Social Science (087) — CBSE Class 10 board question

Women played a significant role in the Civil Disobedience Movement in the following ways:

1. Participation in protests: During Gandhiji's salt march, thousands of women came out of their homes to listen to him and join the movement.

1. Active contribution: They participated in protest marches, manufactured salt, and picketed foreign cloth and liquor shops.

1. Sacrifice: Many women courted arrest and willingly went to jail for the national cause.

1. Social diversity: In urban areas, women from high-caste families participated, while in rural areas, women from rich peasant households joined the movement.

1. Sense of duty: Moved by Gandhiji's call, women began to see service to the nation as a sacred duty.

However, despite their large-scale participation, the Congress was reluctant to give women positions of authority and was keen only on their symbolic presence.

Source: Chapter 2 (Nationalism in India), Section 3.2 — How Participants saw the Movement

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• The question is directly from the passage on Civil Disobedience Movement (Section 3.2).
• Examiners expect 5 distinct points for 5 marks — each point earns 1 mark.
• Always include the limitation/contrast point (Congress wanted only symbolic presence) — it shows analytical depth and is explicitly mentioned in the source.
• Do not add outside information; stick to what the passage states.