question_answer

Direction: In the following questions, you have several brie f passages with some questions following each passage. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.

Passage - V

Although cynics may like to see the government's policy for women in terms of the party's internal power struggles, it will nevertheless be churlish to deny that it represents a pioneering effort aimed at bringing about sweeping social reforms. In its language, scope and strategies, the policy document displays a degree of understanding of women's needs that is uncommon in government pronouncements. This is due in large part to the participatory process that marked its formulation, seeking the active involvement right from the start of women's groups, academic institutions and non-government organizations with grass roots experience. The result is not just a lofty declaration of principles but a blueprint for a practical programme of action. The policy delineates a series of concrete measures to accord women a decision-making role in the political domain and greater control over their economic status. Of especially far-reaching impact are the devolution of control of economic microstructure to women, notably at the gram pancnayat level, and the amendments proposed in the Hindu Succession Act of 1956 to give women coparcenary rights. An enlightened aspect of the policy is its recognition that actual change in the status of women cannot be brought about by the mere enactment of socially regressive legislation. Accordingly, it focuses on reorienting development programmes and sensitising administrations to address specific situations as, for instance, the growing number of households headed by women, which is a consequence of rural-urban migration. The proposal to create an equal-opportunity police force and give women greater control of police stations is an acknowledgment of the biases and callousness displayed by the generally all-male law-enforcement authorities in cases of dowry and domestic, violence. While the more enunciation of such a policy has the salutary effect of sensitising the administration as a whole, it does not make the task of its implementation any easier. This is because the changes it envisages in the political and economic status of women strike at the root of power structures in society and the basis of man-woman relationships. There is also the danger that reservation for women in public life, while necessary for their greater visibility, could lapse into tokenism or become a tool in the hands of vote seeking politicians. Much will depend on the dissemination of the policy and the ability of elected representatives and government agencies to reorder their priorities.

Which of the following is nearly the same in meaning as the word 'devolution' as used in the passage?

A)  relegation                     

B) succession

C) deployment                   

D) decentralization