M. Senthil Kumar I S. Rijesh

Any candidate aspiring for Civil Services should essentially have a good understanding
of diverse social issues the Indian society is currently facing. It has been observed that
multiple questions pertaining to the Indian Society and its related issues are regularly
asked in Main’s - General Studies (GS) Paper-I and in the Essay paper too. Besides,
candidates are also required to be well-versed with these issues in the personality test
(interview) as well.
 
The second edition has been completely revamped to provide comprehensive and


 
concise understanding of the Indian society. The updated chapters provide an in-depth
insight on the various social issues, the reasons for their existence, their impact on
different segments of society. The readers will also get an in-depth knowledge about
actions taken or planned to eliminate the social constraints at the larger level and
achieve the vision of social equity and social justice in India.
The book aims to not only equip an aspirant with all the relevant information required
for scoring high marks in the exam but also help the future policy-makers to have a
better understanding of what Indian society needs.

Cover Image: Vivek BR.shutterstock.com

SALIENT FEATURES
 Provides complete coverage of all the enlisted topics as per the syllabus
 Includes most discussed topics in exam like – Role of women and social

          
empowerment, poverty, population and allied issues
 Presents latest Government plans and policies as appendices

MRP Inclusive
of all Taxes `295.00

in.pearson.com
Kumar I Rijesh

M. Senthil Kumar
S. Rijesh
 About Pearson
Pearson is the world’s learning company, with presence across 70 countries
worldwide. Our unique insights and world-class expertise comes from a long
history of working closely with renowned teachers, authors and thought
leaders, as a result of which, we have emerged as the preferred choice for
millions of teachers and learners across the world.
We believe learning opens up opportunities, creates fulfilling careers and
hence better lives. We hence collaborate with the best of minds to deliver you
class-leading products, spread across the Higher Education and K12 spectrum.
Superior learning experience and improved outcomes are at the heart of
everything we do. This product is the result of one such effort.
Your feedback plays a critical role in the evolution of our products and you
can contact us - [email protected]. We look forward to it.
This page is intentionally left blank.
 Indian Society
For Civil Services Main Examination
GS Paper I

M. Senthil Kumar
S. Rijesh
Second Edition
 Photo Credits
All Chapter-openers: Shutterstock: 426352399 - Credits - sladkozaponi. Shutterstock.com

Disclaimer: Any reference to any class or community is merely coincidental and may have been
retained to convey the educational value of the content.

Copyright © 2020 Pearson India Education Services Pvt. Ltd

Published by Pearson India Education Services Pvt. Ltd, CIN: U72200TN2005PTC057128.

No part of this eBook may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the
publisher’s prior written consent.

This eBook may or may not include all assets that were part of the print version.
The publisher reserves the right to remove any material in this eBook at any time.

ISBN 978-93-534-3658-2
eISBN:

Head Office:15th Floor, Tower−B, World Trade Tower, Plot No. 1, Block−C, Sector−16, Noida 201 301,
Uttar Pradesh, India.
Registered Office: The HIVE, 3rd Floor, Metro zone, No 44, Pilliayar Koil Street, Jawaharlal Nehru Road,
Anna Nagar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600040.
Phone: 044-66540100
Website: in.pearson.com, Email: [email protected]
 This book is dedicated to
Swami Vivekananda

who was an eminent social reformer, who brought about spiritual awakening
amongst Indian masses in the 19th century and strongly believed
that man himself is the creator of his own destiny.
This page is intentionally left blank.
 Brief Contents
Prefacexxi
Strategy to Prepare for Topics on Indian Society xxv
Acknowledgementsxxvii
About the Authors xxviii
Chapter 1: Salient Features of Indian Society 1
Chapter 2: Role of Women and Women’s Organization 27
Chapter 3: Population and Associated Issues 48
Chapter 4: Poverty and Developmental Issues 79
Chapter 5: Urbanization, Their Problems
and Their Remedies 97
Chapter 6: Effects of Globalization on Indian Society 131
Chapter 7: Communalism 148
Chapter 8: Regionalism 170
Chapter 9: Secularism 184
Chapter 10: Social Empowerment 204
AppendicesA.1
This page is intentionally left blank.
 Table of Contents
Prefacexxi
Strategy to Prepare for Topics on Indian Society xxv
Acknowledgementsxxvii
About the Authors xxviii
Chapter 1: Salient Features of Indian Society 1
Introduction 1
Characteristics of Indian Society and Culture 3
Unity 4
Diversity 4
Diversity: Indian Context 4
Major Sources of Diversity in Indian Context 5
Region 5
Linguistic Diversity 5
Village and Its Economic System 6
Family, Marriage and Kinship 6
Joint-Family System 7
Caste Diversity 7
Functions of Caste System 8
Caste Structure and Kinship 8
Caste Structure and Occupation 9
Caste Structure and Power 10
Spatial Expansion of Intra-Caste Relations 11
Racial Factors 11
Tribes 12
Religious Diversity 14
Hinduism 14
Islam 14
Christianity 15
Sikhism 15
Jainism 16
Buddhism 16
Zoroastrianism 16
Judaism 17
x Contents

Region 18
Factors Affecting Social Changes in India 18
Ideological Factors 18
Cultural Factors 18
New Opinions and Thoughts 18
Education 19
Materialistic Attitude 19
Westernization 19
Industrialization 19
Urbanization 19
Secularization 19
Mechanicalization 19
Democratization 20
Politicalization 20
Capitalism 20
Indianization 20
Modernization 20
Geographical Factor (Physical Environment) 20
Demographic Factor 20
Technological and Scientific Factors 21
Psychological Factors 21
Voluntary Acts of Individuals 21
Acceptance by High Status Individuals 21
Legislation 21
Factors Resisting Social Change 21
Social Barriers 21
Cultural Barriers 22
Economic Barriers 22
Psychological Barriers 22
Shortage of Inventions 22
Isolation 22
Pluralism 22
Indian Culture and Its Current Relevance 23
Unity Amidst Diversity 24
Practice Questions 26
Previous Year Questions 26
 Contents xi

Chapter 2: Role of Women and Women’s Organization 27

Introduction 27
Position of Women in History 28
Early Vedic Age 28
Later Vedic Period (1000 bc–500 bc) 29
Women in the Medieval Period 29
Condition of Women during the 18th Century 29
Status of Women during British Rule in India 30
Position of Women in Independent India 30
Women’s Constitutional and Legal Rights 30
Constitutional Privileges Preamble 31
Fundamental Rights 31
Directive Principles of State Policy 31
Fundamental Duties 31
Political Rights 31
Legislative Safeguards 32
For Women 32
For Children 33
Role of women Organizations 33
Goal and Objectives of Women’s Organizations 33
Pre-Independence 34
Government Organizations 34
Women NGO’s: Post-independence 36
International NGOs 38
Women Organization: Contemporary Context 38
Role 38
Problems 39
Success Journey of Indian Women: Since Independence 40
Social Progress 40
Economic Developments 40
Political Participations 40
Scientific Achievements 40
Cultural Contributions 40
Defence Sector 41
Problems of Indian Women: 21st century 41
Women Empowerment Policies and Programmes 42
Policies 43
xii Contents

Programmes 43
Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 44
Nari Shakti Puraskar 45
Nirbhaya Fund 45
Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana 45
Entry of Women in Sabarimala Temple 45
Adultery is Not a Crime, Section 497 of IPC Unconstitutional: SC 46
Appointment of First Male Member in
   National Commission for Women 46
Conclusion 46
Practice Questions 47
Previous Year Questions 47
Chapter 3: Population and Associated Issues 48
Introduction 48
Few Facts about Indian Population 49
Determinants of Population Change 49
Fertility 50
Demographic Determinants 51
Social Determinants 51
Economic Determinants 52
Other Causes 53
Mortality 53
Age and Sex Structure 55
Dependency Ratio 55
Age Structure in India: Determinants and Implications 55
Measurement of Sex Structure 56
Sex Ratio in India 56
Sex Ratio in India: An Analysis from Census 2011 57
Child Sex Ratio (2011) 59
Effects of the Rapid Population Growth in India 60
Population Control Measures 61
Population Policy of India 63
National Population Policy, 2000 64
A New Approach 69
Demographic Transition in India 70
Growing ‘North’–South Disparity 71
Growing Demographic Divide 72
 Contents xiii

The Spread of Female Foeticide 72

Successful Models of Population Transition 73
Kerala Model 73
Tamil Nadu Model 75
Himachal Pradesh Model 75
Andhra Pradesh Model 76
Population Stabilization Fund (Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh–JSK) 76
National Commission on Population 77
Practice Questions 78
Previous Year Question 78
Chapter 4: Poverty and Developmental Issues 79
Introduction 79
Concept of Poverty 80
Measurements of Poverty 82
History of Calculation of Poverty in India 82
Suresh Tendulkar Committee 82
C. Rangarajan Committee 83
Arvind Panagariya Task Force 83
Causes of Poverty 83
Individual 83
Culture or Sub-culture of Poverty 83
Social Structure 84
The Causes of Poverty in Indian Context 84
The Consequence of Poverty 86
Housing and Homelessness 86
Stress 86
Violence and Crime Rate 86
Child labour 87
Terrorism 87
Mass Emigration of Population 87
Family Problems 87
Economy 87
What is the ‘Feminization’ of Poverty? 87
Why is it Important? 88
The causes for the Feminization of Poverty 88
Family Composition 88
xiv Contents

Family Organization 88
Inequality in the Access to Public Services or in their Quality 88
Inequality in Social Protection 88
Labour Market Inequalities 88
Legal, Paralegal and Cultural Constraints in Public Life 89
The Fallacy of Globalization 89
Measures to Alleviate Poverty 89
Distributive Strategies 89
Specific Strategies 90
Social Security 90
Effective Measures for Poverty Alleviation 91
Conclusion 95
Practice Questions 95
Previous Year Questions 96
Chapter 5: Urbanization, Their Problems
and Their Remedies 97
The Concept of Urbanization 97
Urbanization as a Sociocultural Process 98
Evolution of Urbanization in India 99
Reasons for Urban Population Growth 100
Natural Increase in Population 100
Continuous Migration of People Towards Cities 100
Migration and Urnanization 101
Demographic Factors 103
Few Aspects of Migration 103
Changes in City Boundaries 103
Characteristics of Indian Urbanization 104
Urbanization in India, 2001–2011 104
Here are few other merits and Demerits of a City 106
Characteristics of Urban Community 107
Problems of Urbanization in India 107
Consequences of Urbanization 107
Cultural, Economic, Educational 107
Agriculture 108
Urbanization and Social Mobility 113
 Contents xv

Consequences of Social Mobility 114

The Rural–Urban Continuum 114
Rural–Urban Convergence 114
Remedies and Suggestions to Urban Problems 114
Efficient and Integral City Planning 115
Financially Independent City Administration 115
Increased Job Opportunities 116
Better Transportation Facility 116
Efficient and Workable Housing Policy 116
Limited Environment Pollution 116
State Policy to Address Urban Problems 117
The Rent Control Act, 1948 117
Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act, 1976 117
Programmes of Slum Clearance and Construction of New Houses 118
The Five-Year Plans 118
Governmental Measures to Address the Issue of Urbanization 120
Smart Cities 120
Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban
Transformation   (AMRUT) 122
National Mission on Sustainable Habitat 123
National Air Quality Index 123
The National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy 123
National Policy on Urban Street Vendors 124
The National Urban Sanitation Policy 126
The National Environment Policy (NEP) 126
Residex 126
Government Interventions/Programmes 127
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana—Housing for All (Urban) 127
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) 128
Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) 129
National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) 129
Conclusion 129
Practice Questions 130
Previous Year Question 130
Chapter 6: Effects of Globalization on Indian Society 131
Introduction 131
Globalization: Initial Phase 132
xvi Contents

Globalization and India 133

Social Dimension of Globalization 133
Impact on Family, Marriage and Kinship Ties 133
Cohabitation, Live-in Relationship/Marriages 135
Impact on Labour Market 135
Impact Women and Employment of Women 136
New Middle Classes 136
Globalization and Poverty Level 137
Globalization and Sustainable Development 138
Migration, Urbanization and Globalization 138
Globalization and Commercialization of Indigenous Knowledge 139
Emergence of Consumerist Culture 140
Globalization and Wealth Concentration 140
Globalization and Social Sector Expenditure 141
Impact on Scheduled Tribes 141
Globalization has Impacted Indian Society Progressively on
  the Following Areas 142
Employment Opportunities 142
Competition Level Is High 142
Improvement in Living Standards and Purchasing Power 142
Indian Youths Getting Empowered 142
Increased Outreach on Human Rights 143
Increased Multiple Opportunities 143
Free Flow of Information Across the Society 143
Globalization and its cultural dimension 143
Increased Pace of Cultural Penetration 144
Development of Hybrid Culture 144
Resurgence of Cultural Nationalism 145
Globalization and India’s Performing Arts 145
Globalization and India’s Languages 146
Globalization and Indian Festivals 146
Conclusion 147
Practice Questions 147
Previous Year Questions 147

Chapter 7: Communalism 148

Introduction 148
 Contents xvii

Definition of Communalism 149

Communalism in the Eyes of the Stalwarts of India 149
Types of Communalism 150
Assimilationist (or) Communist Communalism 150
Welfarist Communalism 150
Retreatist Communalism 150
Retaliatory Communalism 150
Separatist Communalism 151
Secessionist Communalism 151
Stages of Communalism 151
Various Perspectives to Understand Communalism 151
Particularistic Approach of Minority 151
Pluralist Approach 152
Background of the Growth of Communalism in India 152
Communalism in India 152
Cause and Character of Communalism in India 155
Causes of Hindu–Muslim Communalism 156
Clash in Economic Interest of Both Communities 157
Integration of the Community 157
Main Characteristics of Communalism 157
Communalism in India: A Comparison 158
Some Features of Communal Riots Taking Place in India 159
Incidents of Communalism in India: Few Examples 159
Factors behind Communal Violence 160
1984 Anti-Sikh Riots 160
December 1992, January 1993–Bombay 160
2002 Godhra Riots 160
Muzaffarnagar Riots 160
Few other Major Incidents of Communal Riots in India
  (For Reference) 160
How to Tackle Communalism? 161
Suggestions to Control and Eradicate Communalism 161
Role of Various Institutions/Bodies 163
Prime Minister’s New 15-Point Programme
   for the Welfare of Minorities 166
Target Areas 167
Communalism: International Context 167
Conclusion 168
xviii Contents

Practice Questions 169

Previous Year Question 169
Chapter 8: Regionalism 170
Region 170
Regionalism 171
Different forms of Regionalism in India 172
Demand for State Autonomy 172
Secession from the Union 173
Inter-state Disputes 173
Supra-state Regionalism 174
Intrastate Regional Politics or Subregionalism 174
Development of Regionalism in India 175
During British Period 175
After Independence 175
Causes and Determinants of Regionalism in India 176
Reason for Persistence of Regionalism 177
Regional Political Parties and Regionalism 177
Regional Issues in India: Few Examples 178
Anti-North Indian Attitude of MNS Workers 178
Attacks on Bihar Labourers by the ULFA 179
Demand for Dravida Nadu 179
Bodoland Demand within Assam 179
Demand for Khalisthan 179
Indian Constitution and Regionalism 180
Non-Territorial Measure 180
Territorial Measures 181
Measures and Solutions to Prevent Regionalism 181
Immediate Measures 181
Long-term Measures 181
Government Measures to Promote Nationalism 181
Regionalism: International Dimension 182
Conclusion 183
Practice Questions 183
Previous Year Question 183
Chapter 9: Secularism 184
Secularism and its Different Facets 184
 Contents xix

Historical Roots of Secularism 186

Secular Imprints in Modern India: Pre-Independence 187
Secular Ideals in the Indian Constitution 187
Western Secularism: American Model 189
Characteristics of Indian Secularism 189
Comparison of Indian Secularism with that
  of Western Secularism 191
Similarities 191
Difference between Indian and Western Secularism 191
Theories on Secularism: Gandhian and
  Nehruvian Perspectives 192
Gandhian perspective 193
Is Secularism suitable for India? 196
Advantage of Being a Secular State 196
Challenges and Threats to Secularism 197
Steps Taken to Promote Secularism 198
Uniform Civil Code (UCC) for India—Issues and Challenges 199
Suggestions to Improve Secular Credentials 201
Conclusion: Securing secularism in Secular Way 202
Practice Questions 203
Previous Year Question 203
Chapter 10: Social Empowerment 204
Introduction 204
Definition 204
Necessity of Social Empowerment 205
Reduce Poverty 205
Reduction in Unemployment 205
Overall Development of Society 206
Inclusion and Participation 206
Economic Benefits 206
Reduction in Domestic Violence 206
Access to Information 206
Accountability of Public Officials 206
Local Organizational Capacity 207
Economic Empowerment Leads to Social Empowerment 207
Socially Disadvantaged Sections of the Society 207
xx Contents

Women 207
Steps Taken by Government of India 210
Few Other Initiatives by the Government for Welfare of Women 211
Schedule Caste 212
National Commission for Scheduled Castes 213
Special Central Assistance 213
Scheduled Tribes 214
Other Welfare Initiatives for Scheduled Tribes 216
National Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation 216
Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of
  India Limited 217
Socially backward class 217
Minorities 218
Children 220
Few Other Child Welfare Schemes 222
Youth 222
Few other Schemes under the Ministry of Youth Affairs 224
Rural Population 224
Transgender 227
Reforms Needed to Improve Situation 228
People Affected by Diseases 229
Senior Citizens—Old Age Population 231
Disabled Section Of Population 232
People Affected By Social Crimes 235
Way Forward 237
Financial Inclusion 237
Skill Development 238
Governance 238
Conclusion 239
Previous Year Question 239
Practice Questions 239
AppendicesA.1
 Preface
Dear Civil Services Aspirants,
The introduction of topics related to Indian society in the UPSC Civil Services (Main) Exami-
nation (Paper I) reflects the growing importance of this subject and of the varied social issues
Indian society is currently faced with. It has been observed that multiple questions pertaining to
the Indian society and its related issues are regularly asked in Main’s General Studies (GS) Paper-
I and in Essay papers. Apart from this, candidates are also required to be well-versed in these is-
sues for their personality test (interview) as well. Any candidate aspiring for Civil Services should
essentially have a good understanding of these issues as he/she is going to be directly involved
in the upliftment and well-being of the society.
Some of the important questions, which an aspirant frequently encounters are:
1. What are the current most important social issues in India?
2. What are the various reasons for their existence in India even after numerous develop-
mental efforts and schemes being implemented to bring about social equality?
3. How do different sections of the society react to these issues (Government, various for-
mal and informal associations, people in rural as well as urban locality)?
4. What could be done to eliminate them at the larger level and achieve the vision of social
equity and social justice?
In light of the above questions it becomes pertinent that all Civil Services aspirants should be
well-versed with these issues. Our close association with serious aspirants for the past 10 years,
and continuous interaction with the vast segment of the Civil Services aspirants community in
India has resulted in the development/revision of this book. Sincere efforts have been made to
revise it as per the requirements of the recent trends in Civil Services Main Examination. Ad-
equate care and efforts have also been taken to make this volume as comprehensive as possible
so that it may serve as an important source of knowledge for all the topics covered in the Indian
society syllabus.

STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK AND THE UPSC SYLLABUS

The book is designed in such a way to include each and every aspect of the syllabus prescribed
by the UPSC. Since, these topics were introduced very recently in the Main Examination and the
source material for these topics are not available from one good resource, we have prepared this
book to be the exclusive source for all Indian society related issues. Since the examination is of
generalist in nature, we can assure you that you will definitely be in a better position to answer all
questions on this section with whatever is discussed in this volume. We are coming out with the
second edition of this volume with updated contents for all the chapters.

Chapter 1: Salient Features of Indian Society and Diversity of India

This chapter provides a complete understanding about most of the important salient features
of Indian society and the diverse nature of these features. Understanding the salient features
is essential to understand all other topics discussed in this book. In fact, all other topics in the
xxii Preface

syllabus clearly discusses in detail about the changing nature of these salient features in the re-
cent years and their subsequent impact on the various sections of the society.

Chapter 2: Role of Women and Women Organization

The status that women enjoy in our society and their role has been changing in recent years. This
change in role has its impact on multiple stakeholders and various other institutions as well. This
chapter discusses about the change in role of women and the role of women organizations to
bring about this change and to protect the interest of women and their rights.

Chapter 3: Population and Associated Issues

A detailed study about population and associated issues is very much important as India is the
second-largest populous country in the world. This chapter completely discusses population
growth and various other issues related to population. Important inferences from census 2011
report have been included to make it more comprehensive and up to date. Special references to
changing population trends is also discussed.

Chapter 4: Poverty and Developmental Issues

Persistence of poverty has been a long-standing issue in India. Though growth and development
are being taken out on a large scale in India, the level of poverty has not come down significantly
and this issue remains a cause of concern not only for the sociologists but also for the econo-
mists as well. This chapter discusses all the relevant aspects related to poverty, its causes, conse-
quences, and the measures to address this issue.

Chapter 5: Urbanization, their Problems and their Remedies

The present rate of urbanization in India has crossed 30 per cent, and it is growing further at an
alarming rate. This process of rapid urban growth poses a serious challenge to the government
as well the public in terms of providing a decent standard of living and better quality of life.
This chapter essentially discusses about the various issues related to urbanization, its growth,
problems, and necessary actions to be taken to make urban living environment more inhabitable.

Chapter 6: Effects of Globalization on Indian Society

The process of globalization has led to a significant shift in the nature of Indian society. We
have experienced so many changes after the introduction of globalization in India. Almost all
sectors in Indian society have seen a transformation after 1991 economic reforms. This chapter
accounts for social, economic, and political effects of globalization, highlighting social effects
more elaborately.

Chapter 7: Communalism

Of late, communalism has emerged as one of the important issues in India that directly poses
a challenge to the secular nature of our society. Communalisms of various types are emerging
 Preface xxiii

in different parts of the country. Hence, it is important for us to have a clear idea on various
aspects of this issue. This chapter discusses all aspects related to communalism in India with ref-
erences to historical aspects as well. Causes, characteristics, and consequences of communalism
are discussed highlighting the immediate and long-term solutions

Chapter 8: Regionalism

Regionalism in India is not a new phenomenon; rather it is an age-old concept. Incidents of

regionalism are emerging in India due to multiple reasons. This chapter broadly discusses all the
reasons and types of regionalism with necessary efforts to contain the spread of regionalism.
Various examples have been presented in this chapter to make the understanding better.

Chapter 9: Secularism

If India is known for its multireligious culture, it is equally acknowledged for being secular in
nature. Our society is secular since historical times. Of late, secularism in India has been put to
test because of various factors, such as communalism, regionalism, and other forces that directly
or indirectly pose a challenge to the true spirit of secularism. Hence, it is necessary for us to
understand each and every aspect of this issue. This chapter provides the complete information
related to secularism in India.

Chapter 10: Social Empowerment

Understanding Indian society is incomplete without analysing the necessity and various pro-
grammes for social empowerment. We have a huge section of people devoid of development
hence, these sections of people essentially need empowerment to move up in social hierarchy.
In this situation, the role of state and society is highly important. In this chapter, we have taken
utmost care to include all the areas related to social empowerment.
This page is intentionally left blank.
 Strategy to Prepare for Topics
on Indian Society
Civil Services Examination always had importance for social issues in India and every year ques-
tions from these areas were asked in General Studies Mains and Essay Paper. Apart from this,
candidates have to prepare extensively on these issues for personality test. It is obvious that
people who make programmes, policies and schemes need more knowledge about Indian soci-
ety as they have a direct impact on the society. In a country like India, there are so many social
issues and associated problems are numerous. Keeping this in mind, candidates should cover the
entire syllabus to have a complete understanding about the changing nature of Indian society.
Before 2013 society related topics were asked in General Studies Paper 1 and essays, but the
syllabus did not have the exclusive list of topics to be covered under this section. In 2013 new
pattern and syllabus for mains exam was introduced and it enlists as many as 10 topics related to
Indian society in General Studies Paper 1. This serves as a guiding factor to focus on the areas
to be prepared.
If you analyse the importance of Indian society topics from exam perspective, it also helps
in writing good essays and in presenting better answers for case studies in Ethics paper. The
uniqueness of the society topics is that, with minimal area of study one can reap maximum marks.
Each topic in the syllabus is covered separately to have an in-depth view. Now a question may
arise, ‘is this book enough to prepare society topics’? Yes, this book is more than sufficient to
comprehensively cover all the topics, upon which one can build a better answer. From the analysis
of the previous year questions it is clear that question have relevance to current affairs and most
of them are analytical in nature. Each chapter is worked in order to cover the basics with explana-
tion followed by detailed analysis. This helps students to comprehend the subject knowledge with
ease. The learning objectives in every chapter give an outline of what is to be learnt and acts as
keywords of that chapter.

Following is an analysis of number of questions asked in previous year’s Civil Services

(Main) Exam from society syllabus:

S. No. Chapters 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

1 Salient features of Indian Society 1 1 2 1
and Diversity of India
2 Role of Women and Women’s 1 1
Organization1
3 Population and Associated Issues 2 2 1
4 Poverty and Developmental Issues 1 1 1 1
5 Urbanization—Problems and 1 1
Remedies1
6 Effects of Globalization on Indian 1 1 1
Society1

(Continued)
xxvi Strategy to Prepare for Topics on Indian Society

S. No. Chapters 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

7 Social Empowerment 2 1
8 Communalism 1 1
9 Regionalism 1 1
10 Secularism 1 1
TOTAL 4 5 7 5 5 6

All the topics in the syllabus are reflecting the recent changing trends in Indian society and
every aspirant i.e., the future administrator has to be aware of these changes. Only then they can
be more people centric and welfare oriented. This book intends to give a complete understanding
on all the enlisted topics. Any serious candidate will obviously link the current affairs part to these
topics to make the understanding and answers rich in content.
ALL THE BEST.

I sincerely hope that the readers will appreciate the contents of this book.
Any comments/suggestions towards enhancing the content and its richness will be most
welcome. Your valuable suggestions will go a long way in making this book a highly useful manual
for Civil Services aspirants community.
 M. Senthil Kumar
 S. Rijesh
 Acknowledgements
At the outset, we would like to thank and express our deepest gratitude to all those who pro-
vided constant support and assisted us in editing, proofreading, and designing the book.
We extend our sincere appreciation and gratitude to Mr M. Karthikeyan for his encourage-
ment and support throughout the course of writing the first edition of this book and in the sec-
ond edition also.
We thank our students for their constant motivation, inquisitive minds and genuine feed-
back, which inspired us to come out with the more updated second edition of this book.
We owe our thanks to Ms Deepana Visveshwari and Mr Nithiyanandham who contributed
in one or other way to the successful publication of second edition of this book.
Our special thanks to Ms Sharel Simon, and Ms Aparna Pathak for their extended support
and cooperation throughout the project.
We take this opportunity to express our heartfelt wishes to all the readers of this book.

M. Senthil Kumar
S. Rijiesh
 About the Authors
M. Senthil Kumar did his schooling in Sainik School, Amaravathi Nagar, Tamil Nadu, India.
He has done BSc in Physics and MCA from Bharathiyar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu,
India. He has also done MA in Sociology from Annamalai University Tamil Nadu, India. After
completing his degree, he started preparing for Civil Services with Sociology and Geography as
optional subjects. He succeeded in attending six mains examinations and three Civil Services
Personality tests in 2005, 2008, and 2010, and has scored maximum marks of 362 in Sociology
optional subject.
Presently, he is in to coaching students for Civil Services Exam for the last 8 years. He
teaches Sociology optional subject and Social Issues for Mains examination.
He is the Director of ARAM IAS Academy in Chennai (Previously known as Time IAS),
Tamil Nadu, India, which is the fastest growing IAS coaching institute in Chennai and has person-
ally helped in realizing many of the aspirants dream in to reality by helping them in clearing the
prestigious Civil Services and join in various services, such as IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS, and various other
Central Govt. Services.

