UNIT 8 CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY IN

INDIA: CHANGE AND

CONTINUITY
Structure
8.0 Objectives
8.1 Introduction
Impact of Colonial Rule
Unity in Diversity
8.3.1 Forms of Diversity
8.3.2 Threads of Unity

Social Stratification
8.4.1 Caste
8.4.2 Class

Family and Marriage

Social Problems
8.6.1 Poverty and Unemployment .
8.6.2 Crime
8.6.3 Drug Addiction
8.6.4 Violence

Let Us Sum Up
Key Words
HintsIAnswers to Check Your Progress Exercises

8.0 OBJECTIVES
After going through this unit you should be able to:
describe the basic features of Indian society;
identify the forces and factors that have brought about changes in different social
institutions, such as family, caste, class and so on; and
explain the elements of continuity in different social institutions in contemporary
Indian society.

8.1 INTRODUCTION
India is arich mosaic of diverse cultures, communities, religions, languages and ethnic
groups. In a true sense, India is a plural society. There are diversities within it yet there
are threads of unity along a common shared historical heritage, values and beliefs. The
Indian Constitution unites the society politically and administratively.In this unit we will
be focusing on the impact of colonial rule on society and the division of society on the
basis of caste and class. We will study the different types of family and marriage prevalent
in Indian society. Thereafter, we will deal with the major social problems.
 Contemporary Society
IMPACT OF COLONIAL RULE in India: Change!and
Conti~iuity
%or to the arrival of the British, other rulers, invaders, merchants and travelers to
Inclia brought with them customs and beliefs, religions and religious practices that were
unheard of by Indians. With the passage of time, however, they were absorbed within
the Indian society and became part of its rich socio-culturalfabric. Both material culture
including art, craft, clothing, technology etc. as well as non-material culture including
values, beliefs, customs and so on became part of the characterisiics of the Indian
society. Unlike other rulers, the British came as merchants. The East India Company
ruledover parts of India for a very long time. The very nature of this rule was exploitative
since the purpose of the rulers was to fill their pockets and enhance the wealth and the
glcry of England.

Th: arrival of the East India Company marked the arrival of the British in India. They
ru11:d India in one capacity or the other for a long period of time and left an imprint on
Inc!ian society and culture. Let us understand some of the major changes they brought
about in Indian society.

a) Changes in Agriculture

The British administration introduced several drastic changes in the land tenure system.
It did away with the traditional rights of the people over the village land. It introduced
several land revenue systems like the Permanent Settlement, the Ryotwari System and
the Mahalwari Settlement in different parts of India during the 18"lcentury. Land came
to be seen as private property that could be mortgaged, sold and bought in the market
like any commodity.

As long as the village ownershipof land existed, the village was the unit of assessment
of revenue. The new land revenue system of individualownershipeliminated the village
as a unit. It introduced the system of individual land assessment and revenue payment.
Earlier, land revenue was fured as a specified portion of the year's actual produce. This
war; replaced by a system of fixed money payment irrespective of crops. The landlord
or cultivator under the new system was forced to pay this revenue in cash. The payment
of revenue in cash encouraged the production of cash crops instead of food crops.
This created a new class of landowners. In some areas of Bihar, Bengal and Uttar
Pradesh a new class of Zamindars emerged with the role of an intermediary between
the actual cultivator and the administrators.

b) made and Commerce

Co~nmodiiication of land made the peasants, the lower castes and classes of agriculturists
poor. Artisans lost their traditional patronage and many had to leave the village and
their traditional occupations. The British policy of encouraging cultivation of those crops
thal would provide raw materials for their own industries was responsible for large-
sca.e famines in India. Such policies and measures served the vested interests of the
Brii:ish. Thus, they developed a large network of railways and transport that helped
foster production for market.

