SBI EXAM FORUM >>> Visit www.sbiexam.in for more!

India is not a true democracy but a discriminating society where a few privileged are given preferential treatment in all walks of life and the common man is ignored. Give arguments For and Against this view. India is basically a traditional society where most of the population is still rural-based and values its old heritage, culture and traditions. After independence, the framers of Indian Constitution wanted to transform the Indian society into a modern and liberal one by incorporating the best possible provisions, like the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles. Aim was to bestow all the liberties on the Indian citizens to make sure that the principle of equality was ensured in the society. Further, under the Directive Principles, the State is required to adopt such policies as may result in setting up an equitable society. Under the Directive Principles, the State is also required to take such necessary steps as may be required to uplift the poorer and the under-privileged sections of the society. These measures are used as supplements to the politico-legal provisions under the Constitution, with the objective of achieving social and democratic equality among all the citizens of the country. But the actual practice of democracy in the last over five decades has made many feel that rather than being a democracy, India is like an Aristocracy where some privileged categories are given preferential treatment over the common man. Arguments For the View (a) Although the Constitution of India provides for equality before law, yet as per actual practice there are certain categories in the society which have emerged as privileged classes and are given preferential treatment in all spheres of life. Hence, despite the constitutional provisions the equality has not yet been achieved in Indian society. (b) As per the estimates of government of India, about 25 per cent of the population in the country lives below poverty line. Democracy has no meaning for such poor people who are mainly concerned about basic needs like food, clothing and shelter. The democratic rights and privileges are left only for some privileged ones to enjoy. (c) Political bosses have emerged as a privileged class in Indian society which is using the democracy to grind their own axe. While the common man votes the politician to power, it is the latter category which enjoys the power to the utmost. Lack of accountability, rampant corruption in high places and other social advantages make the politicians a privileged lot in the society. (d) In addition to the politicians, highly placed government officials also form a privileged class in the society which enjoys all the facilities but little responsibility and accountability. Be it official functions, free passes, rest houses, discretionary quotas or financial benefits from the government, this class of Indian citizens score much above the common man in all these matters and many others. Arguments Against the View (a) India is the largest democracy of the world in terms of the number of electorates and has performed well in the past. It is also one of the most matured democracies in the developing world. It would be wrong to call it an Aristocracy.

SBI EXAM FORUM >>> Visit www.sbiexam.in for more!

SBI EXAM FORUM >>> Visit www.sbiexam.in for more!

(b) Democratic set up in the country has been ensured through one of the most comprehensive and written Constitutions. For the last more than five decades, the Constitution of India has delivered very well. (c) Fundamental Rights are the cornerstones of Indian Constitution and provide for equality before law as well as equal opportunity for employment under the State. The Constitution does not provide for any privileged classes in Indian society. (d) India is a welfare State and under the Directive Principles of State Policy, the government has taken several measures after independence, which are aimed at the welfare of the underprivileged and socially backward sections of population. Overall public policy, poverty alleviation programmes, reservation policy, direct taxation policy, cross subsidisation, etc. are some of the examples of the government policy aimed at benefiting the poorer and the down-trodden in India. Communal disharmony in India is a social problem but has economic causes for it. Give arguments For and Against this view. India is an emerging society and the process of socio-economic development is continuing. After the independence not only rapid economic development was need of the hour, but social development of many sections of society was also a major challenge. The government adopted several policy measures to achieve this twin objective of economic development and social upliftment. But despite its policies, as well as the constitutional provision of being a secular State, Indian society has continued to face social disharmony, particularly resulted by the communal unrest. Religious fundamentalism is one of the reasons for persistence of this problem. Politics of religion practiced by the political parties for political gains may be another reason. But many feel that though this is a social problem, the causes for this are mainly economic in nature. Arguments For the View (a) Even after five and a half decades of economic planning, about 260 million people in the country are still living below poverty line. This high incidence of economic deprivation is one important reason for social and religious unrest. (b) Yet another serious socio-economic problem in India is the growing incidence of unemployment. Increasing unemployment is raising the social tensions and the idle and unemployed youth is being misdirected to communal riots in the country. (c) Some of the religious communities are economically backward and some other are educationally backward. The youth of such communities fall easy prey to the elements who do not want the country to grow faster and want the communal tensions to dominate the socio-economic scene of the country. Arguments Against the View (a) Communal disharmony is primarily a social problem caused mainly by the social inadequacies and social tensions. This is the reason that the communal riots do not necessarily take place only in the low income and less developed regions. It would be

SBI EXAM FORUM >>> Visit www.sbiexam.in for more!