S. Rijesh holds BSc and Master’s degree in Management from SRM University, C ­ hennai, Tamil
Nadu, India. His interest towards the social issues and the nature of work he had at Times of India
made him passionate for the subject Sociology. He is also having very good teaching skills and
has been taking classes for last 4 years in Manidhaneyam Free IAS Academy and ARAM IAS
Academy in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. He has appeared in UPSC Interview with Sociology as
an optional subject. The exposure to the depth of the subject as well as the experience turned
him acquainted with wide knowledge. Now he handles Sociology optional classes for Civil Ser-
vices aspirants.
 Chapter 1
Salient Features of Indian Society

Learning Objectives
In this chapter, you will learn about:
• Characteristics of Indian Society and • Caste Diversity
Culture • Religious Diversity
• Diversity: Indian Context • Racial Diversity
• Major Sources of Diversity in Indian
Context
•
•
M. Senthil Kumar
Factors Affecting Social Change in India
Factors Resisting Social Change in India
• Linguistic Diversity
• Pluralism
• Family, Marriage & Kinship
• Unity Amidst Diversity S. Rijesh

INTRODUCTION
India is a plural society. It is rightly characterized by its unity and diversity. A grand synthesis of
rs / Editors Namecultures,With CD and languages
religions Red Bandof the people
Territory line to different
belonging URL castesPrice mQuest
and communities
has upheld its unity and cohesiveness. Inspite of several foreign invasions, Mughal rule and the
British rule, national unity and integrity have been maintained. Indian society is unique in the
sense that it is popularly called as mosaic of culture as it has withstood external cultural threats.
This cultural uniqueness could give a strength to Indian society to fight against the British raj
as a unified entity. The prevalence of cultural tolerance is attributed to the existence of diverse
languages, cultures and religions to not only coexist,but to be tolerant as well.
From the nineteenth century onwards, there has been growing confluence of cultures
because of emergence of new forces and factors adding to already existing immense cultural
diversity. In the midst of common political structure, common legal system, uniform adminis-
trative and educational systems, growing economic interdependence, a new kind of growing na-
tional awareness has been understood to have contributed to the making of the Indian society.
The technological and cultural impact of the process of Westernization has led to the inception
1
2 Indian Society for Civil Services

of modern means of transport and communication, new printing technology etc, are also con-
sider as the factors responsible for promotion of national culture. The introduction of English
and Hindi and the growing secularization have also played a very important role in this whole
process.
India has its own geographic, ethnic, religious, and linguistic history and it dates back to
Indus valley Civilization and a popular estimate says that Indian society dates back to 5,000
years, The civilization gave rise to a form of culture which we seen now in more complex form.
During this temporal span, several waves of immigrants, representing different ethnic groups,
linguistic communities and religious background have mingled with the native population to
contribute to its diversity, richness, and vitality. Since, all the cultural development of this period
is derived from the archaeological findings, we have only fragmented and incomplete details
about such civilization.
Aryans hailed from pastoral community and they had mastery for poetry, philosophical
speculation and elaborate rituals. They considered themselves superiors. They practised endog-
amy and had the notions of ritual purity and pollution. These ideals of the Aryans paved way
for the origin of varna (complexion) and jati (caste). The Indo-Aryans were broken into three
groups: the Rajanya (warriors and aristocrats); the Brahmin (priests) and Vaisyas (cultivators).
The people of non-Indio-Aryans were called Shudras. There was also a fifth group the status of
which was very low—the Panchama or Avarna.
As a result of the evolution from the prehistoric period to the present one, Indian society
has been built on a composite culture characterized by heterogeneity of patterns. The pres-
ent- day Indian culture is essentially the result of cultural contact, cultural diffusion, cultural
conflict, accommodation, assimilation and integration that have given a new outlook to the In-
dian Society. Sociocultural change in India, under the influence of the modern West, gives yet
another important dimension of sociocultural dynamics. Though India has always been a highly
traditional society, the process of modernization emerged from the Western soil reached to
the Indian society and its impact introduced new technologies and new form of culture. The
sociologists have viewed these changes as more diversified and effective. Moreover, though the
Portuguese, the French and the Dutch had colonies in India, it is the British influence that has a
strong impact on Indian society.
The culture in India was highly traditional, whereas the one in the West was modernis-
ing in terms of rationalism, individualism and utilitarianism. The Western culture propounded
egalitarianism and universalism. With the advent of British rule, a new structure of society
­developed in India. A lot of changes were executed in education, judiciary and military, and
these changes set in a new criterion for the stratification of society. The Western impact pre-
dominantly a­ ffected the education system after the introduction of English language and secu-
lar education. Before the British rule, the official and the administrative correspondence was
done in Sanskrit, Persian, and Urdu. After the British introduced English language, it became
a window to the outside world. It also facilitated the Indians with an exposure to a new value
system based on egalitarianism, rationalism and secularism.
Introduction of new and modern means of transport and communication increased
spatial and social mobility. The new printing technology, postal services and radio spread
new ideas across the country. Those new ideas awakened the people from traditional clus-
ters and became a sign of radical, social change. The introduction of a new penal code
changed the legal system and distribution of justice. The principle of equality before law
was mandated along with a uniform legal system for the whole country. Industrialization and
 Chapter 1 • Salient Features of Indian Society 3

urbanization—important factors of change—recorded a sharp rise. The process of industri-

alization brought in new determinants of social status. For instance, material indicators were
introduced to the Indian society. A new attitude called ‘nationalism’ emerged and unified the
entire Indian society on one ground.
It is important to note that the impact of Westernization resulted in the emergence of
a new Westernised elite in place of the traditional elite of Indian society. The modern elite
were inspired by a new ideology and value system in a way they looked at their own society. It
proposed the new interpretation to the Hinduism and the caste system, which was progressive
and humane, and this signalled a new social order. Thus, the impact of Westernization brought
about immense changes for the technological and cultural modernization of India.
Yet it is also true that these changes did not happen through the total replacement of
traditional structures. The traditional structures in India have also exhibited a surprising re-
silience and have retained their core features by adopting new roles.

CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIAN SOCIETY AND CULTURE

Indian culture is very ancient and evolving continuously. Indian culture and tradition have been
existing for the past 5,000 years. A famous Sociologist Iravati Karve calls India ‘the epitome of
the world’. Indian cultural heritage remains intact despite many changes that have taken place
over years. It has its own significance and originality. In the long history of mankind, which
stretches beyond 6,000 years, a series of civilizations and cultures has emerged and disappeared.
Oswald Spengler, after making a study on 30 different civilizations and Arnold Toynbee after a
study on 19 civilizations have said that India for its religious dominance, the cultural continuity
sustains all through the history. The following are some of the characteristics:
Doctrine of Karma: Belief in doctrine of karma has made the people realise that the present
life is the only link in the infinite chain of births and rebirths. Everyone is bound to be reborn
in his or her next birth according to his or her deeds (karma) in the past lives. This Karmic
reaction compels the adherence to good means of social control and prevalence of social in-
stitutions like caste system caste ­system. Religions are connected to the rituals, such as fasting,
festivals, pilgrimages, marriage, birth and death. They also inculcate a spirit of tolerance and
synthetic approach.
Dharma as life centre of society: The concept of dharma has been the basic idea in different
fields of society according to the Indian social thought. Religion and spirituality have influenced
our intellectual, philosophical, artistic, scientific, cultural, social, political and economic lives.
Spiritual life is the true genius of India, and this is the reason that India is called karma bhoomi,
tapo bhoomi and punya bhoomi.
Scientific aspect of Indian heritage: There is a common opinion among the scholars that
our heritage is mainly religio-philosophical, but this is not true. Many works are fragmented and
were written in Sanskrit and Pali. The ancient Indians were familiar with the concept of zero,
value system of numeration, square roots, cube roots. Indian medical system is discussed in
Ayurveda, Charaka Samhita and Ashtanga Haridaya. These scripts offer us the knowledge of the
different types of medicine and their use. Sushruta Samhita specifically delineates surgical meth-
ods. Metallurgy of iron, zinc, copper and its alloys were made prominent by Indians. Temple
architecture, town planning and construction of forts and ports were well developed. A kind of
supremacy was reached in cotton and silk textiles.
4 Indian Society for Civil Services

Importance of Rivers and Animals in Indian Society: Mountains, rivers, forests, lakes, land,
plants, animal and other elements of nature have the emotional attachment with Indian culture
and religion. River Ganga, River Yamuna and River Saraswati in Indian cultural history is best
example. Animals such as cow acclaimed important role in Hinduism.

Unity
Unity means integration. It is a socio-psychological condition. It denotes the sense of one-
ness, and we-ness. It refers to the bond, which binds the members of a society together.
There is a difference between unity and uniformity. Uniformity includes similarity and unity.
Unity is of two types: the former is born out of uniformity and the latter arises overcoming
the differences. Emile Durkheim, French sociologist, has termed these two types as me-
chanical and organic solidarity, respectively. The point to note is that unity does not have to
be based on uniformity. Unity,as we noted earlier, implies integration. Integration does not
mean absence of differences. Indeed, it stands for the ties that bind the diverse groups with
one another.

Diversity
In literal terms, diversity means differences; but in social context, the meaning is ‘more specific’.
It also connotes collective differences among people, especially those differences which dif-
ferentiate one group of people and the other. These differences could be biological, religious,
geographical, economical, linguistic, etc. For example, racial diversity is the component of bio-
logical difference and religious diversity is the component of religious difference. Overall, diver-
sity refers to the collective differences.
The term diversity is contrary to uniformity. Uniformity denotes the characteristic
similarity among the people. ‘Uni’ means one; ‘form’ means common ways. Therefore,
when there is something common among the people, they show uniformity. When the stu-
dents of a school, members of the police or the army wear the same type of dress, they
are in ‘uniform’. When a group of people share a similar characteristic which can be lan-
guage or religion or anything, there is a uniformity in that specific aspect. But groups of
people from different races, religions and cultures represent diversity. Thus, diversity means
variety.

DIVERSITY: INDIAN CONTEXT

Any narration or analysis of salient features of Indian society is not possible without initiating
it with diversity. To a great extent, the continental dimensions of the country account for the
amazing variations and diversities. Look at the vastness of the land, and varying geography and
ecological conditions. As theorized by the culture ecologists, ‘Culture is the human response to
the ecological conditions’. This implies that the way any human group responds or adapts to its
environment, defines its culture/way of life. Thus, geography is largely responsible for the di-
versity in food, clothing, housing, etc. On the other hand, the vastness is also responsible, in the
absence of viable means of transport and communication, for lack of intermingling of people
living in far off places. India, from ancient times has been a favourite destination of outsiders
including the westerners because of abundance of natural resources and moderate and diverse
climatic conditions.
 Chapter 1 • Salient Features of Indian Society 5

Any casual observer of Indian society may notice diversity in the following aspects:
Racial/Ethnic Elements, Religions, Sects and Cults, Schools of Philosophy, Family Struc-
ture, Marriage Types and Rituals, Ways of Greetings, Festivals, Cuisine and Food Habits, Cloth-
ing, Language and Literature, Epics, Dance, Drama, Cinema and Theatre, Music, Painting,
Sculpture, Architecture, etc.
Among these diversities racial/ethnic and linguistic diversities and marriage, family, kin-
ship and religion have been discussed along with Caste, Tribe, Minorities and Women.

MAJOR SOURCES OF DIVERSITY IN INDIAN CONTEXT

Region
India is a large country with diverse geographical features. We have snow covered Himalayas
and northern plains in the north, desert region in the west, deccan plateau and coastal plains in
south India. Since historical times, the northern plains of India are known for prosperity due
to high agricultural fertility and the adjoining region to its west Rajasthan do not have the same
fertility. Some areas in the north like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab were seats of power because these
regions had continuous interaction with the outside world.
Himalayan states of the north, tribal regions in the north-east of India and majority of
south India remained untouched by the outside world. So, these regions developed their own
lifestyle and occupational pattern in accordance with their culture and tradition.
Feudalism played an important role in Indian political system after the Mauryan period. It
clearly showed that whenever and wherever the central authority weakened, the local lords at-
tempt to be independent and have control over the serfs. After the decline of Mughal empire,
the number of local kingdoms like Awadh, Bengal and Hyderabad rose to prominence. These
local rulers also showed interest in developing local culture and dialects, which led to these re-
gions to grow separate identity including linguistic identity.
Regional consciousness and regional identity evolved either due to geographical or cultural
identity or both. The prevalence of economic disparities coupled with regional consciousness
led to the emergence of strong regional identity that influenced to the demand for a separate
administrative set-up in the form of state and autonomous councils, where they can preserve
their sociocultural identity. Development of regional identity is also visible in the present Indian
society. One of the recent successful regional movements is the formation of Telangana. Apart
from this, the emergence of recent demands for formation of smaller states in various part of
India is emerging like Gorkhaland, Bodoland and Vidarbha.
Linguistic Diversity
India has been a subject of great interest for study amongst the linguist because India is known
for linguistic heterogeneity and thus, India holds a unique place in the world as far as language
is concerned. Based on the report of the census commissioner, 121 languages are spoken by
10,000 or more people. More than 19,500 languages or dialects are spoken in India as mother
tongues, according to the latest analysis of a census report. Any linguistic group contains within
it a number of features of social importance like a sense of social integration is seen amongst
the speakers of the same language or dialect. Common language undoubtedly promotes an
emotional integration in the society.
The magnitude of India’s linguistic diversity can be estimated by the fact that, here more
than 200 languages are spoken by different groups. Among these half of these languages are
6 Indian Society for Civil Services

spoken by less than ten thousand people each and the speakers of twenty-three languages only
constitute about 97 per cent of the total population, Among these twenty-three, fifteen (includ-
ing English) are in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of independent India.
The languages spoken by Indian population may be divided into four language families:
(i) Austric family (Nishad)
(ii) Dravidian family (Dravid)
(iii) Sino-Tibetan family (Kirat)
(iv) Indo-European family (Aryan)
The languages included in these four language families demonstrate a great diversity. The
speakers of Aryan languages are around seventy-three per cent, of Dravidian languages about
twenty per cent, of Austric languages 1.38 per cent and the speakers of Sino-Tibetan languages
are around 0.85 per cent only.
In the Austric language family mainly the languages and dialects of central Indian tribal
belt are included. The Santhals, Munda, Ho, Koraku, etc., belong to this language family.
The speakers of Sino-Tibetan language family are generally the tribal populations of north-
eastern region. Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Gondi, etc., are prominent Dravidian
languages. The largest number of speakers come from the Indo-Aryan language family, this
category comprises languages like Punjabi and Sindhi on one hand and, on other hand, Ra-
jasthani, Gujarati, Mewari, Mewati, Hindi-Urdu, Chhattisgarhi, Bengali, Maithili, Kumayunl,
and Garhwali, etc.

Village and Its Economic System

Before the British occupied India, the villages were economically self-sufficient with the exis-
tence of jajmani system (caste-wise division of labour) and payment in grain (absence of mon-
etization). Above all, the poor communication and transportation limited the flow of goods.
The fact that the weekly markets in neighbouring villages existed in traditional India helped
us understand that the villagers depended on towns for items which were not available in the
­local markets. Such markets mainly sold the items like silver and gold essential for weddings.
The i­nstitution of weekly markets still exists in rural India, although there are well-developed
transport facilities, and communication could easily connect the people with town markets.
These markets serve not only an economic purpose but also political, recreational and social
purposes.

Family, Marriage and Kinship

Family is one of the foremost and indispensable unit in Indian society. We happen to assume
that all families are like the ones we live in. No other social institution appears more universal
and unchanging than family. The family (the private sphere) is annexed to the economic, politi-
cal, cultural and educational (the public) spheres.
The functionalists are of the view that the family does important tasks by contributing
to the basic needs of the society and maintaining social order. The functionalists also say that
modern industrial societies would function well if women looked after the family and men
earned the livelihood. But many studies suggest that families need not be nuclear in an industrial
pattern of economy, that is, trends based on experiences of one society cannot necessarily be
generalised.
 Chapter 1 • Salient Features of Indian Society 7

Joint-Family System
The joint-family system has been one of the most prominent in the Indian society. Irawati
Karve, Indian sociologist, asserts that joint-family consists of group of people who generally
live under one roof, eat food cooked in one kitchen and hold property in common. The joint-
family system is not found to be the core feature of Indian society any more after the transi-
tion of the mass population from rural to urban, from agriculture to non-agriculture and from
localized to globalised. Job transfers, postings, livelihood opportunities, business and trade are
the most important pull factors of the joint families in contemporary India. Since some of the
members of a joint family think about the social and economic mobility, evolution of nuclear
families has started widely. It can be said that the economic policies have started overriding the
social values.
The nuclear family is flexible enough for handling the demands of industrial society. In such
a family, one adult can work outside home while the other adult cares for the home and chil-
dren. In practical terms, this specialization of roles within the nuclear family entails the husband
adopting the ‘instrumental’ role as breadwinner, and the wife taking up the ‘affective’, emotional
role in domestic settings. This vision is biased that it is not simply gender unjust, but empirical
studies across cultures and history show that it is unrealistic.

Caste Diversity
‘Caste is a collection of families, bearing a common name, claiming a common descent from
a mythical ancestor, human or divine, professing to follow the same hereditary calling and re-
garded by those who are competent to give an opinion as forming a single homogenous com-
munity.’ (Herbert Risley).
Caste may be understood and explained as a form of social stratification which involves:
(i) A system of hierarchical ranking
(ii) Closed
(iii) Endogamous
(iv) Ascribed membership
(v) Restriction of contact between castes
(vi) Mobility/change theoretically impossible
Although, ‘it reflects economic inequalities, by virtue of the occupations typically followed
by, or permitted to members, caste stratification is ultimately rooted in non-economic criteria. In
its’ purest form, in Hindu society, the caste principle is religious, castes are ranked in accordance
with the degree of ‘ritual purity’ ascribed to members and to their activities’. Historically, the most
developed form, and some would argue the only true form, of caste stratification has occurred
in India in association with Hinduism. The origins of this system are obscure. They probably lie
in the twin bases of ethnicity and occupational specialization. The system which the Brahmins
perfected was founded on five main divisions, four caste groups (Varna) and an ‘outcaste’ group
­(Pancham Varna), the untouchables. The four caste groups were the Brahmins, the priestly class hav-
ing religious authority, the Kshatriyas, the secular and military ruler and landlord caste, the Vaishyas
the mercantile middle class and the Shudra the servants and slave class. The untouchables were
forced to perform only the most degrading and ritually impure/polluting tasks.
Caste has been described as the fundamental social institution of India. As Andre Beteille
(1996) points out, ‘sometimes the term is used metaphorically to refer to rigid social distinctions
8 Indian Society for Civil Services

or extreme social exclusiveness wherever found. But it is among the Hindus in India that we
find the system in its most fully developed form, although analogous forms exist among Mus-
lims, Christians, Sikhs and other religious groups in south Asia’.

Functions of Caste System

Caste system may be seen traditionally as performing the following functions:
•• It minimizes economic competition by determining the occupation of various caste
groups.
•• By restricting and limiting the range of choosing a spouse, it helps its members in their
endeavour of choosing a life partner. The rules of endogamy are, traditionally, very strict
and violations are taken seriously with punishments.
•• The economic basis of the caste system is Jajmani system. It is an elaborate division of
labour governed by a well-defined system of exchange of goods and services. The higher
landed castes, and the lower occupationally specialized castes or ‘service castes’ are tradi-
tionally bound by certain Jajmani obligations. The patrons (jajmans) or higher castes who
control land ownership exchange the land produce against the services provided by other
castes.
Caste may also be seen as a social and psychological resource for its members. Because of
a sense of solidarity and common consciousness the members of a caste come to the rescue of
fellow caste men.

Caste Structure and Kinship

The endogamy nature of caste system is an important characteristics of the kinship system in
India. Caste is basically a restrictive system of stratification and so the members are selected
on the criterion of ascribed status. Kinship is a method or a system by which individuals, as
members of society, associate themselves with other individuals of the same society. There are
two types of kinship bonds: one is consanguine and the other one is affine. Consanguine ties
are created by the biological bond like the one between mother–daughter, mother–son, father–
daughter, etc. Affinal ties are formed through marriage like those of husband and wife, man and
his wife’s brother, etc.
Kinship in India is largely critical about the internal structure of the caste and its sub-
caste, the gotra. The Kinship system seen in various parts of India differs from one another
in many ways. However, the kinship system in the Northern region, the Central region and
the Southern region can be distinguished in general. North India is a very large region and has
many types of kinship systems. This region includes the regions between the Himalayas in the
North and the Vindhyas in the South. In these regions, one should marry someone outside the
village since all the members of the same caste in a village are considered brothers and sisters,
or uncles and aunts. Marriage with someone inside the village is prohibited. In fact, there were
neighbouring villages in which men from other villages could choose their matches who were
not the members of their caste. Hypergamy was practised in this region according to which a
man takes a wife from a clan which is lower than his. That is, a girl moves from a lower status
group to a higher status group through marriage. The consequences of hypergamy and village
exogamy would spatially widen the range of ties. Several villages became socially close to one
 Chapter 1 • Salient Features of Indian Society 9

another through ­affinal and matrilateral links. The clans, lineages, and kutumbs are all parts
of the internal structure of the caste, which have been instrumental for organising kinship
in a society. The organization of family in the northern region is based on the patriarchal and
patrilocal systems. The lineage is traced through the male, that is, patrilineal system is followed
in this region. It is patriarchal b­ ecause authority lies with the male who is also the head of the
family; it is also patrilocal, ­because after marriage the bride is brought to the residence of the
bridegroom’s father.

Caste Structure and Occupation

The lineal association of castes with occupations is a striking feature of the caste system. A
caste is regarded as high if its characteristic is high and pure and it is said to be low if its method
of life is low and polluting. The term ‘way of life’ refers to the traditional occupation of the
caste that is either ritually pure or polluting. The ‘jajmani system’ forms the framework for the
association of caste structure with a hereditary occupation. The jajmani system is a system of
economic, social and ritual connections among different caste groups in the villages. This sys-
tem defines those castes that are patrons as well as those meant for doing service for the former.
The service castes render their services to the landowning upper and intermediate castes and as
a return they are paid both in cash and kind. The patron castes vary from one region to other
region dependent on the socioeconomic and political status of the castes. For example, the Ra-
jput, Bhumihar and Jat are the patron castes in the North and Kamma, Reddi and Lingayat are
the patrons in the South. The service castes consists of Brahman (Priest), Barber, Carpenter,
Blacksmith, Water-carrier, Leather-worker, etc. Therefore, In order to understand the regional
diversities of castes, it is crucial to know about the ownership of land, the land tenure status and
adherence to the jajmani system. These economic organizations rely a lot on the caste structure
and regional topography vice versa.
There is a similarity between high-caste status and land ownership. At the top of occu-
pational hierarchy comes a group of families, which wield its power in terms of the land rights
in a village or a region. They occupy the highest rank in the society. Estate managers and land-
owners, who own tiny areas who also enjoy a position next to the highest ranking castes, come
next in the stipulated hierarchy. Smaller tenants and subtenants form the middle-ranking caste
groups. The last ones in the order are the labourers who hail the lowest-ranking caste. The
high castes, with complete ownership, tend to serve, maintain and reinforce the existing caste
hierarchy. However, the impact of colonial rule and the consequent introduction of Western
education have disturbed this general association of higher caste with higher class (in terms
of ownership of land, wealth and power). In spite of these changes, the ritual criteria of caste
ranking remain even now important. But in the ancient times, it was only the secular criteria
such as landownership and wealth that determined the status of a caste.
It can be understood that Haryana and Punjab are the regions that are dominated by the
presence of single agricultural caste while analysing the caste system in these states. This agri-
cultural caste is called the ‘Jats’. Above all in Tamil Nadu, especially in the district of Tanjore, a
well-defined hierarchy exists in the caste system with Brahmans as land-owners. The Hindu so-
cial structure is stratified as: the Brahmans—the landowners; the non-Brahmans—the tenants,
sub-tenants and service giving castes and the Adi-Dravidas—the category of landless agricul-
tural labourers.
10 Indian Society for Civil Services

Caste Structure and Power

The core factors of the caste system are caste panchayats and leadership. These power struc-
tures are highly designated in certain caste groups and informal in others. The word ‘Panchayat’
literally means a group or council of five. In a village, it includes a group that presides over, and
resolves conflict, punishes people for violating customs and initiates group enterprises. It must
be noted that the term ‘Village Panchayat’ is completely different from the legislative connota-
tion. The usage, after the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act (1922), denotes a statutory local
body, formed through elections, vested with legal powers and assigned with certain responsi-
bilities related to governance. The village panchayats are still divided informally into two: one,
democratic formed panchayats which have legislative power and two, traditional panchayats
which has caste power. For example: Khap panchayats in Haryana having caste power. Regional
caste structures are partially accountable for variations in their respective power structures. It is
important to understand what qualifies a caste to be regionally dominant. According to Srinivas,
a famous sociologist, a caste is made dominant by the strength of the population in the village
or local area and its economic and political preponderance. The status of a dominant caste is
governed by the following criteria:

1. the control of land and economic resources;

2. numerical strength;
3. a relatively high ritual status in the caste hierarchy; and
4. educational status of its members.

These factors could certainly place a particular caste group in a position of political
dominance.
The monopoly in utilising the local resources (usually agricultural land) and managing of
the same gives the group a capacity to control the lives of the others. Numerical strength may
not be the only factor that could place a group in a bargaining position. It needs an economic
power to extend its strength. Once economic rights are accomplished, the size of a group is
not really important. The control of resources by members of the upper caste leads them to
decide for others to prove the real dominance. Regional variations in the dominant castes are
determined by the extent to which a single large land-holding caste controls a set of dependent
castes, rigidity of caste ranking and the existence of two or more dominant caste groups in the
same region. Studies from various parts of India imply that dominant castes do not exist every-
where, because the dominance is possible only in the areas where a landowning group has been
able to maintain distinctive characters (by strictly regulating marriage and descent) against the
other existing castes.
Local power flows mainly from land, which is the main source of wealth. Power is pro-
tected if it is restricted to a unified and numerically superior caste group. Numbers alone do not
warrant power. Caste groups numerically dominant, but with divided loyalties, creating factions,
may not wield power. It is only if a caste group became politically united that it could establish
its political force. This is essential because in the new democratic political system in which every
vote counts, the numerical preponderance of a caste group develops an additional meaning.
Power may increase to a jati, when its members have meaningful and constructive association
with the village panchayats. In regions, where religious groups and tribals are mixed, no single
caste retains enough land, power or numerical strength such that there would naturally be dual
or multiple dominations.
 Chapter 1 • Salient Features of Indian Society 11

Organization of ritual and temple services, concentration of land holdings correspond

with the caste rank with secular power and promote consistency in the total hierarchy of in-
ter-caste relations. In regions where caste and power hierarchy override, there is a definite ab-
sorption of power, wealth and land invested with high-ranking caste groups. Similarly, the ritual
sanctions bolster the super ordinate status of upper caste groups and subordinate status of the
lower caste groups. Thus, this interrelationship leads to the minimising of disputes. Regions,
which do not stand the correlation between caste and power structures, are classified by certain
features very different from those in the previous example. Caste ranking may not be definitive
and may d­ evelop controversies about caste ranking and status within the hierarchy. Caste groups
of equal rank may be constantly in frays over their mutual positions in the hierarchy which
would end up in dissent and dispute over ranking. Such conflicts become normal over a period
of time resulting in organised factions within the caste groups. Factions may develop disputes
between them. Lack of clarity in caste ranking results in a diluted power structure, with no single
caste group that could successfully wield economic, political and ritual power.

