PRESIDIUM PUNJABI BAGH

TERM-2 (2024-25)
SUBJECT – CIVICS
Understanding Marginalisation

Name of the student: ___________________ Day & Date: _________

Grade VIII Section ____

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. 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
NCERT Solutions

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.

1. Dalits and tribals were considered a lower class of society.

1. They are living in separate areas of villages. Tribals are living in remote areas.
2. They were not getting a proper education, so not good jobs.
2. When they do not get opportunities they remain economically weak and do not get
an education and this circle continues.