The shift in agricultural production from food crops to cash crops encouraged trade
and commerce. The conditions around which trade and commerce were centered was
the :;upplyof raw materials from India for industries in Britain and the import of British
marlufactured goods for consumption in the Indian market. Since the Indian handicrafts
could not compete with the machine-made British goods, the cottage industries of
Preparatory Course Indian towns and villages got destroyed. The result was that the displaced artisans and
in Social Sciences skilled workers had to take to agricultufe as occupation leading to overcrowding in
agriculture.
c) Development of Railways and Industry
With the developments of trade and commerce, the colonial rule introduced the vast
network of railways, post and telegraph and transport systems. Again, these
developments were made with the purpose of meeting the need of the British for raw
material to feed their manufacturing units. The construction of railways and roads also
provided scope for investment of British capital in India. It helped in not only ferrying
of raw material for factories but also swift movement cf British troops from one region
to another. This enabled the British administrators to control any unrest quickly and
maintain law and order.
The British initiaIly invested in such areas as tea plantations, indigo plantations,
cotton and jute and running industries. This was the beginning of the industrialization
process in India. A few Indian merchants and businessmen too, at this time
managed to accumulate sufficient capital to be able to invest. They introduced
modem industrialization in India. Thus emerged a unified national economy as a
result of introduction of the modem factory system of production, commercialization
of the economy and the spread of modem transport system. According to A.R. Desai
(1987) Indian economy became more unified, cohesive and organized due to these
developments.
d) Education
The British were also responsible for the introduction of modem education system in
India. They set up several colleges, training schools, and universitiesto develop the
skill in people to able to run the vast admmistrative machinery that the British needed to
rule over India. The East India Company set up the first school in 1784 at Tanjore
where courses were offered in English, Hindi andTamil.
The East India Company soon realized that it could gain influence over the Indians and
their society through education. It set up more schools in India using the Company's
finances. Warren Hastings, the first Governor General of India, established a Madrasa
in Calcutta in 1784 at the Company's expense for the education of Muslim boys,
through the medium of Arabic. He also started a Sanskrit college at Banaras in 1791.
The purpose was to get people who would be conversant with Hindu law and Muslim
law and be able to help the Courts of Justice set up by the British. Lord Wellesley took
a major step. He established a college at Calcutta in 1800 to train civil servants of the
Company in Indian languages, in the Hindu and Muslim Law and the history of India.
In 1834, Macaulay became the President of a Committee which was constituted to
disposeoff annual grants forthe benefitsof the various educationalinstitutionsmaintained
by the Government for both elementary and higher education. It was as President of
this Committee that he wrote the famous Minute in February 1835. It was decided at
this time that it would be better to impart quality education to a few hundred people
rather than impart education at superficial level to millions of Indians. The Committee
debated on two opposing ideas viz., providing orientaleducation and providing western
learning.Orientallearning was confined to only a few families of both Hindus as well as
Muslims. However, the records reveal that in the Hindu college as well as in Scottish
Church College in Calcutta,large numbers of students had been enrolled where English
was a medium of instruction, in comparison with the colleges having Sanskrit and
Arabic as mediums of instruction. Earlier the enrollment in the Sanskrit schools was
 Contemporary Society
practically limited to the Brahmin families. Kuppuswamy (1984) says that with the in India: Change and
i~ltroductionof the English medium in the Government schools, education became Continuity
accessible to children from all classes and castes.

e) Social Mobility
Society in India as in other parts of the world is in a state of flux. The forces of social
changes set in motion by the British rulers and their policies led to an uneven growth of
social classes in India. It led to several changes in the caste structure and society in
general. Due to the introduction of land tenure measures, and commodificationof land
as property, new classes of landowners and tenants in the rural areas emerged. But
these developments were not uniform in all the areas. For example, it was in Bengal
ihat the class of zamindars and tenants came into existence. Since the British set up
lheir industri;d enterprises first in Bengal and Bombay, the class of industrialistsand
workers, too, first emerged in these places. This was the main reason why the British
(:stabfished a huge administrative network and introduced modem education in Bengal
md Bombay.

The Census process inadvertently set into motion changes in society especially in the
caste system. The Census of 1931 sharpened the self-awareness of each caste that
gave rise to competition among them to claim higher position in the caste structure.
Prior to this period, British policies had shaken the traditional h m o n y between castes
and classes. When the British introduced land reforms and made land a commodity,
and new areas of employment had been opened up, some lower castes such as the
Jatavs of Agra and Nadars of South India had become quite prosperous. Some of
these castes took up the opportunity to become upwardly mobile and raise their caste
status within the local caste hierarchy. They claimed a higher status in the census inquiry.
Thus, caste system faced a major challenge during this period, since after this period
the overlap between caste and class hierarchy had changed to some extent.

A more specific example of change in caste hierarchy in the wake of British rule in
India is provided in the Bisipara village situated in Orissa. F.G Bailey studied the caste
system in this village. He found that two castes that did not own land managed to raise
their economic status. This happened because they could get monopoly over trade in
hide and liquor that yielded good profit. The higher castes kept away from the business
because of the feeling that hide and liquor would pollute them.

