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Class 10 Civics: Gender, Religion and Caste, 8 practice questions with answers

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These are 8 practice questions on Chapter 3, Gender, Religion and Caste, of the NCERT Class 10 Political Science textbook, Democratic Politics II. Each has a worked answer and the textbook page it comes from. Five of them work with the chapter's own tables and charts: the time-use survey, women in parliaments, the child sex ratio, the census figures on religion and caste, and poverty by caste group. The other three ask you to sort situations into secular or communal, spot how politics changes caste, and judge three assertion-and-reason pairs. Try each one on paper before you open the answer.

These questions are our own, drafted with AI help. Every fact was checked against the textbook page it cites, but no practising teacher has reviewed them yet. If you find a mistake, please tell us.

How this chapter is examined

In CBSE's Social Science paper for 2026-27, Political Science carries 20 of the 80 marks, shared by five chapters, this one among them (curriculum, page 2). CBSE gives no separate figure for this chapter, and it has no map item. The curriculum's learning outcomes for it are to examine the role of gender, religion and caste in democracy, and to analyse whether their different expressions are healthy or not (page 5). The paper has 1-mark multiple-choice questions (including assertion and reason), 2, 3 and 5-mark answers, and 4-mark case studies (page 10).

What the chapter says you need

Facts from the NCERT textbook (Democratic Politics II, Class X, Chapter 3, printed pages 29 to 45):

The time-use table

Question 1. The chapter's table from the 1998-99 Time Use Survey gives daily hours. Men: income-generating work 6:00, household work 0:30. Women: income-generating work 2:40, household work 5:00. (a) Add up each person's total daily work. Who works longer, and by how much? (b) What share of each one's work is household work, roughly? (c) Use your answers to explain why the chapter calls much of women's work "invisible".

Answer: (a) men 6 hours 30 minutes, women 7 hours 40 minutes: women work 1 hour 10 minutes more; (b) about 65 per cent of women's work, about 8 per cent of men's; (c) most of women's work is household work, which earns no income and so is not counted. (a) 6:00 + 0:30 = 6:30 and 2:40 + 5:00 = 7:40 (table, page 32), matching the survey's "a little over seven and half hours" against "six and a half hours". (The text on page 33 rounds the gap to one hour.) (b) 5:00 out of 7:40 is 300 of 460 minutes, about 65 per cent; 0:30 out of 6:30 is 30 of 390 minutes, about 8 per cent. (c) Men's work mostly earns an income, so it is seen; the bulk of women's work is household work that is unpaid and therefore not valued (pages 32 to 33).

Women in parliaments

Question 2. The chapter's graph shows women's share of seats in national parliaments in October 2018: India 11.8 per cent, the world average 24 per cent, the Nordic countries 42.3 per cent. (a) Is India's share more or less than half the world average? (b) About how many times India's share is the Nordic share? (c) The Lok Sabha reached 14.36 per cent women in 2019. How many percentage points below the 33 per cent in the 2023 Act was that?

Answer: (a) less than half: half of 24 is 12, and India had 11.8; (b) about 3.6 times; (c) 18.64 points. (a) and (b) The graph is on page 34: 42.3 ÷ 11.8 is about 3.6. (c) 33 − 14.36 = 18.64 (Lok Sabha figure, page 34; the Act's 33 per cent, page 35). (The calculations are our own; the chapter adds that cabinets stay largely all-male even when a woman is Chief Minister or Prime Minister, page 35.)

The child sex ratio

Question 3. The child sex ratio is the number of girl children per thousand boys. India's fell to 919, and in some States below 850 or even 800. (a) Roughly how many girls were there for every 100 boys at 919? (b) A State at 850 has how many fewer girls per thousand boys than the national figure? And a State at 800? (c) What practice does the chapter say led to this decline?

Answer: (a) about 92; (b) 69 fewer at 850, 119 fewer at 800; (c) sex-selective abortion, because many parents prefer sons. (a) 919 per 1,000 is 91.9 per 100. (b) 919 − 850 = 69 and 919 − 800 = 119. (c) In many parts of India, parents who prefer sons find ways to have girls aborted before birth (pages 33 to 34). (The sums are our own.)

What the census says

Question 4. Use the chapter's 2011 census figures. (a) The pie chart gives Hindus 79.8, Muslims 14.2, Christians 2.3, Sikhs 1.7 and others 2 per cent. Check that these add up to 100, and say what "others" includes. (b) Scheduled Castes were 16.6 per cent and Scheduled Tribes 8.6 per cent; the National Sample Survey of 2004-05 put Other Backward Classes at about 41 per cent. Does the chapter's "about two-thirds" for the three together hold? (c) Expert estimates say the Muslim share may grow a little, roughly 3 to 4 per cent, over the next 50 years. What would that make it, and what does the chapter conclude?

