Salient Features of Indian Society — Pluralism, Caste, Kinship, Panchayat

What should you study in Salient Features of Indian Society?

• Plural composition — caste, language, religion, ethnicity
• Socialization institutions — family, school, media, religion
• Tradition vs modernity — continuity & change in Indian families
• Processes — Sanskritisation, Westernisation, Secularisation (M.N. Srinivas)

How often is Salient Features of Indian Society asked in UPSC Mains?

Asked in 5 of 10 years, including 2 of the last 5. Highlighted years below are the ones it appeared in.

1. 2016: asked
2. 2017: not asked
3. 2018: asked
4. 2019: not asked
5. 2020: asked
6. 2021: not asked
7. 2022: asked
8. 2023: not asked
9. 2024: asked
10. 2025: not asked

About the Mains GS Paper I paper

GS Paper I is a 250-mark descriptive Mains paper covering Indian heritage and culture, history and geography of the world, and society. See all 41 Mains GS Paper I topics.

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