Society
Society
Society
Religious Pluralism
● Different Religious Groups in India : India is a secular country comprising various
religions of the world, which are further subdivided into several sects and cults.
Religion in India is characterized by a diversity of religious beliefs and practices.
The Indian subcontinent is the birthplace of four world religions—Hinduism,
Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism.
● Kinship, Marriage and Family
○ Kinship system refers to a set of persons recognized as relatives either
by virtue of a blood relationship or by virtue of a marriage relationship.
○ The Kinship system represents one of the basic social institutions. Kinship
is universal and in most societies plays a significant role in the
socialisation of individuals and the maintenance of group solidarity.
○ Regional differences regarding kinship systems and marriage in North and
South India
○ Marriage is an important social institution. It is a relationship, which is
socially approved and sanctioned by custom and law.
○ Structural and functional changes in the marriage system
■ Changes in the aim and purpose of marriage : today the modern
objective of marriage is more related to ‘life-long companionship’
between husband and wife.
■ Changes in the form of marriage
■ Change in the age of marriage
■ Increase in divorce and desertion rates
■ Live in relationships : They are on a steady growth rate in India
especially among the youth in metropolitan cities. The institution also
has legal recognition as a three judge bench of SC in 2010
observed that a man and a woman living together without
marriage cannot be construed as an offence and held that living
together is a Right to Life and Liberty (Article 21).
○ Today, marriage is still considered important and necessary, and only few
individuals remain unmarried by choice. Goals of marriage are, however,
undergoing changes especially for the urban and educated sections of the
population. The older notions regarding large size family are being replaced
by preference for small size family. Marriage for self-fulfillment rather than
primarily for procreation or societal welfare is also becoming prevalent.
○ Marriage Structural –Functional Changes.
■ The marriage system had undergone radical changes especially after
independence. Even though the basic religious beliefs associated with
marriage have not crumbled down, many of the practices, customs,
and forms have changed. The recent changes in the marriage system
are briefly discussed here.
■ Changes in the Form of Marriage: the traditional forms of marriages
like polygamy polygyny are not found any were, and they are
legally prohibited in India. Only monogamous marriages are
universally practiced.
■ Changes in the Aim and purpose of Marriage: In traditional
societies the primary objective of marriage is ‘dharma’ or duty;
especially among Hindus. But today the modern objective of marriage
is more related to ‘life-long companionship’ between husband
and wife.
■ Changes in the Processes of mate selection : wide enough to
include inter religious and inter-caste marriages, The practice of
young men and women selecting their life partners by themselves is
becoming popular today. Much importance is given to individual
interests, preferring and considering rather than to family
considerations.
■ As per the present marriage act a boy below 21 years and a girl below
18 years cannot marry.
■ Changes in the stability of marriage : Legislative provision for
divorce has virtually affected the stability of the marriage. The
legislative provisions for divorce and widow remarriage have
undermined the importance of the age old values related to marriage.
■ Changes in the Economic aspect of Marriage : The Practice of
paying dowry is associated with Marriage. This practice has grown
into a big evil today. Bride’s parents are compelled today to pay a
huge amount of money as dowry. This practice made marriage a
costly affair. Marriages are often settled only on considerations of
dowry.
○ Though these new trends are observed today the importance of marriage has
not diminished. it is still universally practiced. Though its sanctity is affected a
little, It is not reduced to the level of a mere civil contract in Indian society.
○ Family in Indian Society
■ The family is the basic unit of society. It is the first and the most
immediate social environment to which a child is exposed. In some
way or the other the family is a universal group. It exists in tribal, rural
and urban communities and among the followers of all religious and
cultures. It provides the most enduring relationship in one form or
other.
■ Functions of the family : Production and rearing of the child,
Provision of home, Instrument of culture transmission, Agent of
socialization, Status ascribing function, Agency of social control
■ Economic functions : Members are engaged in earning wages for
ensuring socio-economic well-being of the family.
■ Educational functions: Family provides the basis for the child’s
formal learning.
■ Religious functions
■ Structural and functional changes in the Indian family system
■ Changes in family: Family which was a principal unit of production
has been transformed in the consumption unit.
■ Factory employment : It has freed young adults from direct
dependence upon their families. This functional independence of
the youngsters has weakened the authority of the head of the
household over those earning members.
■ Influence of urbanization
■ Legislative measures
■ Changes in marriage system: Changes in the age of marriage,
freedom in mate-selection and change in the attitude towards
marriage
■ Influence of western values: Values relating to modern science,
rationalism, individualism, equality, free life, democracy, freedom
of women etc. have exerted a tremendous change on the joint
family system in India.
■ Changes in the position of women
■ Over the years, various sociologists have affirmed in their studies that
the rise of nuclear families — consisting of a couple and their
unmarried children — is consistent with rapid urbanization.
● Structural and functional changes system of family
○ The system of family has undergone qualitative changes because of
Industrialization, urbanization, migration, revolution in the field of
transport and communication, increasing influence of the state and the
influence of the individualization philosophy of life.
○ Today most of the traditional activities of the family were transferred to
outside agencies; this further weakened the bonds that in the past kept the
family together. There occurred a reduction in the educational,
recreational, religious and protective functions of the family which have
been more or less taken over by various institutions and agencies
created for that purpose.
○ Some of the major changes in the family are discussed below.
■ Changes in family : The family which was a principal unit of
production has been transformed into the consumption unit.
Instead of all members working together in an integrated economic
enterprise, a few male members go out of the home to earn the
family’s living. These affected family relations.
■ Factory employment : Factory employment has freed young adults
from direct dependence upon their families. This functional
independence of the youngsters has weakened the authority of the
head of the household over those earning members. In many cities
even women too joined men in working outside the families on
salary basis.
■ changes in social situation : In the changed social situation
children have ceased to be economic assets and Children’s
educational requirements have increased. They are to be
supported for a long time till they get into some good job.
■ Industrialization and Influence of urbanization : urban living
weakens joint family patterns and strengthens nuclear family
patterns.
■ Changes in the Marriage System : Changes in the age of marriage,
freedom in mate-selection and change in the attitude towards
marriage have also affected our family system; parents' role in
mate-selection has diminished. Marriage is not very much
considered a religious affair but only a social ceremony.
■ Legislative Measures : The freedom of mate- selection and marriage
in any caste and religion without the Parent’s consent after a certain
age permitted through the Special Marriage Act, 1954. Other
legislations such as the Widow Remarriage Act, 1856, Hindu
Marriage Act, 1955, Hindu succession Act, 1956, all have modified
interpersonal relations within the family, the composition of the family
and the stability of the joint family.
■ Influence of western values : Influence of western values relating to
modern science, rationalism, individualism, equality, free life,
democracy, freedom of women etc. have exerted a tremendous
change on the joint family system.
■ Awareness among women: Increasing female education,
employment opportunities for women created awareness among the
women. They also sought a chance of becoming “free” from the
authoritarian hold of the joint family.
Diversity in India
● India is a plural society both in letter and spirit. It is rightly characterized by its
unity and diversity. A grand synthesis of cultures, religions and languages of
the people belonging to different castes and communities has upheld its unity
and cohesiveness despite multiple foreign invasions.
● National unity and integrity have been maintained even though sharp
economic and social inequalities have obstructed the emergence of egalitarian
social relations. It is this synthesis which has made India a unique mosque of
cultures.
● Diversity means a variety of races, of religions, of languages, of castes and of
cultures.
● Unity means integration. It is a social psychological condition. It connotes a sense of
one-ness, a sense of we-ness. It stands for the bonds, which hold the members of a
society together.
● Unity in diversity essentially means “unity without uniformity” and “diversity
without fragmentation”. It is based on the notion that diversity enriches human
interaction.
● Various forms of diversity in India
○ Religious diversity
○ Linguistic diversity
○ Racial diversity : Representatives of all the three major races of the world,
namely Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and Negroid, are found in the country.
○ Caste diversity : refer to both varna as well as jati. Varna is the four-fold
division of society according to functional differentiation. Whereas Jati refers
to a hereditary endogamous status group practicing a specific
traditional occupation. There are more than 3000 jatis and there is no
one all India system of ranking them in order and status. The jati system
is not static and there is mobility in the system, through which jatis have
changed their position over years. This system of upward mobility has been
termed as “Sanskritization” by M. N. Srinivas.
○ Cultural diversity
○ Geographical diversity
● Factors Leading to Unity Amidst Diversity in India
○ Constitutional identity : guarantees certain fundamental rights to all citizens
regardless of their age, gender, class, caste, religion, etc.
○ Religious co-existence : Religion tolerance is the unique feature of religions
in India due to which multiple religions coexist in India. Freedom of religion
and religious practice is guaranteed by the Constitution itself. Sab Dharma
Sambhava
○ Inter-State mobility : thus promoting a sense of unity and brotherhood
among the masses.
○ Economic integration
○ Institution of pilgrimage and religious practices : which has always
moved people to various parts of the country and fostered in them a
sense of geo-cultural unity. E.g, Allahabad, Pushkar, Ajmer sharif,
Ujjain, Varanasi,
○ Fairs and festivals : They also act as integrating factors as people from all
parts of the country celebrate them as per their own local customs.
■ Different types of agricultural festivals - Bihu(Assam), Lohri(Punjab),
Pongal, Ugadi, Makar Sankranti
○ Climatic integration via monsoon : The flora and fauna in the entire Indian
subcontinent, agricultural practices, life of people, including their festivities
revolve around the monsoon season in India.
○ Sports and Cinema : These are followed by millions in the country, thus,
acting as a binding force across the length and breadth of India.
● Factors that threaten India’s unity
○ Regionalism
○ Divisive politics : ascriptive identities such as caste, religion etc. are
evoked by politicians in order to garner votes.
○ Development imbalance : Uneven pattern of socio-economic development,
inadequate economic policies and consequent economic disparities can lead
to backwardness of a region. Consequently, this can result in violence,
kickstart waves of migration and even accelerate demands of separatism.
○ Ethnic differentiation and nativism : often led to clashes between
different ethnic groups especially due to factors such as job competition,
limited resources, threat to identity etc.
○ Geographical isolation: Geographical isolation too can lead to identity
issues and separatist demands. E.g, N-E States secessionist demands
○ Inter-religious conflicts
○ Inter-state conflicts
● In-spite of the challenges posed by diversity, there can be no doubt on the role
played by sociocultural diversity in sustaining and developing Indian society.
● Problem is not of diversity per se, but the handling of diversity in Indian society. The
problems of regionalism, communalism, ethnic conflicts etc. have arisen
because the fruits of development haven’t been distributed equally or the
cultures of some groups haven’t been accorded due recognition.
● Hence, the Constitution and its values must form guiding principles of our society.
Any society which has tried to homogenize itself, has witnessed stagnation in
due-course and ultimately decline. The most important example is this case is of
Pakistan which tried to impose culture on East-Pakistan ultimately leading to creation
of Bangladesh.
● Pluralism is a political philosophy holding that people of different beliefs,
backgrounds, and lifestyles can coexist in the same society and participate equally in
the political process.
● Different cultures are encouraged. Individuals are considered part of collectivities that
provide meaning to their lives. Multiculturalism seeks ways to support these
collectivities. The public sphere is not culturally neutral. Public sphere is an arena for
cultural negotiation. No group should dominate in a way that excludes other cultural
forms.
Features of Indian Society- Rural
Mahatma Gandhi’s view that India lives in villages still holds good, at least from the
demographic point of view.
The village social life has its own peculiar characteristics. The village social life norms
strengthen the authoritarian and hierarchical norms in administration. The village
social life, which is based on the hierarchical exchange relations greatly influence the
behavior of civil servants in public organizations.
It is rightly said ‘India is a country of villages’.
Agriculture is the main occupation of the Indians and majority of people in India live in the
villages. Our villages help in strengthening our social bonds and bringing stability to
our society in many ways. Our villages also help our society in another way namely
that of preserving our culture.
The Indian rural society has undergone considerable change in the recent past, particularly
since the Independence as a result of a series of the land reform legislations that have
accelerated the pace of this change. India has a rich cultural heritage and is a land of
diversities. The diversity in social life is reflected in the multi-social, multi-lingual, multi-
religious and multi-caste nature of the society. The important features of the Indian social
structure are- predominant rural habitation in small villages; multi-religious and
multi-caste social identities and important role of family in the social life.
Major Features of Rural Society
Each society consists of different parts, such as individuals, groups, institutions,
associations, and communities. The simplest analogy one can think of at this point is that
of an organism that has different components working together as a whole.