Spatial Expansion of Intra-Caste Relations

Since caste endogamy is marital rule (i.e., one has to marry within one’s caste), one’s kin nor-
mally belongs to one’s caste. Intra-caste relations and other caste matters are monitored by a
caste panchayat whose members are from different villages. In pre-British India, the horizontal
expansion of caste ties was capped on by the political boundaries of a number of small king-
doms. The poor roads and communication also kept away the people from mingling with other
castes, who lived beyond their boundaries.
With the unification of the country initiated by the British and the launching of better
roads and railways, cheap postage and printing, there was a quick spread in intra-caste relations
because the access was more to keep in regular touch with one another. Later, caste associa-
tions came into existence to work for the welfare of caste members. Educational institutions
and hostels were built and scholarships were sponsored to the needy of the caste. Each caste
also worked for controlling the lifestyle of its members so that the attempt to mobilize the caste
through Sanskritization could be a reality.
For the past six decades, the horizontal unity of the caste has increased and the demarca-
tion between the sub-castes has begun to break up. This is primarily due to two factors:

(i) Since numbers are important in a parliamentary democracy, horizontal unity of caste pro-
vides a better ‘vote bank’ than a wide area and this can ensure the election of a candidate
from one’s caste.
(ii) The necessity to seek educated life partners for one’s children and the demand for dowry
particularly among the higher castes have stretched the endogamous circle and speeded up
the horizontal spread of caste ties. The horizontal spread of caste ties hugely grew during
British rule and since Independence it linked the village to a much wider area

Racial Factors
The most authoritative and plausible racial classification has been given by B.S. Guha, who has
identified six major racial elements India. They are as follows:
1. Negrito
2. Proto-austroloid
12 Indian Society for Civil Services

3. Mongoloid
4. Mediterranean
5. Western Brachycephals
6. Nordic
The first three are veterans of humankind who dwelt in the subcontinent.
Negrito: They are confined to small provinces in the south, the Kadar, Andamanesa, Angami
Nagas and Bagadi of Rajmahal hills (Bihar). They have short stature, black skin, black woolly
hair, thick lips and broad nose.
Proto australoids: They belong to mid-India in general. They have short and medium stature,
long and high head, and broad and small nose. Indo-Aryans derogatorily called them anas, das,
dasyu and nishad.
Mongoloid: They are divided into Paleo Mongoloid (Present in Nagas of Himalayan regions
and northeast India) and Tibeto-Mongoloid (Sikkim and Bhutan). They have yellow skin,
straight hair, prominent cheekbones and almond-shaped eyes with epicanthic fold.
Mediterranean: They are connected to Dravidian languages and culture. They are classified
into the following:
1. Paleo Mediterranean: Medium height, dark skinned and slight built (Karnataka, Tamil
Nadu and Kerala)
2. Primarily Mediterranean: Fair complexion (parts of Punjab)
3. Oriental Mediterranean: Long noses and fair skin (Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh)
Western Brachycephals: They are classified into the following:
1. Alpinoid: North and Western India
2. Dinaric: Bengal and Orissa
3. Armenoid: Parsis

Nordic: They are similar to Aryans and have fair skin, medium and long head, narrow nose and
tall stature.

Tribes
Tribes have been classified as a group of home-grown people with little background who were
entitled to have a common name, language and territory, tied by strong kinship bonds, practic-
ing endogamy, distinct customs, rituals and beliefs, simple social rank and political organization,
common ownership of resources and technology. However, in India, many of these charac-
teristics are shared by many other castes. This questions the validity in distinguishing them
from other castes. Many conceptual attempts have been made to define tribes. They have been
regarded as one of the phases in the social and cultural evolutions. Some of them have ­defined
that the production and consumption among the tribes are household oriented, whereas they
are not part of a wider economic, political and social network like peasants. Bailey has whined
that the only solution to the problem of classification of tribes in India is to develop a con-
tinuum at which one end has place for tribes and the other end has place for castes. The tribes
 Chapter 1 • Salient Features of Indian Society 13

have sectarian and egalitarian systems and are not mutually inter-dependent, as are castes based
in a system of organic solidarity. They have direct access to land and no intermediary is required
to link them with land.
Geographically, the tribes are centred in five regions as follows:
1. Himalayan region (with tribes like the Gaddi, the Jaunsari, the Naga, etc.),
2. Middle India (with tribes like the Munda, the Santal, etc.),
3. Western India (with tribes like the Bhil, the Grasia, etc.),
4. South Indian region (with tribes like the Toda, the Chenchu, etc.) and the
5. Islands Region (with tribes like the Jarawas in Bay of Bengal, the Aminidivi and the Koyas
in Arabian Sea).
Guha has further classified them according to their racial features and identified that they
belong to the following three races:
1. The Proto-Australoids: They are characterised by dark skin colour, sunken nose and
lower forehead. These features are found among the Gond (Madhya Pradesh), the Munda
(Chotanagpur), the Ho (Bihar), etc.
2. The Mongoloids: This group is peculiar for their light skin colour; head and face are
broad; the nose bridge is very low and their eyes are slanting with a fold on the upper
eye lid. These features are common among the Bhotiya (Central Himalayas), the Wanchu
(Arunachal Pradesh), the Naga (Nagaland), the Khasi (Meghalaya), etc.
3. The Negrito: This group is characterised by dark skin colour (tending to look like blue),
round head, broad nose and frizzle hair. These features are recognised among the Kadar
(Kerala), the Onge (Little Andaman), the Jarwa (Andaman Islands), etc.
There are many linguistically diverse tribe communities. It is estimated that the tribes may
speak 105 different languages and 225 subsidiary languages. These languages belong to the fol-
lowing families:
1. Austro-Asiatic family with two subgroups, namely MonKhmer branch and Munda branch
which are spoken by Khasi, Nicobari, Gonds and Santhals.
2. Tibeto-Chinese family: There are two sub-families of this type, namely Siamese-Chinese
sub-family and Tibeto-Burman sub-family. But down the North-Eastern frontier of I­ ndia,
Khamti is one specimen of the Siamese Chinese sub-family. The Tibeto-Burman sub-­
family is further sub-divided into several branches. Tribals of Nagaland and Lepcha of
Darjeeling speak variants of Tibeto-Burman languages.
3. Indo-European family: Hajong and Bhili, both belong to tribal language belong to this
group.
4. Dravidian family: Generally the language belonging to these families are spoken in south
India (e.g., Yeruva of Mysore).
These languages are a broad classification showing extreme diversity among them. For
example, among the Naga there are at least 50 different groups, each one of them has a speech
of its own and quite often the speakers of one speech do not understand the speech of others.
Variations can also be found in the size of tribal populations in different regions. Big
tribes like Gonds and Bhils number in millions, while some like Great Andamanese number
fewer than hundred. These tribes have diversities in their economic pursuits. Some tribes like
Cholanaicken rely on food collection and hunting and the others like Khasi of Meghalaya do
shilfing cultivation. Most of the tribes of middle, western and southern regions of the country
14 Indian Society for Civil Services

have made agriculture as their occupation, while some like the Kota of the Nilgiris live on crafts.
The craftwork is related to household level, but the collection of raw materials is related to
community. For example, the basket makers may go together for collecting bamboos, but basket
making may be a family enterprise. Some tribes like the Toda in the Nilgiri and the Gujjar, the
Bakarwal and Gaddi in Himachal Pradesh depend on cattle.
The economic scenario in the tribal regions has been changing. The economic changes
may be listed as follows:
1. Forest resources have declined and forests have been increasingly brought under reserva-
tion. They are no longer the comfort zones of the tribal people except in certain areas of
North-East India.
2. Tribal people have been compelled to give away a lot of land to more experienced agricul-
turists, to industries, and for big projects like hydro-electric reservoirs
3. Big industries have been established in their areas. So, the bane is they have been displaced
by such industries and the boon is they have been given employment as wage labourers.
4. The impact of market economy has resulted in the tribals’ producing for market rather
than for meeting their own needs.

RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY
Hinduism
1. It is the popular and dominant faith practised by more than 80% of the population.
­Besides Hinduism, Islam is the second most prominent religious group and is an integral
part of Indian society. In fact, the population of Muslims in India comes next to that of
Hindus and in the world it is next to the Muslim population in Indonesia.
2. The underlying canons of Hinduism cannot be easily understood. Hinduism is the only re-
ligious tradition that is so complex and diversified in its theoretical premises and practical
expressions as to be called depository of religions. This religion does not have a specific
founder nor has a holy book as a basic scriptural guide.
3. At one dimension, it is simply unravelling the ultimate reality; at the other, there are groups
that worship spirits, trees and animals.
4. Festivals and ceremonies are associated, not only with Gods and Goddesses but also with
the natural forces like sun, moon, planets, rivers, oceans, trees and animals. Some of the
popular Hindu festivals are Deepavali, Holi, Dussehra, Ganesh Chaturthi, Pongal, Janam-
asthmi and Shiva Ratri. These festive occasions lend Hinduism its remarkable and popular
appeal and make the Indian tradition ostentatious.
5. The Rig Veda, Upanishads, Ramayana and the Bhagwad Gita are called the sacred texts of the
Hindus.
6. There are umpteen Gods and Goddesses worshipped by Hindus across India. Among
these, the rudimentary aspect of Hinduism is the trinity of Brahama, Vishnu and Shiva—
the creator, the preserver and the destroyer, respectively.
7. Hinduism acknowledges polytheism combined by idol worship and natural worship.

Islam
1. It had its advent in late 7 AD when Arab traders came to Malabar Coast.
 Chapter 1 • Salient Features of Indian Society 15

2. Islam affirms there is only one God (Monotheism) and surrendering to him leads to peace.
In the Islamic ideology, religion is not integral to life or a special kind of activity with art,
and commerce, rather it is the matrix and world view, which includes the major phenom-
ena of life.
3. Holy Koran preaches the religious principles, which is believed to contain the prophecies
of God. God is believed to have revealed them to Prophet Mohammad through angel
­Gabriel (Pronounced as Jibraal).
4. Prophet Mohammad is the real messenger and perfect creation of God.
5. Hadith is the compendium of inspiring statements made by the Prophet himself, as well as
recordings of his sayings done by his companions and followers. It comprises the details
of legal significance and moral and spiritual teachings.
6. Sharia (divine law) contains the concrete apotheosis of will of God. Life from cradle to
grave is governed by Sharia.
7. Tariquat is the spiritual path, which represents the inner dimension of Islam.
8. Haji is the Supreme pilgrimage of Mecca
9. The basic observance of Islam includes worship of only one God (Tawheed), canonical
prayers (namaaz), fasting (roja), charity (zakat) and pilgrimage (haji)

Christianity
1. Christianity arrived in India from a different chronological angle. According to Syrian
Christian tradition, Apostle Thomas, one of the twelve disciples of Christ, came to vicinity
of Cochin in 52 AD.
2. The three modules of Christians’ religious life include faith in Jesus Christ as the messen-
ger of God, active service and being kind to neighbours.
3. Pope is the supreme head in all religious affairs.
4. Bible is the sacred text of Christians.

Sikhism
1. The Sikh religion came off during the early sixteenth century in the state of Punjab in
North India. The patron of this faith was Guru Nanak who was attracted to both Hindu
and Muslim saints from his childhood.
2. There are 10 main gurus. The teachings of Guru Nanak were inscribed in the Guru Granth
Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhs, which has been accepted by Sikhs as the symbol of God.
3. Guru Arjun, the fifth Guru, compiled Guru Granth Sahib and founded the Golden Temple
at Amritsar, which remains the holy shrine of Sikhs.
4. Guru Govind Singh, the tenth Guru, rendered military training to the Sikhs to train them
to defend themselves. On Baisakhi day of 1699 at Aandpur, Guru Govind Singh regulated
his Sikhs assembly by instilling customs and created a new brotherhood of Sikhs called the
Khalsa (pure ones). Five men were selected to devote their lives to Guru and they were
called Panj Pyares. They were given nectar (amrit) to mark their first entry into the broth-
erhood of Khalsa.
5. The members of the new brotherhood were instructed to wear the five symbols (the five
‘K’s)—uncut hair, a comb, a steel wrist guard, a sword and breeches. Those who adopted
such customs took new religious names—the men-Singh (lion) and the women-Kaur
(princess).
16 Indian Society for Civil Services

6. Sikhism advocates monotheism, which acknowledges the worship of one God. It also
­refuses to accept the caste system and believes that all men are equal. However, the belief
of Hinduism especially karma and rebirth are accepted.
Jainism
1. Jainism, as a religious tradition, entered India about the same time as Buddhism did. M
­ ahavira
(599–527 BC), one of the Jinas (conquerors), gave the vestibules of Jain philosophy. Bud-
dhism rose against the corruption in the interpretation of Hinduism prevalent at the time, so
did Jainism. In fact, the word ‘Jain’ was derived from jin, which means conqueror.
2. The premises of jain philosophy stem from beliefs that the renunciation of worldly ­desires
and self-conquest would lead to perfect wisdom. This belief espouses abstinence and
­asceticism as observed by the Jinas and the Tirthankars (crossing-makers). The crossing
­refers to the pathway to the spiritual realm from the material world and from bondage to
freedom.
3. There are 24 Tirthankars—the first is Rishabh and the twenty-fourth is Mahavira.
There are two main categories in Jainism—Svetambara (white clothed) and Digambara
­(unclothed). The third unpopular sect is sthanakvasi, who represent themselves in images.
4. The core part of this religion has been the purgation of the soul by means of right con-
duct, right faith and right knowledge. This faith expresses complete non-violence. Fasting
and austerity are considered the means for self-purification.
5. The fivefold disciplines of nonviolence, truth, honesty, sexual purity and indifference to
material would lead to maintain personal virtue for social goodness.
Buddhism
1. Emerged around sixth-century BC was Buddhism, which revolves around the teachings of
Buddha.
2. The three ornaments of Buddhism are the Buddha, the enlightened teacher, the Dharma,
the doctrine given by the teacher; and Sangha—the community of believers in the doc-
trine preached by Buddha. Dharma has four meanings—the absolute truth, right conduct,
doctrine and ultimate constituent of experiences.
3. The four noble truths which are also the major tenets of Buddhism are as follows:
a) World has sufferings.
b) The cause of sufferings is desire
c) The cause of sufferings can be removed.
d) There is a means available to remove the cause of suffering.
4. The eightfold path advocated by Buddhism is Right View, Right Aspiration, Right speech,
Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Meditation.
Given, these are accepted would lead to nirvana.
5. Buddhism has two categories—Hinayana (no concern for God and regarded Buddha as
perfect man whose precepts and examples need to be followed by each individual) and
Mahayana (Buddha as God and evolved an elaborate metaphysics involving a pantheon of
Gods and Goddesses, inspired by love for fellow beings).
Zoroastrianism
1. The Zoroastrians reached the Gujarat Coast in the tenth century, soon after the Arabian
conquest of Iran and most of them had settled in Bombay by the seventeenth century.
 Chapter 1 • Salient Features of Indian Society 17

2. Zoroastrianism has the canon of accountability of every man and woman to choose
­between good and evil and to respect God’s creations.
3. The founder of Zoroastrianism was Zarathustra, who preached monotheism and lived in
Iran in 6,000 BC. He was the first religious prophet to propound a dualistic philosophy,
based on the confronting powers of good and evil. Zoroastrians live in Mumbai by and
large, where they are known as Parsis. They have no distinctive dress codes and have a few
houses of worship.
4. Zarathustra uttered hymns for the five daily prayers and standardised the religious text
Zenda Avesta. It is read in home or temple and before fire, which symbolizes the realm of
truth, righteousness and order.

Judaism
1. The smallest religious group in India are the Jews. Judaism is believed to be based on the
revelation of Moses. Torah is the sacred text of the Jews community. Jews temples are
called by the name Synagogue.
2. The three main communities that constitute Jews in India are Bene Israel, Kerala Jews and
Baghdadi Jews.
India, known for its diversities, has multiple religious groups. Almost all major religions of
the world have their presence in the country. Amongst all the religions, Hinduism is the domi-
nant one followed by Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism, Judaism, Zoroastrian-
ism and Bahaism have very few followers.

Religion Percentage
All religious communities 100.0
Hindus 79.8
Muslims 14.23
Christians 2.3
Sikhs 1.72
Buddhists 0.7
Jains 0.4
Others 0.7
Religion not stated   0.2

Based on the 2011 Census data, majority of the population in India profess Hinduism.
Hindu-majority is in 27 states and UTs. Non-Hindu majority states and UTs are—Arunachal
Pradesh, Manipur, J&K (Islam majority), Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Lakshadweep Islam
majority) and Punjab. Sizeable Muslim population is residing in Assam (30.9%), West Bengal
(25.2%), Kerala (27.4%), Uttar Pradesh (18.5%) and Bihar (16.5%). The three northeastern
states namely Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya have larger number of Christian population.
Other states like Manipur, (34.0%), Goa (26.7%), Andaman and Nicobar Island (21.7%), Ker-
ala (19.0%) and Arunachala Pradesh (18.7%) have substantial percentage of Christian popula-
tion to the t­ otal population of the state. Sikhism has its stronghold in Punjab. In Punjab, Sikh
population a­ ccounts for more than 75% of total Sikh population in the country. Other states
18 Indian Society for Civil Services

having the presence of Sikh population are Chandigarh (16.1%), Haryana (5.5%), Delhi (4.0%),
­Uttaranchal (2.5%), Jammu and Kashmir (2.0%).
Buddhist population is concentrated largely in Maharashtra (58.3%), which account for
73.4% of the total Buddhist population in India. Other states like Karnataka (3.9 lakh), Uttar
Pradesh (3.0 Lakh) are having significant presence of Buddhist population. Based on percent-
age of Buddhist population, Sikkim (28.1%) Arunachal Pradesh (13.0%) and Mizoram (7.9%)
emerged as top-three states. Large concentration of Jains are present in Maharashtra, R ­ ajasthan,
Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, UP and Delhi. Maximum percentage of Jain population
to the total population is maximum in Maharashtra (1.3%), Rajasthan (1.2%), Delhi (1.1%)
and Gujarat (1.0%). The above details best explains the diverseness in Indian society based on
­religion. Though religious tolerance is largely prevalent amongst various religious communi-
ties, there have been various instances of religious tensions and riots. It is general visible that
­Muslims feel uneasy on account of Babri Masjid demolition and Gujarat riots and Christians get
disturbed due to attack against the missionaries and churches.

REGION
Regional consciousness and regional identity evolved either due to geographical or cultural iden-
tity or both. The prevalence of economic disparities coupled with regional consciousness led to
the emergence of strong regional identity that influenced to the demand for a separate admin-
istrative setup in the form of state and autonomous councils, where they can preserve their so-
ciocultural identity. Development of regional identity is also visible in the present Indian society.
One of the recent successful regional movement is the formation of Telangana. Apart from
this, the emergence of recent demands for formation of smaller states in various parts of India
are emerging like Gorkhaland, Bodoland, Vidarbha.

Factors Affecting Social Changes in India:

Ideological Factors
Social change is caused by ideological factors. Ideas rule the world. Ideological factors remain
the foremost to bring about social change. Philosophical, scientific and political aspects influ-
ence the formation of ideas which influence the social change. Growth and emergence of Bud-
dhism, communism, fascism have led to the formation of new thoughts which led to the change
in human values and attitudes. Ideas like communism, socialism and democracy have impact on
changing the patterns of society.

Cultural Factors
Human culture is a process of change. Any change in the society has to synchronize with the
cultural traits. Social change is necessary accompanied by cultural change. Culture acts as a
benchmark to regulate the amount and nature of social change. Cultural factors change from
generation to generation and they bring about required changes in the society.

New Opinions and Thoughts

Another factor of social change is the appearance of new opinions and thoughts. For exam-
ple, changes in the attitudes towards dowry, caste system, female education, etc., have resulted
in widespread social variations and modifications. New ways of thinking and the subsequent
 Chapter 1 • Salient Features of Indian Society 19

emergent ideas give rise to the evolution of new ideas and new ideas are the foundation for new
thoughts which are driving factors for social change.
Education
One of the most powerful instruments of social change is education. Education leads to mod-
ernization and social change in the desired direction. Education can transform society by en-
hancing the opportunities for an individual where he can cultivate himself for adjustment with
the emerging needs and philosophy of the changing society. Education must be planned in a
manner which is in keeping with the needs and aspirations of the people as a whole. Social
progress needs careful planning in every aspect of life—social, cultural, economic and political
sphere as well. Education must be planned in a manner which is in keeping with the needs and
aspirations of the people as a whole.
Materialistic Attitude
We have become materialistic. We want to enjoy all the comforts of modern life such as televi-
sion, refrigerator, air conditioning, means of conveyance, etc. Materialistic attitude is conducive
to change.
Westernization
Impact of western ideas, culture and imitation of other western practices is called as western-
ization. In case of India, westernization has its impact on social, economic, political, cultural,
religious and educational sectors as well.
India is following the example of the West. In the social sphere we are following the West
in matters like dress sense, lifestyle and town planning, etc.

Industrialization
India is fully resolved to bring about fast industrialization. There is increase in industrialization.
Industries have taken the place of agriculture. Agriculture has itself transformed into an indus-
try. The application of science and technology to industry has increased substantially. Thus,
industrialization in India is responsible for social change.
Urbanization
Urbanization is the result of industrialization. Huge increase in population has resulted in rapid
urbanization in India which not only led to the increase in the number of industrial cities and
towns but has also led to the mobility and migration of people from villages to urban places.

Secularization
Secularization promotes change. The people of India have adopted the idea of secularism ac-
cording to which everybody is free to follow the religion of their choice. In the wider sense
secularism includes compassion, tolerance, diversification, broad outlook and unorthodoxy.

Mechanicalization
Industrial revolution has led to the introduction of machines for many human activities. These
machines have changed the way of thinking, standard of living, means of communication,
20 Indian Society for Civil Services

transportation, method of production, business and industries in India. Mechanicalization and

social change are related to each other, one influences the other.

Democratization
India is becoming progressively democratized. In India there is universal adult franchise. Every-
body above a certain age is entitled to elect his representative. Everybody is equal before the law
and enjoys equal rights and privilege.

Politicalization
There is politicalization due to political parties, political leaders, rights and duties, and regional,
national and international relations. Student unrest, teacher unrest and unrest among the masses
is because of politicalization.

Capitalism
Capitalism has changed to volume and means of production. It has not only led to an increase
in production, expansion of business, increase in specialities, increase in inventions, but has also
influenced art, music, literature, education and media as well.

Indianization
Past traditions and noble values of life have been part and parcel of development of Indian
society. These features have never been neglected. Even now we could see the presence of these
elements in our day-to-day life. As like westernization, the process of Indianization has also
taken place. Many foreigners have started to wear clothes in Indian style. More number of for-
eigners are showing interest to learn meditation, prayer, recitation of hymns.

Modernization
Modernization is a process which brings about change in value system, institutional modifica-
tions and societal outlook as well. It changes both material as well as non-material cultural as-
pects. Modernization is set to influence the social, economic, industrial, technological, cultural,
religious, educational and other related structures as well.

Geographical Factor (Physical Environment)

Social change is not always brought about by sociocultural factors alone. To some extent the
geographical factors also influence to social environment. Floods, earthquakes, famine, fires,
drought, rains are few influencing factors. These geographical factors in one or the other way
influence to the change in social environment.

Demographic Factor
Population remains to be one of the significant factors with regard to social change. An increase
or decrease in population, affects the social institutions either in a positive or on a negative way.
Change in population is directly linked to economic and social activities. Sex ratio affects the
institution of marriage, family and the position of women in society,
 Chapter 1 • Salient Features of Indian Society 21

Technological and Scientific Factors

Scientific and technological development is another potent factor of change. They break the
barriers and provide for easy communication. Latest advancements in information and commu-
nication technology has brought about a revolution in the way people communicate with each
other. These developments have changed the physical and social environment.

Psychological Factors
Man, by nature is a lover of change and change being universal, psychological factors play a
major role in social change. He is always trying to discover new things in every sphere of his life
and is always anxious for new experiences out of this change. As a result of this tendency the
most traditions, customs, etc., of every human society are subjected to perpetual change.

Voluntary Acts of Individuals

If we look into the history of the world, where ‘all important social and cultural changes are
brought about by men of genius.’ In the modern world, Lenin in Russia and Mahatma Gandhi
in India, have had a profound influence on the society as a whole, and it would be difficult to
demonstrate that our world would have been different, had they not lived and acted as they did.
These individuals could win the confidence of the masses through their charisma. They were
accepted as leaders.

Acceptance by High Status Individuals

Any change would become easily accepted in the society if the people who are in high position
would accept the change.

Legislation
Legislation which seeks to bring about change in the desired direction, is an important factor for
planned social change. For example, abolition of slavery in America, is one such example that
brought about massive change in the social structure not only in America but in other parts of
the world as well. Compulsory primary and secondary education in Western and Asian coun-
tries, legislation against practice of untouchability, raising the age of marriage by law, ensur-
ing the property rights of women, are a few measures which have brought about radical social
changes in various countries including India. As and when there are new issues cropping out in
society, new legislations are enacted to nullify the ill-effects of those issues.
Thus, social change is brought about by a number of factors—social, economic, psycho-
logical and cultural. It may thus, be said that social changes are not caused by any one single fac-
tor alone, but as Talcott Parsons says, ‘there is plurality of possible origins of change.’

FACTORS RESISTING SOCIAL CHANGE

Social Barriers
Social factors and behaviour patterns such as religious orthodoxy, rigid caste and class structure,
public opinion on various issues, vested interests of a section of the society, factionalism, and
conflict are some of the barriers to change.
22 Indian Society for Civil Services

Cultural Barriers
Conservatism, fatalism, superstitions belief, a feeling of pride and dignity in the old and tradi-
tional ways of life, incompatibility of new and old cultural traits, slavery and poverty, untouch-
ability, social backwardness are the few cultural barriers to change. Patriarchal values remain as
one of the ­major reasons for the gender inequality in India.

Economic Barriers
Poor economic conditions in life experienced by large sections of the people also are an ob-
struction in social change. Poor people do not think of anything except their basic necessities of
life. On the other hand, few persons may become lazy because of excessive and surplus money.
He thinks everything in terms of materialistic benefits. He is resistant to good changes as the
intended change may question his domination.

Psychological Barriers
Man’s excessive love for traditions, his pessimistic attitude towards social values, the lack of
strong desire for material and economic gains, indifference towards the material world and
learning problems are some of the psychological barriers to social change.

Shortage of Inventions
When the public is not dynamic to the changes, then there are fewer or no inventions in the
society. In such a situation people are not prepared to accept the invention. If there is no inven-
tion or fewer inventions then chances of social change is slow or negligible.

Isolation
Isolation is another deterrent factor for social change. When a certain social group, a society
or a community is isolated from the rest of the social group, community, nation or the world,
then the members of the isolated community do not have the chances to observe other groups
and consequently are not aware of their weaknesses, shortcomings, tensions and the necessity
for social change. Hence, it must be kept in mind that isolation may be psychological as well as
geographical and sometimes strong in-group loyalties also cause social isolation and would resist
change to take place in the desired direction.

PLURALISM
India is known for its pluralism, namely religious pluralism, cultural pluralism, linguistic pluralism
and ethnic pluralism. Pluralism is a mechanism were it recognizes the interest of diverse groups
and sees to it that no single group dominates the region. In this context, pluralism can said to
be a diffusion of power among many special interest groups which prevent any one group from
gaining control of the government and misusing it in the power structure. Our pluralist society
comprises many groups, such as women, men, ethnic groups, tribes, racial categories as well as
different classes of people like upper class, middle class and lower class. In such a scenario, the
political domination of one group over the others could lead to neglect the exploitation of other
categories, which would result in social tensions and lead to social disorganization.
 Chapter 1 • Salient Features of Indian Society 23

In a democratic form of government, political power depends on the number of votes.

