20 Social Issues in India

  The world population is ageing. Globally, the aged were 8% in 1950, 10% in 2000 and estimated to increase to 21% in 2050. In India, the number of elder persons was 5.8% (25.5 million) in 1961. In 1991 this figure increased to 6.7% (56.6 million). In 2011, it is estimated to increase to 8.1% (96 million) that is expected to grow to 137 million in 2021. The size of the Indian elderly (60 years and above) is expected to triple in the next few decades. Providing social, economic, and psychological support to the aged is emerging as a fundamental concern of social development. With the joint family breaking down, especially in the urban areas, where nuclear families are the trend, the aged are increasingly becoming unwelcome members in their own families. Community support base to the aged is assuming greater importance. Our culture to respect elders should be again imbibed in young generation so that the aged can maintain their self respect. Remember, the elderly people should be...

  No country can progress unless it pays adequate attention to the development of children. A child is the future citizen of the country. Only those children who grow in a healthy atmosphere can contribute to the development and strength of their country. Our country has a large population of children. It is our duty to make sure that they are provided with the opportunities for good health and education. A large number of children, because of poverty, do not go to school or are withdrawn from schools before they complete their elementary education and are forced to start working at a young and tender age in factories, brick-klins, restaurants, hotels, shops etc. This hampers their growth physically, mentally, and emotionally. They grow with hatred and agony and fail to become worthy citizens of the nation. A child in the age group of 6-14 years is supposed to be in the school. But unfortunately, of the 200 million Indian children in this age group, about 11.3 million are labou...

  The habitual use of or dependence on harmful substances like liquor/alcoholic drinks, tobacco, bidis/cigarettes, drugs (for other than prescribed medical treatment) called substance abuse or addiction. As the range of addictive substances continues to expand, more and more persons particularly, in the younger age groups get addicted. There are many factors that are responsible for pushing the young as well as adults into the trap of substance abuse. These factors include peer-pressure, non-conducive family environment and stress. Substance abuse is a condition which needs medical and psychological help. The parents have to be considerate to children, particularly during their transition from childhood to adolescence and adulthood, when many changes occur in their physique. Adolescents are naturally curious, they are exploring new worlds, ideas, behaviors and relationships. In the process, some are exposed to drugs. Unless their environment, families, schools and friend s edu...

  The caste system in India has its roots in ancient India. Just as the ashrama dharma laid down rules and duties with reference to the individual’s life in the world, varna or caste system prescribed duties with reference to the particular caste to which an individual belonged. Earlier they were all regarded equal in social status and could take up any profession they liked. There was no restriction in the matter of eating food or marriage with members of other profession. But with the beginning of specializing in hereditary professions and coming in contact with the indigenous people situations changed and the birth of the person decided their caste. Hence the varna system that developed during that time was the outcome of the social and economic development. But as time passed, it led to the division of society into high-caste and low-caste people who could not mix with each other. Inter-caste dining or marriage was forbidden. People belonging to the so called lower castes we...

  The past years have seen inflation as one of the major issues faced by the common man. The rising prices of basic amenities have created furore among the people. Rising rates of food items and fuel have affected the pockets of the middle class so much, bringing them out on the roads in protest. The government has not been able to fulfill any of the promises made before coming in power, which were all forgotten later, leaving the people to suffer the brunt of inflation. There is an essential need to bring inflation under control, and bring basic amenities at affordable prices for all. When will this economic divide be erased, is a question no government has been able to answer as yet. There is no tradeoff between inflation and growth. High inflation damages growth.   One element of India's growth crisis is India's inflation crisis. It is important to think carefully about the accountability of the central bank. RBI is not in charge of India's welfare. RBI is in charge of ...

On one hand, India has a state like Kerala that boasts of 93.91% literacy in its state alone, while on the other hand there is a backward state like Bihar with 68.8% literacy rate. Education is not necessary for employment and learning, it is required to create a sensitive and growth-seeking younger generation. A youth needs to be empowered with education, to further know their rights as the citizens of the country. Illiteracy needs to be tackled as one of the biggest social evils of the nation, as this is the biggest reasons why the youth is misguided and involved in criminal as well as terror activities. The government needs to enforce free education and strict rules to follow it in every family in India, poor or not poor. An educated population will eventually lead to the country having a stronger workforce as against the world. Education is sure to change the poverty and unemployment scenario in the country. At the core level, the people need to be made aware of the need of educati...

