समस्या, नीति, और प्रस्ताव
Chapter Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- Describe an institutional or community problem, including its causes, stakeholders, constraints, and consequences.
- Compare two or more possible solutions and justify a recommendation.
- Use passive-like and impersonal constructions such as किया गया, माना जाता है, and लागू किया जा सकता है to foreground process rather than agent.
- Use recommendation frames such as चाहिए, ज़रूरी है, उचित होगा, and बेहतर होगा.
- Discuss risk, benefit, cost, and feasibility in cautious, professional Hindi.
- Distinguish respectful critique of a process from personal accusation.
- Write a structured proposal or recommendation memo in Hindi.
Communication Scenario
Two weeks after the program review meeting, Priya's revised mid-year plan surfaces a bigger issue: the two schools that started late did so because of a recurring transportation problem for volunteer trainers reaching rural sites. Ms. Ahuja asks Priya to prepare a short problem-solution memo before the next meeting, comparing two options — hiring a shared van service, or shifting some training online — and recommending one. Priya has to describe the problem without blaming any one person, weigh costs and risks for each option, and write a memo that Ms. Ahuja can circulate to the board using calm, impersonal institutional language.
- Notice how the problem is described in terms of process and constraint (देरी हुई, पहुँचना मुश्किल होता है) rather than naming who is at fault.
- Notice how each option's cost, benefit, and risk is presented in parallel, so the two options can be compared fairly.
- Notice how the final recommendation uses बेहतर होगा and सुझाव है कि rather than a blunt command.
- Notice how the written memo separates background, analysis, and recommendation into clearly labeled sections.
Where This Chapter Fits
Chapter 4 completes Unit I, पेशेवर संवाद और संस्थागत भाषा. It takes the meeting, decision, and responsibility language from Chapter 3 and applies it to a fuller task: describing a problem in depth, weighing options, and writing a structured recommendation.
Coming Into This Chapter
Learners bring Chapter 3's reported-decision frames (यह तय हुआ कि), hedging vocabulary (शायद, संभव है, हालाँकि), and responsibility frames (के जिम्मे, द्वारा, तक), along with Chapter 2's professional postpositional frames.
What This Chapter Does
This chapter introduces passive-like and impersonal constructions, recommendation frames, and cause-consequence-feasibility clauses, and combines them into a structured problem-solution memo.
Looking Forward
Chapter 5 reviews all of Unit I. Unit II then moves from institutional problem-solving into academic-adjacent reading, where these same impersonal and evidence-framing patterns reappear in source-based writing.
Core Vocabulary
This chapter's productive vocabulary supports describing a problem, comparing options, and recommending a solution.
4.1 Problem, Cause, and Constraint
| Hindi | Meaning | Example Use |
|---|---|---|
| समस्या | problem | समस्या यह है कि प्रशिक्षक समय पर नहीं पहुँच पाते। |
| कारण | cause, reason | इसका मुख्य कारण परिवहन की कमी है। |
| बाधा | constraint, obstacle | बजट एक बड़ी बाधा है। |
| हितधारक | stakeholder | इस निर्णय में कई हितधारक शामिल हैं। |
| प्रभाव | impact, effect | इस देरी का प्रभाव पूरे कार्यक्रम पर पड़ता है। |
| परिणाम | consequence, result | इसका परिणाम यह हुआ कि प्रशिक्षण में देरी हुई। |
| जोखिम | risk | इस विकल्प में थोड़ा जोखिम है। |
| लागत | cost | वैन सेवा की लागत ज़्यादा है। |
| लाभ | benefit | इसका सबसे बड़ा लाभ समय की बचत है। |
| व्यवहार्यता | feasibility | इस विकल्प की व्यवहार्यता जाँचनी होगी। |
4.2 Policy, Proposal, and Recommendation
| Hindi | Meaning | Example Use |
|---|---|---|
| नीति | policy | संस्था की नीति में यह स्पष्ट नहीं है। |
| समाधान | solution | एक संभावित समाधान यह है कि... |
| विकल्प | option, alternative | हमारे पास दो विकल्प हैं। |
| कार्यान्वयन | implementation | इसका कार्यान्वयन अगले महीने से शुरू हो सकता है। |
| सिफ़ारिश | recommendation | मेरी सिफ़ारिश है कि हम वैन सेवा चुनें। |
| तुलना | comparison | दोनों विकल्पों की तुलना ज़रूरी है। |
| मूल्यांकन | evaluation | हर विकल्प का मूल्यांकन लागत और जोखिम के आधार पर होगा। |
| दीर्घकालिक | long-term | यह एक दीर्घकालिक समाधान लगता है। |
4.3 Formal Proposal Formulas (Formulaic)
| Hindi | Function | First Active In |
|---|---|---|
| समस्या यह है कि | naming the core problem | New in Volume IV |
| इसका मुख्य कारण | naming the main cause | New in Volume IV |
| एक संभावित समाधान | introducing a possible solution | New in Volume IV |
| इस नीति का प्रभाव | discussing a policy's impact | New in Volume IV |
| मेरी सिफ़ारिश है कि | stating a recommendation | New in Volume IV |
| इसे लागू किया जा सकता है | noting that something can be implemented | New in Volume IV |
Notice that समस्या, कारण, and परिणाम naturally chain together in a single explanation: a problem has a cause, and a cause has a consequence. Practicing this chain (समस्या...इसका कारण...इसका परिणाम) will make your problem descriptions sound organized rather than list-like.
