Q1. [4]
"The report of the States Reorganisation Commission (SRC), was implemented on November 1, 1956. This, in its own time and own way, has also transformed the political and institutional life of the nation. ... Gandhi and other leaders promised their followers that when freedom came, the new nation would be based on a new set of provinces, these based on the principle of language. However, when India was finally free in 1947, it was also divided...
Far from undermining Indian unity, linguistic states have helped strengthen it. It has proved to be perfectly consistent to be Kannadiga and Indian, Bengali and Indian, Tamil and Indian, Gujarati and Indian. To be sure, these states based on language sometimes quarrel with one another.
Read the given source and answer the questions that follow :
- (36.1) What promise did Gandhiji make to his followers ? [1]
- (36.2) How did language strengthen the unity of India ? [1]
- (36.3) Mention the names of major language of Kerala and Andhra Pradesh states. [2]
Previously asked in CBSE board exam
2025 32/5/1 Q36
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-15 07:00 · grounding stimulus
Model Answer
(36.1) Gandhi and other leaders promised their followers that when freedom came, the new nation would be based on a new set of provinces based on the principle of language.
(36.2) Linguistic states strengthened unity because it proved perfectly consistent to have a regional identity along with a national identity — one could be Kannadiga and Indian, Tamil and Indian, at the same time.
(36.3)
- Kerala — Malayalam
- Andhra Pradesh — Telugu
Source: Chapter 4 (Federalism / State Reorganisation), Democratic Politics – II
---
Explanation
- (36.1) is directly lifted from the passage — just reproduce the key phrase about language-based provinces.
- (36.2) The passage explicitly states linguistic states "helped strengthen" unity; use the examples given (Kannadiga, Tamil, Bengali + Indian) to explain the idea of dual identity.
- (36.3) This goes slightly beyond the passage (which doesn't name Kerala/AP languages), so recall from your textbook/general knowledge: Malayalam for Kerala, Telugu for Andhra Pradesh. These are standard facts examiners expect.
- Do not write lengthy paragraphs — each sub-question is worth only 1–2 marks; keep answers tight and to the point.
If a question refers to an image, map, graph or diagram that is not shown here, open the Study Guide single page app, go to
Library and find the actual CBSE question paper. The original papers are also available on the CBSE website:
cbse.gov.in.