Post-Independence India PYQs
POST-INDEPENDENCE INDIA
1. General Questions:
Q. “Having won political freedom, India had to win economic and cultural freedom.” Comment. [1995, 20m]
Q. “India’s need for a federal system was more an imperative than a political choice.” Do you agree? [2016, 10m]
2. Politics of National Integration:
Integration of Princely States
Q. “With great skill and masterful diplomacy and using both persuasion and pressure, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel succeeded in integrating the hundreds of princely states with the Indian Union.” Discuss. [2007, 60m]
Q. “Sardar Patel accomplished a silent revolution by ensuring the absorption and assimilation of a multitude principalities without shedding even a drop of blood.” Elucidate. [2014, 10m]
Q. Throw light on the nature of ‘Instrument of Accession’ and ‘Standstill Agreement’ signed by the Princely States with the Indian Union. [2017, 10m]
Q. How were the Princely States integrated in the Indian Union after the partition? What role did Sardar Patel play in it? [2021, 10 Marks]
Linguistic reorganisation and Regionalism:
Q. “The reorganization resulted in rationalizing the political map of India without seriously weakening its unity. If anything, its result has been functional, in as much as it removed what had been a major source of discord, and created homogeneous political units which could be administered through a medium that vast majority of the population understood. Indeed, it can be said with the benefit of hindsight that language, rather than being a force for division has proved a cementing and integrating influence.” Examine. [2013, 25m]
Q. “States’s reorganization did not, of course, resolve all the problems relating to linguistic conflicts.” Critically examine. [2018, 10 Marks]
Q. “The Reorganisation of the states on the basis of language was major aspects of national consolidation and integration.” Comment. [2020, 10 Marks]
Tribal Policy:
Q. “Nehru favored the policy of integrating the tribal people in Indian society, of making them as integral part of the Indian nation even while maintaining their distinct identity and culture.” -Elaborate with special reference to Northeastern India. [2012, 30m]
3. Nehruvian Foreign Policy
Non-alignment:
Q. Jawaharlal Nehru was the architect of India’s policy of non-alignment. In the light of this statement discuss India’s relations with the two ‘Power Blocks’ between 1947-1964. [2001, 60m]
Q. Analyse Indian foreign policy of Non-alignment between 1947 and 1964. [2004, 60m]
Q. Would you agree that India’s effort to pursue an independent foreign policy was a highlight of post-1947 politics? [2011, 30m]
Q. “Nehru’s policy of Non-Alignment came to symbolised the struggle of India and other newly independent nations to retain and strengthen their independence from colonialism.” Critically evaluate. [2012, 10m]
India-China Relations:
Q. “After Indian Independence India-China relations started on a high note, but during the course of the coming years India had to face a bitter experience due to the Chinese aggression.” Elaborate. [2020, 20 Marks]
Q. In the light of contentions over the McMohan Line, analyse the India-China relations in the 1950s and 1960s. [2022, 20m]
4. Politics of National Development
Nehruvian Economics:
Q. “Nehru’s ‘temple of Modern India’ consisted not only of steel and power plants, irrigation dams, but included institutions of higher learning, particularly in the scientific field.” Elaborate. [2011, 30m]
Q. “Jawaharlal Nehru, though a declared socialist, was pragmatist enough to focus on providing building blocks to the making of new India.” Examine. [2015, 20m]
Q. Planning was seen as a powerful instrument that could be used to remove regional inequality. Examine. [2020, 10 Marks]
Land Reforms:
Q. Trace the development of land reforms in India between 1947 and early 1960’s. [2018, 20 Marks]
Rural Reconstruction:
Q. How did the introduction of Community Development Programme and Panchayati Raj promote welfare of rural India? [2019, 10 Marks]
Modernization:
Q. “Notwithstanding the quest of modernity and the antagonism that guided Nehru’s attitude towards the inequalities inherent in the social structure in rural India, the Congress party did not carry out concerted campaign against discrimination based on caste. Nehru’s own perception was that industrial growth was bound to break the stranglehold of this feudal remnant. This however, did not happen in India.” Examine. [2013, 25 m]
Q. How far the developments in science and technology in post-Independence period put India on the path of modernity. [2017, 20m]
Environmental Movements:
Q. “The Chipko became famous as the first major environmental movement in post-colonial India and gave to the understanding that environment issues are often women’s issues because they suffer most from its deterioration.” – Explain. [2012, 30m]
Q. Critically examine the nature and scope of environmental movements in independent India. [2016, 10m]
Q. How did the popular movements help us to understand the nature of environmental crisis in post-colonial India? [2022, 10m]
Dalit Movements:
Q. “In exercising its exclusive power, the Parliament additionally enacted the Untouchability (Offences) Act in 1955.” Comment. [2008, 20m]
Q. Discuss the factors that led to the growth of Dalit consciousness and mention the major movements aimed at their empowerment. [2010, 30m]
Q. “Dalit Movements for empowerment in independent India have essentially been for carving out political space through electoral politics.” Discuss. [2014, 10m]
Q. Analyse various trends in Dalit Movements in various parts of post-independent India. [2018, 20 Marks]
Q. Discuss the changing nature of Dalit assertion in India in the twentieth century. [2021, 20 Marks]
Q. How did the factionalised Dalit leadership in Hyderabad undergo a period of intense re-organization between 1948 and 1953? [2023, 10m]