Explore topic-wise InterviewSolutions in Current Affairs.

Kautilya is said to be the first thinker in the world, who presented a detailed and planned strategy to regulate the market. He proposed the provision for appointment of five types of officials to prevent black marketing.

Control of adulteration, controlling fraud and smuggling, etc :

• Panyadhyaksha : This official monitored price determination of commodities and their quality and kept an eye on activities of traders. 
• Shulkadhyaksha : He was responsible for collecting duty and taxes from traders, branding commodities and weighing and sale of commodities. 
• Sansthadhyaksha : He penalized adultration and prevented it, punished sale of sub-standard articles and traders who weighed less. 
• Pautavadhyaksha : His main function was to issue and check weights and measures. 
• Antapala : He monitored products coming in from abroad and going out of the state. Kautilya provided for heavy penalties for preventing adulteration. According to him, only authorized persons were permitted storage and trading of commodities. Commodities can only be sold in markets and not at the place of production.

Kautilya also made provision for protection of producers and manufacturers, that is supply. Kautilya says that if traders collude to buy or sell a certain commodity at unreasonable prices, each of them should be fined 1 thousand panas. In the event that traders indulged in speculation and profiteering to make large profits, Kautilya suggested regulation of profits. His view was that not more than 5 percent profit on domestic products and not more than 10 percent profit on the cost of imported products should be earned. Making profits higher than this was made punishable by a penalty of 200 panas.

Following are the officials who should determine the price of the commodity according to Kautilya : 

1. Panyadhyaksha 

2. Sansthadhyaksha

Kautilya has incorporated financial activities such as agriculture, animal husbandry, industry, and trade in Varta.

Correct Answer is: (a) 5%

According to Kautilya, export of arms, horses and foodgrains was forbidden.

Kautilya had fixed the limit of 5% on domestic goods and maximum 10% on foreign goods.

The four main items of public expenditure are 

1. Expenditure on religious tasks. 

2. Expenditure on the salary of officials. 

3. Expenditure on armed forces. 

4. Expenditure on road construction

The Four properties of the tax system of Kautilya are 

1. Diversity 

2. Equality 

3. Justifiability 

4. Flexibility

Correct Answer s: (a) 1/2 Portion

Following are the three types of embezzlement 

1. Not entering the income received in the register, 

2. Not writing the regular tax in the register, 

3. Refusing to acknowledge the savings

Kautilya made provisions for the appointment of five types of officials for preventing market irregularities

1. Panyadhyaksha 

2. Shulkadhyaksha 

3. Sansthadhyaksha 

4. Pautavadhyaksha 

5. Antapala.

Following are the 5 sources of state income mentioned by Kautilya : 

1. Different types of land tax, house tax in town, incidental tax, etc. 

2. Incidental income tax 

3. Taxes on intoxicants, 

4. Property tax, Forest Produce tax, Mining tax, Monopolistic tax on Salt, etc. 

5. Tax on goods sold in market, Import-Export tax.

The two other names of Acharya Kautilya are – Vishnugupt and Chanakya.

According to Kautilya, if an employee dies while working, his salary should be given to his son or wife in the form of pension. At the same time, the expenses of that employee’s elderly and sick family members should be funded financially. Financial assistance should also be given, if there is death, illness or childbirth in his family.

According to Kautilya, the state should collect tax of 1/5 part of the cost of imported goods.

Following are the plans propounded by Kautilya for the safety and welfare of workers : 

• Pension Scheme : According to Kautilya, in the event of death of the employee while performing the work, his full salary should be given to his wife / son in the form of pension. 
• Rules for leave : The casual leave arrangement was made to the labourer due to the occurrence of an incidental work or in event of adverse situation. The labourer can take leave and send another person in place of himself. 
• Over-Time : Kautilya also provided overtime in the work of embroidery, weaving.

Kautilya fixed 1/6th part of tax on imported salt from abroad.

(c) By the medium of Antapala

Kautilya has given the following types of labour Unions : 

1. Weavers Union 

2. Mining Employee’s Union 

3. Stone-Craftsmen Union 

4. Carpentry Union 

5. Priests Union 

6. Singers Union 

7. Lowly Artistes Union 

8. Buyers-sellers Union 

9. Service Unions

The above unions protect the interests of their members. Kautilya has described labour unions to be very powerful.

