CBSE Class 10 Social Science Gender Religion And Caste Notes Set 03

These CBSE Class 10 Political Science notes for Chapter 3 Gender, Religion and Caste cover the social and political disadvantages faced by women, women's representation in politics and the 2023 Women's Reservation Bill, the role of religion and communalism in politics, India's secular state, and how caste and politics influence each other, with important terms, personalities and dates at the end.

Women as a Disadvantaged Section of Society

In British India, women were progressively granted limited voting rights in stages from 1921 onward, starting in the Madras and Bombay Presidencies, and later in the Bengal Presidency in 1925. Universal adult suffrage was granted to all Indian citizens, women included, in 1950, under Article 326 of the Constitution. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, an Act of Parliament to protect women from domestic violence, was brought into force by the Ministry of Women and Child Development on 26 October 2006.

Despite significant progress since Independence, women in India still stand far behind men, as Indian society remains largely patriarchal and male-dominated. Women face inequality and disadvantage in several ways:

Literacy rate: the literacy rate among women was only 70.3%, compared with 84.7% among men, per National Statistical Office data from 2019. A smaller proportion of girls go on to higher studies, partly because parents often prefer to spend resources on sons' education; this happens even though girls perform on par with, or ahead of, boys in school.

Employment: the share of women in high-paying, highly valued jobs is low. An Indian woman works, on average, one extra hour a day compared to a man, but much of this work is unpaid and goes unrecognised.

Wages: the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, provides for equal wages for equal work, but in almost every field, from sport and cinema to factories and farms, women are often paid less than men for the same job.

Sex ratio: a preference for male children in many families has led to female foeticide and a skewed sex ratio. According to NFHS-5 (2019-21), there were about 929 girls per 1,000 boys nationally, though for the first time several states individually recorded more than 1,000 women per 1,000 men.

Domestic violence: harassment, exploitation and violence against women are widely reported, both within and outside the home; urban areas have become particularly unsafe in this respect. The Hindu Succession Act, 2005, removed discriminatory practices in inheritance, giving daughters an equal right to a share of their father's estate, alongside sons, and a right to a share in their mother's property as well.

Representation of Women in Politics

Despite India's economic growth, women's participation in the country's economy, polity and society has not kept pace. Female voter turnout has risen in recent elections — seven of the eight states that went to the polls in 2022 saw an increase in female voter turnout. However, this rise in women voters has not translated into more women actually contesting and winning elections.

In politics: as per Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) data, women made up about 14.44% of the 17th Lok Sabha. Per the Election Commission of India, women represented about 10.5% of all Members of Parliament as of October 2021, and female MLAs' representation across state assemblies averaged about 9%. India's ranking on this measure had fallen behind Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

Reservation of women in local bodies: the government has reserved one-third of seats in panchayats and municipalities for women, resulting in more than 10 lakh elected women representatives in rural and urban local bodies.

The Women's Reservation Bill, 2023: the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha both passed the Women's Reservation Bill, 2023 (the 128th Constitutional Amendment Bill), reserving one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies and the Delhi assembly, including within the seats already reserved for SCs and STs.

• A new Article 330A borrows from Article 330 (which provides SC/ST reservation in the Lok Sabha) to reserve women's seats, allotted by rotation among constituencies.
• A new Article 332A mandates reservation of seats for women in every state Legislative Assembly, including one-third of SC/ST-reserved seats and one-third of all directly elected seats.
• Under a new Article 334A, the reservation takes effect only after the first census following the Bill's commencement, and the resulting delimitation; it will apply for 15 years, or longer if extended by a law made by Parliament, with seats rotated after each delimitation.

Religion, Communalism and Politics

Religious differences are not universal in nature, but can be found in almost every country. Even within one religion, there can be significant internal differences — as seen, for example, in Northern Ireland, where the population is divided between Roman Catholic and Protestant Christians. India itself has a religiously diverse population: approximately 79.8% Hindu, 14.2% Muslim, 2.3% Christian, 1.7% Sikh, and about 2% belonging to other religions (per Census of India data).