● Small size of village community, Intimate relations, Jajmani System, Social
homogeneity, Informal Social Control, Dominance of Joint Family, Status of
Rural Women, Occupation, Role of neighborhood, Faith in religion, Self
Sufficiency, Widespread caste system, Conservatism, Observance of moral
norms, Poverty, Illiteracy, Desire for Independence, Preservers of the Ancient
culture of the society, Legal Self Government
The bond of kinship and close ties of the inhabitants with the land developed a high sense of
community feeling in the primitive village community.
The urban society is heterogeneous. It is known for its diversity and complexity. It is
dominated by secondary relations. Urban society is far away from nature and the natural
environment. Mass education is widespread in the city. It is a “Complex Multi-Group Society”.
● RACIAL DIVERSITY
○ The racial classifications are made on the basis of certain genetic traits.
Such types of traits used in classification of races are referred to as racial
criteria.
○ The following eight different ethnic groups are found here. 1. Pre-Dravidian 2.
Dravidian 3. Indo-Aryan 4. Turko-lranian 5. Scytho-Dravidian 6. Arya-
Dravidian 7. Mongoloid 8. Mongoloid-Dravidian.
● ETHNIC DIVERSITY
○ Unity holds tightly together the various relationships of ethnic groups or
institutions in a detailed manner through the bonds of contrived structures,
norms and values. However, unity does not mean uniformity which implies
similarity unity may be born out of similarity.
○ Ethnic group is a social category of people who share common culture,
common language or dialect, a common religion, a common norm,
practices, customs and history. Ethnic groups have a consciousness of
their own culture bound.
○ India is an ethnological museum. The waves of immigration have drawn
the ancestors of the majority of present population into India from the
surrounding territories across the Himalayas.
BONDS OF UNITY IN INDIA
● Unity implies oneness or a sense of oneness meaning integration. However, unity
does not mean uniformity which implies similarity.
● M.N.Srinivas observes that the unity of India is essentially a religious one.
People may worship different deities but the religious scriptures – Puranas,
Brahmanas, Epics and Vedas – knite the numerous heterogeneous groups
together into one religious society and give them the sense that their country
is sacred.
● The bond of unity in relation to India heritage in a certain underlying uniformity of
life, have been reflected in the observations of many foreigners also.
● Unity amidst diversity is visualized in the geo-political sphere, institution of
pilgrimage, tradition of accommodation, tradition of interdependence,
emotional bond etc.
● That is the unity of common culture and tradition, common historical growth,
common fight for freedom against British rule, common allegiance to India and
common loyalty to the Indian national flag.
● GEOGRAPHICAL UNITY : The natural boundaries provide India a geographical
unity, a unity which surprises the Europeans scholars who themselves live in small
countries and find it difficult to comprehend how such a vast country which varieties
of nature can be united. The name’ bharatvarsha’ lies in the historical significance
which symbolizes unity. Nature has bestowed on India its gift through natural
boundaries to maintain her unity. India is a vast country having diverse
geographical features. Even then India looks like a single geographical entity. India is
known for its geographical unity marked by the Mountain ranges in the north and the
oceans on the other sides. India absorbed and assimilated different cultures.
People of different cultures such as the Aryans and the Dravidians lived here
together. Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs all lived in close
proximity and participated together in government, trade, industry, commerce and
other activities.
● RELIGIOUS UNITY : Religious unity in India finds its expression through the places
of worship scattered all over the country. Such religious places of Hindus as
Badrinath in the North, Dwarika in the west and Ramashwaram in the south
and Puri in the east represent the religious unity of this vast country. It has been
considered obligatory for every Indian to visit each of these holy places. But this
pilgrimage comprehends the feeling of patriotism and a feeling for the unity of
his country also. Hinduism being the major religion of people in India provides
the basis of unity. People have worshipped god and goddesses in temples
everywhere in India. The great epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata are
devotionally read by people throughout the country.
● ROLE OF RELIGION IN SOCIAL INTEGRATION : M.N.Srinivas examines the role
of the religion in social integration as a binding force amongst individuals and groups.
In cities Hindus and Muslims have been greeting each other on their festive
occasions. There is an association between religious communities and specific
economic functions they perform. The spread of various communities all over the
country and diversification of their economic activities have strengthened the process
of social integration.
● RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE IN INDIA : The overwhelming impact of Hinduism on the
Indian minds can be considered as the single most important unifying factor. India is
a land of diverse religious faiths. Religious concepts like monotheism, immortality of
the soul, re-incarnation, karma, nirvana, moksha etc. inspire people all over the
country. Sages and saints, religious preachers and the pilgrims have never
differentiated between the north and south. If Shankaracharya carried the message
from the south to the north, Buddhism and Jainism spread from the north to the
south. Chitanya, Kabir and Nanak formed the connecting link among various regions
of the country. One big difference between Hinduism and other faiths is that it does
not proclaim that it alone shows the path to liberation(Sarva Dharma Sambhava).
Our Vedic religion alone has not practiced conversion and the reason for it is
that our forefathers were well aware that all religions are nothing but different
paths to realize the one and only Paramatman. Our long history is sufficient
proof of this. All historians accept the fact of our religious tolerance. That the
beliefs and customs of the various religions are different cannot be a cause for
complaint. Nor is there any need to make all of them similar. The important thing is
for the followers of the various faiths to live in harmony with one another. The goal
must be unity, not uniformity.
● POLITICAL UNITY : Political unity is an outcome of religious and cultural unity. In
history many kings rebelled against the central authority. No single instance is there
to show that any Indian king ever tried to annex the territory of foreign ruler but they
wanted to expand the kingdom in Indian territory to become a sole monarch under a
single control which is good for the people. Our political unity is no gift of british.
Its origin falls far beyond the apparent. We ignored the political idea of the Indus
valley people, though the extent of their civilization is highly impressive. Even after
achieving her political freedom, India has shown her oneness at the attack of
China and three attacks of Pakistan and the recently concluded Kargil war. The
typical feature of Indian democracy is the existence of a multi party system.
Different states may have different governments. But all the states are controlled by
the central government. Fundamental rights granted to all the citizens of India.
● Forces of unity in modern India : M.N.Srinivas noted that India, as a secular state,
tolerates diversity. The five year plans, the spread of egalitarian ideals, a single
government and a common body of civil and criminal laws are enough evidence of
India’s plural character and oneness. The constitution of independent India has
established the “rule of law” throughout the entire country. All citizens are equal
and subject to the same authority. Religion, language, region, caste or community
is no longer the basis of special powers and privileges. The weaker sections of
society, the scheduled castes, the scheduled tribes and the other backward classes
have been given special concessions to bridge the gap between them and the upper
castes and classes. Today no caste or social group suffers from any kind of social
disability. Women enjoy equal rights with men in all respects. The policy of divide and
rule adopted by the British to rule this country is no more in operation. Colonial
exploitation has been replaced by processes of development and egalitarian
ideology.
Features of Communalism
● multifaceted process based on orthodoxy and intolerance.
● propagates intense dislike of other religions.
● It is exclusive in outlook, a communalist considers his own religion to be superior to
other religions.
● It adopts extremist tactics including use of violence against other people.
Factors aiding Communalism in India
● Political factors : British policy of divide and rule, religion-based identity politics &
ills of electoral politics.
● Economic factors : British policy of ‘divide and rule’. A prominent reason why this
policy gained currency was that the Muslim middle class had lagged behind the
Hindus in terms of education, which contributed to their low representation in
government jobs. The Mappila Rebellion, the first so-called communal clash, was
also more of a proletarian strike against the landed gentry than a communal riot. It
only so happened that the landed gentry were Hindus and the peasants were
Muslims. In India, politics of opportunism is the biggest cause of communalism
driven by the middle/ upper class for secular gains and trusted by the lower
sections that identify with the cause.
● Historical factors : British historians projected ancient India as being ruled by
Hindus and Medieval period as the period of Muslim rule.
● Social factors : Issues like beef consumption, Hindi/Urdu imposition,
conversion efforts by religious groups etc., further created a wedge between the
Hindus and Muslims.
Evolution of Communalism in India
Pre-Independence
● Liberal Phase:
○ Post 1857 revolt, the British preferred Hindus over Muslims in matters of
employment, education etc.
○ Communalism in India got its initial start in the 1880s when Syed Ahmed
Khan opposed the national movement initiated by the Indian National
Congress.
○ Eventually, prominent Muslims like Aga Khan, Nawab Moshin-ul-Mulk etc.
founded the All India Muslim League, to consolidate Muslim interests.
○ Simultaneously, Hindu communalism was also being born. It manifested
in Hindu leaders disseminating notions of tyrannical Muslim rule, espousing
the language issue and giving it a communal twist. They declared Urdu to be
the language of the Muslims and Hindi of Hindus. Further, anti-cow
slaughter propagation was undertaken in the 1890s and it was primarily
directed against Muslims.
○ Revivalist movements like Arya Samaj, Shuddhi Movement (among
Hindus), Wahabi Movement , Tanzeem and Tabligh movements(among
Muslims) etc. gave further impetus to communalist tendencies.
○ The British gave a momentum to the communalist divide through their
administrative decisions and policies such as division of Bengal, Morley-
Minto reforms (1909), Communal Award (1932) etc.
● Extremist Phase:
○ Post 1937, India witnessed extreme communalism based on the politics of
fear, psychosis and irrationality. During this phase, the interests of Hindus
and Muslims were deemed to be permanently in conflict.
○ Communalism acquired a popular base among urban lower middle class
groups and mass movements around aggressive, extremist communal
politics emerged.
● The manifestations of communal killings and disturbances resulted in Calcutta killings
(1946) and eventually resulted in the division of India and creation of Pakistan.
Post-Independence
● Colonialism is perceived as the prominent factor for emergence of
communalism in India. However, overthrowing colonial rule proved to be only a
necessary condition for fighting communalism, not sufficient. Because even
post-independence, communalism persisted and has been the biggest threat to
the secular fabric of our nation.
● Reasons for persistence of communalism in post-independence period
○ Slow development of the economy
○ Improper cultural synthesis
○ Perceived or relative deprivation
○ Regional or social imbalance in development
○ Political mobilization in the age of democracy has led to consolidation of
communal sentiments.
○ among all the socio-religious communities, Muslims are the most
economically vulnerable, educationally backward and financially excluded.
this vicious cycle of illiteracy - unemployment - poverty.
● Anti-Sikh riots (1984), Issue of Kashmiri Hindu pandits (1989), Babri Masjid
incident (1992), Godhra Riots (2002), Assam violence (2012).
● Current issues regarding communalism
○ ‘love jihad’ controversy : Hadiya case, Supreme Court protected her
freedom to choose her religion and freedom of movement and asked her to
return to college to continue her studies.
○ Beef consumption and ensuing mob lynching
○ Ghar Wapsi programmes
○ Religious fundamentalism among youth : on-going threat of radicalization
among Kashmiri youth, which can give an impetus to already existing
separatist tendencies.
● Measures to address the problem of communalism:
○ persuasive as well as punitive measures are required to curb its spread.
○ Building solidarity and assimilation of various religious groups at
different levels in society, workplace, neighborhood etc. by fostering a secular
culture eg. celebrating each other’s religious festivals.
○ Swift and prompt response to radicalization by a militant group on
social media through police action, counselling sessions for those
radicalized especially adolescents etc.
○ Ensuring that political parties refrain from using religion, religious
ideologies in order to garner votes through strict vigilance by institutional
mechanisms such as the Election Commission, media, civil society etc.
○ Instances of an inter-religious marriage of two consenting adults should not
be construed as a “love jihad issue” and highlighted in the media. Thus,
media persons should be sensitized regarding the issue.
○ Stern law should be framed by the Parliament against communal violence.
The weaknesses of laws have resulted in the escape of politicians and other
influential persons who have openly indulged in inciting communal violence.
○ Police and other bodies upholding law and order should be held accountable
as sometimes the police bow down to pressure from politicians and remain
inactive during communal violence and in the course of its follow up
○ Pluralistic settlement where members of different communities live together
should be encouraged by removing existing barriers as religious
segregation strengthens communal identities and reinforces negative
stereotypes of other religious groups. Eg. taking action during instances of
intolerance where Muslims, Dalits, North-Eastern citizens etc. are denied
housing owing to their identities.
○ Sachar Committee report on the status of Indian Muslims recommended
the creation of an Equal Opportunities Commission to deal with complaints
of intolerance and exclusion.
○ Secular education should be taught in all educational institutions, which
will lead to development of harmony and co-operation among members
of different communities.
○ History education should be de-communalized as the present categorization
of Indian history into ancient, medieval and modern has contributed to
communal thinking
○ Increased employment opportunities for minorities can lead to decrease
in communal discord. Thus, there should be focus on skilling members of
minority communities through various programmes and initiatives.
○ Religious heads can play an important role in dissemination of ideas of
diversity of religion, ideas, etc. which can help in spreading peace among
different communities.
