NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science Civics Chapter 7 Understanding Marginalization
Question 1
Write in your own words two or more sentences of what you understand by the word ‘marginalization’.
Solution:
Marginalisation means the communities which are put at the margins of economic and cultural development. These communities are devoid of any changes or advancement which other people enjoy in modem times.
Question 2
List two reasons why Adivasis are becoming increasingly marginalised.
Solution:
The development of forests robbed the Adivasis of their natural territory and livelihood and turned them into marginal and powerless communities.
The Adivasis are portrayed negatively as exotic, primitive and backward people and are represented through colourful costumes and headgears.
This has led to the marginalization of this community in modern India.
Question 3
Write one reason why you think the Constitution’s safeguards to protect minority communities are very important?
Solution:
Constitutional safeguards are important because these communities are backward and are lacking at educational, social, and economic levels. To give them equal status in society these safeguards are required. For the progress of a nation, it is necessary that all parts of society should progress.
Question 4
Re-read the section on Minorities and Marginalisation. What do you understand by the term minority?
Solution:
The term minority is most commonly used to refer to communities that are numerically small in relation to the rest of the population
The Indian Constitution provides safeguards to religious and linguistic minorities as part of its Fundamental Rights.
It ensures that minorities are not discriminated against and that they do not face any disadvantage.
Question 5
You are participating in a debate where you have to provide reasons to support the following statement: ‘Muslims are a marginalized community’. Using the data provided in this chapter, list two reasons that you would give.
Solution:
The literacy rate of the Muslim population in India is the lowest. It is only 59%.
43.2% of Hindus have access to electricity while only 30% of Muslims have access to electricity. The above statistics support the statement that Muslims are a marginalised community in India.
Muslims are less educated. They have very little share in government jobs.
Question 6
Imagine that you are watching the Republic Day parade on TV with a friend and she remarks, “Look at these tribals. They look so exotic. And they seem to be dancing all the time”. List three things that you would tell her about the lives of Adivasis in India.
Solution:
Adivasis had a deep knowledge of the forests. They were traditionally hunter-gatherers and nomads and lived by shifting agriculture and also cultivating in one place. This knowledge of forests made the Adivasis indispensable to the Rulers of the various Empires in India during the pre-colonial days.
Adivasis have their own languages which may be as old as Sanskrit. The Adivasi language has influenced the formation of Indian languages, like Bengali.
Question 7
Would you agree with the statement that economic and social marginalisation are interlinked? Why?
Solution:
Yes, economic and social marginalization is interlinked.
- Dalits and tribals were considered a lower class of society.
- They are living in separate areas of villages. Tribals are living in remote areas.
- They were not getting a proper education, so not good jobs.
- When they do not get opportunities they remain economically weak and do not get an education and this circle continues.
1. Where is Niyamgiri Hill located?
Answer: The Niyamgiri Hill is located in Kalahandi district of Orissa.
2. How many national parks are there in India?
Answer: There are 54 national parks in India.
3. How much area are the 54 national parks and 372 wildlife sanctuaries covering?
Answer: They are covering around 1,09,652 S km.
4. Why did many Adivasis have migrated to cities?
Answer: Many Adivasis have migrated to cities in search of work.
5. Where were the Adivasis employed in the cities?
Answer: They were employed for very low wages in local industries or at building or construction sites.
6. Whom does the Constitution provide safeguards as part of our Fundamental Rights?
Answer: The Constitution provides safeguard to religious and linguistic minorities as part of our Fundamental Right.
7. What does the term ‘Militarised’ mean?
Answer: Militarised means an area where the presence of the armed forces is considerable.
8. Whom would you call ‘Malnourished’?
Answer: A person who does not get adequate nutrition or food is malnourished.
9. What % of India’s population is adivasi.
Answer: About 8%.
10. For what purposes the forest land that once belonged to adivasi got cleared.
Answer: The purposes such as agriculture and industry the forest land got cleared.