In such a situation, the largest group could misuse the political power for its own advantage
against the minority groups. Such a situation exists in countries where the role of religion is
predominant. In these countries, minorities suffer a lot due to various kinds of disabilities. In a
country where pluralism is practiced ,there is prevalence some kind of accommodation amongst
the people. Where pluralism prevails, no group dominates over others. In order to attain their
goals, each group must negotiate with other group and make compromises wherever possible,
because in a diverse society, each group pursues its own interest. Politicians design policies and
try to please as many groups as they can. This makes the political system more responsive to
the people rather than the rule by a particular group. Thus unity and diversity are the two pil-
lars of Indian society where pluralism is the mechanism through which unity amidst diversity is
accomplished.

Indian Culture and Its Current Relevance

India is known as a country where civilization flourished. It is an epitome of multiple cultures
which has shown resistance to several foreign attacks. The ruins of Mohenjo-Daro and Ha-
rappa stand testimony to the fact regarding the greatness of Indian culture. The uniqueness of
our country lies in its huge cultural diversity.
India is a potpourri of different ethnic groups and communities with their own set of
culture and traditions. This has given rise to several varied forms of art, music, dance, food
which now have been given international recognition. Cultural values and practices of various
communities are set to differ, but still the major traditional traits were maintained by different
cultural communities. Of late with the advent of globalization and modern communication
mechanism an important question is raised: Has the Indian culture diminished among today’s
Indian youth? Has the Indian culture become a myth today? What has been the impact of
modern values on Indian culture? Is it the right time for us to think about reviving our cul-
tural traditions?
Well one must admit the impact of globalization and the resulting modernization on In-
dian society. With globalization, there has been an exchange of cultures and ideas between vari-
ous countries and this had a profound impact on our society in both ways—good and bad.
Modernization has helped to eradicate our social evils on a large scale that were prevalent in the
society like sati system, child marriage, polygamy, low status to women, etc. Few historians are
of the opinion that if British had not taken-up social and cultural reforms India would have still
been an underdeveloped nation. Modernization of today has gone beyond a level and is gradu-
ally crippling the traditional values of our society that binds an Indian family.
The urban dwellers seem to be most affected by modernization and westernization and
deviating from their traditions. We could see a significant change in the habits of today’s youth,
especially in their food habits and entertainment. Home cooked food is less preferred instead
pizza, burgers and similar kind of food items are more liked by the youth. We have lots of
outlets opened up by multinational companies like McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, Subway’s and
other brands. Not only food but when it comes to entertainment western dance and music and
fusion music is more liked than Indian classical music.
The impact of westernization is seen not only in food and music but in other aspects
as well. Present-day youngsters are more attached to their peer group than to their immediate
family members. Earlier, elders in the family (parents and grandparents) were more respected,
but that seems to have reduced now. Youngsters want to go out for social get-together or for
24 Indian Society for Civil Services

an outing with their peer group. Frequency of family get-together have reduced. The values
parents like to imbibe on their children, the advice they give to their kids do not appeal to them
completely.
Many of the youth feel suffocated in their homes spending time with their family, taking
part in family functions as they feel these are too ‘old-fashioned’ for them. The traditions ap-
pear to be boring for them. Well this has even started in rural areas. But the youngsters are not
to be blamed completely, the whole environment where they have been born and brought up
has changed so much due to modernization that has led to the decline of culture among Indian
youth, that has led our culture into a myth.
But there could always be a way—introduction of value education programmes in edu-
cational institutes, promoting cultural tourism, promotion of people as cultural brand ambas-
sadors, building influence through the local vernacular media. A better strategy to promote rich
cultural and traditional aspects of Indian culture through media with no commercial value at
large may help to promote and preserve Indian culture. Intercultural dialogue, instant connect
through pictures, videos often help bring to life and revive cultures across the seas. Films, televi-
sion and radio broadcasts are other powerful means that can influence culture. Thus, it is imper-
ative that we try to keep the best aspects of our ancient culture alive for all future generations to
learn and cherish the good values.

UNITY AMIDST DIVERSITY

Indian society characterized by its unity amidst diversity exhibits several factors of diversity
though it comprises various factors of unity. The several factors of unity can be seen in the fol-
lowing context:
1. Agriculture being the predominant occupation of India
2. Indian Constitution and its uniqueness
3. Parliamentary form of government providing for federal structure
4. Unified judiciary
5. Bureaucratic defence structure
6. Educational system
7. Unified transportation and communication
8. Industrialization and urbanization
9. Cultural heritage
10. Common value system
11. Secularism
12. Language
13. Religion
Despite numerous diversities, Indian society shares several bonds of unity. The first and
foremost of them is geopolitical integration. India is very well known for its geographical unity
signified by the Himalayas in the North and surrounded by oceans and the other sites. Politi-
cally, India is a sovereign state. The same constitution and parliament govern the entire territory
of it. The unity consciousness and expressions of unity are found in rig veda, the sanskritic litera-
ture, in the edits of Ashoka, in Buddhist monuments and various other sources. The concept of
Bharat Varsha (The old indigenous classic name for India), Chakravarthy (emperor) and Ekch-
hatradhivatya (under one rule) clearly prescribed to the ideals of geopolitical unity.
 Chapter 1 • Salient Features of Indian Society 25

India is a country where people are largely influenced by religious principles and doctrines.
In this context, temple culture and temple architecture reflected in the network of shrines, and
sacred places act has another source of unity of India. From Badrinath and Kedarnath in the
North to Rameswaram in the South, Puri in the East to Dwarka in the west, the religious shrines
and holy rivers are spread across the length and breadth of the country. Closely associated with
temples and shrines is the traditional culture of pilgrimage, which has always led to movement
of people from one part of the country to other regions. For example, the famous shrines at
Tirupathi, Rameswaram, Varanasi, Ajmer, Pushkar, Golden Temple, Lotus Temple, Saravana-
balgola, Velankanni remains a famous pilgrimage centres for all religious communities in India.
Pilgrimage is also an expression of love for the mother land. It has played a significant role
in promoting interaction and cultural affinity among the people living in different parts of India
despite the regional diversity. Accommodation and tolerance are some of the remarkable quali-
ties of Indian culture. Ample evidences can be referred to explain this factor. The first evidence
of it is exhibited in the elastic character of Hinduism, which remains to the majority religion of
India. Hinduism is not monotheism, rather it has various Gods, different practices and various
texts that accommodate the religious feelings of Hindus. For the sake of simplicity, Hinduism is
said to exist in two forms: Sanskrit and Popular.
Hinduism has been an open religion, an all-encompassing and absorbing religion, that en-
compasses different faith and religion. It is a highly accommodative religion as conversions from
Hinduism to other religion like Christianity, Buddhism and Islam poses a serious threat to Hin-
duism. Hinduism does not seek the presence of large number of people for its support base nor
has it ordinarily resisted converts from other religion to Hinduism. The features of accommo-
dation and tolerance has paved the path for the co-existence of several religious faith in India.
Indian society was organized in such a manner that different caste groups are interdependent
of each other. Jajmani system, a system of functional interdependency of caste groups is one
significant manifestation that refers to functional interdependencies of caste. In Jajmani system,
there exists a functional dependency of two sets of families characterized by Jajman family (Ser-
vices receiving family) and the other Kamin family (Service providers to Jajman family)
Indian Village life is characterized by Jajmani relations that includes various rituals, social
practices and economical interchange. The complete social order at the local level was involved in
such Jajmani links. A patron had Jajmani relations with members of both high caste (a B ­ rahmin
priest to services the need for rituals) and members of lower caste (like Dhobi and Naibs for
various services like washing of dirty cloths, cutting of hair, delivery of the child and other such
services). These interdependent relationships were broadly supportive of different communities
with qualities of instant help that is generally seen amongst the closely knit kinsmen.
Since historical times, efforts have been taken up by sensitive and sensible leaders from
both Hindu and Muslim community to bring the two major communities close to each other.
Akbar founded a new religion din-e-ilahi combining best of both religions. Similarly Bhakti saints
like Kabir, Gurunanak, Eknath as well as some famous Sufi saints have made important contri-
butions in forging unity and oneness amongst these communities. The foundation for secular
state was laid by Mahatma Gandhi way back during the time of freedom struggle in the form
of Hindu–Muslim unity. All the above factors discussed have helped in developing a composite
culture in our country that provided a model for the preservation and growth of plurality of
cultures within the framework of a single nation. The above discussions per se does not mean
that India had a smooth sailing with regard to national unity with no incidence of caste, commu-
nal linguistic, ethnic riots, nor it should not be taken to mean that the divisive and secessionist
26 Indian Society for Civil Services

tendencies have been altogether absent. All these tendencies were present at very high level at
the time of partition. Looking at the recent and serious riots like those after Babri Masjid demo-
lition, Godhra riots, Muzaffar Nagar riots, Gharvapsi and recent incidents in Kashmir, violence
and oppression against the schedule caste members from time to time and re-emergence of
regionalism across various regions in India, including the separatist tendencies in northeast pose
a series challenge to the national unity and integration. The redeeming future, however, remains
to be the bonds of unity which of always emerged stronger to provide for unity that unites
­different sections of Indian population very strongly than the forces of disintegration.

PRACTICE QUESTIONS
1. ‘Indian is called as miniature of the world because of its diversity in every sphere’. Exam-
ine in social context.
2. The term ‘Unity in Diversity’ exactly holds true for Indian society. Elucidate
3. India is the birth place of three most important religions and it is safe house for all other
religion. With reference to the above statement, explain these religions role in social devel-
opment in India.
4. Moral policing and social censorship has become increasingly common in India. Are we
curbing individual rights in the name of Indian Culture? Discuss with recent happenings
to justify your stand.
5. Bring out the social effect of migration on value orientation and occupational status of the
village community in India.

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS

1. The life cycle of a joint family depends on economic factors rather than social values.
Discuss. (200 words) 2014
2. How does patriarchy impact the position of a middle-class working woman in India?
(200 words) 2014
3. Describe any four cultural elements of diversity in India and rate their relative significance
in building a national identity. (200 words) 2015
4. Has the formation of linguistic states strengthened the cause of Indian unity? 10 Marks
(2016)
5. In the context of the diversity of India, can it be said that the regions form cultural units
rather than the States? Give reasons with examples for your viewpoint. (150 words)
10 Marks 2017
6. The spirit of tolerance and love is not only an interesting feature of Indian society
from very early times, but it is also playing an important part at the present. Elaborate.
(250 words) 15 Marks 2017
7. ‘Caste system is assuming new identities and associational forms. Hence, caste system can-
not be eradicated in India.’ Comment. (10 Marks) 2018
 Chapter 2
Role of Women and
Women’s Organization

Learning Objectives

In this chapter, you will learn about:

• Position of Women in History • W
 omen Organization: Contemporary
• Condition of Women during 18th Century Context
M. Senthil Kumar
• Success Story of Indian Women: Since
• Women under British Rule
Independence
• Women’s Constitutional and Legal Rights
• Role of Women Organization
• Problems of Women: 21st Century S. Rijesh
• Women Empowerment Programmes

rs / Editors NameINTRODUCTION
With CD Red Band Territory line URL Price mQuest
‘It is impossible to think about the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. It is impos-
sible for a bird to fly on only one wing.’ — Swami Vivekananda
Over the years, some sociologists and non-sociologists have devoted time and effort to assess
the problems plaguing women and to study the quality of change in the status of women in our
society. While a few have referred to the legal rights enjoyed by women in marriage, inheritance
and participation in public affairs, others have referred to the still prevalent inequality and dis-
crimination suffered by women due to the social attitudes of males and the existing customs
and traditions in Indian society. Howsoever high the status of women might have been raised
under the law, in practice they continue to suffer from discrimination, harassment and humili-
ation. They are not taken seriously in obtaining opinions, not treated as equal to men and not
given due respect. There are cases of junior IAS/IPS women being harassed by senior IAS/
27
28 Indian Society for Civil Services

IPS men, of air hostesses being humiliated by pilots, of junior female custom officials being ill-
treated by senior male custom officials and of female suggestive overtures or making advances
to female subordinates in telephone exchanges, secretariats, newspaper offices, five-star hotels,
TV centres, colleges and universities, IITs, etc., which have become common.
Though the mother nature has made women with an equally important role as men in the
society, the latter have made them as subordinate in many ways. In the historical context, the
status of women differs signifi­cantly with respect to civilization, religion, caste and culture, etc.
The only commonality is they are generally homemakers, looking after their family and their
households.

POSITION OF WOMEN IN HISTORY

Indian society and Hinduism, as way of life, generally prescribes a high moral ground for
women. Prevalence of many popular Goddess like Parvati, Saraswati, Lakshmi, Durga is a good
example of this. Great epics like Mahabharat, Ramayan and Silappadikaram glorified women like
Draupadi, Sita, Kannagi as symbol of sacrifice, disciple, modesty, etc. Again the prevalence of
Arthanareeswarar (a composite deity of Lord Siva and Goddess shakti) reaffirm the fact that hus-
band was expected to show a high reverence to his wife.
IVC: The very urban nature of Indus Valley civilization (2500 BC–1500 BC) itself revealed that
women might have enjoyed some sort of rights. The statue of dancing girl tells the women hold
in the art.

Early Vedic Age

During the Vedic period or early the Vedic age (1500 BC–1000 BC), women were accorded
high level of respect and dignity. In fact, Rig Veda places women as central to creation of all
lives in the cosmos. In education, women enjoyed equality with men. Even they were allowed
to spend part of their lives in ‘Gurukul’. Education is considered as an important qualification
for women’s marriage. There were women poets like Apala, Viswavara, Ghosa and Lopamudra
during this era women were usually married at an older age compared to this era. They enjoyed
considerable freedom in choosing their life partner, particularly in when born higher caste. For
instance, Kshatriya society brides had excessive right to choose their own consorts through as
elaborate ritual,known as ‘Swayamvara’.
Dowry system was not established; but, in rich and royal families, some kind of gift was
given to the royal family. Women never observed purdah system in this period. Widow remar-
riages was permitted. Sati was absent. Divorce, however, was not permissible to them. But then it
was not permissible to men either. Monogamy was the general norm, but bigamy was also found
in higher castes. Property inheritance was very limited, but unmarried girl did get some share of
her father’s property. In the household, they enjoyed complete freedom and were treated as Ard-
hangins (better halves).
In the economic field also, women enjoyed reasonable freedom. In the religious domain,
wife enjoyedfull rights and regularly participated in religious ceremonies with her husband. In
fact, the performance of religious ceremonies was considered invalid without wife joining her
husband as his full partner. Women even participated actively in religious discourses. Women
participated in popular political assemblies as well.
 Chapter 2 • Role of Women and Women’s Organization 29

Later Vedic Period (1000 BC–500 BC)

During this period, larger kingdoms were formed. It means more need for having large army
which in turn gave more role and prestige for men. On the other side, Brahmanism arose above
the state. Most of the religious rituals and rites not only deprived women but also made it ex-
clusive privilege of Brahmins. Women were denied to read Vedic texts. Both these stifled and
suppressed the women rights and opportunities in every possible way. Virtually, the position of
women is opposite to the early Vedic life. Educational opportunities were denied. Child mar-
riages had become common; marriages were arranged even before puberty. Women became
mere sex toy and child-bearing machine. They were considered as inferior and subordinate to
men. Women also lost their political rights of attending assemblies. In a nutshell, a daughter has
been described as a source of misery. However, the women in the royal and rich household en-
joyed certain privileges and reached pinnacle of fame (e.g., Gargi and Maitreyi).

Women in the Medieval Period

Medieval India was predominantly characterised by Muslim Kings and their religious ulemas.
Owning to conservative, orthodox views in Islam, the position of women wasn’t any different
from the preceding centuries. The existing social evils became more prominent and also new
kind restriction imposed on the women in the name of religion. The old norms of female infan-
ticide, no education to girls, child marriage, and dowry became more prominent.
Condition of Hindu widow was miserable, they were taken away all kinds of worldly plea-
sure. For instance, their heads were shaved. In this context, Muslim widow status is not bad be-
cause remarriage is permitted for them. However, the institution of marriage is not sacrosanct
in Islam, men had full freedom to divorce their wife at any time.This forced Muslim women
to remain subordinate and submissive to their husband. Purdha or pardah system was widely
followed.
Bhakti movement started by Tamil Saiva Nayanars and the Vaisnava Alvars in the 12th cen-
tury reformed the Hinduism which in turn had positive effect on women status transcend-
ing caste lines. Over a period of time, the movement swept across the India creeping into all
religions. For instance, Sufism evolved as moderate version of Islam significantly improved
freedom of Muslim women. The popular figures of movement in the successive centuries like
Shankaracharya, Ramanuja, Chaitanya, Guru Nanak, Mirabai, Tukaram vociferously voiced
against ill treatment and suppression of women irrespective of caste and religion.

CONDITION OF WOMEN DURING THE 18TH CENTURY

Despite the progressive impact of Bhakti Movement, Indian women continued to be oppresse
dacross the religion and caste, from womb to tomb in following manners in 18th century:
1. Female Infanticide
2. Child Marriage
3. Denial of Education
4. Menace Dowry
5. Prevalence of Sati
6. Humiliation of Widows
7. Containment of Women in House
30 Indian Society for Civil Services

8. No Property Rights
9. Practise of Purdah System
10. Domestic Violence
11. Little Religious Freedom
12. Excluded from Political Participation

STATUS OF WOMEN DURING BRITISH RULE IN INDIA

During British rule, lot of changes were made in the economic and social structures of our society.
Though the quality of life of women during this period remained more or less the same, some
substantial progress was achieved in eliminating inequalities between men and women. Social evils
such a child marriage, Sati Pratha, devdasi system, Pardah pratha, prohibition of widow remarriage
etc. which were great hurdles in the path of women’s progress, were either controlled by the ef-
forts of reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Vidya Sagar or removed by suitable legislations.
Many women reformers such as Pandita Ramabai also fight for the disabilities of women. Women
like Bhikaji Cama, Dr. Annie Besant, Vijayalakshmi Pandit, Aruna Asaf Ali, Sarojini Naidu,Sucheta
Kriplani etc. played an important role in India‘s independence struggle.

POSITION OF WOMEN IN INDEPENDENT INDIA

Women in India slowly started recognizing her true potential. She has started questioning the
rules laid down for her by the society. As a result, she has started breaking barriers and earned
a respectable position in the world. Today Indian women have excelled in each and every field
from social work to visiting space station. There is no arena, which remains unconquered by
Indian women. Whether it is politics, sports, entertainment, literature, technology everywhere,
its women power all along.
Today names like Arundhati Roy, Anita Desai, Kiran Desai, Shobhaa De, Jhumpa Lahiri
can put any other writer to shame. In the field of cinema, women like Rekha, Smita Patil, Sha-
bana Aazmi and Vidya Balan and Konkona Sen are such names who not only play feminized
roles, but also have asserted themselves over this male dominated realm. In the field of politics,
from Indira Gandhi to Sheila Dixit, Uma Bharti, Jayalalithaa, Vasundhara Raje and Mamata Ba-
nerjee today, women are making their presence felt.
Today, the modern woman is so deft and self-sufficient that she can be easily called a su-
perwoman, juggling many fronts single-handedly. Women are now fiercely ambitious and are
proving their metal not only on the home front, but also in their respective professions. Women
in Indian are coming up in all spheres of life. They are joining the universities and colleges
in large numbers. They are entering into all kinds of professions like engineering, medicine,
politics, teaching, etc. A nation’s progress and prosperity can be judged by the way it treats its
women folk. There is a slow and steady awareness regarding giving the women their dues, and
not mistreating them, seeing them as objects of possession. Despite progress, the very fact that
women, along with being achievers, also are expected to fulfil their roles as wives or mothers,
prioritizing home against anything else.

WOMEN’S CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL RIGHTS

In the light of historical experiences and in consonance with the democratic ideals, our found-
ing fathers incorporated various provision for gender equality across the constitution. They are
 Chapter 2 • Role of Women and Women’s Organization 31

Constitutional Privileges Preamble

1. It assures SOCIALIST, SECULAR, DEMOCRATIC, REPUBLIC ideals to all its citizens
without any bias. It also offers EQUALITY of status and of opportunity for all its citizens
including women.
Fundamental Rights
2. Equality before law (Article 14).
3. The State not to discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste,
sex, place of birth or any of them, Article 15 (1).
4. The State to make any special provision in favour of women and children, Article 15 (3).
5. Equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment
to any office under the State (Article 16).
6. Article 21 A (Right to education):It provides free and compulsory education of all children
in the age group of 6 to 14 years.
7. Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour (Article 23).
8. Article 24 mandates that no child below age of 14 years shall be employed to work in any
factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment.

Directive Principles of State Policy

9. The State to direct its policy towards securing:
•• men and women equally the right to an adequate means of livelihood, Article 39(a);
•• equal pay for equal work for both men and women, Article 39(d).
10. To promote justice, on a basis of equal opportunity and to provide free legal aid to ensure
that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic
or other disabilities (Article 39 A).
11. The State to make provisions for securing just and humane conditions of work and for
maternity relief (Article 42).
12. Early childhood care and education to children below the age of six years-Article 45
(after 86th amendment act).
13. The State to promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the
weaker sections of the people and to protect them from social injustice and all forms of
exploitation (Article 46).
14. The State to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people (Article 47).

Fundamental Duties
15. To promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of
India and to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women (Article 51 A (e)).
Political Rights
16. Voting rights were denied to women in pre-independent India. But Indian Constitution strictly
prohibited gender bias in voting by offering universal adult franchise under Article 326.
17. Under Article 243 D, one-third seats in the Panchayats including offices of chairpersons
were reserved for women.
18. Under Article 243 T, one-third seats in the Municipality including offices of chairpersons
were reserved for women.
32 Indian Society for Civil Services

Having discussed about all the various provisions enshrined in the constitution now we
have to look at the status of women in India today.How do we analyse the change in their
status?
It may be maintained that the status of women in India has changed a lot from early
1950s onwards. Both structural and cultural changes have not only provided equality of op-
portunities to women in education, employment and political participation, but have also re-
duced the exploitation of women, and oriented women to develop their own organizations
which take keen interest in their problems,. Besides, the need for linkages among research,
national policy and programmes oriented to women has come to be increasingly realized. Sev-
eral commissions have been appointed by the central and the state governments to study the
causes of low status of women and to protect their rights in various fields. Two such impor-
tant commissions were appointed by the Central Government in 1971 and 1992. The National
Commission for Women (NCW) was set up on January 31, 1992, to look into women-related
issues, to probe into the status of women, to study various legislations and points out loop-
holes and gaps and to looks into the causes of discrimination and violence against women
and analyse possible remedies.
With time, a lot has changed since those dark ages of the 1950s for the women. Though at
some levels crimes like rape, dowry, sexual harassment at office or public places, molestation, eve-
teasing, even after over sixty years of independence, women are still exploited, which is the shame-
ful side of our country. Yet one cannot deny that the situation has improved since the earlier times.
Women, who now represent 48.2 per cent of the population, are getting access to education, and
then employment. Dropout rates for girls have fallen significantly. Programs like ‘Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyan’ and ‘Saakshar Bharat Mission for Female Literacy’ has helped to increase the literacy
rates from less than 10 per cent to more than 50 per cent today. The result of this is that India has
world’s largest number of professionally qualified women. In fact, India has the largest population
of working women in the world, and has a greater number of doctors, surgeons, scientists, profes-
sors than the United States.
To address the various women-related issues in India, we have largely taken up many ef-
forts as discussed in the succeeding paragraphs.
Legislative Safeguards
In order to neutralize the cumulative disadvantage arising out of socioeconomic, education and
political factors, the Constitution of India empowers the State to adopt suitable measures of
positive discrimination in favour of women. It also provided measures to treat women equally.
Accordingly, the following are the interventionist strategies adopted by Government of India.
For Women
1. Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961: It prescribes penalty for giving or taking dowry does not
apply to presents which are given at the time of a marriage to the bride or bridegroom.
2. Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956: The Act intends to combat trafficking and
sexual exploitation for commercial purposes.
3. Commission of Sati Prevention Act, 1986: An attempt to commit sati or to abet such
an attempt is punishable with imprisonment or imposition of a fine.
4. Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986: Indecent representation
of women through advertisement and various publications, paintings, writings, figures or
in any other manner is completely prohibited through this act.
 Chapter 2 • Role of Women and Women’s Organization 33

5. Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005: They not only cover physi-
cal violence against women, but also consider other forms of violence, such as emotional/
verbal, sexual and economic abuse. One of the most important features of the Act is the
woman’s right to stay in her husband’s home.
6. Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Re-
dressal) Act, 2013: It, among the other, demands that any workplace with more than 10 em-
ployees needs to create a mechanism for redressal of complaints against sexual harassment.
Other legislative works that aimed to safeguard women rights are Hindu Marriage Act,
1955, Hindu Succession Act, 1956, The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 and The Contract
Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1976.

For Children
1. Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016, prohibited the
employment of children below 14 years in all types of employment and adolescent in haz-
ardous employment.
2. The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006: It prohibits marriage of male if he is not
completed 21 years of age. In case of females, it is 18 years.
3. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012: It provides protection to
all children under the age of 18 years from the offences of sexual assault, sexual harass-
ment and pornography.
4. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015: It comprehensively
deals with issue of juvenile delinquency and problems related to orphan and abandoned.

ROLE OF WOMEN ORGANIZATIONS

A higher involvement of women organizations is envisaged in the implementation of govern-
ment programmes and they have contributed immensely to the new directions and impetus
provided to women’s programme during the decade for women. And, a number of innovative
features in several government-formulated schemes or programmes were based on the experi-
ence of the projects run successfully by organizations. Besides, the social activities due to their
quick responses and flexibility have been recognized as a desirable, inevitable and integral part
of the women’s development programme.

Goal and Objectives of Women’s Organizations:

•• To organize women from diverse socio-economic backgrounds.
•• To organize domestic workers and give them social protection.
•• To improve the socio-economic conditions of the poor widows, deserted and destitute
women.
•• To help them increase small saving and help them to form credit union.
•• To empower the members in all aspects to live with peace and justice.
•• To instil in them the ideas of cooperation and enterprise.
•• To help them start self-employment programme.
•• To make them feel happy that they can also live like others enjoying the benefits enjoyed
by other women folk.
•• To conscientize the rights of women as citizens.
34 Indian Society for Civil Services

•• To strengthen the existing sanghams both qualitatively and quantitatively.

•• To form and strengthen them at Panchayat, Union and Taluk levels and even at district level
federation through appropriate training.
•• To create volunteers in the target villages as supportive force for sustainability.
•• To prepare women to take part in politics; and to fight for women’s right and gender
equality.
Pre-Independence
1. Role of Mahila Mandals organized by Arya and Brahmo Samaj are commendable in the
context of women upliftment in earlier period.
2. Christian Missionaries did its best in this perspective, particularly in the context of edu-
cation and social status.
3. National Social Conference: It was as a social reform cell of INC by MG Ranade and
Raghunatha Rao in 1887. It advocated inter-caste marriages, opposed polygamy and
Kulinism (Privileges of Brahmins). It also launched ‘Pledge Movement’ to inspire people
to take pledge against child marriage.
4. Satyashodhak Samaj: Founded by Jyotiba Phule, it among the other spread education to
women.
5. Women’s India Association, Madras: Founded in 1917 by Margaret cousins, it worked
extensively for the social and education emancipation of the women.
6. National Council of Women in India (1925): Started by women’s from Mumbai,
­Kolkata, Chennai, it aimed for women rights.
7. All India Women Conference (1927): It focused on all concerns of women, particularly
education.