Apart from raising its position in society by acquiring wealth, some castes emulated the
customs, symbols and ways of life of highercaste people. By doing this over generations
the people of lower castes had in some cases been able to mingle with the higher caste
people. This enhanced the social position of the lower caste. The adoption of symbols
I
and ways of life of higher caste people by the lower castes has been characterized as
1 'sanskritization' by the noted sociologist, M.N. Srinivas. The higher castes, in turn,
followed the customs and ways of life of western societies. This process is referred to
I as 'westernization'. The process of westernization includes, among others, acquiring
1 western education.

UNITY IN DIVERSITY
I
I It is commonly said that one of the distinguishing features of society in India is 'unity in
diversity'. Many of us have wondered how unity could prevail over diversity. At the
beginning itself let us understand the forms of diversity. Thereafter, we will explore the
means through which unity got established.
8.3.1 Forms of Diversity
In its simplest sense, the term diversity means differences. When we refer to diversity
in apy society, we generally emphasize differences that set one category of people
apart from another. It may be understood that, in this context, we focus on differences
that characterize one group and not others. Such differences may be said to be group-
based rather than individual-based. Against this background, we may identify
differences between groups of individuals broadly on the basis of physical features,
languages, religion, ethnicity, caste, and economic condition.
a) Racial Diversity
At the root of racial diversity are differences in physical features. This means that
people belonging to different races can be identified on the basis of physical features,
e.g., colour of the skin, shape of the eyes and nose, texture and type of hair etc.
Herbert Risley studied the population of India closely as the supervisor of 1891 census
operations in the country. He classified the population of India into seven races:
(i) Turko-Iranian, (ii) Indo-Aryan, (iii) Scytho-Dravidian, (iv) Aryo-Dravidian,
(v) Mongolo-Dravidian,(vi) Mongoloid, and (vii) Dravidian.According to Herbert
Risley, the tribal population largely belongs to the Mongoloid and Dravidian racial
types. Risley's classification was later criticized.
Subsequently, Hutton and Guha proposed another scheme of classification. Hutton
and Guha's classification had been applied to people in different parts of the
world. They identified six races: (1) Negrito, (2) Proto-australoid,(3) Mongoloid,
(4) Mediterranean, (5)Western Brachycephals, and (6) Nordic. According to them
people belonging to each of these races are found in India as in other parts of the
world. Later, there were other attempts to classify the people of India into different
racial types. These classifications differed from each other in terms of
distinguishing characteristics. It has been realized that racial basis of classification
is ambiguous.
b) Linguistic Diversity
Society in India is multi-lingual - that means consisting of people speaking
different languages. Grierson identified 179 languages, and 544 dialects. There
are more than 1,652 spoken languages including at least 63 non-Indian languages.
The Constitution of India recognizes 22 languages. These are: Assarnese, Bengali,
Bodo. Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashrniri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam,
Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Santhali, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil,
Telugu and Urdu. Each state provides adequate facilities for imparting education in
mother tongue.
c) Religious Diversity
One of the distinguishingfeatures of society in India is the plurality of religions. The
scope of religion is not confined to adherence to a set of beliefs or performance of
certain rituals. Rather, religion provides a way of understanding social reality. It also
lays down a code of behaviour that is considered appropriate. In this sense, religion
touches all aspects of our lives. Each religion piescribes a way of life for those who
practice it. So, when we say that there are different religions in India, we imply that
there are also different ways of life of people in India based on their religions. The
prominent forms of religion are: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism,
Sikhism, and Zoroastrianism.In addition to these, there are many other forms of religion
such as Judaism, Bahaism and of course, the religions of the tribal communities.One
can distinguish between the ways of life of Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains and Contempor;~rySociety
in India: Change and
other communities. Furthermore,each form of religion mentioned above has within its c Jontinuity
fold several sects. Interestingly,most religious are characterized by local variations.
This means that there are variations in beliefs, myths and rituals even among people of
