Unemployment in India

Unemployment
India as a nation is faced with massive problem of unemployment.
Unemployment can be defined as a state of worklessness for a man fit and
willing to work. It is a condition of involuntary and not voluntary idleness.
Some features of unemployment have been identified as follows:

1. The incidence of unemployment is much higher in

urban areas than in rural areas.
2. Unemployment rates for women are higher than those for men.
3. The incidence of unemployment among the educated is much higher than the
overall unemployment.
4. There is greater unemployment in agricultural sector than in industrial and
other major sectors.

Economists and social thinkers have classified unemployment into various

types. Generally unemployment can be classified in two types:
(1) Voluntary unemployment
In this type of unemployment a person is out of job of his own desire doesn't
work on the prevalent or prescribed wages. Either he wants higher wages or
doesn't want to work at all. It is in fact social problem leading to social
disorganization. Social problems and forces such as a revolution, a social
upheaval, a class struggle, a financial or economic crisis a war between
nations, mental illness, political corruption mounting unemployment and crime
etc. threaten the smooth working of society. Social values are often regarded
as the sustaining forces of society. They contribute to the strength and stability
of social order. But due to rapid social change new values come up and some
of the old values decline. At the same time, people are not is a position to
reject the old completely and accept the new altogether. Here, conflict between
the old and the new is the inevitable result which leads to the social
disorganization in imposed situation. In economic terminology this situation is
voluntary unemployment.
(2) In voluntary unemployment
In this type of situation the person who is unemployed has no say in the
matter. It means that a person is separated from remunerative work and
devoid of wages although he is capable of earning his wages and is also
anxious to earn them. Forms and types of unemployment according to Hock
are.

a. Cyclical unemployment - This is the result of the trade cycle which is a

part of the capitalist system. In such a system, there is greater unemployment and
when there is depression a large number of people are rendered unemployed.
Since such an economic crisis is the result of trade cycle, the unemployment is a
part of it.
b. Sudden unemployment - When at the place where workers have been
employed there is some change, a large number of persons are unemployed. It all
happens in the industries, trades and business where people are employed for a
job and suddenly when the job has ended they are asked to go.
c. Unemployment caused by failure of Industries - In many cases, a
business a factory or an industry has to close down. There may be various factors
 responsible for it there may be dispute amongst the partners, the business may
give huge loss or the business may not turn out to be useful and so on.
d. Unemployment caused by deterioration in Industry and business - In
various industries, trades or business, sometimes, there is deterioration. This
deterioration may be due to various factors. In efficiency of the employers, keen
competitions less profit etc. are some of the factors responsible for deterioration in
the industry and the business.
e. Seasonal unemployment - Certain industries and traders engage workers
for a particular season. When the season has ended the workers are rendered
unemployed. Sugar industry is an example of this type of seasonal unemployment.

The problem of unemployment has becoming a colossal. Various problems

have caused this problem. There are individual factors like age, vocational
unfitness and physical disabilities which restrict the people. External factors
include technological and economic factors. There is enormous increase in the
population. Every year India adds to her population afresh. More than this
every year about 5 million people become eligible for securing jobs. Business
field is subject to ups and downs of trade cycle and globalization. Economic
depression or sick industries are often close down compelling their employees
to become unemployed. Technological advancement contributes to economic
development .But unplanned and uncontrolled growth of technology is causing
havoc on job opportunities. The computerization and automation has led to
technological unemployment. Strikes and lockouts have become inseparable
aspect of the industrial world today. Due to these industries often face
economic loses and production comes down. Since workers do not get any
salary or wages during the strike period they suffer from economic hardships.
They become permanently or temporarily unemployed. Today young people
are not ready to take jobs which are considered to be socially
degrading or lowly. Our educational system has its own irreparable
defects and its contribution to the unemployment is an open
truth.Our education does not prepare the minds of young generation to
become self-employed on the contrary it makes them dependent on
government vacancies which are hard to come. Our State right from the
beginning of Five year plans has introduced several employment generating
schemes and programmes over the years but in the absence of proper
implementation and monitoring have failed to achieve the required targets.
Recently UPA Government has come up with Rural Employment Guarantee
program which aims to provide minimum days of employment to people living
in the villages. This is a laudable programme if implemented sincerely because
it will provide employment to people during natural calamities like drought,
floods etc. The remedial measures for reducing unemployment may lay greater
emphasis on creation of opportunities for self -employment, augmentation of
productivity and income levels of the working poor, shift in emphasis from
creation of relief type of employment to the building up of durable productive
assets in the rural areas and instead of attempting to revert somewhat to
protectionist policies the pace of privatization may be accelerated.
 Poverty in India