(c) Grants on loans

Correct Answer is: (b) Varta

The four branches of knowledge described by Kautilya are : 

1. Treyi 

2. Varta 

3. Aanveekshiki 

4. Dandniti

Correct Answer is: (c) 4

Currency creation was done only in the government mint. Any person could take his metal to the mint and get it fashioned into currency coins. There was a fixed fee for this work. The officers of the mint were named as the Lakshanadhyakshaya and Sauramik.

Kautilya has stressed on adequate financing for the state, because according to him all the functions of the king depend on the state treasury. If the funds are not sufficiently available to the king then the smooth operation of the state functions becomes also difficult to conduct. Kautilya has said while emphasizing the importance of public finance, that religion is protected only through finance, so the treasury should always be filled. His public finance system is truly linked to the concept of welfare state.

He has mentioned four objectives of the state apart from law and order and justice :

1. Acquiring the unobtained 

2. Protecting the acquired 

3. Ensuring growth of the protected and 

4. Utilizing the accumulated for the welfare of the subjects, or spending the earnings from taxes for welfare of citizens.

” Kautilya has listed the following sources of State Income :

1. Different types of land tax, house tax in town, incidental tax, etc, 

2. Tax on items sold in market, Import-Export Tax, 

3. Road Tax, Canal Tax and Tax on heavy loading vehicles, 

4. Artist Tax, Fisheries Tax, 

5. Taxes on intoxicants, 

6. Property Tax, Forest Produce Tax, Mining Tax, Monopolistic Tax on Salt, etc, 

7. Labour Tax 

8. Contingent Income Tax 

9. Interest on Loans 

10.Charitable Tax 

11.Penalties 

12.State Profits 

13.Taxes on horses, wool, elephants, fruits and trees.

The key rules for taxation in the tax system of Kautilya are as follows:

• Timely Tax collection : According to Kautilya, agricultural tax should be collected only when the crop has ripened. The King should not impose taxes at inopportune time to collect wealth. 
• Appropriate and justified Taxation : The king should not realize taxes at his whim and fancy. In adverse times, the king should request politely for heavy taxation and impose it only once. Infertile land should never be taxed heavily. 
• Taxation in accordance with capability : Taxes should be levied on all persons according to their capability. 
• Importance of Financial Discipline : Kautilya laid a lot of emphasis on financial discipline. Appointment of revenue workers should be done very thoughtfully, and it should be ensured that whatever is recovered, the entire amount of money is deposited in the state treasury.

This tax was imposed on articles being taken into or out of the state. Toll-duty was collected at toll posts. The official who collected this tax was called ‘Shulkadhyaksha’, who constructed toll-posts, and collected duty through his assistants and deposited it in the state treasury.

Kautilya divided toll-duty into three categories- external, intermediate and hospitality. Toll tax collected on articles produced within the state were called external, articles produced within the fort and in the capital city were called intermediate tax and articles coming from abroad were termed ‘hospitality.’

Kautilya clarified that if the work of embroidery is done by women labourers during festivals or holidays, then they should be paid extra wages in addition to food, pulses and goods. If the labourers get sick at the time of incidental work or have suffered adversity, they will be entitled to casual leave. They can send someone in their place to take leave.

(c) 8 Times of Theft

Correct Answer is: (a) 6^th portion

The function of Sansthadhyaksha was to control adulteration, less weighing and the sale of commodities. He had the right to punish people engaged in such activities.

He monitored products coming in from abroad and going out of the state.

Kautilya had made provision for emergency tax in the state in the time of adversity, according to him, the state could put an additional tax burden on the rich persons when the king’s exchequer is empty. The king must have sufficient exchequer because the king without funds can neither pay the staff nor work for the welfare of the society.

Kautilya had stressed on proper currency arrangements and measuring-weighing facility for business. Kautilya considered the panyadhyaksha and the sansthadhyaksha responsible for the price determination of the goods. He said that the sale of items produced in the state should be at a certain place, and the items produced in foreign countries should be sold in many places, so that the public should not have any problem in obtaining these things. It was his opinion that these items should be sold at different places at the same price by the sellers.