one religion living in different regions.
d) Ethnic Diversity
The term ethnic is derived from the Greek word ethnos that means 'nation'. An ethnic
group, therefore, is one that has a common national or cultural tradition. It may be
understood that the important features that are considered for identifying the ethnic
group of an individual are: nationality, language, religion. race, and caste. People of an
ethnic group (e.g. those belonging to the same region or practicing the same religion)
share a common identity and a sense of separateness with other ethnic groups. India is
home to people belonging to different ethnic groups identified on the basis of language,
region, religion and caste. Adiscussion about ethnic groups in India essentially includes
the tribal population. It is not correct to treat the tribal population in the country as
homogeneous. The tribals are differentiated on the basis of region, language, origin,
descent, and religion. In addition, people belonging to different countries migrate to
India. Such migrants add to the ethnic diversity of the country. What is interesting to
note is the fact that most ethnic groups form associations and local groups that assert
the collective identity of the people. Sometimes, there is a clash of interest of different
ethnic groups leading to ethnic conflict.
e) Caste-based Diversity
A prominent form of diversity in society in India, particularly among Hindus, is caste-
based. The term caste is used to refer to the four-fold division of Hindus on the basis
~f vama into Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra. We will read later in this unit
%atthe people belonging to the Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra were engaged
I-espectively in learning and teaching of scriptures, warfare and protection of other
members of society, trade and merchandise and senrice. Membership of a vama was
solely through birth. The other sense in which the term caste is used is jati. Ajati is an
occupational, hereditary,endogamous group. People practicing the same occupation
belong to one,jati. Traditionally, the son inherited the occupation of his father. People
belonging to one jati form a cohesive group. Their members usually know each other
kvell, help one another and seek to resolve conflicts within the group itself particularly
i11villages through their own locai associations and caste councils. Many people prefer
to marry withn their own caste groups. Teli (oil pressers), dhohi (washemen), lohar
(12lacksrniths),mi (barbers) are examples of different jatis.
D Economic Diversity
Irldia is a land of glaring differences in incomes and access to economic and employment
opportunities.At one end there are very rich people who are able to consume the most
m~tritiousfood, provide best education to their children, and purchase all kinds of
goods and services for their comfort. At the other end are people who live in extreme
poverty, ill health and unhygienic conditions. Many of them labour and toil hard to
secure two square meals a day. Of course, between the rich and the poor there is the
middle class.
Inequality in income is due mainly to maldistributionof resources in society. There is a
w de divide between the 'haves' and the have-nots'. It is felt that the rich seek to
create conditions for the perpetuation of poverty; primarily because the poor remain
available to perform the manual jobs for the rich. Further, the poor are forced to
Preparatory Course consume inferior goods and services (e.g., used clothes, utensils, low quality houses
in Social Sciences etc.) that are discarded by the rich. We will read more about economic disparity in the
section on social stratification.
8.3.2 Threads of Unity
Despite wide diversity, people in India are united in many ways. Here, unity does not
mean uniformity or sameness rather, it means integration, togethernessand commonness.
Let us find out how in spite of the differences, the people remain united and connected
with each other.
People in different parts of the country respect the same (i) national emblem. The state
emblem of India is adopted from the Sarnath Lion as preserved in the Sarnath Musuem.
The government adopted the emblem on 26" January 1950 when India became a
Republic; (ii) national flag: a horizontal tricolour with deep saffron or kesari band at
the top, white band in the middle and dark green band at the bottom. The center of the
white band is marked by a wheel of navy blue colour; (iii)national anthem. The constituent
assembly adopted Rabindranath Tagore's song Jana gana mana as the national
anthem on 24" January 1950 and (iv) national song. Bankimchandra Chatterji's song
vande matararn is adopted as the national song of the country. Furthermore, the
people in different parts of the country are governed by one Constitution (with some
exceptionsin the case of Jarnmu .and Kashmir). They enjoy the same set of fundamental
rights and are obliged to perform the same set of fundamental duties.