Government Organizations
The government’s concern for women has been expressed by means of its observance of
‘Women’s Day Programmes’, For example:
•• The year 1975 was observed as ‘International Year of Women’. As per the call of the
United Nation from 1975 onwards, the 8th day of March is being observed as ‘Interna-
tional Women’s Day’.
•• The year 1990 was observed as ‘SAARC Year of the Girl Child’.
•• The decade between 1991–2000 CE was observed as ‘The ‘SAARC Decade of the Girl
Child’.
•• The year 2001 was observed as the ‘Year of Women’s Empowerment’.

1. National Committee for Women Welfare: The National Committee for Women Wel-
fare is instituted for framing appropriate policies for women welfare to suit to the chang-
ing needs of time.
2. Indira Mahila Yojana (IMY): The Indira Mahila Yojana that aims at organizing women
at the grass root level to facilitate their participation in decision-making and e­ mpowerment,
was launched on 20th August 1995, in two hundred Integrated Child Development
­Services (ICDS) blocks. The strength of the scheme lies in the strength of group dynam-
ics. The objectives of the scheme are—awareness generation among the women from
­rural peas and urban slums and economic empowerment of women.
 Chapter 2 • Role of Women and Women’s Organization 35

3. The Central Social Welfare Board: The Central Social Welfare Board (CSWB) was set-
up in 1953 with the objective of promoting social welfare activities and implementing
welfare programmes for women, children and the handicapped through voluntary orga-
nizations. The CSWB is unique in the sense that it was the first organization in post inde-
pendent era to achieve people’s participation for implementation of welfare programmes
for women and children through the Non-Government Organizations (NGOs).
   The CSWB established by the Planning Commission, has its own women welfare
programmes such as providing housing protection to weak and helpless women, fallen
women, helpless widows, creating centres of social education for women and adult educa-
tion centres, condensed courses of education and vocational training courses for women
and girls, awareness generation projects for rural and poor women, family counselling
centres, holiday camps for children, welfare extension projects in border areas, opening
centres for giving healthy entertainment to the women, giving assistance to crèches and
hostels for working women, etc.
4. Department of Women and Child Development (1985): The Ministry of Human
­Resources Development opened (in 1985) a new department under its purview namely
Department of Women and Child Development with the sole purpose of assisting women
and children to develop into their full potentials. This department also intends to bring
proper coordination between the government and the NGOs which are striving to pro-
mote the development of women. This department prepared a ‘National Policy for the
Empowerment of Women in the year 2001. The goal of this policy is to bring about the
advancement, development and empowerment of women.
The major programmes of this department are:
•• Promotion and capacity-building of women’s Self-Help Groups (SHG).
•• Management of institutions for ‘Destitute Women Crisis Centres (Santhwana),
Shelter
Homes Helplines’ and other programmes for women who are victims of violence.
•• Management of childcare centres.
•• Providing scholarships for girl-students from economically and socially backward
communities.
•• Programmes for the welfare of women and children.

Functions of the Women’s Commission
•• The basic task of this commission is to protect the rights of women and to promote
their interests.
•• Commission continues to pursue its mandatory activities, namely, review of legislations,
interventions in specific individual complaints of atrocities and remedial action to safe-
guard the interests of women.
•• The commission has accorded highest priority to securing speedy justice to women.
•• Another main function of these commissions (state as well as national level commis-
sion) is to inquire into the ‘unfair practices’ meted out to women which includes ‘mental
and physical’ torture.
•• Its other functions include studying inadequacies in laws—monitoring enforcement
laws, inspecting prisons, police stations, lock-ups, refuges for women victims of vio-
lence, etc.
•• It makes recommendations for prosecution in individual cases.
36 Indian Society for Civil Services

•• It probes into the alleged cases of gender disparity and if required, provides financial
help to fight out litigations on behalf of women.
•• It submits reports regularly to the government regarding the conditions of women in
general, and their problems and grievances in particular. These reports are placed be-
fore both the houses of the parliament along with the recommendations.

NCW in the Action Front
•• The commission receives complaints about various issues affecting women
•• Expediting investigations
•• Providing counselling service
•• Institutes inquiry committees
•• Conducts seminars, workshops, etc.

5. National Commission for Protection of Child Rights: The statutory body was estab-
lished in 2007 with the mandate to ensure that all laws, policies, programmes and adminis-
trative mechanisms are in consonance with the child rights perspective as enshrined in the
Constitution of India and also the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The child is
defined as a person in the 0 to 18 years age group.
6. Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK): It was established as an autonomous body under
women ministry in 1993. It provides credit to NGOs for women development.
7. Mahila e-Haat: The Ministry of Women and Child Development launched ‘Mahila e-
Haat’, a unique direct online digital marketing platform for women entrepreneurs/SHOs/
NOOs in 2016. This can become a game changer initiative as it can become a catalyst
in strengthening women entrepreneurship and financial inclusion. The USP of Mahila e-
Haat is facilitating direct contact between the vendor and buyer. It is easy to access as the
entire business of Mahila e-Haat can be handled through a mobile.

Women NGO’s: Post-independence

Though women uplift movement in the pre-independence India was led by male, during the
post-independence era the baton was passed to women itself. Many women provided inspiring
leadership and wider base for the women right’s movement. For instance, we can found appre-
ciable number of women participation in sharecropper’s movement in Telangana in late 1940s,
anti-alcohol movements in Uttarakhand in 1960s and Chipko Movement in 1970s.
The women rights movement took upswing in 1980s culminated in Shah Bano case which up-
held the basic human rights of Muslim women defying orthodox Islam bodies. Rights group like Fo-
rum against Rape, Stree Sangharsh and Samata actively took up the issue of rape during this period.
1. Self-Employment Women’s Association (SEWA): It was the first women’s trade
union, and it was formed in 1972 focused on improving the condition of women working
in the unorganized sector.
2. All India Democratic Women Association (AIDWA): Founded in 1981 as a pan-
India women organization, it committed to achieving democracy, equality and women’s
emancipation.
3. Indian Association of Women’s Studies: Established in 1981 as an institution of
women academics and activists,it involved in research and teaching. It actively publishes
books and journals on feminist subjects.
 Chapter 2 • Role of Women and Women’s Organization 37

4. Breakthrough Trust: Breakthrough Trust is working to make violence and discrimina-

tion against women and girls unacceptable. This trust engages in various multimedia cam-
paigns and mobilizes community in favour of women. It also take actions and ensures
dignity, justice and equality for all.
5. Women’s Research and Action Group: WRAG is a research and advocacy-group with a
gender, law and human rights perspective that works in partnership with movements, net-
works and community-based organisations to promote social and legal status of women,
especially those from under privileged and marginalized communities.
6. Jagori: The Delhi-based NGO is working on tackling sexual harassment. It is working
from the last 25 years with a vision of ‘spreading feminist consciousness for the cre-
ation of a just society’. It has started ‘Safe Delhi’ campaign to fight the problem of sexual
harassment.
7. Rangsutra: A social enterprise that seeks to bring socioeconomic development and inclu-
sive growth in rural India with emphasis on women.
8. CWDR: Centre for Women’s Development and Research was initiated during 1993 by a
group of women activists, Who realized that there is a need for women headed organiza-
tions to address women’s issues. CWDR promotes women’s rights, leadership and em-
powerment through issue based campaigns and community level activities. CWDR’s field
level interventions focus on three highly vulnerable groups of women: Adolescent girls,
Single Women and Domestic Workers.
9. Women in Governance-India: Members of WinG-India represent marginalized com-
munities across India and work towards promoting leadership within local governance.
The organization also works with Dalit women and women affected by conflict in North-
east India and other parts of the country.
10. All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch: AIDMAM is a forum of Dalit Women (for-
merly known as untouchables) committed to challenging the nexus of patriarchy, caste,
culture and class oppression, exploitation and marginalization of Dalit Women. There are
an estimated 80 million Dalit women in India and constitute a distinct social category of
the Indian population.
11. The Young Women Christian Association (YWCA) of India: An umbrella organiza-
tion affiliated to the World YWCA with 65 local associations in India. The organization
works for women’s empowerment through a variety of programmes, the most important
of which are leadership training for women, advocacy work on women’s issues, and com-
munity development work. The YWCA also runs 40 women’s residences across the coun-
try providing housing for working women as well as emergency shelter for women. The
YWCA of India is also a part of a network of seven women’s organizations based in Delhi
and works together with them on common issues.
12. Maitreyi: The major objective of Maitreyi is to develop a feminist perspective in under-
standing women’s issues and the women’s movement, and to sensitize everyone about
women’s issues. Maitreyi sponsors and indirectly supports the following activities—wom-
en’s studies workshops, research, documentation, support centres for women in distress,
mobilization of women in villages to join ladies club, and publication of books and annual
reports.
13. Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey (SNDT): SNDT Women’s University was
established in 1916 as the first women’s university in India. The university library was
established in 1955. It houses an information service on women’s studies. The women’s
38 Indian Society for Civil Services

information section of the library caters to researchers and professors as well as NGOs
and activists. The library maintains an indigenous database, SUCHAK, containing refer-
ences to more than 100,000 titles. About 35,000 of these pertain specifically to women.
In recent years the library has acquired several instructional, bibliographical, and full text
databases. Languages: Indian, English.
14. Sanhita Gender Resource Centre: Sanhita, an initiative of women activists in West Ben-
gal, was born out of a need for information activism and networking among grass roots
organizations working towards the empowerment of women. Sanhita aims to increase
women’s access to information. Sanhita conducts gender trainings, publishes, provides
a referral service, and produces advocacy materials. Sanhita also collects, processes, and
disseminates information through action research programs and by means of a library and
documentation centre.
15. Akshara—A Women’s Resource Centre: Akshara began informally in 1987 as a result
of the women’s movement and its campaigns in Bombay. It started by producing low cost
publications for women’s organizations and activists. In 1995 Akshara received funds to
establish a library and reference centre for women. It now has library facilities, offers gen-
der training and workshops, and publishes educational and movement-oriented materials.
In English and Marathi languages.

International NGOs
1. UN Women: Formally known as United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the
Empowerment of Women, it assist inter-governmental bodies to frame global standards
and facilitate member states to implement the same. It also brings global cooperation and
coordination in women upliftment.
2. UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund): It is a United Nations programme head-
quartered in New York City that provides humanitarian and developmental assistance to
children and mothers in developing countries.
3. The International Women’s Rights Action Watch (IWRAW): It was organized in
1985 to promote recognition of women’s human rights under the United Nations Con-
vention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), an
international human rights treaty.

WOMEN ORGANIZATION: CONTEMPORARY CONTEXT

As we moved from women protection to women empowerment, the role of NGOs changed.
Now they are performing the following functions:

Role
1. Emancipator: Women organizations are primarily functioning as emancipator of women
from the suppression and oppression of orthodox classes and self-prescribed religious
fatwas. It sets women free from outdated, regressive social practices and customs.
2. Educator: It educates women about their legal rights and constitutional privileges,
thereby it melts away the ignorance of women and make right oriented citizen, thereby
women avoid the harassment and atrocities in the society and leads a dignified life. If at all
that happens they are empowered to deal with.
 Chapter 2 • Role of Women and Women’s Organization 39

3. Mobiliser of Mass: They mobilize people at gross-root level by articulating problems of

the women,thereby NGOs highlight the serious nature of the problem to the government
and media. Such a mobilization also provides immense scope for exchange of progressive
feminist ideas.
4. Custodian of Rights: Women’s NGOs act as the guardian of women life, custodian of
women rights and guarantor of women freedom. In case of deprivation of their rights,
NGOs try to restore them by organizing demonstrations, or by approaching the court or
by highlighting the issue leveraging the power of media.
5. Agent of Change: Women organizations are at the forefront of social transformation by
giving adequate space for liberal thoughts, progressive ideas, modern values and practices.
Thereby it inculcates culture of tolerance and assimilation.
6. Champion of Weak: It gives special emphasis on women belongingto the weaker section
of the society, like Dalits and Tribes. They address their socioeconomic concerns with
long-term vision. They provide them utmost care in terms of health, education and hous-
ing to integrate them into mainstream development of nation.
7. Pressure Group: Nowadays, women NGOs are evolving as separate pressure groups due
to their large social base. Thereby it ensures that government policies and programmes are
relevant, need oriented and gender equitable.

Problems
1. Unorganized: Most of the women NGOs are not properly structured and systematically
managed. They are functioning as isolated units, lacking coordination and cooperation at
pan-India level. They lack in capacity building which in turn cost the efficiency and effec-
tiveness of the organization.
2. Financial Constraints: It is one of the major stumbling block for women organization. They
mainly depend on donation and do not have their own revenue generation. Governmental aid
for them is too meagre. Ultimately it results in poor and inadequate infrastructure facilities.
3. Narrow Base: Despite its popular cause and aim to empower half of Indian population,
its membership is less and is primarily numbered by victims and their relatives as it lacks
large-scale participation of women. Despite the fact that historically men act as torch-
bearer for women empowerment, men membership is least encouraged.
4. Corruption: In recent years, corruption and maladministration are widely prevalent
amongst few women NGOs. The revered institution is used for money laundering and
legalizing illegal wealth.
5. Urban Centric: It mainly focuses on urban and peripheral areas leaving large rural areas
where 60% of Indian population lives. The subject of women empowerment became a
matter to gain prestige and glamour for rich and educated upper class. They never address
the root of women problems instead opted for ad hoc solution to get media coverage.
6. Anti-male Approach: The term gender equality is misunderstood today by women NGOs.
They try to do everything that men do, despite their biological and cultural constraints.
Instead of solving the existing problems, they are creating ground for new conflicts.
7. No consistency: Women NGOs lack consistency in their functioning. Once the particu-
lar issue is over, they become dormant. It also failsto follow up the issue up to the last.
8. Curative: Women organizations are focusing more on curative aspects, having less focus
on preventive aspects. That is less emphasis on education and empowerment more on
sympathizing victims.
40 Indian Society for Civil Services

SUCCESS JOURNEY OF INDIAN WOMEN: SINCE INDEPENDENCE

Progressive constitution, democratic political system and emergence of welfare state after in-
dependence suppressed the suppression against the women and ensured equal opportunity for
them in all walks of life. Consequently during six decades of democratic journey, our country
witnessed following progressive developments in women empowerment.

Social Progress
The instance of female infanticide and child marriage sharply reduced. Women gained greater
freedom in selection of their life partner. The condition of widows is improved markedly. Widow
re-marriage is common now. Women also have higher say in divorce and second marriage.
Women have made great strides in education, for example, Kiran Bedi IPS and Nirupama Rao
IFS.

Economic Developments
Shedding their traditional housewife role, women made parallel inroads in economic sphere,
with respect totheir male counterparts. Nowadays, they significantly dominate the agriculture
sector, particularly animal husbandry. They also made huge inroads into high-tech service sec-
tors, like information technology, medicine, etc. Indian women also proved themselves as capa-
ble of providing leadership roles in economic spheres, for example, Chanda Kochhar (ICICI),
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (Biocon Biotechnology), Indira Nooyi (PepsiCo), and Arundhati
Bhattacharya (SBI). Indian women also adopted the Self Help Group (SHG) model to make
themselves economically independent (e.g., Kerala’s Kudumbashree).

Political Participations
Indian women also proved their metal in governance and administration of the country. They
actively participated in politics from office of ward member to the august office of PM. In-
dia has pride of producing many successful women Chief Ministers, like Mayawati, Mamata
Banerjee, and Jayalalitha. It was the women PM Indira Gandhi, also known as Iron lady,who
demonstrated the world about India’s defence power. India’s largest political party INC was
controlled by a women Sonia Gandhi for about 25 years.

Scientific Achievements
Proving Gandhiji’s words that ‘Woman is more fitted than man to make exploration’, Indian
women excelled in science and technology. Side-lining wrong medieval perception women dem-
onstrated their mental power in this field. Indian women like Anna Mani (meteorology),
Dr. Indira Hinduja (gynecologist), Dr. Aditi Pant (Oceanographer), Kalpana Chawla (Space),
Sunita Narain (environment), and Dr. Tessy Thomas (The Missile Women of India for her role
in Agni series) are some of the best popular faces in this context.

Cultural Contributions
Indian women also showcased their cultural sense in fields, like music, dance, cinema, sports.
Women like M.S. Subbulakshmi, Rukmini Devi, Lata Mangeshkar, P.T. Usha, Karnam
Malleswari, Sania Mirza, Mary Kom, and P.V. Sindhu are some of the well-known faces.
 Chapter 2 • Role of Women and Women’s Organization 41

Defence Sector
Indian defence sector was once restricted to entry of men only. Now things have changed and
women are inducted in combat forces,women have become fighter pilots and All-women crew
of INSV Tarini successfully spent 199 days circumventing the globe and 254 days in all. Women
have been defence minsters too.(Mrs. Indira Gandi and Mrs.Nirmala Sitaraman)

PROBLEMS OF INDIAN WOMEN: 21ST CENTURY

The problems of women keeps changing from time to time with changing circumstances. In
the 21st century women faces the following problems:
1. Female Infanticide: Though female infanticide has sharply reduced,it continues to be
prevalent in different forms for different reasons. Male child quest-driven sex selection is
common now. The problem is more among educated urban and rich people.
2. Worst Child Sex Ratio: As per the 2011 Census, the child sex ratio (0–6 years) has shown
a decline from 927 females per thousand males in 2001 to 919 females per thousand males
in 2011. Emergence of nuclear family,prevalence of dowry,preference for son are some of
the reasons.
3. Low Sex Ratio: India has 940 females per 1,000 of males as per 2011 census. Though
this trend is moving in good direction when compared to 2001 census (933), there is
huge gap in gender equality. The term ‘missing women’ indicates a shortfall in the num-
ber of women relative to the expected number of women in a region or country. It is
most often measured through male-to-female sex ratios, and is theorized to be caused
by sex-selective abortions, female infanticide, and inadequate healthcare and nutrition
for female children. It is argued that technologies that enable prenatal sex selection,
which have been commercially available since the 1970s, are a large impetus for missing
female children.
   The phenomenon was first noted by the Indian economist Amartya Sen in an e­ ssay
in The New York Review of Books in 1990, and expanded upon in his subsequent aca-
demic work. Sen originally estimated that more than a hundred million women were
‘missing.’
4. Child Abuse: Creating a strain on our moral fabric children, particularly female child, are
now abused that too mostly by relatives and parents. Besides causing physical trauma it
also causes a psychological trauma that haunts them for a lifetime.
5. Inferior Treatment: Women are given inferior treatment from womb to tomb. They are
seen as a liability in the material world. They are not properly educated rather employed
as child labour. Their health is not properly taken care. Their emotions, feeling and happi-
ness are often neglected.
6. Problem of Dowry: Still millions of women get married late or don’t marry at all because of
the menace of dowry. It creates lot of emotional tensions in the family and society at large.
7. Domestic Violence: Though status of women in their husband’s home is improved lot,
women still face domestic violence for dowry or love marriage or inter-caste marriage
reasons.
8. Harassment at Workplace: With more women engaged in job outside home, they are
subject to harassment at work place by their superiors and peers. Women reeling under
economic constraints even do not have opportunity to disclose their problems.
42 Indian Society for Civil Services

9. Safety: The safety and security of Indian women in public place is pathetic. Molestation,
rape, eve teasing are everyday phenomena at present. India’s rich tradition is facing back-
lash at world stage because of this.
10. Trafficking: The trafficking of girl child and women are ever increasing. The problem is
such an act is done by organized crime syndicate with well-developed and connected net-
work. Trafficked women are used for flesh trading and criminal activities.
11. Low Literacy: Even after six decades of independence, the literacy rate of women is just
over 65% as against men’s 82 plus. This clearly shows that women education is less impor-
tant for Indian society.
12. Non-valuing Housewife job: Despite the hectic and restless work done by our women
in kitchen and home from early morning to late night, their contribution is not appreci-
ated. Because neither it is monetarily valued nor publically rewarded.
13. Feminization of Agriculture: With growing tendency of migration of men for work
and consequent handover of agriculture job to household women leads to feminization
of farming. Disguised nature of Indian agriculture puts women in perpetual state of
poverty.
14. Less Economic Engagement: Though women widely participate in all kinds of jobs,
still their economic engagement is less compared to men. For instance from 2004 to 2011,
female participation in the country’s labour force declined from 35% to 25%. It is a puz-
zling picture; over the past few decades’ access to education for Indian women has in-
creased, but still they have increasingly stayed away from employment.
15. Lack of Political Participation: Despite gender-neutral constitution, women participa-
tion in the politics is insignificant. In fact, women MPs in 16th Lok Sabha is just over
11%. The one-third reservation offered for women in Panchayats are captured by estab-
lished politicians’ wives and daughters.
Commonly known as the Women’s Reservation Bill, it seeks to reserve one-third of all seats
for women in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies. Introduced by the UPA-I gov-
ernment in May 2008, it also provides that one third of the total number of seats reserved for
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes shall be reserved for women of those groups. Similar
Bills have been introduced thrice before in the late 90’s but lapsed with the dissolution of their
respective Lok Sabhas

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT POLICIES AND PROGRAMMES

Realizing the fact that empowerment of women is sine qua non for creating inclusive and egali-
tarian society, Indian government took the following initiatives:
The government needs to take all around measures to empower the women:
•• By taking the steps to eradicate the violence against women in all forms.
•• To spread the awareness amongst women of their rights and remedies.
•• By enforcing the various laws strictly so that the women are protected.
•• Giving women equal opportunity to represent them in politics.
•• More strict laws need to be formulated.
•• Most important is to reduce the gender gap in education which is of great importance be-
cause even though the rate of education has increased, but the gender gap has not reduced
significantly.
 Chapter 2 • Role of Women and Women’s Organization 43

•• NGOs to be used effectively to spread awareness and bring in light the issues faced by
women so that it can be resolved.
Nehru has said, when women moves forward, the family moves, the village moves, and the
nation moves. It is our bounden duty to respect women so that she moves forward and entire
nation develops. The fifty per cent of India’s population comprises women however working
women are effectively is very low which amounts to lower development of the nation.

Policies
1. National Policy for Empowerment of Women 2001: It calls for gender sensitivity in
socio- and economic policies. It also pitched for equal access for women in health, ed-
ucation and employment. It also voiced against all forms of gender discrimination and
humiliation.
2. National Policy for Children, 2013: It assures all-round development of children with
strong support from State. And so it vowed for quality education, safe, healthy and happy
life among the others.
3. National Nutrition Policy 1993: It ensures adequate nutrition for children to have good
physical and mental health by avoiding nutrient deficiency diseases, learning impairment,
stunted growth, etc.

Programmes
1. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme: It aims the prevention of gender-biased sex-selec-
tive elimination, ensuring survival and protection of the girl child, ensuring education and
participation of the girl child.
2. ICDS (Integrated Child Development Scheme): It aims to improve the nutritional
and health status of children in the age group 0–6 years,and also to enhance the capability
of the mother to look after the normal health and nutritional needs of the child through
proper nutrition and health education.
3. Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS): It aimed at building a protective
environment for children in difficult circumstances, as well as other vulnerable chil-
dren, through Government–Civil Society Partnership. It brings together multiple
existing child protection schemes of the women ministry under one comprehensive
umbrella.
4. Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG) Sa-
bla: It provides health and nutrition assistance facilities for adolescent girls, including
drop-out girls. It also educates them about public services and train them on skill for
self-development.
5. Kishori Shakti Yojana: It aims to empower adolescent girls, so as to enable them to take
charge of their lives.
6. National Children’s Fund: It aims to raise funds (from individuals, institutions, cor-
porates) to promote and fund the various programmes for children who are affected by
natural calamities, disasters, distress and in difficult circumstances.
7. Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFS) Programme: It aims to meet
the challenge of high prevalence and incidence of anaemia amongst adolescent girls and
boys.
44 Indian Society for Civil Services

8. Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP): It aims

to provide skills that give employability to women in the age group of 16 and above to
make them self-employed/entrepreneurs. Grants-in-aids are given under the scheme for
NGOs.
9. Working Women Hostel.
10. Recognitions and motivations: Awards like Stree Shakti Puraskar, Nari Shakti Puras-
kars, Zila Mahila Sammnas and Rajya Mahila Sammnas are given to the individuals and
institutions that worked selfless for the upliftment of the women.
11. UJJAWALA: A Comprehensive Scheme for Prevention of trafficking and Rescue,
Rehabilitation and Re-integration of Victims of Trafficking and Commercial Sexual
Exploitation
12. Mahila police Volunteers
13. Janani Suraksha Yojana: It aims to promote institutional delivery by offering free prena-
tal and post-natal care.
14. Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY): It is a Conditional Maternity Ben-
efit Scheme. Similar to this scheme under National Food Security Act, 2013, pregnant
women and lactating mothers will also be entitled to receive maternity benefit of not less
than Rs. 6,000.
15. Rajiv Gandhi National Creche Scheme: It provides day-care facilities to the children of
working women.
16. SWADHAR Greh: A Scheme for Women in Difficult Circumstances.
17. Women Helpline Scheme.
18. One-Stop Centre Scheme: It aims to provide integrated support and assistance under
one roof to women affected by violence, both in private and public spaces.
19. Gender Budgeting: Almost all ministries and departments adopted gender-sensitive
budgeting, thereby earmarked the money for women at the policy stage itself.
20. National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW): It aims to achieve holis-
tic empowerment of women through convergence of schemes/programmes of different
Ministries/Department of Government of India as well as State Governments.
Apart from the above, we have schemes like MGNREGA, Asha, National Rural Health
Mission and National Rural Livelihood Mission which have special focus on women develop-
ment. For instance, MGNREG Act mandates one-third of the employment generated under
the scheme to women.
Apart from the above-discussed points, the following aspects are also to be discussed
which is set to bring in definite changes in the position of women vis-à-vis the Indian society.

Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012

In order to effectively address the heinous crimes of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of
children through less ambiguous and more stringent legal provisions, the Ministry of Women
and Child Development championed the introduction of the Protection of Children from Sex-
ual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. Certain amendments to the POCSO Act, which provides for
death penalty for aggravated sexual assault on children, making it gender neutral and introduc-
ing provisions against child pornography and for enhancing punishment for certain offences
was recently introduced by the government.
 Chapter 2 • Role of Women and Women’s Organization 45

Nari Shakti Puraskar

Nari Shakti Puraskar (formerly Stree Shakti Puraskar), literally meaning ‘Woman Power Award’,
is India’s highest civilian award for recognizing the achievements and contributions of women.
The awards are given away by the President of India, every year on 8 March, International
Women’s Day at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
The Nari Shakti Puraskar is conferred on individual women, public and private institu-
tions and public departments for their activism and/or their contributions to the cause of wom-
en’s empowerment. The award, instituted in the year 1999 by the Ministry of Women and Child
Development, Government of India, is given in six institutional categories and two individual
categories.

Nirbhaya Fund
Nirbhaya fund is an Indian rupee 10 billion corpus announced by Government of India in its
2013 Union Budget. This fund is expected to support initiatives by the government and NGOs
working towards protecting the dignity and ensuring safety of women in India. Nirbhaya (fear-
less) was the pseudonym given to the 2012 Delhi gang rape victim to hide her actual identity.
The Ministry of Women and Child Development, along with several other concerned minis-
tries, will work out details of the structure, scope and the application of this fund

Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) is a Maternity Benefit Programme that is
implemented in all the districts of the country in accordance with the provision of the National
Food Security Act, 2013.
Undernutrition continues to adversely affect the majority of women in India. In India,
every third woman is undernourished and every second woman is anaemic. An undernourished
mother almost inevitably gives birth to a low birth weight baby. When poor nutrition starts
in utero, it extends throughout the life cycle since the changes are largely irreversible. Owing
to economic and social distress many women continue to work to earn a living for their fam-
ily right up to the last days of their pregnancy. Furthermore, they resume working soon after
childbirth, even though their bodies might not permit it, thus preventing their bodies from fully
recovering on one hand, and also impeding their ability to exclusively breastfeed their young
infant in the first six months.