According to a recent Indian government committee constituted to estimate

poverty, nearly 38% of India’s population (380 million) is poor. This report is
based on new methodology and the figure is 10% higher than the present
poverty estimate of 28.5%.
The committee was headed by SD Tendulkar has used a different methodology
to reach at the current figure. It has taken into consideration indicators for
heath, education, sanitation, nutrition and income as per National Sample
Survey Organization survey of 2004-05.This new methodology is a complex
scientific basis aimed at addressing the concern raised over the current poverty
estimation.
Since 1972 poverty has been defined on basis of the money required to buy
food worth 2100 calories in urban areas and 2400 calories in rural areas. In
June this year a government committee headed by NC Saxena committee
estimated 50% Indians were poor as against Planning Commission’s 2006
figure of 28.5%.
Poverty is one of the main problems which have attracted attention of
sociologists and economists. It indicates a condition in which a person fails to
maintain a living standard adequate for his physical and mental efficiency. It is
a situation people want to escape. It gives rise to a feeling of a discrepancy
between what one has and what one should have. The term poverty is a
relative concept. It is very difficult to draw a demarcation line between
affluence and poverty. According to Adam Smith - Man is rich or poor
according to the degree in which he can afford to enjoy the necessaries, the
conveniences and the amusements of human life.
Even after more than 50 years of Independence India still has the world's
largest number of poor people in a single country. Of its nearly 1 billion
inhabitants, an estimated 260.3 million are below the poverty line, of which
193.2 million are in the rural areas and 67.1 million are in urban areas. More
than 75% of poor people reside in villages. Poverty level is not uniform across
India. The poverty level is below 10% in states like Delhi, Goa, and Punjab etc
whereas it is below 50% in Bihar (43) and Orissa (47). It is between 30-40%
in Northeastern states of Assam, Tripura, and Mehgalaya and in Southern
states of TamilNadu and Uttar Pradesh.
Poverty has many dimensions changing from place to place and across time.
There are two inter-related aspects of poverty-Urban and rural poverty. The
main causes of urban poverty are predominantly due to impoverishment of
rural peasantry that forces them to move out of villages to seek some
subsistence living in the towns and cities. In this process, they even lose the
open space or habitat they had in villages albeit without food and other basic
amenities. When they come to the cities, they get access to some food though
other sanitary facilities including clean water supply still elude them. And they
have to stay in the habitats that place them under sub-human conditions.
While a select few have standards of living comparable to the richest in the
world, the majority fails to get two meals a day. The causes of rural poverty
are manifold including inadequate and ineffective implementation of anti-
poverty programmes.The overdependence on monsoon with non-availability of
irrigational facilities often result in crop-failure and low agricultural productivity
forcing farmers in the debt-traps. The rural communities tend to spend large
percentage of annual earnings on social ceremonies like marriage; feast
etc.Our economic development since Independence has been lopsided .There
has been increase in unemployment creating poverty like situations for many.
Population is growing at an alarming rate. The size of the Indian family is
relatively bigger averaging at 4.2.The other causes include dominance of caste
system which forces the individual to stick to the traditional and hereditary
occupations.
Since the 1970s the Indian government has made poverty reduction a priority
in its development planning. Policies have focused on improving the poor
standard of living by ensuring food security, promoting self-employment
through greater access to assets, increasing wage employment and improving
access to basic social services. Launched in 1965, India's Public Distribution
System has helped meet people's basic food needs by providing rations at
subsidized prices. Although it has affected less than 20% of the Poor's food
purchases, the system has been important in sustaining people's consumption
of cereals, especially in periods of drought. It has provided women and girls
with better access to food and helped overcome the widespread discrimination
against female consumption within households. It has also reduced the burden
of women, who are responsible for providing food for the household.
The largest credit-based government poverty reduction programme in the
world, the Integrated Rural Development Programme provides rural
households below the poverty line with credit to purchase income-generating
assets. Launched in 1979, the programme has supplied subsidized credit to
such groups as small and marginalized farmers, agricultural laborers, rural
artisans, the physically handicapped, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
Within this target population, 40% of the beneficiaries are supposed to be
women. Although the programme has reached 51 million families, only 27% of
the borrowers have been women. The programme has significantly increased
the income of 57% of assisted families.
Rural poverty is largely a result of low productivity and unemployment. The
Jawahar Rozgar Yojana, a national public works scheme launched in 1989 with
financing from the central and state governments, provides more than 700
million person days of work a year about 1% of total employment for people
with few opportunities for employment. The scheme has two components: a
programme to provide low-cost housing and one to supply free irrigation wells
to poor and marginalized farmers. The public works scheme is self-targeting.
Since it offers employment at the statutory minimum wage for unskilled
manual labor, only those willing to accept very low wages the poor are likely to
enroll in the scheme. By providing regular employment and thereby increasing
the bargaining power of all rural workers, the public works scheme has had a
significant effect in reducing poverty. It has also contributed to the
construction of rural infrastructure (irrigation works, a soil conservation
project, drinking water supply). Evaluations show that 82% of available funds
have been channeled to community development projects. Targeting was
improved in 1996 when the housing and irrigation well components were
delinked and focused exclusively on people below the poverty line.
TRYSEM (Training rural youth for self employment) was started to provide
technical skills to the rural youth and to help them to get employment in fields
such as agriculture, industry, services and business activities. Youth of the
poor families belonging to the age-group of 18-35 are entitled to avail the
benefits of the scheme. Priority is given to persons belonging to ST/SC and ex-
servicemen and about 1/3 seats are reserved for women. Minimum Needs
Programme was taken up as an integral part of the 5th Five Year Plan and it
was intended to cater to the minimum needs of the people such as rural water
supply, rural health, road building, adult education, primary education, rural
electrification and improvement of the urban slums etc.With the intention of
removing urban unemployment some schemes such as SEPUP (Self-
employment programme for the urban poor); SEEUY (Scheme for self-
employment of the educated urban youths) .These schemes gives loans and
subsidies for the urban unemployed youths to create or to find for themselves
some jobs. The SEPUP had provided financial help for about 1.19 urban
unemployed youths in the year 190-91.
The participation of civil society organizations in poverty reduction efforts,
especially those directed to women, has increased social awareness and
encouraged governments to provide better services. Cooperatives such as the
Self-Employed Women's Association provide credit to women at market rates
of interest but do not require collateral; they also allow flexibility in the use of
loans and the timing of repayments. These civil society organizations have not
only contributed to women's material well being; they have also helped
empower them socially and politically. Such credit initiatives, by bringing
women out of the confines of the household, are changing their status within
the family and within village hierarchies. The demands of civil society
organizations for better social services have spurred the government to launch
campaigns to increase literacy and improve public infrastructure. And their
calls for greater accountability and real devolution of power are increasing the
likelihood that expenditures for poverty reduction will reach the needy,
especially women.
The Indian state has undoubtedly failed in its responsibilities towards its
citizens over the last 50 odd years. There is a need for the state to move out of
many areas and the process has been started with economic liberalization. The
process of decentralization should devolute lot more powers, both functional
and financial, to panchayats. The lack of transparency and accountability has
hampered our economic development at all levels. The problem of poverty
persists because of a number of leakages in the system. New laws have to be
evolved to ensure more accountability. Bodies like the Planning Commission
should be modified into new constitutional bodies that can hold governments
accountable for their failure to implement development programmes. A strong
system of incentives and disincentives also needs to be introduced. The
encouragement of non-governmental organizations and private sector
individuals in tackling poverty is imperative, as the state cannot do everything.

