Study the picture given below carefully and answer the following questions : [Words printed in the cartoon: “E

Question

Q. Study the picture given below carefully and answer the following questions : [Words printed in the cartoon: “EAST ASIAN NATIONS”; “WE’LL HAVE TO GET USED TO IT...”; “COMPETITION”]

(i) The given image refers to which policy of India since 1991 ?

(ii) Explain the significance of this policy as shown in the image above.

(iii) Evaluate India’s role in ASEAN. [For Visually Impaired Candidates, in lieu of this question: (20.1) What is the full form of ASEAN ? (20.2) Evaluate India’s role in ASEAN. (20.3) What did the Chinese do to break from their economic stagnation ?]

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Concept understanding — Mandal Commission Politics

Mandal Commission Politics: A First Look

Imagine a classroom where some students have had access to private tutors since kindergarten, while others are the first in their family to even attend school. If you give both groups the same exam, the result is predictable — but is it fair? That tension between equal treatment and equal opportunity is the heart of Mandal Commission politics.

What Was the Mandal Commission?

In 1979, the government of India set up the Mandal Commission (officially the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Commission) to identify groups that had been historically disadvantaged — not just economically, but socially and educationally. The Commission was tasked with recommending ways to uplift these groups.

The Commission submitted its report in 1983. Its central recommendation: reserve 27% of government jobs and seats in public educational institutions for "Other Backward Classes" (OBCs) — communities that were not Scheduled Castes (SCs) or Scheduled Tribes (STs) but were still backward in social and educational terms.

Note

The Mandal Commission estimated that OBCs made up roughly 52% of India's population. However, the Supreme Court later capped total reservation at 50%, so the 27% figure was designed to fit within that limit alongside existing SC/ST reservations.

Why Did It Become "Politics"?

The report sat on the shelf for nearly a decade. Then in 1990, Prime Minister V.P. Singh announced the government would implement the Mandal recommendations. That announcement triggered a political earthquake.

The Immediate Reaction

Mass protests erupted across north India, especially among upper-caste students who saw their own job prospects shrinking.
Some students self-immolated in protest — a tragic measure of how deeply personal this issue felt.
The political landscape split: supporters called it social justice, opponents called it vote-bank politics.

The Deeper Political Logic

Mandal politics is not just about jobs. It is about power — who gets to decide, who gets represented, and whose voice matters in a democracy.

Social justice argument: Caste-based discrimination is real and centuries old. Formal equality (everyone can apply) does not undo accumulated disadvantage. Reservation is a corrective, not a favour.
Political mobilisation argument: OBCs form a large voting bloc. Promising them reservations wins elections. Critics say this turns backwardness into a political currency.
Merit vs. representation argument: Opponents argue reservations dilute merit. Supporters counter that "merit" itself is shaped by privilege — a child from a literate family has a head start that has nothing to do with innate ability.

Important

The Mandal Commission fundamentally changed Indian politics. Before 1990, national politics was dominated by the Congress party and upper-caste leadership. After Mandal, OBC-based parties (like the Samajwadi Party in UP, RJD in Bihar) became major forces. Caste became an open, explicit factor in electoral strategy — not a hidden one.

What the NCERT Textbook Says

The Class 12 Political Science textbook (Politics in India Since Independence) treats Mandal as a turning point. Key points from the NCERT account:

The Commission used 11 indicators of social, educational, and economic backwardness — not just income.
The implementation in 1990 led to the fall of the V.P. Singh government, as coalition partners withdrew support. …

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The image depicts India's "Look East Policy," initiated in 1991, signifying its shift towards economic engagement and competition with dynamic East Asian economies, and its growing strategic partnership with ASEAN.

India's economic landscape underwent a significant transformation in 1991 with the introduction of liberalisation, privatisation, and globalisation (LPG) reforms. This marked a departure from the previous inward-looking, protectionist economic policies. As part of this broader shift, India began to actively seek greater integration with the global economy and forge stronger ties with other nations.

The given image refers to the Look East Policy of India, which was initiated in 1991.
The cartoon, with the phrases "EAST ASIAN NATIONS" and "WE'LL HAVE TO GET USED TO IT... COMPETITION," effectively illustrates the core significance of the Look East Policy. Prior to 1991, India's economic interactions with East Asian countries were limited. The policy was a strategic move to:

Diversify Economic Ties: Shift focus from traditional Western partners to the rapidly growing economies of Southeast and East Asia, which were emerging as global economic powerhouses.
Embrace Competition: Acknowledge the need to compete with these dynamic economies, learn from their success, and integrate into regional supply chains. The phrase "WE'LL HAVE TO GET USED TO IT... COMPETITION" directly reflects this new mindset of opening up to global market forces.
Attract Investment and Technology: Seek foreign direct investment and advanced technology from these developed and developing East Asian nations to fuel India's own economic growth.
Enhance Strategic Presence: Beyond economics, the policy also aimed to strengthen India's strategic and security presence in the Asia-Pacific region, which was becoming increasingly important in global geopolitics.

