Thinker
M. S. A. Rao
M. S. A. Rao is central to 26 previous-year questions, spanning 2009 to 2025 across Paper I and Paper II. Everything below is drawn from the official papers — the questions themselves, the concepts they test, and where they sit in the syllabus.
26Questions
2009–25Years tested
I & IIPaper
3Syllabus topics
Concepts asked alongside M. S. A. Rao
What the examiner actually wants you to know when this name appears.
informal sector 7over-urbanisation 7housing deprivation 4social exclusion 4urban poverty 4census towns 3collective identity 3new farmers movements 3rural push and urban pull 3social movement 3civil society and the state 2collective mobilisation 2gentrification 2repertoire of contention 2terms of trade 2urban informal sector 2urbanisation 2agrarian distress
Where M. S. A. Rao appears in the syllabus
Every question on M. S. A. Rao
Each links to a full breakdown — how to approach it, a model answer, and the examiner’s perspective.
2024
2021
2019
2018
- Are social movements primordial in means and progressive in agenda ? Explain.
- Explain the dynamics of neo-farmers' movement in contemporary India.
- How do you relate the growth of development of metropolis and its impact on the mental and social life of people in India?
- Write a note on Basic Services to Urban Poor (BSUP) and Integrated Housing and Slum Development (IHSD) programmes provided for the urban poor.
2016
2014
2013
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