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Preliminary Exam CSAT January 09

1. Bastar in south Chhattisgarh is increasingly being associated with bloody violence and strife, a political conflict that throws up disturbing questions of policy priorities that this tribal region has received in the decades following India's Independence. Indeed, as it is being increasingly acknowledged, it has been the singular lack of development that has led to birth of political groups that question the framework of parliamentary democracy in this country.

Somewhere Jost in this high-intensity conflict and debate around it, is the question of Bastar's own identity. What is the area like, how do the people live and what in a sense defines it, in terms of its terrain, its natural resources, and its cultural and social patterns? What strikes one are the luxuriant forests that stretch for miles and miles from any one point. The adivasis who have inhabited the region for centuries have evolved a way of life, a culture that worships nature, preserves it for the present generation of course, but really speaking for posterity.

Perhaps it is this philosophy embedded in the region for centuries that has led Virender Singh to take on the mantle of environment protection in the region. Even as a child growing up in Durg district in a family of agricultural workers, he would revel in the bounty of nature; the joy of seeing new leaves, crops waiting to be harvested and water gushing in the streams. As he grew, he realized that this bounty is the basis for human civilization and indeed its continuance. Yet it is finite, and if we do not nurture it, it may disappear altogether. In later years, as a schoolteacher, he saw the immense potential of opening young minds to both the joy and the threat to Nature. From this realization, began his journey and over the last 13 years earned him the pseudonym of "Green Commando".

What according to the passage is / are the causes of violence and strife in Bastar?

Lack of framework for policy democracy in India

Lack of development in the area due to poor prioritization of policies.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2

General Studies

Political Science and International Relations

Sociology

Some Reference Essays

List of previous year essay topics (1997-2019)

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