SBI EXAM FORUM >>> Visit www.sbiexam.in for more!

wrong to say that the causes for communal disharmony are purely economic in nature. Communal disharmony is a social problem and its solutions are also social in nature. (b) India is a multi-ethnic society and traditionally people belonging to several religions live harmoniously in India. Communal clashes take place sporadically and there is generally some urgent and immediate cause behind every communal riot. Most of such immediate causes are social in nature, calling for a social remedy. (c) Many a time, communal disharmony is a result of communal politics propagated by some political parties. In such cases religious passions are raised by the interested parties for small political gains. Hence the problem is that of petty politics and has got nothing to do with economic causes. (d) Rise of fundamentalism in the recent decades is an important reason for growing communal disharmony. There are several fundamentalist groups, protected by some political parties at times, which have surfaced in India. Tolerance level is low in such people, which brings down the overall tolerance level of the society as a whole. Primary sector is of prime importance to the Indian economy and without rapid growth of this sector the impending targets of higher growth rate of the economy cannot be achieved. Give arguments For and Against this view. With a growth rate of less than 2 per cent during 2008-09, the agriculture sector neither offers any cheers to the farmers nor to the economy as a whole. With the target for growth rate during Eleventh Five Year Plan being fixed 8 per cent, the below par achievements in the primary sector are apprehended to act as dampeners. Many believe that without rapid growth in primary sector it may not be possible to achieve the hyper growth targets in the coming years. Arguments For the View (a) Indian economy has been growing rapidly in the post reforms era. But except for a few exceptionally good years like 2000-01 and 2003-04, the growth rate of the agricultural sector has been very low, at around 2 to 3 per cent per annum. To hike the overall growth rate of the economy, the primary sector has to improve its performance. (b) More than 60 per cent of the total labour force in the country is engaged in the farm sector operations. With such a huge proportion of population experiencing increase of just around three per cent in their income levels, the overall growth rate of the economy also tends to get suppressed. (c) It is well-known that the farm productivity in the country is among the lowest in the world and there is a vast scope for increasing the same. Any substantial increase in the productivity of this vital sector would result in overall high growth rate of the economy. (d) The years in which the agricultural sector has not performed well have witnessed lower growth rate of the economy. Hence, it is imperative that the primary sector does well.

SBI EXAM FORUM >>> Visit www.sbiexam.in for more!

SBI EXAM FORUM >>> Visit www.sbiexam.in for more!

Arguments Against the View (a) In India, agriculture is largely dependent on monsoons. Under such a scenario, it is wrong to expect the farm sector to grow at par with the industries or the services sectors. The government knows this reality well and has been focusing on rapid growth of those sectors which have high growth potential. (b) Indian agriculture is primitive in nature and employs old technology and lesser capital. With these features, the agricultural sector is likely to continue with its current low growth rate trend and the attempts to boost up the growth rate of the economy have to be without the agriculture sector changing much. (c) With services contributing half of the national income at present, it is better to rely on this sector for sustaining the higher growth of the economy, rather than putting efforts in the primary sector without results. Rather than aiming at increasing the growth rate, the government must specifically aim at reducing the unemployment level in the country. Give arguments For and Against this view. Though unemployment has been one of the major socio-economic problems in the country since long, yet during the past about a decade unemployment has been increasing rather rapidly. It is ironical that while the average annual growth rate of the economy during the last one decade has been close to 7 per cent, there has not been any corresponding reduction in the unemployment rate and its incidence has in fact increased. Even in case of those who are employed in the rural and urban areas, there is a wide gap in the wages earned by them for the same job. In successive Budgets and Plans, the policy makers talk of high growth rate, but no specific and effective schemes have been unveiled for reducing the scourge of unemployment. Many feel that it is high time that the government comes out with a specific scheme for substantially reducing the incidence of unemployment in India. Arguments For the View (a) During the past about 15 years the average annual growth rate has been high at more than 6.5 per cent. But that notwithstanding, the incidence of poverty in the country has not reduced proportionately, and even today the percentage of people living below poverty line is about 25 per cent. It implies that while the income levels have gone up, only the well to do people have largely been benefited. This trend can only be reversed if more employment more opportunities are generated, particularly in the rural areas. (b) India is endowed with a large number of trained and skilled human resources and most of the developed countries are scarce in this regard. The country must take advantage of this situation by utilising its human resources to the optimum. This would not only provide opportunity to most of the labour force to contribute to the nation-building, but would also remove economic disparities and poverty. (c) The surge in IT and Telecom sector has resulted in a digital divide in India, between the urban and educated people, on the one hand, and the rural and the illiterates, on the

SBI EXAM FORUM >>> Visit www.sbiexam.in for more!

