Indian Society Previous Year Questions (PYQs) | UPSC Mains Examination

Indian Society Previous Year Questions (PYQs) | UPSC Mains Examination

On this page you will find all the updates related to the previous year questions of subject Indian Society for UPSC IAS Mains examination.

Indian Society holds a significant place in the UPSC Mains General Studies Paper 1. Numerous questions in the IAS Exam’s Mains GS-I paper directly pertain to various aspects of Indian society, including status of women in Indian society, globalization, caste identity, communalism, secularism, regionalism, and other related themes.

Q.1) Do you think marriage as a sacrament is loosing its value in modern India? [150 Words] [10 Marks][2023]

Q.2) Why suicide among young women is increasing in Indian society? [150 Words] [10 Marks][2023]

Q.3) Child cuddling is now being replaced by mobile phones. Discuss its impact on the socialization of children [150 Words] [10 Marks][2023]

Q.4) Does urbanisation lead to more segregation and/or marginalisation of the poor in Indian metropolises. [250 Words] [15 Marks][2023]

Q.5) Why is caste identity in India both static and fluid? [250 Words] [15 Marks] [2023]

Q.6) Discuss the impact of post-liberal economy on ethnic identity of communalism. [250 Words] [15 Marks][2023]

Q.7) Explore and evaluate the impact of ‘Work From Home’ on family relationships. [150 Words] [10 Marks][2022]

Q.8) How is the growth of Tier 2 cities related to the rise of a new middle class with an emphasis on the culture of consumption? [150 Words] [10 Marks][2022]

Q.9) Given the diversities among the tribal communities in India, in which specific contexts should they be considered as a single category?[150 Words] [10 Marks][2022]

Q.10) Analyze the salience of ‘sect’ in Indian society vis-a-vis caste, region and religion. [250 Words] [15 Marks][2022]

Q.11) Are tolerance, assimilation and pluralism the key elements in the making of an Indian form of secularism? Justify your answer.[250 Words] [15 Marks][2022]

Q.12) Elucidate the relationship between globalization and new technology in a world of scarce resources, with special reference to India. [250 Words] [15 Marks][2022]

Q.13) How does Indian society maintain continuity in traditional social values? Enumerate the changes taking place in it.[250 Words] [15 Marks] [2021]

Q.14) What is Cryptocurrency? How does it affect global society? Has it been affecting Indian society also.[250 Words] [15 Marks] [2021]

Q.15) Discuss the main objectives of Population Education and point out the measures to achieve them in India in detail.[250 Words] [15 Marks] [2021]

Q.16) What are the main socio-economic implications arising out of the development of IT industries in major cities of India?[250 Words] [15 Marks] [2021]

Q.17) Examine the role of ‘Gig Economy’ in the process of empowerment of women in India.[150 Words] [10 Marks] [2021]

Q.18) Examine the uniqueness of tribal knowledge system when compared with mainstream knowledge and cultural systems.[150 Words] [10 Marks] [2021]

Q.19) Why is India considered as a subcontinent? Elaborate your answer.[150 Words] [10 Marks] [2021]

Q.20) Has caste lost its relevance in understanding the multi-cultural Indian Society? Elaborate your answers with illustrations.[150 Words] [10 Marks] [2020]

Q.21)COVID-19 pandemic accelerated class inequalities and poverty in India. Comment.[150 Words] [10 Marks] [2020]

Q.22) Is diversity and pluralism in India under threat due to globalization? Justify your answer.[250 Words] [15 Marks] [2020]

Q.23) Do you agree that regionalism in India appears to be a consequence of rising cultural assertiveness? Argue[150 Words] [10 Marks] [2020]

Q.24) Customs and traditions suppress reason leading to obscurantism. Do you agree? [250 Words] [15 Marks] [2020]

Q.25) How have digital initiatives in India contributed to the functioning of the education system in the country? Elaborate your answer [250 Words] [15 Marks] [2020]

Q.26) What makes the Indian society unique in sustaining its culture? Discuss. [150 Words] [10 Marks] [2019]

Q.27) “Empowering women is the key to control population growth.” Discuss. [150 Words] [10 Marks] [2019]

Q.28) What are the challenges to our cultural practices in the name of secularism? [150 Words] [10 Marks] [2019]

Q.29) Do we have cultural pockets of small India all over the nation? Elaborate with examples. [250 Words] [15 Marks] [2019]

Q.30) What are the continued challenges for women in India against time and space?[250 Words] [15 Marks] [2019]

Q.31) Are we losing our local identity for the global identity? Discuss.[250 Words] [15 Marks] [2019]

Q.32) “Caste system is assuming new identities and associational forms. Hence, caste system cannot be eradicated in India.” Comment.[150 Words] [10 Marks] [2018]

Q.33)‘Despite implementation of various programmes for eradication of poverty by the government in India, poverty is still existing’. Explain by giving reasons. [150 Words] [10 Marks] [2018]

Q.34) How the Indian concept of secularism different from the western model of secularism? Discuss. [150 Words] [10 Marks] [2018]

