Social Studies / Social Science
Social Studies candidates answer 60 marks spanning history, geography, civics and economics, plus the methodology of teaching the integrated subject.
History
Indus Valley Civilisation - Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Lothal dockyard, grid town planning; Vedic period; Mauryan administration and Ashoka's dhamma after Kalinga; Gupta period; Delhi Sultanate and Mughals; the Revolt of 1857; INC founded 1885; Gandhian movements - Non-Cooperation (1920), Civil Disobedience (1930), Quit India (1942).
Geography
Latitudes and longitudes; Indian Standard Time at 82°30′E; the monsoon system; soils - black soil for cotton; rivers and drainage; maps, scale and conventional symbols.
Civics and Economics
Fundamental Rights (Part III, Articles 12–35), Directive Principles (Part IV), Fundamental Duties (Article 51A, added by the 42nd Amendment, 1976); Parliament and judiciary; 73rd and 74th Amendments on local bodies; sectors of the economy, banking, budget, poverty.
Worked example. Which Article guarantees equality before the law? Article 14. Reasoning by theme prevents mix-ups: 14 equality before law, 15 no discrimination, 16 public employment, 17 abolition of untouchability, 19 six freedoms, 21 life and personal liberty.
Methodology
Source-based and inquiry teaching, timelines, map work, project and field methods.
Traps: confusing Part III with Part IV; forgetting that the 42nd Amendment also inserted socialist and secular into the Preamble; mixing latitude with longitude; assuming the Tropic of Cancer passes through every Indian state.