○ Media, movies and other influences should be used in promoting religious
harmony and peace.
In Ireland’s complex troubles, lessons for India
● The communal clashes of April in Northern Ireland, that left 74 policemen injured,
threaten to undermine the fragile peace between Protestant proBritish loyalist
unionists who want to remain part of the United Kingdom forever, and Catholic
proIrish nationalists who wish Northern Ireland to become part of the Republic of
Ireland.
● The fact that the people are just one, with parity in mutual fear, esteem and consent,
is never addressed and artificial differences are played up by political elements
wishing to stoke communal sentiments and keep both communities at the mercy of
irresponsible and divisive forces.
● Peace is an extraordinarily brittle entity, and any functioning democracy must ensure
a daily commitment to addressing communal issues with vigilance, tolerance and
compromise. These are lessons to be drawn in India.
● The recent violence in Northern Ireland shows that every country needs leadership
that takes responsibility for peoples’ social and economic problems and steers
prejudices away from entrenched phobias. The ruling party in India needs to be
aware that creating religious tensions between communities has incalculable deep
seated negative consequences that will severely damage every section of society
and all our established political and national institutions.
REGIONALISM
A region is characterized by a widely shared sense of togetherness among the
people. This togetherness results from a wide variety of sources like geography,
topography, religion, language, customs and mores, political and economic stage of
development, way of living, commonly shared historical experiences, etc.
Region provides the basis for the emergence of regional identity. It results in loyalty
towards the region and ultimately takes the shape and form of regionalism. It gives
way to regional politics.
Regionalism: Regionalism can be defined as a phenomenon in which people’s political
loyalties become focused upon a region. In other words, it implies people’s love of a
particular region in preference to the country.
Characteristics of regionalism
● Regionalism is conditioned by economic, social, political and cultural
disparities.
● Regionalism is built around as an expression of group identity as well as loyalty
to the region.
● Regionalism presupposes the concept of development of one's own region
without taking into consideration the interest of other regions.
● Regionalism prohibits people from other regions to be benefited by a particular
region.
Regionalism in Indian Politics
● Regionalism is a pre-independence phenomenon. It became predominant in the
post independence period. The politics of regionalism started with the
implementation of constitutional reforms under Government of India Acts of 1909,
1919, and 1935.
● After independence there are four major landmarks in the development of
regional politics.
○ democratic form of government and electoral politics
○ Integration of the Princely States
○ Reorganization of states on linguistic basis
○ personal and selfish ends of politicians : Identity politics
Bases of Regionalism
● Geographical Bases : Usually people relate their regional identity to certain specific
geographical boundaries. After independence integration of Princely States
resulted in the merger of small states into new big states. The loyalties of
citizens were torn between old territorial boundaries and new territorial
structures.
● Historical and Social Bases :
○ History: It supported regionalism with cultural heritage, folklore, myths
and symbolism. The most striking example is that of Dravida Kazhagam
(DK) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu.
Economic and political factors have combined with history to generate
regionalism.
○ Language: Language is perhaps the most important mark of group
identification. Language expresses the shared life, thought structure and
value patterns of people. It has the capacity to unite the people together
and make them work to improve their common destiny. In this sense
linguistic homogeneity strengthens a positive movement.
○ Thus, regionalism is closely associated with language but is not
synonymous with linguism. It is one of the several bases of regionalism in
India. In most cases of linguistic regionalism many interrelated factors
are usually found to be working together.
○ Caste: An important example of the caste factor providing impetus to
linguistic regionalism can be seen in the case of Tamil Nadu.
○ Religion: Religion like caste does not play a significant role except when it
is combined with dominance and linguistic homogeneity as in Punjab or
fed on a sense of religious orthodoxy and economic deprivation as in
Jammu and Kashmir.
○ Taking into account these three factors i.e. language, caste, religion &
imbalanced socio-economic development one can say that the study of
regionalism in Punjab and Tamil Nadu makes it very clear that political
movements for regional demands were carried out formally in the name
of language but in reality they had substantive non-linguistic bases too.
● Economic Bases
○ Economic policies have led to regional imbalances and wide economic
disparities among various regions resulting in discontentment among them.
○ The erstwhile movements for a separate Uttarakhand state in the hill
districts of U.P., a Jharkhand state carved out of parts of Bihar and the
demand for a state of Bodoland comprising a part of Assam.
● Politico-Administrative Bases
○ It only accentuates regionalism. Politicians take advantage of the
situation of regional discontentment and unrest. They convert it into
movements for strengthening their individual and factional support
bases. It is a known fact that fighting within Congress gave rise to
Telangana agitation.
● Forms of Regionalism
○ Demand for State Autonomy
○ Supra-state Regionalism: This implies that more than one state is involved
in the issue of regionalism. It is an expression of group identity of some
states. They take a common stand on the issues of mutual interest vis-a-vis
another group of states. For example, the rivalry existing between south
and north India on such issues as language Hindi.
○ Inter-state Regionalism: It is related with state boundaries and involves
overlapping of one or more state identities, which threaten their interests.
River water disputes
○ Intra-state Regional Politics or Sub-regionalism: This refers to
regionalism, which exists within a state of the Indian Union. It embodies the
desire of a part of a state for identity and self-development. Vidarbha in
Maharashtra, a Saurashtra in Gujarat, a Telangana in Andhra Pradesh
○ Son of Soil theory: It ties people to their place of birth and confers some
benefits, rights, roles and responsibilities on them, which may not apply to
others. It is accentuated by factors such as competition for resources,
jobs, economic disparities, etc.
● Positive Impacts of Regionalism
○ Inter-group solidarity in a particular region, to protect an otherwise
endangered tribal identity in the state by providing a democratic platform for
former separatists and has reduced the bases of political extremism in the
state.
○ a source of identity among people. healthy for maintaining the socio-cultural
fabric of India. Given the increasing uncertainty in the contemporary
globalized world.
○ induce competition among people of a region and propel them to do better to
improve the status of their region. Eg. Competitive federalism in India
● Negative Impacts of Regionalism
○ adverse impacts on national integration, as loyalty to a particular region
remains stronger than loyalty to the nation.
○ used for political leverage in order to garner votes.
○ the law and order situation is disturbed. It can also result in violence.
○ can give a leeway to external factors (E.g. terrorist groups, extremist groups)
● Is Regionalism a threat to National Integration?
○ Regionalism is not significant merely as a disintegrating force. Regionalism is
not opposed to national integration. Both can exist together in a creative
partnership. Both are in favor of development.
○ If we want to reconcile the competing claims of regionalism and national
integration the political system of the country should remain federal and
democratic.
○ Regionalism is not disruptive of national solidarity. The important condition for
national solidarity is that nationalism should be able to hold the different types
of regional sub nationalities together.
● Within India, regionalism has been based on the diversity of culture, language, tribes,
religions and other socio-cultural factors as seen below:
○ Language: sons of soil doctrine
○ Tribal Identity: The regional aspirations of the North-east were mainly
based on the distinction of tribal identity.
○ Economic inequality and Regional deprivation : partition of India turned
the North-East region into a landlocked region and affected it economically.
Due to this isolation from mainstream India, the region remained backward in
terms of developmental parameters. Recently the creation of Telangana after
a long struggle underscores the significance of regional deprivation all the
more.
○ Combination of multiple factors
● Being a vast and diverse country India has seen multiple challenges emanating from
regionalism based on multiple factors. However, the spirit of unity in diversity and
constitutional mechanisms of democracy and federalism has enabled it to ward off
these challenges from becoming destabilizing.
SECULARISM
Secularism is a principle which advocates the separation of religion from politics. It is the
principle of separation of government institutions and persons mandated to represent the
state from religious institutions and religious dignitaries.
Difference Between Western Concept of Secularism and Indian Secularism
Equal protection by the state to all religions. Separation of state and religion as mutual
It reflects certain meanings. First secular exclusion it means both are mutually
state to be one that protects all religions, exclusive in their own spheres of operation.
but does not favor one at the cost of others
and does not adopt any religion as state
religion.
The idea of inter-religious equality is at little scope for community based rights or
the core of Indian secularism. Equal minority based rights.
focus has been given on the inter-religious
and the intra-religious equality. It not only
deals with the religious freedom of the
individuals but with the minority
communities also.
It promotes state sponsored reforms in the the state maintains an arm’s length distance
religious sphere on equal footing. from religion in all matters.
Missing Women
Lack of participation of women in workforce:
● India has one of the lowest female labour force participation (FLPF) rates among
emerging markets and developing countries.
● A majority of women are working in the rural and urban unorganized sector without
the protection of labour legislation regarding wages, hours of work, working
conditions, health and maternity benefits and childcare services.
Reasons for low labour force participation:
● Increased income of men: as men start to earn more, women tend to cut back their
work to concentrate more on household activities.
● Caste factor : in some upper castes, there is a stigma attached to women working
outside the home
● Institutional Barriers : Safety issues and harassment at workplace
● Increasing numbers of women of working age are enrolling in secondary
schools.
● Nature of economic growth: not being able to create a large number of jobs in
sectors that could readily absorb women, especially those in rural areas.
○
Misinformation through a feminist lens
● Sexism and online harassment prevent women from taking vocal stands and
hinder progress
● The online world amplifies the social norms of the physical world. Women face
aggressive and offensive trolling on the Internet, designed to undermine and discredit
them professionally and shame them into silence.
● ‘Sulli Deals’ app recently created on GitHub that auctioned Muslim women. - to
undermine the vocal minority protesters
● Misinformation/disinformation also targets men and women differently and
unsurprisingly so, especially in India where gender disparity among Internet users is
high.
● A report by Amnesty International last year said that 95 female politicians out of 724
received nearly one million hateful mentions on Twitter between March and May, one
in five of which was sexist or misogynistic.
● But misinformation like other forms of abuse has intersectional challenges.
Organised disinformation and sexism intersect with Islamophobia, castetism,
religious bigotry and other forms of discrimination to threaten vocal women from
minority communities.
● We also seldom question Twitter on its failure to stop the spread of pornographic
content. The women of Shaheen Bagh were targeted in a similar fashion.
● Gendering misinformation should be a part of the feminist discourse.
● But while on the one hand women are targeted with sexist attacks, on the other, their
sexuality is used to further misinformation. Last year, the Chhattisgarh Police
arrested a 31-year old man for running multiple fake Facebook accounts posing as a
woman and “posting provocative comments that could hurt social harmony”.
● Men are at the centre of the disinformation ecosystem in India. While women also
share false news, the number of men disseminating misinformation is higher for the
simple reason that they are greater in number on the Internet (almost double the
female population).
● Men manufacture false news and also fall for such news. They are proof that ‘women
gossip more’ is a gender stereotype.
● One of the most recent incidents that exposes gendered disinformation in India is the
Rhea Chakraborty saga. The whole episode was a reminder of deep rooted
internalised misogyny in the country.
● Misinformation and sexism have a symbiotic relationship. Misinformation piggybacks
on sexism to discredit vocal women and sexism uses misinformation to reinforce
patriarchal norms.
● While organised misinformation and trolling affect women on a personal level, the
issue that is often ignored is the effect they have on democracy. A healthy democracy
is participatory and promotes gender inclusiveness. Sexism and misinformation
intimidate women from taking vocal stands and are antithetical to a progressive
society.
● Historically, feminist movements have led to democratisation. Women
empowerment cannot be separated from a modern society. Savitribai Phule
could reform modern education in the 1800s because her husband Jotirao
Phule, a ‘Shudra’ himself, equipped her with knowledge restricted for the
Brahmin community. Jotirao was also fortunate to receive education in the first
place because of the foresight of his widowed aunt.
● Menaka Guruswamy and Arundhati Katju, the only openly gay women lawyers
in India, reformed the LGBTQ movement in the country by winning the
landmark case in 2018 that decriminalised gay sex. These women went against
the social norms of their time to make India more democratically sound.
● While social media gives a platform for women to raise issues, repeated abuse
takes away that freedom.
POPULATION AND ASSOCIATES ISSUES
An educated, enlightened and informed population is one of the surest ways of
promoting the health of a democracy – Nelson Mandela
India’s population as of March 2011 stood at 1,210 million, which account for approx. 17% of
the world’s population. These 1.21 billion people are unevenly distributed over our
country’s vast area of 3.28 million square km, which accounts for 2.4 per cent of the
world’s area.
The density of population in India (2011) is 382 persons per sq km.
Factors Influencing the Distribution of Population
Geographical Factors
● Availability of water : It is no wonder that civilizations like the Indus and
Mesopotamia developed at the banks of rivers which ensured adequate and
assured water supply for settlement.
● Landforms (Relief) : People prefer living on flat plains and gentle slopes. The
Ganga plains are among the most densely populated areas of the world while
the mountainous zones in the Himalayas are scarcely populated.