Positive Role of Religion in Politics

Mahatma Gandhi believed that religion could not be separated from politics, by which he meant the moral values common to all religions — he held that politics must be grounded in ethics drawn from religion. Human rights groups have observed that victims of communal riots are often from religious minorities, and have called for special provisions to protect them; Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains and Zoroastrians (Parsis) are notified minority communities under Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. Feminist movements have argued that the family laws of most religions discriminate against women, and that government should reform these laws to be more equitable — some such reforms have since been made.

Negative Role of Religion in Politics

Religion can play a negative role in politics when it is expressed in exclusive, partisan terms; when religion is treated as the basis of the nation (as in Northern Ireland); when followers of one religion believe it is superior to others; when one religious group begins to hate another; when state power is used to establish the domination of one religion over others, or the state interferes unnecessarily in religious matters; or when the demands of one religious group are met at the cost of another.

Communalism

Communalism, broadly, means a strong attachment to one's own community; in Indian political discourse, it usually refers to an unhealthy attachment to one's own religion. As an ideology, it suppresses internal differences within a community to emphasise its unity against other communities, promoting intolerance and divisions in society. Its milder, positive aspect can mean affinity toward one's own community combined with efforts for its social and economic upliftment; in its negative sense, it emphasises a religious group's separate identity against others, often at others' expense. Common forms include: the belief in the superiority of one's own religion; majority-minority clashes, where majoritarian dominance by the larger community provokes demands for separate political units by minorities; the use of religion as a political ‘vote bank’, appealing to religious symbols, leaders and emotions to unite voters of one religion; and, at its most extreme, communal violence, riots and killings — as seen during Partition, and at various points since.

The word ‘secular’ was not originally part of the Constitution's Preamble; it was added, along with ‘socialist’ and ‘integrity’, through the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976.

India's Secular State

The makers of the Constitution recognised the dangers of communalism and adopted the secular state model, reflected in several constitutional provisions: the Indian state has no official religion, unlike, for example, Buddhism in Sri Lanka or Islam in Pakistan; the Constitution guarantees the fundamental right to profess, practise and propagate any religion, or none; it prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion (Articles 15, 16); and it empowers the state to intervene in religious matters to ensure religious equality — for example, by banning untouchability (Article 17). Freedom of religion in India is itself a fundamental right, guaranteed under Articles 25-28 of the Constitution. Communalism in everyday life needs to be countered both by a secular constitutional framework and by active government opposition to religion-based political mobilisation.

Caste and Politics

Caste Inequalities

Traditionally, members of the same caste group were expected to form a social community, practising similar or related occupations, marrying within the caste, and not dining with members of other castes. The caste system historically excluded and discriminated against ‘outcaste’ groups, who were subjected to the practice of untouchability. Caste hierarchy refers to a ladder-like social structure in which castes are ranked from highest to lowest, traditionally linked to occupation, and it has shaped large parts of Indian society for centuries.

Reforms in the Caste System

Social reformers and political leaders such as Jyotiba Phule, Mahatma Gandhi, Dr B. R. Ambedkar and Periyar Ramaswami Naicker worked to create a society free of caste-based inequality. Socio-economic development over recent decades — economic growth, large-scale urbanisation (where it often matters less who one's neighbour or fellow diner is), spreading literacy and education, greater occupational mobility away from traditional family occupations, and the weakening of landlords' traditional status in villages — has brought considerable change to the old caste hierarchy. The Constitution banned caste-based discrimination and established laws to redress caste injustices (Articles 15, 16).

Caste Today

The caste system has not disappeared from contemporary India: most people still marry within their own caste or community, and untouchability persists despite the constitutional ban. Caste groups that historically had access to education have continued to do well in modern education, while those denied access have fallen behind — which is part of why ‘upper castes’ remain disproportionately present among the urban middle class. Caste therefore remains closely linked to economic status even today.

Caste in Politics

While caste is declining somewhat as a purely social factor, its significance as a political factor has grown. Caste can influence politics in several ways: parties consider caste composition when selecting candidates, and often try to include members of various castes and tribes in government; parties and candidates sometimes appeal directly to caste sentiment to gather support; and universal adult franchise (‘one person, one vote’) forced political leaders to build support across caste lines, while also giving previously excluded castes a new political self-awareness.