Public Health System in India

Public health system in India suffers from many problems which includes
insufficient funding, shortage of facilities leading to overcrowding and severe
shortage of trained health personnel. There is also lack of accountability in the
public health delivery mechanisms. These are some of the reasons which have
placed India at the lowest rank in the Human Development Index.
India however holds top position in migration of physicians to developed
countries like UK and the US. According to Planning Commission the country
has a shortfall of six lakh doctors, 10 lakh nurses and two lakh dental
surgeons. This has led to a dismal patient-doctor ratio in the country. For
every 10,000 Indians, there is just one doctor.
The much publicized National Urban Health Mission is yet to see the light of
day. The scheme plans to monitor and improve the health of 22 crore people
living in urban slums in 429 cities and towns. It was to be launched mid 2008
but the mission is yet to become functional.NURM is aimed at providing
accessible, affordable, effective and reliable primary health care facilities
especially to urban poor. Even for NHRM there is limited progress due to lack
of standardization of medical facilities.
India has banned tobacco consumption in public places but only 12 states have
started implementing the ban. More than 10 lakh people at present die in India
every year due to tobacco consumption. At present more than 57% male and
10.9% female consume tobacco while 15% children consume tobacco.
Female feticide continues to tarnish India’s image.The child sex ratio (0-6
years) was 945 (1991 census) and this declined to 927 girls per thousand boys
(in 2001 census).The figures are alarming in prosperous states like
Punjab(798),Haryana (819),Chandigarh (845),Delhi (868),Gujarat (883) and
Himachal Pradesh (896).

Number of PHCs,CHC and SCs

Year CHC PHC SC

2007 4,045 22,370 1, 45,272

Infant Mortality Rate

Year Rural Urban Total

2007 61 37 55
 Number of Health Care Workers

Doctors at Specialists at Health

Year Health workers
PHCs PHC workers

Male Female

2007 22,608 5,117 62,881 1, 47,439

Universalization of Education in India: Right to Education Bill

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

Nelson Mandela
India’s greatest wealth lies in its human resources. Universal schooling of decent quality
could be the single biggest move it makes towards future prosperity. Towards this end the
Government has come up with Right to Education Bill which promises free education for
every child in the 6-14 age- group. Education requires substantative not just symbolic
action. Merely passing laws without sustained political attention that plugs financial and
administrative gaps in the school sector is going to fail. One of the problems of taking a
purely legislative view is to define who will be held responsible if a child doesn’t attend
school.

A related problem is to set out clearly who will pick up the bill for universal
education, estimated to cost Rs 55,000 crore a year to implement. It is
supposed to split between the centre and states but the precise arrangement is
yet to be known. The most controversial provision of the Bill is to drag the
private sector in by imposing an obligation on private schools to take in at least
25% of its students of its students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Their fees
will supposedly be paid by the government, a promise it’s unlikely to keep.
Providing free education for all should be unambiguously the government’s
responsibility. Countries haven’t made rapid strides towards universal literacy
by palming off the responsibility on the private sector. That will stunt the
growth of the private sector rather than lead to universal literacy.

