Indian Society — Glossary

Accommodation rather than assimilation is the principle by which the Indian state preserves group diversity through power-sharing and rights, instead of forcing minorities into a single dominant identity.

Ageing refers to the rising share and absolute number of elderly persons (conventionally aged 60 and above) in a population, driven by falling fertility and increasing life expectancy.

Anchor in authority is the analytical principle that every assertion in administration, policymaking, or examination answers must be grounded in a named constitutional provision, statute, judgment, or official report rather than opinion.

The anti-Sikh riots of 1984 were organised massacres of Sikhs across India, chiefly Delhi, following Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination on 31 October 1984.

Articles 330 and 332 of the Indian Constitution reserve seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies respectively.

The Assam Accord was a 1985 memorandum of settlement ending the six-year Assam Movement, fixing 24 March 1971 as the cut-off date for detecting and deporting illegal migrants.

Ayushman Bharat is India's national health protection scheme, launched in 2018, combining wellness centres with a ₹5 lakh annual hospitalisation insurance cover for poor families.

B.S. Guha was an Indian physical anthropologist who in 1935 produced the first systematic racial classification of India's population based on anthropometric measurement.

Secretary, Ministry of Defence v. Babita Puniya (2020) is the Supreme Court judgment granting permanent commission and command appointments to women officers in the Indian Army on par with men.

The basic structure doctrine holds that Parliament's amending power under Article 368 cannot alter the Constitution's essential framework, which courts may strike down even validly enacted amendments to protect.

Census 2011 was the 15th national census of India and the seventh after Independence, enumerating a population of 1.21 billion under the Census Act, 1948.

A Census Town is a settlement that satisfies India's statutory demographic criteria for urban status but is administered as a rural unit without a municipal government.

The Communal Award was Ramsay MacDonald's 1932 British scheme granting separate electorates to India's minorities, including the Depressed Classes.

Constitutional bodies are institutions established directly by the Constitution of India, deriving their powers, composition, and functions from specific constitutional provisions.

The demographic dividend is the accelerated economic growth a country can achieve when its working-age population is larger than its dependent population.

The Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India lists the scheduled languages of the Republic, presently numbering 22, that receive official recognition.

Ethics is the branch of philosophy that systematically studies right and wrong conduct, moral duties, and the principles that ought to govern human and institutional behaviour.

The Forest Rights Act, 2006 is an Indian statute that recognises and vests individual and community forest rights in Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers.

The JAM trinity is the integration of Jan Dhan bank accounts, Aadhaar biometric identity, and Mobile connectivity to deliver welfare subsidies directly to beneficiaries.

The JVP Committee was a 1948 panel comprising Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel and Pattabhi Sitaramayya that examined and cautioned against the linguistic reorganisation of Indian states.

The Lakdawala Committee was a 1993 expert group that recommended estimating poverty using state-specific poverty lines anchored to disaggregated consumer price indices rather than a single national line.

The Mandal Commission was India's Second Backward Classes Commission (1979) whose 1980 report recommended 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes in central government jobs.

The National Commission for Backward Classes is a constitutional body under Article 338B that examines grievances and welfare safeguards of socially and educationally backward classes in India.

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes is a constitutional body under Article 338 that safeguards the rights and interests of Scheduled Castes in India.

The National Food Security Act, 2013 is an Indian statute that gives a legal right to subsidised foodgrains to roughly two-thirds of the population through the Public Distribution System.

The National Population Policy, 2000 is India's framework document committing to a stable population by 2045, with the immediate, medium-term and long-term objectives of addressing unmet contraceptive needs, reducing the Total Fertility Rate to replacement level, and achieving a stable population.

The Official Languages Act, 1963 is the Indian statute that provides for the continued use of English alongside Hindi for the official purposes of the Union and in Parliament.

Over-urbanization is a condition in which a region's level of urbanization outpaces its industrial and economic growth, producing urban populations that the urban economy cannot productively absorb.

The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana is a flagship Government of India housing mission, launched in 2015, that aims to provide affordable pucca houses with basic amenities to all eligible urban and rural households.

A political ideology is a coherent system of ideas, values, and beliefs about the proper organization of state, society, and economy that guides political action.

The Rangarajan Committee, constituted in 2012 under economist C. Rangarajan, was an expert group that revised India's official poverty estimation methodology, raising the national poverty headcount.

The Right to Information Act, 2005 is an Indian statute that empowers any citizen to seek time-bound access to information held by or under the control of public authorities.

The Sarkaria Commission was a three-member body constituted by the Government of India in 1983 to examine and recommend reforms in Centre–State relations.

The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India provides for autonomous administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram through Autonomous District and Regional Councils.

The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 reconstituted India's internal boundaries on a linguistic basis, creating 14 States and 6 Union Territories and abolishing the Part A/B/C/D classification.

The Tendulkar Committee was a 2009 expert group that revised India's official poverty-line methodology, raising the estimated poverty headcount and shifting measurement from calorie norms to a broader consumption basket.

The Twelfth Schedule of the Indian Constitution lists eighteen functional items that may be devolved to urban local bodies, added by the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992.