● Climate
● Soils
Economic Factors
● Minerals: Areas with mineral deposits attract industries. Mining and industrial
activities generate employment. So, skilled and semi–skilled workers move to these
areas and make them densely populated.
● Urbanisation: Cities offer better employment opportunities, educational and medical
facilities, better means of transport and communication.
● Industrialization
Social and Cultural Factors
● Some places attract more people because they have religious or cultural
significance. In the same way – people tend to move away from places where there
is social and political unrest.
Determinants of Population Change
Three factors determine the change in the size of the population of any country: how many
persons are born, how many persons die, and how many persons are added to the
population after considering the number of persons leaving the country and the number of
persons coming
● Fertility : The total fertility rate refers to the total number of live births that a woman
would have if she lived through the reproductive age group.
Determinants of High Fertility
● Religious Ideologies
● Universality of the institution of marriage.
● Early marriage and early child-bearing
● Preference for sons ingrained in the Indian culture.
● Lack of right of self-determination with reference to reproduction.
● High infant and child mortality rates - (unsatisfactory health, low
nutritional status and poverty) also contribute to a large family size.
● Economic, social, cultural as well as religious value of children in the Indian
society.
● Absence of adoption of methods of conception control
Implications of High Fertility
● Women are tied down to child-bearing and child-rearing for the best years of
their productive lives.
● denied the opportunity to explore other avenues for self-expression and
self-development.
● Excessive child-bearing affects their own health and that of their children.
● Looking after a large number of children puts a further strain on the slender
physical and emotional resources of such women.
● Economic distress and vicious cycle of poverty : Child labour starts at a very
early stage.
● They even indulge in delinquency and are, therefore, denied the opportunity
to go to school and get educated.
● The girl child is the worst sufferer in these circumstances. Early marriage
pushes her into child-bearing, and the vicious cycle continues.
● Mortality : Crude Death Rate, Expectation of Life at Birth, Infant Mortality Rate,
Maternal Mortality Rate
● An Indian born in 1950 could expect to live for 37 years, whereas today
India’s life expectancy at birth nearly doubled to 68 years
● IMR in the country has declined steadily from 47/1000 live births in 2010
to 32/1000 live births in 2018.
● Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) has declined from 167 per 1,00,000(2011)
live births to 113 in 2018 in the Country.
● Migration : Migration can be internal (within the country) or international (between the
countries). Internal migration does not change the size of the population, but influences
the distribution of population within the nation. Migration plays a very significant role in
changing the composition and distribution of population.
Trend in Growth of Indian Population
Average exponential growth rate for 2001-2011 has declined to 1.64% per annum from
1.97% per annum during 1991-2001. The average annual exponential growth rate during
1981-1991 was 2.16.
● The period from 1901-1921 is referred to as a period of stagnant or stationary
phase of growth of India’s population, since in this period growth rate was very
low, even recording a negative growth rate during 1911-1921.
● The decades 1921-1951 are referred to as the period of steady population growth.
An overall improvement in health and sanitation throughout the country brought
down the mortality rate.
● The decades 1951-1981 are referred to as the period of population explosion in
India, which was caused by a rapid fall in the mortality rate but a high fertility
rate of population in the country.
● In the post 1981 till present, the growth rate of the country's population though
remained high, has started slowing down gradually.
Demographic Dividend
● Demographic dividend occurs when the proportion of working people in the total
population is high because this indicates that more people have the potential to be
productive and contribute to growth of the economy.
● More than 63% of the population in India is in the age group of 15-59 years,
broadly termed as India’s demographic dividend.
● Changes in the age structure due to the demographic transition lower the
‘dependency ratio’, or the ratio of non-working age to working-age population, thus
creating the potential for generating growth.
● But this potential can be converted into actual growth only if the rise in the
working age group is accompanied by increasing levels of education and
employment. Thus, changing age structure by itself cannot guarantee any
benefits unless it is properly utilised through planned development.
● Human Capital : It refers to the stock of productive skills and technical
knowledge embodied in labour.
● The extent to which resources are used and the way in which they are used
determine whether an area is under- or overpopulated. A country is said to have an
optimum population when the number of people is in balance with the available
resources.
● If the population becomes too large then the “law of diminishing returns” begins to
operate.
● total disabled population of 2.68 crores in Census 2011.
Issues related to Youth
● National Youth Policy 2014 defines the age of youth as persons between the age
15-29 years.
● Employability Challenge - Over 30% of youth aged 15-29 in India are not in
employment, education or training (NEETs)
● Drug Abuse - Due to India’s close proximity with major opium growing areas of the
region, India is facing the serious menace of drug trafficking and as a spillover effect,
drug abuse especially among the youth
● Suicidal Tendencies
● Radicalization
● Political exclusion- Young people have been excluded from development programs
and activities in numerous ways.
National Youth Policy
● It will cover the entire country catering the needs of all youth in the age-group of
15-29 years, which constitutes 27.5 per cent of the population according to
Census-2011, that is about 33 crore persons.
Objective
● Create a productive workforce that can make a sustainable contribution to
India’s economic development :
○ Education, Employment & Skill Development, Entrepreneurship
● Develop a strong and healthy generation equipped to take on future challenges
○ Health & Healthy lifestyle, Sports
● Instill social values and promote community service to build national
ownership
○ Promotion of social values, Community engagement
● Facilitate participation and civic engagement at all levels of governance
○ Participate in politics and governance, Youth engagement
● Support youth at risk and create equitable opportunity for all disadvantaged
and marginalised youth
○ Inclusion, Social Justice
Factors that affect population growth
The overarching factor that affects population growth is low socio-economic
development.
● Infant mortality : IMR is the lowest at 15 in Kerala and the highest at 73 in Uttar
Pradesh. Empirical correlations suggest that high IMR leads to greater desire for
children.
● Early marriage : Not only does early marriage increase the likelihood of more
children, it also puts the woman’s health at risk.
● Level of education : Fertility rate usually declines with increase in education levels
of women
● Women Empowerment
● Availability of health services : Use of contraceptives
● Other socio-economic factors : preference for a male child,
MIGRATION
The study of migration occupies an important place in population studies, because, along
with fertility and mortality, it determines the size and rate of population growth as well
as its structure and characteristics. Migration also plays an important role in the
distribution of the population of any country, and determines the growth of the labour
force in any area.
In India, the most important sources of data on internal migration are national census and
sample surveys.
What Can be the Reasons That Make People Migrate?
Economic Factors & Demographic Factors
● Low agricultural income, agricultural unemployment and underemployment are the
major factors pushing the migrants towards areas with greater job opportunities.
● Push Factors : adverse economic conditions caused by poverty, low productivity,
unemployment, exhaustion of natural resources, lack of basic infrastructural facilities
like healthcare, education, etc. and natural calamities may compel people to leave
their native place in search of better economic opportunities.
● Pull Factors : opportunities for better employment, availability of regular work,
higher wages, better working conditions and better amenities of life, etc. Pull factors
operate not only in the rural-urban migration, but also in other types of internal as
well as international migration.
Socio-Cultural & Political Factors
Consequences of Migration
Economic Consequences
● Impact on Source and destination regions
Impact on migrants
● Job mismatch, labour market discrimination, unemployment and poor household
income, poverty, precarious work conditions, occupation, industry, and property
ownership are areas of concern for the migrant population.
Demographic Consequences
● Impact on Source and Destination Regions : Migration leads to the redistribution
of the population within a country. Rural urban migration is one of the important
factors contributing to the population growth of cities. Age and skill selective out
migration from the rural area have adverse effects on the rural demographic
structure. However, high out migration from Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Madhya
Pradesh and Eastern Maharashtra have brought serious imbalances in age and
sex composition in these states.
Social and Psychological Consequences
● Impact on Source and destination regions : Migrants act as agents of social
change. The new ideas related to new technologies, family planning, girl’s
education, etc. get diffused from urban to rural areas through them. Migration
leads to intermixing of people from diverse cultures.
● Impact on migrants : Urban life usually brings about certain social changes in the
migrants. Those migrants who return occasionally or remain in direct or indirect
contact with the households of their origin are also likely to transmit some new ideas
back to the areas of origin. But it also has serious negative consequences such as
anonymity, which creates a social vacuum and sense of dejection among
individuals. Continued feeling of dejection may motivate people to fall in the trap
of anti-social activities like crime and drug abuse.
. Environmental Consequences
● Overcrowding of people due to rural-urban migration has put pressure on the
existing social and physical infrastructure in the urban areas. This ultimately
leads to unplanned growth of urban settlement and formation of slums and
shanty colonies.
● Due to over-exploitation of natural resources, cities are facing the acute problem
of depletion of groundwater , disposal of sewage and management of solid
wastes.
Political Consequences
● A demographic shift in favor of immigrants may adversely affect incumbents control
over resources and make them economically vulnerable. Societies may also react
unfavorably to immigration if immigrants are perceived to be a social or an
economic burden.
● Immigrant receiving countries may find preserving their languages, values, norms
and customs challenging in the face of immigration.
● Human rights violations against migrants, including denial of access to
fundamental rights such as the right to education or the right to health, are often
closely linked to discriminatory laws and practice, and to deep-seated attitudes
of prejudice and xenophobia against migrants.
Modern Slavery
● It refers to situations of exploitation that a person cannot refuse or leave because of
threats, violence, coercion, deception, or abuse of power.
● Modern slavery takes many forms such as - Human trafficking, Forced labour,
Debt bondage/bonded labour, Descent–based slavery, Slavery of children
including child trafficking, child soldiers etc., Forced and early marriage
Factors for Modern slavery
● Absence of the Rule of Law: Without adequate enforcement of existing laws and
the strengthening of legal frameworks, human traffickers operate with impunity.
● Poverty: About 765 million people worldwide live in extreme poverty, making less
than $1.90 per day.
● Marginalized Groups: Groups that face discrimination, including ethnic and religious
minorities, women and children, and migrants and refugees, are vulnerable to
enslavement.
● War and Conflict
● Natural Disasters: Extreme weather, as well as resulting pandemics, can ravage a
country’s physical infrastructure, displace communities, and increase the desperation
of already marginalized groups.
● Deprivation of basic necessities like education, healthcare etc.
● Inequality of various kinds like class, caste and gender.
Modern slavery in India
● Global Slavery Index reported that there were 8 million people in modern slavery in
India.
● Data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) indicate that there were 8,132
reported cases of human trafficking across India. Most of the victims were
trafficked for forced labour and prostitution.
URBANIZATION
Urbanization is the process of becoming urban, moving to cities, changing from agriculture to
other pursuits common to cities, such as trade, manufacturing, industry and management,
and corresponding changes of behaviour patterns.
An increase in the size of towns and cities leading to growth of urban population is the
most significant dimension of urbanization.
as per the 2011 census, standing at 31.16% to be exact.
Urbanization and Associated phenomenon
There is no common global definition of what constitutes an urban settlement. The criteria
for classifying an area as urban may be based on one or a combination of characteristics,
such as: a minimum population threshold; population density; proportion employed in
non-agricultural sectors; the presence of infrastructure such as paved roads, electricity,
piped water or sewers; and the presence of education or health services.
Urban Agglomeration
Such towns together with their outgrowths have been treated as one urban unit and
called 'urban agglomeration'. Very often large railway colonies, university campuses, port
areas, military camps etc. come up outside the statutory limits of the city or town but
adjoining it.
Suburbanization
When cities get over-crowded by population, it may result in sub-urbanization. Delhi is a
typical example. Sub-urbanization means urbanization of rural areas around the cities.
Census Towns
To be classified as a census town, a village must fulfil three criteria;
● at least 5,000 inhabitants, a density of 400 people per sq. km, at least three quarters
of its male working population must be "engaged in non-agricultural pursuits".
Process of Urbanization
In the context of India, the process of urbanization is seen as a socio-cultural process,
economic process and a geographical process.
● As a socio-cultural phenomenon, it is a melting pot of people with diverse
ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds.
● As an economic process, the city is a focal point of productive activities. It exists and
grows on the strength of the economic activities existing within itself.
● Under the geographical process, it deals with migration or change of location of
residence of people and involves the movement of people from one place to another.
As per 2011 Census, 377 million Indians comprising 31.1% of the total population live
in urban areas. The United Nations (UN) Habitat World Cities 2016 Report estimates that
urban population in India reached 420 million in 2015.
During 1981-2001, urbanization in India was mainly driven by natural increase in the
population of cities (around 60%), followed by rural-urban migration, expansion of
boundaries of cities and re-classification of rural areas into urban areas. However,
between 2001 and 2011, the share of natural increase in the cities’ population declined
to 44% while the share of reclassification of rural areas into urban areas strengthened
and the share of rural-urban migration increased to 24%.