Educational problems of women in India

In spite of certain outstanding examples of individual achievement of Indian

woman and a definite improvement in their general condition over the last one
hundred years, it remains true that our woman still constitute a large body of
under - privileged citizens. Women of course do not form a homogenous group
in class or caste terms. Nevertheless, they face distinctive problems that call
for special attention. The Backward Classes Commission set up by the
Government of India in 1953 classified women of India as a backward group
requiring special attention.
The ministry of Education clubs girls with Scheduled Castes and Tribes as the
three most backward groups in education. Ram Manohar Lohia considered the
lot of women to be similar to that of Harijans. Realizing the enormity of the
problems of Indian women the Government of India has appointed a separate
committee on the Status of Women in India, The social backwardness of Indian
women points to the great hiatus between their legal status which is more or
less equal to that of men, and their actual position in society, which is still far
from the ideal which exists on paper. The educational, economic, political and
social backwardness of women makes them the largest group hindering the
process of rapid social change.
It is inevitable that when this ‘backward’ group has the major responsibility of
bringing up future generations the advancement of society cannot be rapid or
take any significant form of development. In the report of the committee
appointed by the National Council for Women’s Education it was emphatically
stated that what was needed to convert the equality of women from de jure to
be facto status was widespread education for girls and women and a re-
education of men and women to accept new and scientific attitudes towards
each other and to themselves. A changing society and a developing economy
can not make any headway if education, which is one of the important agents
affecting the norms of morality and culture, remains in the hand of
traditionalists who subscribe to a fragmented view of the country’s and the
world’s heritage. The differences between the positions of men and women in
society will not lessen; leave aside disappear, as long as there are differences
between the education of men and women. Inadequate education or no
education is the most important factor contributing to the backwardness of our
masses, especially our womenfolk. It is the low literacy among women which
brings national literacy figure so low.
This gap which exists between the literacy rates of the two sexes also exists
between the enrolment of girls and boys at all levels of education. Right from
the primary school to the university, we find that the number of girl students is
considerable lower than the number of boy students. According to Article 45 of
the Constitution, universal compulsory and free education until the age of 14
was to be achieved by the year 1960. Looking at the present condition of
primary education in villages, it seems doubtful that 100 per cent
enrolment of girls can be achieved by the end of this century. There
is no doubt that we have made great headway in the education of
women in the last century. It is unfortunately true of our society
that children are sent to school not according to their intelligence or aptitude
but according to their sex. Such attitudes need to be changed without further
delay if we want to achieve 100 per cent enrolment of the primary school-
going children. Although the disparity between the enrolment of girls and boys
has been lessening in the urban areas, the gap between their enrolments is
still very wide specially in rural areas. The reasons for this are both economic
and social.
The economic structure of rural areas is such that children, especially girls, are
required to help in household work and perform their chores. Young girls have
to look after their younger brothers and sisters, have to get water from the
well, have to carry food to the father in the field, etc. Since there is so much to
be done at home, they cannot be spared for the luxury of attending a school.
The resources of the poor farmer are so limited that he does not have anything
to spare for the education of his children. If there are resources available it the
boy who is sent to school first. Parents also do not see the value of educating
their children specially daughters who would get married after all and be only
housewives. Since they cannot see any direct relationship between education
and economic betterment, they have very little motivation to send their
children to school.
It is still not being realized that there is definite connection between education,
good motherhood and efficient house management. The management of
millions of household and the upbringing of millions of children in thus is the
hands of illiterate women. It is here that a change is required if our democratic
and socialistic intensions are not to remain a mere pretence. People can be
motivated to have their children educated only if educational system is directly
linked with economic and social development. As long as our education
remains oblivious of the felt needs of people to solve their immediate problems
and on the contrary, actually alienates them from their natural, social and
cultural surroundings, they will rightly resist sending their children to school. It
is the area of primary education, especially in rural areas, which should be
given maximum attention. Primary education for both girls and boys is what
we should be concerned about while planning our policies and allocation funds.
It is this sector of our education structure that gets neglected in favor of all
sorts of institutes of ‘higher learning’ and ‘research’ of a kind that are neither
relevant nor pertinent to our pressing problems. The role of women outside
home is becoming an important and even essential feature of our present day
reality.