English was the official language during British rule. The national leaders felt the need
to replace English with languages of the country. The Constitution declared Hindi in
Devanagari script as the officiallanguage of India. In 1963 it was decided to retain the
use of English along with Hindi for all official purposes.The government does undertake
several measures to popularize the use of Hindi for official purposes.
A person practicing one religion has the freedom to adopt another religion. The
practice of adopting areligion other than the one that an individual or a group has been
practicing is known as conversion. Religious conversion may take place at individual
level and at the group level. There are many reasons for conversions. Let us identify
some of them. Inter-religiousmarriage is one of the reasons why people convert from
one religious faith to another. It is possible that the husband and wife practice different
religions. This does not, however, usually happen. Often one of them adopts the religion
of the other or rarely, the couple may decide to adopt a religion that neither of them has
practiced.Another reason for conversion is greater appeal and pursuance potential of
a religion. People may be charmed by the teachings in another religion or by its promise
of providing a solution to some problems. Yet another reason for conversion is to
acquire respite from pressures and sanctions in one's own religion.A large number of
people who were characterized as 'untouchables' in the Hindu caste system, were
kept away from and made to do menial tasks adopted other religions in which caste
system did not exist. They found conversion as a means through which they could
escape the negative treatment and enhance their position in society.
AU religions are assigned equal place in society i.e., believers of all religions are treated
equally. It is important to note that an individual or a group belonging to one religion
participate with fervour and zest in the festivals of another religiousgroup. It is common
to find Hindus and Muslims greeting each other and participahngin each other's religious
festivals. This is also true of people belonging to other religions.
Amajority of the people in India lives in villages. Earlier, villages were treated as 'little
republics' i.e., completely autonomous and self-sufficient. Mere inter-personal
relationships were on a one-to-one basis (i.e., one person knew all others in the village), Contemporary Society
in India: Changeand
governed by kinship and caste (i.e., how a person interacted with another, what helshe Continuity
could expect from the other and what others would expect from himher would be
determined by hisfher place in the network of relationships and by the caste) and (iii)
strong emotio~lalties (i.e., people participated in occasions of each others' joys and
sorrows). There was tremendous inter-dependence among people. Later it was found
that the notion of villages as 'little republics' was not wholly valid. %llages were found
tct depend on other villages, towns and cities for a variety of purposes.
Pzople are known to travel from and to villages for fairs and festivals, pilgrimages,
education, trade and commerce as also tourism and entertainment.As people migrate
from villages t~ towns and cities and from towns and cities to villages, they carry with
them habits, beliefs and cultural traditions. There is, hence, natural spread of cultural
traditions from villages to towns and cities and vice-versa. Society in India is also
characterized by the tradition of accommodation, and interdependence.Even widely
d~versegroups live together, make adjustments, appreciate each other's viewpoints.
They come together for a common cause and extend help and support to each other in
times of crisis.
The social proiile of different communities shows that there exist many dimensions of
linkages and interactions among segments of region, culture, social categories and
ccmmunities. This can be seen in the migration of people between different regions.
The movement of people from one region to another has favouredrise in bilingualism
which fostered better communication.The close interaction of different communities
among different cultural regions is reflected in shared cultural traits. This is seen in a
nilmber of communities across regions and territories. These cultural traits are not only
related to rituals and institutional practices but also to technologiesof occupation and
slds and dime~lsion of labour. Most communities have moved away from their traditional
olxupations due to the operation of many government programmes, schemes, etc.
related to comnunity development.
In order to do away with social and economic disparities, the government has
undertaken several initiatives. The underlying objective is to provide opportunities to
the deprived sections of society and encourage them to come out of difficult
cjrcumstances and integrate with the national mainstream. We will learn more about
this aspect in later part of this unit.
Check Your Progress 1