Important

The Look East Policy was a cornerstone of India's post-1991 foreign policy, signalling a fundamental shift from a protectionist to an outward-looking economic and strategic approach.

(iii) India's role in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) has evolved significantly since the inception of the Look East Policy. ASEAN, comprising ten Southeast Asian nations, is a crucial regional bloc for India's engagement with the East.

India's engagement with ASEAN can be evaluated through several key stages and areas of cooperation:

Evolution of Partnership:
- India became a Sectoral Dialogue Partner of ASEAN in 1992, marking the initial step towards formal engagement.
- This was upgraded to a Full Dialogue Partnership in 1995.
- In 2002, India became a Summit-level Partner, allowing for direct interaction between the heads of government.
- The relationship was further elevated to a Strategic Partnership in 2012, underscoring the comprehensive nature of their ties.
Economic Cooperation:
- Trade and investment have been central to the partnership. India and ASEAN signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in goods in 2009, which came into effect in 2010. A similar FTA in services and investment was signed in 2014.
- This has led to increased bilateral trade and investment flows, though there is still significant potential for growth.
Connectivity Initiatives: …

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Same / Similar Concept — real previous-year questions on the same or a closely similar concept, not this exact question.

CBSE 2020Set 59/1/11 mark
$Q. Write the full name of the political party called BKU.$
›Reveal solutionSolution
BKU stands for Bharatiya Kisan Union, a prominent farmers' organization in India.

The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) is a significant farmers' organization in India, known for its advocacy and mobilization efforts on behalf of agricultural communities. Its emergence and sustained influence reflect the ongoing challenges and political importance of the farming sector in the country.

The BKU gained considerable prominence from the late 1980s onwards, particularly in states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana. It distinguished itself by organizing large-scale protests and rallies, often employing non-violent methods to draw attention to farmers' grievances. These grievances typically revolved around issues such as:

Fair prices for agricultural produce: Demanding remunerative prices for crops to ensure farmers' profitability.

Subsidies and government support: Advocating for better subsidies on inputs like fertilizers, electricity, and irrigation.

Debt relief: Pushing for measures to alleviate the burden of agricultural debt.

Land rights and acquisition: Protecting farmers' interests in matters of land ownership and government acquisition. …
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CBSE 2020Set 59/3/11 mark
$Q. Highlight any one of the major changes introduced in the voting methods in India towards the end of 1990s.$
›Reveal solutionSolution

The most significant change in India's voting methods at the end of the 1990s was the nationwide introduction of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), replacing paper ballots to reduce fraud and speed up counting.

The story of India's voting method in the late 1990s is really the story of a quiet revolution — one that took the country from the age of the paper ballot to the age of the machine. For decades after independence, every election in India was conducted using paper ballots. Voters would mark their choice on a slip of paper and drop it into a ballot box. It was a system that worked, but it came with serious problems: ballot boxes could be stuffed with fake votes, polling agents could be intimidated, and counting votes often took days or even weeks, leaving the entire country in suspense.

By the 1990s, these problems had become too big to ignore. The Election Commission of India, under the leadership of Chief Election Commissioner T.N. Seshan and later M.S. Gill, began pushing for a technological fix. The answer was the Electronic Voting Machine, or EVM. The EVM was not a computer — it was a simple, standalone electronic device with two units: a control unit with the presiding officer and a balloting unit with buttons for each candidate. A voter would press the button next to the symbol of their chosen candidate, and the vote would be recorded electronically inside the machine.

The first major test of the EVM came in 1998, when it was used in a limited number of constituencies in three states — Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Delhi. The results were encouraging. Voting was faster, the machines were tamper-proof (or at least far harder to tamper with than ballot boxes), and the counting of votes was completed in hours instead of days. The Election Commission then moved decisively. By the 1999 general elections, EVMs were used in 46 constituencies across the country. And by the early 2000s, they had become the standard method for all elections in India.

Note

The EVM was actually invented much earlier — in the late 1970s — by a team at the Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL). But it took two decades of political and bureaucratic will to bring it into widespread use. …

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Q.Study the picture given below carefully and answer the following questions : [Words printed in the cartoon: “EAST ASIAN NATIONS”; “WE’LL HAVE TO GET USED TO IT...”; “COMPETITION”]

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