Alcoholism

It is now generally recognized that alcohol like the opium products is a

narcotic. But alcoholism constitutes a special problem because of the wider use
of alcohol and because of its entrenchment in the social customs. Alcoholism is
a condition in which the individual has lost control over his alcohol intake in
that he is constantly unable to refrain from drinking once he begins.
According to Adolf Meyer alcoholism is the
development of an insistent craving for alcohol and its
effects. It is also defined as that condition
characterized by a relatively permanent, persistent desire for alcohol for the
sake of its anticipated effects upon body and mind. For Keller and Efron
alcoholism is characterized by the repeated drinking of alcoholic beverages to
an extent that exceeds customary use or compliance with the social customs of
the community and that interferes with the drinker’s health or his social or
economic functioning.
Broadly speaking alcoholism has been characterized by four factors
• Excessive intake of alcoholic beverages
• Individual’s increasing worry over his drinking
• Loss of the drinker’s control over his own drinking
• Disturbance in his functioning in the social world
Studies have been made only to throw scientific light upon the question as to
why people are addicted to the immoderate use of alcohol. In the study of
chronic alcoholics it was found that a certain percentage of inebriates are
pathological individuals referred as constitutional alcoholics.
The industrialization of society and the mechanization of the industry have put
strains upon individuals to which the previous experience of the race has not
adapted. The social conventions incite the formation of alcoholic habits. The
pressure of social customs has exerted an important influence in the
production of alcoholism. There are certain persons who are unable to face the
harsh realities of life and start drinking to overcome their inadequacy. Men
engaged in manual work have long been deluded in the belief that alcohol
furnishes added strength and vigour with which they can pursue their labour.
Men drink because their occupation has completely exhausted them. They look
forward eagerly to the respite which intoxication affords after the heat of the
blast furnace or the stench of the dockyards. Excessive consumption of alcohol
can make a person addicted to it.
An addict is one whose drinking habit causes several problems in one or more
areas of his life for instance his family relationships, jobs, financial status etc.
And in spite of all these problems, he will continue to drink alcohol because his
body gets so accustomed over a period of time to the presence of alcohol that
if its use is stopped suddenly he will develop withdrawal symptoms like
tremors, fits etc. Such a state is called physical dependence. Alcohol becomes
so central to his thoughts, emotions and activities that he is simply unable to
think of anything else. This condition is called psychological dependence.
Alcoholic addiction is a disease rather than lack of will power or moral
weakness. Unless the person stops drinking, his/her condition will become
worse over a period of time.
Jellinck an American psychologist maintains that a drinker passes
through various stages to become an alcoholic. These are: -
1. Blackouts in which the individual is not able to find a solution to his
individual problems.
2. Sneaking drinks in which he takes alcohol without being observed.
3. Increased tolerance, in which he tolerates the increased effects of drinking.
4. Loss of control in which he fails to control the desire of not taking alcohol.
5. Development of an alibi system in which he gradually starts neglecting his
social roles.
6. Going on periodic benders
7. Regular drinking in which he starts taking alcohol in the morning.
The problem of alcoholism in terms of personal misery, family budget, discord,
and loss of wages, failure of health, accidents and cost in damage claims, cost
of hospital treatment, cost in custodial treatment, inducement to crime are
almost disastrous. A good number of persons arrested for crimes like rape,
burglary, murder and theft are those who committed them under the influence
of alcohol. Alcohol is a major factor in the highway accidents. Since alcoholism
affects the family members, friends and even the community, it affects millions
of people in the country. Drinking reduces one’s operational activities and
efficiency to below the minimum level necessary for social existence.
There are various programmes and measures for alcohol treatment:
• Detoxification in hospitals: Alcohols need medical care and medical
supervision. Tranquilizers are used for treating their withdrawal symptoms like
hallucinations. Vitamins and electrolyte balance are used for physical
rehabilitation.
• Involving an alcoholic’s family in his treatment and rehabilitation enhances
the chances of success by 75 to 80%.
• One of the effective social therapies, which use group interactions, is
Alcoholics Anonymous. It is an organization of ex-alcoholics, which started in
USA in early 1940s.In this, the members share, their experience with other
alcoholics and give them strength and hope in an attempt to solve their
common problems and recover from alcoholism. These associations are located
in Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata etc.
• Treatment centres: These centres are developed as alternative centres to
hospital treatment having 10-12 residents. Counselling and anti-drinking rules
are observed.
• Changing values through education: Some voluntary organizations undertake
educational and information programmes to alert the alcoholics to the danger
of excessive drinking. Social workers help the drinkers in coping with life and
changing the social values and attitudes about drinking.
There should be active community involvement against drinking.Nationwide
prohibition of intoxicating drinks may check smuggling of liquor into the dry
areas from the wet areas. Drinking is a social problem and mere legalistic
approach to prohibition is not likely to succeed. Education, persuasion, creation
of public opinion and number of other positive measures has to be taken if
prohibition were to succeed reasonably. The media portrayal of drinking should
be banned. Government should encourage and provide financial help to
voluntary social and other non-governmental organizations engaged in de-
addiction programmes and prohibition campaigns

Population –The trends in India

India @ Risk 2007, a report published during the India

Economic Summit, 2007 has revealed following
important facts:

• Growing India: India is the world's second most populous country and is
expected to be the most populous by 2040.The country is undergoing the same
forces of demographic transition that have been experienced elsewhere, only
delayed by few decades.
• Young India: Over 700 million Indians are below 35 years of age and
over 550 million are below 25.However despite its youthful population, India's
size means that it is home to the second largest number of older people in the
world, in absolute terms.

• Unequal India: The rising income gap is creating an urban-rural divide

and a north-south imbalance. A quarter of India's population lives below the
poverty line with most living off the land on small farms with little access to
new technology.
• Urbanizing India: Almost 70% of Indians still reside in rural
areas although in recent decades migration to larger cities has led to
a dramatic increase in the country's urban population.
• Mega city India: India is home to around 18% of the world's population
but accounts for only 2.42% of the total world area; the emergence of mega
cities is inevitable.
• Aspirational India: The emerging middle class will surge tenfold;
exceeding 500 million by 2025.It will command 60% of the country's spending
power.

Polio in India -Latest Situation

India has earned itself the dubious distinction of having

the world's highest number of polio cases in just 2
months of 2008.According to Global Polio Eradication
Initiative Data ,India has recorded 82 polio cases till Feb 27.In comparison
three other countries Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan have together recorded
just 23 cases in the same period. On March 6 Indian has 106 confirmed polio
cases of which 105 are P3 strains and one case of P1infection.According to Mr
Ramadoss Union Health Minister the country's polio programme is failing to
achieve its purpose.Over half of the world's polio cases were reported in the
country last year.
Bihar which reported 193 fresh cases of the crippling disease in 2007 has been
exporting polio strains across the country. Experts have now marked out 72
blocks in the state as high risk. In 2007 90% of P1cases were found in these
blocks along the Kosi River. According to the officials additional human
resources are being provided to strengthen the polio campaign in
these difficult areas. By March end 300 community mobilizers are
being appointed in these blocks who will impress upon locals on the
benefits and importance of polio immunization. Five immunization
rounds in the first half of 2008 and three rounds in the second half have been
planned. In Bihar special focus will be directed to the 72 high risk clusters.P1
causes paralysis in 1 out of every 200 children as compared to P3 which causes
paralysis in 1 out of every 1000 infections

