above law is being
1
implemented in his case? What needs to
be done to make the building more
accessible for him? How would his being
carried down the stairs affect his dignity
as well as his safety?

2 3
Can you give this diagram a title? What The shirt below shows the profit
do you understand about the link made by the businessperson, and the
between media and big business from various costs that he had to pay. Find
this diagram? out from the diagram below, what
the cost price includes.
BIG BUSINESS HOUSES

Some own
radio, TV,
newspaper

People buy
Profit
advertise products seen ` 900
their in the media.
products Money,
therefore,
flows back to
big business
houses Advertising
` 400

Storage
` 200
Purchase
MEDIA ` 300

promotes
products through
READERS,
advertisements VIEWERS,
LISTENERS

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On answers

Since the learner is being asked to write in their own words teachers will need to stop expecting
‘exact’ responses. Instead, the learner should be encouraged to state in their own words their
understanding of the material and concepts they’ve read. Their comprehension, ability to soundly
reason and communicate their ideas is what needs to be evaluated.

It would also be fair to expect a range of correct answers when the learner is asked to think
through a particular narrative situation and apply the underlying concept. It is crucial that teachers
discuss a common evaluation scheme that helps them distinguish between the range of correct
answers as well as more crucially identify wrong answers.

An example of what we mean by a range of responses to a question, as well as a wrong answer is

provided below:

If you were one of the Ansaris

how would you have responded
to the property dealer’s
suggestion that you change
your name?

Range of right answers

“If I were one of the Ansaris I would have This is a short, clear answer that indicates good
decided not to change my name because comprehension and ability to communicate ideas.
this would deeply affect my dignity and
self-respect.”

“I would not change my name if I were Here, the learner does not use the word ‘dignity’, but
one of the Ansaris because this is the has understood the concept and is attempting to
name that my family has had for communicate this in her own words.
generations and it would make me feel
bad to say that I was someone else.”

“I will take up the property dealer’s On the face of it, this might appear to be the wrong
suggestion and change my name. I will answer since the learner agrees with the property dealer’s
do this because I am tired of looking for suggestion. If a question has asked for an opinion it could
a flat. I would not like to do so but I need be either way.As long as the learner puts forward a logical
a place to stay.” argument to support their opinion, the answer is right.
This answer shows that they have understood the idea
of the Ansaris’ dignity being affected.

Wrong answer This question is asked as part of the section on

‘Recognising Dignity’ in the text. The learner has not
“If I were one of the Ansaris I will agree been able to make the connection between the
to change my name because this will discrimination and disrespect faced by the Ansaris, and
increase my dignity.” their loss of dignity.

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 Other forms of evaluation

We need to demystify the stress on examinations as the best tool for evaluating the
learner. Rather than wait for alternate evaluation structures to trickle down from the
higher grades, we need to use the learner’s years in middle school to experiment with
other ways of evaluation. For this purpose we need to use different methods, some of
which are briefly discussed below –

◆ Open-book exercises: As the name implies ‘open-book’ is a process in which the

learner is allowed to refer to the textbook while answering a question. Open book
exercises offer children an opportunity to pick out answers without feeling the burden
of “remembering the details”. The learner would be asked to read portions of the text
again with the question in mind. New questions are essential for this exercise.
Questions based on the learner’s ability to infer, extrapolate and apply concepts are
ideal for open-book exercises. Answering the question in the learner’s own words
should be emphasised.

◆ Oral reasoning and comprehension: Children express so much through speaking

and sharing in a classroom. Yet, most often, our current educational system tends to
regard this as ‘useless talk’. Learning from peers and expressing themselves through
the spoken word is something that needs to be encouraged. Oral evaluation exercises
provide an avenue through which to value this. A number of in-text questions in this
book can be answered orally and the teacher should begin this process in the
classroom.

◆ Collective project work: Collective project work is another way to evaluate students.
Preparing a wall-paper is one such example used in the text. The expectations from
these projects should be reasonable and limited to what learners can do on their
own. Project work should be done in the classroom and not as homework. Many end-
text questions in this book can be converted into small projects.

These forms of evaluation help emphasise that learning is continuous and happens
in multiple ways. Evaluation should be designed to enable and encourage this learning
and not be reduced to a filtering mechanism.

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 xv

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 Constitution of India
Part IV A (Article 51 A)

Fundamental Duties
It shall be the duty of every citizen of India —
(a) to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the
National Flag and the National Anthem;
(b) to cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle
for freedom;
(c) to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India;
(d) to defend the country and render national service when called upon to
do so;
(e) to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all
the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or
sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of
women;
(f) to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture;
(g) to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes,
rivers, wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures;
(h) to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and
reform;
(i) to safeguard public property and to abjure violence;
(j) to strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective
activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour
and achievement;
*(k) who is a parent or guardian, to provide opportunities for education to
his child or, as the case may be, ward between the age of six and
fourteen years.

Note: The Article 51A containing Fundamental Duties was inserted by the Constitution
(42nd Amendment) Act, 1976 (with effect from 3 January 1977).
*(k) was inserted by the Constitution (86th Amendment) Act, 2002 (with effect from
1 April 2010).

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Contents

Foreword ........................................................................... iii

Introductory note for teachers .......................................... vii
Teacher’s note on evaluation .............................................. x

Unit One: Equality in Indian Democracy ........................ 2

Chapter 1: On Equality ................................................... 4

Unit Two: State Government ....................................... 16

Chapter 2: Role of the Government in Health ................ 18

Chapter 3: How the State Government Works ................ 30

Unit Three: Gender...................................................... 42

Chapter 4: Growing up as Boys and Girls ...................... 44

Chapter 5: Women Change the World ........................... 54

Unit Four: Media ........................................................ 68

Chapter 6: Understanding Media .................................. 70

Unit Five: Markets ...................................................... 80

Chapter 7: Markets Around Us ...................................... 82

Chapter 8: A Shirt in the Market ................................... 92

Equality in Indian Democracy (continued)

Chapter 9: Struggles for Equality ................................ 102

References .................................................................. 110

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 UNIT
ONE

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Equality in Indian Democracy

Teacher’s note

This Unit introduces the learner to the The second chapter of this Unit is
critical role of equality in democracy, with Chapter 9 of this book. It ties together the
specific reference to India. The Constitution main ideas on equality raised throughout
of India guarantees equality to all citizens. the text. A significant portion of the last
Despite this, the daily lives of people in chapter is devoted to discussing people’s
India are far from equal. Earlier contribution to the fight for equality.
discussions on equality in Civics textbooks This is achieved through focusing on one
most often reiterated certain provisions of social movement as well as highlighting
the Constitution without adequately creative (writings, songs, poems) ways
considering the reality of these in people’s through which people express their
lives. This Unit adopts a different approach. demands for equality.
It discusses the need for equality through
highlighting the inequalities that continue Both chapters aim to help the learner
to be practised and experienced by various understand that equality and democracy
communities. are dynamic and not static concepts. This
dynamism is reflected in the government’s
The first chapter introduces the learner passing of new laws and programmes, and
to Kanta, Omprakash Valmiki and the in people’s movements around various
Ansaris, all of whom experience inequality social and economic issues.
in different ways. It is through their
experiences that we introduce the concept Kanta, Omprakash, the Ansaris, and the
of dignity. The government’s role in passing Tawa Matsya Sangh all have diverse local
laws and instituting policies is discussed equivalents. Local situations should be
to show that commitment to the alleviation used as a practical reference to make the
of existing inequalities is a major part of discussion on underlying concepts more
the work that governments undertake. The relevant and appropriate. A discussion on
chapter also briefly introduces an issue of equality in the classroom requires empathy
inequality in the United States of America as well as a firm commitment on the
to highlight that this is a global phenomenon teacher’s part to ensuring that the dignity
and a feature of many democratic countries. of all learners be respected.

2020-21
CHAPTER

1
Manjit Kaur Teja Singh Girish Rao
Teacher Trader Kanta Devi Sujata Kumari
Student Domestic worker Domestic worker

On election day, Kanta and her friend

Sujata are waiting to cast their votes...

Isn’t it good Suja that we can all vote as

equal citizens of our country? Even Jain
Saheb is standing in the line with us!

Yes!

On Equality
India is a democracy. In the
Class VI book, we looked at
the key elements of a
democratic government.
These include people’s
participation, the
resolution of conflict, and
equality and justice.
I will vote for the
Equality is a key feature of Go on, Kanta – It’s
candidate who has
democracy and influences your turn now.
promised to bring
all aspects of its pipe water to
our area.
functioning. In this chapter
you will read more about
equality – what it is, why it
is important in a
democracy, and whether or
not everyone is equal in
India. Let’s begin by
looking at Kanta’s story.

2020-21
 Gracy Laleng Isaac Laleng Ruksana Mirza Yog Raj Ashok Jain
Abdul Rehman Shabnam Bano Consultant Government officer Media person Unemployed Industrialist
Artisan Housewife

Afterwards...
Gudia has been running fever
and I have to take her to the
We’ll see you hospital...but I will have to finish
later, Kanta. the work at Saheb’s house
first...and ask for some
Yes... advance...
Namaste
Saheb!

At home...

It’s no wonder that Gudia

Here have some of this – falls ill often...the basti is
you’ll feel better. And never cleaned!
when I get back in the
evening, we’ll go to the
hospital, okay?

2020-21
 Make sure to do the
corners properly. Equal right to vote

The story above begins with Kanta standing in line

to cast her vote. Look again at the various people
who are standing in line with her. Kanta recognises
her employer, Ashok Jain and Chotte Lal, her
neighbour. In a democratic country, like India, all
adults irrespective of what religion they belong to,
how much education they have had, what caste they
are, or whether they are rich or poor are allowed to
vote. This, as you have already read in the Class VI
book, is called universal adult franchise and is an
essential aspect of all democracies. The idea of
universal adult franchise is based on the idea of
equality because it states that every adult in a
country, irrespective of their wealth and the
communities she/he belongs to, has one vote. Kanta
is excited to vote and happy that she is equal to all
of the others because each of them has one vote.
Here’s your advance,
Kanta – but don’t make a
habit of it! But as her day goes on, Kanta becomes less certain
No Madam... about what this equality really means.

What is it that makes Kanta unsure? Let’s take a

look at a day in her life. She lives in a slum and has
a drain behind her house. Her daughter is sick but
she cannot take the day off from work because she
needs to borrow money from her employers to take
her child to the doctor. Her job as a domestic help
tires her out, and finally she ends her day by again
standing in a long line. This line, in front of the
government hospital, is unlike the one in the morning
That evening... because most of the people standing in it are poor.
Just few Jain Madam
more and Jain Saheb Do you think Kanta has
minutes, may stand in line to enough reason to doubt
Beti. vote, but they
whether she really is equal?
never have to do it
when their children List three reasons from the
are sick... story above that might
make her feel like this.

2020-21
Other kinds of equality

Kanta is one of many people who live in democratic

India and who have the right to vote but whose daily
living and working conditions are far from equal.
Apart from being poor, people in India experience
inequality in different ways. Let us see what this
means by reading the two stories given below. Each
of these is based on real incidents in people’s lives
and reflects the different kinds of inequalities that
exist in India.

One of the more common forms of inequality in

India is the caste system. If you live in rural India
your caste identity is something that you probably
learned or experienced very young. If you live in
urban India some of you might think that people no
longer believe in caste. But just look at these
matrimonials shown from a leading English Circle the reference to caste in the
newspaper and you will see how important the issue matrimonial advertisements given
of caste continues to be in the minds of highly above.
educated urban Indians.

Now let us read a story about the experiences of a

Dalit child attending school. You have already read
about Dalits in the Class VI book. Dalit is a term
that the so-called lower castes use to address
themselves. Dalit means ‘broken’ and by using this
word, lower castes are pointing to how they were,
and continue to be, seriously discriminated against.

Omprakash Valmiki (1950–2013) is a famous Dalit

writer. In his autobiography, Joothan, he writes, “I
had to sit away from the others in the class, and
that too on the floor. The mat ran out before reaching
the spot I sat on. Sometimes I would have to sit way
behind everybody, right near the door…sometimes
they would beat me without any reason.” When he was
in Class IV, the headmaster asked Omprakash to
sweep the school and the playground. He writes, “The
playground was way larger than my small physique
could handle and in cleaning it, my back began to
ache. My face was covered with dust. Dust had gone

Chapter 1: On Equality 7

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 inside my mouth. The other children in my class
were studying and I was sweeping. Headmaster was
sitting in his room and watching me. I was not even
allowed to get a drink of water. I swept the whole
day,…From the doors and windows of the school
rooms, the eyes of the teachers and the boys saw
this spectacle.” Omprakash was made to sweep the
school and the playground for the next couple of
days and this only came to an end when his father,
who happened to be passing by, saw his son
sweeping. He confronted the teachers and then
walking away from the school holding Omprakash’s
hand, he said loudly for all of them to hear, “You are
a teacher…So I am leaving now. But remember this
much Master…(He) will study right here…in this
school. And not just him, but there will be more
coming after him.”
Cover of Omprakash Valmiki’s book,
Joothan, which talks about his The second story is based on an incident that took
experiences of growing up as a Dalit boy. place in one of India’s larger cities and is common
practice in most parts of the country. It is a story
about Mr and Mrs Ansari who were looking to rent
Why do you think Omprakash
an apartment in the city. They had the money and
Valmiki was being treated unequally
so paying the rent was no problem. They went to a
by his teacher and his classmates?
property dealer for help to find a place. The dealer
Imagine yourself as Omprakash
informed them that he knew about quite a few
Valmiki and write four lines about
apartments that were available for rent. They visited
how you would feel if you were in
the first apartment and the Ansaris liked it very much
the same situation as him.
and decided to take it. However, when the landlady
found out their names, she made an excuse about
how she could not rent the house to someone who
ate meat because the building did not have any
non-vegetarian residents. Both the Ansaris and the
property dealer were surprised to hear this because
Why do you think the Ansaris
they could smell fish being cooked in the neighbour’s
were being treated unequally?
house. The same excuse was repeated in the second
What would you do if you were in
and the third apartments. Finally, the property dealer
the Ansaris’ position and could
told them that they might want to change their names
not find a place to live because
and call themselves Mr and Mrs Kumar. The Ansaris
some people did not want to live
were reluctant to do this and decided to look some
next to you because of the religion
more. In the end, it took a whole month of looking at
you practice?
apartments before they found a landlady who was
willing to give them a place on rent.

8 Social and Political Life

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Recognising dignity If you were one of the Ansaris
how would you have responded to
You have understood by now that the caste we are the suggestion that you change
born into, the religion we practice, the class your name?
background we come from, whether we are male or
female – these are often the things that determine Can you think of an incident in
why some people are treated unequally. Omprakash your life in which your dignity was
Valmiki and the Ansaris are being treated unequally violated? How did this make you
on the basis of differences of caste and religion. feel?

When persons are treated unequally, their dignity

is violated. The dignity of both Omprakash Valmiki
and the Ansaris was violated because of the way in
which they were treated. By picking on him and
making him sweep the school, because of his caste,
Omprakash Valmiki’s schoolmates and teachers hurt
his dignity badly and made him feel as if he was less
than equal to all other students in the school. Being
a child, Omprakash Valmiki could do very little about
the situation that he was in. It was his father who,
on seeing his son sweep, felt angry by this unequal
treatment and confronted the teachers. The Ansaris’
dignity was also hurt when persons refused to lease
their apartments to them. However, when the
property dealer suggested that they change their
name, it was their dignity or self-respect that made
them refuse this suggestion.

Omprakash and the Ansaris do not deserve to be

treated like this. They deserve the same respect and
dignity as anyone else.

Equality in Indian democracy

The Indian Constitution recognises every person as

equal. This means that every individual in the
country, including male and female persons from
all castes, religions, tribes, educational and economic In the 1975 film, Deewar, a boy who
backgrounds are recognised as equal. This is not to works as a shoeshine refuses to pick up a
say that inequality ceases to exist. It doesn’t. But coin thrown at him. He feels that there is
atleast, in democratic India, the principle of the dignity in the work that he does and
equality of all persons is recognised. While earlier insists that his fee be given respectfully.

Chapter 1: On Equality 9

2020-21
 The Parliament is the cornerstone of our
democracy and we are represented in it
through our elected representatives. no law existed to protect people from discrimination
and ill-treatment, now there are several that work to
see that people are treated with dignity and as equals.

This recognition of equality includes some of the

following provisions in the Constitution: first that
every person is equal before the law. What this means
is that every person, from the President of the country
to Kanta, a domestic worker, has to obey the same
laws. Second, no person can be discriminated against
on the basis of their religion, race, caste, place of
birth or whether they are female or male. Third, every
person has access to all public places including
playgrounds, hotels, shops and markets. All persons
can use publicly available wells, roads and bathing
ghats. Fourth, untouchability has been abolished.

The two ways in which the government has tried

to implement the equality that is guaranteed in the
Constitution is first through laws and second through
government programmes or schemes to help
disadvantaged communities. There are several laws
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) in India that protect every person’s right to be treated
www.in.undp.org equally. In addition to laws, the government has also

10 Social and Political Life

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set up several schemes to improve the lives of
communities and individuals who have been treated
unequally for several centuries. These schemes are
to ensure greater opportunity for people who have
not had this in the past.