Problems of Urbanization
● Housing and Inflated Land Prices : A key factor contributing to inflated land prices
in India has been the flow of illicit money into real estate. At least four supply side
factors have also contributed to the artificially high urban property values in India.
○ As a legacy of the Urban Land Ceilings and Regulation Act, 1976, large
chunks of vacant land have disappeared from urban land markets.
○ Many sick public sector enterprises (PSEs) own large pieces of unused land
in prime urban areas.
○ Central and state governments own substantial urban land that remain
unused or subject to encroachment.
○ Land Acquisition Act, 2013 fixes compensation for acquired land at rather
high levels. In turn, this makes land acquired for affordable housing
expensive and contributes to high costs.
○ A further constraint on the supply of urban land is the stringency of land
conversion rules. Vast tracts of land on the outer periphery of cities are
potentially available for urban expansion. But this requires conversion of the
tracts from agricultural to non-agricultural uses.
○
Scarcity of horizontal space can be countered by expanding space
vertically through the construction of taller buildings. The availability of
this avenue depends on the permitted floor space index (FSI), which
measures the floor-space in a building as a proportion of the area of the plot
on which the building stands. Unfortunately, permitted FSI in Indian cities
is extremely low, ranging from 1 to 1.5. Consequently, tall buildings are
virtually absent from Indian cities.
● Housing and Slums
○ With large scale migration to urban areas many find that the only option they
have is substandard conditions of slums. Slums are characterized by
substandard housing, overcrowding, lack of electrification, ventilation,
sanitation, roads and drinking water facilities. They have been the breeding
ground of diseases, environmental pollution, demoralization and many social
tensions.
○ Overcrowding
In major cities in India like Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune and Kanpur, somewhere
between 85% and 90% of households live in one or two rooms. In some
homes, five to six persons live in one room. Over-crowding encourages
deviant behaviour, spreads diseases and creates conditions for mental
illness, alcoholism and riots. One effect of dense urban living is people’s
apathy and indifference.
URBAN TRANSFORMATION
Urbanization is a form of social transformation from traditional rural societies to modern
urban communities. Urban transformation expresses entire strategies and actions used to
improve the economic, social, physical, and environmental conditions of damaged and
collapsed urban areas by comprehensive and integrated approaches.
For example, in Pune, India's first worker-owned waste-pickers’ cooperative is helping
to create an efficient waste-collection system that reaches more residents and shows cities
how to incorporate informal workers into a modern economy.
The approach of urban transformation becomes important due to following reasons:
● Population growth: By 2050 the proportion living in urban areas is expected to
reach 66%.
● Employment opportunities
● Economic growth: Indian cities are likely to contribute to 70% of India’s GDP by
2030.
● Sustainable development: The urban transformation puts the cities on a central
stage for accelerating change towards local and global sustainability and resilience.
● Haphazard urbanisation
What are the challenges in effecting urban transformation?
● Institutional:
○ The 74th amendment act has been implemented half-heartedly by the states
which have not fully empowered the Urban local bodies (ULBs) functionally
and financially.
○ Public monopoly, organizational inefficiency, technical flaws in the form of
high leakages, lack of preventive maintenance, poor accounting as well as
over staffing and lack of autonomy have led to failure of the public sector to
provide adequate service delivery.
○ Lack of qualified planning professionals
○ Lack a modern planning framework (decentralised planning) which limits
effective land utilisation and cities’ abilities to grow in accordance with
changing needs.
● Infrastructural:
○ heavy pressure on public utilities like housing, sanitation, transport, water,
electricity, health, education etc. due to rapid growth in population
○ Lack of investment in urban infrastructure and capacity building
○ In 2019, New Delhi and Mumbai ranked 118th and 119th respectively, on the
Global Liveability Index that covered 140 cities. Due to high income
inequality and poor quality of life.
● Environmental:
○ higher risk to floods, earthquakes
○ Urban areas are becoming heat islands, rising air and groundwater pollution
and persistent water crisis.
○ pollution in Delhi, floods in Mumbai and Chennai indicate poor urban planning
and management.
● Social:
○ Issues of lack of resources, overcrowding, unemployment, poverty, and lack
of social services and education habitually lead to many social problems and
crimes including violence, drug abuse, human trafficking, sexual assault, child
labour etc.
Steps taken by government to overcome these challenges and their progress
● PMAY-U
○ It addresses urban housing shortage among the Economically Weaker
Sections (EWS) and Middle Income Group (MIG) categories including the
slum dwellers by ensuring a pucca house to all by 2022.
○1.12 crore houses sanctioned and more than 50 lakh houses completed.
○Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHCs) for urban migrants/ poor
launched as response to reverse migration induced by COVID-19.
● AMRUT
○ aims to provide basic services like water supply, sewerage, etc. to households
and build amenities in cities. 500 cities selected under AMRUT.
○ 105 lakh household water taps and 78 lakh sewer connections have been
provided.
○ 88 lakh streetlights have been replaced with energy efficient LED lights
leading to energy savings and reduction in CO2 emission.
● SCM
○ aims to promote cities that provide core infrastructure, clean and sustainable
environment to their citizens through the application of ‘smart solutions’ like
smart grid, smart water using Internet of Things (IoT) etc.
○ based on 6 fundamental principles
Ritzer(2004) has coined another word grobalization that refers to what he calls “growth
imperatives(pushing) organisations and nations to expand globally and to impose
themselves on the local ''. For Ritzer, Globalization is the sum total of ‘glocalization’ and
‘grobalization’.
Homogenization of Culture
● Family structure: Joint family has been adversely affected due to globalization.
There has been an increase in nuclear families.
● Food: due to opening up of food joints like McDonalds, KFC across the country, there
has been a homogenization of food available across the country, but there has also
been heterogenization in food.
● Use of English has increased manifold in urban areas, this has led to a
homogenization in language across the country, but the rural areas have been less
affected by it.
Glocalization of Culture
● Food: India has its unique cuisine, but the cuisines of foreign countries have become
more easily available, they are modified to suit the taste buds of Indians (like
Paneer Tikka Burger in McDonalds).
● Movies: popularity of foreign movies has increased, Hollywood, Chinese, French
and Korean movies are quite popular among the urban youth. Along with this,
dubbing of these foreign movies in local languages is testimony of increased
glocalization.
● Festivals: celebrations of Valentines’ day, Friendship day are examples of
change in cultural values related to festivals. However, along with these new days,
traditional festivals are celebrated with equal enthusiasm.
● Marriage: Importance of marriage is decreasing, there has been an increase in
divorce, increase in live-in relationships, and single parenting is increasing. Marriage
used to be considered as bonding of the souls; but today marriage is becoming
professional and contractual. However, despite change in forms of marriage, it has
not declined as an institution.
● Indo-western dress
Revival of Culture
● Revival of Yoga in the country as well as in the international level. celebration of
International Yoga day across the world
● a revival of ayurvedic medicines in the country as well as outside it
● Due to increasing global tourism, locals are making efforts to preserve their diversity
and revive their traditions.
● Festivals like Holi, Diwali etc. are becoming famous in Western Countries.
● Bollywood movies like Dangal, Secret Superstar etc. very famous in China
● Traditional sports like Malkhamb becoming famous in USA
Negatives
● Indian Economy has become more vulnerable to global shocks like East Asian crisis
1997, European crisis, Global Financial crisis (2007-08) etc
● Globalization has adversely affected many established companies (like organisations
manufacturing Ambassador Cars or Fiat cars etc) which failed to face competition
from established global players.
● Steep and fast reductions in custom duties have snatched a large part of Indian
market from Indian Industry and passed it on to imports from established global
players.
● For its survival in the face of global competition, Indian industry has transformed
itself from labour intensive processes to Capital intensive processes by
adopting global technologies and automatic machinery. This has resulted in a high
rate of unemployment in India.
● a tremendous increase in consumerism for goods and services
We may call globalization, at best, a double edged weapon. It has helped Indian
consumers to enjoy all high Quality global brands. It did help the Government of India
to tide over its serious foreign exchange problem, though temporarily, by enabling it to
get loan from IMF. But critics cite serious erosion of control of Indian Government over
its economy and the loss to local Industry as setbacks.
●
●
WELFARE SCHEMES FOR VULNERABLE SECTIONS OF THE POPULATION BY THE
CENTRE AND STATES AND THE PERFORMANCE OF THESE SCHEMES;
MECHANISMS, LAWS, INSTITUTIONS AND BODIES CONSTITUTED FOR THE
PROTECTION AND BETTERMENT OF THESE VULNERABLE SECTIONS
Vulnerable Sections
The term vulnerability is defined as “proneness to harm or damage originating from
external forces”.
Vulnerable sections are those sections of the population who are at higher risk of
suffering due to imperfect or unjust systems - social, political, cultural, economic,
physical, family structure, environmental or any other factor that has a bearing on these
groups.
“Groups that experience a higher risk of poverty and social exclusion than the general
population. Ethnic minorities, migrants, disabled people, the homeless, those struggling
with substance abuse, isolated elderly people and children all often face difficulties that
can lead to further social exclusion, such as low levels of education and
unemployment or underemployment".
Some common characteristics of vulnerability faced by these vulnerable sections are as
follows:
● They, as a group, are vulnerable
● This vulnerability is due to many factors - socio-cultural, economic
● This vulnerability is systematic and structured
Various groups in India can be included under vulnerable sections viz.- children, women,
scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, other backward classes, minorities, senior
citizens, disabled persons, LGBT communities, poor persons etc.
This centrally sponsored scheme was launched on October 2, 1975 for early childhood
care by providing for supplementary nutrition, immunization and pre-school education
to the children.
Objectives
● To improve the nutritional and health status of children in the age-group 0-6
years;
● To reduce the incidence of mortality, morbidity, malnutrition and school
dropout;
● To achieve effective coordination of policy and implementation amongst the
various departments to promote child development;
● To enhance the capability of the mother to look after the normal health and
nutritional needs of the child through proper nutrition and health education.
Beneficiaries
● Children in the age group of 0-6 years, Pregnant women and Lactating mothers
Challenges
● The Scheme has been marred by limited capacity and poor fund utilization.
● Survey for vulnerability mapping is a key mandate for the District Child
Protection Units. However, the budget for the same under ICPS is a constraint.
● Emergency outreach services through the Childline 1098 helpline are also facing
issues of inaccessibility
● little focus on the training and sensitisation of functionaries and awareness
generation activities.
Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Scheme
Mid-Day Meal Scheme aims to:
● avoid classroom hunger, increase school enrolment
● increase school attendance, improve socialisation among castes
● address malnutrition, empower women through employment
National Child Labour Project (NCLP)
● To eliminate all forms of child labour through identification and withdrawal of all
children in the Project Area from child labour, preparing children withdrawn from
work for mainstream education along with vocational training, ensuring
convergence of services provided by different government
departments/agencies for the benefit of child and their family
● To contribute to the withdrawal of all adolescent workers from Hazardous
Occupations and their Skilling and integration in appropriate occupations through
facilitating vocational training opportunities through existing scheme of skill
developments
● Raising awareness amongst stakeholders and target communities
● Creation of a Child Labour Monitoring, Tracking and Reporting System
SABLA is a comprehensively conceived scheme which involves inputs from key sectors
of health, education and employment, each of which addresses needs fundamental to
the holistic growth of an adolescent girl.
Empowerment of adolescent girls has multiple dimensions, and requires a
multi-sectoral response.
Its intended beneficiaries are adolescent girls of 11–18 years old under all ICDS projects
in selected 200 districts in all states/UTs in the country.
Salient features of the Scheme include:
● Nutrition provision, Iron and folic acid (IFA) supplementation, Health check-up
and referral services, Nutrition & health education, Upgrade home-based skills,
life skills and integrate with the national skill development program (NSDP) for
vocational skills.
Other Schemes Related to Girl Child
● Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (BBBP)
● 'Sukanya Samriddhi Yojna
● Udaan is an initiative of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to enable
girl students to soar to higher education from schools, and to eventually take various
leadership roles in future.
Women
India has traditionally been a patriarchal society and therefore women, irrespective of
their class, caste or religion, they have always suffered from social handicaps and
disabilities.
● Women face different forms of violence like infanticide, neglect of nutrition needs,
education and healthcare.
● little or no property in their name and with little or poor formal education, they
become dependent on their male counterpart.
● Early marriage and childbearing affects the health of the women adversely.
Maternal mortality rate is still very high.
● domestic violence, sexual abuse at the workplace and sexual violence including
marital rape and honor killings
Facts about Women
● Child Sex Ratio declined from 927 in 2001 to 918 (Census 2011)
Women
National Commission for Women
set up in January 1992 under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990 to:
● Review the Constitutional and Legal safeguards for women;
● Recommend remedial legislative measures;
● Facilitate redressal of grievances and
● Advise the Government on all policy matters affecting women.
