1996 General Studies, all questions

UPSC Prelims 1996 · General Studies

Question 1: History and Culture

The meeting of Indian and British political leaders during 1930-32 in London has often been referred to as the First, Second and Third Round Table Conferences. It would be incorrect to refer to them as such because

athe Indian National Congress did not take part in two of them
bIndian parties other than the Indian National Congress participating in the Conference represented sectional interests and not the whole of India
cthe British Labour Party had withdrawn from the Conference, thereby making the proceedings of the Conference partisan
dit was an instance of Conference held in three sessions and not that of three separate conferences

AnswerThe answer is (d).

The meetings of 1930-32 were three sessions of a single conference on India's constitutional future, so calling them three separate conferences is incorrect. Congress attended only the second session (1931), where Gandhi represented it after the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, but who attended does not change the fact that it was one conference held in three sessions. Remember: Round Table Conference - one conference, three sessions (1930, 1931, 1932).

Why each option is right or wrong
  • (a) Congress did join only the second session, but absence of a party does not decide whether this was one conference or three.
  • (b) Parties other than Congress did speak for sectional interests, but that criticises representation, not the label 'First, Second and Third'.
  • (c) A Labour withdrawal would not explain the naming; the issue is the form of the meetings, not party politics.
  • (d) Right: it was a single conference held in three sessions, not three separate conferences.

Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 1996, General Studies. UPSC's own paper isn't online; the words are from a published compilation. The paper on upsc.gov.in.