Pronunciation and Listening Focus
व्यवहार्यता (vyavahāryatā) and कार्यान्वयन (kāryānvayan) are both long formal compounds with internal schwa deletion. Break each into its component parts (व्यवहार + या + ता; कार्य + अन्वयन) before reading it aloud in a full sentence.
A sentence like इस समस्या का मुख्य कारण यह है कि प्रशिक्षकों के लिए ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों तक पहुँचना मुश्किल होता है should be broken into three breath groups rather than read as one long string: the cause statement, the कि-clause opening, and the difficulty itself.
When comparing two options, Hindi speakers often use a flatter, more even pitch for each option in turn, reserving pitch emphasis for the recommendation itself. Practice saying both options at a similar, level pace, then let your pitch rise slightly on बेहतर होगा or मेरी सिफ़ारिश है कि.
A proposal discussion typically moves through four signal types in order: a problem statement (समस्या यह है कि), a cause (इसका कारण), one or more options (एक विकल्प यह है कि), and a recommendation (सिफ़ारिश है कि). Train your ear to track which of the four you are hearing at each moment.
Grammar and Language Systems
This chapter introduces passive-like and impersonal constructions in controlled productive use, recommendation frames, and cause-consequence-feasibility clauses. All three build on Chapter 3's impersonal meeting-summary style.
4.4 Passive-Like and Impersonal Constructions
Chapter 3 introduced one impersonal pattern for reporting group decisions (यह तय हुआ कि). This chapter widens that pattern into a fuller set of passive-like and impersonal forms used to describe processes, beliefs, and possibilities without naming an agent:
Compare an active sentence naming an agent (प्रिया ने बजट की समीक्षा की, "Priya reviewed the budget") with an agent-backgrounded version (बजट की समीक्षा की गई, "The budget was reviewed"). The second version is common in reports and proposals when the process matters more than who specifically performed it, or when naming an individual would seem to assign blame or excessive credit.
माना जाता है कि ("it is assumed/believed that") introduces a widely held view without attributing it to one speaker: माना जाता है कि ऑनलाइन प्रशिक्षण लागत कम करता है ("It is generally believed that online training reduces cost"). लागू किया जा सकता है ("can be implemented") describes feasibility without naming who would carry it out: यह योजना अगले महीने से लागू की जा सकती है.
4.5 Recommendation Frames
Four frames express a recommendation with different degrees of force:
| Frame | Force | Example |
|---|---|---|
| चाहिए | should — direct but not blunt | हमें वैन सेवा पर विचार करना चाहिए। |
| ज़रूरी है | necessary — stronger, process-focused | इस समस्या का समाधान ढूँढना ज़रूरी है। |
| उचित होगा | it would be appropriate — softer, formal | दोनों विकल्पों की लागत की तुलना करना उचित होगा। |
| बेहतर होगा | it would be better — comparative, softer | बेहतर होगा कि हम पहले एक महीने का परीक्षण करें। |
Notice the force scale: ज़रूरी है is the strongest, framing an action as necessary rather than merely preferable; उचित होगा and बेहतर होगा are softer and more common in written proposals addressed to a board or committee, since they present a recommendation as reasonable judgment rather than an order.
4.6 Cause, Consequence, and Feasibility Clauses
Problem descriptions link cause and consequence, then evaluate feasibility:
This four-part chain — problem, cause, consequence, feasible solution — organizes a professional problem description far more clearly than a single long sentence attempting to state everything at once.