Various functions of the commission are following:
● Look into complaints and take suo moto notice of matters relating to: Deprivation
of women's rights; Non-implementation of laws enacted to provide protection to
women and also to achieve the objective of equality and development
● Undertake promotional and educational research
● Participate and advice on the planning process of socio-economic development of
women;
● Inspect or cause to inspect a jail, remand home or other place of custody where
women are kept as prisoners or otherwise and take up with the concerned authorities
for remedial action
● Fund litigation involving issues affecting a large body of women
● Make periodical reports to the Government on any matter pertaining to women
The Commission shall have all the powers of a civil court which includes:
● Summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person from any part of India and
examining him on oath
● Requiring the discovery and production of any document
● Receiving evidence on affidavits
● Requisitioning any public record or copy thereof from any court or office
● Issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses and documents
Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK)
established in 1993, is a national level organization under the aegis of the Ministry of
Women and Child Development, for socio-economic empowerment of women.
RMK extends micro-credit to the women in the informal sector through a client friendly,
without collateral and in a hassle-free manner for income generation activities. It acts
as a facilitating agency wherein RMK provides loans to NGO-MFIs termed as Intermediary
Organizations (IMO) which then lend to Self Help Groups (SHGs) of women.
Way forward
● Incentivising and enabling girls to continue schooling up to Class 12 and helping to
enhance their nutrition can stop under-age marriages.
● Efforts to address child marriage in India should be in consonance with the
socio-economic realities that demand investment in education, welfare, and
opportunities for women.
● Noting the law’s patriarchal underpinnings, the 18th Law Commission report (2008)
asked for uniformity in the age of marriage at 18 years for both men and women and
lowering the age of consent to 16 years, a recommendation also of the Justice Verma
Committee.
Elopements most prosecuted under child marriage law: study
● Legal proceedings against child marriages are commonly undertaken against
elopements whereas forced child marriages often go unpunished
● The study found that legal prosecution of child marriages was twice as much against
elopement or self arranged marriages by girls with such cases accounting for 65% (
54 out of a total 83 cases) of the total cases studied. Only 30% of the cases were
those of arranged child marriages, and a mere 5% were forced child marriages (such
as those that involved kidnapping, enticement or forcible marriage by parents).
● The study terms this “weaponization of the law to settle family dishonour”.
● Law reform in this area must aim to shield the young in self arranged marriages.
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
● Reproductive matters encompass rights that enable individuals to make informed
choices and decisions regarding their sexual and reproductive health needs, and to
do so free from discrimination, coercion and violence.
● In India, according to NFHS-4 (2015-2016), only about 12% of currently married
women (15-49 years of age) independently make decisions about their own
healthcare.
Barriers to reproductive Health
● Lack of accessibility: Decisions about contraception and reproductive health care
are sometimes impeded by the distance to clinics and facilities, especially in rural
areas. delays or denials in accessing safe, quality and legal abortion care.
● Availability related issues: Absence of adolescent- and youth-responsive services,
shortages of preferred methods of contraception, poor-quality or poorly managed
services, services that are staffed by judgmental providers and lack of privacy.
● Inadequate Policies: such as non-recognition of marital rape, absence of
Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE).
● Age based Discrimination: For e.g., Unequal access by adolescents to sexual and
reproductive health information and services.
● Structural obstacles: Religion and gender norms can influence the extent to which
laws are implemented or enforced.
● Lack of literacy and awareness about rights
Challenging negative social norms
● demographic sweet spot - Half of India’s population is under 29 years of age, which
means that in this period, a greater proportion of young people will drive India’s
economic growth and social progress. So, they must not only be healthy,
knowledgeable and skilled but must also be provided with the rights and choices to
develop to their fullest potential, including, and especially, sexual and reproductive
health and rights (SRHR)
● India’s population growth is now stabilising. The decline in overall fertility
notwithstanding, the population will continue to grow because of the effect of
‘population momentum’. However, the TFR remains higher than the national average
of 2.2 children among women who live in rural areas, have little formal education and
are in the lowest income quintile — a majority of them live in the poorer States.
● Changing social norms is one of the biggest challenges for India to address the
needs of the next generation. India’s population stabilisation strategy must be
adjusted keeping in mind the rights of women and girls. Women must have a greater
say in choosing their family size. Prescriptive or coercive methods, such as oneor
two child norms, have rarely worked well anywhere for long.
● for women and girls, the empowerment to make choices leads to better health
outcomes, such as knowing how to prevent unintended pregnancy or giving birth with
the help of a skilled birth attendant
● pervasive negative social norms, health system barriers and gender inequality
hindered universal access to SRHR
● In the last two decades, India has made substantial gains with SRH indicators.
Progressive policies for maternal health have resulted in improved rates of
institutional delivery and a decline in maternal mortality ratio (MMR) from 327 in
19992001 to 113 per 100,000 live births in 201618, as per Sample Registration
System (SRS) data
● National Health Family Survey 5 for the year 201920 (NFHS5) shows how
contraceptive prevalence has improved in most States. We ought to celebrate India’s
success, as it significantly contributes to global progress.
● Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP), has made some efforts to challenge existing social
norms and has underlined that investments in social causes must go alongside
economic progress. All sections of society must embrace this call for positive change,
each doing their part, from the individual to the institution level.
● many challenges on the path to SDGs 2030
○ Two million adolescent girls (15-19 years) each year had a pregnancy, and of
these, nearly 63% were unwanted or unintended. This points to inadequate
information and access to SRH services for this age group. In girls aged 1519
years, 22.2% had an unmet need for contraception, according to NFHS4.
○ Girls are still marrying too young — 26.8% of women aged 2024 years are
married before they turn 18, often having their first child within the first year of
marriage.
○ gender based violence and harmful practices that are socially sanctioned. All
of these practices are rooted in social norms, beliefs and practices that deny
women their bodily autonomy.
● India has slipped 28 places to rank 140th among 156 countries, becoming the
third worst performer in South Asia in The World Economic Forum’s (WEF)
Global Gender Gap Report (2021).
● placing youth, women and girls at the centre of policy making and services could
trigger a positive ripple effect. If young people, and adolescent girls in particular, have
access to education, relevant skills, information and services to make healthy
choices, including related to SRH, are empowered to exercise their rights, and have
access to opportunities for employment, then India will be on a clear path to achieve
its goals.
● When women can make informed choices about their sexual and reproductive health,
and when they have access to services to support their choices, societies are
healthier and more productive.
Scheduled Tribes
Article 366 (25) of the Constitution of India defines Scheduled Tribes as "such tribes or
tribal communities or parts of or groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are
deemed under Article 342 to be Scheduled Tribes for the purposes of this constitution”.
The characteristics of these communities are:
● Primitive Traits, Geographical isolation, Distinct culture, Shy of contact with
community at large, Economically backward
Issues related with them:
● socially and economically disadvantaged.
● They constitute a large proportion of agricultural labourers, casual labourers,
plantation labourers, industrial labourers.
● poorest strata of the society and have low levels of education, poor health and
reduced access to healthcare services
● Loss of forests, alienation of land and repeated displacement have further made
their position vulnerable
Other Backward Classes (OBCs)
● such backward classes of citizens other than the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes as may be specified by the Central Government from time to time for purposes
of making provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of
backward classes of citizens
Senior Citizens/Aged
who has attained the age of sixty years or above.
The vulnerability among the elderly is due to an increased incidence of illness and
disability, economic dependency upon their spouses, children and other younger family
members.
Schemes
Schemes
Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan)
The campaign targets at enhancing the accessibility of the built environment, transport
system and Information & communication ecosystem.
Components of Accessible India Campaign:
● Built Environment Accessibility
● Transportation System Accessibility
● Information and Communication Eco-System Accessibility
Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme
to provide financial assistance to voluntary organizations to make available the whole
range of services necessary for rehabilitation of persons with disabilities including
early intervention, development of daily living skills, education, skill-development
oriented towards employability, training and awareness generation.
Nai Roshni
envisaged to reach out to women through non-governmental organizations who will be
provided with financial support for conducting leadership development trainings
USTAAD
The Scheme aims at upgrading Skills and Training in preservation of traditional
Ancestral Arts/Crafts of minorities
LGBT Community
LGBT persons have historically faced and continue to face discrimination and violence
around the world. According to 2011 census, almost six lakh transgender people live in
India.
they continue to face various issues like-
● Social discrimination, deprivation of liberty, lack of employment and
educational opportunities, limited access to health care etc.
● Forced or bonded labour, denial of use of a public place, denial of residence in
household, village
● Physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and economic abuse
08/06/2021
Protect LGBTQIA+ community: Madras HC
● Empathising with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual
and such others’ (LGBTQIA+) community, the Madras HC directed the MoSJ&E to
enlist nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) that could provide counselling,
monetary support, legal assistance and protection to them until a law could be
enacted to protect them.
● upload the details of the NGOs, along with their address, contact details and the
services provided by them, on its website within eight weeks and revise the
information periodically.
● NGOs, in consultation with the Ministry, should maintain confidential records of such
persons who approached them and the aggregate data be submitted to the Ministry
biannually.
● NGOs should also coordinate with the police with respect to offences committed
against them.
● Garima Greh (shelter home for transgender persons) for providing accommodation,
food, medical care and recreational facilities to those from the community in need of
such assistance. The Ministry was directed to create the infrastructural requirements
within 12 weeks.
● Sensitisation programmes could also be conducted for stakeholders, including police
and prison authorities, judges, physical and mental health professionals, educational
institutions, health workers, public and private workplaces.
● We need both niti and nyaya for ensuring complete justice to the LGBTQIA+
community.
● Need to enhance their political voice.
Poor Persons
Poor persons face a number of problems due to their incapacity to afford resources be it –
healthcare, education, entertainment, better quality of life or anything else. This causes them
to live in a vicious cycle of poverty where due to less money at their disposal they are not
able to get better education which leads to them lending into low wages jobs or being
unemployed which in turn perpetuates their poverty and they are not able to get out of the
poverty trap.
Schemes for Poor Persons
MGNREGA
flagship employment generation programme of the Government. It has been instrumental in
creating employment opportunities and placing additional income in the hands of the poor
and the disadvantaged sections of society who volunteer to do unskilled work with an
entitlement of 100 days of wage employment to each registered rural household every
financial year.
Salient Features
● statutory minimum wage
● Strong social safety net for the vulnerable groups
● Sustainable development of an agricultural economy employment on works that
address drought, deforestation and soil erosion, water and soil conservation,
afforestation and land development works
● At least one-third beneficiaries shall be women.
● Social audit has to be done by the gram sabha.
weaknesses found in implementation of MGNREGA
● Though the MGNREGA Act is Panchayat centric and demand based, on the ground,
there is a lack of principal role in planning by the Gram Sabha/Gram Panchayat.
● The programme is being implemented in a supply driven mode and there is a lack of
panchayat driven selection of work.
● There are also cases of procedures being not fully followed, lack of proper planning
and some ill-conceived projects.
Mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and
betterment of these vulnerable sections
Mechanisms Existing in India for Vulnerable Sections
Various mechanisms to ensure social justice to vulnerable section are following-
● Various Schemes launched by government and their implementing agencies
● Various laws passed by legislative bodies
● Various Policies brought by the Government
● Various Bodies established for the welfare of these groups
● Judiciary to seek enforcement of rights of these groups and to seek justice against
crime
Children
Constitutional Provisions
● Article 15(3): States can make special provisions for betterment of children.
● Article 21 A: State to provide free and compulsory education of all children in the age
group of six to fourteen years
● Article 23: Right to being protected from being trafficked and forced into bonded
labour
● Article 24: Prohibition of employment of children below the age of 14 years of age in
factories
● Article 45: The state to provide early childhood care and education for all children
until they complete the age of six years
Legislations Related to Children
● Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986
● The Pre-conception & Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and
Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994 (PCPNDT Act, 1994)
● Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015- It provides for
strengthened provisions for both children in need of care and protection and children
in conflict with law
○ inclusion of several new definitions such as orphaned, abandoned and
surrendered children and petty, serious and heinous offences committed by
children;
○ clarity in powers, function and responsibilities of Juvenile Justice Board
(JJB) and Child Welfare Committee (CWC)
○ clear timelines for inquiry by Juvenile Justice Board (JJB);
○ separate new chapter on Adoption to streamline adoption of orphan,
abandoned and surrendered children;
Women
Constitutional Provisions
● Article 15(3): State can make special provisions for women
● Article 23: Right to being protected from being trafficked and forced into bonded
labour
● Article 39 (a): State to ensure that, men and women equally, have the right to an
adequate means to livelihood
● Article 39 (d): State to ensure equal pay to women for equal work
● Article 42: Provision for just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief.