Q.35) ‘Women’s movement in India has not addressed the issues of women of lower social strata.’ Substantiate your view.[250 Words] [15 Marks] [2018]

Q.36) ‘Globalisation is generally said to promote cultural homogenisation but due to this cultural specificities appear to be strengthened in the Indian society.’ Elucidate [250 Words] [15 Marks] [2018]

Q.37) ‘Communalism arises either due to power struggle or relative deprivation.’ Argue by giving suitable illustrations. [250 Words] [15 Marks] [2018]

Q.38) In the context of the diversity of India, can it be said that the regions form cultural unit srather than the States? Give reasons with examples for your view point. [150 Words] [10 Marks][2017]

Q.39) 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? [250 Words] [15 Marks] [2017]

Q.40) Distinguish between religiousness/religiosity and communalism giving one example of how the former has got transformed into the latter in independent India. [250 Words] [15 Marks] [2017]

Q.42) “The growth of cities as I.T. hubs has opened up new avenues of employment, but has also created new problems”. Substantiate this statement with examples. [250 Words] [15 Marks] [2017]

Q.43) To what extent globalisation has influenced the core of cultural diversity in India? Explain. [200 Words] [12.5 Marks] [2016]

Q.44) “An essential condition to eradicate poverty is to liberate the poor from the process of deprivation.” Substantiate this statement with suitable examples. [200 Words] [12.5 Marks] [2016]

Q.45) 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. [200 Words] [12.5 Marks] [2016]

Q.46) With a brief background of quality of urban life in India, introduce the objectives and strategy of the ‘Smart City Programme.” [200 Words] [12.5 Marks] [2016]

Q.47) What is the basis of regionalism? Is it that unequal distribution of benefits of development on regional basis eventually promotes regionalism? Substantiate your answer. [200 Words] [12.5 Marks] [2016]

Q.48) Describe any four cultural elements of diversity in India and rate their relative significance in building a national identity. [200 Words] [12.5 Marks] [2015]

Q.49) Critically examine whether growing population is the cause of poverty OR poverty is the mains cause of population increase in India. [200 Words] [12.5 Marks] [2015]

Q.50) 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? [200 Words] [12.5 Marks] [2015]

Q.51) Discuss the changes in the trends of labour migration within and outside India in the last four decades. [200 Words] [12.5 Marks] [2015]

Q.52) Discuss the positive and negative effects of globalization on women in India? [200 Words] [12.5 Marks] [2015]

Q.53) Debate the issue whether and how contemporary movements for assertion of Dalit identity work towards annihilation of caste. [200 Words] [12.5 Marks] [2015]

Q.54) How does patriarchy impact the position of a middle-class working woman in India? [150 Words] [10 Marks] [2014]

Q.55) Why do some of the most prosperous regions of India have an adverse sex ratio for women? Give your arguments.[150 Words] [10 Marks] [2014]

Q.56)The life cycle of a joint family depends on economic factors rather than social values. Discuss. [150 Words] [10 Marks] [2014]

Q.56) Discuss the various economic and socio-cultural forces that are driving increasing feminization of agriculture in India. [150 Words] [10 Marks] [2014]

Q.57) How do the Indian debates on secularism differ from the debates in the West? [150 Words] [10 Marks] [2014]

Q.58) Discussion the various social problems which originated out of the speedy process of urbanization in India. [200 Words] [10 Marks] [2013]

Q.59) Male membership needs to be encouraged in order to make women’s organization free from gender bias. Comment. [200 Words] [10 Marks] [2013]

Q.60) Critically examine the effects of globalization on the aged population in India. [200 Words] [10 Marks] [2013]

Q.61) Growing feeling of regionalism is an important factor in the generation of demand for a separate state. Discuss. [200 Words] [10 Marks] [2013]

Trends of Indian Society PYQs For UPSC Mains

In recent years, the examination trend has shown that questions related to Indian society carry a considerable high weightage as 6-7 questions of 10 -15 marks each has been asked since last 4-5 years. The questions on this subject demands a comprehensive observation and deep understanding on what is happening in Indian society. 

The mains questions for Indian society in recent years have covered a wide range of topics. In 2023, there was 6 questions from this topic which includes topics like status of marriage in Indian society, status of women, increasing use of phone and related family issues, marginalisation of poor on metropolises, caste identity, ethnic identity of communalism. In 2022, questions delved into topics like the family relationship, rise of new middle class, tribal communities in India, caste, region and religion, Indian form of secularism,relationship between globalization and new technology. The 2021 examination included a question regarding the continuity in traditional values, cryptocurrency and its affect on global society and Indian society, main objectives of Population Education, main socio-economic implications arising out of the development of IT industries in major cities of India,  role of ‘Gig Economy’ in empowerment of women in India, uniqueness of tribal knowledge system, and India as a subcontinent. In 2020, there were question from topics like caste and multi-cultural Indian Society, COVID-19 pandemic impact on class inequalities and poverty in India,  diversity and pluralism in India under threat due to globalization, regionalism in India, customs and traditions,  digital initiatives in India.