His principal forte was social and religious reform. He relied Upon legislation to do away with social ills and worked unceasingly for the eradication of child marriage, the purdah system ..... To encourage consideration of social problems on a national s

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Q: 74 (IAS/1996)
His ‘principal forte was social and religious reform. He relied Upon legislation to do away with social ills and worked unceasingly for the eradication of child marriage, the purdah system ..... To encourage consideration of social problems on a national scale, he inaugurated the Indian National Social Conference, which for many years met for its annual sessions alongside the Indian National Congress.’ The reference in this passage is to

question_subject: 

History

question_exam: 

IAS

stats: 

0,165,210,135,42,165,33

keywords: 

{'indian national social conference': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'ishwar chandra vidyasagar': [1, 1, 7, 3], 'mahadev govind ranade': [3, 2, 1, 3], 'indian national congress': [18, 3, 15, 15], 'behramji merwanji malabari': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'social ills': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'social problems': [0, 1, 0, 1], 'religious reform': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'child marriage': [1, 1, 0, 2], 'principal forte': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'legislation': [0, 0, 0, 2], 'national scale': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'eradication': [1, 1, 0, 4]}

The passage mentions the principal forte of a reformer being social and religious reform, especially through legislation, and the founding of the Indian National Social Conference.

Option 1, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, was indeed a social and education reformer but he is known primarily for his work in the field of education and his effort in widow remarriage act but not for using legislature for abolishing social ills or the formation of the Indian National Social Conference.

Option 2, Behramji Malabari, was socially active but was a noted poet and author and not mainly a social reformer. He did play a key role in initiating the Age of Consent Act 1891 but isn`t known for starting the Indian National Social Conference.

Option 3, Mahadev Govind Ranade, is the correct answer- a distinguished Indian scholar, social reformer and author who focused on tackling social ills through legislation and is famous for founding the Indian National Social Conference.

Option 4, B. R. Ambedkar, though a prominent social and political reformer whose principal work was for the upliftment of Dalits and framing the Indian constitution, did not inaugurate the Indian National Social Conference.