Correct answer: (a) Privileges
Explanation
- A
Privileges
(a) Privileges. Equality as a social principle means no special, unearned rights for a class or birth group. Absence of privileges is therefore the direct implication and the official key.
- B
Restraints
(b) Restraints. Equal societies still restrain violence, fraud and domination. Equality does not mean the end of all restraints, so this is not the key.
- C
Competition
(c) Competition. Open competition is often an instrument of equal opportunity, not something equality abolishes. It is not the key.
- D
Ideology
(d) Ideology. Political communities remain ideological; equality is itself an ideological claim. It is not the key.
Summary. Official key is (a) privileges. To treat persons as equals is to deny hereditary or status privileges that lift some above the common rule of law. Restraints on harm, fair competition, and political ideology can all coexist with equality. The NCERT line that equality implies the absence of privileges is what the keyed option records.