One of the steps taken by the government includes

the midday meal scheme. This refers to the
programme introduced in all government elementary
schools to provide children with cooked lunch. Tamil
Nadu was the first state in India to introduce this
scheme, and in 2001, the Supreme Court asked all
state governments to begin this programme in their
schools within six months. This programme has had
many positive effects. These include the fact that
more poor children have begun enrolling and
regularly attending school. Teachers reported that
earlier children would often go home for lunch and
then not return to school but now with the midday
meal being provided in school, their attendance has
improved. Their mothers, who earlier had to interrupt Children being served their midday meal
their work to feed their children at home during the at a government school in Uttarakhand.
day, now no longer need to do so. This programme
has also helped reduce caste prejudices because
children of all castes in the school eat this meal What is the midday meal
together, and in quite a few places, Dalit women programme? Can you list three
have been employed to cook the meal. The midday benefits of the programme? How
meal programme also helps reduce the hunger of do you think this programme
poor students who often come to school and cannot might help promote greater
concentrate because their stomachs are empty. equality?

While government programmes play an important

role in increasing equality of opportunity, there is
much that still needs to be done. While the midday
meal programme has helped increase the enrolment
and attendance of poor children in school, there
continues to be big differences in our country
between schools that the rich attend and those that Find out about one government
the poor attend. Even today there are several schools scheme in your area. What does
in the country in which Dalit children, like this scheme do? Whom is this
Omprakash Valmiki, are discriminated against and scheme set up to benefit?
treated unequally. These children are forced into
unequal situations in which their dignity is not

Chapter 1: On Equality 11

2020-21
 respected. This is because people refuse to think of
them as equal even though the law requires it.

One of the main reasons for this is that attitudes

change very slowly. Even though persons are aware
that discrimination is against the law, they continue
to treat people unequally on the basis of their caste,
religion, disability, economic status and because they
are women. It is only when people begin to believe
that no one is inferior, and that every person deserves
“It is disgraceful to live at the cost of one's
to be treated with dignity, that present attitudes can
self-respect. Self-respect is the most vital
change. Establishing equality in a democratic society
factor in life. Without it, man is a cipher.
is a continuous struggle and one in which individuals
To live worthily with self-respect, one has
as well as various communities in India contribute
to overcome difficulties. It is out of hard
to and you will read more about this in this book.
and ceaseless struggle alone that one
derives strength, confidence and
recognition. Issues of equality in other democracies
You are probably wondering whether India is the
“Man is mortal. Everyone has to die some only democratic country in which there is inequality
day or the other. But one must resolve to and where the struggle for equality continues to
lay down one's life in enriching the noble exist. The truth is that in many democratic countries
ideals of self-respect and in bettering one's around the world, the issue of equality continues to
human life... Nothing is more disgraceful be the key issue around which communities struggle.
for a brave man than to live life devoid So, for example, in the United States of America,
of self-respect.” the African–Americans whose ancestors were the
– B.R. Ambedkar slaves who were brought over from Africa, continue
to describe their lives today as largely unequal. This,
despite the fact that there was a movement in the
late 1950s to push for equal rights for African–
Americans. Prior to this, African–Americans were
treated extremely unequally in the United States
and denied equality through law. For example, when
travelling by bus, they either had to sit at the back
of the bus or get up from their seat whenever a
white person wished to sit.
Rosa Parks (1913–2005) was an African–American
woman. Tired from a long day at work she refused to give
up her seat on a bus to a white man on 1 December 1955.
Her refusal that day started a huge agitation against
the unequal ways in which African–Americans were

12 Social and Political Life

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treated and which came to be known as the Civil Rosa Parks, an African–American
Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 woman, changed the course of American
prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, history with one defiant act.
religion or national origin. It also stated that all
schools would be open to African–American children
and that they would no longer have to attend separate
schools specially set up for them. However, despite
this, a majority of African–Americans continue to be
among the poorest in the country. Most African-
American children can only afford to attend
government schools that have fewer facilities and
poorly qualified teachers as compared to white
students who either go to private schools or live in
areas where the government schools are as highly
rated as private schools.

Chapter 1: On Equality 13

2020-21
 Excerpt from Article 15 of the Indian Constitution

Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.

(1) The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race,
caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.

(2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of
them, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to –

(a) access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and places of public entertainment;

or

(b) the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort maintained
wholly or partly out of State funds or dedicated to the use of the general public.

Challenge of democracy

No country can be described as being completely

democratic. There are always communities and
individuals trying to expand the idea of democracy
and push for a greater recognition of equality on
existing as well as new issues. Central to this is the
struggle for the recognition of all persons as equal
and for their dignity to be maintained. In this book
you will read about how this issue of equality affects
various aspects of our daily lives in democratic India.
As you read these chapters, think about whether
the equality of all persons and their being able to
maintain their dignity is upheld.

14 Social and Political Life

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 EXERCISES

1. In a democracy why is universal adult franchise important?

2. Re-read the box on Article 15 and state two ways in which

this Article addresses inequality?

3. In what ways was Omprakash Valmiki’s experience similar

to that of the Ansaris?

4. What do you understand by the term “all persons are

equal before the law”? Why do you think it is important in
a democracy?

5. According to the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, http://disabilityaffairs.gov.in

2016, persons with disabilities have equal rights, and that
the government should make possible their full
participation in society. The government has to provide
free education and integrate children with disabilities into
mainstream schools. This law also states that all public
places including buildings, schools, etc., should be
accessible and provided with ramps.

Look at the photograph and think about the boy who is being
carried down the stairs. Do you think the above law is being
implemented in his case? What needs to be done to make the
building more accessible for him? How would his being carried
down the stairs affect his dignity as well as his safety?

Glossary

Universal adult franchise: This is a very important aspect of democratic societies. It means that
all adult (those who are 18 and above) citizens have the right to vote irrespective of their social or
economic backgrounds.

Dignity: This refers to thinking of oneself and other persons as worthy of respect.

Constitution: This is a document that lays down the basic rules and regulations for people and
the government in the country to follow.

Civil Rights Movement: A movement that began in USA in 1950s in which African–American
people demanded equal rights and an end to racial discrimination.

Chapter 1: On Equality 15

2020-21
 UNIT
TWO

16

2020-21
State Government

Teacher’s note

These two chapters (Chapters 2 and 3) on public welfare. Though both the executive
State Government are an attempt to and the legislature are presented, one
discuss the functions and structure of should not expect students to retain fine
government through concrete situations. distinctions. It would be best to patiently
We have chosen ‘health’ as an example; encourage them to ask questions such as,
there could have been other, equally “Who is the most powerful person?”, “Why
important, choices. can’t the MLA solve the problem?”, etc.
Such queries will enable them to construct
Chapter 2 discusses ‘health’ as an a sense of the government apparatus.
important issue for people. There are both
public and private aspects of health It is important that learners acquire the
provisioning. Healthcare in India is not confidence to express their views on public
available to all. While the Constitution issues and understand the role of
supports a view that the right to health is government through the exercises given in
an aspect of our fundamental rights, its the chapters. You could choose familiar
provisioning is rather unequal. Through issues such as water, transport, school-
the accounts provided, learners will begin fees, books, child-labour, etc., for them to
to visualise the ideal or desired role of discuss and arrive at how these problems
government, and the meanings behind its need to be tackled. Allow them to express
structures. Some ways in which this these ideas through wall charts. Given that
situation can be changed are also discussions on the government and its
discussed. functioning often lead to boredom and
cynicism, we need to be able to make
Chapter 3 focuses on how the the classroom session less didactic and
government functions, and discusses ideas more interactive while teaching these
of representation, accountability and lessons.

17

2020-21
 2
CHAPTER

Role of the
Government
in Health
In a democracy people expect the
government to work for their welfare. This
could be through the provision of
education, health, employment, housing
or the development of roads, electricity
etc. In this chapter we shall examine the
meanings and problems related to health.
Look at the sub-headings of this chapter.
In what ways do you think this topic is
related to the work of government?

18 Social and Political Life

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What is health?

We can think of health in many ways. Health means

our ability to remain free of illness and injuries. But
health isn’t only about disease. You may have
associated only some of the situations in the above
collage with health. What we often ignore is the fact Would you associate all or some of
that each of the above situations is related to health. these pictures with ‘health’ ? In
Apart from disease, we need to think of other factors what ways? Discuss in groups.
that affect our health. For example, if people get clean
drinking water or a pollution free environment they
are likely to be healthy. On the other hand, if people
do not get adequate food to eat or have to live in Pick two situations from the above
cramped conditions, they will be prone to illness. collage that are not related to
illness and write two sentences on
All of us would like to be active and in good spirits how they are related to health.
in whatever we may be doing. It isn’t healthy to be
dull, inactive, anxious or scared for long stretches of
time. We all need to be without mental strain. All of
these various aspects of our lives are a part of health.

Chapter 2: Role of the Government in Health 19

2020-21
 Healthcare in India

Let us examine some of the aspects of healthcare

Can you provide a title to these in India. Compare and contrast the situation
columns? expressed in the first and second columns.

India has the largest number of medical Most doctors settle in urban areas.
colleges in the world and is among the People in rural areas have to travel long
largest producers of doctors. distances to reach a doctor. The number
Approximately more than 30,000 new doctors of doctors with respect to the population
qualify is every year. much less in rural areas.

Healthcare facilities have grown About five lakh people die from tuberculosis
substantially over the years. In 1950, every year. This number is almost
there were only 2,717 government hospitals unchanged since Independence!
in India. In 1991, there were 11,174 hospitals. Almost two million cases of malaria are
In 2017, the number grew to 23,583. reported every year and this number isn’t
decreasing.

India gets a large number of medical We are not able to provide clean drinking
tourists from many countries. They come water to all. 21per cent of all
for treatment in some of the hospitals in communicable diseases are water borne.
India that compare with the best in the world. For example, diarrhoea, worms, hepatitis, etc.

India is the third largest producer of Half of all children in India do not
medicines in the world and is also a large get adequate food to eat and are
exporter of medicines. undernourished.

In order to prevent and treat illnesses we need

appropriate healthcare facilities such as health
centres, hospitals, laboratories for testing,
ambulance services, blood banks, etc., that can
In India, it is often said that we provide the required care and services that patients
are unable to provide health need. In order to run such facilities we need health
services for all because the workers, nurses, qualified doctors and other health
government does not have enough professionals who can advice, diagnose and treat
money and facilities. After reading illnesses. We also need the medicines and equipment
the above left hand column, do that are necessary for treating patients. These
you think this is true? Discuss. facilities are required to take care of us.

20 Social and Political Life

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 India has a large number of doctors, clinics and
hospitals. The country also has considerable
experience and knowledge in running a public
healthcare system. This is a system of hospitals and
health centres run by the government. It has the
ability to look after the health of a large section of
its population scattered over hundreds of thousands
of villages. We will go into more detail on this later.
Moreover, there has been a phenomenal
advancement in medical sciences whereby many new
technologies and treatment procedures are available
in the country.

However, the second column points out how poor

the health situation in our country is. With all the
above positive developments we are not able to provide
proper healthcare facilities to people. This is the
paradox – something that is contrary to what we
would expect. Our country has the money, knowledge
and people with experience but cannot make the
Patients usually have to wait in long queues in
necessary healthcare available to all. In this chapter,
government hospitals, like this one.
we will look at some of the reasons for this.

The story of Hakim Seikh

Hakim Seikh was a member of the Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samity (PBKMS), an organisation
of agricultural labourers in West Bengal. One evening in 1992, he accidentally fell off a running
train and suffered head injuries. He was in a very serious condition and needed immediate
treatment.

He was taken to a government hospital in Kolkata but they refused to admit him because they
did not have a spare bed. Another hospital did not have the facility or the specialised doctors
necessary for his treatment. In this way he spent 14 hours in a critical state and was taken to
eight different government hospitals, but none of them admitted him.

Finally, he was admitted in a private hospital, where he received treatment. He spent a lot of
money on his treatment. Angry and upset over the indifferent attitude of all the hospitals that
refused to admit him, Hakim Seikh and PBKMS filed a case in the court.

Read the story given above. Then

imagine that you are a Judge in the
court. What would you say to
Hakim Seikh?

Chapter 2: Role of the Government in Health 21

2020-21
 THE COST OF A CURE
Aman and Ranjan are good friends. While Ranjan I had viral fever and Oh! Me, too! I just got back to
comes from a well-to-do family, Aman’s parents have had to go to the school on Monday. My Daddy
to struggle to make ends meet... hospital... took me to see the doctor
at the new hospital in
Hi Aman! Good to Kingsway. It was very exciting!
see you back! How have
you been?

The building looked so posh. I thought it Daddy had to pay Rs 500 at the reception counter
was a five star hotel! Daddy said that was itself – before we even met the doctor! There was
because it was a private hospital, with the nice music playing and everything was really clean
best of facilities. and shiny.

The doctor asked for many tests...but After the test results came, we went back to the
everyone was so friendly! The lady who took doctor. He looked through them and said everything
my blood for testing told me so many jokes was fine, and I only had viral fever. He prescribed some
that I forgot to feel the pain! medicines and rest.

...and have you ...and so young man – this pink pill should be
heard the one taken three times a day, and the white tablet
about Batman once before bed time – that’s for the
on Reality TV? bodyache! This one is a syrup – don’t
worry, it’s tasty

Thank you
Doctor...I feel
better
already!

2020-21
 ...and it really did! We went to a big
You see, I’ve been dying to tell you all Government Hospital. We had to wait in a long
about it! But what about queue at the OPD counter. I was feeling so sick
you? Which hospital did
that I had to lean on Abba all the time!
you go to?

Um...it wasn’t as nice as your’s

at all! At first, Abba didn’t want
to take me because he said it
would take too much time...

We got the test results after three days...and went

When our turn came, the doctor examined me, and back to the hospital. There was a different doctor
asked for a blood test. Then we had to go and stand in that day.
another long queue! People were crowding around in
the testing room too.
Show me his OPD
card...and the test results
– quickly please!

He seems to be suffering from My hospital was nice, but

a bout of viral fever – nothing they gave me many medicines
to worry about. All he needs and the whole thing
is this one fever-reducing cost quite a lot!
medicine.

Oh! My treatment
did not cost much!

2020-21
 Where do you go when you are ill? Public and private health care services
Are there any problems that you
face? Write a paragraph based on From the above story, you must have understood
your experience. that we can roughly divide up various health care
facilities in two categories –
What problems did Aman face in
the government hospital? How do
(a) Public health services and
you think the hospital can work in
a better manner? Discuss.
(b) Private health facilities.
Why did Ranjan have to spend so
much money? Give reasons.
Public health services

What problems do we face in The public health service is a chain of health centres
private hospitals? Discuss. and hospitals run by the government. They are
linked together so that they cover both rural and
urban areas and can also provide treatment to all
Why pay taxes to the government? kinds of problems – from common illnesses to special
services. At the village level there are health centres
Government uses tax money for
where there is usually a nurse and a village health
providing many public services for
worker. They are trained in dealing with common
the benefit of all citizens. Some
illnesses and work under the supervision of doctors
services such as defence, police,
at the Primary Health Centre (PHC). Such a centre
judicial system, highways etc.
benefit all citizens. Otherwise, the covers many villages in a rural area. At the district
citizens cannot organise these level is the District Hospital that also supervises all
services for themselves. the health centres. Large cities have many
government hospitals such as the one where Aman
Taxes fund developmental
was taken and also specialised government hospitals
programmes and services such as
education, health care,
such as the ones in Hakim Seikh’s story.
employment, social welfare,
vocational training etc. required for The health service is called ‘public’ for many
needy citizens. Tax money is reasons. In order to fulfil its commitment of providing
utilised for relief and rehabilitation health care to all citizens, the government has
in case of natural disasters such as established these hospitals and health centres. Also,
floods, earthquakes, tsunami etc. the resources needed to run these services are
Space, nuclear, and missile obtained from the money that we, the public, pay to
programmes are also funded from the government as taxes. Hence, such facilities are
the revenues collected as taxes. meant for everyone. One of the most important
Government provides some aspects of the public health system is that it is meant
services especially for the poor to provide quality health care services either free or
who cannot afford to purchase at a low cost, so that even the poor can seek
them from the market. One treatment. Another important function of public
example is health care. Can you health is to take action to prevent the spread of
give other examples? diseases such as TB, malaria, jaundice, cholera,

24 Social and Political Life

2020-21
diarrhoea, chikungunya, etc. This has to be
organised by the government with the participation
of people otherwise it is not effective. For example,
when taking up a campaign to see that mosquitoes
do not breed in water coolers, rooftops, etc., this
has to be done for all houses in the area.

Recall the case of Hakim Seikh. Would you like to

know what the court said in this case?

According to our Constitution, it is the primary

A doctor in a rural health care centre giving
duty of the government to ensure the welfare of the
medicines to a patient.
people and provide health care facilities to all.

The government must safeguard the Right to Life

of every person. The Court said that the difficulty
that Hakim Seikh had to face could have cost him
his life. If a hospital cannot provide timely medical
treatment to a person, it means that this protection
of life is not being given.

The Court also said that it was the duty of the

government to provide the necessary health services,
including treatment in emergency situations.
Hospitals and medical staff must fulfil their duty of
providing the necessary treatment. Hakim Seikh was
denied treatment at various government hospitals.
Therefore, the Court asked the State Government
to give him the money that he had spent on his
A woman and her sick child at a government
treatment.
hospital. According to UNICEF, more
than a million children die every year
Private health facilities in India from preventable infections.

