MAINS 2015
GS1
12.5 marks
Debate the issue of whether and how contemporary movements for assertion of Dalit identity work towards annihilation of caste.
WRITE IN
9 min
200 words
What the examiner wants
Debate whether today's Dalit identity movements weaken caste or strengthen caste identity.
DebateAnswer exactly what the question asks.
Demand-wise check
- 1Work towards annihilation: political power (BSP), legal activism, Ambedkarite Buddhism, DICCI entrepreneurship, challenging untouchability and atrocities≈35 words
- 2Work against it: caste consolidated as identity for vote mobilisation, sub-caste competition, creamy-layer elite, backlash≈35 words
- 3How: education, inter-caste marriage, economic mobility, cultural assertion (Bhima Koregaon commemoration, Bhim Army)≈35 words
- 4Balanced view: assertion is a needed stage, but annihilation needs change among dominant castes too≈35 words
Open in about 30 words and close in about 30.
Answer plan
Ambedkar's goalWays movements advance itWays they reinforce casteBalanced verdict
Where marks usually go
- Writing only one side when the question says 'debate'
- No contemporary movements named
Draw this
- Two-column 'for and against' table
Value addition
- BookAmbedkar's 'Annihilation of Caste' (1936) called for destroying the religious basis of caste and promoted inter-caste marriage.Ambedkar, 1936
- ExampleDalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI, 2005) promotes Dalit entrepreneurship as a route out of caste occupations.DICCI
Mapped topper copies
Reviewed public-source references related to this PYQ. Same-syllabus references are labelled separately.
- Ajay R Raj · AIR 109 · Page 9 ↗Same syllabus reference
- Akansh Dhull · AIR 3 · Page 35 ↗Same syllabus reference
- Akansh Dhull · AIR 3 · Page 15 ↗Same syllabus reference
Links open original public sources. MainsBuddy does not host these answer sheets.
Next: plan for one minute, write it in 9 minutes, then get it checked.