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Directions (Q. 1-13) Read the following interview and answer the given questions based on that.Some words have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
A pioneering new book, Gender and Green Governance, explores a central question: if women had adequate representation in forestry institutions, would it make a difference to them their communities and forests as a national resource? Interview with the author.
Why has access to forests been such a conflict-ridden issue?
This is not surprising. Forests constitute not just community and national wealth, but global wealth. But for millions, forests are also critical for livelihoods and their daily lives. Your first book, Cold Hearths and Barren Slopes (1986), was about forests. Is there an evolution of argument here?
Yes indeed. In Cold Hearths and Barren Slopes, I had argued that social forestry, with its top-down implementation and focus on commercial species, was neither ‘social’ nor ‘forestry’, and would protect neither forests nor village livelihoods. The answer, I argued, lay in allowing forest communities to manage local forests. Finally, in 1990, India launched the joint forest management programme and Nepal also started community forestry. So, I decided to see for myself how community forestry was actually doing.
Between 1995 and 1999, I travelled extensively across India and Nepal and found a paradox. Forests were indeed becoming greener but women’s problem of firewood shortages persisted and in many cases had become more acute. Also, despite their high stakes in forests, women continued to be largely excluded from forest management. I coined the term ‘participatory exclusions’ to describe this. However, the current book is less about women’s exclusion. I ask : what if women were present in forest governance? What difference would that make?
But has this question not been raised before?
Economists researching environmental collective action have paid little attention to gender. Scholars from other disciplines focusing on gender and governance have been concerned mainly with women’s near absence from governance institutions. The presumption is that once women are present all good things will follow. But can we assume this? No, rural women’s relationship with forests is complex.
On the one hand, their everyday dependence on forests for firewood, fodder, etc., creates a strong stake in conservation. On the other, the same dependence can compel them to extract heavily from forests. As one landless woman told me: ‘Of course, it hurts me to cut a green branch but what do I do if my children are hungry? Taking an agnostic position, I decided to test varied propositions, controlling for other factors.
What did you find?
First, women’s greater presence enhances their effective voice in decision making. And there is a critical mass effect. If forest management groups have 25-33% female members in their executive committees it significantly increases the likelihood of women attending meetings, speaking up and holding office. However, the inclusion of landless women makes a particular difference. When present in sufficient numbers they are more likely to attend meetings and voice their concerns than landed women. So what matters is not just including more women, but more poor women.
Second, and unexpectedly, groups with more women typically make stricter forest use rules. Why is this the case? Mainly because they receive poorer forests from the forest department. To regenerate these, they have to sacrifice their immediate needs. Women from households with some land have some fallback. But remarkably even in groups with more landless women, although extraction is higher, they still balance self-interest with conservation goals, when placed in decision making positions.
Third, groups with more women outperform other groups in improving forest conditions, despite getting poorer forests. Involving women substantially improves protection and conflict resolution, helps the use of their knowledge of local biodiversity and raises children’s awareness about conservation.

1. What was author’s view on ‘Social Forestry Scheme’?
a) A great success
b) Beneficial for villagers
c) Neither good nor bad
d) Should have been implemented as ‘top down’
e) None of these

2. Which of the following is one of the reasons of forests being a conflict ridden issue?
a) Some countries have larger forest cover
b) There is less awareness about global warming
c) High dependence of many on forests
d) Less representation of women
e) Less representation of local women

3. The author is advocating inclusion of
a) more landless women
b) more landed women
c) more women irrespective of their financial status
d) local people
e) younger women in the age group of 25-33 years

4. Which of the following best describes ‘participatory exclusion’ as used in the interview?
a) Outside support
b) Overdependence
c) Benefitting without self interest
d) Contributing with profits
e) None of these

5. Author’s current book is more about
a) barren to greener slopes
b) local groups with more women
c) a fine balance between conservation and commercial forestry
d) top down approach to community forestry
e) women’s presence in forest governance

6. What percent of female members in the Executive Committee for Forest Management is being recommended by the author?
a) Less than 25%
b) More than 50%
c) 100%
d) About 75%
e) None of these

7. Why does author say, ‘Rural women’s relationship with forests is complex’?
a) Dependence forces them to extract and also have concern for conservation
b) If they protect forests, their livelihood is severely affected
c) Poor women have been excluded from forest management
d) They cannot be asked to restore forests which are critical for them
e) Greener forests do not meet the requirement of firewood

8. Landless women, when in decision making role
a) extract much more from forest
b) improve their own financial status
c) do not care for forest
d) are able to meet conservation objectives as well as their own interest
e) fulfill their own interest at the cost of conservation goals

9. When more women are involved, which of the following also happens?
a) They get poorer forests
b) They come to know about conservation needs
c) Children become more aware about conservation
d) They are able to devote more time to conservation
e) They get a more comprehensive understanding of local biodiversity

Directions (Q. 10-13) Choose the word/group of words which is most nearly the same in meaning of the words printed in bold.
10. Controlling
a) Holding in check
b) Increasing
c) Decreasing
d) Passing
e) Ignoring

11. Paradox
a) Similarity
b) Position
c) Anomaly
d) Difference
e) Excuse

12. Acute
a) Accurate
b) Severe
c) Dull
d) Focused
e) Refined

13. Green
a) Colour
b) Dried
c) Old
d) Live
e) Big

Directions (Q. 14-18) Which of the phrases (1), (2), (3) and (4) given below each sentence should replace the word/phrase printed in bold in the sentence to make it grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is given and no correct is required, make (5) as the answer.

14. The abduction and return of the local leader within 24 hours on Wednesday has left some lose and that have been intriguing investigators probing the case.
a) left some loosened endings
b) been leaving some loosening ends
c) leave some lose ends
d) left some loose ends
e) No correction required

15. According to the investigators, the hammer used in the crime was the one who is used by security guards to sound the hourly bell on a metal plate while on duty.
a) are those ones which
b) was the one that
c) which one
d) is ones that
e) No correction required

16. The fraud comes at a time when the unregulated microfinance industry is facing a crisis on its way of high interest rates and low repayment of loans.
a) because manner of
b) since ways are
c) by way of
d) in the way of
e) No correction required

17. Preliminary investigation revealed that the woman had committed suicide on account of her failed attempt to enter the country.
a) in place of
b) being depressed of
c) in belief of
d) reason being
e) No correction required

18. Frustrated families of the missing people have sought access to all documents and data concerning the search and the inclusion of international experts in the inquiry.
a) have sought accessing
b) in seeking access
c) are seeking accessed
d) has sought accesses
e) No correction required

Solution
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