11. What % of tribal groups in rural areas belongs to below poverty line (BPL)?
Answer: 45% of tribal groups in rural areas.
12. What % of tribal groups in urban areas belongs to BPL?
Answer: 35% of tribal groups in urban areas.
13. About how many tribal groups does exists in India?
Answer: There are over 500 different Adivasi groups in India.
14. How are adivasi’s been portrayed?
Answer: Adivasis are invariably portrayed in very stereotypical way.
15. What are considered as the absolute crucial to the development of all empires and settled civilisation in India?
Answer: Forests were absolutely crucial to the development of all empires and settled civilisation in India.
16. How many National parks are there in India?
Answer: In India there are 54 national parks.
17. How many wildlife sanctuaries are in India?
Answer: There are 372 wildlife sanctuaries in India.
18. According to 2001 census what percent of Muslims of India’s population considered to be marginalised?
Answer: 13.4% Muslims.
Short Answer Type Questions
1. Name few marginalised groups of India.
Answer: Few marginalised groups of India are the Adivasis, the Muslims and the Dalits.
2. What are the consequences of marginalisation?
Answer: Marginalisation results in having a low social status and not having equal access to education and other resources.
3. Re-read the section on Minorities and Marginalisation. What do you understand by the term minority?
Answer: A minority is a group of people that differ in some way from the majority of the population.
4. Write one reason why you think the Constitution’s safeguards to protect minority communities are very important?
Answer: The Constitution provides safeguards because it is committed to protecting India’s cultural diversity and promoting equality as well as justice.
5. Who headed committee set up by the government to examine the social, economic, and educational status of Muslim community in India?
Answer: Justice Rajindar Sachar headed committee set up by the government to examine the social, economic, and educational status of Muslim community in India.
6. How are Adivasis portrayed today?
Answer: Adivasis are invariably portrayed in very stereotypical ways – in colourful costumes, headgear and through their dancing. Often Adivasis are blamed for their lack of advancement as they are believed to be resistant to change or new ideas.
7. What was the conclusion reached by the Justice Rajindar Sachar Committee?
Answer: The committee came to the conclusion that on a range of social, economic and educational indicators the situation of the Muslim community is comparable to that of other marginalised communities like Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
8. Why groups may be marginalised?
Answer: Their marginalisation can be because they speak a different language, follow different customs or belong to a different religious group from the majority community. They may also feel marginalised because they are poor, considered to be of ‘low’ social status and viewed as being less human than others.
9. How can we tackle Marginalisation?
Answer: Marginalisation is a complex phenomenon requiring a variety of strategies, measures and safeguards to redress this situation. All of us have a stake in protecting the rights defined in the Constitution and the laws and policies framed to realise these rights. Without these, we will never be able to protect the diversity that makes our country unique nor realise the State’s commitment to promote equality for all.
10. How marginalisation affect the community?
Answer: Sometimes, marginalised groups are viewed with hostility and fear. This sense of difference and exclusion leads to communities not having access to resources and opportunities and in their inability to assert their rights. They experience a sense of disadvantage and powerlessness vis-a-vis more powerful and dominant sections of society who own land, are wealthy, better educated and politically powerful.
Long Answer Type Questions
1. Write in your own words two or more sentences of what you understand by the word ‘marginalisation’.
Answer: The word ‘marginalisation’ means exclusion from the mainstream. Groups of people or communities may have the experience of being excluded from mainstream society. Their marginalisation can be because they speak a different language, follow different customs or belong to a different religious group from the majority community. They may also feel marginalised because they are poor, considered to be of ‘low’ social status and viewed as being less human than others.
2. List two reasons why Adivasis are becoming increasingly marginalised.
Answer: Adivasis are becoming increasingly marginalized because
- They follow a different culture, language and traditions from mainstream Indian society which leads us to wrongfully classify them as exotic, primitive and backward.
