Social Movements in India: Ecological, Peasant, Workers', Dalit, Women's and RTI Movements for RBI Grade B ESI

Last updated: 2026-11-11 · MockMentor

"Social Movements" is part of the Social Structure in India unit of the RBI Grade B Phase 2 Economic and Social Issues (ESI) syllabus. Many of India's laws and policies, from forest rights to the right to information and employment guarantees, came out of the pressure of social movements. This chapter explains what social movements are, why they arise, how they are classified and the major movements in India, from the Chipko movement to the campaign for the Right to Information.

In one line: social movements are organised, sustained collective efforts to bring about or resist social change, and in India they have shaped laws on the environment, land, labour, caste, gender and transparency.

Basic concepts

• Social movement: a sustained, organised effort by a group of people with a shared purpose to bring about, or resist, change in society.
• Collective action: action taken by a group to pursue common goals, which may be short-lived (a protest) or sustained (a movement).
• Old and new social movements: old social movements were mainly about class and the redistribution of resources (such as labour and peasant movements); new social movements, since the 1960s, are about identity, quality of life, rights and the environment.
• Civil society: the space of voluntary organisations, movements and groups between the family, the market and the state.
• Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO): a registered, non-profit organisation working on social issues; movements often work with or through NGOs.

Why in News?

1. The farmers' movement of 2020 to 2021 led to the repeal of the three farm laws in December 2021, and farmers' unions have continued to press for a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price.
2. The Right to Information Act completed 20 years in October 2025; activists have raised concerns about pending appeals in information commissions and about the amendment to the Act's provisions on personal information made by the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.
3. The 2026 Global Gender Gap Index and continuing campaigns for women's safety and representation have kept women's movements in the news.

Understanding social movements

Features

1. Collective action by a group with a shared identity or goal.
2. Sustained over time, unlike a one-time protest or riot.
3. Some organisation and leadership.
4. A shared ideology or set of beliefs.
5. An aim to change (or resist change in) some aspect of society, law or policy.
6. Use of methods such as protests, marches, petitions, strikes, public interest litigation and, increasingly, social media.

Causes

Classification

Social movements in India

Ecological movements

Chipko movement (1973)

The Chipko ("to hug") movement began in 1973 in Chamoli district, now in Uttarakhand, when village women and men hugged trees to stop contractors from felling them. Leaders included Chandi Prasad Bhatt, Sunderlal Bahuguna and Gaura Devi, who led the women of Reni village in 1974. The movement linked forest protection with the livelihoods of hill communities. It led to a 15-year ban on green felling in the Himalayan forests of Uttar Pradesh in 1980, and inspired the Appiko movement (1983) in Karnataka.

Narmada Bachao Andolan (1985 onwards)

Led by Medha Patkar and Baba Amte, the movement opposed large dams on the Narmada river, especially the Sardar Sarovar Project, because of the displacement of lakhs of people, mostly tribal and rural, and inadequate rehabilitation. It raised national debate on "development-induced displacement". The World Bank withdrew from the project in 1993 after an independent review. In 2000, the Supreme Court allowed construction to continue with conditions on rehabilitation. The dam was completed in 2017. The movement shaped the later Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.

Beej Bachao Andolan (1980s)

Started in the Henwal valley of Tehri Garhwal by farmers including Vijay Jardhari, it promotes the conservation of traditional seed varieties and mixed cropping (such as the "barahnaja" system of twelve crops), and opposes dependence on chemical inputs and hybrid seeds.

Other ecological movements

• Silent Valley movement (1970s to 1980s) in Kerala, which stopped a hydroelectric project in a rainforest; Silent Valley became a national park in 1984.
• Movements against the Tehri dam, against mining in Niyamgiri (Odisha), where Gram Sabhas rejected bauxite mining in 2013 using the Forest Rights Act, and for the protection of the Western Ghats and Aravallis.

Class-based movements

Peasant movements

The new farmers' movements differed from older peasant movements: they were led by landowning farmers more integrated with markets, and focused on prices and state policy rather than land ownership.

Workers' movements

India's labour movement began with textile mill workers in Bombay and Madras in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) was founded in 1920. After Independence, major unions became linked with political parties (INTUC with the Congress, CITU with the CPI(M), BMS with the RSS). Key events include the great Bombay textile strike of 1982 led by Datta Samant, which lasted over a year and led to the decline of Mumbai's mills, and nationwide general strikes against labour reforms and privatisation. Unions have opposed parts of the four labour codes, especially on lay-offs and the right to strike.

Caste-based movements

The Dalit movement

The Dalit movement fights against untouchability, caste discrimination and for dignity, equality and social justice.

The movement has shifted from demands for social reform to demands for political power, representation and economic opportunity.

Backward class movements

The Self-Respect Movement (1925) led by E.V. Ramasamy (Periyar) in Tamil Nadu challenged Brahminical dominance and caste rituals, and shaped Dravidian politics. In the north, the movement for implementation of the Mandal Commission report led to 27% OBC reservation in 1990 and the rise of OBC-led parties in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Tribal movements

From the Santhal Hul (1855) and Birsa Munda's Ulgulan (1899 to 1900) to the Jharkhand movement for a separate state (achieved in 2000) and campaigns for forest rights that led to the Forest Rights Act, 2006, tribal movements have fought for land, forests, identity and self-rule.

The women's movement

Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA)

SEWA was founded in 1972 in Ahmedabad by Ela Bhatt as a trade union of women working in the informal sector: street vendors, home-based workers, head-loaders and agricultural labourers. It combined the labour movement, the cooperative movement and the women's movement. It set up SEWA Bank (1974), one of India's first banks for poor women, and provides insurance, childcare, health care and training. SEWA is a model of organising informal women workers and of women-led microfinance.

The Right to Information movement

The RTI movement began in the early 1990s in rural Rajasthan with the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), led by Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey and Shankar Singh. Workers on government relief works found they were paid less than their records showed. The MKSS held "jan sunwais" (public hearings) where official records of spending were read out, exposing corruption. Its slogan was "Hamara Paisa, Hamara Hisaab" (our money, our accounts). The campaign spread nationally through the National Campaign for People's Right to Information, led to state RTI laws (Tamil Nadu and Goa in 1997, Rajasthan in 2000), and finally the Right to Information Act, 2005, which gives every citizen the right to seek information from public authorities within 30 days.

Other movements

• Anti-corruption movement (2011) led by Anna Hazare for a Lokpal, which contributed to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013.
• The campaign for the right to food, which led to the Supreme Court's orders on midday meals and contributed to the National Food Security Act, 2013.
• The campaign for an employment guarantee, which contributed to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005.
• LGBTQ+ rights movements, which led to the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India (2018).

Role and impact of social movements

Way forward

• Recognise peaceful dissent and protest as part of democracy, while preventing violence.
• Build institutional channels for consultation, such as public hearings and Gram Sabha consent for projects.
• Strengthen laws that came from movements, such as RTI and FRA, rather than diluting them.
• Use technology for transparency and grievance redress.

Possible exam and interview questions

1. What is a social movement? Distinguish between old and new social movements with Indian examples. (420 words)
2. Discuss the role of social movements in shaping rights-based legislation in India, with reference to the RTI and forest rights movements. (620 words)
3. Explain the significance of the Chipko movement and the Narmada Bachao Andolan for environmental policy in India.
4. How did SEWA combine the labour, cooperative and women's movements?
5. Interview: Do protests like the farmers' movement of 2020 strengthen or weaken democracy?

Related reading: social justice, gender issues, and sustainable development.

More in ESI

• National Income
• Human Development
• Poverty
• Employment
• Sustainable Development

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