There is a wide range of private health facilities that

exist in our country. A large number of doctors run In what ways is the public health
their own private clinics. In the rural areas, one system meant for everyone?
finds Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs). Urban
areas have a large number of doctors, many of them List some Primary Health Centres
providing specialised services. There are hospitals (PHCs) or hospitals near your place.
and nursing homes that are privately owned. There From your experience (or by
are many laboratories that do tests and offer special visiting any one of them), find out
facilities such as X-ray, ultrasound, etc. There are the facilities provided and people
also shops from where we buy medicines. who run the centre.

Chapter 2: Role of the Government in Health 25

2020-21
 As the name suggests, private health facilities
are not owned or controlled by the government.
Unlike the public health services, in private
facilities, patients have to pay a lot of money for
every service that they use.

Today the presence of private facilities can be seen

all around. In fact now there are large companies
that run hospitals and some are engaged in
manufacturing and selling medicines. Medical shops
A post-operative room in a leading private are found in every corner of the country.
hospital in Delhi.

Healthcare and equality:

Is adequate healthcare available to all?

In India, we face a situation where private services

are increasing but public services are not. What is
Private health facilities can mean then available to people are mainly private services.
many things. Explain with the help These are concentrated in urban areas. The cost of
of some examples from your area. these services is rather high. Medicines are
expensive. Many people cannot afford them or have
to borrow money when there is an illness in the
family.

The Medical Council of India’s Some private services encourage incorrect

practices to earn more. At times inexpensive
Code of Medical Ethics states:
alternatives, though available, may not be used. For
“Every physician should, as far as
example, some medical practitioners are found to
possible, prescribe drugs with prescribe superfluous medicines, injections or saline
generic names and he/she shall when simple medication may suffice.
ensure that there is a rational
prescription and use of drugs.” In fact, barely 20 per cent of the population can
afford all the medicines that they require during an

How can health care be made more

affordable? Discuss.

26 Social and Political Life

2020-21
illness. Hence, even for those whom one might not
think as being poor, medical expenses cause
hardship. It was reported in a study that 40 per
cent of people who are admitted to a hospital for
some illness or injury have to borrow money or sell
some of their possessions to pay for the expenses.

For those who are poor, every illness in the family

is a cause of great anxiety and distress. What is worse
In rural areas, a jeep is often used to serve as a
is that this situation tends to happen again and
mobile clinic for patients.
again. Those who are poor are in the first place
undernourished. These families are not eating as
much as they should. They are not provided basic
necessities like drinking water, adequate housing,
clean surroundings, etc., and therefore, are more
likely to fall ill. The expenses on illness make their
situation even worse.

Sometimes it is not only the lack of money that

prevents people from getting proper medical
treatment. Women, for example, are not taken to a
doctor in a prompt manner. Women’s health
concerns are considered to be less important than
the health of men in the family. Many tribal areas This pregnant lady has to travel many
have few health centres and they do not run properly. kilometres to see a qualified doctor.
Even private health services are not available.

What can be done?

There is little doubt that the health situation of most

people in our country is not good. It is the
responsibility of the government to provide quality
healthcare services to all its citizens, especially the
poor and the disadvantaged. However, health is as
much dependent on basic amenities and social
conditions of the people, as it is on healthcare
services. Hence, it is important to work on both in
order to improve the health situation of our people. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)
And this can be done. Look at the following example. www.in.undp.org

Chapter 2: Role of the Government in Health 27

2020-21
 The Kerala experience

In 1996, the Kerala government made some major

changes in the state. Forty per cent of the entire state
budget was given to panchayats. They could plan
and provide for their requirements. This made it
possible for a village to make sure that proper
planning was done for water, food, women’s
development and education. This meant that water
supply schemes were checked, the working of schools
and anganwadis was ensured and specific problems
of the village were taken up. Health centres were
also improved. All of this helped to improve the
situation. Despite these efforts, however, some
problems – such as shortage of medicines,
insufficient hospital beds, not enough doctors –
remained, and these needed to be addressed.
For more details, visit http://lsgkerala.gov.in/en
The above map of India shows the state of
Let us look at an example of another country and
Kerala in pink.
its approach to issues of health.

Page 111 of this book has a map of India. The Costa Rican approach
Using your pencil outline the state of Kerala on
this map. Costa Rica is considered to be one of the healthiest
countries in Central America. The main reason for
this can be found in the Costa Rican Constitution.
Several years ago, Costa Rica took a very important
decision and decided not to have an army. This
helped the Costa Rican government to spend the
money that the army would have used, on health,
education and other basic needs of the people. The
Costa Rican government believes that a country has
to be healthy for its development and pays a lot of
attention to the health of its people. The Costa Rican
government provides basic services and amenities
to all Costa Ricans. For example, it provides safe
drinking water, sanitation, nutrition and housing.
Health education is also considered very important
and knowledge about health is an essential part of
education at all levels.

28 Social and Political Life

2020-21
 EXERCISES

1. In this chapter you have read that health is a wider concept An important part of the
than illness. Look at this quote from the Constitution and Constitution says it is the “duty of
explain the terms ‘living standard’ and ‘public health’ in the State to raise the level of
your own words. nutrition and the standard of living
and to improve public health.”
2. What are the different ways through which the government
can take steps to provide healthcare for all? Discuss.

3. What differences do you find between private and public

health services in your area? Use the following table to
compare and contrast these.

Facility Affordability Availability Quality

Private

Public

4. ‘Improvement in water and sanitation can control many Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)
diseases.’ Explain with the help of examples. www.in.undp.org

Glossary
Public: An activity or service that is meant for all people in the country and is mainly organised by the
government. This includes schools, hospitals, telephone services, etc. People can demand these
services and also raise questions about their non-functioning.

Private: An activity or service that is organised by an individual or company for their own gain.

Medical tourists: This refers to foreigners who come to this country specifically for medical treatment
at hospitals that offer world–class facilities at a lower cost than what they would have to pay in their
own countries.

Communicable diseases: These are diseases that are spread from one person to another in many
ways such as through water, food , air, etc.
OPD: This is the short form for ‘Out Patient Department’. This is where people are first brought in
and treated in a hospital without being admitted to any special ward.
Ethics: Moral principles that influence a person’s behaviour
Generic names: These are chemical names of the drugs. They help in identifying the ingredients.
They are globally recognised. For example, acetyl salicylic acid is the generic name of Aspirin.

Chapter 2: Role of the Government in Health 29

2020-21
 WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY?

3
CHAPTER
Hey, look at this...it says that
there is a water shortage in
our state, and people are
falling sick!

“...In many villages, people were found to be

How drinking unclean water. Streams have dried up, and
so have tanks. In the worst-affected areas, villagers

the State have been carrying water across great distances.”

Government
Works
Last year, we discussed the
fact that government works at
three levels – local, state and
national – and looked at the
work of local government in
some detail. In this chapter,
we examine the work of the
government at the state
level. How does this take “People at the district HQ Patalpuram receive water
place in a democracy? supply once in three days.The District Hospital here is
overflowing with patients – a large number of whom
What is the role of a are children with acute diarrhoea...”
Member of the
Legislative Assembly
(MLA) and Ministers? How
do people express their
views or demand action
from government? We look
at these questions through
the example of health.

2020-21
 That afternoon... Suddenly...
On the TV news, they said ten people
have died from diarrhoea! Is that My mother said not to have any iced STOP!
possible? Can one really die from it? drinks from the market. She gave one of
her lectures this morning, “You have to
Who knows? Just be responsible for your health,
hope I don’t get it! Shirin!”
Ha ha!

This road is blocked due to the rally. ...and we demand that the What a loud voice he has...he must be
They have gheraoed the MLA’s residence. authorities take immediate action to a leader or something...
Ha ha – they bring the public health situation
Really! Why? Has
seem more angry under control! Our MLA must take Shh...I saw him on TV
he done something?
about what he the responsibility for this! too. He is a member of
hasn’t done! the Opposition!

Who is an MLA?

In the above section, you have read about some What is happening in Patalpuram ?
events in Patalpuram. You may be familiar with some
official names such as Collector, Medical Officer, etc. Why is this problem serious?
But have you heard of an MLA and the Legislative
Assembly? Do you know the MLA of your area? Can What action do you think can be
you identify which party she or he belongs to? taken in the above situation and
who do you think should take this
Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) are action? Discuss.
elected by the people. They then become members
of the legislative assembly and also form the

Chapter 3: How the State Government Works 31

2020-21
 Discuss the following terms with government. In this way we say that the MLAs
your teacher–public meeting, represent people. The example below will help us
States in India, constituency, understand this better.
majority, ruling party and
opposition. Every state in India has a Legislative Assembly.
Each state is divided into different areas or
Can you explain the following constituencies. For example, look at the map below.
terms–majority, ruling party, It shows that the state of Himachal Pradesh is divided
opposition with reference to your into 68 assembly constituencies. From each
state. constituency, the people elect one representative who
then becomes a Member of the Legislative Assembly
(MLA). You would have noticed that people stand for
elections in the name of different parties. These MLAs,
therefore, belong to different political parties.

How do people who are MLAs become ministers or

chief minister? A political party whose MLAs have
won more than half the number of constituencies in
a state can be said to be in a majority. The political
party that has the majority is called the ruling party
and all other members are called the opposition. For
example, the Legislative Assembly of the state of
Himachal Pradesh has 68 MLA constituencies.

Jammu and Kashmir

The state of Himachal Pradesh is

coloured in purple in the above
thumbnail map of India.

Using a pencil outline the following on the

map given on page 111:
(i) the state that you live in;
(ii) the state of Himachal Pradesh.

Punjab Uttarakhand

32 Social and Political Life

2020-21
 Results of the Assembly Elections in Himachal Pradesh in 2017

Political party Number of MLAs elected

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ............................................................. 44

Indian National Congress (INC) ................................................... 21

Communist Party of India (Marxist) ............................................... 1

Independents (who don’t belong to any party) .......................... 2

Total ................................................................................ 68

For more details, visit http://hpvidhansabha.nic.in

Candidates from various political parties won the Construct a table, similar to the
2017 assembly elections and became MLAs. Since one given for Himachal Pradesh,
the total number of MLAs in the Legislative Assembly for your state.
is 68, a political party would have needed to have
more than 34 MLAs in order to gain a majority. The
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with 44 MLAs had the
majority and it became the ruling party. All other MLAs
became the opposition. In this case, the Indian National The Head of the State is the Governor.
Congress (INC) was the major opposition party, since it She/He is appointed by the Central
had the largest number of MLAs after the BJP. Among Government to ensure that the State
the opposition were other parties, including those who Government works within the rules and
had been elected as independent candidates. regulations of the Constitution. Find out the
name of Governor of your State.
After the elections, the MLAs belonging to the
ruling party will elect their leader who will become
At times, the ruling party may not
the chief minister. In this case, the BJP MLAs chose
be a single party but a group of
Shri Jairam Thakur as their leader and he became
parties working together. This is
the chief minister. The chief minister then selects
called a coalition. Discuss with
other people as ministers. After the elections, it is
the Governor of the state who appoints the chief your teacher.
minister and other ministers.

The chief minister and other ministers have the

responsibility of running various government
departments or ministries. They have separate offices.
A Legislative Assembly is a place where all the MLAs,
whether from the ruling party or from the opposition
meet to discuss various things. Hence, some MLAs
have dual responsibilities: one as an MLA and the
other as a minister. We will read about this further.

Chapter 3: How the State Government Works 33

2020-21
 A debate in the Legislative Assembly

Afreen, Sujata and many other students from their

school travelled to the state capital to visit the
Legislative Assembly which was housed in an
impressive building. The children were excited. After
security checks, they were taken upstairs. There was
a gallery from where they could see the large hall
below. There were rows and rows of desks.

This Assembly was going to have a debate on a

current problem. During this time, MLAs can express
their opinions and ask questions related to the issue
or give suggestions about what should be done by
the government. Those who wish to, can respond to
this. The minister then replies to the questions and
tries to assure the Assembly that adequate steps are
being taken.

The chief minister and other ministers have to

take decisions and run the government. We usually
hear about them or see them in the news channels
or in the papers. However, whatever decisions are
being taken have to be approved by the members of
the legislative assembly. In a democracy, these
members can ask questions, debate an important
issue, decide where money should be spent, etc. They
have the main authority.

MLA 1: In my constituency of Akhandagaon,

during the last three weeks, there were 15 deaths
because of diarrhoea. I think it is a shame that this
government has not been able to check the situation
of a simple problem like diarrhoea while proclaiming
itself to be a champion of technology. I would call
the attention of the minister in charge of health to
take immediate measures to control the situation.

MLA 2: My question is why are government

hospitals in such a bad situation? Why is the
government not appointing proper doctors and other
medical staff in the district? I would also like to know
how the government plans to deal with this situation

34 Social and Political Life

2020-21
which is affecting a large number of people and is
also spreading. This is an epidemic.

MLA 3: My constituency of Tolpatti too has a

serious shortage of water. Women travel up to 3 or 4
kilometres to collect water. How many tankers have
been put into service to supply water? How many
wells and ponds have been cleaned and disinfected?

MLA 4: I think my colleagues are exaggerating the

problem. The government has taken steps to control
the situation. Water tankers have been put into
service. ORS packets are being distributed. The
government is doing everything possible to help
people.

MLA 5: We have very poor facilities in our hospitals.

There are hospitals that do not have a doctor and no
medical staff has been appointed for the last few
years. In another hospital, the doctor has gone on a
long leave. This is a shame. I think the situation is
going from bad to worse. How are we going to
ensure that ORS packets reach all families in the
affected areas? Can you identify the MLAs of the
ruling party and the opposition in
MLA 6: The opposition members are unnecessarily the illustration? Colour the ruling
blaming the government. The previous government party in one colour and the
did not pay any attention to sanitation. We have now opposition in another.
taken up a drive to clear the garbage that has been
lying around for years. 2 3
1 4

2020-21
 In the earlier section you have read about a debate
in the Legislative Assembly. The members were
debating the action taken or not taken by the
government. This is because the MLAs are together
responsible for the work of the government. In
common usage the word ‘government’ refers to
government departments and various ministers who
What were the main arguments
head them. The overall head is the chief minister.
put forward by different MLAs
More correctly, this is called the executive part of
who thought that the government
the government. All the MLAs who gather together
was not taking the situation in a
(assemble) in the legislative assembly are called the
serious manner?
Legislature. They are the ones who authorise and
supervise their work. As we saw in the earlier section,
If you were the health minister,
it is from among them that the head of the executive,
how would you respond to the
or the chief minister is formed.
above discussion?

Do you think the above debate

Working of the government
would have been useful in some
ways? How? Discuss.
The Legislative Assembly is not the only place where
opinions are expressed about the work of the
In the working of the government,
government and action is demanded. You will find
explain the difference between
newspapers, TV channels and other organisations
being an MLA and an MLA who is
regularly talking about the government. In a
also a minister.
democracy, there are various ways through which
people express their views and also take action. Let
us look at one such way.

Soon after the discussion in the assembly, there

was a press conference organised by the health
minister. Large numbers of people from different
newspapers were present. The minister and some
government officials were also present. The minister
explained the steps the government had taken.
Reporters asked many questions at this meeting.
These discussions were then reported in different
newspapers. The following page has one such report.

During the next week, the chief minister and the

minister for health visited Patalpuram district. They
went to visit the families who had lost their relatives
and also visited people in the hospitals. The
government announced a compensation for these

36 Social and Political Life

2020-21
 Government smells the garbage
Chief Minister promises funds for work
Patalpuram | Ravi Ahuja intend to supply drinking
During the last few weeks, water to every village
Write two measures that the
there have been many through tanker trucks.
goverment undertook for
deaths in some districts of The chief minister has
controlling diarrhoea?
our state. There has been a promised funds for this
strong reaction that the work. They also plan to
What is the purpose of a
government has not taken start a campaign to inform
press conference? How does
this seriously. The health people about the steps that
the press conference help you
minister explained today at can be taken to prevent
get information on what the
a press conference that his diarrhoea. When a reporter
goverment is doing?
government has asked all asked him as to what steps
the collectors and the chief are being taken to see that
medical officers to take garbage that has been lying
urgent measures. The most around for months is
important problem is that quickly collected, the chief
of drinking water. The minister said that he would
minister said that they look into this.

families. The chief minister also said that he thought

the problem was not only one of sanitation but also
of a lack of clean drinking water. He said that a high-
level enquiry committee will be asked to look into
the needs of the district to provide sanitation facilities
and would request the minister for Public Works to
take care of the needs of proper water supply in the
region.

As you saw above, the people in power like the

chief minister and the minister have to take action.
They do so through various departments like the
Public Works Department, the Agriculture
Department, the Health Department, the Education
Department and so on. They also have to answer
questions that are asked in the Legislative Assembly
and convince people asking the questions that proper
steps are being taken. At the same time, newspapers
and the media widely discuss the issue and the
government has to respond, for example, by holding
the press conferences.

Chapter 3: How the State Government Works 37

2020-21
 The government can also decide to make new laws
for the state regarding sanitation and health facilities.
For example, it may make it compulsory for
municipal corporations to ensure that there are
adequate toilets in every urban area. It may also
ensure that a health worker is appointed in every
village. This act of making laws on certain issues is
done in the Legislative Assembly of each state. The
various government departments then implement
these laws. Laws for the entire country are made in
the Parliament. You will read more about the
Parliament next year.

In a democracy, it is the people who elect their

representatives as Members of the Legislative
Assembly (MLAs) and, thus, it is the people who have
the main authority. The ruling party members then
form the government and some members are
appointed ministers. These ministers are in charge
of various departments of the government such as
In a democracy, people organise meetings health in the above example. Whatever work is done
to voice their opinions and protest by these departments has to be approved by the
against the government. members of the legislative assembly.