Entry of Women in Sabarimala Temple

Sabarimala temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Ayyappan situated at Sabarimala in Pathana-
mthitta District, Kerala, India. In the past, women devotees of menstruating age were not
permitted pilgrimage here, this ban being said to be out of respect to the celibate nature of
the deity in this temple. A Kerala High Court judgement had legalized this interpretation, and
forbade women from entering the temple since 1991. In September 2018, a judgement of the
Supreme Court of India ruled that all pilgrims regardless of gender, including women in the
menstruating age group, should be allowed entrance to Sabarimala. The constitution bench of
the Supreme Court held that any exception placed on women because of biological differences
violates the constitution, that the ban violates the right to equality under Article 14, and free-
dom of religion under Article 25. This verdict led to protests by people who oppose the verdict.
46 Indian Society for Civil Services

This verdict and subsequent entry of women in to Sabarimala temple is seen as mechanism to
attain religious equality based in gender in a progressive Indian society still driven by religious
values and practices.

Adultery is Not a Crime, Section 497 of IPC Unconstitutional: SC

‘The Supreme Court has struck down 158-year-old Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code, which
criminalizes adultery, as unconstitutional.’ Any provision of law affecting individual dignity and
equality of women invites wrath of constitution. It’s time to say that husband is not the master
of wife. Legal sovereignty of one sex over other sex is wrong,
Section 497 punished a married man for having sex with wife of another man. However,
the sexual act is exempted from punishment if it is performed with the consent or connivance
of the husband of the other woman. Also, the provision exempts the wife from punishment,
and states that wife should not be even treated as an abettor.
The judgment of the Supreme Court held that Section 497 violated a woman’s right to
dignity, resulting in infringement of Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The judgment bor-
rows from the findings of Justice Nariman’s judgment in Triple Talaq case. The court however
clarified that adultery will be a ground for divorce. It was also stated that if an act of adultery
leads the aggrieved spouse to suicide, the adulterous partner could be prosecuted for abetment
of suicide under Section 306 of the IPC.

Appointment of First Male Member in National Commission for Women

Shri Alok Rawat IAS (retd) has been appointed as the member of the National Commission
for Women, becoming the first male to be part of the five-member body. His appointment is
significant,as the presence of a male member would provide other men a better understand-
ing to the women’s issues. Further, It is not enough that we work towards enlightenment of
women. It is also important to include men in the process. Together, they can achieve much
better results rather than working in isolated environments. The presence of a male member in
this commission is set to bring in not only the outlook of the commission but in key decision-
making process as well.

CONCLUSION
The path towards total gender empowerment is full of potholes. Over the years, women have
made great strides in many areas with notable progress in reducing some gender gaps. Thus, if
on one hand women are climbing the ladder of success, on the other hand she is mutely suffer-
ing the violence inflicted on her by her own family members.
Gandhiji once said, ‘Women is the noblest of God’s creation, supreme in her own sphere
of activity.’ These words are blossoming now. Increased awareness and education has inspired
women to come out of the walls of home. The modern woman has started caring for her social,
emotional, cultural, religious and economic needs. She has now become a tool for social change
in India. It can be said that women have more freedom than earlier however not true in many
respects because prejudice still remains in the society. Though the status of today’s modern
women in India is high, the overall picture of women’s position in India is not satisfactory. Last
but not the least, we should not forget that the progress of a nation cannot be achieved until
and unless there is active participation of its mothers, wives, sisters and daughters, So each and
 Chapter 2 • Role of Women and Women’s Organization 47

every man should thoughtfully decides to bring a revolutionary transformation in his attitude
towards women and accept the women to be equal participants in the country’s progress.

PRACTICE QUESTIONS
1. Bring out the various work place related challenges faced by women in the Indian society.
What are the various governmental and nongovernmental measures to address this issue?
2. Economic empowerment is the only resort to bring about the so called gender equality in
India. Discuss.
3. It is not merely the policies and programmes of the government that can ensure the right
place for women in Indian society, rather change in social attitude of the people is the
need of the hour. Give your opinion citing relevant examples.
4. Compare the position of women in Rural India vis-a-vis the position of women in urban
India.
5. Give an account of the various women empowerment initiatives in India and their impact
on the position of women.

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS

1. ‘Male membership needs to be encouraged in order to make women’s organization free
from gender bias’. Comment. (200 words) (10 marks) 2013
2. Discuss the various economic and sociocultural forces that are driving increasing femini-
zation of agriculture in India. 10 Marks 2015
3. ‘Women’s movement in India has not addressed the issues of women of lower social
strata.’ Substantiate your view. 15 Marks 2018
 Chapter 3
Population and Associated Issues

Learning Objectives

In this chapter, you will learn about:

• Determinants of Population Change • Population Control Measures
• Age and Sex Structure • Population Policy of India
• Effects of the Rapid Population Growth in • A New Approach
India M. Senthil Kumar
S. Rijesh

INTRODUCTION
India with aWith
rs / Editors Name population
CD of Red
about
Band1,210 million (in 2011)
Territory line accounts
URLfor 17.5% of the world
Price mQuest
population. It is the second-largest country in the world, in terms of population next only
to China (1341 million as on 2010). Six countries (China with 19.4%, India with 17.5%,
United States with 4.5% Indonesia with 3.4%, Brazil with 2.8% and Russia with 2%) account
for nearly half (49.6%) of the world’s population. In other words, the population of India,
at 1,210 million, is almost equal to the combined population of the United States, Indo-
nesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Japan—the population of these six countries totals
1,214 million.
The scale at which India’s population is increasing is simply mind-boggling. While the
total population of our country in 1941 was 31.86 crores, it increased to 36.10 crores in 1951,
43.92 crores in 1961, 54.81 crores in 1971, 68.33 crores in 1981, 84.64 crores in 1991, 102 crores
in 2001 and 121 crores in 2011, according to the provisional data of 2011 Census. The United

48
 Chapter 3 • Population and Associated Issues 49

Nations has estimated that world population grew at an annual rate of 1.23% % during 2000 to
2010. China registered a much lower growth (0.53%) during this period as compared to India,
which recorded an annual growth rate of 1.64% % during 2001 to 2011.

Few Facts about Indian Population

1. The population of India, at the turn of the 20th century, was only 238 million, which
has increased by more than four times in a period of 110 years to reach 1,210 million
in 2011.
2. Interestingly, the population of India grew by one and a half times in the first-half of the
20th century, while in the later half it recorded a phenomenal threefold increase.
3. It is also significant to note that the decadal growth in percentage terms during 2001 to
2011 has registered the sharpest decline since independence—from 23.87% in 1981 to
1991 to 21.54 in 1991 to 2001, that is, a decrease of 2.33%. In 2001 to 2011, this has be-
come 17.64%—a further decrease of 3.90%.
4. Thus, while the rate of growth of population during the first half of the 20th century was
moderate, in the later half it was faster as well as alarming though changes in net addition
have shown a steady declining trend over the years.
5. The disaster of galloping population in India can be recognized from the following facts:
•• At present, a little more than one out of every six persons in the world is from India.
•• India accounts for a meagre of 2.4% of the world’s surface area of 135.79 million km2,
whereas it supports and sustains a whopping 17.5% of world’s population.
•• As China is constantly showing lower growth in its population over the last few years, it
is now estimated that by 2030, India will most likely overtake China to become the most
populous country on the earth.
•• The four big states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar account for
approximately 40% of country’s total population and still have an alarming high crude
birth rate.
•• More than three times as many couples enter the reproductive span than those leav-
ing it, with the fertility rate of the younger group being three times higher than that of
those passing out of the reproductive range.
•• At the present rate of population growth, the life of Indians, especially the under privi-
leged section of the population, would be unbearable. It is because the government
cannot serve every section of population due to scarcity of physical and technical re-
sources, ­exorbitant medical facilities, education and housing, etc. At this rate of growth,
poverty will increase and pull India in downward side in every aspect.

Thus, there is an immediate need to focus our attention on containing population growth in
India, as India with the second-largest population in the world, fights valiantly to overcome a his-
torical legacy of social and economic backwardness A steep population growth not only negates
the little achievements but also puts tremendous pressure on our already overloaded system.

DETERMINANTS OF POPULATION CHANGE

The size and growth of population are two important components of the demographic phe-
nomena in a developing country like India. These components have severe implications on the
social and economic spheres of our life
50 Indian Society for Civil Services

Three factors that determine the change in the size of the population of any country are:

•• How many persons are born?

•• How many persons die?
•• How many persons are added to the population after considering the number of persons
leaving the country and the number of persons coming into the country?

The last of these factors, that is, migration does not play a large role in determining popu-
lation growth in the Indian context. It, therefore, becomes necessary to consider in greater de-
tail the other two factors, that is, fertility and mortality.

Fertility
Determinants of Fertility
The basic determinants of fertility include fecundity, age at marriage, duration of mar-
riage, marriage systems, sexual habits, etc. For our convenience, we may classify these
factors into four broad categories of biological, demographic, socio-cultural and eco-
nomic factors.

Demographic Determinants

Among the demographic factors that control fertility are age composition, sex composition,
degree of urbanization, duration of marriage and working, non-working status of females are
prominent.

•• The age structure a population: the proportion of population in reproductive age group
will have a direct bearing upon birth rates. The countries having youthful population are
the leading contributors to the world’s population growth. Most of the countries of Asia,
Africa and Latin America fall in this group.
•• Factor of duration of marriage: Longer the duration of marriage, greater is the fertility
rate. In countries like India where incidence of early marriage is quite common, a positive
correlation between fertility and duration of effective marriage has been observed.
•• The balanced sex composition of a particular locality, either may be urban or rural, is an-
other demographic determine of fertility. Urban centres are dominated by male and thus
exhibit low birth rate compared to rural centres.
•• The factor of residence or the degree of urbanization. It has often been observed that the
urban dwellers have low birth rates in comparison to their rural counterparts. The require-
ments of urban living are very much different from those of rural life. A variety of socio-
economic factors create an ethos for low birth rates in urban areas.
•• There exists a correlation between fecundity index and participation of females in ec-
onomically gainful activities has been often talked about. The correlation is negative in
nature, that is, working women contribution towards to human fertility is low when com-
paring to non-working women. It exposes them to outside world and makes them socially
and economically more awakened. At times, even the type of occupation they are involved
in may influence their fertility behaviour.
 Chapter 3 • Population and Associated Issues 51

Social Determinants
The social determinants of human fertility become very significant. As sex may be a biologi-
cal necessity, the desire to have a child is more a social necessity. That is why the list of social
determinants is much longer than that of biological and demographic determinants. Among
the socio-cultural determinants, religious background, ethnic structure, educational level, age at
marriage, traditions and customs relating to marital and sexual life, primacy of individuals, the
attitude of people towards family size restrictions, desire to have a son and government policies
are prominent.
•• The religious background of a person seems to play a prominent role in govern-
ing his/her mental attitude towards the size of his family. Although, all religions are
­opposed to the deliberate control on human fertility, the degree of control may vary from
religion to religion. Kingsley Davis observed that in India, although the Muslims and Hin-
dus live in similar environments, the birth rates of the Muslims were found to be signifi-
cantly higher than those of the Hindus.
•• An inverse correlation has often been observed between the level of education and the
fertility index. There is no denying the fact that education, particularly of girls, has a far
reaching impact upon the fertility patterns. While education, in general, helps in bringing
down the birth rate, there is always a critical level of education. In Indian context about a
10-year schooling has been observed as the critical point.
•• The age at marriage is another basic social determinant of human fertility. The societ-
ies that are characterized by a low age at marriage exhibit high fertility rate, implying an
inverse correlation between birth rate and the age at marriage. In case of India, it has been
argued that the birth rate can be reduced by at least one-third if all Indian females marry
after attaining the age of 19 years. The factor of age at marriage also operates through the
factor of duration of marriage.
•• The traditions and customs relating to marital and sexual life also influence fertility pat-
terns. The societies which are characterized by marriage systems permitting loose mar-
tial ties and liberal sexual behaviour often have low fertility level due to greater incidence
of venereal diseases. Both polygamy and polyandry have a negative effect upon fertility
because plurality diminishes the fecundity of females. Similarly, customs like prolonged
breast-feeding, restrictions on cohabitation during the suckling period, segregation of
spouses after child birth for purification, restrictions on sexual activity in one form or the
other also reduce the conception rate.
•• The primacy of individuals (man, woman, child) in the family is another social determi-
nants of family size. The status of man, woman and the child in the family is an important
index of the mental attitude of the family towards family size. Children today become
more expensive and demands better care, the deliberate control over the birth rate has
been accentuated. In highly enlightened families, even the children in the family may force
their parents to adhere to small family norms.
•• The role of government policies in the fertility patterns of their respective countries
is also increasing. The population policies advanced by different countries from time to
time reflect the government’s mind and the direction in which it wants its people to move
in this regard. It is really creditable for China to have adopted a strong population policy
with a view to slashing down its birth rate considerably. On the other hand, the Indian
52 Indian Society for Civil Services

experience shows that the lukewarm approach yields no fruitful results even in the pres-
ence of a clear-cut population policy of the government. India needs to have more com-
prehensive population policy and better determination to implement the same.

Economic Determinants
•• The income level of the family is, of course, the most prominent. Although a negative
correlation between income level and the family size has been observed, yet the deliberate
attempts to check the family size are more common in that section of society which has
the widest gap between the desired and actual income levels. It implies that the middle in-
come group, which normally is the most ambitious section of society, applies the strictest
control over family size. In the lower income group, where the children are considered as
the potential source of augmenting the family income, the restrictions on the family size
are the minimum. In the higher income group, where the supporting capacity of the fam-
ily is unlimited, the family size is also kept low but not the lowest.
•• The factor of standard of living is largely dependent upon the income level. However,
in general, the poorest all over the world show high birth rates and the richest low birth
rates.
•• The fertility is also determined by the dietary habits of the people. The correlation
between higher intake of protein and fertility was observed in animals, and studies show
higher intake of protein reduces fertility.
•• The combination of biological factors, socio-cultural factor and economic situation
­determine the fertility of the population. There is no once factor affects population
growth fully, but it is combination of all affects the fertility.

Several factors contribute to the high fertility of Indian women. Let us examine some of
these factors:
1. All the religions of the world, except Buddhism, contain injunctions to their followers to
breed and multiply.
2. Another factor contributing to high fertility is the universality of the institution of
marriage. For the Hindu woman, marriage is considered essential, because it is the only
sacrament she is entitled to, though the Hindu man goes through several sacraments
throughout his life.
3. Till recently, the custom in India required the Hindu girls to be married off before
they entered puberty. In India, traditionally women start childbearing at an early age, and
continue to do so till they cross the age at which they are no longer biologically capable of
bearing children.
4. As in all traditional societies, in India too, great emphasis is laid on bearing children.
A woman, who does not bear children, is looked down upon in society.
5. The preference for sons is deeply ingrained in the Indian culture. Sons are required for
extending the family line and for looking after the parents in their old age.
6. Children are considered to be gifts of God, and people believe that it is not up to them
to decide on the number of children. High infant and child mortality rates also con-
tribute to a large family size. A couple may have a large number of children in the hope
that at least a few of them will survive up to adulthood.
 Chapter 3 • Population and Associated Issues 53

7. The low status of women is also a contributing factor to high fertility. Women, un-
questioningly, accept excessive childbearing without any alternative avenues for
self-expression.
8. Environmental causes such as hot or cold climate: The countries or regions with hot
climate generally have high fertility compared to the areas with cold climate.
9. Children in the Indian society have a great economic, social, cultural as well as religious
value.
10. Again in the absence of widespread adoption of methods of conception control, the
fertility of Indian women continues to remain high.
11. Widening gap between birth and death rates: The average annual birth rate in India,
which was 42 per thousand population in 1951–61, came down to 24.8 per thousand in
2011. The death rate also came down from over 27 per thousand population in 1951–61
to just 8 in 2011 (Census of India, 2011). Thus, since birth rate has shown a moderate de-
cline and the death rate has gone down rather sharply, the widening gap has increased our
population rapidly. The total fertility rate (average number of children born per woman)
came down from about 6 in the 1950s to three in 2011.
12. High illiteracy: Family planning has a direct link with female education, and female
education is directly associated with age at marriage, general status of women, their fer-
tility and infant mortality rate and so forth. According to the provisional report of the
2011 Census, the overall literacy percentage in India is 74.04 as compared to 64.83 ten
years ago. The male literacy percentage is 82.14, while the female literacy percentage
is 65.46.

Other Causes
Some of the other causes responsible for the increase in population are as follows:
1. Joint family system where there is lack of responsibility amongst the young couples in
these families to bring up their children;
2. Lack of recreational facilities
3. Lack of information or wrong information about the adverse effects of vasectomy, tubec-
tomy, etc.
It is important that none of these factors is to be seen in isolation. Indeed, it is the combi-
nation of several factors that contribute towards the high fertility rate in India.

MORTALITY
Determinants of Mortality
The causes of mortality vary both in space and time. Spatially different regions are of different
stages of socio-economic development and technological advancement. The changes that have
taken place in the mortality patterns of population, through time, by far, constitute the most
significant aspect of demographic transition. The decline in mortality rates has been the most
favourable aspect of the process of population development.
There is a large variety of factors that determine the mortality patterns in the world.
54 Indian Society for Civil Services

The mortality rates, in any area may be governed by its

1. Demographic structure,
2. Social advancement and
3. Economic development.

Thus, the determinants of mortality may conveniently be classified into three basic cat-
egories of demographic, social and economic factors.

•• Demographically, the age structure is most prominent. Other demographic factors like
sex composition and degree of urban development are also significant. Age structure
of a population has been mentioned as the most prominent demographic factor govern-
ing the incidence of mortality in a population. It is commonly agreed that the mortality
risk declines as the child matures but begins to increase in the middle age. Thus, the coun-
tries that have an age structure in favour of middle-ages and old ages display high mor-
tality rates. It has been universally accepted that mortality rates of males and females are
different from each other because of the varying resistance power of the two sexes. The
mortality rates changes at all ages due to a variety of reasons like malnutrition, high ma-
ternal mortality rate under poor conditions of medical care, subordinate status to women,
neglect of female children and a pious feeling of sacrifice among the females for their
spouses and children.

The high per capita income, high literacy rates, greater awareness of health hazards in
comparison to their rural counterparts, all of these factors arrest the mortality in the urban
areas.
Socially, the incidence of infanticide, restrictions on widow remarriage, adequacy of
medical facilities, general conditions of nutrition, housing and sanitation, literacy standards
and religious beliefs are important. Socially, the prevalence of infanticide in a society influ-
ences the mortality rates. In India, female infanticide was being practiced due to the relatively
low status granted to women. Predominantly because female child is considered a liability.
While the male child is considered as an asset. This gave rise to female infanticide in the
past. All those societies where the infanticide was practiced in one form or other suffered a
high mortality rate. The availability of adequate medical facilities is a social factor determin-
ing mortality. The differences in the mortality rates of the developed and the less developed
realms are largely the product of this factor. There is said to be a positive correlation between
the number of persons per physician and the mortality rate. Similarly, the mortality rates are
also found to be inversely correlated with literacy standards, which govern people’s knowl-
edge of health hazards.
The economic factors, the standard of living or per capita income and type of economy
are considered significant. Besides, the factors like natural calamities, wars, epidemics, food
shortages also cause mortality on a large scale as and when these come. It is the income of an
individual, which not only determines the richness of his diet but also the person’s capacity to
avail him/her the medical facilities. It is only to signify that the income of a person can help in
buying him medical care. Such differences in the mortality rates of the rich and the poor occur
only when there are wide inequalities in incomes and the medical facilities are not universally
 Chapter 3 • Population and Associated Issues 55

available. Once the medical facilities become universally available, the inequalities in the mortal-
ity rates of people belonging to different income groups dim.

AGE AND SEX STRUCTURE

Each individual is ascribed a certain status in society on the basis of sex and age. Status and
roles are culturally determined, and vary from one culture to another. Even within the same cul-
ture, status and roles may undergo changes over a period of time. While in traditional societies,
age demands respect, modern societies may be more youth-oriented. While the age structure of
a population may have implications for the status and roles of older persons, the sex structure
may be a reflection of the social reality.
The age-sex structure of a population is both the determinant and consequence of birth
and death rates, internal and international migration, marital status composition, manpower and
the gross national product. Planning regarding educational and health services, housing, etc., is
done on the basis of the age structure of the population.

Dependency Ratio
Dependency ratio, that is, number of dependents per 100 workers, is an important and effective
measure to analyze the structure of the population. For the purpose of studying dependency
ratio, two dimensions are taken into account. One is working age population—from 15 to 64
(the working age always depends upon the economy under consideration). Less than 15 years
and more than 50 years or 64 years are considered as young dependent population and old de-
pendant population, respectively. The formula for dependency ratio computation is:
Dependency Ratio = Population in the age group 0–14 years of age (young dependent
population) + Population in the age group 65 plus (old dependent population)/Population in
the age group 15–64
The ration will give broad structure of the population, but the specific details are not
know because, in all developing countries, especially countries like India have a huge population
compiled with high unemployment ratio will make even the working age group as a dependent.
This is huge burden to the economy also. The children under the age of 14 at times start to
work and economically contribute, which make them as non-dependent economically.

Age Structure in India: Determinants and Implications

“Young population” is high in India, especially the present decade, because the birth rates are
high and death rate decreased considerable because of advancement in science and technology.
This phenomena is common to developing nations such as India, but developed nations has low
birth rate complied with low death rate hence, they experience aging population trend. Gener-
ally, age of mortality determines the population structure. Infants and children first experience
the improvement in science and technology, which ultimately reflects in reduction in death per-
centage in younger generations which reflects increase in the proportion of the young persons
in the population as in the case of India. Rate of mortality increases, which will lead to death in
all age group and the population gets aging.
The young population does not contribute to economy of a country or to a family imme-
diately, because their basic needs such as education, medical facilities, shelter, clothing, etc., are
burden to family and ultimately government analyzing in economical terms.
56 Indian Society for Civil Services

Measurement of Sex Structure

Generally, the measure used for studying the age structure of a population is sex ratio. It is of
two types: calculating number of females per 1,000 male population and calculating number
of males per 1,000 female population. Of these two, former is followed in many countries.
Indian census also calculated the former, that is, number of females per 1,000 male population.
It is lower than we expected in the last census (2011) that is 940 female per 1,000 male popula-
tions. Hence, government of India has started various measures to improve the same. Countries
like France has more than 1,000 as sex ratio, that is, more than 1,000 female per 1,000 male
population.
The three factors determining the sex ratio of any population are: (1) the sex ratio at birth,
(2) the sex ratio of the deceased persons and (3) the sex ratio of the net migrants.
At times, low sex ratio is a result of under-reporting of women in census surveys as house-
holds are headed by men.
Of all these factors, high mortality of the females appears to be the most plausible
­explanation for the low sex ratio in India, which is adverse to the females. Though biologi-
cally stronger than the male, the female in India is in a socially and culturally disadvantaged
position and has been accorded an inferior status over the centuries. The death rates for the
females in most age groups are higher than those for the males. Of the other factors, the sex
ratio of new-born babies is not much different from that in other countries. Hence, a sex ratio
that is adverse to the females, a peculiarity of the Indian demographic picture, need not be
attributed to this factor. As for international migration of men, it is quite insignificant and is,
therefore, not found to affect the sex ratio in India. Under-enumeration of the females cannot
explain more than a very small part of the numerical imbalance between the males and the
females in India.

Sex Ratio in India

The latest census of 2011 has revealed a marginal improvement in the country’s sex ratio from
933 in 2001 to 940 in 2011. Both Kerala (1,084) among states and Puducherry (1,038) among
union territories continued to have the distinction of having excess of females over males,
while in rest of states and union territories the paucity of females continued to exercise the
academic minds. Kerala among states was followed by Tamil Nadu (995) Andhra Pradesh (992),
Chhattishgarh (991), Manipur (987), Meghalaya (986), Odisha (978), Mizoram (975), Himachal
Pradesh (974) in this order. Other states that too had a sex ratio above the national average
of 940 included Karnataka (968), Goa (968), Uttarakhand (963), Tripura (961), Assam (954)
Jharkhand (947) and West Bengal (947).
At the other end of the scale, Haryana continued to be at the bottom with the lowest sex
ratio of 877 despite marginal improvement in its sex ratio from 861 in 2001 to 877 in 2011.
Jammu and Kashmir with a decline in its sex ratio from 892 to 883 during 2001–2011 shifted to
second place from below after Haryana. Jammu and Kashmir was followed by Sikkim (889) and
Punjab (893) despite marginal improvement in their sex ratio during the last inter-censal period.
The sex ratio of Sikkim improved from 875 to 889 and that of Punjab from 876 to 893 during
2001–11.
The two extremes of Kerala and Haryana both have their explanation in the status of
women in the two states. It needs repetition here that in Haryana, the women folks continue to
 Chapter 3 • Population and Associated Issues 57

have comparatively low status, while in Kerala the women enjoy relatively better status. Similarly,
in terms of migration too, both states have contrasting situations. While Kerala continued to ex-
perience male-selective out-migration in search of employment, resulting in female surplus in its
population, Haryana on the other hand, has the contrasting situation. Its location near the Na-
tional Capital Territory of Delhi results in comparatively rapid growth of economy and hence
of employment opportunities, which attract male workers resulting in imbalance in the state’s
sex ratio. Thus, male-selective out-migration in case of Kerala and male-selective in-migration
in case of Haryana hold the key to their sex ratio contrasts. Also, an additional factor in case of
Haryana is that of low child sex ratio of 830. Above all, strong desire to have a male child in
Haryana families coupled with desire to limit family size too have encouraged female foeticide
and have yielded low sex ratio in case of Haryana.
Few facts related to sex ratio in India:

1. The contrast between North and South India continues in terms of sex ratio, while the
former continues to display low sex ratio, the latter still has high sex ratio.
2. The north-eastern and north-western parts of the country too have contrasting sex ratio
pattern. North western parts of India continue to display lowest sex ratio in the country,
while the north-eastern parts get clubbed with South India in terms of sex ratio pattern.
3. Western parts of India are, by and large, characterised by moderate sex ratio which is close
to the national average.
4. Christian predominant areas display relatively high sex ratio. Same is the case with tribal
belts of India.
5. The hill regions of North India too display high sex ratio mainly due to male-selective out-
migration from such areas.
6. Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Western Uttar Pradesh continue to be the traditional areas of
acute paucity of females. Needless to stress that this belt has emerged as the most notori-
ous area of high rate of female foeticide forcing the governments of these states come out
with stringent laws to deal with this menace of female foeticide.
7. Due to such measures taken by the government, the number of districts with lowest sex
ratio of less then 850 has declined from 48 in 2001 to 21 in 2011.
8. With the large increase in the number of districts with a sex ratio of more than 1,000 and a
decline in the number of district with a sex ratio of less than 850, the general pattern of sex
ratio in the country seems to be improving. Thanks to increasing life expectancy (68.1).
Males had a life expectancy of 65.8 years in 2011.
9. The regional contrasts in sex ratio owe their origin to regional variations in the status be-
ing granted to women, migration pattern and the extent of female foeticide.
10. It is not easy to change the mind-set and value system of a society. It is too gradual a
process that may take decades/centuries. However, as the society become literate, role of
electronic media and government policies in bringing such changes becomes more promi-
nent. And that is what is happening in case of India.

