Indian Society Old Questions in UPSC Mains GS 1

Indian Society is an important part of UPSC Mains General Studies Paper 1. Many questions that are asked in the Mains GS-I paper of the IAS Exam, are directly related to Indian society and its different facets like globalization, women empowerment, communalism, secularism, regionalism and more. Get all the previous year questions asked from the year 2013-2021, from the syllabus of Indian Society in the UPSC Mains examination.

Candidates can get GS 1 mains questions of other subjects from the links mentioned in the table below:

Previous Year Questions on Indian Society (Year Wise)

The tables below will provide Indian Society questions for UPSC Mains GS 1 from the year 2013-2021. Candidates can refer to the detailed GS 1 Structure, Syllabus and Strategy in the linked article.

1. Examine the uniqueness of the tribal knowledge system when compared to mainstream knowledge and cultural system.
2. Examine the role of ‘Gig Economy’ in the process of empowerment of women in India.
3. What are the main socio-economic implications arising out of the development of IT industries in major cities of India?
4. Discuss the main objectives of Population Education and point out the measures to achieve them in India in detail.
5. What is Cryptocurrency? How does it affect the global society? Has it been affecting Indian society also?
6. How does the Indian society maintain continuity in traditional social values? Enumerate the changes taking place in it.

1. Has caste lost its relevance in understanding the multi-cultural Indian Society? Elaborate your answer with illustrations.
2. COVID-19 pandemic accelerated class inequalities and poverty in India. Comment.
3. Do you agree that regionalism in India appears to be a consequence of rising cultural assertiveness? Argue.
4. Are diversity and pluralism in India under threat due to globalisation? Justify your answer.
5. Customs and traditions suppress reason leading to obscurantism. Do you agree?
6. How have digital initiatives in India contributed to the functioning of the education system in the country? Elaborate on your answer.

1. “Empowering women is the key to control population growth”. Discuss.
2. What are the challenges to our cultural practices in the name of secularism?
3. Do we have cultural pockets of small India all over the nation? Elaborate with examples.
4. What are the continued challenges for women in India against time and space?
5. Are we losing our local identity for the global identity? Discuss.

1. “Caste system is assuming new identities and associational forms. Hence, the caste system cannot be eradicated in India.” Comment.
2. ‘Despite the implementation of various programmes for eradication of poverty by the government in India, poverty is still existing’. Explain by giving reasons.
3. How is the Indian concept of secularism different from the western model of secularism? Discuss.
4. ‘Women’s movement in India has not addressed the issues of women of lower social strata.’ Substantiate your view.
5. ‘Globalisation is generally said to promote cultural homogenisation but due to this cultural specificities appear to be strengthened in the Indian society.’ Elucidate.
6. ‘Communalism arises either due to power struggle or relative deprivation.’ Argue by giving suitable illustrations.

1. In the context of the diversity of India, can it be said that the regions form cultural units rather than the States? Give reasons with examples for your viewpoint.
2. What are the two major legal initiatives by the State since Independence addressing discrimination against Scheduled Tribes(STs)?
3. The spirit of tolerance and love is not only an interesting feature of Indian society from very early times, but it is also playing an important part in the present. Elaborate.
4. The women’s questions arose in modern India as a part of the 19th century social reform movement. What are the major issues and debates concerning women in that period?
5. Distinguish between religiousness/religiosity and communalism giving one example of how the former has got transformed into the latter in independent India.

1. Has the formation of linguistic states strengthened the cause of Indian unity?
2. To what extent has globalisation influenced the core of cultural diversity in India? Explain.
3. “An essential condition to eradicate poverty is to liberate the poor from the process of deprivation.” Substantiate this statement with suitable examples.
4. Why are the tribals in India referred to as ‘the Scheduled Tribes’? Indicate the major provisions enshrined in the Constitution of India for their upliftment.
5. With a brief background of the quality of urban life in India, introduce the objectives and strategy of the ‘Smart City Programme.”
6. What is the basis of regionalism? Is it that unequal distribution of benefits of development on a regional basis eventually promotes regionalism? Substantiate your answer.

1. Describe any four cultural elements of diversity in India and rate their relative significance in building a national identity.
2. Critically examine whether a growing population is the cause of poverty OR poverty is the mains cause of population increase in India.
3. How do you explain the statistics that show that the sex ratio in Tribes in India is more favourable to women than the sex ratio among Scheduled Castes?
4. Discuss the changes in the trends of labour migration within and outside India in the last four decades.
5. Discuss the positive and negative effects of globalization on women in India?
6. Debate the issue of whether and how contemporary movements for the assertion of Dalit identity work towards annihilation of caste.

1. How does patriarchy impact the position of a middle-class working woman in India?
2. Why do some of the most prosperous regions of India have an adverse sex ratio for women? Give your arguments.
3. The life cycle of a joint family depends on economic factors rather than social values. Discuss.
4. How do the Indian debates on secularism differ from the debates in the West?

1. Discussion the various social problems which originated out of the speedy process of urbanization in India.
2. Male membership needs to be encouraged in order to make women’s organization free from gender bias. Comment.
3. Critically examine the effects of globalization on the aged population in India.
4. Growing feeling of regionalism is an important factor in the generation of demand for a separate state. Discuss.

Candidates can read about Social Issues in India in the linked article.

UPSC Mains GS 1 Indian Society Questions (2013-2021):- Download PDF Here

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