2020-21
 Name of department Examples of their work

School Education

Public Works Department

Agriculture

A wallpaper project Find out with the help of your

teacher, the work done by the
A wallpaper is an interesting activity through which government departments
research can be done on particular topics of interest. mentioned above, and fill in the
The following photographs explain the different table.
aspects involved in creating a wallpaper in a
classroom.

After introducing the topic and having a brief discussion

with the whole class, the teacher divides the class into groups.
The group discusses the issue and decides what it would like
to include in the wall-paper. Children then work
individually or in pairs to read the collected material and
write their observations or experiences. They can do this
through creating stories, poems, case studies, interviews, etc.

The group looks at the material that they have

selected, drawn or written. They read each other’s
writing and provide feedback to each other. They
make decisions on what should be included and
finalise the layout for the wallpaper.

Chapter 3: How the State Government Works 39

2020-21
 Each group then presents the wallpaper to the entire class. It is important that
more than one member of the group is asked to present and that each group is
allotted the same amount of time to discuss their work. After each group has
presented, it would be a good idea to have a feedback session on the following –
What more could they do on their own? How could their work be organised
better? How could writing and presentation be improved upon?

This wallpaper about the 2006

dengue epidemic was prepared by
children of Class VI B of Kendriya
Vidyalaya II, Hindon, Ghaziabad,
Uttar Pradesh.

Do a similar wallpaper project

about any issue connected with
the working of your State
Government like an education
programme, any law and order
issue, midday meal scheme, etc.

40 Social and Political Life

2020-21
 EXERCISES

1. Use the terms ‘constituency’ and ‘represent’ to explain

who an MLA is and how is the person elected?

2. How did some MLAs become Ministers? Explain.

3. Why should decisions taken by the Chief Minister and

other ministers be debated in the Legislative Assembly?

4. What was the problem in Patalpuram? What discussion/

action was taken by the following? Fill in the table.

Public meeting

Legislative Assembly

Press conference

Chief Minister

5. What is the difference between the work that MLAs do in

the Assembly and the work done by government
departments?

Glossary

Constituency: A particular area from which all the voters living there choose their representatives.
This could be, for example, a panchayat ward or an area that chooses an MLA.

Majority: This is a situation when more than half the number in a group supports a decision or an
idea. This is also called a simple majority.

Opposition: This refers to elected representatives who are not members of the ruling party and
who play the role of questioning government decisions and actions as well as raise new issues for
consideration in the Assembly.

Press Conference: A gathering of journalists from the media who are invited to hear about and
ask questions on a particular issue and are then expected to report on this to the larger public.

Chapter 3: How the State Government Works 41

2020-21
UNIT
THREE

2020-21
Gender

Teacher’s note

Gender is a term that you may often have Chapter 4 uses two case studies, situated
heard. It is a term, however, that is not in different places and points in time to
easily understood. It tends to remain show how girls and boys are brought up
distant from our lives and restricted to or socialised differently. This enables them
discussions during training programmes. to understand that the process of
In fact, it is something that all of us socialisation is not uniform; instead it is
experience in our lives on a daily basis. It socially determined and changes
determines, for example, who we are and continuously over time. The chapter also
what we will become, where we can go and addresses the fact that societies assign
where not, the life choices available to us different values to the roles men and
and those we eventually make. Our women play and the work they do, which
understanding of gender is often based on becomes a basis for inequality and
the family and society that we live in. This discrimination. Through a storyboard,
leads us to think that the roles we see men students discuss the issue of housework.
and women around us play are fixed and Done primarily by women, housework is
natural. In fact, these roles differ across often not considered ‘work’ and, therefore
communities around the world. By gender, made invisible and devalued.
then, we mean the many social values and
stereotypes our cultures attach to the Chapter 5 further develops ideas around
biological distinction ‘male’ and ‘female’. It gender inequalities in the world of work and
is a term that helps us to understand many describes women’s struggles for equality.
of the inequalities and power relations Through a classroom activity, students
between men and women in society. begin questioning existing stereotypes
regarding work and career choices. The
The following two chapters explore the chapter also points out that opportunities
concept of gender without actually using like education are not equally available to
the term. Instead, through different boys and girls. By reading about the lives
pedagogic tools like case studies, stories, of two Indian women, from the ninteenth
classroom activities, data analysis and and twentieth centuries, students see how
photographs, students are encouraged to women struggled to change their lives by
question and think about their own lives learning to read and write. Change on a
and the society around them. Gender is large scale usually takes place through
often mistakenly thought to be something collective struggles. The chapter concludes
that concerns women or girls alone. Thus, with a photo-essay that gives examples of
care has been taken in these chapters to different strategies the women’s movement
draw boys into the discussion as well. has used to fight for change.

43

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 4
CHAPTER

Growing up as
Boys and Girls
Being a boy or a girl is an
important part of one’s identity. The
society we grow up in teaches us
what kind of behaviour is
acceptable for girls and boys, what
boys and girls can or cannot do.
We often grow up thinking that
these things are exactly the same
everywhere. But do all societies
look at boys and girls in the same
way? We will try and answer this
question in this chapter. We will
also look at how the different roles
assigned to boys and girls prepare
them for their future roles as men
and women. We will learn that
most societies value men and
women differently. The roles
women play and the work they do
are usually valued less than the
roles men play and the work they
do. This chapter will also examine
how inequalities between men and
women emerge in the area of work.

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Growing up in Samoa in the 1920s

The Samoan Islands are part of a large group of small

islands in the southern part of the Pacific Ocean. In
the 1920s, according to research reports on Samoan
society, children did not go to school. They learnt
many things, such as how to take care of children or
do household work from older children and from
adults. Fishing was a very important activity on the
islands. Young people, therefore, learnt to undertake
long fishing expeditions. But they learnt these things
at different points in their childhood.

As soon as babies could walk, their mothers or

other adults no longer looked after them. Older
children, often as young as five years old, took over
this responsibility. Both boys and girls looked after A Class VII Samoan child
their younger siblings. But, by the time a boy was in his school uniform.
about nine years old, he joined the older boys in
learning outdoor jobs like fishing and planting In what ways do the experiences
coconuts. Girls had to continue looking after small of Samoan children and teenagers
children or do errands for adults till they were differ from your own experiences
teenagers. But, once they became teenagers they had of growing up? Is there anything
much more freedom. After the age of fourteen or so, in this experience that you wish
girls also went on fishing trips, worked in the was part of your growing up?
plantations, learnt how to weave baskets. Cooking
was done in special cooking-houses, where boys were
supposed to do most of the work while girls helped
with the preparations.

Growing up male in
Madhya Pradesh in the 1960s

The following is adapted from an account of

experiences of being in a small town in Madhya
Pradesh in the 1960s.

From Class VI onwards, boys and girls went to

separate schools. The girls’ school was designed very
Why do girls like to go to school
differently from the boys’ school. They had a central
together in groups?
courtyard where they played in total seclusion and

Chapter 4: Growing up as Boys and Girls 45

2020-21
 Make a drawing of a street or a safety from the outside world. The boys’ school had
park in your neighbourhood. Show no such courtyard and our playground was just a
the different kinds of activities big space attached to the school. Every evening, once
young boys and girls may be school was over, the boys watched as hundreds of
engaged in. You could do this school girls crowded the narrow streets. As these
individually or in groups. girls walked on the streets, they looked so purposeful.
This was unlike the boys who used the streets as a
Are there as many girls as boys in place to stand around idling, to play, to try out tricks
your drawing? Most probably you with their bicycles. For the girls, the street was simply
would have drawn fewer girls. Can a place to get straight home. The girls always went
you think of reasons why there in groups, perhaps because they also carried fears
are fewer women and girls in your of being teased or attacked.
neighbourhood streets, parks and
markets in the late evenings or at After reading the two examples above, we realise
night? that there are many different ways of growing up.
Often we think that there is only one way in which
Are girls and boys doing different children grow up. This is because we are most
activities? Can you think of familiar with our own experiences. If we talk to elders
reasons why this might be so? in our family, we will see that their childhoods were
What would happen if you probably very different from ours.
replaced the girls with the boys
and vice-versa? We also realise that societies make clear
distinctions between boys and girls. This begins from
a very young age. We are for example, given different
toys to play with. Boys are usually given cars to play
with and girls dolls. Both toys can be a lot of fun to
play with. Why are girls then given dolls and boys
cars? Toys become a way of telling children that they
will have different futures when they become men
and women. If we think about it, this difference is
created in the smallest and most everyday things.
How girls must dress, what games boys should play,
how girls need to talk softly or boys need to be tough.
All these are ways of telling children that they have
specific roles to play when they grow up to be men
and women. Later in life this affects the subjects we
can study or the careers we can choose.

In most societies, including our own, the roles men

and women play or the work they do, are not valued
equally. Men and women do not have the same
status. Let us look at how this difference exists in
the work done by men and women.

46 Social and Political Life

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 ‘MY MOTHER Harmeet’s mother Shonali, how can Yes, but that’s not real
DOES NOT WORK’ always comes for you say that! You work, it’s just house work!
excursions, beause know that Jaspreet
Ma, we are going on a she doesn’t work. aunty is up at 5 a.m.
school excursion. Rosie Ma’am everyday doing all Oh! That’s what you
needs volunteers. Can’t you the housework! think, do you? Let’s go over
take a holiday from office to their house and ask
and volunteer? Jaspreet what she thinks!

At the Singh’s house Then Jaspreet, why don’t What fun! We’ll take care
you just relax and let them of everything tomorrow
Harsharan, Shonali But isn’t that correct aunty?
manage everything for a – with Papa!
thinks that your wife My mother is a housewife –
change?
is not a working she does not work!
person! Great idea!
OK, I’ll go on strike
tomorrow!

Ha, ha!

Next morning, 7:30 a.m. Oh-ho! That’s Hurry, hurry! And

the school bus! I’ll ask Harmeet to switch
Oh God! Look at the time! have to drop on the pump!
Where’s my breakfast? Why aren’t them in the car.
the children ready?

HONK
HONK

How would I know?

I’m on strike, remember?
Besides, Mangala has also
taken leave today.

2020-21
 Evening, 6.00 p.m.
But, what about the kids’ lunch boxes? I’ll give you some money. Just
buy something from the
Oh no! Forgot canteen today... DING
about that!
Ma already gave us DING
money for that!

I’m exhausted! How about

some tea? Oh, I forgot...your
strike...I’ll make some myself.

Harmeet, where
The house looks like it Did you expect it to remain in exactly the on earth are the
was hit by a hurricane! same condition in which you left it this tea leaves?
morning, dear?

Hee hee...
I wonder if they
still believe I don’t
work?...and now I have
to remind them that
Chachaji and Chachiji
are coming
for dinner.

Valuing housework

Harmeet’s family did not think that the work Jaspreet

did within the house was real work. This feeling is
not unique to their families. Across the world, the
main responsibility for housework and care-giving
tasks, like looking after the family, especially
children, the elderly and sick members, lies with
women. Yet, as we have seen, the work that women
do within the home is not recognised as work. It is
also assumed that this is something that comes
naturally to women. It, therefore, does not have to
be paid for. And society devalues this work.

48 Social and Political Life

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Lives of domestic workers

In the story above, Harmeet’s mother was not the

only one who did the housework. A lot of the work
was done by Mangala, their domestic helper.
Many homes, particularly in towns and cities,
employ domestic workers. They do a lot of work –
sweeping and cleaning, washing clothes and
dishes, cooking, looking after young children or
the elderly. Most domestic workers are women.
Sometimes, even young boys or girls are employed
to do this work. Wages are low, as domestic work Melani with her daughter.
does not have much value. A domestic worker’s
day can begin as early as five in the morning and
end as late as twelve at night! Despite the hard
work they do, their employers often do not show
them much respect. This is what Melani, a
domestic worker had to say about her experience
of working in Delhi – “My first job was with a rich
family that lived in a three-storeyed house. The
memsahib was very strange as she would shout Were Harmeet and Shonali correct
to get any work done. My work was in the kitchen. in saying that Harmeet’s mother
There were two other girls who did the cleaning. did not work?
Our day would begin at 5 o’clock. For breakfast
we would get a cup of tea and two dry rotis. We What do you think would happen
could never get a third roti. In the evening, when if your mother or those involved
I cooked the food, the two other girls would beg in doing the work at home went
me to give them an extra roti. I would secretly on a strike for a day?
give it to them and make an extra one for myself.
We were so hungry after working through the day! Why do you think that men and
We could not wear chappals in the house. In the boys generally do not do
winter, our feet would swell up with the cold. I housework? Do you think they
used to feel scared of the memsahib but also felt should?
angry and humiliated. Did we not work all day?
Did we not deserve to be treated with some
respect?”

In fact, what we commonly term as housework

actually involves many different tasks. A number
of these tasks require heavy physical work. In
both rural and urban areas women and girls have
to fetch water. In rural areas women and girls
carry heavy headloads of firewood. Tasks like

Chapter 4: Growing up as Boys and Girls 49

2020-21
 washing clothes, cleaning, sweeping and picking up
loads require bending, lifting and carrying. Many
chores, like cooking, involve standing for long hours
in front of hot stoves. The work women do is
strenuous and physically demanding — words that
we normally associate with men.

Another aspect of housework and care-giving that

we do not recognise is that it is very time consuming.
In fact, if we add up the housework and the work,
women do outside the home, we find that women
spend much more time working than men and have
much less time for leisure.

Below is some data from a special study done

by the Central Statistical Organization of India
(1998-1999). See if you can fill in the blanks.

State Women Paid Women Unpaid Women Men Paid Men Unpaid Men
(Work hours (Housework (Total) (Work hours (Housework (Total)
per week) hours per week) per week) hours per week)

Haryana 23 30 ? 38 2 ?
Tamil Nadu 19 35 ? 40 4 ?

What are the total number of work Women’s work and equality
hours spent by women in Haryana
and Tamil Nadu each week? As we have seen the low value attached to women’s
household and care-giving work is not an individual
How does this compare with the or family matter. It is part of a larger system of
total number of work hours spent inequality between men and women. It, therefore,
by men? has to be dealt with through actions not just at the
level of the individual or the family but also by the
government. As we now know, equality is an
important principle of our Constitution. The
Constitution says that being male or female should
Many women like Shonali’s mother in not become a reason for discrimination. In reality,
the story and the women in Tamil Nadu inequality between the sexes exists. The government
and Haryana who were surveyed work is, therefore, committed to understanding the reasons
both inside and outside the home. This is for this and taking positive steps to remedy the
often referred to as the double burden of situation. For example, it recognises that burden of
women’s work. child-care and housework falls on women and girls.

50 Social and Political Life

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This naturally has an impact on whether Children at an Anganwadi centre in a
girls can attend school. It determines village in Madhya Pradesh.
whether women can work outside the
house and what kind of jobs and careers
they can have. The government has set up
anganwadis or child-care centres in several
villages in the country. The government
has passed laws that make it mandatory
for organisations that have more than 30
women employees to provide crèche
facilities. The provision of crèches helps
many women to take up employment
outside the home. It also makes it possible
for more girls to attend schools.

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)

www.in.undp.org

Chapter 4: Growing up as Boys and Girls 51

2020-21
What do you think this poster is trying to say?

This poster was created by a women’s group in

Bengal. Can you write an interesting slogan for
the poster?

52 Social and Political Life

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 EXERCISES

1. Are the statements given alongside true or false. Support a. All societies do not think
your answer with the use of an example – similarly about the roles that boys
and girls play.
2. Housework is invisible and unpaid work.
b. Our society does not make
Housework is physically demanding.
distinctions between boys and
girls when they are growing up.
Housework is time consuming.

Write in your own words what is meant by the terms c. Women who stay at home do
‘invisible’, ‘physically demanding’, and ‘time consuming’? not work.
Give one example of each based on the household tasks
undertaken by women in your home. d. The work that women do is less
valued than that of men.
3. Make a list of toys and games that boys typically play and
another for girls. If there is a difference between the two
lists, can you think of some reasons why this is so? Does
this have any relationship to the roles children have to
play as adults?

4. If you have someone working as a domestic help in your

house or locality talk to her and find out a little bit more
about her life – Who are her family members? Where is
her home? How many hours does she work? How much
does she get paid? Write a small story based on these
details.

Glossary

Identity: Identity is a sense of self-awareness of who one is. Typically, a person can have several
identities. For example, a person can be a girl, a sister and a musician.

Double-burden: Literally means a double load. This term is commonly used to describe the women’s
work situation. It has emerged from a recognition that women typically labour both inside the
home (housework) and outside.

Care-giving: Care-giving refers to a range of tasks related to looking after and nurturing. Besides
physical tasks, they also involve a strong emotional aspect.

De-valued: When someone is not given due recognition for a task or job they have done, they can
feel de-valued. For example, if a boy has put in a lot of effort into making a special birthday gift for
his friend and this friend does not say anything about this, then the boy may feel de-valued.

Chapter 4: Growing up as Boys and Girls 53

2020-21
 Women Change
5
CHAPTER

the World
In the previous chapter, we saw how women’s
work in the home is not recognised as work. We
also read how doing household work and taking
care of family members is a full time job and
there are no specific hours at which it begins or
ends. In this chapter, we will look at work
outside the home, and understand how some
occupations are seen to be more suitable for
men than for women. We will also learn about
how women struggle for equality. Getting an
education was, and still is, one way in which new
opportunities were created for women. This
chapter will also briefly trace the different types
of efforts made by the women’s movement
to challenge discrimination in more recent
years.