Kautilya gave priority to state trade. He supported organized state business in public interest. His policy was to increase import-export, but he prohibited the export of arms and ammunition, horses, grains, etc. The imports of these items were tax-free.

Kautilya was in favour to provide state security for the safety of traders on the commercial routes of the state. Kautilya also advocated control on the benefits of business. He had made such arrangements, that the consumers could get the goods at reasonable prices and traders also got the proper benefit.

To facilitate measuring and weighing, Kautilya has mentioned 16 types of scales and marking of the weights used for weighing. He recommended the appointment of Pautvadhyaksha to check the weights and measure. It is thus clear that Kautilya had made many arrangements to operate the market smoothly.

Kautilya was a staunch opposer of extravagance. He was of the opinion that the entire tax collected from the public should be deposited in full in the treasury. To stop corruption in states employees, he had suggested that correct income statement should be kept in the state, and eligible and honest persons should be appointed to carry out this work.

C. Wright Mills, an American Social Scientist tells us that Sociology does another important thing. He says that Sociology helps us in finding out the relations between private difficulties and social problems. By private difficulties Mills means personal worries, anxieties, and problems that all people have. For example, you may be dissatisfied with the treatment you get at home from your elders, brothers, and sisters.

You may be dissatisfied with the treatment you get from your friends. You may be worried about future or about the job that you are going to get. There might be anxieties and tensions that wound your self respect or your confidence. But all these are personal problems. They become meaningful and important when looked from your personal perspective. But social problems are entirely different from personal ones. They are related to big groups. They are not particular to a person.

On Indian Traditions.

Sociology studies about society. For students of Sociology, earlier knowledge about society can be an advantage or disadvantage at the same time. The advantage is that students will not be afraid of Sociology. They will not feel that Sociology is a difficult subject to study. But, at the same time, this prior information might prove a problem in the study of Sociology. That is one important disadvantage. To study Sociology we must temporarily suspend our earlier knowledge about it. In fact, in the beginning of the study of Sociology, importance is given to let the students suspend their earlier knowledge.

Sociology tells us how others are looking at us. It also teaches us to look at ourselves from outside. This is called self-reflexivity or simply reflexivity.

Social map marks the place or position of a person in the society.

The subject that studies about Society is called Sociology

C. Ret Mills

The ability to know how others look at us and the ability to look at ourselves from outside is called Reflexivity

1. Sociology is a subject in which no one starts from Zero, as everyone already knows about society. However, other subjects are taught at school, at home or elsewhere. 

2. Being an integral part of the process of growing up, knowledge about society seems to be got naturally or automatically. In case of other subjects, no child is expected to already know something. 

3. It means we know a lot about the society in which we live and interact. As far as other subjects are concerned, prior knowledge is almost negligible. 

4. However, this prior knowledge or familiarity with society is both an advantage and disadvantage for sociology. 

In the absence of prior knowledge there is no question of advantage or disadvantage in case of other subjects.

This was the period when modem period began in India and the external forces of modernization,westernization, industrialization entered.

The prominent leaders of the reform movements were Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Dayanand Saraswati, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi and others.

C. Wright Mills a famous American Sociologist has mentioned, “Sociology can help us to map the links and connections between personal troubles and social issues.” As far as personal troubles are concerned Mills means the kinds of individual worries, problems or concerns that everyone has.

1. Colonial rule unified all of Indian for the first time politically and administratively. 

2. Colonial rule brought in the forces of modernization and Capitalist economic change. 

3. However this economic, political and administrative unification of India under colonial rule was got at great expense. 

4. Colonial exploitation and domination scared the whole Indian society in different ways. 

5. Colonialism also gave birth to its own enemy—nationalism. The concept of modem Indian nationalism took shape under British Colonialism. 

6. The rampant exploitation and the shared experience of colonial domination helped unity and exercise different sections of the Indian society. It also created new classes and communities. The Urban middle classes were the prime carrier of nationalism.