- They are used to a way of life close to nature and with the cutting down of forests they are being forced to migrate to urban areas where they feel out of place and not in sync with a lifestyle so vastly different from their countryside background.
3. Would you agree with the statement that economic marginalisation and social marginalisation are interlinked? Why?
Answer: Yes, economic marginalization and social marginalization are inter-linked. Marginalisation implies having a low social status and a consequent lack of access to education and other resources. Social marginalization, as seen in the case of the Muslim community, is based on how their traditions, culture and dressing make us identify Muslims as different from us. This sometimes leads to unfair inequity on the basis of religious differences. As a result, minority groups may find it difficult to rent houses, procure jobs or even send their children to schools. This is economic marginalization. Thus, the two are inter-connected.
4. Imagine that you are watching the Republic Day parade on TV with a friend and she remarks, “Look at these tribals. They look so exotic. And they seem to be dancing all the time”. List three things that you would tell her about the lives of Adivasis in India.
Answer: The three things I would tell a friend about the Adivasis in India would be:
- Around 8 per cent of India’s population is Adivasi and many of India’s most important mining and industrial centres are located in Adivasi areas – Jamshedpur, Rourkela, Bokaro and Bhilai among others.
- Adivasis are not a homogeneous population: there are over 500 different Adivasi groups in India.
- Adivasis practise a range of tribal religions that are different from Islam, Hinduism and Christianity. Adivasis have their own languages which have often deeply influenced the formation of ‘mainstream’ Indian languages, like Bengali.
5. You are participating in a debate where you have to provide reasons to support the following statement: ‘Muslims are a marginalised community’. Using the data provided in this chapter, list two reasons that you would give.
Answer: Two reasons in support of the statement “Muslims are a marginalized community”:
- The Muslim community has not been able to gain from the country’s socio-economic development as statistics on basic amenities, literacy rate and public employment. 63.6% Muslims live in kutcha houses as compared to only 55.2% Hindus; the literacy rate amongst Muslims was the lowest at 59% in a 2001 survey.
- Their customs are distinct from other religious communities, so much so that they are identified as separate from the “rest of us” leading to unfair treatment and discrimination against Muslims.
6. What were the hardships faced by the Adivasis?
Answer: Hardships faced by the Adivasis were:
- Forest lands have been cleared for timber and to get land for agriculture and industry.
- Adivasis have also lived in areas that are rich in minerals and other natural resources. These are taken over for mining and other large industrial projects.
- Huge tracts of their lands have also gone under the waters of hundreds of dams that have been built in independent India.
- In the North east, their lands remain highly militarised and war-torn.
- India has 54 national parks and 372 wildlife sanctuaries. These are areas where tribals originally lived but were evicted from.
- Losing their lands and access to the forest means that tribals lose their main sources of livelihood and food.
- Adivasis have migrated to cities in search of work where they are employed for very low wages in local industries or at building or construction sites.
- They, thus, get caught in a cycle of poverty and deprivation.
7. Write a brief note on Adivasis.
Or
Who are Adivasis?
Answer:
- Adivasis – the term literally means ‘original inhabitants’ – are communities who lived, and often continue to live, in close association with forests. Around 8 per cent of India’s population is Adivasi and many of India’s most important mining and industrial centres are located in Adivasi areas – Jamshedpur, Rourkela, Bokaro and Bhilai among others.
- Adivasis are not a homogeneous population: there are over 500 different Adivasi groups in India. A state like Orissa is home to more than 60 different tribal groups.
- Adivasis practise a range of tribal religions that are different from Islam, Hinduism and Christianity. These often involve the worship of ancestors, village and nature spirits.
- During the nineteenth century, substantial numbers of Adivasis converted to Christianity, which has emerged as a very important religion in modern Adivasi history.
- Adivasis have their own languages, which have often deeply influenced the formation of ‘mainstream’ Indian languages, like Bengali.
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