SBI EXAM FORUM >>> Visit www.sbiexam.in for more!

other. The only way to bridge this gap is to generate more employment opportunities, particularly in the rural areas. (d) India cannot achieve hyper growth rate on sustainable basis without providing fruitful employment opportunities to its unemployed. Hence, rather than concentrating on high growth rate, more employment generation must be targeted. Arguments Against the View (a) It is well-known that as a result of trickle down effect, high growth rate automatically takes care of all the problems of the economy, including that of unemployment. (b) Labour intensive methods of production are generally less productive. That is why even more populous country like China has followed the capital intensive technologies for mass production. The resultant benefit of industrialisation is more employment opportunities in future. (c) While following the policy of achieving high growth rate of the economy, the country is also taking care of the needs of those who desperately need employment to meet both ends. The recent Employment Guarantee Schemes are an example. (d) Employment opportunities can only be created by rapid growth of the industries and the services sectors. This is exactly what is being done, and the employment generation is going to follow soon. Instead of wasting the resources in educating all up to the elementary level, the country should aim at providing higher and technical education to those who have the right aptitude, as there would be no gains by educating millions of people only up to the elementary level. Give arguments For and Against this view. One of the areas in which the performance of India has been below expectations is literacy. Even after more than five decades of economic planning in the post independence era, about 35 per cent of the total population in India is still illiterate. The performance in the field of female literacy, in particular, has been dismal, with over 45 per cent of them still being unable to read and write. But at the same time, India has the distinction of having the largest scientific manpower in the world. The country also has the largest number of graduates, as well as software professionals. It is mainly this section of the educated and technically and professionally qualified manpower which has contributed towards rapid economic growth of Indian economy in the recent years. With a view to improve its record in the field of literacy, the country launched an ambitious campaign called Sarv Siksha Abhiyan, which aims at providing at least elementary education (8th Standard) to all. Emphasis are also on checking the drop outs from the primary and elementary schools. But many feel that such a campaign is a national waste and the country should concentrate only on providing technical and professional education to those who have the required aptitude and the intellect. Arguments For the View

SBI EXAM FORUM >>> Visit www.sbiexam.in for more!

SBI EXAM FORUM >>> Visit www.sbiexam.in for more!

(a) Majority of the children to be covered in the campaign for universalisation of elementary education would be those who would leave studies after 8th standard. Such limited education would neither be of any use to the individual nor to the country. (b) A person with 8th pass qualification has no technical or employable skills and would remain an unskilled worker. It would be appropriate to concentrate on improving the vocational as well as technical education so that the students have some employable skills. (c) India is a developing economy and the economic resources are limited. Available resources must be utilised optimally in such a manner as to have the maximum benefit for the economy. Hence, it would be better to improve the higher education, particularly the technical and professional education. (d) Higher education has been the strength of Indian economy in the recent past. Rather than wasting resources on elementary education, India must consolidate its gains in this regard, lest the other developing countries like China and South Korea overtake it. Arguments Against the View (a) Most of the developed countries in the world have literacy rate of over 90 per cent. Most of the developing countries also have better literacy rate than India. It is thus imperative that the literacy rate is pushed up to near 90 per cent level in India also. (b) India is the largest democracy in the world and the Indian Constitution has enshrined several novel features like the Fundamental Right, Fundamental Duties and the Directive Principles of the State Policy. These provisions would be fruitful only when the Indian citizens are able to understand them. This would come only with at least elementary education. (c)?No society can be considered socially developed if 35 per cent of its population cannot read or write. For proper growth of Indian society, it is important that all its citizens have education at least up to the elementary level. (d) Elementary education lays the foundation for good higher, technical and professional education. Hence, without undermining the importance of higher education, good elementary education is a must. Forestry can only be encouraged by active participation of the people but in certain areas government intervention is a must. Comment. Forests play a vital role not only in maintaining the ecological balance but also in rapid economic development of the country. With increasing population pressure on the Earth, more particularly in a country like India, pressure on forests is increasing with every passing day. Community needs of fuel, fodder and timber are required to be fulfilled through scientific exploitation of forests. In addition to catering to the above three needs, the forests also provide several valuable products like raw material and herbs. In India, 23 per cent of the total geographical area is under the forest cover but out of this

SBI EXAM FORUM >>> Visit www.sbiexam.in for more!