Sex Ratio in India: An Analysis from Census 2011

The sex ratio in India is characterized by the differences in its rural–urban components, be-
tween various religious groups, between various social groups, and between various regions. As
regards the sex ratio of urban and rural population of India, it presents a contrastingly different
58 Indian Society for Civil Services

pattern in comparison to the Western countries. The rural areas in India have a sex ratio of 947
females per 1,000 males, and the urban areas have a sex ratio of only 926 females per 1,000
males (2011).
Thus, the urban population of India is characterized by acute paucity of females. As
observed earlier, such rural–urban differentials in the sex ratio of India are the product of
sex selective migration from rural areas to urban areas. More males move from rural areas to
urban areas in India than the females. Such a movement is governed by both push in the rural
areas, and pull of the urban areas. The increasing pressure of population upon the limited
agricultural resource base in the countryside compels the rural males to move to urban areas
in search of jobs. The high cost of living in urban areas coupled with the problem of housing
inhibits such males from bringing their families along, while the prevailing joint family system
facilitates such a movement of males alone, whereby they are assured of the security and
safety of their family members. Thus, it is largely the male selective migration from rural areas
to its urban centres that increases the sex ratio in the countryside and decreases the same in
the urban centres.
Similarly, there are differences in the sex ratio of various religious groups in India. For
example, Christians in India exhibit the highest sex ratio of 1,023 and the Sikhs show the low-
est sex ratio of 903 females per 1,000 males (2011). The sex ratio of Hindus being 929 is also
much below the national average. Muslims in India also show a relatively better sex ratio of 951
(2011) than the national average. How far these differences in the sex ratio of various religious
groups are related to the differences in their natural sex ratio is difficult to assert in the absence
of relevant data. The excessively low sex ratio among the Sikhs may have its origin in the greater
deficiency of females at birth (again cannot be authenticated due to lack of data). The high
sex ratio among the Christians may be the product of their relatively low female mortality rate.
Similarly, the relatively high female mortality rate among the Muslims may be responsible for
their relatively low sex ratio.
The scheduled tribes in India have traditionally had the highest sex ratios—the number
of women for every 1,000 men—among all communities. But, detailed data on individual tribal
communities from the census report shows that the situation is worsening in almost each case.
And the sex ratio in the population aged 0–6 is significantly lower.
In 2011, India’s scheduled tribe population as a whole had a sex ratio of 990, much bet-
ter than the national ratio of 940. The sex ratio of 27 out of 58 tribal compiled was more than
1,000, that is, women outnumbered men. The child sex ratio for 0–6 years of age was also sig-
nificantly better for tribals at 957 than for the country as a whole (919). It was, however, worry-
ingly lower than the overall sex ratio.
In one more tribe, the Thadous of Manipur, the sex ratio is 1,000 which means there are
about as many women as men. However, when it comes to the child sex ratio, there are only two
tribal groups—the Bhottadas/Dhotadas and the Bhuias/Bhuyans, both from Odisha—which
have a ratio of over 1,000.
Broadly speaking, (i) South India has high sex ratio in comparison to its Northern counter-
part; (ii) the tribal belt of central India is characterized by high sex ratio; (iii) the north-­western
parts of India covering Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, north-western
parts of Madhya Pradesh constitute the most extensive area of low sex ratio; (iv) the north-
eastern parts of India covering Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, constitute another pocket of low
sex ratio and (v) highly urbanized districts of the country distributed sporadically also had a low
sex ratio.
 Chapter 3 • Population and Associated Issues 59

The low sex ratio in the northeast was perhaps the product of male-excessive in-mi-
gration especially as a result of deployment of armed forces. The industrial urban concen-
trations of Calcutta, Mumbai, Ahmadabad, Kanpur, Delhi, etc., distributed sporadically in
different parts of the country, also displayed low sex ratio due to in-migration of male work-
ers into these districts. Thus, the regional differences in sex ratio in India were associated
with the regional differences in the natural sex ratio, patterns of migration and patterns of
male–female mortality.

Child Sex Ratio (2011)

As observed earlier child sex ratio pattern in India is the most critical area of a serious concern
for those who have their interest in population analysis, including population geographers. The
child sex ratio in India is not only low but is also declining. The latest census of 2011 has re-
vealed that the country had an average child sex ratio only 914 against a general sex ratio of 940.
Not only that, it had declined further from that of 927 in 2001 to 914 in 2011. If we go back still
another decade, it is found that child sex which was 945 in 1991 has declined by 31 points in just
two decades of 1991–2011. Country’s child sex ratio has seen a continuous and significant fall in
time from 1961. Thus, during the last 50 years, the child sex ratio has declined from a high level
of 976 in 1961 to only 914 in 2011. The situation if not controlled is likely to have far-reaching
implications for the country’s demographic scenario.
The decade of 2001–11 witnessed vital changes in the child sex ratio pattern of the coun-
try. While, on an average, the country’s child sex ratio declined from 927 to 914, there were at
least six states in the country which recorded an increase in their child sex ratio during the decade.
These included Punjab from 798 to 846; Haryana from 819 to 830; Mizoram from 964 to 971;
Himachal Pradesh from 896 to 906; Tamil Nadu from 964 to 971; and Gujarat from 883 to 886.
Similarly, two union territories of Chandigarh (from 845 to 867), and Andaman and Nicobar
Islands (from 957 to 966) also registered an increase in their child sex ratio. In the remaining 22
states and 5 union territories, the child sex ratio suffered a decline. However, the sharpest fall in
child sex ratio was recorded in case of Jammu and Kashmir where it declined from 941 in 2001
to 859 in 2011. A decline of 82 points in just a decade speaks volumes of safety and security of
girl child in this troubled state.
Ever since the previous census of 2001 revealed the growing menace of female foeti-
cide, the governments of affected states took many steps to control this problem. Many states
came out with financial help for girl child, while others took legislative measures to control fe-
male foeticide. Such schemes like those of Laadali of NCT of Delhi and other such schemes
in Haryana did help the states to some extent. Other such measures as tax rebates for families
with girl children only, concession in travel, preference in the grant of LPG gas connections,
etc., can probably help in bringing a remarkable change in the value system of such societies.
The legislative measures initiated by some governments included banning the pre­natal diag-
nostic tests (PNDTs) and making the related laws more stringent so as not to permit female
foeticide under any circumstances. Recently, use of mobile or portable PNDT machines/de-
vices has also been banned.
However, improving literacy levels, exhaustive ante-natal tracking, regular counselling
of mothers to be, along with increased role of electronic media can together help a lot in
this regard. Since the electronic media has become accessible even in the rural areas and to
poorest of the poor families, its significance has enhanced further. The way the states of
Punjab and Haryana, which were seriously affected by the menace of female foeticide, have
60 Indian Society for Civil Services

improved their child sex ratio as a result of government policies and increased role of elec-
tronic media, it is suggested that in other affected states also such steps be initiated without
any further loss of time.
Unlike general sex ratio where 102 districts had a sex ratio of more than 1,000, in case of
child sex ratio, only three districts had a sex ratio of more than 1,000. These included Lahul and
Spiti (1,013), Tawang (1,005) and Dakshin Bastar Dantewada (1,005). Not only that, the num-
ber of such districts in the country further declined from 8 in 2001 to only 3 in 2011. It implies
that the menace of female foeticide is spreading to all areas covering almost every part of the
country. However, 181 districts had a child sex ratio of 950 and more, in another 149 districts
the child sex ratio ranged between 925 and 950. In 118 districts, the child sex ratio was close to
the national average of 914 and ranged between 900 and 925. There were 76 districts where the
child sex ratio ranged between 875 and 900, while in 116 districts the child sex ratio was less
than 875 female per thousand.

EFFECTS OF THE RAPID POPULATION GROWTH IN INDIA

1. Providing employment to growing population: This is so because in developing econ-
omies majority of the population is illiterate. The proportion of children in schools is in-
creasing fast and, vast numbers are still not covered. The absolute number or illiterate
persons increases every year. This is only an indication of the wastage of human resources
for want of appropriate development opportunities.
2. Problem of utilization of manpower: Better-educated manpower aspires for occupa-
tions of greater prestige, which are opened up by the new development efforts. Because
of its capital intensive nature, the ability, of the new economy for employment genera-
tion becomes restricted. Simultaneously, it renders many of the old occupations out of
day and redundant. As a result, under-employment and unemployment, including un-
employment of educated persons, increases. There is thus wastage of even developed
human capital.
3. Over-strained infrastructure: Facilities such as housing, transportation, health care, and
education become inadequate. The worst symptoms of congestion in every aspect of liv-
ing conditions are manifested in the urban areas. In countries such as India, a situation of
“over urbanization” prevails which puts unbearable strain on urban amenities. The fol-
lowing are the common features of developing countries in terms of infrastructure:
i. Traffic congestions
ii. Overcrowded houses
iii. Slums and unhygienic localities
iv. Overcrowded public places
4. Pressure on land and other renewable natural resources: The population growth puts
pressure on land, water, unpolluted air, etc. They are overexploited beyond their renew-
able capacity. As the result, desertification, ground-water depletion creates permanent
damage to environment.
5. Increased cost of production: Human ingenuity and technological advancement
makes it possible to increase production of goods and services. But, it must be kept in
mind that the cost of production of the basic necessities of life, such as food, increases
when the population is growing fast and worse lands are brought into cultivation with
costly irrigation, etc.
 Chapter 3 • Population and Associated Issues 61

6. Inequitable distribution of income: Both at the international and national levels, in-
come disparities increase. The increase in gross national product (GNP) is greatly re-
duced in per capita terms on account of the rapidly growing population. The developing
countries tent to focus only on economic growth leaving aside the issue of population
growth. Considerations of unequal distribution of income are pushed to background. So
inequalities within the country tend to widen further.
7. Poor standard of living and malnutrition
8. Poverty
9. Mismanagement of agricultural resources
10. Political upheaval

POPULATION CONTROL MEASURES

a. Family Planning and Family Welfare: In India, the concepts of family planning and fam-
ily welfare are very important. Let us know the meanings of the concepts.
Concept of Family Planning and Family Welfare
At the level of the family, family planning implies having only the desired number of chil-
dren. Thus, family planning implies both limitation of the family to a number considered
appropriate to the resources of the family as well as proper spacing between the children.
The adoption of family planning, obviously, requires conscious efforts made by the couple
to control conception.
Earlier, the birth control movement tried to emancipate the women from excessive
child bearing through the right of self-determination. It also helps to empower women
economically, socially and politically. Later it is called as family planning. Family planning
tries to create a favourable atmosphere in order to change the child-bearing practice of the
people. It is a movement because it organized and structured.
A family-planning programme involves a coordinated group of activities, maintained
over a period of time and aimed at fostering a change in the child-bearing behaviour of the
females. The aim of the family-planning programme may either be to improve the health
status of women and their children and/or of reducing the birth rate, and thus reduc-
ing the population growth rate of the country. Most countries with a population control
policy also emphasise the health aspects of family planning.
The various components of the family-planning programme are:
1. Information, education and communication activities,
2. Contraceptives: Supplies and services,
3. Training of personnel,
4. Research and
5. Administrative infrastructure.
Education, health, maternity and child care, family planning and nutrition are the range
of activities government initiate to promote the overall welfare of the family and community
in any society. Since 1977, the Indian family-planning programme is known as the family
welfare programme with greater emphasis on the welfare approach to the problem.
62 Indian Society for Civil Services

b. Barriers to Family Planning

Most of the reasons, which determine high fertility, act as barriers to the acceptance of
family planning, which implies controlling fertility. These barriers include fatalism, and
emphasis placed on having children in the Indian culture and religious beliefs.
In addition, the use of various methods of family planning also poses certain difficulties.
The methods of family planning such as sterilization etc are not always equal in effective-
ness. Sterilization, by far, 100% effective, IUD methods are close to 95% and conven-
tional contraceptive are just 50% in effectiveness. Not only effectiveness, the acceptability
also various because of various factors such as side effects, regular use, etc. Oral pills are
almost 100% effective, but their effectiveness depends on taking them regularly and on
following a certain regime. The easy availability of supplies and services is a necessary con-
dition for the practice or adoption of family planning. When supplies and services are not
easily available, it becomes difficult for people to practice or adopt family planning, even
when they are inclined to do so.
c. Measures suggested to contain population explosion
The biggest national challenge faced by government is population explosion. It is alarm-
ingly high and it needs to be contained as soon as possible. But, the 1976–77 experience
of the government in adopting serious measures to achieve the set targets in the field of
family planning has made all the following governments very cautious. There is, however,
still time to act. The following may be suggested to check population growth:
Incentives vs Disincentives
An important question has now been raised by some thinkers pertaining to population
policy—that of cooperation vs coercion, or incentives vs disincentives or Kerala
model Vs Chinese Model? Cooperation is supported by some thinkers while there are
others thinkers, who support coercion. Nobel laureate Professor Amartya Sen, in a pres-
tigious JRD Tata Memorial Lecture in Delhi in August 1995 on “Population Stabiliza-
tion Programme” favoured “cooperation” approach and denounced the use of coercion
to bring down the lines of two famous theories of Condorcet (of France) and Malthus
(of Britain).
Searching for New Contraceptives
The search for a new, inexpensive, easy-to-use and harmless contraceptive has not met
with dramatic success so far. Though pills have come to be accepted in a big way and this
method is catching on in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, Gujarat and
Odisha, it is necessary that Indian herbs also be thoroughly investigated for their effects.
Pursuing vigorous research of the health status and dietary habits of some of the tribals
in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, among some of whom the fertility rate is found to be
extremely low, might provide the needed solution.
Increase in Marriage Age
There is a direct relationship between age of marriage, size of family and attitude towards
family planning. Several scholars have devoted their attention to explain this unprece-
dented phenomenon in Kerala.
Economic Development
Economic development may be a best tool to control the population explosion. The prin-
ciple of demand and supply is applied here, as either we need to decrease the demand side
 Chapter 3 • Population and Associated Issues 63

by reducing the number of people asking for various goods and services or by increasing
the supply side by inducing the resource distribution such as financial resource, material
resource, etc.

Social Empowerment:
Providing social empowerment by way of education, employment opportunities and in-
creasing access to the public health facilities would go a long way in controlling the pop-
ulation growth. Efforts to reduce poverty in rural and urban areas will have the direct
consequence on the population growth.

Role of NGOs
In any democracy, the non-governmental organizations act as bridge between people and
government. The success of any programme of government depends upon the acceptable
level of people and desire to participate in the programme. Hence, the NGOs, which have
intimate relation with people, can help in penetrating deep into society with the govern-
ment programme and hence success is assured to a maximum extend. Their role in re-
moving deep-rooted beliefs favouring large families and male children, improving female
literacy, rising age at marriage of girls, essential newborn care, birth spacing, etc., can be
very significant. Such organizations have the capacity to penetrate into the remote areas
also and their activities are very cost-effective that can be implemented with much less
resource.

POPULATION POLICY OF INDIA

Since, middle of 20th century, the less-developed and developing countries have been facing the
adverse effect of unsustainable population growth and huge pressure on their development pat-
tern and prosperity. After independence, the decision-makers also emphasized the importance
and need of population control as early as in 1951–52, though before independence a sub-
committee on population was also appointed by Indian National Congress in 1940 under the
chairmanship of renowned social scientist Radha Kamal Mukherjee to suggest ways and means
to arrest the galloping population. After 1921, sparing initially hiccups, the population of India
grows rapidly. This committee laid emphasis on self-control, spreading knowledge of cheap
and safe methods of birth control, establishing birth control clinics, recommending increase in
the marriageable age, etc. In contrary to this approach, Bhore committee, 1943, advocated for
­“deliberate limitation of family.”
After independence, central family-planning board was started which stressed the impor-
tant of sterilization. Until the Fifth Plan, family-planning programme concerned itself primarily
with birth control; but in this plan, maternal and child health and nutrition services were also
included as an integral part of family-planning programme. Even the planning for population is
not taking care of what we call “population and explosion.”
The striking growth rate of population compelled the government to adopt a relatively
clearer and less-flexible policy of population which can stabilize the growth rate. In 1961–71,
the population growth rate was 2.25% which was highest in any decade after independence.
At present (2201–2011), the population growth rate has declined to 1.50%. in April 1976, the
First National Population Policy was framed by the Union Ministry of Health and Family
64 Indian Society for Civil Services

Planning which suggested a wide spectrum of programmes, including raising the statutory
age of marriage, introducing monetary incentives, paying special attention to improving fe-
male literacy, etc., though this policy was endorsed by the parliament, it was planned at a time
when the Emergency was clamped all over India. Sanjay Gandhi, the then president of Indian
Youth Congress, took the programme of sterilization overzealously which made the masses
hostile towards the government led by Indira Gandhi as well as the programme. One of the
reasons for this was said to be the excesses committed in the programme. There was an over-
all resentment among the people (as a result of which the congress was voted out of power
in elections held in March 1977). It ultimately defeated the noble cause of the family-planning
programme. The enthusiasm of the people about birth control was also to some extend slack-
ened. Hence, the family welfare term was used in the place of family planning. Ashish Bose, a
noted demographer said that the family-planning programme was a complete collapse which
needs to be replaced by new approach. The progress to arrest population growth has been
vigorous family-planning programme since 1970 and a more rigid policy of having only one
child per family in 1980, china has avoided the birth millions of children and brought down
the fertility rate to 2.5 from 5.82 among eligible mothers. This is a classic example of the role
of government policy in affecting birth rate.
The National Family Welfare Programme was rejuvenated to check the population
growth. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare revised strategy in the last decade of the
20th century seeking to broaden the area of family planning. The programme continued on
voluntary basis as an integral part of an inclusive policy package covering education, health,
maternity and childcare and women’s rights and nutrition, including anti-poverty programme.
It was made people’s programme based on welfare approach. This revised strategy particu-
larly f­ ocused on the provision of family planning strives at the doorsteps of the people. The
proposed age for marriage was from 18 to 20 years as envisaged in National Population Pol-
icy document, 2000. For raising the status of women, much emphasis on female education is
also being given. Efforts are also being made to involve the voluntary organizations to pro-
mote family planning. As a part of family welfare and population control, the government
has revised the PNDT Act in 2003, which was enacted in 1994. The main aim of the act is to
check female (embryo) infanticide. Later, in 1990s, women movement paced up and resulted
in various restrictions in population control strategies. An expert group was formed under
the chairmanship of Dr. M.S. Swaminathan for drafting a new population policy. But gov-
ernment of India does not materialize anything until population policy 2000 was announced.

National Population Policy, 2000

National Population Policy (NPP-2000) is a comprehensive document that, for the first time in
the post-Independence history of the country, addresses itself to the problem of population
growth not in isolation but in integration with all such related issues as child survival, maternal
health, women empowerment and employment and contraception. It has very well specified
immediate, mid-term and long-term objectives. The immediate objective of NPP-2000 is to
provide service delivery in integrated approach for reproductive health and child care. The to-
tal fertility rate (TFR) should be 2.1 children per women as it is consider as replacement level,
which is midterm objective of NPP-2000. The long-term objective of the policy, however, is
to achieve population stabilization by 2045, the year when India has been projected to overtake
China in terms of its population size.
 Chapter 3 • Population and Associated Issues 65

In order to achieve these immediate, mid-term and long-term goals, the national popula-
tion policy seeks to
1. make the basic reproductive health care and child health care services available to all by
2010
2. make school education up to 14 years of age free and compulsory for all
3. bring down the incidence of school drop outs to less than 20% for both boys and girls
4. effectively raise the age at marriage for girls to legally prescribed age of 18 years and pref-
erably to 20 plus
5. universalise the access to information counselling and services for fertility regulation
6. bring 80% of the deliveries into the health institutions and remaining 20% within the
­ambit of trained health workers
7. universalise child immunization against all vaccine preventable diseases
8. achieve 100% registration of births, deaths, marriages, pregnancies, etc.
9. prevent and control all communicable diseases
10. contain the spread of AIDS
11. bring down the infant mortality rate (IMR) to less than 30 per thousand
12. bring down the maternal mortality rate to less than 100 per 1 lakh live births
13. promote small family norm of replacement level of 2.1 (TFR)
14. integrate Indian system of medicines into reproductive health and child health care service
delivery system and
15. converge social sector programmes with family welfare programmes so as to make family
welfare movement a people’s movement.

The question that has often been exercising the minds of people is that why India, despite
having been the first developing country to adopt a population policy way back in 1952, has not
been able to contain its population growth. India’s limited success on the demographic front
has to be viewed in the context that

1. 50% of girls in India still get married even before attaining 18 years of age which is legally
permissible age of marriage for girls
2. the infant mortality rate still continues to be high at 72 per thousand, which raises the level
of wanted fertility by at least 20%
3. 56% of the eligible couples (three fourths of them being in the countryside) in the country
still remain unprotected by any form of contraception
4. 7 out of every 10 people in India still continue to live in villages numbering 5.5 lakh vil-
lages, a large number of which still remain inaccessible and outside the circumference of
most of most of the communication channels
5. 58% of country’s population still falls in the reproductive age group and
6. despite substantial decline in the average family size as many as 417 m people are
likely to be added to reproductive age group during 1991–2016 causing continuation
of demographic momentum. It is worth mentioning here that population growth con-
tinues even after the attainment of replacement level of 2.1 (TFR) due to demographic
momentum.
66 Indian Society for Civil Services

National Population Policy-2000 proposes a multi-pronged strategy to achieve population

stabilization in the country by 2045. It includes:
1. decentralised planning as well as implementation
2. service delivery convergence at village level
3. women empowerment
4. child health and survival
5. bridging the wide gap of unmet needs and universalising fertility information, counselling, etc.,
6. special attention to such under-served population groups as slum-dwellers, tribals, adoles-
cents and menfolk
7. diversification of health care providers by encompassing private medical practitioners,
NGOs and the private corporate sector
8. integrating the Indian system of medicines into the reproductive health care and child
health-care service delivery system; upgrading the technology input in the field of contra-
ception and child health care and
9. providing care for the older/elder population of sixty and above and
10. disseminating correct and well-focussed information.
The philosophy of “think locally, plan locally, act locally but support nationally” lies at the
core of decentralised planning and programme implementation. It has been facilitated by 73rd
and 74th constitutional amendment Act of 1992, whereby health, family welfare, educational
responsibilities, etc., have now been given to Panchayats and Nagar Palikas. In rural areas, the
village level plans are to be prepared and implemented by local Panchayats
1. for achieving compulsory registration of births, deaths, marriages, pregnancies
2. for ensuring small-family norms, reduction in infant mortality rate (IMR), maternal mor-
tality rate (MMR), safe deliveries, compulsory education up to 14 years of age and
3. for containing the school dropout ratio to less than 20% for both boys and girls. Since 33%
of Panches in each Panchayat are women, it is believed that they will be more effective
messengers of the nation among their fellow folks.
Secondly, the national population policy also seeks to integrate the whole package of es-
sential reproductive health and child health care services at village level. The existing low couple
protection rate of 44% is largely due to the inadequacies of the existing health care system.
Village Panchayats are to set up “Maternity Huts” in each village, which are to serve as deliv-
ery rooms. These huts are to be equipped with midwife kits, basic medication and obstetric
aid, indigenous medicines and newly born baby care material. Such huts are also supposed to
act as registration centres for birth, deaths, marriages, pregnancies, etc., at village level so as to
improve the availability and the quality of vital rates data. Each Panchayat is required to main-
tain a list of community midwives, trained birth attendants, village health guides, panchayat seva
sahayaks, primary school teachers, aanganwadi workers, etc., whose services are to be utilised in
providing integrated health services. In addition to village “Maternity Huts”, mobile clinics and
counselling are also proposed to be introduced so as to reach out to every household.
Thirdly, recognising the critical role of women in the reproductive process, their empow-
erment, improved nutrition and health has also been given due place in the national population
policy 2000 pronouncement. The country displays a high maternal mortality rate due to malnu-
trition, frequent pregnancies, early child-bearing age, unsafe abortions, etc. Apart from being a
health disadvantage, it is a reflection of gender disparity and social injustice.
 Chapter 3 • Population and Associated Issues 67

The national population policy seeks to integrate programmes for safe motherhood, uni-
versal immunization, child survival into the reproductive health and child health care system.
Fourthly, child health and survival has been recognised as another priority area. In fact,
mortality rate (IMR) is a sensitive index of human development. While in case of developed
countries the IMR is normally below 10, in case of India it still continues to be as high as 72
per thousand. National population policy 2000 intends to intensify neo-natal care and such
other child survival interventions as universal immunization, eradication of childhood diar-
rhoea, acute respiratory infections, etc., with a view to taking the country’s war on IMR to its
logical end.
Fifthly, bridging the wide gap of unmet needs, deficiencies in contraception and univer-
salising fertility information and counselling is another link in the chain of integrated approach
followed by the NPP-2000. Unmet needs of contraception, supplies and equipment have left
56% of the eligible couples unprotected. NPP-2000 aims at reducing this percentage of unpro-
tected couples considerably.
Sixthly, the NPP-2K proposes to pay special attention to all such under-served catego-
ries as slum-dwellers, tribals, adolescents and menfolk. Nearly 10% of India’s population lives
in urban slums, which have no access to such basic health services, such as sanitation facilities,
potable water, and health care services. No wonder the infant mortality rates, the maternal
mortality rates and the total fertility rates among them continue to be high. They constitute a
major target group for promoting the small family norm. Similarly, tribal populations and the
hill areas with low population densities also have inadequate access to fertility and mortality
related services clue to poor infrastructural back up. Mobile clinics and integration of tribal
indigenous system of medicines have been proposed as the strategies in this regard. Similarly,
the needs of the adolescent population, which constitutes one-fifth of the country’s popula-
tion, also have been duly addressed to in the NPP-2K. Ensuring adolescent education, mini-
mising school drop-outs, delayed marriages, delayed first child birth, protection from STD are
some of the measures envisaged by the national population policy in this regard. Above all,
it is also proposed to propagate increased participation of menfolk in planned parenthood
unlike the previous programmes that seemed to exclude completely the menfolk from all wel-
fare efforts. There is no denying the fact that men play a critical role in the decision-making
process in the family with regard to employment, age at marriage of all the family members
as well as with regard to access to and utilization of health, nutrition and family welfare ser-
vices for women and children. The NPP-2K has happily recognized the critical role of men
in this regard.
Seventhly, the NPP-2K proposes to diversify health-care providers by assigning tar-
get groups to private medical practitioners; collaborating with NGOs and private/corporate
health sector; mainstreaming of Indian system of medicines and homoeopathy; optimising
utilization of local cures and low cost health care, etc., in the hope of achieving a high degree
of public involvement with a view to making family welfare programmes a people’s move-
ment. Integration of community supported ancient indigenous system of medicines into the
modern system would strengthen the confidence of the community in the system of services
in general.
Eighthly, upgrading the technology input in the field of contraception and child
health care is sought to be achieved by the national population policy through a continuous
dialogue between the government on the one hand, and the existing network of academic
and research institutions not only in allopathy sector but also in Indian system of medicines
68 Indian Society for Civil Services

and all other types of relevant public and private institutions engaged in social science re-
search (e.g., demography, population geography, sociology, behavioural sciences, etc.) on
the other hand.
Ninthly, caring for the elderly population too finds its due place in the national popula-
tion policy. It is worth mentioning here that life expectancy in the country has travelled a long
journey from mere 25 years at the beginning of 20th century to 62 years at the close of the same
century. Even at the time of Independence, the average age of an Indian was only 37 years.
However, even with present 62 years of average age, the proportion of those who were above
60 years was likely to be only 6.97 at the time of 2001 census. It is expected to increase to 8.94
by 2016. It has been estimated that 50 m people may be added to plus 60 age group in India dur-
ing 1996–2016. Since the traditional support system in the form of joint family in the country
was weakening, this age group is becoming increasingly vulnerable. Hence the need to protect
and care for this group of elderly people. The government of India had adopted a national pol-
icy for the older persons in January 1999. The chief objective of such a policy was to sensitise,
equip and train the health care centres and hospitals both in rural and urban areas to the needs
of this age group. The national population policy apart from promoting health care facilities for
them, also intends to explore the possibility of introducing the relief to those adults who look
after their aged parents.
Lastly, the national population policy 2000 envisages rapid dissemination/diffusion of
more clear and well-focussed family welfare massages with the objective of reaching out to even
the remotest areas preferably in local dialects. It proposes to utilise the services of all including
artists, popular film stars, doctors, vaidyas, hakims, nurses, midwives, women organizations, youth
organizations, etc.
Thus, decentralising both planning and action, integrating service delivery at village
level, empowering women, ensuring better child survival, bridging unmet needs gap, targeting
under-­served groups, utilising the services of private health sector, integrating different sys-
tems of medicines including the ancient/traditional, upgrading technology input, disseminat-
ing accurate and well-focussed information and caring for the older people constitute the 10
commandments that lie at the heart of India’s recently announced national population policy
(NPP-2000).
As has been our experience during the last 50 years, mere pronouncement of a well
thought-out, all-encompassing policy may fail to yield rich dividends unless it is strengthened by
adequate funding, practicable legislative support and acceptable promotional and motivational
measures. Then and only then a national population policy, can succeed in transforming family
welfare programme into a peoples’ movement.
As regards funding, the national population policy proposes to

1. double the annual budget provisions for the department of family welfare for ensuring ef-
fective implementation of its schemes
2. strengthen the infrastructural facilities at village level sub-centres, primary health centres,
community centres, etc. and
3. continue to subsidise ante-natal and post-natal care for women, immunization pro-
grammes for children and contraception of all types.