2020-21
 Who does what work?

Draw images of the following –

A farmer A factory worker A nurse

A scientist A pilot A teacher

See what images your class drew by filling in the

table below. Add up the number of male and female
images separately for each occupation.

Category Male image Female image Are there more images of men
than women?
Teacher
In what kinds of jobs were there
Farmer
more images of men than women?
Factory worker
Have all the nurses been drawn as
Nurse females? Why?

Scientist
Are there fewer images of female
Pilot farmers? If so, why?

Chapter 5: Women Change the World 55

2020-21
 83.6 per cent of working women in India Rosie Ma’am’s class has 30 children. She did the
are engaged in agricultural work. Their same exercise in her class and here is the result.
work includes planting, weeding,
harvesting and threshing. Yet, when we
think of a farmer we only think of a Category Male image Female image
man.
Teacher 5 25
Source: NSS 61st Round (2004-05)
Farmer 30 0

Factory worker 25 5
How does your class exercise
compare with Rosie Ma’am’s Nurse 0 30
class exercise?
Scientist 25 5

Pilot 27 3

56 Social and Political Life

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Fewer opportunities and rigid expectations

A lot of the children in Rosie Ma’am’s class drew

women as nurses and men as army officers. The
reason they did this is because they feel that outside
the home too, women are good at only certain jobs.
For example, many people believe that women make
better nurses because they are more patient and
gentle. This is linked to women’s roles within the
family. Similarly, it is believed that science requires
a technical mind and girls and women are not capable
of dealing with technical things.

Because so many people believe in these

stereotypes, many girls do not get the same support
that boys do to study and train to become doctors
and engineers. In most families, once girls finish
school, they are encouraged by their families to see
marriage as their main aim in life.

Breaking stereotypes

Engine drivers are men. But 27-year-old Laxmi Lakra, from a

poor tribal family in Jharkhand has begun to change things.
She is the first woman engine driver for Northern Railways.

Laxmi’s parents are not literate but they struggled and

overcame many hardships to make sure their children got an
education. Laxmi studied in a government school. Even in school,
Laxmi helped with the housework and did odd jobs. She studied
hard and did well and then went on to get a diploma in
electronics. She then took the railway board exam and passed
it on her first attempt.

Laxmi says,“I love challenges and the moment somebody says it

is not for girls, I make sure I go ahead and do it.” Laxmi has had
to do this several times in her life – when she wanted to take electronics; when she rode
motorcycles at the polytechnic; and when she decided to become an engine driver.

Her philosophy is simple – “As long as I am having fun without harming anyone, as long as I am
doing well and helping my parents, why should I not lead a lifestyle of my choice?”

(Adapted from Driving Her Train by Neeta Lal, Women’s Features Service)

Chapter 5: Women Change the World 57

2020-21
 It is important to understand that we live in a
Read the story below and answer society in which all children face pressures from the
the questions – world around them. Sometimes, these come in the
form of demands from adults. At other times, they
If you were Xavier, what subject can just be because of unfair teasing by our own
would you choose and why? friends. Boys are pressurised to think about getting
a job that will pay a good salary. They are also teased
In your experience, what are some and bullied if they do not behave like other boys.
of the other pressures that boys You may remember that in your Class VI book you
experience? read about how boys at an early age are encouraged
not to cry in front of others.

Xavier was happy with the results of his Class X

board exams.Though his marks in Science and Why do you want to take History?
Maths were not high, he had done well in his Think about your future.
favourite subjects – History and Languages. When You have to get a good job!
his parents saw his report card, however, they did History will not help. It has no scope!
not look pleased at all...
But, but, I don’t like
Maths or Science!
My Goodness! Xavier, you have
managed only 65% in Maths.Your marks
in Physics are low too...

I know Mama, but it’s

okay, because I don’t
want to take Maths or
Science. I want to
study History.

Be sensible, son. Take Maths, and you can

study computers side by side. The job market
for computers is very good.

58 Social and Political Life

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Learning for change

Going to school is an extremely important part of

your life. As more and more children enter school
every year, we begin to think that it is normal for all
children to go to school. Today, it is difficult for us Ramabai (1858–1922), shown above
to imagine that school and learning could be seen with her daughter, championed the cause
as “out of bounds” or not appropriate for some of women’s education. She never went to
children. But in the past, the skill of reading and school but learnt to read and write from
writing was known to only a few. Most children learnt her parents. She was given the title
the work their families or elders did. For girls, the ‘Pandita’ because she could read and
situation was worse. In communities that taught sons write Sanskrit, a remarkable
to read and write, daughters were not allowed to learn achievement as women then were not
the alphabet. Even in families where skills like allowed such knowledge. She went on to
pottery, weaving and craft were taught, the set up a Mission in Khedgaon near Pune
contribution of daughters and women was only seen in 1898, where widows and poor women
as supportive. For example, in the pottery trade, were encouraged not only to become
women collected the mud and prepared the earth literate but to be independent. They were
for the pots. But since they did not operate the wheel, taught a variety of skills from carpentry
they were not seen as potters. to running a printing press, skills that
are not usually taught to girls even today.
In the nineteenth century, many new ideas about The printing press can be seen in the
education and learning emerged. Schools became picture on the top left corner. Ramabai’s
more common and communities that had never Mission is still active today.
learnt reading and writing started sending their
children to school. But there was a lot of opposition
to educating girls even then. Yet many women and
men made efforts to open schools for girls. Women
struggled to learn to read and write.

Chapter 5: Women Change the World 59

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 Let us read about the experience of Rashsundari
Devi (1800–1890), who was born in West Bengal,
some 200 years ago. At the age of 60, she wrote her
autobiography in Bangla. Her book titled Amar Jiban
is the first known autobiography written by an Indian
woman. Rashsundari Devi was a housewife from a
Learning to read and write led some
rich landlord’s family. At that time, it was believed
women to question the situation of
that if a woman learnt to read and write, she would
women in society. They wrote stories,
bring bad luck to her husband and become a widow!
letters and autobiographies describing
Despite this, she taught herself how to read and write
their own experiences of inequality. In
in secret, well after her marriage.
their writings, they also imagined new
ways of thinking and living for both
“I would start working at dawn, and I would still
men and women.
be at it until well beyond midnight. I had no rest in
between. I was only fourteen years old at the time. I
came to nurture a great longing: I would learn to
read and I would read a religious manuscript. I was

Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain and her dreams about ‘Ladyland’

Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880 –1932) was born into a rich family who owned a lot of land. Though
she knew how to read and write Urdu, she was stopped from learning Bangla and English. In those
days, English was seen as a language that would expose girls to new ideas, which people thought were
not correct for them. Therefore, it was mostly boys who were taught English. Rokeya learnt
to read and write Bangla and English with the support of her elder brother and an elder
sister. She went on to become a writer. She wrote a remarkable story titled
Sultana’s Dream in 1905 to practise her English skills when she was merely 25
years old. This story imagined a woman called Sultana who reaches a place
called Ladyland. Ladyland is a place where women had the freedom to study,
work, and create inventions like controlling rain from the clouds and
flying air cars. In this Ladyland, the men had been sent into seclusion –
their aggressive guns and other weapons of war defeated by the brain-
power of women. As Sultana travels in Ladyland with Sister Sarah,
she awakes to realise that she was only dreaming.

As you can see, Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain was dreaming of

women flying planes and cars even before girls were being
allowed to go to school! This was the way in which education
and learning had changed Rokeya’s own life. Rokeya did not
stop at getting education just for herself. Her education gave
her the power not only to dream and write, but also to do
more – to help other girls go to school and to build their
own dreams. In 1910, she started a school for girls in Kolkata,
and to this day, the school is still functioning.

2020-21
unlucky, in those days women were not educated.
Later, I began to resent my own thoughts. What is
wrong with me? Women do not read, how will I do
it? Then I had a dream: I was reading the manuscript
of Chaitanya Bhagabat (the life of a saint)… Later in
the day, as I sat cooking in the kitchen, I heard my
husband say to my eldest son: “Bepin, I have left my
Chaitanya Bhagabat here. When I ask for it, bring it
in.” He left the book there and went away. When the
book had been taken inside, I secretly took out a
page and hid it carefully. It was a job hiding it, for
nobody must find it in my hands. My eldest son was
practising his alphabets at that time. I hid one of
them as well. At times, I went over that, trying to
match letters from that page with the letters that I
remembered. I also tried to match the words with
those that I would hear in the course of my days.
With tremendous care and effort, and over a long
period of time, I learnt how to read…” Unlike Rashsundari Devi and Rokeya
Hossain, who were not allowed to learn
After learning the alphabet, Rashsundari Devi was to read and write, large numbers of girls
able to read the Chaitanya Bhagabat. Through her attend school in India today. Despite this,
own writing she also gave the world an opportunity there continue to be many girls who leave
to read about women’s lives in those days. school for reasons of poverty, inadequate
Rashsundari Devi wrote about her everyday life schooling facilities and discrimination.
experiences in details. There were days when she Providing equal schooling facilities to
did not have a moment’s rest, no time even to sit children from all communities and class
down and eat! backgrounds, and particularly girls,
continues to be a challenge in India.

Schooling and education today

Today, both boys and girls attend school in large

numbers. Yet, as we will see, there still remain
differences between the education of boys and girls.
India has a census every 10 years, which counts the
whole population of the country. It also gathers
detailed information about the people living in
India – their age, schooling, what work they do, and
so on. We use this information to measure many
things, like the number of literate people, and the
ratio of men and women. According to the 1961 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)
census, about 40 per cent of all boys and men www.in.undp.org

Chapter 5: Women Change the World 61

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 (7 years old and above) were literate (that is, they
could at least write their names) compared to just
15 per cent of all girls and women. In the most recent
census of 2011, these figures have grown to 82 per
cent for boys and men, and 65 per cent for girls and
women. This means that the proportion of both men
and women who are now able to read and have at
least some amount of schooling has increased. But,
as you can also see, the percentage of the male
group is still higher than the female group. The gap
has not gone away.
Here is a table that shows the percentage of girls
and boys who leave schools from different social
groups including Scheduled Caste (SC) and
Scheduled Tribe (ST).

Average Annual Drop-out Rate in School Education (2014–15)

(in percentage)

Level All SC ST

Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total Boy Girls Total

Primary (Classes 1-5) 4.36 3.88 4.13 4.71 4.20 4.46 7.02 6.84 6.93

Upper Primary (Classes 6-8) 3.49 4.60 4.03 5.00 6.03 5.51 8.48 8.71 8.59

Secondary (Classes 9-10) 17.21 16.88 17.06 19.64 19.05 19.36 24.94 24.40 24.68
Source: Educational Statistics at a Glance, MHRD, 2018

What percentage of children leave You have probably noticed in the above table that
school at the upper primary level? SC and ST girls leave school at a rate that is higher
than the category ‘All Girls’. This means that girls
At which level of education do you who are from Dalit (SC) and Adivasi (ST) backgrounds
see the highest percentage of are less likely to remain in school. The 2011 census
children leaving? also found that Muslim girls are less likely, than SC
and ST girls, to complete primary school. While a
Why do you think that the Muslim girl is likely to stay in school for around
percentage of Adivasi girls and three years, girls from other communities spend
boys leaving school is higher than around four years in school.
that of any other group?
There are several reasons why children from Dalit,
Adivasi and Muslim communities leave school. In
many parts of the country, especially in rural and
poor areas, there may not even be proper schools
nor teachers who teach on a regular basis. If a school

62 Social and Political Life

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is not close to people’s homes, and there is no
transport like buses or vans, parents may not be
willing to send their girls to school. Many families
are too poor and unable to bear the cost of educating
all their children. Boys may get preference in this
situation. Many children also leave school because
they are discriminated against by their teacher and
classmates, just like Omprakash Valmiki was.

10
Find out about the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’
8 campaign launched in 2014.

6
Percentage

From the given table, convert the

figures of primary class children
4 who leave school into a bar
All ST diagram. Two percentages have
2 boys boys already been converted for you in
4.36% 7.02% the bar diagram on the left.

0
Boys and girls

Women’s movement

Women and girls now have the right to study and go

to school. There are other spheres – like legal reform,
violence and health – where the situation of women
and girls has improved. These changes have not
happened automatically. Women individually, and
collectively have struggled to bring about these
changes. This struggle is known as the Women’s
Movement. Individual women and women’s
organisations from different parts of the country are
part of the movement. Many men support the women’s
movement as well. The diversity, passion and efforts
of those involved makes it a very vibrant movement.
Different strategies have been used to spread
awareness, fight discrimination and seek justice.
Here are some glimpses of this struggle.

Chapter 5: Women Change the World 63

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Campaigning

Campaigns to fight discrimination

and violence against women are an
important part of the women’s
movement. Campaigns have also led
to new laws being passed. A law was
made in 2006 to give women who face
physical and mental violence within
their homes, also called domestic
violence, some legal protection.

Similarly, efforts made by the

women’s movement led the Supreme
Court to formulate guidelines in 1997
to protect women against sexual
harassment at the workplace and
within educational institutions.
Satyarani, an active member of the women’s movement,
sitting on the steps of the Supreme Court surrounded by legal
In the 1980s, for example, women’s
files gathered during the course of a long legal battle to seek
groups across the country spoke out
justice for her daughter who was murdered for dowry.
against ‘dowry deaths’ — cases of
young brides being murdered by their
in-laws or husbands, greedy for more
dowry. Women’s groups spoke out
against the failure to bring these
cases to justice. They did so by
coming on to the streets, approaching
the courts, and by sharing
information. Eventually, this became
a public issue in the newspapers and
society, and the dowry laws were
changed to punish families who seek
dowry.

2020-21
 Raising Awareness

An important part of the women’s

movements’ work is to raise public
awareness on women’s rights issues.
Their message has been spread through
street plays, songs and public meetings.

Protesting

The women’s movement raises its voice when violations against women take place or
for example, when a law or policy acts against their interests. Public rallies and
demonstrations are a very powerful way of drawing attention to injustices.

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Showing Solidarity

The women’s movement is also about showing

solidarity with other women and causes.

Below: On 8 March, International Women’s Day, women all over

the world come together to celebrate and renew their struggles.

Above: Women are holding up

candles to demonstrate the
solidarity between the people of
India and Pakistan. Every year, on
14 August, several thousand people
gather at Wagah on the border of
India and Pakistan and hold a
cultural programme.

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 EXERCISES

1. How do you think stereotypes, about what women can or

cannot do, affect women’s right to equality?

2. List one reason why learning the alphabet was so

important to women like Rashsundari Devi, Ramabai and
Rokeya.

3. “Poor girls drop out of school because they are not interested
in getting an education.” Re-read the last paragraph on page
62 and explain why this statement is not true.

4. Can you describe two methods of struggle that the

women’s movement used to raise issues? If you had to
organise a struggle against stereotypes, about what
women can or cannot do, what method would you employ
from the ones that you have read about? Why would you
choose this particular method?

Glossary

Stereotype: When we believe that people belonging to particular groups based on religion, wealth,
language are bound to have certain fixed characteristics or can only do a certain type of work, we
create a stereotype. For example, in this chapter, we saw how boys and girls are made to take
certain subjects not because he or she has an aptitude for it, but because they are either boys or
girls. Stereotypes prevent us from looking at people as unique individuals.

Discrimination: When we do not treat people equally or with respect we are indulging in
discrimination. It happens when people or organisations act on their prejudices. Discrimination
usually takes place when we treat some one differently or make a distinction.

Violation: When someone forcefully breaks the law or a rule or openly shows disrespect, we can
say that he or she has committed a violation.

Sexual harassment: This refers to physical or verbal behaviour that is of a sexual nature and
against the wishes of a woman.

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 UNIT
FOUR

68

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Media

Teacher’s note

Today, the media and advertising are a demonstrate that there is seldom just one
pervasive presence in the lives of young version of a story or an event. Building on
people, who may or may not have taken this, we expect the learner to develop the
the opportunity to seriously reflect upon skills required to critically analyse a
this fact. This Unit offers some ways by newspaper report or a TV story through
which we can begin to think about these. scrutinising the information provided, as
well as understanding the logic behind the
The focus is on explaining the strong exclusion of certain perspectives.
links between media and technology and
media and big business. It explains how These ideas can be strengthened by
the media ‘sets the agenda’ through selecting examples from actual
influencing our perception of issues advertisements and structuring similar
worth devoting time and attention to, questions around them.
and issues that are neglected or
overridden. This chapter concludes by linking its
contents to the idea of democracy. It
Chapter 6 foregrounds the widespread emphasises, through using examples of
effects of the media, and attempts to local media as well as social advertising,
connect the issues under discussion to the how mainstream media and advertising
learner’s own lives. At the end of the tend to favour those who have greater
chapter, we expect the learner to recognise financial as well as social resources. This
the role of big business in the media point can be reinforced in the classroom
coverage of events — the way ‘news’ is by using local examples of media stories,
selected for coverage, and the explicit/ as well as posing questions about the ways
implicit dimensions of that coverage. We in which advertising is changing what is
use two fictitious news reports to locally available as well as locally valued.

69

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 6
CHAPTER

Understanding Media
What is your favourite TV programme? What do you like listening to on
the radio? Which newspaper or magazine do you usually read? Do you
surf the internet and what have you found most useful about it? Did you
know that there is one word that is often used to collectively refer to
the radio, TV, newspapers, Internet and several other forms of
communication. This word is ‘media’. In this chapter, you will read
more about the media. You will find out what is required to make it
work, as well as the ways in which the media affects our daily lives. Can
you think of one thing that you have learnt from the media this week?