SBI EXAM FORUM >>> Visit www.sbiexam.in for more!

41 per cent of the forests are degraded. For environmental sustainability and meeting the needs of the economy for various purposes forests are not only required to be protected but also to be regenerated. During the past few decades, social forestry has emerged as an important branch of forestry capable of meeting the demands of the community and regenerating forests in a short span of time. With a view to achieve the goals of afforestation and forest protection in general and those relating to social forestry in particular, there is an urgent need for peoples participation and involvement. Community thus has a larger role to play, as it may not be possible for the government to protect each nook and corner of forests. People have to realise that the forests are needed for their well being and the degradation of the forests would threaten the very existence of humanity. Awareness of people about healthy environmental and forest exploitation practices is essential. This is the reason that all the new schemes aimed at forest generation, protection and scientific exploitation being framed by the Union government and the State governments depend heavily on peoples participation. But there are certain compelling reasons due to which government intervention in this regard would continue to be important. Some of the reasons are as under: (a) During the last about one decade, agro-forestry in the rain-fed and semi-arid regions has assumed importance in India. Most of the marginal and waste lands in India can be used appropriately for social forestry so that some pressure on the forests is reduced. (b) The government would continue to play an important role in forming social forest cooperatives, joint forest management groups and involving the Panchayati Raj Institutions in forestry by the community. Even in the new plantation, the government would continue to act as a catalyst. (c) Women have an important role to play as forest managers, as they are actively involved in collecting forest produce and acting as wage earners. Protecting the womens traditional usufruct rights and enabling them to collect and market the forest produce in a scientific manner would also result in their empowerment. Government will have an important role to play in dovetailing this with the forestry development practices. (d) The government will have to reduce and gradually stop the practice of auction of timber and bamboo to the industry so that the farm forestry is encouraged, reducing considerably the pressure from the traditional forests. (e) Government has to take deliberate action to gradually stop traditional plantation and change the forestry policy by shifting attention from timber to floor management and production of more gatherable bio-mass. (f) Forest fire prevention and controls to reduce forest losses must be pursued by all the State governments.

SBI EXAM FORUM >>> Visit www.sbiexam.in for more!

SBI EXAM FORUM >>> Visit www.sbiexam.in for more!

(g) Conservation and development of herbs and medicinal plants should be patronised by the government to meet the requirement of local drug industry as well as that for exports. (h) Development of watersheds, river valleys and wastelands should be appropriately looked after by the government to protect and regenerate the forests. (i) The government has a greater role to play in research and technological development, providing improved marketing, value addition and employment generation in forest management. (j) Government will have to evolve an integrated system for addressing the issues of ecology, safety and commercial exploitation of forests. The diverse social structure in India is getting weakened with increasing modernisation. Give arguments For and Against this view. Indian society is unique in many ways. It has several races, religions and cultural amalgamations. That is why it is said that India has unity in diversity. In addition to people from different castes living peacefully in this country, people belonging to three great religions of the world, the Hinduism, Christianity and Islam, are found in large numbers in India. Indian society, traditionally, follows a caste system under which the profession of a person was guided by the caste in which he was born. Caste system to a significant extent was also found among Indian Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Bodhs. In addition, Indian society and culture have been greatly enriched by various immigrants and invaders over the centuries. Besides, religions like Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism originated from India. The framers of Indian Constitution upheld the unique diversity of Indian society by opting for a secular State where all the religions are equally important and the citizens are free to practice any religion of their choice, without any interference from any quarter. It is said that the social structure in India is under the influence of modernisation, which is being experienced by the Indian society and economy. Arguments For the View (a) One of the causes of modernisation is globalisation. With more frequent global contact and communication, Indian values and culture are getting greatly influenced by the West. (b) Electronic media has come up in a big way during the past about a decade. Satellite Television channels have unleashed a host of western programmes and serials, themes of which are alien to composite Indian society. The social, moral and ethical values are also undergoing change, which has threatened the very composition of Indian society. (c) As compared to western and Islamic societies, Indian society is far more tolerant. Racist western societies and fundamentalist Islamic countries have also influenced Indian society and if increasing fundamentalist incidents in India in the recent years are any indication, India is also getting influenced to a great extent. (d) One of the latest vehicles of modernisation is the Information Technology (IT). As IT was first perfected in the USA and the West, most of the IT tools have the western bias

SBI EXAM FORUM >>> Visit www.sbiexam.in for more!

