20 multiple-choice (MCQ / objective) questions from this chapter, in the common exam-style shapes. Every question comes with an explanation along with the answer, so you remember why the option is correct, not just which one it is.
1 Direct Questions
Direct Questions
- 1 markWhich example does the chapter give of a redemptive (transformatory) social movement?
(A) The Ezhava community in Kerala, led by Narayana Guru(B) The Right to Information campaign(C) The Bolshevik revolution in Russia(D) The Naxalite movement in India - 1 markWho wrote the book Unquiet Woods, which the chapter cites for the Chipko Movement?
(A) E. P. Thompson(B) Ramachandra Guha(C) Rajni Kothari(D) Harry Braverman - 1 markSince which year has the Government of India initiated the Namami Gange and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan programmes, as named in the chapter?
(A) 2010(B) 2014(C) 2019(D) 2000 - 1 markWhich was the first peasant organisation, founded in 1929?
(A) Indian National Trade Union Congress(B) All India Trade Union Congress(C) Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha(D) All India Kisan Sabha - 1 markWhat does the word ‘Dalit’ commonly mean in Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati and other Indian languages?
(A) Migrant traders(B) Government officials(C) Poor and oppressed persons(D) Educated and prosperous persons - 1 markIn which year was Jharkhand carved out of south Bihar?
(A) 2000(B) 1996(C) 2005(D) 1990
2 Assertion-Reason
Assertion-Reason
- 1 markAssertion (A): A social movement requires sustained collective action over time.
Reason (R): Spontaneous, disorganised protest also counts fully as a social movement.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R correctly explains A(B) Both A and R are true, but R does not correctly explain A(C) A is true, but R is false(D) A is false, but R is true - 1 markAssertion (A): The Chipko Movement raised only an ecological issue, with no economic dimension.
Reason (R): Villagers relied on the forest for firewood, fodder and other daily necessities.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R correctly explains A(B) Both A and R are true, but R does not correctly explain A(C) A is true, but R is false(D) A is false, but R is true
3 Match the Following
Match the Following
- 1 markMatch List I (Person) with List II (Idea or fact associated with them).
List I: (i) Ramachandra Guha (ii) Rajni Kothari (iii) Kanu Sanyal (iv) G.B. Pant
List II: (1) 1970s social-movement surge and parliamentary democracy (2) Wrote Unquiet Woods, on the Chipko Movement (3) Later claims about the Naxalbari peasant movement (4) Speech moving the Advisory Committee on fundamental rights and minorities
(A) i-2, ii-4, iii-1, iv-3(B) i-1, ii-2, iii-3, iv-4(C) i-2, ii-1, iii-3, iv-4(D) i-3, ii-1, iii-2, iv-4 - 1 markMatch List I (Organisation) with List II (Year founded).
List I: (i) Women’s India Association (ii) All India Kisan Sabha (iii) AITUC (iv) INTUC
List II: (1) 1936 (2) 1947 (3) 1917 (4) 1920
(A) i-3, ii-4, iii-1, iv-2(B) i-2, ii-1, iii-4, iv-3(C) i-1, ii-3, iii-2, iv-4(D) i-3, ii-1, iii-4, iv-2
4 Statement-Based Questions
Statement-Based Questions
- 1 markStatement I: Chipko Movement activists hugged trees to prevent government contractors from felling them.
Statement II: The Chipko Movement was purely an economic protest, with no ecological dimension at all.
(A) Only Statement I is correct(B) Only Statement II is correct(C) Both statements are correct(D) Neither statement is correct - 1 markStatement I: India’s first trade union was established in Madras in 1918 by B.P. Wadia.
Statement II: The AITUC was formed in 1920, before the INTUC was formed in 1947.
(A) Only Statement I is correct(B) Only Statement II is correct(C) Both statements are correct(D) Neither statement is correct
5 Chronological Ordering
Chronological Ordering
- 1 markArrange the following in chronological order:
(i) All India Kisan Sabha formed (ii) Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha founded (iii) Tebhaga movement (iv) Champaran Satyagraha
(A) ii-i-iv-iii(B) ii-iv-i-iii(C) iv-ii-i-iii(D) iv-i-ii-iii - 1 markArrange the following in chronological order:
(i) Jharkhand formed as a separate state (ii) Naxalbari peasant uprising (iii) The Alaknanda valley flood in the Chipko region (iv) Namami Gange launched
(A) ii-i-iii-iv(B) i-ii-iii-iv(C) iii-ii-i-iv(D) ii-iii-i-iv
6 Fill in the Blanks
Fill in the Blanks
- 1 markThe ______, a cooperative organisation based in Chamoli district, took up the villagers’ cause in the Chipko Movement.