1:) What are the major forms of diversity in India?

2:1 Who composed the national anthem?

 -
Preparatory Course
in Social Sciences 8.4 SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
Society in India is segmented along the lines of caste, class, and different religious and
ethnic groups. But these segments are so interwoven that what we see is a rich fabric
of multicultural plural society that is shaped and reshaped by different forces of change.
These changes have been brought about by different invaders from outside as well as
by socio-political cultural upheavals from time to time within the society. Perhaps,
amongst all the influences fiom outside it was the long and eventful rule of the British
that brought about maximum change in the perception and life of Indians. The society
today, reflects the impact of these changes in terms of its polity, economy and society.
8.4.1 Caste
Caste is a distinctivefeature of society in India. The Hindu religious texts mention the
varna system of classification of people. According to the varna scheme, the people
can be divided into four categories or varnas that are hierarchically arranged. People
belonging to different varnas pursued different occupations. Brahmins had been
engaged in reading, explaining and teaching the religious texts, Kshatriyas were to
protect the country from enemies, Vaishyas pursued activities related to trade and
merchandise, and Shudras were to serve others. Membership of a varna was solely
by virtue of birth.
What stood out uniformly accepted by everyone all-over India was that v a m hierarchy
had religious and scriptural backing. This hierarchy placed the Brahmin (traditionally
priest and upholder of learning) at the top; next came the Kshatriyas (rulers and soldiers);
third came the Vaishyas (merchants) and fourth in the hierarchy were the Shudras
(peasants, service castes like carpenter, dhobi, nai etc).
Over a period of time, occupations became diversified. Different occupational groups
came to constitute relevant categories of classifying people. These occupational groups
of people pursuing the same vocation came to be understood as jati. Evidently, people
belonging to one jati were engaged in the same occupation. Thus, nai or barbers,
lohar or blacksmith came to be identified as jatis. Interestingly, these jatis were
endogamous groups i.e., the people of one jati preferred to marry their children within
their own jatis. A clear-cut stratification of jatis was evident. Those engaging in
unclean jobs (e.g., scavenging) were placed at the bottom of the social hierarchy.
While some jatis were'treated as pure and occupied upper rungs of the social ladder
others were treated as impure and occupied the lower rungs.
The jatis or castos were interdependent. This means that people of one jati would
draw services 01' mother caste and in its turn would render service to other castes.
This system is referred to as the jajmani system. In the jajmani system, jajman is
the person that asks for the service while kamin is the person who provides th~s
service.
Consider the example of a washerman who served the Brahmin. The Brahmin was the
jajman while washerman was the kamin. It is understood that the jajmani relationship
between two or more families used to run for generations.
The castes found in different regions vary according to other social factors, besides the
ritual within this hierarchical order. Other social factors or secular factors that determine
the place of a caste in the regional caste hierarchy are numerical strength and economic
status (i.e., how much land the members of these castes hold; their occupation etc.).
and The political strength and economic prosperity of a caste largely influenceits position
in the regional caste hierarchy. Changes can be seen in many important areas of social
and cultural life but as yet, caste or community continues to determine the social identity
for many people in India.
The traditional role of the caste councilssuch as enforcing the caste norms of endogamy, Contemporary Society
in India: Changeand
~~ollution and purity, settlement of caste disputes, etc., have now been replaced by Continuity
modern and enlarged institutional practice through which caste associations achieve
tlleirgoals. It extends their functional and federative scope, as caste enters into solidarities
with many other communities that are placed in an identical social, political and economic
s,Dace.
V a t h e spread of education,communicationtechnology and transport fostering migration
of people from one part of the country to another, the rigidity in the caste system is on
the decline. This is evident from the fact that people belonging to a particular caste
pursue varied occupations (rather than only twice that were traditionally associated
with their caste). The interaction among people is no longer caste-based. Furthermore,
the number of inter-caste maniages is on the rise.
The Indian Cobstitution, makes special provision for the upliftment of socially
disadvantagedgroups.There is a legal provision such as, Article 17 of the Constitution
which abolishes untouchability.Article 46 refers to weaker sections of the people in
which both the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes are included. The Constitution
of India protects the weaker sections of society and makes appropriateprovisions for
re~nedyingtheir social disabilities.The Constitution provides that the state shall promote
the education and economic advancement of the weaker sections of the people with
emphasis on the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. It also protects them from
social injustice and all forms of exploitation. One of the means through which this is
done is the policy of 'protective Qscrirnination' which makes provision of reservation
of some seats in institutionsof higher learning and jobs in the public sector for candidates
belonging to the weaker sections of society.
8.4.2 Class
Cliiss has been defined as a stratum of people occupying similar social positions based
on the criteria of wealth, income, education, occupation and so on. It is a social group
that is neither legally defined nor religiously sanctioned. Class as a form of social
striitification is Sound in different societies. We have read about disparities in income
(foirming the basis of class structure) under the sub-section 'Economic Diversity' in this
unit. Unlike caste, class is an open system of stratification.It is said that class is an
open system of stratificationbecause its members have relatively more access to social
mobility i.e., the option to move from one class to another. We may recall that in
cotnparison to class, the caste structure was more rigid offering fewer opportunities
for mobility from one caste to another. People are born as members of one caste. They
cannot change their caste identity, where as class is open to any individual who fulfils
the criteriarequired such as income, power and status.
In India social classes have been generally treated under caste. According to some
rese:archers,in India caste incorporatesclass and vice-versa.Social classes in India
more or less overlapped with the caste groups in society. An upper caste generally
occilpied not only a higher place in the regional caste hierarchy based on ritual purity;
in sc:cular terms too its members had both economic and political power.
In 111diathe majority of people live in villages. The village social structure and
organization was and to some extent still is governed by caste identity of different
social groups. Caste alliances and factions between different castes often
ove~shadowedclass, and classes depend largely on caste affiliation. Therefore, when
we tllink of classes inIndiansociety,it is the nexus between caste and class that becomes
a significant feature.
Preparatory Course
in Social Sciences 8.5 FAMILYAND MARRIAGE
Family in India is the basic unit of society. Unlike the Western societies it is the social
group, such as family, which determines the status of the individual rather than the
individual herself or hunself. There are nuclear types of families, where a couple with
their children live together and also extended type of families are found, where more
than one generation of members live together, such as, grandparents, parents, children,
uncles and aunties.
Family, in most cases, is founded in marital relationship between a man and a woman.
Basically, the family legitimizesprocreation. Marriage provides the sanction to the couple
to engage in physical relationship leading to reproduction. It also provides the first
social environment to children from whom they learn about their society and culture.
This process of learning the culture and way of life as part of growing up is referred to
as 'socialization'. Family is an important agent of socialization.As children grow up,
they learn what it is to be a human being in society, what is expected from them, how
they are expected to behave and conduct themselves and what they may expect from
others. In India, family is the basic unit of society.