This chapter introduces passive-like and impersonal constructions only in the controlled patterns shown above (agent-backgrounded past participles, माना जाता है कि, लागू किया जा सकता है). It does not introduce a full passive paradigm across all tenses, causatives, or advanced agentless constructions — those remain for later volumes. Everything else in this chapter recycles Chapter 3's reported-decision and hedging systems.
Model Dialogue
Setting: Priya's office, two days before the next program review meeting. Priya and Neha are drafting the problem-solution memo together before Priya presents it to Ms. Ahuja.
समझ के प्रश्न — Comprehension questions:
- समस्या क्या है, और इसका मुख्य कारण क्या बताया गया? (What is the problem, and what main cause was given?)
- दोनों विकल्पों के लाभ और जोखिम क्या हैं? (What are the benefits and risks of both options?)
- प्रिया की अंतिम सिफ़ारिश क्या है? (What is Priya's final recommendation?)
Listening Practice
Ask your instructor, a study partner, or a fluent Hindi speaker to read the passage below aloud at a natural pace. If no speaker is available, this is a Listening Script for Independent Use: read it slowly first for meaning, then again at a natural pace. Any spoken model should be verified by a fluent Hindi speaker before being treated as a pronunciation standard.
"संस्था के सामने एक और समस्या है — कर्मचारियों की संख्या पिछले साल से नहीं बढ़ी है, जबकि कार्यक्रम का दायरा दोगुना हो गया है। इसका मुख्य कारण बजट की सीमा है। इसका परिणाम यह हुआ है कि कुछ कर्मचारियों पर काम का बोझ बहुत ज़्यादा बढ़ गया है। इस समस्या के दो संभावित समाधान हैं। पहला — दो नए अंशकालिक कर्मचारी रखे जाएँ, जिसकी लागत तो है, लेकिन इससे काम का बोझ तुरंत कम होगा। दूसरा — कुछ काम स्वयंसेवकों को सौंपा जाए, जिसकी लागत कम है, लेकिन इसके लिए अतिरिक्त प्रशिक्षण की ज़रूरत होगी। मेरी सिफ़ारिश है कि पहले विकल्प को छह महीने के लिए आज़माया जाए, क्योंकि यह अधिक भरोसेमंद लगता है।"
सुनने का काम — Listening task:
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| समस्या क्या है, और इसका कारण क्या है? (What is the problem, and what is its cause?) | ______ |
| दोनों विकल्पों में क्या अंतर है? (What is the difference between the two options?) | ______ |
| वक्ता की सिफ़ारिश क्या है, और क्यों? (What is the speaker's recommendation, and why?) | ______ |
Reading Practice
Read the recommendation memo that Priya and Neha prepared for Ms. Ahuja, then answer the questions.
प्रति: आहूजा जी और कार्यक्रम समिति
से: प्रिया और नेहा
पृष्ठभूमि: समस्या यह है कि प्रशिक्षकों के लिए ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों के स्कूलों तक समय पर पहुँचना मुश्किल होता है। इसका मुख्य कारण उपलब्ध परिवहन की कमी है। इसका परिणाम यह हुआ कि दो स्कूलों में प्रशिक्षण की शुरुआत में तीन हफ़्ते की देरी हुई।
विकल्प 1 — साझा वैन सेवा: लाभ — प्रशिक्षक व्यक्तिगत रूप से पढ़ा सकते हैं। जोखिम/लागत — लागत ज़्यादा है, बजट की मंज़ूरी में समय लग सकता है।
विकल्प 2 — आंशिक ऑनलाइन प्रशिक्षण: लाभ — माना जाता है कि यह लागत काफ़ी कम करता है, और इसे जल्दी लागू किया जा सकता है। जोखिम — कुछ स्कूलों में इंटरनेट कनेक्शन भरोसेमंद नहीं है।
सिफ़ारिश: बेहतर होगा कि दोनों विकल्पों को मिलाया जाए — जिन स्कूलों में इंटरनेट भरोसेमंद है, वहाँ ऑनलाइन सत्र चलाए जाएँ, और शेष स्कूलों के लिए वैन सेवा का एक महीने का परीक्षण किया जाए। ज़रूरी है कि परीक्षण के बाद परिणामों की समीक्षा की जाए।
समझ के प्रश्न — Comprehension questions:
- Identify the memo's three sections and summarize what each contains.
- Find one passive-like construction (किया गया, माना जाता है, or similar) in the memo and explain what it foregrounds instead of the agent.
