Social evils are prevalent in almost all the backward countries.

Surprising enou gh that India, a country proud of her ancient culture is no exception to it. Con servatism and fundamentalism apart there are certain customs that smear the face of this ancient land that is trying to build a modern image in the world. Go to any part of the country you will find something going on you'll be ashamed of. Even some good customs have taken a woeful course. There Was a time girls having taste in dance and music offered themselves to the cult of devadasis in prestigeoiis temples throughout the country. They were vir gins and dedicated their lives to the deity in the temple. They were respected b y the whole society. Muslim invasions are responsible for the demolition of a large number of temples in the North and North West. With them the very institution of devadasis disapp eared.But it still persists in a few districts of Maharashtra and Kamataka. Ire rate between the age of 7 and 14 are offered to be bride of goddess Yellamma a S aundathi temple in Belgaum district. According to a rough estimate abort 5000 are still offered on full moon day duri ng the month of Magh every year. Gradually a vicious belief has come up that the devadasis are maids to please Parashuram who lives in all men. A devadasi dare not displease Parashuram. What an obnoxious design to exploit the girls sexually . Most of these poor girls join the red light area (prostitute market in Mumbai and its suburbs. Bonded labor is another social stigma on our face. The poor in rural areas (both men and women) are lured by contractors' men to have a job. They are given a fe w hundred rupees and sign a document making them bonded labor. They are taken to distant places to work in construction: rework or kilns. The women and small boy s and girls are sexually assaulted too. Many of the boys are sold again and again. They hardly know where they belong to . Although Bandhua Mazdoor Mukti SanghofSwami Agnivesi got a very large number o f these slave laborers free many are still there the net. The prey of the custom of devadasis and bonded laborers are general illiterate s cheduled caste or scheduled tribe people from rural areas. But those girls who s uffer because of the evil custom of dowry belong to all sections of the society both in rural and urban areas in almost all the state; the evil that started fro m the North has engulfed the whole of South too. Today the more educated a boy is the bigger the demand of dowry too. Thousands o f girls who are harassed for not bringing sufficient dowry either commit suicide or are burnt alive by the in-laws or the husbands themselves. Caste system might have served the purpose of maintaining certain - discipline i n the society when it was based on profession and not on birth. Today its prolif eration into more than 5000 castes from four and that toe based on birth has bec ome the gravest evil. It is responsible for the stratification in the society th e upper castes are harassing the lower castes. It took the lower castes more tha n a millennium to assert themselves. Today they are up in arms against the so called upper castes 3000 against 2000. Wh at a game? Caste consciousness has gained over national consciousness. It seems the social evil that was taken for granted in the past may bring a storm that wi ll rip open the very basis of unity. Reservations for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and backward classes may not be able to check the reaction in the minds of the lower castes against the uppe r ones who still consider the former as pariah. The disparity can be removed onl

y by giving all equal status. The so called upper castes are not giving it even today of course at the cost of their own safety in the times to come. Woman is wary of the design of the ojha if you go to a tribal village. He may de clare you a witch and the villagers may kill you in their own cruel design. A la rge number of tribal women suffer from this agony every year. Don't educate the tribal's and the scheduled castes and this is what you get. Male Chauvinism and child marriages are the two social diseases that are 110 les s harmful than AIDS itself. AIDS attacks a person who has .committed a folly or has been wrongly injected. Children are married at an they are not conscious of what is going on with them. Thousands of children become a prey to this evil on the day of Akshaya Tritiya i n many areas of Rajasthan. Many children become widow before becoming girls. The ir whole life becomes a hell. Male Chauvinism too is no less a social evil. Male s have been dominating females throughout the world. It does not mean it is not an evil. In India specially in the rural areas women are worse even than the domesti c animals. It is a social evil for it doesn't allow the development of an egalit arian society that is the basis of a democracy. Moreover if a woman is ' Ardhangani' (half part) it is rather queer half part ex ploiting the other half. How can the health of the nation be maintained that way ?