Commonly family in India, is of two types: (a) nuclear or elementary family which
consists of husband, wife and unmarried children, and (b) joint or extended family
which consists of husband, wife, their unmarried children and rnanied sons, their wives
and children, uncles and aunts and grandparents.Generally, three generations of kinsmen
live together under the same roof. Traditionally,the men of a family in villages jointly
owned property and land that they tilled together.
An important question at this stage is what is it that keeps the family joint? Or, what
do the members of the joint family have in common that keep them together. The
members of the joint family, (i) share a hearth i.e., the members cook food together in
one kitchen and eat the food together (eating together is referred to as 'commensality');
(ii)share the dwelling space i.e., they stay in the same house; (iii) own property jointly
(in legal terms, joint ownership of property is the determining feature of a joint family);
(iv) share a common identity as members of the family; (v) cooperate with each other
on different occasions; and (vi) perform rituals together (some of the rituals commonly
observed-= propitiatingdeities and ancestors, observing vows and period of pollution
etc.).
Largely, the society in most parts of India is patriarchal and patrilineal in terms of
authority and inheritance of property respectivelywithin the family. Earlier, women of
upper castes and classes did not go out of the confines of the household especially in
the villages. They took care of the household and children, and managed the servants
and so on. Amongst the lower castes and classes, women often contributed to the
family income by working in the fields as agricultural laborers, doing work in the
households of upper castes and classes as domestic servants, selling small handicrafts
etc. Situatgon has changed over time.
In most societies in India, a newly married woman goes to stay in her husband's house.
This norm of residence after marriage is referred to as patrilocal residence. The man
usually controls the resources and takes decisions, and descent is traced through the
male line (referred to as patrilineal descent). These are some of the characteristics of
patriarchal societies. There is, however, another form of residence and descent in
which the newly married woman gets her husband to stay with her family. Inheritance
of property and line of descent are traced to the women. Tracing descent through the
 Contemporary Society
female line is referred to as matrilineal descent. The woman remains in her mother's in India: Change and
household. Her husband comes to live with her after marrige.This is referredor matrilocal Continuity
residence. Here, the women is the head of the house. These are some of the
characteristics of matriarchal system. Two examples of the matrilineal system are the
Nayars of Malabar coast in southern India and the Khasis of north eastern India.
It is 13quallyinteresting to note that there are instances of a woman marrying more than
one man (referred to as polyandry) as also a man marrying more than one woman
(referred to as polygyny). The norm of one woman marrying one man and one man
marrying one woman is referred to as monogamy. It may be understood that incidence
of polyandry and polygyny is on the decline as more and more societies are found to
adopt the norm of monogamy.
Check Your Progress 2
1) Give two examples of the matrilineal system.

..............................................................................................................................
2) What are the two major types of families in India?

8.6 SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Scciety in India suffers from several problems that retard the pace of social and
economic development. It is not possible to discuss each problem in details here.
What we can do, however, is to present a broad overview of the major problems in
contemporarysociety in India.