(A) Textile Labour Association(B) Advisory Committee(C) All India Kisan Sabha(D) Dashauli Gram Swaraja Sangh - 1 markMigrant traders and moneylenders who settled in south Bihar and were resented by adivasis were called ______.
(A) dikus(B) jotedars(C) mistris(D) jobbers
7 Odd One Out
Odd One Out
- 1 markFind the odd one out.
(A) Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha(B) All India Kisan Sabha(C) Tebhaga movement(D) All India Trade Union Congress
8 Passage-Based Questions
Passage-Based Questions
Passage
G.B. Pant, moving the constitution of the Advisory Committee on fundamental rights, minorities, etc.: “We have to take particular care of the Depressed Classes, the Scheduled Castes and the Backward Classes… We must do all we can to bring them up to the general level… The strength of the chain is measured by the weakest link of it and so until every link is fully revitalised, we will not have a healthy body politic.”
- 1 markG.B. Pant made this speech while moving the constitution of which body?
(A) The All India Trade Union Congress(B) The All India Kisan Sabha(C) The Advisory Committee on fundamental rights, minorities, etc.(D) The Dashauli Gram Swaraja Sangh - 1 markAccording to the metaphor in the passage, what determines the strength of a chain?
(A) Its total weight(B) Its weakest link(C) Its longest link(D) The number of its links
9 True / False
True / False
- 1 markRead the following statements:
1. Reformist movements aim for gradual, incremental change.
2. Revolutionary movements always avoid capturing state power.
3. Redemptive movements target the personal consciousness and actions of individual members.
(A) Statements 1 and 3 are true(B) Statements 1, 2 and 3 are all true(C) Statements 2 and 3 are true(D) Only statement 1 is true
Answer Key and Explanations
Direct Questions
- (A) The Ezhava community, led by Narayana Guru, changed their own social practices, which the book gives as its example of a redemptive movement aiming at personal consciousness and action.
- (B) The chapter attributes the account of villagers saving the oak and rhododendron forests to Ramachandra Guha’s book Unquiet Woods.
- (B) The chapter states that since 2014 the Government of India has initiated the Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission (Namami Gange) and the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
- (C) The book names the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha (1929) as the first peasant organisation, followed by the All India Kisan Sabha in 1936.
- (C) The chapter explains that ‘Dalit’ is commonly used in these languages to mean poor and oppressed persons, referring to those broken and ground down by those above them.
- (A) The chapter states Jharkhand, one of India’s newly formed states, was carved out of south Bihar in the year 2000.
Assertion-Reason
- (C) A is exactly the book’s own definition, so it is true. R is false: the book explicitly says spontaneous, disorganised protest cannot be called a social movement without some degree of organisation.
- (D) A is false: the book says Chipko raised both the ‘red’ issue of villagers’ subsistence economy and the ‘green’ issue of ecological sustainability together. R is true and is in fact part of why A is wrong.
Match the Following
- (C) Ramachandra Guha (2) wrote Unquiet Woods; Rajni Kothari (1) linked the 1970s social-movement surge to dissatisfaction with parliamentary democracy; Kanu Sanyal (3) made the later claims about Naxalbari; G.B. Pant (4) gave the Advisory Committee speech.
- (D) WIA was founded in 1917 (3); the All India Kisan Sabha in 1936 (1); the AITUC in 1920 (4); the INTUC in 1947 (2).
Statement-Based Questions
- (A) Statement I matches the book exactly. Statement II is wrong: the book explicitly says Chipko raised both economic (‘red’) and ecological (‘green’) issues together.
- (C) Both statements match the book exactly: the first trade union (1918, B.P. Wadia) and the AITUC (1920) both came before the INTUC (1947).
Chronological Ordering
- (C) Correct order: Champaran Satyagraha (1917-18) -> Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha (1929) -> All India Kisan Sabha (1936) -> Tebhaga movement (1946-47).
- (D) Correct order: Naxalbari (1967) -> Alaknanda valley flood (1970) -> Jharkhand’s formation (2000) -> Namami Gange (2014).
Fill in the Blanks
- (D) Box 8.3 names the Dashauli Gram Swaraja Sangh (DGSS) as the cooperative organisation in Chamoli district.
- (A) The chapter uses the term ‘dikus’ for these migrant traders and moneylenders.
Odd One Out
- (D) The AITUC is a trade union body for workers; the other three are peasant organisations or movements.
Passage-Based Questions
- (C) Box 8.8 says G.B. Pant made these observations while moving the constitution of the Advisory Committee on fundamental rights, minorities, etc.
- (B) The passage says the strength of the chain is measured by its weakest link, hence the need to ‘revitalise’ every link.
True / False
- (A) Statements 1 and 3 match the book’s own definitions. Statement 2 is false: revolutionary movements often try to transform social relations precisely BY capturing state power, as with the Bolshevik revolution.
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