NCERT Solutions Exploring Society: India and Beyond Chapter 12 Understanding inclusion (Fig. 5.14) — In-text Questions

Book page 163 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.
Compare this illustration with Fig. 5.3 that illustrates equality and equity. What difference do you observe?
Answer

The fence is gone. That is the whole difference, and it is the difference between equity and inclusion.

In Fig. 5.3 the tall wooden fence stands in both panels. Equality gives the man, the boy and the small girl one identical box each — and the girl still cannot see. Equity redistributes the boxes: the man on the ground, the boy on one box, the girl on two — and now all three can see. The barrier was never touched; it was climbed over.

In Fig. 5.14 the same three people — the man, the boy in yellow, the girl in pink — stand on open grass with no boxes at all, arms raised, watching the cricket match directly. There is nothing between them and the game. And in the field itself, girls are playing alongside the boys.

INCLUSION — the fence is removed where the fence used to be no boxes — everyone can see
A schematic of Fig. 5.14. Compare it with the two panels of Fig. 5.3: there, the boxes were rearranged; here, the obstacle itself is taken away.
Why this is the deeper solution: equity treats the difference between people as the thing to be fixed — the short person needs more boxes. Inclusion treats the arrangement as the thing to be fixed — why is there a fence in front of the spectators at all? When the barrier goes, no one needs special support, no one is marked out as the person who needed help, and nobody has to keep supplying the boxes year after year. The chapter puts it in one line: inclusion “goes beyond just giving reservations; it means making sure everyone feels accepted and supported… It also means removing barriers to participation.”

Fig. 5.15 makes the same point for a playground. In the upper picture the ground is rough, stony and uneven; the boy in the wheelchair sits at the edge with his back to us, watching the others swing, slide and run. In the lower picture the ground has been levelled, the swing has a proper seat with a back, and the same boy is in the middle of the game with the ball in his hands. Nobody gave him extra equipment to cope with a bad playground — the playground was designed so that he could play. That is why the caption reads “Designing and creating facilities that are inclusive”.

Tip: a three-step ladder is the neatest way to remember this chapter — equality (same for all) → equity (support as needed) → inclusion (barrier removed).
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