8.6.1 Poverty and'unemployment

Tlie number of people who are poor and unemployed is fairly large. One of the reasons
for this is the high rate of population growth. The rate at which population grows
creates a pressure on the available resources. It, therefore, becomes difficult even to
meet people's basic requirements of food, clothing and shelter. Often there are not
enough opportunitiesto people to engage in gainful employment. Unemployment
p:rpetuates poverty. Condition of poverty,in turn, blocks opportunities for employment.
Unemployment could be seasonal. People get employment for a limited period of time
as at the time of harvesting the crops; they remain unemployed for the rest of the year,
Unemployment could be disguised i.e., more people are engaged in a job that in reality
needs lesser number of people. Disguised unemploymentimplies that each one gets a
1e:ssershare of the profits. The educated too remain unemployed.Some of them are
forced to accept work that does not give them the income commensurate with their
qualifications.
8.6.2 Crime
Elach society lays down a code of behaviour and a set of expectationsfor its members.
Some of these are codified intg laws. Violation of laws is punishable by the state. Anti-
I Preparatory Course
in Social Sciences
social behaviour that is forbidden by law is referred to as crime. Determining the factors
that lead to crimeis a difficulttask. It is really not possible to delineate a specific reason
for the rise of crime in society. In fact, the reasons for crime are pretty complex in any
society. Very broadly, major reasons for crime could be a sense of inferiority and
revenge in competitive situations, emotional imbalance, lack of support and
understanding by family members, alienation from work, repeated failurein an endeavour
etc. Those who take to crimes pose a challenge to the social order. They are punished
by the state in accordance with the nature and extent of the crime. There are also
several initiatives undertaken by the state and the non-governmental organizations to
reduce crime and reform the criminals and rehabilitate them during and after their
punishment period.
8.6.3 Drug Addiction
The intake of a drug brings about a si@cant change in the body andlor mental state
of a person. Surely, drugs are prescribed by doctors to cure certain illnesses. A drug
that is taken on the recommendation of a doctor to cure an illness is safe. It does not
lead to any social problem. We must remember that all drugs are not meant to cure
illnesses. Some drugs are not used for medical purposes e.g., heroin. Their use is
illegal. Continuous use of non-medical drugs leads to addiction. The problem of drug
addiction arises on account of consumptionof drugs that are not therapeutic, and not
prescribed by doctors. Why do people consume illegal drugs? Some people take
drugs in order to enhance alertness, sooth agitated mind experiencing emotions
intensively, heighten sensations,etc.
Many people consume such drugs because they feel a sense of 'high' i.e., under the
influenceof drugs, they come to believe that their problems are resolved or that they
have acquired extra power or strength. What they do not understand is the fact that
these are only illusions. When the influence of drugs declines, they come to realize that
the situations in real life are not what they imagined them to be. This causes depression,
demotivation, and disinterest in concerns of everyday life. Such a person feels excessive
need to consume drugs in larger doses. Those who are addicted to drugs are not able
to lead a normal, regular life without intake of drugs. It is commonly believed that drug
addicts often take to crime for want of money in order to meet their requirements.
8.6.4 Violence
The phenomenon of violence may be explained as the use of 'excessive' force to
acquire something that the owner does not part with willingly. Violence is often
illegitimateexertion of force. We often hear of violenceagainst children, wives, domestic
help and others. Individuals may exhibit violent behaviour or they may get together into
groups and exhibit violent behaviourin order to press their demands as in the case of
riots and terrorist attacks. Violence may also take place at the domestic level e.g., the
torture of women by their husbands or their family members, killing of female foetuses
in mother's wombs, beating up of children by parents or other caretakers in the family.
Violence emerges as a serious problem in society because it leads to loss of dignity and
basic rights ofwictims, loss of life and bloodshed threatening peace.

8.7 LET US SUM UP

In this unit, we have learnt about the basic features of society in India. The family and
kinship, caste and class and issues related to gender form the main features of Indian
society. We learnt about the diverse plural culture, mix of different regions, religions
and languages in India that were the result of centuries old socio-historicalbackground.
Ma~iyoutside agencies like foreign travels, merchants, scholars, conquerors and ContemporarySociety
in India: Change :and
invaders came to India bringing with them their own customs and traditions, Contin~&y
languages and artifacts, but they got absorbed into the vast cauldron of Indian society.
However, the impact of colonial rule and forces of change that they brought in changed
Indm society and gave it the form that is found today. Social. change is a continuous
process and like all societiesIndia too is facing challengesof 'global society'. Socially,
poljtically, culturallyand economically India and its people are moving through a period
of rapid social changes.

8.8 KEYWORDS
Globalization : Process of change brought about by the impact of foreign
culture, media and technological changes, etc.,
Hierarchy : Refers to caste hierarchy based on certain attributes, such as,
ritual purity and impurity, etc.
M~thalwariSystem : It refers to joint village community tenure. Under this system,
the whole village would own the land. The village headman
was required to collect the tax and deposit it in the government
treasury.
Poliution : Refers to ritual impurity associated with some lower caste
which engaged in impure occupations like, scavenging,
sweeping, etc.
Ryotwari System : A ryot is a registered holder of land. He would hold the land
directly from the government without due involvementof any
middleman. Under the ryotwari system, the ryot would hold
the land so long as he would pay land revenue to the
government.

8!9 HINTSIANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR

- PROGRESS EXERCISES
Check Your Progress 1
1) Racialdiversity, linguistic diversity, religiousdiversity,ethnic diversity, caste-based
diversity, and economic diversity.
2) Rabindranath Tagore
Check Your Progress 2
1) Nayars of Malabar coast in southern India, and Khasis of north-easternIndia

2) Nuclear family and joint family