Literacy in India

Literacy is an effective instrument for social and

economic development and national integration. It is
defined in Census operations, as the ability to read and
write with understanding in any language. Any formal education or minimum
educational standard is not necessary to be considered literate. The latest
census report (2001) reveal that at the beginning of new millennium literacy
rate in India stands at 65.38% with male literacy level at 75.85%and female
literacy level at 54.16%. There has been only marginal increase in literacy
level from the last census in 1991 (literacy level was 52.2%).
The pace of progress in literacy rates, as revealed by decennial censuses, is
very slow in India. Between 1961 and 1991, a span of thirty years, literacy
rate has gone up by a mere 23.9 percentage points, from 28.3 in 1961 to 52.2
in 1991.From 1991 to 2001 there is 13.36%increase. However the literacy
scenario in India is characterized by wide inequalities among different sections
of the population. The female literacy rate is still low in comparison to male
population. Country's half of the female population is still illiterate even after
so many years of independence. No less disturbing is the rural-urban disparity
in literacy rates that again differ by ever a wider margin the disparity has
persisted over the years. The scheduled castes and scheduled tribes form two
other specially disadvantaged population groups in India and disparity in their
case too is equally wide and persisting. Finally, there again exists a wide
disparity among the various regions/states in India vis-à-vis their literacy
rates. At the top of the hierarchy, lies the state of Kerala that has an
exceptionally high literacy rate of 90.92 %. This is basically because of strong
social movements in this state even during the pre-independence period. For
Bihar (the least literate state) the rate is merely 47.53 %.In Bihar, Kishanganj
district has the lowest literacy rate (31% for males and 18.49% for females)
When illiteracy begins to impinge upon livelihoods issues it becomes
critical. Illiteracy often results in missed opportunities. Women
usually receive lower wages than men. In Kishanganj district of
 Bihar women and girls work in the tea gardens and brickklins but as they are
illiterate they often get exploited and do not get proper wages. Both men and
women often earn less than the minimum wage but they are often unaware of
the Minimum Wages Act. Illiteracy and lack of information can adversely affect
human rights. In an era when technology has shrunk the world into a global
village and when information has been brought to the fingertips of a small
section of society, it would be unfortunate if the masses were denied access to
basic information due to the inability to read and write.
During the first Five Year Plan, the program of Social Education, inclusive of
literacy, was introduced as part of the Community Development Program 1952.
The National Policy on Education in 1968 not only endorsed the
recommendations of the Education Commission but also reiterated the
significance of universal literacy and developing adult and continuing education
as matters of priority. While the formal elementary education program was
supplemented by a Non-formal Education system, it was also decided to
undertake Adult Literacy programs culminating in the Total Literacy mission
approach.
(a) A multi-pronged approach of universalization of elementary education and
universal adult literacy has been adopted for achieving total literacy.
(b) A systematic program of non-formal education in the educationally
backward states.
(c) The National Literacy Mission that aims at making 100 million adults
literate.
The major thrust of these programs is on promotion of literacy among women,
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes particularly in the rural areas. The
Adult Education Program consists of three components: basic literacy
(including numeracy), functionality and civic awareness. The third component
is obviously literacy. The National Adult Education Program (NAEP) was
inaugurated on October 2, 1978. Then came the National Literacy Mission
(NLM). In 1989, the district-based Total Literacy Campaigns (TLC) emerged as
a program strategy for the National Literacy Mission against this background.
In the budget of 1999-2000, the total allocation of resources (both Plan and
non-plan) for the four programs of Elementary Education, Operation Black
board, Non-formal education and Adult Education was 3037, 400, 350 and
113.4 crores respectively. The Total Literacy campaign districts had been set
the optimistic goal of achieving 80% literacy amongst the target age-group of
15-35 years. Now Sarva Shikha Abiyan is doing rounds in all the districts in
most of the states for which there is huge fund allocation under 9th and 10th
Five year plans.
In spite of the enormous expansion of adult education, nonformal and
elementary education in India, the problem of illiteracy has been lingering on.
It is both colossal and complex given the size of the country, its huge
population, wide regional and gender disparities, economic and other cultural
factors such as poverty, communalism, casteism etc. It needs action from
people, communities Government agencies, NGOs and international
organizations such as UN bodies to totally eradicate illiteracy from India.

Dowry System in India

Dowry is derived from the ancient Hindu customs of "kanyadan" and "stridhan". In
"kanyadan", the father of the bride offers the father of the groom money or property, etc.
whereas for "stridhan", the bride herself gets jewelry and clothes at the time of her
marriage, usually from her relatives or friends. In "varadakshina", the father of the bride
presents the groom cash or kind. All of these could be done voluntarily and out of affection
and love.

The Hindu marriage system is sacramental. According to this

system, a marriage is forever, and there is no scope for a
separation. Among the various ceremonies previously practiced,
the ceremony in front of a "godly" fire ("Yajna" in Sanskrit) has taken over, the antiquated
system of "marrying a wife by capture. This form of marriage began the practice of dowry,
where originally, the family of the bride would accept gifts and money from the groom's
(potential conqueror's) family as an alternative to bloodshed during the capture of the
bride. A later modification of this system has paved way for the present dowry system
primarily practiced by the society.