Answer: (a) yes, 100; "others" is Buddhists 0.7, Jains 0.4, other religions and persuasions 0.7 and religion not stated 0.2; (b) yes, about 66 per cent; (c) about 17 to 18 per cent: the overall balance between religious communities should stay much the same. (a) 79.8 + 14.2 + 2.3 + 1.7 + 2 = 100, and the four small groups add up to 2.0 (pie chart, page 39). (b) 16.6 + 8.6 + 41 = 66.2, about two-thirds (page 39). (c) 14.2 + 3 to 4 gives about 17 to 18 per cent. The chapter calls the idea that the Muslim share will overtake other communities "common but mistaken" (page 39).

Poverty and caste

Question 5. The chapter's table gives the percentage of people below the poverty line in 1999-2000. Rural: Scheduled Tribes 45.8, Scheduled Castes 35.9, Other Backward Classes 27.0, Hindu upper castes 11.7, all groups 27.0. Urban: Scheduled Tribes 35.6, Scheduled Castes 38.3, Other Backward Classes 29.5, Muslim upper castes 34.2, Hindu upper castes 9.9, all groups 23.4. (a) In rural areas, about how many times the Hindu upper-caste rate is the Scheduled Tribe rate? (b) Which of the urban groups listed here are above the urban average? (c) What three patterns does the chapter draw from this kind of evidence?

Answer: (a) about four times; (b) Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Other Backward Classes and Muslim upper castes; (c) average economic status still follows the old caste order, the share in extreme poverty is far higher for the lowest castes, and upper castes are over-represented among the rich. (a) 45.8 ÷ 11.7 is about 3.9 (table, page 41). (b) 35.6, 38.3, 29.5 and 34.2 are all above 23.4; Hindu upper castes, at 9.9, are below it (page 41). (c) From the National Sample Survey evidence: 'upper' castes are best off and Dalits and Adivasis worst off, with backward classes in between; extreme poverty is much more common among the lowest castes; and the rich come disproportionately from the upper castes (page 41).

Secular or communal?

Question 6. For each situation, say whether it fits India's secular Constitution or is communal politics, and give the chapter's reason.

  1. A party asks voters of one religion to vote together against "the others", using religious symbols and fear.
  2. The state bans untouchability, even where it is practised inside a religious community.
  3. A women's group asks the government to change the family laws of every religion that treat women unfairly.
  4. A leader says politics should follow the moral values that all religions share.

Answer: 1 communal; 2 secular; 3 not communal; 4 not communal. (1) Using sacred symbols, emotional appeals and fear to bring one religion's followers together in politics is political mobilisation on religious lines, a form of communalism (page 37). (2) The Constitution lets the state intervene in religious matters to ensure equality within communities; banning untouchability is the chapter's example (page 38). (3) The chapter gives this as an example: women's groups say every religion's family laws are unfair to women and want them made fairer; such a demand treats every religion alike, so it is not communal (page 36). (4) This was Gandhiji's view: by religion he meant the moral values behind all religions, and the chapter says ideals drawn from religion can play a part in politics as long as every religion is treated equally (page 36).

How politics changes caste

Question 7. The chapter says that it is not politics that becomes caste-ridden, but caste that gets politicised. Match each development to one of the ways the chapter describes, and then give one good and one harmful effect of caste in politics.

  1. A caste group starts counting as its own several sub-castes it once kept out.
  2. Two caste groups form an alliance and bargain over who gets which seats.
  3. Groups start calling themselves "backward" or "forward" in politics.

Answer: 1 a caste group growing by taking in neighbouring castes or sub-castes; 2 caste groups entering into coalitions and negotiation with others; 3 new kinds of caste groups appearing in politics. Good: disadvantaged groups, such as Dalits and OBCs, gained space to demand a share of power and better access to decision making. Harmful: politics based on caste alone can divert attention from poverty, development and corruption, and can lead to tension and violence. All three ways are on page 43, and so are the good and harmful effects. (The three developments are our own examples.)

Assertion and reason

Question 8. For each pair, choose: (A) both true, and R explains A; (B) both true, but R does not explain A; (C) A true, R false; (D) A false, R true.

  1. A: Most tailors and cooks in hotels are men. R: Men are willing to do such work when it is paid.
  2. A: Since the Equal Remuneration Act of 1976, women in India are paid the same as men for the same work. R: The Act provides that equal work should get equal wages.
  3. A: In cities, it hardly matters today who is walking next to you or eating at the next table. R: Most Indians now marry outside their own caste or tribe.

Answer: 1 (A); 2 (D); 3 (C). (1) Both are true, and the chapter gives R as the reason: men think housework is for women, but take up these jobs when they are paid (page 30). (2) A is false: in almost every field women are still paid less than men for exactly the same work. R is true (page 33). (3) A is true (page 40), but R is false: the chapter says most people still marry within their own caste or tribe (page 40).

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Sources

All opened and read on 3 November 2026. Page numbers are the printed page numbers of the textbook.

The facts, figures and tables are from the textbook pages above. The questions, worked answers, the sums and the examples marked as ours are our own. This guide is general information; follow your teacher and the official CBSE notices.

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