Q1. India’s internal reorganisation posed the country’s next major issue after independence. Discuss how the reorganisation was accomplished while maintaining the country’s unity. (250 words)
- Paper & Topic: GS I – Post Independence India
- Model Answer:
- Introduction:
- Province boundaries in pre-1947 India were created in a random way due to the British invasion of India, which lasted over a century. The lack of attention paid to linguistic or cultural cohesiveness resulted in the majority of provinces becoming bilingual and multicultural. The intermittent princely states had added a layer of variability to the mix.
- Body:
- Background:
- One of the most difficult tasks after independence was reorganising more than 500 princely entities into functional provincial units.
- The K. Dhar Commission (1948) and the JVP Committee (1948) proposed for state reconstruction based on geographical proximity, administrative convenience, financial self-sufficiency, and development potential.
- However, the death of Potti Srirammalu following a hunger strike in support of Andhra state produced a volatile scenario, prompting the establishment of the Fazl Ali Commission (in 1953), whose recommendation for state reorganisation based on linguistic criteria was adopted.
- India’s reorganisation while maintaining its unity:
- Official Language: As leaders of a multilingual country, the constitution-makers understood that they could not neglect, or even give the idea of ignoring, the concerns of any one language area.
- India’s official language is Hindi, written in Devanagari script with international numerals, according to the constitution.
- English was to be used in all official capacities until 1965.
- State linguistic reorganisation: The linguistic reorganisation of 14 States and six Centrally-administered territories was largely completed in 1956, based on the recommendations of the State Reorganisation Commission (SRC), with several other States to be reorganised subsequently.
- This was a huge reorganisation of state power, not just to build different kinds of power and authority, but also to rearrange social, cultural, geographical, and linguistic diversity into more manageable enclaves of state control.
- The empowerment of the masses: The establishment of these states altered the character of democratic politics and leadership. People speaking regional languages, rather than the limited English-speaking elite, now had a road to politics and power.
- Language, in combination with regional and tribal identity, proved to be the most important tool for the creation of ethnonational identity in India.
- Tribal identity was preserved thanks to special rights granted to tribal territories.
- Because of the ability to communicate in a common language, the reorganisation resulted in a greater number of local people participating in the administration.
- Conclusion:
- The political leadership of newly independent India had the vision to see the ramifications of refusing to give in to public demands. Of fact, the rearrangement of states did not address all of the language issues. Disputes over state borders, linguistic minorities, and economic difficulties such as water sharing, power, and surplus food continue to exist. However, their choice to restructure the states linguistically has removed one significant issue that may have compromised India’s integrity, bolstering the cause of Indian unity.
Q2. Nehru advocated for the integration of tribal people into Indian society by making them an integral part of the Indian nation while preserving their own identity and culture. Elucidate. (250 words)
- Paper & Topic: GS I – Post Independence India
- Model Answer:
- Introduction:
- The government’s tribal integration policy prioritised the preservation of the tribal people’s unique social and cultural legacy. ‘The first problem we have to face there [in the tribal areas] is to inspire them [the tribal people] with confidence and to make them feel at one with India, and to realise that they are part of India and have an honoured place in it,’ said Jawaharlal Nehru, the main influence in shaping the government’s attitude toward the tribals. At the same time, ‘India should represent not just a defending but also a liberating force to them.’ Nehru believed that Indian nationalism could accommodate the indigenous people’s diversity.
- Body:
The integration of indigenous people into Indian society was a Nehruvian aim:
- There were two major perspectives to how tribals should be treated in Indian society. One strategy was to leave the tribal people alone, free of modern influences from outside their society, and allow them to remain as they were.
- The second strategy was to fully integrate them into Indian society as rapidly as possible. The demise of the tribal way of life was not to be lamented; rather, it was to be embraced as a sign of their ‘upliftment.’
- Both of these techniques were rejected by Jawaharlal Nehru. The first method, which he saw as insulting, was to treat the indigenous people “like museum specimens to be examined and written about.”
- He argued that the tribal people “could not be left closed off from the world as they were.”
- Isolation was in any case impossible at this point, because the outside world’s penetration had progressed too far, and ‘it was neither possible nor desired to isolate them.’
- According to Nehru, the second option of enabling them to “be absorbed by the bulk of Indian humanity” or absorption by the use of regular outside forces was similarly incorrect.
- This would result in the tribals’ social and cultural identity, as well as its numerous virtues, being lost.
- Rather than these two approaches, Nehru advocated for integrating tribal people into Indian society, making them a vital part of the Indian nation while also preserving their own identity and culture.
- The tribal Panchsheel policy of Nehru:
- The Nehruvian method had two main tenets: ‘the tribal areas must progress,’ and ‘they must progress in their own way.’ Progress did not imply “a rote replication of what we have in other regions of India.” Whatever was excellent in the rest of India will “gradually be absorbed by them.”
- Jawaharlal Nehru created the following five principles for pursuing tribal policies, popularly known as Tribal Panchsheel:
- People should develop in accordance with their own talent, and alien values should not be imposed.
- Land and forest rights of tribes should be honoured.
- The work of administration and development should be taught to tribal groups.
- Tribal communities should not be over-administered or overburdened by a plethora of programmes.
The human character that has evolved should be judged, not by statistics or the amount of money spent.
- Conclusion:
Nehru’s approach was founded on a nationalist policy toward tribals that had been in place since the 1920s, when Gandhiji established ashrams in tribal areas and encouraged constructive activity. Rajendra Prasad, India’s first President, and other significant political leaders endorsed this approach after independence.
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