● Article 243 D: Provides for reservation of seats in Panchayats at all levels to
women.
Legislations Related to Women
● Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 - Provides for paid maternity leaves of
26 months
● Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961— To end dowry by providing penal provisions.
● Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act 1986 – Penal provisions for trafficking of women
● Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act 1986 – To protect dignity of
women
● National Commission of Women Act 1990 – Establishes National Commission of
Women
● Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 – To protect women from
domestic violence
● Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013 – It addresses workplace
sexual harassment.
Disabled Persons
Constitutional Provisions
● The Preamble, Article 14, Article 21 and DPSP(Article 41) provide the right to
equality, justice and dignity of all individuals leading to an inclusive
development which also includes the Disabled Persons.
Legislations Enacted for Disabled Persons
● Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016
● Mental Healthcare Act 2017
Minorities
Constitutional Provisions
● Preamble: Justice – social, economic, political to all its citizens
● Articles 14,15 and 16 : Guarantee right to equality and prohibits discrimination
● Article 25-28 : Right to Freedom of Religion
● Article 29: Right to preserve language script and culture and that they will not be
denied admission to an educational institutions based on their race, language,
religion or caste
● Article 30: The right to establish and administer educational institutions and
prohibition on any discrimination in matters of granting aids to such institutions by the
State
Laws Related to Minorities
● National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions Act, 2004 -- This act
allows direct affiliation of minority educational institutes to central universities. This
act was enacted in order to provide quality education in minority institutes.
● National Commission for Minorities
Children
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)
a statutory body created under Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act,
2005 to exercise and perform the powers and functions assigned to it under CPCR Act,
2005. Its mission is to ensure that all laws, policies, programmes and administrative
mechanisms are in consonance with the child rights perspective as enshrined in the
Constitution of India as well as in, the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child,
which India ratified in 1992.
various functions under following laws and rules-
● CPCR Act, 2005
● Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education(RTE) Act, 2009
● Protection of Children from Sexual Offences(POCSO) Act : POSCO e-Box.
The functions and powers of the National Commission are following:
● Examine and review the legal safeguards provided by or under any law for the
protection of child rights and recommend measures for their effective implementation
● Inquire into violation of child rights and recommend initiation of proceedings in such
cases
● Spread awareness about child rights among various sections of society
● Undertake and promote research in the field of child rights
● Inspect institutions meant for juvenile/children
● Inquire into complaints of deprivation and violation of child rights, non-implementation
of laws and non-compliance with policy decisions, guidelines or instructions
● The Commission has the power of a civil court and all criminal cases brought to
the same has to be forwarded to a concerned Magistrate who has jurisdiction
to try the same.
SCs/STs/OBCs
National Commission for SCs
under Article 338
following duties and functions:
● To investigate and monitor all matters relating to the safeguards provided for the
Scheduled Castes under the Constitution or under any other law for the time being in
force or under any order of the Government and to evaluate the working of such
safeguards;
● To inquire into specific complaints with respect to the deprivation of rights and
safeguards of the Scheduled Castes;
National SC Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC)
under Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India for financing,
facilitating and mobilizing funds for the economic empowerment of persons
belonging to the Scheduled Castes families
Financing income generating schemes for the SCs through the State Channelizing Agencies
(SCAs) and other recognized institutions nominated by the respective State /UT
Governments.
Providing grants for skill development programmes through the SCAs.
National Safai Karamcharis Finance Development Corporation (NSKFDC)
functions as an Apex institution for channelising the funds to Safai Karamcharis/ Scavengers
and their dependents through the State Channelising Agencies.
It has been designated as the Nodal Agency for implementation of the Central Sector Self
Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS) under the aegis
of the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.
Eradicating Poverty
In 2011, 268 million people were surviving on less than $1.90 a day, the World Bank
measure for extreme poverty. According to the World Data Lab — which monitors global
poverty using advanced statistical models — less than 50 million Indians may be living
on less than $1.90 a day now. Economists said rapid economic growth and the use of
technology for social sector programs have helped make a significant dent in extreme
poverty in the country.
Poverty is the general scarcity of a certain amount of material possessions or money (<
$1.25/day) and includes social, economic, and political concepts. Absolute poverty (as
defined by the UN) is “a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human
needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and
information.”
Every successive government, since 1947, has tried to reduce poverty by making various
policies. But, it is still far from satisfactory, for about half of the labor force working in the
agricultural sector and a majority of the population still living in rural areas.
● MGNREGA) 2005: The Act provides 100 days assured employment every year to
every rural household. One-third of the proposed jobs would be reserved for women.
● National Rural Livelihood Mission: Ajeevika (2011): It evolves out the need to
diversify the needs of the rural poor and provide them jobs with regular income on a
monthly basis. Self Help groups are formed at the village level to help the needy.
● National Urban Livelihood Mission: The NULM focuses on organizing urban poor
in Self Help Groups, creating opportunities for skill development leading to
market-based employment and helping them to set up self-employment ventures by
ensuring easy access to credit.
● Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana: It will focus on fresh entrants to the labour
market, especially labour market and class X and XII dropouts.
● Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana: It aimed at direct benefit transfer of subsidy,
pension, insurance etc. and attained the target of opening 1.5 crore bank accounts.
The scheme particularly targets the unbanked poor.
● National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS): This pension is given by the central
government. The job of implementation of this scheme in states and union
territories is given to panchayats and municipalities.
Challenges :
● India is still far from achieving SDG 1.
● While a large number of poverty alleviation programmes have been initiated, they
function in silos. There is no systematic attempt to identify people who are in
poverty, determine their needs, address them and enable them to move above
the poverty line.
● Every year a huge number is added to the population pool of the country. This
renders the scheme ineffective.
Way Forward
○ It’s not just about agricultural growth, which has long been considered the
key driver of poverty reduction. In fact, rural India is not predominantly
agricultural and shares many of the economic conditions of smaller urban
areas.
○ Capitalizing on growing connectivity between rural and urban areas, and
between the agriculture, industry and services sectors, has been effective in
the past two decades and holds promise for the future.
○ Future efforts will need to address job creation in more productive sectors,
which has until now been lukewarm and has yielded few salaried jobs that
offer stability and security.
○ The most worrying trends are the low participation of women in the labor
market and the slow progress among scheduled tribes.
○ India’s women have been withdrawing from the labor force since 2005
and less than one-third of working age women are now in the labor
force. As a result, India today ranks last among BRICS countries, and
close to the bottom in South Asia in female labor force participation.
○ More and more of India’s poor are concentrated in the poorest states,
and even within relatively prosperous states, certain pockets of deprivation
persist where people are unable to share in the state’s successes.
○ The recent past shows that some problems, such as undernutrition and
open defecation, are endemic and not only confined to the poor but others
too, and have not improved with economic growth.
○ Better health, sanitation and education will not only help raise the
productivity of millions, they will also empower the people to meet their
aspirations, and provide the country with new drivers of economic growth.
Poverty eradication should not be the goal of the government but the goal of the
government policies should be to create prosperity.
The indicator is based on the health and education status of a population apart from per
capita income, bringing us back to the relevance of income generation to poverty.
Some of the most challenging issues facing India today are poverty, development of rural
India and building infrastructure. We are a billion-strong country today and our human
capital is the biggest asset; it needs investment in health and education. We also need to
understand the concept of employment and the need for creating more employment in our
country.
No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the
members are poor and miserable. - Adam Smith
Providing minimum basic needs to the people and reduction of poverty have been the major
aims of independent India. The pattern of development that the successive five year plans
envisaged laid emphasis on the upliftment of the poorest of the poor (Antyodaya),
integrating the poor into the mainstream and achieving a minimum standard of living
for all.
While addressing the Constituent Assembly in 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru had said, “This
achievement (Independence) is but a step, an opening of opportunity, to the great triumphs
and achievements that await us… the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and
inequality of opportunity.”
Poverty is not only a challenge for India, as more than one fifth of the world’s poor live in
India alone; but also for the world, where about 300 million people are not able to meet their
basic needs.
As poverty has many dimensions, it has to be looked at through a variety of indicators —
levels of income and consumption, social indicators, and indicators of vulnerability to
risks and of socio/political access.
Push cart vendors, street cobblers, women who string flowers, rag pickers, vendors and
beggars are some examples of poor and vulnerable groups in urban areas. The poor people
possess few assets and reside in kutcha hutments with walls made of baked mud and roofs
made of grass, thatch, bamboo and wood. The poorest of them do not even have such
dwellings. In rural areas many of them are landless.
Starvation and hunger are the key features of the poorest households. The poor lack
basic literacy and skills and hence have very limited economic opportunities. Poor
people also face unstable employment. Malnutrition is alarmingly high among the poor.
Ill health, disability or serious illness makes them physically weak. They borrow from money
lenders who charge high rates of interest that lead them into chronic indebtedness. The poor
are highly vulnerable. They are not able to negotiate their legal wages from employers and
are exploited. Most poor households have no access to electricity. A large section of poor
people do not even have access to safe drinking water. There is evidence of extreme
gender inequality in the participation of gainful employment, education and in
decision-making within the family. Poor women receive less care on their way to
motherhood. Their children are less likely to survive or be born healthy.
Economists identify the poor on the basis of their occupation and ownership of assets.
They state that the rural poor work mainly as landless agricultural labourers, cultivators with
very small landholdings, landless labourers who are engaged in a variety of non-agricultural
jobs and tenant cultivators with small land holdings.
The urban poor are largely the overflow of the rural poor who have migrated to urban areas
in search of alternative employment and livelihood, labourers who do a variety of casual jobs
and the self-employed who sell a variety of things on roadsides and are engaged in various
activities.
Poverty is hunger. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not
being able to go to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job. Poverty
is fear for the future, having food once in a day. Poverty is losing a child to illness, brought
about by unclear water. Poverty is powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom.
If India is to solve the problem of poverty, it has to find viable and sustainable strategies to
address the causes of poverty and design schemes to help the poor out of their situation.
However, for these schemes to be implemented, the government needs to be able to
identify who the poor are.
Categorising Poverty: In one such way people who are always poor and those who are
usually poor but who may sometimes have a little more money (example: casual workers)
are grouped together as the chronic poor. Another group are the churning poor who
regularly move in and out of poverty (example: small farmers and seasonal workers) and
the occasionally poor who are rich most of the time but may sometimes have a patch
of bad luck. They are called the transient poor.
The Poverty Line : One way is to determine it by the monetary value (per capita
expenditure) of the minimum calorie intake that was estimated at 2,400 calories for a
rural person and 2,100 for a person in the urban area. Based on this, in 2009-10, the
poverty line was defined for rural areas as consumption worth Rs 673 per person a month
and for urban areas it was Rs 860. This mechanism is helpful in identifying the poor as a
group to be taken care of by the government, but it would be difficult to identify who among
the poor need help the most.
There are many factors, other than income and assets, which are associated with
poverty; for instance, the accessibility to basic education, health care, drinking water
and sanitation.
The existing mechanism for determining the Poverty Line also does not take into
consideration social factors that trigger and perpetuate poverty such as illiteracy, ill
health, lack of access to resources, discrimination or lack of civil and political
freedoms.
In 1973-74, more than 320 million people were below the poverty line. In 2011-12, this
number came down to about 270 million.
The causes of poverty lie in the institutional and social factors that mark the life of the
poor. The poor are deprived of quality education and unable to acquire skills which
fetch better incomes. Also access to health care is denied to the poor. The main victims
of caste, religious and other discriminatory practices are poor.
These can be caused as a result of (i) social, economic and political inequality (ii)
social exclusion (iii) unemployment (iv) indebtedness (v) unequal distribution of
wealth.
Poverty is also explained by general, economy-wide problems, such as (i) low capital
formation (ii) lack of infrastructure (iii) lack of demand (iv) pressure of population (v)
lack of social/ welfare nets.
The British Raj impoverished millions of people in India. Our natural resources were
plundered, our industries worked to produce goods at low prices for the British and our food
grains were exported. Many died due to famine and hunger.
Even today agriculture is the principal means of livelihood and land is the primary asset of
rural people; ownership of land is an important determinant of material well-being.
Since independence, the government has attempted to redistribute land and has taken land
from those who have large amounts to distribute it to those who do not have any land, but
work on the land as wage labourers.
However, this move was successful only to a limited extent as large sections of agricultural
workers were not able to farm the small holdings that they now possessed as they did not
have either money (assets) or skills to make the land productive and the land holdings were
too small to be viable. Also most of the Indian states failed to implement land redistribution
policies.
With the rapid growth of population and without alternative sources of employment, the
per-head availability of land for cultivation has steadily declined leading to fragmentation of
land holdings. Farmers committing suicide due to their inability to pay back the loans that
they have taken for cultivation.