- Compare the recommendation frame used here (बेहतर होगा) with a stronger frame (ज़रूरी है) used later in the same memo. Why might the writers use a softer frame for the main recommendation and a stronger one for the follow-up review?
- Rewrite the background section as two full spoken sentences, beginning with समस्या यह है कि... and इसका परिणाम यह हुआ कि...
Writing Workshop
Complete all parts in standard Devanagari.
लेखन कार्य — Writing task:
- Describe an institutional or community problem (3-4 sentences) using the problem-cause-consequence chain (समस्या यह है कि...इसका कारण...इसका परिणाम यह हुआ कि...).
- Present two options for solving it, giving at least one benefit and one risk or cost for each, using parallel structure.
- Use at least one passive-like or impersonal construction (किया गया, माना जाता है कि, or लागू किया जा सकता है).
- Write a final recommendation using at least two different recommendation frames (चाहिए, ज़रूरी है, उचित होगा, बेहतर होगा).
- Organize the memo with clear labeled sections: background, options, recommendation.
संपादन सूची — Editing checklist:
- The problem-cause-consequence chain is complete and does not assign personal blame.
- Both options are presented in parallel, each with a benefit and a risk or cost.
- At least one passive-like or impersonal construction is used accurately.
- The recommendation uses an appropriately softened frame, not a blunt command.
- Gender, number, agreement, oblique forms, postpositions, and `ने`/`को` patterns are applied correctly throughout.
- Spelling, matras, conjuncts, word spacing, and punctuation are correct throughout.
Speaking Practice
नियंत्रित अभ्यास — Controlled practice: कारण और परिणाम — Cause and Consequence
With a partner, take turns describing a small everyday problem (a scheduling conflict, a slow process, a recurring inconvenience) using the chain समस्या यह है कि...इसका कारण...इसका परिणाम यह हुआ कि...
संचार कार्य — Communicative task: प्रस्ताव प्रस्तुति — Proposal Presentation
In a small group, present a short institutional problem and two possible solutions, comparing benefit, risk, and cost for each, and ending with a recommendation using a softened frame. The group should ask at least one clarifying question before responding to the recommendation.
अकेले अभ्यास — Solo alternative
Record yourself presenting a problem and two options aloud, including at least one passive-like construction and one recommendation frame. Listen back and check that your cause-consequence chain and your recommendation both sound natural and appropriately softened.
Culture and Communication
Formal Hindi problem-solving language often avoids naming who caused a problem, focusing instead on the process or constraint involved. This is not evasiveness; it reflects a professional norm that separates diagnosing a process from assigning personal fault.
Words such as हितधारक, व्यवहार्यता, and कार्यान्वयन are more formal and Sanskritic than their everyday equivalents. This is normal in public-service, institutional, and organizational Hindi, and does not make the writing sound cold or distant — it signals that the document is a formal deliverable rather than casual correspondence.
When writing to a board or committee, Hindi professional writers commonly prefer बेहतर होगा or उचित होगा over a blunt करना चाहिए, since the final decision formally belongs to the group, not to the person writing the memo.
Common Mistakes
Error: विक्रम की वजह से देरी हुई ("The delay happened because of Vikram") used as the default problem statement in a formal memo.
Correction: समस्या यह है कि प्रशिक्षकों के लिए पहुँचना मुश्किल होता है ("The problem is that it's difficult for trainers to reach the site"). Describe the process or constraint, not the individual, unless the task specifically requires identifying personal responsibility.
Error: आपको वैन सेवा चुनना चाहिए ("You should choose the van service") addressed directly to a board or supervisor as the only recommendation frame in a formal memo.
Correction: बेहतर होगा कि वैन सेवा चुनी जाए ("It would be better if the van service were chosen"). Reserve direct चाहिए for less formal or more urgent contexts, and prefer softer, impersonal frames in written proposals to a group.
Error: A memo that states only one possible solution and calls it "the solution," without acknowledging any alternative or its tradeoffs.
Correction: Present at least two options with parallel benefit-risk structure (विकल्प 1...लाभ...जोखिम... विकल्प 2...लाभ...जोखिम...) before recommending one, so the reader can see that the choice was actually evaluated.
Chapter Review
भाग A — समझ (Comprehension)
1. Return to the Model Dialogue and Reading passage and answer in English:
- What is the underlying cause of the transportation problem described in this chapter?
- What final recommendation did Priya and Neha make, and how does it combine both options?