2020-21
Everything ranging from the stall at the local fair to
the programme that you see on TV can be called
media. Media is the plural form of the word ‘medium’
and it describes the various ways through which we
Look at the collage on the left and
communicate in society. Because media refers to all
list six various kinds of media that
means of communication, everything ranging from
you see.
a phone call to the evening news on TV can be called
media. TV, radio and newspapers are a form of media
that reaches millions of people, or the masses, across
the country and the world and, thus, they are called
mass media.

Media and technology

It would probably be difficult for you to imagine your

life without the media. But cable television and the
widespread use of the Internet is a recent
phenomenon. These have been around for less than
twenty years. The technology that mass media uses
keeps changing.

Newspapers, television and radio can reach

millions of people because they use certain
technologies. We also tend to discuss newspapers
An artist’s impression of Gutenberg
and magazines as the print media; and TV and radio
printing the first sheet of the Bible.
as the electronic media. Why do you think
newspapers are called print media? As you read
further, you will find that this naming is related to
the different technologies that these media use. The Ask older members of your family
following photographs will give you a sense of the about what they used to listen to
ways in which technology that mass media uses has on the radio when there was no
changed over the years and continues to change. TV around. Find out from them
when the first TV came to your
Changing technology, or machines, and making area. When was cable TV
technology more modern, helps media to reach more introduced?
people. It also improves the quality of sound and the
images that you see. But technology does more than How many people in your
this. It also changes the ways in which we think about neighbourhood use the Internet?
our lives. For example, today it is quite difficult for
us to think of our lives without television. Television List three things that you know
has enabled us to think of ourselves as members of about some other part of the
a larger global world. Television images travel huge world from watching television?

Chapter 6: Understanding Media 71

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 distances through satellites and cables. This allows
us to view news and entertainment channels from
other parts of the world. Most of the cartoons that
you see on television are mostly from Japan or the
United States. We can now be sitting in Chennai or
Jammu and can see images of a storm that has hit
the coast of Florida in the United States. Television
has brought the world closer to us.

With electronic typerwriters, journalism

underwent a sea-change in the 1940s. Media and money

The different technologies that mass media use are

expensive. Just think about the TV studio in which
the newsreader sits – it has lights, cameras, sound
recorders, transmission satellites, etc., all of which
cost a lot of money.

In a news studio, it is not only the newsreader

who needs to be paid but also a number of other
people who help put the broadcast together. This
includes those who look after the cameras and lights.
Also, as you read earlier the technologies that mass
media use keep changing and so a lot of money is
spent on getting the latest technology. Due to these
costs, the mass media needs a great deal of money
to do its work. As a result, most television channels
and newspapers are part of big business houses.
John L. Baird sits in front of the
apparatus with which he demonstrated to Mass media is constantly thinking of ways to make
the Royal Institute, his invention, the money. One way in which the mass media earns
‘televisor’, an early television. money is by advertising different things like cars,
chocolates, clothes, mobile phones, etc. You must
Can you list three different have noticed the number of advertisements that you
products that are advertised have to see while watching your favourite television
during your favourite TV show. While watching a cricket match on TV, the
programme? same advertisements are shown repeatedly between
each over and so you are often watching the same
Take a newspaper and count the image over and over again. As you will read in the
number of advertisements in it. following chapter, advertisements are repeated in the
Some people say that newspapers hope that you will go out and buy what is advertised.
have too many advertisements. Do
you think this is true and why?

72 Social and Political Life

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 The cost to advertise on a TV channel
Media and democracy
varies from ` 1,000 to ` 1,00,000 per
10 seconds depending on the popularity
In a democracy, the media plays a very important
of the channel and time.
role in providing news and discussing events taking
place in the country and the world. It is on the basis
of this information that citizens can, for example,
learn how government works. And often, if they wish
to, they can take action on the basis of these news
stories. Some of the ways in which they can do this
is by writing letters to the concerned minister,
organising a public protest, starting a signature
campaign, asking the government to rethink its
programme, etc.

Given the role that the media plays in providing

information, it is important that the information be The print media offers a large variety of
balanced. Let us understand what we mean by a information to suit the tastes of different
balanced media report by reading two versions of readers.
the same news event given on the next page.

Chapter 6: Understanding Media 73

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 India Daily Report

Closure of factories caus

News of India Report Daily News Service
es unrest
ctories
Crackdown on polluting fa
Protestors block roads and dis
rupt traffic T he clo su re of on e lak h
city’s residential areas is
a serious issue. On Monda
fa cto rie s in th e
likely to become
Radhika Malik | INN Mo reo ver the lev els of owners and workers took
y, thousands of factory
lution in the city will be to the streets to strongly
Violent protests by owners pol pr ot es t th is cl os ur e.
atly red uce d by this Th ey sa id th at th ei r
and workers brought the gre livelihoods would be los
sure. Mr. Jain a well- t. They say that the fault
city to a standstill today. clo lies with the municipal
wn figure in the city corporation because it
Peo ple get ting to wo rk kno continued to issue license
d, “W ith our city s for new factories to
could not do so on time sai be set up in residential are
dua lly bec om ing as.They also say that
bec aus e of hug e traf fic gra there were no adequate
ias’s new business hub, relocation efforts. The
jam s. The ow ner s and Ind owners and workers pla
is important that it be a n a one-day city bandh
workers are protesting the it to protest against this clo
an and gre en city . sure. Mr. Sharma, one
government’s decision to cle of the factory owners said,
luting factories should “The government says
clo se dow n pol lut ing Pol that it has done a lot to rel
mo ved . The fac tor y ocate us. But the areas
factory units. Although the be they have sent us to have
ner s and wo rke rs no facilities and have
government did take this ow not been developed for the
uld acc ept the last five years.”
decision rather hastily, the sho
cation being offered by
protestors have known for relo
government instead of
quite some time that their the
testing.”
uni ts are not leg al. pro

The fact is that if you had read either newspaper

Are the above stories in the two you would only know one side of the story. If you
newspapers similar? And if not, had read the News of India, you would most likely
why not? What, in your view, are think of the protestors as a nuisance. Their
the similarities and the disrupting traffic and continually polluting the city
differences? with their factories leaves you with a bad impression
about them. But on the other hand, if you had read
If you read the story in the News the story in the India Daily, you would know that
of India, what would you think the protests are because a lot of livelihoods will be
about the issue? lost if the factories close because the relocation efforts
have not been adequate. Neither of these stories is a
balanced report. A balanced report is one that
discusses all points of view of a particular story and
then leaves it to the readers to make up their minds.

Writing a balanced report, however, depends on

the media being independent. An independent media
means that no one should control and influence its
coverage of news. No one should tell the media what

74 Social and Political Life

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can be included and what should not be included in
a news story. An independent media is important in Do you think it is important to
a democracy. As you read above, it is on the basis of know both sides of the story?
the information that the media provides that we take Why?
action as citizens, so it is important that this
information is reliable and not biased. Pretend that you are a journalist
for a newspaper and write a
However, the reality is that media is far from balanced story from the two news
independent. This is mainly because of two reasons. reports.
The first is the control that the government has on
the media. When the government prevents either a
news item, or scenes from a movie, or the lyrics of a
song from being shared with the larger public, this
is referred to as censorship. There have been periods
in Indian history when the government censored the
media. The worst of these was the Emergency
between 1975-1977.

What does TV do to us and what can we do with TV?

In many of our homes, TV is on a lot of the time. In many ways, a lot of our impressions
about the world around us are formed by what we see on TV: it is like a ‘window on the
world’. How do you think it influences us? TV has different types of programmes, soap
operas, like Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, game shows, like Kaun Banega Crorepati, reality TV
shows like Big Boss, news, sports and cartoons.
Before, in between and after each programme
are advertisements. Since TV time costs so much
money, only those programmes that can attract
the maximum number of viewers are shown. Can
you think of what such programmes might be?
Think of what are the kinds of things that TV
shows and what it does not. Does it show us
more about the lives of the rich or the poor?

We need to think about what TV does to us,

how it shapes our views of the world, our beliefs,
attitudes and values. We need to realise that it gives us a partial view of the world.While
we enjoy our favourite programmes, we should always be aware of the large exciting
world beyond our TV screens. There is so much happening out there that TV ignores. A
world beyond film stars, celebrities and rich lifestyles, a world that all of us need to reach
out to and respond to in various ways. We need to be active viewers, who question
whatever we see and hear, while we may enjoy it too!

Chapter 6: Understanding Media 75

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 While the government does continue to censor
films, it does not really censor the media’s coverage
of news. Despite the absence of censorship by the
government, most newspapers nowadays still fail to
provide a balanced story. The reasons for this are
complicated. Persons who research the media have
said that this happens because business houses
control the media. At times, it is in the interest of
these businesses to focus on only one side of the
story. Media’s continual need for money and its links
to advertising means that it becomes difficult for
media to be reporting against people who give them
advertisements. Media is, thus, no longer considered
independent because of its close links to business.

Besides the above, the media also tends to focus

on a particular aspect of a story because they believe
this makes the story interesting. Also, if they want
to increase public support for an issue, they often
do this by focusing on one side of a story.

Setting agendas

The media also plays an important role in deciding

what stories to focus on, and therefore, decides on
what is newsworthy. For example, the annual
function at your school is unlikely to make the news.
But if a famous actor is invited as the Chief Guest,
then the media might be interested in covering it. By
focusing on particular issues, the media influences
our thoughts, feelings and actions, and brings those
issues to our attention. Due to the significant
influence it plays in our lives and in shaping our
thoughts, it is commonly said that the media ‘sets
the agenda’.

Very recently, the media drew our attention to

alarming levels of pesticides in cola drinks. They
published reports that indicated the high level of
pesticides and, thus, made us aware of the need to
regularly monitor these colas according to
international quality and safety standards. They did

76 Social and Political Life

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this despite the government’s resistance by boldly
declaring that colas were unsafe. In covering this
story, the media positively helped us focus on an
issue that affects our lives and one that we might
not even have been aware of it had it not been for
media reporting.

There are several instances when the media fails

to focus on issues that are significant in our lives.
For example, drinking water is a major problem in
the country. Every year, thousands of people suffer
Fashion shows are very popular with the
and die because they do not get safe drinking water.
media.
However, we seldom find the media discussing this
issue. A well-known Indian journalist wrote of how
the Fashion Week, in which clothes designers show What is the consequence of the
their new creations to rich people, formed the front media ‘setting the agenda’ by
page headlines of all the newspapers while several reporting on the Fashion Week
slums were being demolished in Mumbai, the very rather than the slum demolitions?
same week, and this was not even noticed!
Can you think of an issue that
As citizens of a democracy, the media has a very does not seem important to you
important role to play in our lives because it is because it is never featured in the
through the media that we hear about issues related media?

Local media
Recognising that the media will not be interested in
covering ‘small’ issues that involve ordinary people and
their daily lives, several local groups have come forward
to start their own media. Several people use community
radio to tell farmers about the prices of different crops
and advise them on the use of seeds and fertilisers.
Others make documentary films with fairly cheap and
easily available video cameras on real-life conditions
faced by different poor communities, and, at times, have
even given the poor these video cameras to make films
on their own lives.

Another example is a newspaper called Khabar Lahriya which is a fortnightly that is run by
eight Dalit women in Chitrakoot district in Uttar Pradesh. Written in the local language,
Bundeli, this eight-page newspaper reports on Dalit issues and cases of violence against
women and political corruption. The newspaper reaches farmers, shopkeepers, panchayat
members, school teachers and women who have recently learnt to read and write.

Chapter 6: Understanding Media 77

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 to the working of the government. The media decides
what to focus on and in this way it ‘sets the agenda’.
The government can, at times, prevent the media
from publishing a story and this is called censorship.
Nowadays, media’s close relationship with business
often means that a balanced report is difficult to come
by. Given this, it is important for us to be aware that
the ‘factual information’ that a news report provides
is often not complete and can be one-sided. We,
therefore, need to analyse the news by asking the
following questions: what is the information I am
learning from this report? What information is not
being provided? From whose point of view is the
article being written? Whose point of view is being
left out and why?

Social advertising
Social advertisements
refer to advertisements
made by the Government
or private agencies that
have a larger message
for society. The following
is a social advertisement
regarding crossing of
manned/unmanned
level crossings.

78 Social and Political Life

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 EXERCISES

1. In what ways does the media play an important role in a

democracy? BIG BUSINESS HOUSES

2. Can you give this diagram a title? What do you understand

about the link between media and big business from this Some own radio,
diagram? TV, newspaper

People buy
3. You have read about the ways in which the media ‘sets advertise products
their seen in the
the agenda’. What kind of effect does this have in a
products media.
democracy? Provide two examples to support your point Money,
therefore,
of view. flows back to
big business
4. As a class project, decide to focus on a particular news houses

topic and cut out stories from different newspapers on

this. Also watch the coverage of this topic on TV news.
Compare two newspapers and write down the similarity
and differences in their reports. It might help to ask the
following questions– MEDIA

a. What information is this article providing? promotes

products
READERS,
b. What information is it leaving out? through VIEWERS,
advertisements LISTENERS
c. From whose point of view is the article being written?

d. Whose point of view is being left out and why?

5. Do projects (solo, pair or group) about types of advertisements. Create commercial advertisements
about some products and social advertisements about public health, road safety and the need to
save water and energy.

Glossary
Publish: This refers to newsreports, articles, interviews, stories, etc., that are printed in newspapers,
magazines and books for a wide audience to read.

Censorship: This refers to the powers that government has to disallow media from publishing or
showing certain stories.

Broadcast: In this chapter this word is used to refer to a TV or radio programme that is widely
transmitted.

Public protest: When a large number of people come together and openly state their opposition to
some issue. Organising a rally, starting a signature campaign, blocking roads etc. are some of the
ways in which this is done.

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 UNIT
FIVE

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Markets

Teacher’s note

These two chapters focus on aspects of of markets involved in the process. Together
life and commercial cycles associated with with understanding each step of the
markets. While some of these processes manufacture and circulation of a shirt, we
may be visible and, therefore, easily realise that some people stand to gain in
observable, there are also others that are the market transaction whereas others do
relatively unfamiliar. not gain as much, or none at all. The
opportunities are highly unequal. Ways do
Chapter 7 discusses ‘Markets Around exist, such as those of cooperative
Us’. At one level, we study different market marketing, which can provide a better
sites: a weekly market, neighbourhood return to the producers. However, we need
shops, a shopping complex, etc. At another to find many more viable avenues for
level, we explore the intricate question, equitable distribution.
‘how do goods reach these markets?’ We
examine how a chain of markets operates These chapters offer an opportunity of
and the role of wholesale markets within bringing in the experience of local markets
this, through the case study of a wholesale for discussion in the classroom. A visit to
vegetable market. We usually associate a wholesale market would be of interest,
‘market’ with marketplaces, but buying and and would allow the learner to find out the
selling takes place in diverse ways and the profit margins and details of daily earnings
chapter discusses how all of this falls so that those inequalities can be directly
within a larger understanding of markets. examined. The experiences of markets are
varied and also quite rich. Hence, one
Chapter 8 looks at how markets offer should allocate time for some questions,
people different opportunities. This is done not addressed in the text, which students
through the ‘story of a shirt’, and the chain may wish to discuss.

81

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CHAPTER

Markets Around Us
We go to the market to buy many things – vegetables, soap, toothpaste, masala,
bread, rice, dal, clothes, notebooks, biscuits, etc. If we make a list of the goods
that we purchase, it would be really long. There are many kinds of markets that
we may visit for our everyday needs: these can include shops, hawker’s stalls in
our neighbourhood, a weekly market, a large shopping complex, perhaps even a
mall. In this chapter, we look at some of these markets and try to understand
how the goods that are sold there reach buyers, who these buyers are, who these
sellers are, and the sorts of problems they face.

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 83

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 Why do people go to a weekly Weekly market
market? Give three reasons.
A weekly market is so called because it is held on a
Who are the sellers in a weekly specific day of the week. Weekly markets do not have
market? Why don’t we find big permanent shops. Traders set up shops for the day
business persons in these and then close them up in the evening. Then they
markets? may set up at a different place the next day. There
are thousands of such markets in India. People come
Why are things cheap in the here for their everyday requirements.
weekly market?
Many things in weekly markets are available at
Explain with an example how cheaper rates. This is because when shops are in
people bargain in the market. Can permanent buildings, they incur a lot of expenditure
you think of a situation where the – they have to pay rent, electricity, fees to the
bargain would be unfair? government. They also have to pay wages to their
workers. In weekly markets, these shop owners store
the things they sell at home. Most of them are helped
by their family members and, hence, do not need to
hire workers. Weekly markets also have a large
number of shops selling the same goods which means
there is competition among them. If some trader were
to charge a high price, people would move to another
Sameer: Seller of clothes shop where the same thing may be available more
cheaply or where the buyer can bargain and bring
the price down.

