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Home/Anthropology/Mains PYQ/2014/Paper I/Foundations of Anthropology
UPSC MainsAnthropology Optional Paper I 2014 15 Marks Model Answer Available

Role of Anthropology in Contemporary India — 2014 Paper I

Question · 2014 · Paper I · 15 Marks

Critically examine the role of anthropology in Contemporary India.

Model Answer

VAID ICS

Approach

  • Demand of Question: Examine the relevance of anthropology in understanding and addressing major social, cultural, biological and developmental issues in contemporary India.
  • Structuring the Response: Present its contributions in major applied fields and then critically assess limitations in translating anthropological knowledge into policy.
  • Key Dimensions to Cover: Tribal development, public health, social change, identity, displacement, forensic anthropology, policy planning and applied anthropology.

Model Answer

Introduction: Anthropology remains highly relevant in contemporary India because of the country’s extraordinary cultural diversity, tribal population, social inequalities, biological variation and rapid development-induced change. Its holistic and field-based approach connects culture, society, biology and environment.

Major roles

  1. Tribal development: Anthropology helps understand tribal:
  • land and forest relations;
  • customary institutions;
  • livelihood systems;
  • cultural identity.

It contributes to culturally sensitive implementation of PESA, Forest Rights Act and rehabilitation programmes.

  1. Development planning: Ethnographic knowledge assists in:
  • Social Impact Assessment;
  • displacement studies;
  • rehabilitation;
  • participatory planning.

Thus:

Field understanding → Appropriate intervention → Better development outcomes

  1. Public health: Medical anthropology studies indigenous concepts of illness, healthcare behaviour, nutrition and interaction between traditional and biomedical systems.
  2. Social change: Anthropology helps analyse contemporary changes in:
  • caste;
  • family;
  • marriage;
  • migration;
  • urbanization;
  • gender relations.
  1. Identity and ethnic conflict: It contributes to understanding ethnicity, tribal assertion, regionalism and cultural pluralism.
  2. Biological anthropology: Applications include:
  • human genetics;
  • growth and nutrition;
  • epidemiology;
  • forensic identification;
  • sports anthropology.
  1. Preservation of cultural heritage: Anthropologists document endangered:
  • languages;
  • oral traditions;
  • indigenous knowledge;
  • material culture.

Critical assessment

Anthropology’s contribution is sometimes limited by:

  • excessive micro-level focus;
  • weak translation of research into policy;
  • bureaucratic neglect of field findings;
  • occasional romanticization of communities.

Contemporary anthropology must also engage more closely with political economy, technology and climate change.

Conclusion

Anthropology’s contemporary relevance lies in its ability to combine fieldwork, cultural sensitivity and biological understanding. In a diverse and rapidly transforming society like India, it is particularly valuable for making development participatory, inclusive and context-specific.

2026 Contribution of L. K. Ananthakrishna Iyer in Anthropology. 2026 Assess the contribution of colonial scholars in studying the tribal populations of North-East India. 2025 Highlight the significant contributions of B. S. Guha, Irawati Karve and S. R. K. Chopra to Indian Anthropology. 2025 Anthropology provides a multidimensional understanding of human beings by bridging the gap between science and humanities. Elucidate.

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UPSC Anthropology Optional 2014 — Paper I

28 questions

5(d) Asian Homo erectus

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.6 Phylogenetic status, characteristics and distribution > Homo erectus in Asia
2014Paper IHuman Evolution & PrimatologyModel answer available

1(a) Double Descent

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 2.5 Kinship > Descent > Double descent
2014Paper IKinshipModel answer available

1(d) Ecological Anthropology

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 9.7 Concepts and methods of Ecological Anthropology > Bio-cultural adaptations
2014Paper IHuman Genetics & Human BiologyModel answer available

5(c) Epidemiological Anthropology

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 9.8 Epidemiological Anthropology > Health and disease
2014Paper IHuman Genetics & Human BiologyModel answer available

5(e) Fertility and Fecundity

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 11.3 Biological and socio-ecological factors influencing fecundity, fertility, natality and mortality
2014Paper IHuman Genetics & Human BiologyModel answer available

1(b) Genealogical Method

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 8.3 Research Methods: Tools of data collection > Genealogy
2014Paper IResearch Methods in AnthropologyModel answer available

5(b) Genetic Counselling

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 9.4(d) Genetic screening, genetic counselling and human DNA profiling
2014Paper IHuman Genetics & Human BiologyModel answer available