The dowry custom continues to rule society. In majority of Indian families the
boy has inheritance rights while the girl is given a hefty sum at the time of her
marriage in lieu of the Government regulated equal rights for girls in parental
property. The evil of the dowry system has spread its tentacles in almost all
parts of the country and sections of society. There are several reasons for the
prevalence of the dowry system, but the main one is that it is a necessary
precondition for marriage. "No dowry, no marriage," is a widespread fear.
There has also been an emergence of a feudal mindset with a materialistic
attitude in a new globalized economy. The price tag for the groom is now
bigger and bolder. The emergence of an affluent middle class, the torchbearer
of social change in modern India, is the main factor for the perpetuation of the
dowry system. Families arrange most marriages, and a man who does not
marry for love learns he can marry for possessions. For this man, and his
family, a woman becomes the ticket to shortcut riches through the system of
dowry. There are a number of things people desire to have in their own houses
but cannot afford; they use the opportunity of a son's marriage to get them.
The girl's parents do not protest against the blatant extravaganza, as they
regard the alliance as a stepping-stone towards higher social status and better
matches for the remaining children. Dowry as a phenomenon has gone beyond
the ritual of marriage. Pregnancy, childbirth and all kinds of religious and
family functions are occasions when such demands are made. A more
sophisticated public image of an extended gifting session has replaced the old
system. Now there is demand for receptions in marriage palaces. The
trousseau includes designer wear for the bride and groom's family. Chefs are
flown in for multi-cuisine wedding dinners. The bride's family usually pays for
all this. The rich revel in the exchange of their black money, but this in turn
exerts pressure on the other classes to ape them with serious social
consequences. The women have become a kind of commodity. It is them who
are the worst sufferers because dowry is most often a monetary agreement
between two men - the bride's father and the groom. Caste-based practices
have only added fuel to the fire. Marriages in political families are arranged to
consolidate the caste base for support in electoral politics, so they do not
challenge the dowry system. Dowry rituals have now spread even to
communities where they were unknown. It has gone to different castes,
crossed the boundaries of provinces and education and religion. Muslims and
Christians, such as the Syrian Christians of Kerala and the Roman Catholics of
Mangalore have started demanding dowry.
Official statistics show a steady rise in dowry crimes. More than 9, 5000
women are killed every year in India over dowry. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh still
record the maximum number of dowry crimes, but Bangalore, India's fastest
growing city also shows an alarming rise - four women reportedly die every
day because of dowry harassment and domestic violence. The cases of dowry
torture are the highest accounting for 32.4% of crimes against women in the
country.

The Dowry Prohibition Act, in force since 1st July 1961, was passed with the
purpose of prohibiting the demanding, giving and taking of dowry. In 1980 the
Government set up a committee which recommended amendments in the
Dowry Prohibition Act and also suggested expanding the definition of dowry
and instituting family courts and National Commission for women. Many
parliamentary debates led to some amendments in 1983,1984 and 1986.To
stop the offences of cruelty by husband or his relatives on the wife, Section
498-A was added in the Indian Penal Code and Section 198-A in the Criminal
Procedure Code in the year 1983. The Dowry Prohibition Act clearly
stipulates that a person who gives or takes or helps in the giving or
taking of dowry can be sentenced to jail for 5 years and fined Rs.15,
000/- or the amount of the value of dowry, whichever is more. The Act also
prohibits the giving and taking directly or indirectly any property or valuable
security, any amount either in cash of kind, jewelry, articles, properties, etc. in
respect of a marriage. The control is provided by stating a limit and names of
gifters and their relationship to the married couple to be signed by both sides
of parents. In 1986, the Act was amended again, empowering State
governments to appoint Dowry Prohibition Officers, who not only had a
preventive role but also had powers to collect evidence against people who
took dowry.

Despite protest by women's organizations, serious activism, legal

amendments, special police cells for women, media support and heightened
awareness of dowry being a crime, the practice continues unabated on a
massive scale. Despite every stigma, dowry continues to be the signature of
marriage. Women need real social, political, financial and moral support in
their fight against the system. They have to be empowered so that they can
take their decisions about their own life by refusing the dowry system.

Domestic Violence

"…the wife: however brutal or tyrant she may unfortunately be chained to-
though she may know that he hates her, though it may be his daily pleasure to
torture her, and though she may feel it impossible not to loathe him- (he)can
claim from her and enforce the lowest degration of a human being ,that of
being made an instrument of an animal function contrary to her inclinations."
John Stuart Mill
The above lines reflect the brutality that one out of
every three women has to face at the hands of their
husbands, fathers, brothers and uncles in their homes
around the globe. Domestic violence can be described as when one adult in a
relationship misuses power to control another. It is the establishment of
control and fear in the relationship through violence and other forms of abuse.
 It is basically an abuse of power. The abuser tortures and controls the victim
by calculated threats, intimidation and physical violence. Although men,
women and children can all be abused, in most cases the victims are women.
In every country where reliable, large-scale studies have been conducted,
results indicate that between 16 and 52% of women have been assaulted by
their husbands\partners. These studies also indicate widespread violence
against women as an important cause of morbidity and mortality. These
physical attacks may also include rape and sexual violence. Psychological
violence includes verbal abuse, harassment, confinement and deprivation of
physical, financial and personal resources. For some women emotional abuse
may be more painful than the physical attacks because they effectively
undermine women's security and self-confidence.
Violence within the home is universal across culture, religion, class and
ethnicity. The abuse is generally condoned by social custom and considered
part and parcel of marital life .An example of this can be seen through the gist
of a popular Spanish riddle: Question: What do mules and women have in
common? Answer: A good beating makes them both better."
The statistics reveal grim picture of the realities prevalent in
developing and developed countries alike.
 In the United States a women is beaten every 18 minutes; between 3 million and 4
million are battered each year, but only 1 in 10 cases of domestic violence is ever reported.
 In the United Kingdom, 1 in 3 families is a victim of assault and 1 in 5 a victim of
serious assault, according to a recent report by the home office.
 In Austria, in 59%of 1500 divorce cases, domestic violence is cited as a cause in the
marital breakdown.
 In India the records of National Crimes Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs government of
India revealed a shocking 71.5% Increase in cases of torture and dowry deaths during the
period from 1991 to 1995 .In 1995, torture of women constituted 29.2%of all reported
crimes against women.
 In Bangladesh, half of the 170 reported cases of women murdered between 1983 and
1985 took place within the confines of the homes.

