UPSC Prelims 2014 · Question 19 of 100
UPSC Prelims 2014 question on Changpa Community
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2014
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectGeography
- TopicHuman and Economic Geography
- DifficultyHard
- TypeStatement
With reference to 'Changpa' community of India, consider the following statements:
1. They live mainly in the State of Uttarakhand.
2. They rear the Pashmina goats that yield a fine wool.
3. They are kept in the category of Scheduled Tribes.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Show answer
Answer: B. 2 and 3 only
Verdict
The answer is 2 and 3 only. The Changpa rear Pashmina goats and are a Scheduled Tribe, but they live in Ladakh, not Uttarakhand.
Analysis
Statement 1 is INCORRECT. The Changpa are nomadic pastoralists of the Changthang plateau in the Ladakh region, at that time part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Statement 2 is CORRECT. They herd the Changthangi goat that yields the fine undercoat from which Pashmina is made, and the wool is famously fine enough that a shawl can be drawn through a ring. Statement 3 is CORRECT. The community is classified among the Scheduled Tribes.
Source
Press Information Bureau release on the Jammu and Kashmir Republic Day tableau, which showcased the Gujjar Bakkarwal, the Gaddi and the Changpa.
How to crack it
The location statement is the one that decides this question, and location is exactly what a news hook fixes. The Republic Day tableau story tied Changpa to Ladakh explicitly. When you meet a pastoral community in the paper, log the triplet of community, plateau or range, and product, because UPSC builds its wrong statement by swapping the state. Pashmina to Changthang to Ladakh is the chain worth holding here.