It is a pity that Caste even today has its defenders. The defences are many. It is defended on the grounds that the Caste System is but another name for division of labour, and if division of labour is a necessary feature of every civilised society, then it is argued that there is nothing wrong in the Caste System. Now the first thing to be urged against this view is that Caste System is not merely division of labour. It is also a division of labourers. Civilised society undoubtedly needs division of labour but nowhere is division of labour accompanied by this unnatural division of labourers into watertight compartments, grading them one above the other. This division of labour is not spontaneous or based on natural aptitudes. Social and individual efficiency requires us to develop the individual capacity and competency to choose and to make his own career. This principle is violated in so far as it involves an attempt to appoint tasks to individuals in advance, not on the basis of trained original capacities, but on that of birth. Industry undergoes rapid and abrupt changes and an individual must be free to change his occupation and adjust himself to changing circumstances, to gain his livelihood. Which of the following observations substantiate the arguments found in the passage above?
(Adapted from Annihilation of Caste by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.)
The passage critiques the argument that the Caste System is merely a division of labour. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar argues that Caste System is fundamentally a division of labourers into rigid, hierarchical, and unnatural compartments based on birth, which prevents individuals from adapting to changing circumstances or choosing their own careers.
Caste System Arguments Substantiated
The core of Ambedkar's argument highlights two main issues with the Caste System when defended as division of labour:
- It's a division of labourers, not just labour.
- This division is unnatural, hierarchical ("grading them one above the other"), and based on birth, not aptitude.
- It violates the principle of individual capacity and the freedom to choose one's career and adapt to change.
Analysis of Options
Let's evaluate the given options against the passage's arguments:
Option 1: Newer generations are unable to change and move away from low-paying family professions, even with changed economic circumstances.
This option directly aligns with the passage's criticism. The phrase "unable to change and move away from low-paying family professions" reflects the "watertight compartments" and inability to choose or change careers based on birth, as described by Ambedkar. The mention of "changed economic circumstances" further supports the idea that individuals are trapped despite the need for adaptability.
Option 2: Sedentary desk jobs are considered to have more value and are in greater demand than those involving manual labour.
The passage mentions the Caste System involves "grading them one above the other." This implies a social hierarchy and a perceived value system attached to different roles. While not explicitly detailed, such hierarchical grading often reflects societal biases where non-manual or "desk jobs" are assigned higher status or value compared to manual labour. This aligns with the concept of inherent grading within the divided labour force.
Option 3: The government's jobs guarantee programme makes low-level management jobs available across all industries to all graduates in the nation.
This option discusses government intervention and job availability, which is unrelated to the passage's focus on the inherent structure and justifications of the Caste System and its impact on individual mobility.
Option 4: A bus driver becomes an app creator and, in the course of one month, reaches one million downloads on Playstore with a four-star rating.
This scenario exemplifies the freedom to change occupation and achieve success based on aptitude and opportunity, which is precisely what the Caste System, as criticized in the passage, prevents. It demonstrates successful adaptation and career change, contrary to the restrictive nature of the Caste System described.
Therefore, options 1 and 2 substantiate the arguments found in the passage.
Important Questions from Analytical Reasoning Drawing Reasonable Conclusions from Passages
- “I saw on that ivory face the expression of sombre pride, of ruthless power, of craven terror—of an intense and hopeless despair. . . . He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision—he cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath:
'The horror! The horror!"
Which political and existential condition can be inferred from the above passage in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness? - Which of the following statement(s) is/are true about “The Republic of Orissa: A Page from the Annals of the Twentieth Century,” one of the earliest narrative texts written in English by an Indian?
- Which of the following statement(s) is/are true regarding Elaine Showalter's essay "A Literature of Their Own"?
- "I have read translations of the most celebrated Arabic and Sanscrit works. I have conversed both here and at home with men distinguished by their proficiency in the Eastern tongues. I am quite ready to take the Oriental learning at the valuation of the Orientalists themselves. I have never found among them who could deny that a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia."
Which of the following statement(s) is/are correct based on the above excerpt? “Here was I, the white man with his gun, standing in front of the unarmed native crowd-seemingly the leading actor of the piece; but in reality I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind. I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys. He becomes a sort of hollow, posing dummy, the conventionalised figure of a sahib."
What condition(s) is/are illustrated in the above lines from George Orwell's essay "Shooting an Elephant"?