Still, elections are not simply about caste: no single party wins the votes of an entire caste or community, and every party needs support across multiple castes to win; where a caste is said to be a party's ‘vote bank’, it usually means a large share of that caste's voters support that party, not all of them; multiple parties may field candidates from a locally dominant caste, splitting its vote; and incumbents, including ruling parties and sitting MPs/MLAs, often lose elections — which would be impossible if voting were purely fixed by caste. Economic condition, government performance and the popularity of leaders are often decisive factors, and people of the same caste but different income levels, or different genders, frequently vote quite differently.

Politics in Caste

The relationship runs both ways: just as caste can shape politics, politics can shape caste. In other words, it is less that politics gets ‘caste-ridden’ and more that caste itself gets politicised. Caste groups have tried to extend their base by including related castes or sub-castes previously excluded, leading to coalitions and negotiation between groups. New political categories, such as ‘backward’ and ‘forward’ caste groups, have emerged. Caste-based politics has also helped Dalits and OBCs gain better access to decision-making, and various groups have campaigned for an end to caste discrimination and for greater dignity and access to resources.

At the same time, over-reliance on caste identity in politics has its drawbacks: like religion-based politics, it is not fully democratic and can divert attention from more important issues such as poverty, development and corruption, and caste divisions can, in some circumstances, lead to tension, conflict or even violence.

Important Terms

Gender Division: a hierarchical social division based on biology, social expectations and stereotypes.
Sexual Division of Labour: a system in which domestic work inside the home is done, or organised, by the women of the family.
Feminist: a woman or man who believes in equal rights and opportunities for men and women.
Patriarchy: a system that gives more value, and more power, to men over women; a society based on this is a patriarchal society.
Child Sex Ratio: the number of girl children per thousand boys in a given area and period.
Family Laws: laws dealing with family matters such as marriage, divorce, adoption and inheritance; in India, each community generally has its own family law.
Urbanisation: the movement of population from rural to urban areas for better facilities and job opportunities.
Majoritarian Dominance: a situation in which the majority community asserts dominance over others.
Occupational Mobility: the shift from one occupation to another, often seen when a new generation takes up work different from that of its ancestors.
Caste Hierarchy: a ladder-like arrangement of caste groups from highest to lowest.
Secular State: a state with no official religion of its own, providing religious equality and equal status to all religions.
Secularism: an ideology giving equal status to all religions and prohibiting discrimination on religious grounds, implying freedom to preach, practise or profess any religion (Articles 25-28).
Untouchability: the practice of treating certain backward and lower-caste people as outcastes, barred from mingling with so-called ‘upper castes’.
Universal Adult Franchise: the right to vote given to every adult citizen of the country — ‘universal’ (to all), ‘adult’ (above 18 years), ‘franchise’ (the right to vote).
Minorities: groups of people or communities that are fewer in number within a particular area.
Communal Representation: a system of separate electorates intended to secure adequate representation for people of different communities.
Social Change: change in people's way of life, including their social status and culture.

Important Personalities

Jyotiba Phule (also known as Jyotirao Govindrao Phule, or Mahatma Phule): worked to eliminate caste-based inequalities in Indian society.
Dr B. R. Ambedkar: championed liberty, equality and fraternity for all human beings, and regarded the caste system as a grave wrong within Hindu society.
Periyar Ramaswami Naicker: a Dravidian social reformer and lawmaker who founded the Self-Respect Movement and the Dravida Kazhagam.
Mahatma Gandhi: political leader and philosopher who argued that politics should be grounded in values drawn from religion, and who emphasised the upliftment of Harijans (his term for Dalits).

Important Dates

1976: The Equal Remuneration Act was passed.
1976: The word ‘secular’ was added to the Preamble of the Indian Constitution by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment.
1996: The Women's Reservation Bill was first introduced in Parliament (it would go through several more versions before finally being passed, as the 128th Amendment, in 2023).