One of the advantages of weekly markets is that

most things you need are available at one place.
Whether you want vegetables, groceries or cloth
items, utensils – all of them can be found here. You
do not have to go to different areas to buy different
things. People also prefer going to a market where
they have a choice and a variety of goods.
Sameer is a small trader in the weekly
market. He buys clothes from a large
trader in the town and sells them in six Shops in the neighbourhood
different markets in a week. He and
other cloth sellers move in groups.They
We have seen that the weekly markets offer a variety
hire a mini van for this. His customers
of goods. However, we also buy things from other
are from villages that are near the
marketplace. At festival times, such as
kinds of markets. There are many shops that sell
during Deepavali or Pongal, he does goods and services in our neighbourhoods. We may
good business. buy milk from the dairy, groceries from departmental
stores, stationery, eatables or medicines from other

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 Sujata and Kavita were sent to buy
groceries from their neighbourhood
shop.This was the shop they usually
went to. It was crowded today. The
shop owner managed the shop
herself with two helpers.When they
managed to get into the shop, Sujata
dictated a list to her. She in turn
began asking her helpers to weigh
and pack the items. Meanwhile
Kavita looked around…

On the top left shelf there were

different brands of detergent cakes.
Another shelf had toothpastes,
talcum powder, shampoo, hair oil.
The different brands and different
colours looked so attractive. On the
floor lay a few sacks.

It took almost 20 minutes to weigh

and pack all the groceries. Then
Sujata showed her “notebook.” The
woman noted the amount of
` 3000 in the notebook and gave it
back. She also noted the amount
in her big register. Then Sujata took the heavy bags out of the shop. Her family will pay for the
purchases in the first week of next month.

Why did Sujata carry a notebook?

shops. Many of these are permanent shops, while
Do you think this system is
others are roadside stalls such as that of the
useful? Can there be problems?
vegetable hawker, the fruit vendor, the mechanic,
etc.
What are the different kinds of
shops that you find in your
Shops in the neighbourhood are useful in many
neighbourhood? What do you
ways. They are near our home and we can go there
purchase from them?
on any day of the week. Usually, the buyer and seller
know each other and these shops also provide goods
Why are goods sold in permanent
on credit. This means that you can pay for the
shops costlier than those sold in
purchases later, as we saw in Sujata’s case, for
the weekly markets or by roadside
example.
hawkers?

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 You might have noticed that there are different
kinds of sellers even in the neighbourhood markets.
Some of them have permanent shops and others sell
their goods on the roadside.

Anzal Mall is a five-floor shopping

complex. Kavita and Sujata were
enjoying going up and down in
the lift. It seemed as if it was
made of glass and they were able
to see outside as they went up.
It was fascinating to see so many
different kinds of shops such as
the ice-cream, burger, pizza and
other food shops; shops full of
home appliances; footwear and
leather items as well as
bookshops.

While wandering about on the

third floor they entered a shop
that was selling branded ready-
made clothes.The security guard
looked at them as if he wanted
to stop them but he did not say
anything. They looked at some
dresses and then looked at the
price tag. None of them was less
than ` 3,000, almost five times the weekly market price! Sujata whispered to Kavita, “I’ll take you to
another shop which has good quality ready-made clothes at more reasonable prices”.

Why do you think the guard Shopping complexes and malls

wanted to stop Kavita and Sujata
from entering the shop? What So far we have seen two kinds of marketplaces –
would you say if someone stops weekly markets and markets in our neighbourhood.
you from entering a shop in a There are other markets in the urban area that have
market? many shops, popularly called shopping complexes.
These days, in many urban areas, you also have large
multi-storeyed air-conditioned buildings with shops
on different floors, known as malls. In these urban
markets, you get both branded and non-branded
goods. As you have read in the chapter on advertising,

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branded goods are expensive, often promoted by
advertising and claims of better quality. The
companies producing these products sell them Why do people not bargain in
through shops in large urban markets and, at times, shops located in malls whereas
through special showrooms. As compared to non- they bargain in weekly markets?
branded goods, fewer people can afford to buy
branded ones.

Chain of markets

In the previous sections, you have read about

different markets from where we buy goods. From
where do you think shop-owners procure their goods?
Goods are produced in factories, on farms and in
homes. However, we don’t buy directly from the
How do you think your
factory or from the farm. Nor would the producers
neighbourhood shop gets its
be interested in selling us small quantities such as
goods? Find out and explain with
one kilo of vegetables or one plastic mug.
some examples.

The people in between the producer and the final

Why is a wholesale trader
consumer are the traders. The wholesale trader first
necessary?
buys goods in large quantities. For example, the
vegetable wholesale trader will not buy a few kilos of
vegetables, but will buy in large lots of 25 to 100
kilos. These will then be sold to other traders. In
these markets, buying and selling takes place
between traders. It is through these links of traders
that goods reach faraway places. The trader who
finally sells this to the consumer, is the retailer. This
could be a trader in a weekly market, a hawker in
the neighbourhood or a shop in a shopping complex. Azadpur

Daryaganj
We can understand this with the help of the
Keshopur
following examples –

Every city has areas for wholesale markets. This Okhla

is where goods first reach and are then supplied to
other traders. The roadside hawker whom you read
about earlier would have purchased a large quantity
of plastic items from a wholesale trader in the town.
He, in turn, might have bought these from another, The above map of Delhi shows four of the
even bigger wholesale trader in the city. The city 10 wholesale markets in the city.

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 wholesale trader would have bought a large quantity
of plastic items from the factory and stored them in
a godown. In this way, a chain of markets is set up.
When we purchase, we may not be aware of the chain
of markets through which these goods travel before
they reach us.

Aftab – The wholesaler in the city

Aftab is one of the wholesale traders who purchases in bulk. His
business starts around 2 o’clock in the morning when vegetables
reach the market. This is the time when the vegetable market or
mandi starts buzzing with activity. The vegetables come in trucks,
matadors, tractor trolleys from farms both near and far. Soon the
process of auctions begins. Aftab participates in this auction and
decides what he will buy. Today, for example, he bought 5 quintals of
cauliflower, 10 quintals of onions. He has a shop in the market where
he stores the vegetables that he has bought. From here he sells to
hawkers and shopkeepers who start coming to the market around
six in the morning. They have to organise their purchases so that
they can start their shop for the day around ten in the morning.

Markets everywhere

So far we have seen different marketplaces where

people buy and sell a variety of goods and services.
All these markets are in a specific locality and work
in a particular manner and time. However, it is not
always necessary that one has to go to the market to
purchase goods. You can place orders for a variety
of things through the phone and these days through
the Internet, and the goods are delivered at your
home. In clinics and nursing homes, you may have
noticed sales representatives waiting for doctors.
Such persons are also engaged in the selling of goods.
Thus, buying and selling takes place in different
ways, not necessarily through shops in the market.

The markets that we looked at above are the ones

that we recognise easily. However, there are markets
that we may not be so aware of. This is because a

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 People in urban areas can enter markets
without stepping out of their homes via
the Internet. They use their credit cards to
make ‘online purchases’.

large number of goods are bought and sold that we

don’t use directly. For example, a farmer uses
fertilisers to grow crops that he purchases from
special shops in the city and they, in turn get them
from factories. A car factory purchases engine, gears,
petrol tanks, axles, wheels, etc. from various other
factories. We don’t usually see all the buying and
selling, but only the final product – the car in the
showroom. The story is similar for any other good.

Markets and equality

In this chapter, we have looked at shop owners in a

weekly market and those in a shopping complex.
They are very different people. One is a small trader
with little money to run the shop whereas the other
is able to spend a lot of money to set up the shop. A car being put together in a factory.
They also earn unequal amounts. The weekly market
trader earns little compared to the profit of a regular
shop owner in a shopping complex. Similarly, buyers
are differently placed. There are many who are not
able to afford the cheapest of goods while others are
busy shopping in malls. Thus, whether we can be
buyers or sellers in these different markets depends,
among other things, on the money that we have.

We have also examined the chain of markets that

is formed before goods can reach us. It is through

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 Malls, like the one above, sell expensive this chain that what is produced in one place reaches
and branded goods. people everywhere. When things are sold, it
encourages production and new opportunities are
created for people to earn. However, do they offer
equal opportunities? We will try to understand this
through the story of a shirt in the next chapter.

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)

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90 Social and Political Life

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 EXERCISES

1. In what ways is a hawker different from a shop owner?

2. Compare and contrast a weekly market and a shopping

complex on the following:

Market Kind of goods sold Prices of goods Sellers Buyers

Weekly market

Shopping complex

3. Explain how a chain of markets is formed. What purpose

does it serve?

4. ‘All persons have equal rights to visit any shop in a

marketplace.’ Do you think this is true of shops with
expensive products? Explain with examples.

5. ‘Buying and selling can take place without going to a

marketplace.’ Explain this statement with the help of
examples.

Glossary

Weekly market: These markets are not daily markets but are to be found at a particular place on
one or maybe two days of the week. These markets most often sell everything that a household
needs ranging from vegetables to clothes to utensils.

Mall: This is an enclosed shopping space. This is usually a large building with many floors that has
shops, restaurants and, at times, even a cinema theatre. These shops most often sell branded
products.

Wholesale: This refers to buying and selling in large quantities. Most products, including vegetables,
fruits and flowers have special wholesale markets.

Chain of markets: A series of markets that are connected like links in a chain because products
pass from one market to another.

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CHAPTER

A Shirt in
the Market
This chapter tells us the story
of a shirt ! It begins with the
production of cotton and ends
with the sale of the shirt. We
shall see that a chain of
markets links the producer of
cotton to the buyer of the
shirt in the supermarket.
Buying and selling takes place
at every step in the chain.
Does everyone benefit equally
from this? Or do some people
benefit more than others? We
shall find out.

2020-21
A cotton farmer in Kurnool Did Swapna get a fair price on the
cotton?
Swapna, a small farmer in Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh)
grows cotton on her small piece of land. The bolls of Why did the trader pay Swapna
the cotton plant are ripe and some have already a low price?
burst, so Swapna is busy picking cotton. The bolls,
which carry the cotton in them, do not burst open Where do you think large farmers
all at once so it takes several days to harvest the would sell their cotton? How is
cotton. their situation different from
Swapna?
Once the cotton is collected, instead of selling it at
Kurnool cotton market, Swapna and her husband
take the harvest to the local trader. At the beginning
of the cropping season, Swapna had borrowed
` 2,500 from the trader at a very high interest rate
to buy seeds, fertilisers, pesticides for cultivation. 1.Trader sells the
2. Ginning mill
At that time, the local trader made Swapna agree to cotton at the Kurnool
buys the cotton.
another condition. He made her promise to sell all cotton market.
her cotton to him.

Cultivation of cotton requires high levels of inputs

such as fertilisers and pesticides and the farmers 3. Ginning mill removes
have to incur heavy expenses on account of these. the seeds and presses
Most often, the small farmers need to borrow money the cotton into bales.
to meet these expenses. 4. Spinning
mill buys
At the trader’s yard, two of his men weigh the the bales.
bags of cotton. At a price of ` 1,500 per quintal, the
cotton fetches ` 6,000. The trader deducts
` 3,000 for repayment of loan and interest and pays
Swapna ` 3,000. 6. Spinning
5. Spinning
mill sells the
mill spins the
Swapna: ` 3,000 only! cotton into
yarn to yarn
dealers.
yarn.
Trader: Cotton is selling cheap. There is a lot of
cotton in the market.

Swapna: I have toiled so hard for four months to

grow this cotton. You can see how fine and clean the
cotton is this time. I had hoped to get a much better
price.

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 Trader: Amma, I am giving you a good price. Other
traders are not even paying this much. You can check
at the Kurnool market, if you do not believe me.

Swapna: Don’t be angry. How can I doubt you? I had

only hoped that we would earn enough from the
cotton crop to last us a few months.

Though Swapna knows that cotton will sell for at

least ` 1,800 per quintal, she doesn’t argue further.
The trader is a powerful man in the village and the
farmers have to depend on him for loans not only for
cultivation, but also to meet other exigencies such
as illnesses, children’s school fees. Also, there are
times in the year when there is no work and no
income for the farmers, so borrowing money is the
only means of survival.

Swapna’s earning from cotton cultivation is barely

more than what she might have earned as a wage
labourer.

The cloth market of Erode

Erode’s bi-weekly cloth market in Tamil Nadu is one

of the largest cloth markets in the world. A large
variety of cloth is sold in this market. Cloth that is
made by weavers in the villages around is also
brought here for sale. Around the market are offices
of cloth merchants who buy this cloth. Other traders
from many south Indian towns also come and
purchase cloth in this market.

On market days, you would also find weavers

bringing cloth that has been made on order from the
merchant. These merchants supply cloth on order
to garment manufacturers and exporters around the
country. They purchase the yarn and give
instructions to the weavers about the kind of cloth
A shop in Erode. that is to be made. In the following example, we can
see how this is done.

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 1 2

3 1.This is a merchant’s shop in the bazaar.

Over the years, these traders have
developed extensive contacts with
garment firms around the country from
whom they get orders. These traders
purchase the yarn (thread) from others.
2. The weavers live in villages around
and take the yarn supplied by these
traders to their homes where the looms
are located in sheds adjacent to their
houses. This photograph shows a
powerloom in one such home.
The weavers and their families spend
long hours working on these looms.
Most weaving units have about 2–8
Putting-out system– weavers producing
powerlooms on which the yarn is woven
cloth at home
into cloth. A variety of sarees, towels,
shirting, ladies dress material and
The merchant distributes work among the weavers
bedsheets are produced in these looms.
based on the orders he has received for cloth. The
3. They then bring back the finished cloth
weavers get the yarn from the merchant and supply
to the traders. Here, they can be seen
him the cloth. For the weavers, this arrangement
getting ready to go to the merchant in the
seemingly has two advantages. The weavers do not
town. The trader keeps an account of the
have to spend their money on purchase of yarn. Also,
yarn given and pays them money for
the problem of selling the finished cloth is taken care
weaving this into cloth.
of. Weavers know from the outset what cloth they
should make and how much of it is to be woven.
What are the following people
However, this dependence on the merchants both doing at the Erode cloth market –
for raw materials and markets means that the merchants, weavers, exporters?
merchants have a lot of power. They give orders for
what is to be made and they pay a very low price for In what ways are weavers
making the cloth. The weavers have no way of dependent on cloth merchants?

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 If the weavers were to buy yarn on knowing who they are making the cloth for or at
their own and sell cloth, they what price it will be sold. At the cloth market, the
would probably earn three times merchants sell the cloth to the garment factories. In
more. Do you think this is this way, the market works more in favour of the
possible? How? Discuss. merchants.

Do you find similar ‘putting-out’ Weavers invest all their savings or borrow money
arrangements in making papads, at high interest rates to buy looms. Each loom costs
masalas, beedis? Find out about ` 20,000, so a small weaver with two looms has to
this in your area and discuss in invest ` 40,000. The work on these looms cannot be
class. done alone. The weaver and another adult member
of his family work upto 12 hours a day to produce
You might have heard of cloth. For all this work, they earn about
cooperatives in your area. It could ` 3,500 per month.
be in milk, provisions, paddy, etc.
Find out for whose benefit they The arrangement between the merchant and the
were set up? weavers is an example of putting-out system,
whereby the merchant supplies the raw material and
receives the finished product. It is prevalent in the
weaving industry in most regions of India.

Weaver’s cooperative

We have seen that the weavers are paid very little by the
merchant under the putting out system. Weaver’s cooperatives
are one way to reduce the dependence on the merchant and to
earn a higher income for the weavers. In a cooperative, people
with common interests come together and work for their mutual
benefit. In a weaver’s cooperative, the weavers form a group and
take up certain activities collectively. They procure yarn from
the yarn dealer and distribute it among the weavers. The
cooperative also does the marketing. So, the role of the merchant
is reduced, and weavers get a fair price on the cloth.

At times, the government helps the cooperatives by buying cloth from them at a reasonable
price. For instance, the Tamil Nadu government runs a Free School Uniform programme in
the state.The government procures the cloth for this programme from the powerloom weaver’s
cooperatives. Similarly, the government buys cloth from the handloom weaver’s cooperatives
and sells it through stores known as Co-optex. You might have come across one of these
stores in your town.

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The garment exporting factory near Delhi Women workers sewing buttons in a
garment factory.
The Erode merchant supplies the cotton cloth
produced by the weavers to a garment exporting
factory near Delhi. The garment exporting factory
will use the cloth to make shirts. The shirts will be
exported to foreign buyers. Among the foreign buyers
are businesspersons from the US and Europe who
run a chain of stores. These large stores do business
strictly on their own terms. They demand the lowest
prices from the supplier. In addition, they set high What are the demands foreign
standards for quality of production and timely buyers make on the garment
delivery. Any defects or delay in delivery is dealt with exporters? Why do the garment
strictly. So, the exporter tries his best to meet the exporters agree to these
conditions set by these powerful buyers. demands?

Faced with such pressures from the buyers, the How do the garment exporters
garment exporting factories, in turn, try to cut costs. meet the conditions set by the
They get the maximum work out of the workers at foreign buyers?
the lowest possible wages. This way they can
maximise their own profits and also supply the
garments to foreign buyers at a cheap price.

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 The Impex garment factory has 70 workers. Most
of them are women. Most of these workers are
Why do you think more women are employed on a temporary basis. This means that
employed in the Impex garment whenever the employer feels that a worker is not
factory? Discuss. needed, the worker can be asked to leave. Workers’
wages are fixed according to their skills. The highest
paid among the workers are the tailors who get about
` 3,000 per month. Women are employed as helpers
for thread cutting, buttoning, ironing and packaging.
These jobs have the lowest wages.

Payment to workers (per month)

Write a letter to the Minister
Tailoring ....................................................... ` 3,000
asking for what you think would
be proper payment to the workers. Ironing .......................................................... ` 1.50 (per piece)
Checking ..................................................... ` 2,000
Thread cutting
The shirt below shows the profit and buttoning............................................. ` 1,500
made by the businessperson, and
the various costs that he had to
pay. Find out from the diagram
below, what the cost price The shirt in the United States
includes.
A number of shirts are on display at a large clothes
shop in the United States, and are priced at $26.
That is, each shirt sells for $26 or around ` 1,800.