Most members of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes are not able to participate in the
emerging employment opportunities in different sectors of the urban and rural economy as
they do not have the necessary knowledge and skills to do so.
The urban poor are either unemployed or intermittently employed as casual labourers.
Casual labourers are among the most vulnerable in society as they have no job
security, no assets, limited skills, sparse opportunities and no surplus to sustain them.
Poverty is, therefore, also closely related to the nature of employment. Unemployment
or underemployment and the casual and intermittent nature of work in both rural and
urban areas that compels indebtedness, in turn, reinforces poverty. Indebtedness is one
of the significant factors of poverty.
A steep rise in the price of food grains and other essential goods, at a rate higher than
the price of luxury goods, further intensifies the hardship and deprivation of lower
income groups. The unequal distribution of income and assets has also led to the
persistence of poverty in India.
Over the years, the gap between the rich and the poor in India has widened. Poverty is a
multi-dimensional challenge for India that needs to be addressed on a war footing.
The Indian Constitution and five year plans state social justice as the primary objective of
the developmental strategies of the government. To quote the First Five Year Plan
(1951-56), “the urge to bring economic and social change under present conditions
comes from the fact of poverty and inequalities in income, wealth and opportunity”.
● The first one is a growth oriented approach. It is based on the expectation that the
effects of economic growth — rapid increase in gross domestic product and per
capita income — would spread to all sections of society and will trickle down
to the poor sections also. This was the major focus of planning in the 1950s and
early 1960s. It was felt that rapid industrial development and transformation of
agriculture through green revolution in select regions would benefit the
underdeveloped regions and the more backward sections of the community. the
overall growth and growth of agriculture and industry have not been
impressive. Population growth has resulted in a very low growth in per capita
incomes. The gap between poor and rich has actually widened. The Green
Revolution exacerbated the disparities regionally and between large and small
farmers. There was unwillingness and inability to redistribute land.
● While looking for alternatives to specifically address the poor, policy makers
started thinking that incomes and employment for the poor could be raised
through the creation of additional assets and by means of work generation.
This could be achieved through specific poverty alleviation programmes. This
second approach has been initiated from the Third Five Year Plan (1961-66) and
progressively enlarged since then. One of the noted programmes initiated in the
1970s was Food for Work.
● The government has a variety of programmes to generate wage employment for the
poor unskilled people living in rural areas. - MGNREGA(to provide guaranteed wage
employment to every rural household whose adult volunteer is to do unskilled manual
work for a minimum of 100 days in a year. )
● One can trace this approach from the Fifth Five Year Plan, “even with expanded
employment opportunities, the poor will not be able to buy for themselves all the
essential goods and services. They have to be supplemented up to at least certain
minimum standards by social consumption and investment in the form of essential
food grains, education, health, nutrition, drinking water, housing, communications and
electricity.”
● Three major programmes that aim at improving the food and nutritional status
of the poor are Public Distribution System, Integrated Child Development
Scheme and Midday Meal Scheme. Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana,
Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana, Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana are also
attempts in the same direction. It may be essential to briefly state that India has
achieved satisfactory progress in many aspects.
● The government also has a variety of other social security programmes to help a
few specific groups. National Social Assistance Programme(Old Age, Destitute,
Widows)
● The government has also introduced a few schemes to provide health insurance
to poor people.
● Due to unequal distribution of land and other assets, the benefits from direct
poverty alleviation programmes have been appropriated by the non-poor.
Compared to the magnitude of poverty, the amount of resources allocated for
these programmes is not sufficient.
● Moreover, these programmes depend mainly on government and bank officials for
their implementation. Since such officials are ill motivated, inadequately trained,
corruption prone and vulnerable to pressure from a variety of local elites, the
resources are inefficiently used and wasted.
● Government policies have also failed to address the vast majority of vulnerable
people who are living on or just above the poverty line. It also reveals that high
growth alone is not sufficient to reduce poverty. Without the active participation of
the poor, successful implementation of any programme is not possible.
● Poverty can effectively be eradicated only when the poor start contributing to
growth by their active involvement in the growth process. This is possible
through a process of social mobilisation, encouraging poor people to
participate and get them empowered. This will also help create employment
opportunities which may lead to increase in levels of income, skill
development, health and literacy. Moreover, it is necessary to identify poverty
stricken areas and provide infrastructure such as schools, roads, power, telecom,
IT services, training institutions etc.
Conclusion
We have travelled about six decades since independence. The objective of all our policies
had been stated as promoting rapid and balanced economic development with equality and
social justice. Poverty alleviation has always been accepted as one of India’s main
challenges by the policy makers, regardless of which government was in power. The
absolute number of poor in the country has gone down and some states have less
proportion of poor than even the national average. Yet, critics point out that even though
vast resources have been allocated and spent, we are still far from reaching the goal.
There is improvement in terms of per capita income and average standard of living; some
progress towards meeting the basic needs has been made. But when compared to the
progress made by many other countries, our performance has not been impressive.
Moreover, the fruits of development have not reached all sections of the population. Some
sections of people, some sectors of the economy, some regions of the country can compete
even with developed countries in terms of social and economic development, yet, there are
many others who have not been able to come out of the vicious circle of poverty.
Economy is doing fine but…
A dignitary visiting Brazil in 1971 asked its head of state Emilio Medicin about the
economic situation of the country to which he replied , ‘The economy is doing fine, but the
people are not.’ This captures the paradox of growth that does not create employment
and reduces poverty. The close interrelationship between growth, employment and
poverty has long been a matter of debate and dispute among economists. The ‘trickle
down’ theory of economic growth has long lost its relevance and it is now well
recognized that growth may not be enough to achieve the objectives of employment and
reduction of poverty. The impact of growth on employment and poverty depends upon a
multitude of factors and the proper dynamics of the relationship between these three goals
needs to be understood in a broader context.
How far growth will impact poverty depends upon its employment generating
capacity? In the case of India, despite having a high overall growth rate, the extent and
quality of employment generation has been low. The employment generation has mostly
come from the low productivity informal sector. According to one estimate between
1999-2000 to 2009-2010, 63 million workers were added to the workforce out of which
70 per cent were added in the unorganised sector and the rest into the organised
sector. This is linked to the disproportionate increase in the contribution of the services
sector in the economy from 41 per cent of GDP in 1990–91 to 64.8 percent in 2012–13.
However, the share of services in employment is less than 30 per cent. On the other
hand in 2011- 12, manufacturing contributed 16 per cent to the GDP and its share in
aggregate employment was close to 13 per cent.
In terms of the economic policy for high employment growth, the experience of some of the
fast growing countries of SouthEast Asia could be useful. These countries have made
investments in labour intensive industries. Special attention was paid to the export
oriented industries which had a high labour intensity. In the entire process, agriculture
was also given incentives to have better terms of trade and promote non-farm agricultural
activities. Recent experience of high current account deficit and depreciation of rupee also
points to the need to orient our economic policies towards incentivising manufacturing and
improving exports by leveraging our abundant labour force. Employment is thus the
crucial link between growth and reduction in poverty. There is a strong case for a big
push to the manufacturing sector for generating employment through its stronger
backward linkages.
Despite controversies and arguments against the method used for the estimation of poverty,
there are strong indicators that suggest a clear trend in the reduction of poverty in India. If
we take two time periods 1993-94 to 2004-05 and 2004-05 to 2011-12, per capita income
growth (up from 4.4 per cent to 6.9 per cent) , real wages of casual workers (increased from
3.1 per cent to 6.5 per cent) and agricultural output growth (rose from 2.5 per cent to 3.9 per
cent ) between the two periods have shown clear upward trend. It is obvious that higher
expenditure under schemes like MGNREGA and PDS has also contributed in achieving this.
The notion of accommodation and assimilation has been the key feature of Indian
society. Since ancient times, India has accommodated different elements of society
without letting them lose their separate identity as Jawahar Lal Nehru writes in The
Discovery of India- Indian Society and Culture “is like some ancient palimpsest on
which layer upon layer of thought and reverie had been inscribed, and yet no
succeeding layer had completely hidden or erased what had been written
previously”. In course of time, India has evolved its own culture which is eclectic,
externally receptive and heterogeneous. The essence of Indian society lies in
harbouring diverse and distinct identities, ethnicities, languages, religions and
culinary preferences. History stands witness to the fact that the societies that have
struggled to hold differences were shattered in such an attempt.
● A Cosmic Vision: The framework of Indian culture places human beings in the
centre of the universe, as a divine creation-which celebrates Individuality and
differences of opinion in the society.
● Tolerance: In India, tolerance and liberalism is found for all religions, castes,
communities, etc. Indian society accepted and respected Shaka, Huna,
Scythians , Muslim, Christian,jews and Zoroastrians. Rulers like Ashoka, Akbar
have patronized various religions and ensured that there is peaceful
co-existence of religions.
● Continuity and Stability: The light of ancient Indian culture life is yet glowing.
Many invasions occurred, many rulers changed, many laws were passed but
even today, the traditional institutions, religion, epics, literature, philosophy,
traditions, etc. are alive.
“Caste system is assuming new identities and associational forms. Hence, the
caste system cannot be eradicated in India”. Comment.
An essential condition to eradicate poverty is to liberate the poor from the process
of deprivation." Substantiate this statement with suitable examples.
Poverty is rooted in the underlying structural inequities in the economy and the
inherent disadvantages arising out of social impediments such as lack of education,
poor health etc. Therefore, to eradicate poverty, it is essential to liberate the poor
from the process of deprivation. This can be done by providing them education,
equipping them with skills to sustain a livelihood and providing them health care
services to make them physically fit also to work. At the same time, to absorb them
into the labour force, there has to be an adequate number of job
opportunities—without which all the efforts will be a waste.
Rather than goods and resources (the inputs), the focus of Sen’s
capability approach is people and their capabilities (the end-results). It
also provides an alternative and more comprehensive perspective on the issues like
poverty, inequality, gender bias, and social exclusion that are hardly touched by the
economic perspective. Sen’s approach is both comprehensive and flexible
and is people centric. Now people are no more robotic producers and consumers.
If the GDP growth model dis-empowers them, the capabilities approach makes their
empowerment the central issue.
Amartya Sen’s capabilities approach revolves around “people” seen as human being
with emotional and psychological demands; it sees development as expansion
of people’s capabilities – it is an enabling (empowering) preposition. It
aims to enhance people’s well-being by expanding their capabilities
which is connected to freedom of choices.
The most basic capabilities for human developments are : to lead long and
healthy lives, to be knowledgeable, to have access to the resources and
social services needed for a decent standard of living and to be able to
participate in the life of the community.
The distinction between functionings and capabilities is that between the realized
and the potentially possible, in other words, between achievements, on the one hand,
and freedoms or opportunities, on the other. Capabilities are a person’s real
freedoms or opportunities to achieve functionings. For example, while travelling is a
functioning, the real opportunity to travel is the corresponding capability.
In the context of the diversity of India, can it be said that the regions form cultural
units rather than the States? Give reasons with examples for your view point.
What are the two major legal initiatives by the State since Independence addressing
discrimination against Scheduled Tribes (STs)?
● As per Global hunger Index (GHI) report 2020, India has ranked 94 out of 107
countries.
○ Child wasting - share of children under age 5 who have low weight for
their height. Child particularly vulnerable to nutritional deficiencies
○ Child stunting - share of children under age 5 who have low height for
their age.
Impact of Malnourishment
● higher risk for impaired growth, low immunity, poor mental development, and
mortality.
Related Concepts
● Mid-day meals in primary and upper primary schools, along with anganwadis
● Food wastage: India wastes about 7% of its total annual food production and
almost 30% of the fruits and vegetables because of inadequate warehousing
facilities and cold storages.
● Shifts in diet and lifestyle patterns: As market exposure increases, foods and
drinks high in fat, sugar and salt
Way forward
● to track and tackle hunger, governments must produce data that are timely,
comprehensive, and disaggregated by income, subnational location, and
gender.
● called for the universalisation of the public distribution system (PDS) for at
least six months, noting that the quantity of exported grain could have been
used to provide 25 crore people with rations for a year.
● after a government order threatened them with a pay cut if they did not
download the government’s mobile application called ‘Poshan Tracker’ to
record delivery of services by them.
● The application and the use of technology for real time growth monitoring and
tracking of beneficiaries is the mainstay of the government’s Poshan
Abhiyaan, which aims to improve nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant
women and lactating mothers.
● We are not opposed to the Poshan Tracker, but we need a mobile phone,
expenses for recharge as well as training to use smartphones as the
application is compatible with mobile phones that are Android 6 or above.
● Many anganwadi centres are situated in remote locations and often don’t have
Internet connectivity.