Consider the following pairs:
| Movement/Organization | Leader | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | All India Anti-Untouchability League | Mahatma Gandhi |
| 2. | All India Kisan Sabha | Swami Sahajanand Saraswati |
| 3. | Self-Respect Movement | E. V. Ramaswami Naicker |
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3
All three pairs are correct. The Anti-Untouchability League (later the Harijan Sevak Sangh) grew out of Gandhi's 1932 fast and was guided by him; Swami Sahajanand Saraswati led the Kisan Sabha movement and became the first president of the All India Kisan Sabha formed in 1936; Periyar E. V. Ramaswami Naicker started the Self-Respect Movement in 1925.
- ✓ 1. The All-India Anti-Untouchability League, soon renamed Harijan Sevak Sangh, was founded in September 1932 after Gandhi's fast against separate electorates, to carry out his campaign against untouchability (G. D. Birla was its president).
- ✓ 2. Sahajanand Saraswati founded the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha (1929) and was the leading figure of the All India Kisan Sabha set up at the Congress's Lucknow session in 1936, becoming its first president.
- ✓ 3. E. V. Ramaswami Naicker (Periyar) started the Self-Respect Movement in 1925 against caste hierarchy and Brahmin domination.
Remember · 1925 Self-Respect Movement (Periyar); 1929 Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha and 1936 All India Kisan Sabha (Sahajanand Saraswati); 1932 Anti-Untouchability League/Harijan Sevak Sangh (Gandhi).
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Social Change and Development in India, Ch 8 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Politics in India since Independence, Ch 7 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- Gandhi Heritage Portal (Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust): Harijan Sevak Sangh, Delhi ↗ · reference work “Harijan Sevak Sangh (Servants of Untouchables Society), originally called the All-India Anti-Untouchability League, was founded on September 30 in pursuance of the resolutions of an all-India conference of the caste Hindus”
- NCERT Class 12 · Social Change and Development in India, Chapter 8 “The first organisation to be founded was the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha (1929), and in 1936 the All India Kisan Sabha.”
- PIB (June 2000): commemorative postage stamp on Swami Sahajanand Saraswati ↗ “Swamiji came to be addressed as ‘Kisan Pran’ (life of Kisans) by his Kisan Sabha followers.”
- NCERT Class 12 · Politics in India since Independence, Chapter 7 “initially a worker of the Congress party; started the self-respect movement (1925); led the anti-Brahmin movement; worked for the Justice party and later founded Dravidar Kazhagam”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·