In the context of the diversity of India, can it be said that the regions form cultural units rather than the States ? Give reasons with examples for your viewpoint.
Approach · directive: “can it be said”
What it asks · Take a position on whether cultural regions cross-cut State boundaries, using examples where regions and States match and where they do not.
The question has 2 parts — answer each
- Take a position: whether cultural regions rather than States form India's cultural units
- Give reasons with examples where regions cross State lines and where States coincide with cultural units
Open with · India's States were drawn largely on linguistic lines after 1956, yet culture, cuisine, art forms and dialects often flow across State borders.
Cover
- Regions cross States: Braj spans Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana; Mithila lies in Bihar and beyond; Bundelkhand is split between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
- Shared cultures: Konkan cuisine, art and dialect stretch across Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka; Malwa, Marwar and Bhojpur similarly ignore administrative lines.
- Tribal belts: Gond, Bhil and Santhal cultures lie across several States, with the Fifth and Sixth Schedule areas following tribal geography rather than State limits.
- Where States do form units: Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Odisha are fairly coherent language-and-culture regions, so States are cultural units there.
- Sub-State identity: demands for Telangana, Vidarbha and Gorkhaland arise because regional identity inside a State feels distinct.
- Composite culture: sub-regional and State identities together form layers, and India's federal design accommodates both.
Close with · Cultural regions are often finer or wider than States, so both are useful units of analysis; a rigid choice between the two misreads India's layered diversity.
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2017, GS Paper I — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 193 words (UPSC limit 150) · Minimalist IAS
India's States were drawn largely on linguistic lines after 1956, yet culture, dialect, cuisine and art forms often flow across those boundaries, so cultural regions and States coincide only in part.
Where regions, not States, are the units
- Historic regions straddle borders: Braj spans Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana; Mithila lies in Bihar and beyond; Bundelkhand is divided between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
- Shared coastal and plateau cultures: Konkan cuisine, art and dialect run through Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka; Malwa, Marwar and Bhojpur likewise ignore administrative lines.
- Tribal belts: Gond, Bhil and Santhal cultures spread over several States, and the Fifth and Sixth Schedule areas follow tribal geography rather than State limits.
- Sub-State identity: demands for Telangana, Vidarbha and Gorkhaland show that a region inside a State can feel culturally distinct from the rest of it.
Where States are the units
- Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Odisha are fairly coherent language-and-culture regions, so there the State itself is the cultural unit.
Cultural regions are usually finer or wider than States, so the view is broadly valid; but India's layered diversity is best read through both region and State rather than one alone.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.