SBI EXAM FORUM >>> Visit www.sbiexam.in for more!

which is influencing the impressionable minds of Indian youth. (e) Among important fallouts of modernisation are industrialisation and urbanisation. These two have already influenced the tradition of joint family in India and the social changes may influence the traditional social fibre of Indian society in the coming years. Arguments Against the View (a) Indian Constitution is the highest law of the land. It outlines various social strengths of India, including the abolition of untouchability, equality before law, reservation for women in the Panchayati Raj Institutions, freedom of religion, protection for weaker sections and minorities, etc. These basic strengths of Indian socio-political system have been institutionalised and cannot be taken away by any amount of modernisation. (b) Indian society and culture have the strength to enrich themselves with various other cultures that they encounter. Considering this, modernisation is no threat to Indian culture. It may rather benefit the Indian culture. (c) Indian society is too diverse and broad to be affected by modernisation. It has deep roots in the minds of people. Western influence on a handful of people living in the urban areas does not mean that urbanisation has affected the entire Indian society. (d) India lives in villages, with almost two-third of her population residing in rural areas. Economic and cultural influence of modernisation is limited to big cities. Hence, it would be wrong to say that Indian society as a whole has been affected by modernisation. (e) Even people living in urban areas are Indians at heart. Deep-rooted social values of Indian society are not easy to shun. Modernisation is an ongoing process and Indian society has coped up with it. There is nothing that has altered the position significantly in the recent years. Drinking is responsible for many social evils. To solve most of our social problems, prohibition should be enforced in the country. Give arguments For and Against this view. The Directive Principles of the State Policy provide that the State should strive to take steps to enforce prohibition in the country. But this may be the only Directive Principle which most of the State governments have not implemented. The reason is that a very significant volume of State revenues is made up of State Excise Duty, coming mainly from the sale of liquor. In most of the States, State Excise Duty contributes 20 to 30 per cent of the total State revenues and is the second largest contributor to their revenues. On the other hand, one school of thought believes that it is the increasing consumption of liquor in Indian society that is responsible for many social crimes and evils. Arguments For the View (a) The framers of the Constitution were extremely influenced by the Gandhian views about prohibition. The views of the framers of the Constitution must be honoured by enforcing prohibition.

SBI EXAM FORUM >>> Visit www.sbiexam.in for more!

SBI EXAM FORUM >>> Visit www.sbiexam.in for more!

(b) If a State like Gujarat can survive financially despite the loss of State Excise revenue, any other State can do so. It is a matter of political and bureaucratic will and nothing else. (c) Many social evils like wife beating, eve teasing, rapes and murders prevail in Indian society mainly because of liquor. Most of the road accidents occur because the drivers of the concerned vehicles are under the influence of liquor at the time of accident. Hence, there is an urgent need for prohibition. (d) Drinking results in reduction in the disposable income of the low-income groups and the sum that could be spent on nutrition and health care of the entire family is spent on drinking by one member of the family. The ill effects of drinking also affect the health of the drinkers later in their lives. Hence, social cost in terms of deterioration of public health may be much higher than the revenues earned. Arguments Against the View (a) The revenue earned from sale of liquor is spent on social sector like education, health, housing, drinking water and sanitation. (b) The experiment of prohibition in Andhra Pradesh and Haryana failed miserably and these States had to lift prohibition. When prohibition was unsuccessful in these States it may not succeed in others. (c) Gujarat has enforced prohibition but it cannot be said that there are no rapes, murders, road accidents etc. in that State. (d) By stopping the sale of liquor the government would indirectly be encouraging the availability and sale of illicit liquor. This will result in loss of revenue to the government, on the one hand, without any expected benefits of prohibition, on the other. (e) Why should a moderate and sensible drinker be deprived of his drinks just because of some excessive drinkers in the society?

SBI EXAM FORUM >>> Visit www.sbiexam.in for more!