What is meant by Communalism?  Communalism in a broad sense means a strong attachment to one’s own community. The community may refer to a region, religion, language or any other identity. Communalism in India refers to the attachment of a person to his religious identity. The following points describe the various facets of Communalism in India  The religious identity plays a major role in people who are practising communalism Communalism also means that people from one group of a religion treat people from other religion with hatred and contempt  The extreme form of communalism leads to violence between two communities.  The problem of communal violence is widespread in India. For Example, the violence between Hindus and Muslims. A Brief History of Religious Communalism    During Ancient India: Ancient India was predominantly a Hindu society During this phase Buddhism and Jainism originated as a protest movement towards Brahmin religious practices like ...

Terrorism has affected India since the day India was partitioned. The dispute over Kashmir between India and Pakistan has been a long-standing unresolved issue. Using this, the neighbouring country has often used terror against India in the worst manners possible. Uncountable incidents of terror attacks in Kashmir, and its nearby regions such as Srinagar, along with the major cities of the country, have been a source of disturbance very often. One such incident which shook the nation was the 26X11 Mumbai terror attack, among the uncountable similar attacks. India has been disturbed by external terrorism as well as internal terrorism through Maoist attacks in the western parts of the country. Terrorism mainly causes loss of lives, but also affects the country economically. Tourism in Jammu & Kashmir has suffered for years on end due to the threat to tourists due to sudden terror attacks. Alongside, the clean-up after every such attack involve long governmental processes. How is the...

Those facilitators who form the crux of the State are the primary players in this ever continuing conundrum. But is it right to say that the fire of corruption is kept alight fuelled by the greed of the powerful alone? We have always seen corruption to be a negative phenomenon with respect to a common man, but is it so? When a whole nation is professedly against the notion of corruption how does it manage to flourish? It is a natural law that, for something to continuously survive, its preconditions need to exist.      What Makes Corruption Survive?   So, what are the preconditions of corruption? A benefactor, a beneficiary and a benefit. Benefit or the bribe can be of monetary or non-monetary form. Conventional wisdom says that the benefactors are the public and the beneficiaries are bureaucrats, politicians and other State agents (police, judiciary etc.). People could have stopped this malice at any point of time by simply not being the benefactors for, only i...

Stuck in traffic on our way to work or school, we seldom glance at the people around us. Young mothers going from car to car, carrying a young child, hoping to find a generous soul during a red light. Young men and women, boys and girls, rushing from one car to another, selling books, toys and whatnot. Gazing out from the 20th floor of a corporate office, house or hotel, spots of slums can be easily seen scattered across every city. The people that we see, and more often than not ignore, are a large part of India’s growing population. What Poverty Really Means For many, the term poverty simply means a lack of income and adequate sustainable resources. But the reality is that it is so much more than that. What sets you apart from a young boy working at a tea stall, is access. Access to a wide variety of resources and facilities such as healthcare, infrastructure, housing, education, proper sanitation and hygiene and much more. Nowadays conversing in English comes naturally to even the f...

  Not all children in India are lucky to enjoy their childhood. Many of them are forced to work under inhuman conditions where their miseries know no end.  Though there are laws banning child labour, still children continue to be exploited as cheap labour. It is because the authorities are unable to implement the laws meant to protect children from being engaged as labourers. Unfortunately, the actual number of child labourers in India goes un-detected. Children are forced to work is completely unregulated condition without adequate food, proper wages, and rest. They are subjected to physical, sexual and emotional abuse. Factors such as poverty, lack of social security, the increasing gap between the rich and the poor have adversely affected children more than any other group. We have failed to provide universal education, which results in children dropping out of school and entering the labour force. Due to high poverty and poor schooling opportunities, child labour is quite ...

  “Any young man, who makes dowry a condition to marriage, discredits his education and his country and dishonours womanhood”— Mahatma Gandhi Dowry or Dahej, one of the deep-rooted social evils, is flourishing in our society at an unprecedented rate. There is no denying the fact that modern citizens condemn it, yet this practice varies according to the region, caste, and creed. Although it is difficult to determine the exact cause, here is a tentative list of responsible factors: • Greed Factor • Patriarchal Society • Religious Constraints • Constraints related to Caste/Creed • Lack of Formal Education • Conservative Thinking • Desire to flaunt Social Status • Low Status of Women • A False Sense of Prestige • Illiteracy & Ignorance • Lack of Knowledge about Anti-Dowry Laws From being a financial burden on a daughter’s family to wastage of money, this evil is silently claiming the lives of innocent married women. Dowry deaths are relatively higher in developing and underdev...