Use the diagram shown in the margin to fill

in the blanks below.
Profit
` 900 The businessperson purchased the shirts from
the garment exporter in Delhi for ` _______ per shirt.
He then spent ` _______ for advertising in the media,
and another ` _______ per shirt on storage, display
Advertising and all other charges. Thus, the cost to this person
` 400 is ` 900 while he sells the shirt for ` 1,800.
` __________ is his profit on one shirt! If he is able to
Storage, etc. sell a large number of shirts, his profit will be higher.
` 200

Purchase The garment exporter sold the shirt at ` 300 per

` 300 piece. The cloth and other raw materials cost him
` 100 per shirt. The workers’ wages cost another

98 Social and Political Life

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` 25 per shirt. The cost of running his office came to Compare the earnings per shirt of
` 25 per shirt. Can you calculate the profit per shirt the worker in the garment factory,
for the garment exporter? the garment exporter and the
businessperson in the market
Who are the gainers in the market? abroad. What do you find?

A chain of markets links the producer of cotton to What are the reasons that the
the buyer at the supermarket. Buying and selling businessperson is able to make a
takes place at every step in the chain. Let us recall huge profit in the market?
who were the people who were involved in this
process of buying and selling. Did they all gain as You have read the chapter on
much? There were people who made profits in the advertising. Why does the
market and there were some who did not gain as businessperson spend Rs 300 per
much from this buying and selling. Despite their shirt on advertising? Discuss.
having toiled very hard, they earned little. Can you
place them in the table shown here?
People who gained in the market

Market and equality 1. ________________________

The foreign businessperson made huge profits in the 2. ________________________

market. Compared to this, the garment exporter
made only moderate profits. On the other hand, the 3. ________________________
earnings of the workers at the garment export factory
are barely enough to cover their day-to-day needs. People who didn’t gain
Similarly, we saw the small cotton farmer and the as much in the market
weaver at Erode put in long hours of hard work. But
they did not get a fair price in the market for what
1. ________________________
they produced. The merchants or traders are
somewhere in between. Compared to the weavers, 2. ________________________
they have earned more but it is still much less than
the exporter. Thus, not everyone gains equally in 3. ________________________
the market. Democracy is also about getting a fair
wage in the market. Whether it is Kanta or Swapna,
if families don’t earn enough how would they think
of themselves as equal to others?

On one hand, the market offers people

opportunities for work and to be able to sell things
that they grow or produce. It could be the farmer
selling cotton or the weaver producing cloth. On the
other hand, it is usually the rich and the powerful

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 Did you know that the readymade clothes that get the maximum earnings from the market.
that you buy require the work of so many These are the people who have money and own the
different persons? factories, the large shops, large land holdings, etc.
The poor have to depend on the rich and the powerful
for various things. They have to depend for loans (as
in the case of Swapna, the small farmer), for raw
materials and marketing of their goods (weavers in
the putting out system), and most often for
employment (workers at the garment factory).
Because of this dependence, the poor are exploited
in the market. There are ways to overcome these such
as forming cooperatives of producers and ensuring
that laws are followed strictly. In the last chapter,
we will read about how one such fish-workers’
cooperative was started on the Tawa river.

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)

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100 Social and Political Life

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 EXERCISES
1. Swapna sells the cotton to the trader.
1. What made Swapna sell the cotton to the trader instead
2. Customers buy these shirts in a
of selling at the Kurnool cotton market?
supermarket.
3. Trader sells cotton to the Ginning Mill.
2. Describe the conditions of employment as well as the
4. Garment exporters buy the cloth from
wages of workers in the garment exporting factory. Do
merchants for making shirts.
you think the workers get a fair deal?
5. Yarn dealers or merchants give the
3. Think of something common that we use. It could be yarn to the weavers.
sugar, tea, milk, pen, paper, pencil, etc. Discuss through 6. The exporter sells shirts to the
what chain of markets this reaches you. Can you think of businessperson from the USA.
the people that help in the production or trade? 7.Spinning mill buys the cotton and sells
yarn to the yarn dealers.
4. Arrange the statements given alongside in the correct 8.Weavers return with the cloth.
order and then fill in the numbers in the cotton bolls 9. Ginning mill cleans the cotton and
accordingly. The first two have already been done for you. makes it into bales.

1 3
➪ ➪ ➪ ➪

➪
➪ ➪ ➪ ➪

Glossary

Ginning mill: A factory where seeds are removed from cotton bolls. The cotton is pressed into
bales to be sent for spinning into thread.

Exporter: A person who sells goods abroad.

Profit: The amount that is left or gained from earnings after deducting all the costs. If the costs are
more than the earnings, it would lead to a loss.

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CHAPTER

Struggles for
Equality
In this book, you have read
about people like Kanta, the
Ansaris, Melani and Swapna.
The thread that connects all
of these lives is that they have
been treated unequally. What
do people do when they face
such inequalities? History is
full of examples of persons
who have come together to
fight against inequality and
for issues of justice. Do you
recall the story of Rosa Parks
in Chapter 1? Do you
remember the photo-essay on
the women’s movement in
Chapter 5? In this chapter you
will learn about some of the
ways in which people have
struggled against inequality.

2020-21
As you have already read in this book, the Indian
Constitution recognises all Indians as equal before
the law and states that no person can be What do you think is meant by the
discriminated against because of their religion, sex, expression ‘power over the ballot
caste or whether they are rich or poor. All adults in box’? Discuss.
India have the equal right to vote during elections
and this ‘power over the ballot box’ has been used
by people to elect or replace their representatives.

But this feeling of equality that the ballot box

provides, because the vote of one person is as good
as that of another, does not extend to most people’s
lives. As you have read, the increasing privatisation
of health services and the neglect of government
hospitals have made it difficult for most poor people
like Kanta, Hakim Sheik and Aman to get good
quality health care. These people do not have the
resources to afford expensive private health services.

Similarly, the man who sells juice does not have

the resources to compete with all of the major
companies who sell branded drinks through
expensive advertising. Swapna does not have
sufficient resources to grow cotton and, so, has to
take a loan from the trader to grow her crop. This
forces her to sell her cotton at a lower price. Melani,
like the millions of domestic workers across the
country, is forced to endure the insults and hardship
of working as a domestic help because she has no
resources to set up something on her own. Poverty
and the lack of resources continue to be a key reason
why so many people’s lives in India are highly Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)
unequal. www.in.undp.org

On the other hand, the Ansaris were discriminated

against not because they did not have the resources.
In fact, despite having the money to pay the required
rent, they were not able to find an apartment for
over a month. People were reluctant to lease them
an apartment because of their religion. Similarly, the
main reason that the teachers forced Omprakash
Valmiki to sweep the school yard was because he
was Dalit. You’ve also read that the work women do

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 is often considered of less value than that done by
the men. All of these persons are discriminated
In India, it is the case that the poor against primarily because of their social and cultural
consist of a majority of members of Dalit, background as well as because they are women.
Adivasi and Muslim communities and Discrimination on the basis of a person’s religion,
are often women. caste and sex is another significant factor for why
people are treated unequally in India.

Often, poverty and lack of dignity and respect for

certain communities and groups come together in
such powerful ways that it is difficult to identify where
According to the 2011 Census data one aspect of inequality ends and the other begins.
women form 48.5 per cent of the As you have read, Dalit, Adivasi and Muslim girls
population, Muslims form 14.2 per cent drop out of school in large numbers. This is a
of the population, SCs form 16.6 per combined outcome of poverty, social discrimination
cent and STs 8.6 per cent. and the lack of good quality school facilities for these
communities.

Struggles for equality

Throughout the world – in every community, village,

city and town–you will find that there are some people
who are known and respected because of their fight
for equality. These people may have stood up against
an act of discrimination that they faced or which
they witnessed. Or they may be well-respected
because they treat all persons with dignity and are,
therefore, trusted and called upon to resolve issues
in the community.

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Often, some of these persons become more widely
www.in.undp.org recognised because they have the support or
represent large numbers of people who have united
to address a particular issue of inequality. In India,
there are several struggles in which people have come
together to fight for issues that they believe are
important. In Chapter 5, you read about the methods
Can you think of one person in used by the women’s movement to raise issues of
your family, community, village, equality. The Tawa Matsya Sangh in Madhya Pradesh
town or city whom you respect is another example of people coming together to fight
because of their fight for equality for an issue. There are many such struggles such as
and justice? those among beedi workers, fisherfolk, agricultural

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labourers, slum dwellers and each group is struggling
for justice in its own way. There are also many
attempts to form cooperatives or other collective ways
by which people can have more control over
resources.

Tawa Matsya Sangh

When dams are built or forest areas declared

sanctuaries for animals, thousands of people are
displaced. Whole villages are uprooted and people
are forced to go and build new homes, start new lives
elsewhere. Most of these people are poor.
In urban areas too, bastis in which poor people live
are often uprooted. Some of them are relocated to
areas outside the city. Their work as well as their
children’s schooling is severely disrupted because
of the distance from the outskirts of the city to these
locations.

This displacement of people and communities is a

problem that has become quite widespread in our The reservoir of the Tawa river.

2020-21
 country. People usually come together to fight against
this. There are several organisations across the
country fighting for the rights of the displaced. In
this chapter we will read about the Tawa Matsya
Sangh – a federation of Fisherworker’s cooperatives
– an organisation fighting for the rights of the
displaced forest dwellers of the Satpura forest in
Madhya Pradesh.

Originating in the Mahadeo hills of Chindwara

district, the Tawa flows through Betul, before joining
the Narmada in Hoshangabad. The Tawa dam began
to be built in 1958 and was completed in 1978. It
submerged large areas of forest and agricultural land.
The forest dwellers were left with nothing. Some of
the displaced people settled around the reservoir and
apart from their meagre farms found a livelihood in
fishing. They earned very little.

A dam is built across a river at sites where one can collect

a lot of water. This forms a reservoir and as the water
collects it submerges vast areas of land.This is because the
wall of the dam across the river is high and the water
spreads over a large area.This is a photo of the submergence
caused by the Tehri dam in Uttarakhand.The old Tehri town
and 100 villages, some totally and some partially, were
submerged by this dam. Nearly one lakh people were
displaced.

What issue is the Tawa Matsya In 1994, the government gave the rights for fishing
Sangh (TMS) fighting for? in the Tawa reservoir to private contractors. These
contractors drove the local people away and got cheap
Why did the villagers set up this labour from outside. The contractors began to
organisation? threaten the villagers, who did not want to leave, by
bringing in hoodlums. The villagers stood united and
Do you think that the large-scale decided that it was time to set up an organisation
participation of villagers has and do something to protect their rights.
contributed to the success of the
TMS? Write two lines on why you The newly formed Tawa Matsya Sangh (TMS)
think so. organised rallies and a chakka jam (road blockade),
demanding their right to continue fishing for their

106 Social and Political Life

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livelihood. In response to their protests, the
government created a committee to assess the issue.
The committee recommended that fishing rights be
granted to the villagers for their livelihood. In 1996,
the Madhya Pradesh government decided to give to
the people displaced by the Tawa dam the fishing
rights for the reservoir. A five-year lease agreement
was signed two months later. On January 2, 1997,
people from 33 villages of Tawa started the new year
with the first catch.

With the TMS taking over the fishworkers were

able to increase their earnings substantially. This Top: Members of the TMS protesting at a
was because they set up the cooperative which would rally. Above: A member of the
buy the catch from them at a fair price. The cooperative weighing the fish.
cooperative would then arrange to transport and sell
this in markets where they would get a good price.
They have now begun to earn three times more than
they earned earlier. The TMS has also begun giving Can you think of an incident in
the fishworkers loans for repair and the buying of your life in which one person or a
new nets. By managing to earn a higher wage as group of people came together to
well as preserving the fish in the reservoir, the TMS change an unequal situation.
has shown that when people’s organisations get their
rights to livelihood, they can be good managers.

Chapter 9: Struggles for Equality 107

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 Adaptation of a song written as part of the
Right to Information campaign by Vinay Creative expression against inequality
Mahajan:

The Right To Know

My dreams have the right to know

Why for centuries they have been
breaking
Why don’t they ever come true

My hands have the right to know

Why do they remain without work all
along
Why do they have nothing to do
While some join protest movements to fight inequality,
My feet have the right to know others might use their pen, or their voice, or their ability to
Why from village to village they walk dance to draw attention to issues of inequality. Writers,
on their own singers, dancers and artists have also been very active in
Why are there no signs of a bus yet the fight against inequality. Often, poems, songs and stories
can also inspire us and make us believe strongly in an issue
My hunger has the right to know and influence our efforts to correct the situation.
Why grain rots in godowns
While I don’t even get a fistful of rice
The Indian Constitution as a living document
My old mother has the right to know
Why are there no medicines The foundation of all movements for justice and the
Needles, dispensaries or bandages inspiration for all the poetry and songs on equality
is the recognition that all people are equal. As you
My children have the right to know know, the Indian Constitution recognises the equality
Why do they labour day and night of all persons. Movements and struggles for equality
Why is there no school in sight in India continuously refer to the Indian Constitution
to make their point about equality and justice for
What is your favourite line in the all. The fishworkers in the Tawa Matsya Sangh hope
above song? that the provisions of the Constitution will become a
reality through their participation in this movement.
What does the poet mean when he By constantly referring to the Constitution they use
says, “My hunger has the right to it as a ‘living document’, i.e., something that has
know”? real meaning in our lives. In a democracy, there are
always communities and individuals trying to expand
Can you share with your class a the idea of democracy and push for a greater
local song or a poem on dignity recognition of equality on existing as well as
that is from your area? new issues.

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 Over 1,500 persons attended a public
hearing in Lucknow in 2001 to protest
violence against women. Over 15 cases of
violence against women were heard by a
jury of eminent women who played the
role of judges. This people's jury helped
highlight the lack of support in the legal
system for women who seek justice in
such cases.

Issues of equality are central to a democracy. In

this book, we have tried to highlight issues that pose
a challenge to this idea of equality in a democracy.
These, as you have read, include the privatisation of
health services in the country, the increasing control
that business houses exert on the media, the low What role does the Constitution
value given to women and their work, and the low play in people’s struggles for
earnings made by small farmers who grow cotton. equality?
These issues substantially affect poor and
marginalised communities, and therefore, concern
economic and social equality in the country.

This is the core of the struggle for equality in a Can you make up a social
democracy. The dignity and self-respect of each advertisement on equality? You
person and their community can only be realised if can do this in small groups.
they have adequate resources to support and nurture
their families and if they are not discriminated
against.

Chapter 9: Struggles for Equality 109

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 References
◆ Dreze, Jean and Aparajita Goyal. 2003. ‘Future of Mid-day Meals’.
In Economic and Political Weekly.

◆ Hossain, Sakhawat Rokeya. 1905. (reprint) 1988. Sultana’s Dream.

Feminist Press, New York.

◆ Kumar. Krishna. 1986. “Growing Up Male” in Seminar 318.

◆ Mazumdar, Indrani. 2007. Women and Globalization: The Impact on Women

Workers in the Formal and Informal Sectors in India. Stree, Kolkata.

◆ Mead, Margaret. 1928, 1973. (edition) Growing Up In Samoa.

American Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C.

◆ Medical Council of India, http://www.mciindia.org/Rules-and-

Regulation/Ethics%20Regulations-2002.pdf

◆ Parks, Rosa. 2000. Quiet Strength. Grand Rapids, Zondervan, Michigan.

◆ Rashsundari Devi. 1999. Words to Win. Translated and with an introduction

by Tanika Sarkar. Zubaan, New Delhi.

◆ Roy, Tirthankar. 1999. ‘Growth and Recession in Small-Scale Industry: A

Study of Tamil Nadu Powerlooms’ Economic and Political Weekly.

◆ Supreme Court of India, Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samity of Ors. Vs.
State of West Bengal & Anr. (Hakim Seikh case, date of judgment: 6 May
1996, http://judis.nic.in/supremecourt/imgs1.aspx?filename=15597)

◆ Valmiki, Omprakash. 2003. Joothan: A Dalit’s Life. SAMYA, Kolkata.

◆ World Health Organization, Essential medicines and health products,

http://www.who.int/medicines/services/inn/en/

◆ www.cehat.org/rthc/policybrieffinal.pdf

◆ www.in.undp.org (Sustainable Development Goals – SDGs)

◆ www.infochangeindia.org

◆ Zubaan. 1996. Poster Women: A Visual History of the Women’s Movement in

India. Zubaan, New Delhi.

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 © Government of India, Copyright 2006
1. The responsibility for the correctness of internal details rests with the publisher.
2. The territorial waters of India extend into the sea to a distance of twelve nautical miles measured from the appropriate base line.
3. The administrative headquarters of Chandigarh, Haryana and Punjab are at Chandigarh.
4. The interstate boundaries amongst Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya shown on this map are as interpreted from the “North
Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971,”but have yet to be verified.
5. The external boundaries and coastlines of India agree with the Record / Master Copy certified by Survey of India.
6 The state boundaries between Uttarakhand & Uttar Pradesh, Bihar & Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh & Madhya Pradesh have not been
verified by the Goverments concerned.
7. The spellings of names in this map have been taken from various sources.

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 Have you participated in any event related to school road safety?
For materials about road safety education, log on to http://delhitrafficpolice.nic.in
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, http://morth-roadsafety.nic.in
For short films on road safety, log on to http://transport.telangana.gov.in

112 Social and Political Life

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