भाग B — व्याकरण (Grammar)
1. Choose the correct recommendation frame (चाहिए, ज़रूरी है, उचित होगा, बेहतर होगा) for each sentence, considering the level of formality and force required:
- ______ कि हम दोनों विकल्पों की लागत की तुलना करें। (formal, softer suggestion)
- इस समस्या का समाधान ढूँढना ______। (strong necessity)
- हमें आज ही निर्णय लेना ______। (direct, less formal)
- ______ कि हम पहले एक महीने का परीक्षण करें। (comparative, softer)
भाग C — पठन (Reading)
1. Identify one passive-like construction in the recommendation memo and rewrite it as an active sentence naming an agent. Explain in English why the memo chose the passive-like version instead.
भाग D — लेखन (Writing)
1. Complete the full Writing Workshop task: problem description, two compared options, at least one passive-like construction, and a recommendation using two different frames.
भाग E — वाचन (Speaking)
1. Complete the Proposal Presentation task or its solo alternative, producing a problem statement, two compared options, and a softened recommendation.
Cumulative Review
This chapter recycles reported speech and impersonal decision language from Chapter 3, formal register from Chapter 2, and reason-and-evidence language from Volume III, while introducing passive-like and impersonal constructions, recommendation frames, and the cause-consequence-feasibility chain that Unit II will extend into source-based academic writing.
Practical Performance Task
एक समस्या का समाधान प्रस्तुत करना — Presenting a Solution to a Problem
Complete the following connected tasks in order.
- Listen to the staffing-problem passage and complete the listening table.
- Read Priya and Neha's recommendation memo and answer the comprehension questions.
- Write your own recommendation memo with a problem-cause-consequence chain, two compared options, and a softened recommendation, following the Writing Workshop steps.
- Speak by completing the Proposal Presentation task or its solo alternative.
- Reflect in two or three sentences on whether describing the problem without naming a person felt natural or awkward, and why.
| Criterion | What is assessed |
|---|---|
| Task completion | The memo, spoken presentation, and reflection are all present and address problem, options, and recommendation. |
| Problem-cause-consequence chain | The problem is described through process and constraint rather than personal blame. |
| Option comparison | Both options are presented in parallel with at least one benefit and one risk or cost each. |
| Passive-like/impersonal use | At least one passive-like or impersonal construction is used accurately. |
| Recommendation force | Recommendation frames are chosen appropriately for a formal, group-addressed context. |
| Devanagari and mechanics | Spelling, matras, conjuncts, punctuation, and word spacing are correct throughout the written work. |
This task completes Unit I's professional-interaction sequence. Chapter 5 reviews Chapters 1-4 together before Unit II moves into academic-adjacent reading and source-based writing.
Answer Key
Model Dialogue — Comprehension
- The transportation problem is caused by a lack of available transportation for trainers to reach rural schools on time.
- Priya recommended combining both options: online sessions for schools with reliable internet, and a one-month trial of the van service for the remaining schools, followed by a review of the results.
Listening
- The problem is that staff numbers haven't increased while the program's scope has doubled; the cause is budget limitations.
- Option 1 (hiring two part-time staff) costs more but immediately reduces workload; Option 2 (delegating work to volunteers) costs less but requires additional training.
- The speaker recommends trying Option 1 for six months, because it seems more reliable.
Reading — Comprehension
- Background (problem, cause, consequence); Options 1 and 2 (each with benefit and risk/cost); Recommendation (combined solution plus a follow-up review requirement).
- Example: माना जाता है कि यह लागत काफ़ी कम करता है foregrounds the general belief about cost reduction rather than naming who holds that belief.
- The main recommendation uses the softer बेहतर होगा because it addresses the board's collective decision-making authority, while the follow-up review uses the stronger ज़रूरी है because it functions as a firm condition attached to approving the trial, not a matter for further debate.
- Model answer: समस्या यह है कि प्रशिक्षकों के लिए ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों के स्कूलों तक समय पर पहुँचना मुश्किल होता है। इसका परिणाम यह हुआ कि दो स्कूलों में प्रशिक्षण की शुरुआत में तीन हफ़्ते की देरी हुई।
Chapter Review — भाग B
- (a) उचित होगा (b) ज़रूरी है (c) चाहिए (d) बेहतर होगा
Looking Ahead
अब आप क्या कर सकते हैं — What you can do now
You can describe an institutional problem through cause and consequence, compare options with their benefits and risks, use passive-like and impersonal constructions to background agency, and recommend a course of action using appropriately softened professional frames. Together with Chapters 1-3, these abilities complete Unit I's professional communication sequence.