The question arises why women put up with the abuse in the home? The
answer lies in their unequal status in society. They are often caught in a
vicious circle of economic dependence, fear for their children's lives as well as
their own, ignorance of their rights before the law, lack of confidence in
themselves and social pressures. These factors effectively force women to a life
of recurrent mistreatment from which they often do not have the means to
escape. The sanctity of privacy within the family also makes authorities
reluctant to intervene, often leads women to deny they are being abused. This
is equally common in the higher as well as in the lower segments of a society.
A woman who files a charge of abuse is often forced to drop it by her
husband's family if she wants an uncontested divorce. Social prejudices
reinforce domestic violence against women. They are treated as their spouses'
property; husbands assume that this subordinate role gives them right to
abuse their wives in order to keep them in their place. Against this background
is the tradition of dowry, an expectation of gifts and cash from the bride's
family, one can imagine the anxiety these expectations may cause to a woman
and the consequences she has to face if it is inadequate. Women's physical and
mental health is often permanently damaged or impaired and in some cases
violence can have fatal consequences as in the case of dowry deaths in India.
Physical torture as well as mental torture usually occurs on a regular basis
causing suffering and inflicting deep scars on the psyche of the victims and
 their families. Many assault incidents result in injuries ranging from bruises and
fractures to chronic disabilities. Domestic violence has devastating
repercussions on the family. Mothers are unable to care for their children
properly. Often they transmit to them their own feelings of low self-esteem,
helplessness and inadequacy. Violence against women is the most pervasive
human rights violation in world today. We need to think and ponder as how
this form of degradation of women can be stopped. It needs support from all
quarters be it government, NGOs and women themselves. There is also a need
to improve women's economic capacities that include access to and control of
income and assets and also share in the family's property. The government
should strengthen and expand training and sensitization programs.

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Corrupt politicians, corrupt judges, corrupt police officers, corrupt bureaucrats,

corrupt contractors, etc. are looting our country for last 60 years. They are
nothing but thiefs and criminals. Due to their plunder of public funds millions
of people, including children, have died. By crude estimation, these corrupt
officials constitute at least 90% of all the officers. According to standard of any
civilized country they deserve rigorous life imprisonment.

Origin of all the reasons behind the worst Indian situations is nothing but the
collective inability to make right decisions by the Indian masses; corruption,
injustice, corrupt leadership, corrupt judges, corrupt bureaucrats, etc. all are the
offspring of this.

From The Economist (9th Oct 2003) an article on the perceived corruption of countries.

Finland remains the least-corrupt country in the world, according to the latest annual
index compiled by Transparency International, a Berlin-based organisation. The index,
which measures perceived levels of corruption, focuses on the misuse of public office for
private gain. The United States ranks as the 18th least-corrupt country, only a little less so
than Chile. Botswana is reckoned to be less corrupt than Italy.
India ranks 83 in the list of least-corrupt countries. Finland is the least corrupt and ranks
first; Singapore is fifth; Botswana is ranked 30th — thus leading India by about 50
places.

In the Indian neighborhood, there are no clean countries. On a scale where 10 is the
cleanest, India gets a score of 2.8 (with a standard deviation of 0.4, a fairly low standard
deviation.) Compared to that, China scores marginally higher at 3.5 but has a greater
standard deviation of 1.0 and therefore the estimated error is larger.

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Islamic Republic of Bangladesh both score —
surprise, surprise — lower than India. Pakistan gets a 2.5 with a large 0.9 standard
deviation, and Bangladesh has the dubious distinction of being the least uncorrupt
country of the 133 surveyed by Transparency International and has a score of 1.3 (std
deviation 0.7).

I suppose if Sri Lanka were in that list, it would get a higher score than India. And I also
suppose that the northern states of India (UP, Bihar, etc.) would be more found to be
more corrupt than the southern states (Kerala, AP, TN).

Corruption and Underdevelopment

It is no mystery that underdevelopment and high degrees of corruption are highly

correlated. There are causal links between the two and most likely these are bi-
directional. Corruption is endogenous in most systems and clearly reflect the dominant
cultural traits.

In India, the web of corruption probably has a bureaucratic core. A vast bureaucracy that
is instituted to control every aspect of economic life creates the incentives for individual
and institutionalized corruption. Then the “democratic” political system uses that
bureaucracy to extract rents that are used for fueling the vast political machinery.

Dismantling the bureaucracy would be the first step to fixing the problem of corruption in
India, followed by reduction of the public sector. This would lead to reduced rents that
political parties could extract through the bureaucratic machinery and have the salutary
effect of getting rent-seeking thugs out of the political system in India.

India’s development is critically dependent on reducing corruption.