Social Science (087) — AI-generated practice question

The textbook identifies gender division as largely positive, communalism as largely negative, and casteism as having both positive and negative aspects.

Gender division (positive): Raising gender issues in politics has helped disadvantaged women gain rights. Political mobilisation through feminist movements led to gains like reservation of one-third seats for women in Panchayati Raj bodies and the Women's Reservation Act (2023). This shows that expressing social divisions politically can benefit disadvantaged groups and reduce inequality.

Communalism (negative): Communalism treats religion as the sole basis of community and pits one religion against another. It leads to prejudice, violence, riots, and threatens national unity. It is fundamentally divisive and undermines democracy. Hence, its political expression is largely negative.

Casteism (both): On the positive side, caste-based mobilisation has helped Dalits and OBCs gain access to power and decision-making. On the negative side, exclusive focus on caste diverts attention from poverty and development and can cause social tensions and violence.

Source: Chapter 3 — Gender, Religion and Caste; sections on Gender and Politics, Religion/Communalism and Politics, Caste and Politics

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• The textbook explicitly states: gender = largely positive; communalism = largely negative; caste = both. Use these exact labels.
• Examiners expect you to identify each division correctly and then explain the reasoning — don't just list them without justification.
• For caste, name specific examples: Dalits/OBCs gaining power (positive) vs. diverting focus from development/causing conflict (negative).
• Cite the Women's Reservation Act 2023 and Panchayati Raj reservation — these show concrete political gains from gender mobilisation.
• Avoid writing a general essay on these divisions; keep each explanation tight and reason-focused.