As regards the practicable legislative support, the legislation prescribing the minimum
age at marriage for boys (21) and girls (18) have already been in operation with the penalties
 Chapter 3 • Population and Associated Issues 69

amounting to imprisonment for the parents of the bride as well as the groom. A legislation
debarring persons having more than two children from contesting Panchayat elections has also
been implemented. However, enacting such a law for Members of Legislative Assemblies and
Parliament has not been possible so far. The national population policy 2000 has recommended
freezing the number of Parliament members as per 1971 population up to 2026 meaning thereby
that the states with higher population growth will not be able to have more Parliamentarians. A
sort of disincentive for the politicians.
With regard to promotional and motivational measures, the national population policy
2000 proposes to
1. honour and reward those Panchayats/Tribe Parishads that show exemplary performance
in universalising small family norms, reducing IMR and CBR and ensuring 100% school
enrolment with no drop outs at primary schooling stage
2. continue with the Balika Samridhi Yojna that provides a cash award of Rs. 500/- at the
birth of a girl child at first or second parity
3. continue with Maternity Benefit Scheme that provides a cash incentive of Rs. 500/- to the
mothers who have their first child only after attaining 19 years of age with the new provi-
sion that now it would be available only to those mothers who comply with regular ante-
natal check ups, institutional delivery, registration of births and BCG immunization
4. introduce a family welfare-linked health insurance plan for below poverty line who opt
for sterilization after two children, whereby they become eligible for reimbursement of
hospitalization changes up to Rs. 5,000/-
5. reward such couples below poverty line who marry only after the legally permissible age
for marriage and delay their first child up to mother attaining 21 years of age and opt for
terminal method after the birth of second child
6. create a self-help group in each village to provide community level health care services and
to establish a revolving fund for generating income for running such activities
7. open child care centres and crèches in villages and urban slums to encourage female
employment
8. make contraception easily accessible
9. expand and strengthen the facilities for safe abortion
10. provide soft loans to local enlightened persons at village level to run ambulance services
11. provide vocational training of girls at local village level for preparing them for self-em-
ployment in the village itself
12. enforce effective implementation of Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1976 to make delayed
marriages really effective
13. enforce strictly pre-natal Diagnostic Act of 1994 and
14. extend the freeze of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats at 1971 census level up to 2026.

A NEW APPROACH
It is important to form a social policy with new dimensions in order to stabilize the population.
The following are the components:
a. Target-free programme: Earlier, the target was given to government functionaries for
the sterilization and other programme. But in 1996, the target-free approach was intro-
duced which make teachers, villages functionaries, etc., to work without targets.
70 Indian Society for Civil Services

b. Bottom-up approach or decentralized participatory planning: It is important to plan

for population stabilization in bottom level, that is, at village level, in order to understand
the ground reality. The plan should include the inputs from village’s functionaries, health
workers, NGOs, etc., so that the plan can be implemented as soon as possible expecting
maximum output. Further, all village plan can combine to form district-level plan, which
in turn contribute inputs for state-level plan and finally to national-level plan.
c. State-specific reproductive and child health strategy: Since states display a wide varia-
tion in health parameters, such as infant mortalities, maternal mortalities, birth rates, etc.,
area-specific reproductive and child health strategy (RCH) approach has been worked out
separately for three groups of states plus the special category states where considerable
infrastructure input flows from state health systems projects.
d. Integrated RCH package: It provides a minimum model framework for reproductive
health services at different levels in the district, namely, sub-centre, PHC and district hos-
pitals. These services are related to prevention and management of unwanted pregnancy,
maternal care, services for the new-born and infants and management of STDs.
e. Comprehensive integrated training: Well-trained personnel generally acquire the skill
of intervention, communication and management which will be so important in pro-
gramme implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
f. Increased involvement of NGOs: As we already know, NGOs acts as a bridge between
the government and people. Hence, by increasing the NGOs, one can expect an assured
success of programme.
g. Independent evaluation of programme: Eighteen population resource centres are es-
tablished by government in order to work out formats for annual survey. Regional teams
were also constituted for cross-checking various activities.

DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION IN INDIA

To analyse demographic transition in India, it is important to consider the levels of birth rates
and death rates over time.
The first stage of demographic transition in India continued till about 1920 when both
birth rates and death rates were very high. The second stage of demographic transition in the
country began from the early 1920s and spread well up to early 1970s. During this period, major
causes of high mortality—famines and epidemics—were brought under control and, between
1921 and 1951, the country witnessed a gradual rise in population growth rates; the decline in
death rates became in birth rate resulting in higher population growth rates that continued dur-
ing the 1960s.
India seems to have entered the third stage of demographic transition since 1971. The
decline in death rate during the 1970s was almost the same as the decline in birth rate, leading
to a plateau in population growth rate during the 1960s and the 1970s. There has been a faster
decline in birth rate than decline in death rate during the 1980s and 1990s. Faster decline in birth
rate than death rate has continued during the present decade as well. According to the popula-
tion projections prepared by the Office of the Registrar General, India is expected to enter the
fourth stage of Demographic Transition by about 2026. The Registrar General has also worked
out the likely dates when the major states would achieve total fertility rate of 2.1. Kerala and
Tamil Nadu have already achieved that goal, and Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and
West Bengal have also achieved the same by 2006.
 Chapter 3 • Population and Associated Issues 71

The problem states in this respect are Bihar, Chhattishgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh,
Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal where the goal of TFR of 2.1 is likely to be achieved
by 2030. It is noteworthy that the National Population Policy document indicates that India’s
population and that in every state would be stabilized by 2040, that is, when TFR would become
as 2.1. This only implies that birth rate would be around 20 per 1,000 persons. It would not be
the stationary stage with birth and death rates being almost equal at the lower end of demo-
graphic transition.
It is only in Kerala and Tamil Nadu that the growth rate had declined to 1.1% per annum.
In these states, fertility has fallen below replacement level the other states that have experienced
decline in growth rate during the latter half of the 1990s are Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Him-
achal Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, West Bengal and Delhi.
In contrast, natural growth rate in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh
has continued to be more than 2% annum and decline in it is rather slow. These four states
should take fairly long time before their birth rates decline to replacement level of total fertility
rate of 2.1 and many more decades to reach the stationary stage.

Growing ‘North’–South Disparity

Continuous growth in population in Northern states and significant decline in the population
growth in southern has led to the an over all imbalance on the country as far human resources
are concerned. With this brief idea here we discuss the following points:

•• The population of India is expected to increase from 1029 million in 2001 to 1400 million
in 2026. This means an increase of 36% in 25 years.
•• The crude birth rate is expected to decline from 23.2 per thousand during 2001–05 to 16.0
during 2021–25. The decline in the crude death rate during this period, however, will be
marginal from 7.5 to 7.2 per thousand.
•• Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) which was 63 per thousand in 2002 is expected to decline
to 40 by 2025, of figure which will still remain shockingly high if we make international
comparisons.
•• In absolute terms, India’s youthful population in the age group 20–29 years is estimated
to increased from 174 million in 2001 to 238 million in 2016 or an increase of 64 m ­ illion.
Creating employment opportunities for 64 million youngsters in a time span of just
15 years is a daunting task before the country. One can argue that this upsurge in youthful
population, far from being a demographic dividend (a fashionable term of late and per-
haps an endearing term for ageing Europe) can turn out to be demographic burden.
•• It is distressing to note that the number of females per thousand males (sex ratio) is
­expected to decrease from 933 to 930 in 2026. The spread of female foeticide which
started in Haryana and Punjab, thanks to modern technology, is bound to spread all over
India in spite of the PCPNDT Act. Millions of young men without wives and without
jobs will pose a grave threat to India.
•• The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is expected to decline from 2.9 during 2001–05 to 2.0 dur-
ing 2021–2025.
•• The urban population which was 28% in 2001 is expected to increase 33% by 2026.
•• The projections also take note of the possible decline in population growth rate because
of AIDS. It is estimated that by 2026, the population of India is expected to be 1,400
­million (without AIDS) and 1,384 million (with AIDS).
72 Indian Society for Civil Services

•• Of the projected increase in population of 371 million during the period 2001–2026,
the Registrar General estimates that the increase “187 million is likely to occur in seven
states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh
and ­Uttaranchal (termed as BIMARU states)”. Incidentally, the term BIMARU for the
states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to pinpoint India’s de-
mographic malady as far back as 1985 when India’s family-planning programme was
launched. It is unfortunate that the BIMARU states continue to be BIMARU even
today and what is worse, these states will continue to be BIMARU states even after
25 years, as per the Registrar General’s projections. The acronym “BIMARU” refers
only to demographic sickness. Of late, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have made
some progress on the economic front but unfortunately on the demographic front,
they continue to be BIMARU as is evident from the National Family Health Survey
(NFHS) records.

Growing Demographic Divide

•• In the erstwhile BIMARU states, the population is expected to grow by 44% while in the
southern states the comparable figure is only 21%, that is, the growth rate in BIMARU
states will be more than double that of southern states.
•• The share of BIMARU states in the absolute increase in India’s population during 2001–
26 will be of the order of 50.4% while the share of South will be only 12.6%. It means
that the good progress in family planning in the southern states cannot compensate for
the slow progress of family planning in the northern states in bringing about population
stabilization. This will considerably delay the target date for population stabilization be-
cause of the weightage of BIMARU states.
•• Uttar Pradesh is expected to achieve the magic figure of 2.1 only by 2027. It will still have
a TFR of 2.6 during 2021–25. If Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in India lags far
behind, India’s prospects of population state in India lags far behind, India’s prospects of
population stabilization will be bleak. The record of the hilly state of Uttaranchal (now
called Uttarakhand) which was carved out of Uttar Pradesh has a much better record than
Uttar Pradesh. Another hilly state Himachal Pradesh has an even better record on the
demographic front. It achieved TFR of 2.1 in 2002 and the TFR is expected to be 1.8 by
2021–25.
•• Perhaps the most disturbing figure for ill health among rural women is in respect of the
­incidence of anaemia among married women in the reproductive age group (15–49) years).
The figures are shockingly high all over India. It is as high as 73.7% in Jharkhand, 68.2% in
Bihar, 61% in Madhya Pradesh and surprisingly 63.7% in Andhra Pradesh.

The Spread of Female Foeticide

In the acronym “DEMARU”, D stands for daughter, E for eliminating, M for male, A
for aspiring, R for rage and U for ultrasound, that is to say: daughter eliminating male
aspiring rage for ultrasound. The D category districts are indeed the black holes, in India’s
demographic transition and a symptom of civilizational collapse.
Those familiar with the field situation in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chan-
digarh and Delhi know that the ready availability of doctors during the ultrasound test and
consequent female foeticide, the good transportation network and the ability to pay for the
 Chapter 3 • Population and Associated Issues 73

services of the mobile doctors are factors responsible for the widespread recourse to ultra-
sound in rural areas also. In the BIMARU states (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Ut-
tar Pradesh), these factors do no operate. It could be argued on the basis of field work that
it is not the son complex in confined to Punjab and Haryana—it is all over India and is also
creeping in the enlightened state of Kerala but what matters is the ready availability of doc-
tors and the paying capacity of the people which are conspicuous in Punjab, Haryana and
Himachal Pradesh.
Why not get at the fundamentals? What is the cause of female foeticide? The society is
blindfolded by a myth which considers girl child are liabilities for a family because of dowry
fear at the time of marriage. On the other hand, boys are considered as asset. Why not make
the girls assets? Why not flood this country with women’s polytechnics and train millions of
young girls in modern skills so that they can have their own income and stand on their own
feet and resist dowry. Why not reserve 50% of jobs for women? It is tragic to note that the
nurses from Kerala, with a reputation for excellence all over the world, have to save money for
dowry. Otherwise they cannot get married. Rukmini Menong, one of India’s first women dip-
lomats said: “Kerala nurses have to buy husbands!” Where does the so-called empowerment of
women lead us to?
As things are, the child sex ratio is very likely to go down further in the years to come. The
shortage of women will distort society, the crime against women will increase, polyandry will
emerge on the scene and there will be growing conflict and violence. It is a horrendous scenario.
The then Secretary of Family Welfare, A R Nanda got into trouble for saying the population
stabilization can wait; it is more important to correct the sex imbalance. Nanda was ab-
solutely right. Population stabilization achieved through producing only two sons cannot be our
goal, unless we opt for demographic imbalance and social disaster.
Successful Models of Population Transition
The National Population Policy (NPP) was announced by the Government in February 2000.
The immediate objective of NPP was to address the unmet needs for contraception, health
care, infrastructure and health personnel, the medium-term objective was to bring the Total
Fertility Rate (TFR) to replacement level by 2010, and the long-term objective was to achieve a
stable population by 2045’, at a level consistent with the requirements of sustainable economic
growth, social development, and environmental protection” (NPP, 2000).
Apart from Kerala and Tamil Nadu, which have succeeded in curbing population growth,
with Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh as runners up, the small state of Himachal Pradesh has
performed well and deserves recognition. In fact, Kerala has been over publicized and there is
not enough dissemination of other models of demographic transition, like those of Himachal
Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Before describing these models, let us state the main elements of
the Kerala model.

Kerala Model
Kerala is a shining success story in India’s quest for population stabilization. It is worth noting
that Kerala’s birth, death and infant mortality rates are lower than in China and the literacy rate
is higher than in China. All this was achieved in a democratic setup without any coercive mea-
sures. A number of factors have contributed to the Kerala model of demographic transition
which is unique in many ways, a model crafted by history and geography. We present below
74 Indian Society for Civil Services

in a summary from the main factors which led to Kerala’s successful demographic transition
(eleven ‘M’s).
Maharajas: The benevolent rulers of Travancore and Cochin had an enlightened policy to-
wards health and education. A human resource development strategy was initiated in Kerala
long back and no wonder, among all the states today, Kerala has the highest rating for Human
Development Index.
Missionaries: The Christian missionaries played a pioneering role in promoting health and ed-
ucation, they continued to run excellent hospitals, schools and colleges, not only in Kerala but
all over India.
Mass movements: There were several mass movements in Kerala led by social reformers and
visionaries who electrified the masses and empowered them to fight for their rights. The devel-
oped a high degree of political consciousness.
Marxist governments: The first elected Marxist government in India was in Kerala. They
implemented land reforms effectively. The land-owners who lost and realized that land alone
could no longer sustain them and they turned to education in a big way as an alternative
source of income. The beneficiaries of land reform also realized that they could not make
a proper living from the small parcels of land they had received. They also turned to educa-
tion. Land reforms thus created a high degree of motivation for education which yielded long-term dividends
to Kerala.
Massive investment in health and education by successive State Governments in Kerala which,
combined with good administration, helped in human resources development, better health
standards and adoption of the small family norm.
Mega villages, high density, marginal difference between rural and urban areas, coupled with
a good transportation network (by road and water) made access to health and education easy.
­Rural–urban continuum is a unique feature of Kerala’s human settlement pattern.
Matrilineal system though confined to certain higher castes created to helpful social environ-
ment and a higher status of women than in other states of India.
Marriage age of girls and boys increased continuously and this made a dent on the birth rate.
This in turn was the influence of education. Late marriages and educated mothers meant lower
rates of maternal, infant and child mortality and higher practice of contraception.
Migration: Historically, Kerala was always exposed to migration. After the oil crisis in the 70s,
there was a sudden spurt in emigration to the Gulf countries. Apart from easing population pres-
sure and unemployment, such migration meant considerable monetary remittances to Kerala.
This increased the per capita real income of the people which was not always reflected in the
national income statistics.
Media: Both the print and electronic media, along with moves helped in effective communi-
cation, including spreading family-planning messages and advocacy of the small family norm.
Malyalee newspapers, magazines and movies have a very high circulation.
Management of the family-planning programme was good in Kerala. In fact, the Ernakulam
camp experiment of mass (male) sterilization was an excellent exercise in logistics and mass
 Chapter 3 • Population and Associated Issues 75

mobilization. Apart from the Government, private doctors, health co-operatives and hospitals
played a significant role in reducing mortality and fertility rates in Kerala.

Tamil Nadu Model

Briefly, the main factors responsible for the success of the Tamil Nadu model are as follows:
Social reform movements and strong political will: Tamil Nadu is known for several social
reform movements. In particular, leaders like Periyar (Ramasami Naicker) influenced the masses
in a big way and among other things made them conscious of responsible parenthood. Periyar’s
disciples became political leaders and ministers in course of time and this generated a strong
political will on the population front. In passing, it may be noted that in Tamil Nadu, it is quite
common to invite politicians to preside over marriage ceremonies, and the political leaders in-
variably advise young couples to adopt the small family norm.
Early start in the family-planning programme:
Mid-day meal programme: The mid-day meal programmed for school children introduced
by the Chief Minister MGR was a great success. It improved school attendance and also con-
tributed to the nutritional level of boys and girls. Thousands of women (mostly widows) were
employed for cooking hot meals for school children. This was truly a welfare scheme. This had a
good impact on the family-planning programme. It improved the credibility of the government;
the people put faith in the government’s proposition that a small family helped in improving the
welfare of the people.
Transport and Communication: Tamil Nadu is a much bigger state than Kerala and its hu-
man settlement pattern is quite different from Kerala’s; but one must note that Tamil Nadu has
a large number of towns and cities which are evenly distributed and the transportation network
is good. As a result, the diffusion process is efficient.

Himachal Pradesh Model

Another model of demographic transition is the Himachal Pradesh model of demographic
transition, which has not received much attention.
The crucial factor in influencing the demographic transition in this state is self-­
empowerment of women. The main elements of the Himachal Pradesh model are as follows:
•• Realization on the part of the common people that the carrying capacity of land in this
hilly state is extremely limited.
•• Realization that out-migration of males is the only option for improving the economic
condition at the household level.
•• Self-empowerment of women who are left behind in the village. They have no option but
to learn how to take care of land, cattle, children, ole people and themselves.
•• Realization of the value of education of boys and girls and the need for such educa-
tion to get employment in cities or in the army and for girls to get good husbands in
cities. Both these factors lead to high enrolment ration of boys and girls in schools and
colleges. The people fully realize the value of education of girls, unlike in states like
Haryana.
76 Indian Society for Civil Services

•• Prosperity brought about in certain areas, for example, in the apple belt, by rapid strides in
the development of agriculture, orchards and horticulture.
•• Impact of Chinese aggression in 1962 on construction of roads even in remote areas,
leading to vastly improved transportation network.
•• Success of state governments in providing water and electricity to almost all villages.
•• The general acceptance by people of philosophy of living in tune with nature, respect
for forests, rivers and mountains and an abiding interest in religion, God and a moral
code.
•• A history of good political leadership in early years and fairly good governance,
comparatively a low level of corruption and respect for honesty among God-fearing
people.

Andhra Pradesh Model

Andhra Pradesh lags behind Kerala and Tamil Nadu with regard to social and economic devel-
opment. The literacy rate of females is comparatively low, and so is the female age at marriage.
Yet in the last decade, Andhra Pradesh has taken rapid strides in curbing the fertility rate. It
could be described as SURPRISE PPP model where SUR stands for subsidized rice, PRI for
priority (to), S for sterilization, E for exposure to media and the three PPPs for political leader-
ship, people’s mobilization and programmed push.
The next factor is a high exposure to the mass media (i.e., radio, newspaper or maga-
zine, television, cinema/theatre). Andhra Pradesh has also a good network of cinema halls
and cinema-going habit is very pronounced in this state. In spite of a low literacy rate, peo-
ple are exposed to TV and cinema message and this has greatly contributed to the raising
of the motivational level of family-planning practice. Above all, the strong political lead-
ership provided by the Chief Minister (Chandra Babu Naidu) contributed to the Andhra
model demographic transition. In fact, Andhra Pradesh was the first state in India to have
come out with a State Population Policy (Andhra Pradesh Government 1997). This state
has also done well in mobilizing people at the grassroots level through the Janmabhumi pro-
gram (Andhra Pradesh, 1998). Finally, a committed bureaucracy has given a big push to the
family welfare programme.

Population Stabilization Fund (Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh–JSK)

In June 2005 the Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh (JSK) was set up by the Ministry of Health and Fam-
ily Welfare, Government of India, as an autonomous body duly registered as a Society under the
Societies Registration Act, 1860.
The Government of India provided a Rs.100 crore Corpus fund to signify its commit-
ment to the activities of the Kosh. JSK was mandated to use the interest on the Corpus and also
raise contributions from organizations and individuals that support population stabilization.
JSK has been promoting a drive for membership from among experts in population stud-
ies and allied sectors, medical associations, associations of Industry and Trade, banks, NGOs,
paramedics and general citizens. The main aim is to bring the need for population stabilization
into focus. The work is being undertaken according to decisions taken by Governing Board
which has blend of both government and non-government members with the governing mem-
bers acting as umpires and facilitators.
 Chapter 3 • Population and Associated Issues 77

The aims and objectives of JSK are as follows:

1. To provide or undertake activities aimed to achieve population stabilization, at a level

consistent with the needs sustainable economic growth, social development and environ-
ment protection, by 2045.
2. In order to achieve the objective of National Population policy 2000 and unmet needs
for contraception and reproductive and child health care, government should encourage
­innovative ideas, programme, projects of government, private and sector.
3. To facilitate the development of a vigorous people’s movement in favour of the national
effort for population stabilization.
4. To provide a window for canalizing contributions from individuals, trade organizations
and others within the country and outside, in furtherance of the national cause of popula-
tion stabilization.
Among the innovative activities of JSK, mention must be made of their detail GIS
maps. JSK has mapped 450 districts in India through a unique amalgamation of GIS maps
and Census data which gives a picture of each district, its sub-divisions and the population of
every village along with the distance to the health facility. The maps highlight iniquities in coverage
down to ­e very ­village to enable resources to be targeted where they are needed most. The GIS
mapping and amalgamation of census data has been completed for the entire country except
north-­eastern states and Himachal Pradesh due to the non-availability of village level bound-
ary data there.

National Commission on Population

The National Commission of Population is chaired by the Prime Minister and consists of chief
minister of all states, chief ministers of UTs, minister of health and family welfare and concerned
ministries from the Department of Education, Department of Social Justice and Empowerment
in the Ministry of HRD, Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Environment and Forest
and others as necessary, and reputed demographers, public health professionals, and NGOs as
members. This Commission oversees and reviews implementation of policy. The Commission
Secretariat is provided by the Department of Family Welfare.

•• State/UT Commissions on Population: Each State and UT may consider having a

State/UT Commission on Population, presided over by the Chief Minister, on the analogy
of the National Commission, to likewise oversee and review implementation of the NPP
2000 in the State/UT.
•• Coordination Cell in the Planning Commission: The Planning Commission will have
a Coordination Cell for inter-sectoral coordination between Ministries for enhancing per-
formance, particularly in States/UTs needing special attention on account of adverse de-
mographic and human development indicators.
•• Technology Mission in the Department of Family Welfare: To enhance performance,
particularly in States with currently below average socio-demographic indices that need fo-
cused attention, a technology mission will be established to provide technical support for
projects and programme.
78 Indian Society for Civil Services

PRACTICE QUESTIONS
1. Population is an asset to India if the youth population is put to productive use. In the light
of the statement, discuss the impediments in creating skilled and productive labour force
in India.
2. “Due to rapid growth of population, natural resources are becoming scarce and lack of
land causes overcrowding in many areas of the world”. With reference to this statement,
explain various other impacts of population with examples in Indian context.
3. Critically examine the inter linkage between underdevelopment and population explosion
India. How far the governmental efforts are effective in containing population explosion?
4. Suggest some measures to capitalize India’s “demographic dividend”. What are the hurdles
faced by the Government of India in capitalizing the benefits?
5. Briefly discuss about the impact of rapid population growth on Environment.

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTION

1. How do you explain the statistics that show that the sex ratio in Tribes in India is more
favourable to women than the sex ratio among Scheduled Castes? (10 Marks) 2015
2. Discuss the changes in the trends of labour migration within and outside India in the last
four decades. (15 Marks) 2015
3. Why do some of the most prosperous regions of India have an adverse sex ratio for
women? Give your arguments. (10 Marks) 2014
 Chapter 4
Poverty and Developmental Issues

Learning Objectives

In this chapter, you will learn about:

• The Concept of Poverty • Feminization of Poverty in India
• Measurements of Poverty • Measures to Alleviate Poverty
• History of Calculation of Poverty in India • Few other Effective Measures for Poverty
• Causes of Poverty M. Senthil Kumar
Alleviation
• Renowned International Organisation for
• The Consequence of Poverty
Poverty Reduction
S. Rijesh

rs / Editors NameINTRODUCTION
With CD Red Band Territory line URL Price mQuest
Poverty is a state or condition in which a person or community lacks the financial resources and
essentials to enjoy a minimum standard of life and well-being that is considered acceptable in
society. Poor people generally lacks basic skills, treated not at par with others in certain social
settings, lacks power to acquire what he or she wants, etc. Poverty is the type of social illness,
and those who experience poverty understand the miserable aspect of life.
Poverty is generally of two types:
1. Absolute poverty: It refers to a condition where a person does not have the minimum
amount of income needed to meet the basic requirements for one or more basic living
needs over an extended period of time. It may be calculated in monetary terms, nutrition
attainment or calories terms. It is generally same everywhere as people devoid of basic
materialistic or absolute standards of living.
80 Indian Society for Civil Services

2 Relative poverty: It occurs when people do not enjoy a certain minimum level of living stan-
dards as determined by government (and enjoyed by the bulk of population) that vary from
country to country, which is said to be increasing and may possibly never be eradicated.
It is only in the second half of the 20th century that poverty and the poor have come to be
matters of our apprehension and concern. After a long disregard of the poor during the B ­ ritish
rule, the measures adopted after independence indicated the identification of poverty and the
­social responsibility to assuage it. How did this happen? What have we done? How far have we
succeeded? Before attempting to answer these questions, let us first discuss the concept of poverty.

CONCEPT OF POVERTY
The definition of poverty matters because how it is defined determines how much poverty
there is believed to be. The definition can also influence the explanations of poverty and the
possible solutions that are put forward.
According to World Bank “Poverty is pronounced as deprivation in well-being, and com-
prises many dimensions. It includes low incomes and the inability to acquire the basic goods and
services necessary for survival with dignity. Poverty also encompasses low levels of health and
education, poor access to clean water and sanitation, inadequate physical security, lack of voice
and insufficient capacity and opportunity to better one’s life”.
According to United Nations “Fundamentally, poverty is denial choices and opportunities,
a violation of human dignity. It means lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in society.
It means not having enough to feed and clothe to family, not having a school or clinic to go to
not having the land on which to grow one’s food or a job to earn one’s living,and not having ac-
cess to credit. It means insecurity, powerlessness and exclusion of individuals, households and
communities. It means susceptibility to violence, and it often implies living in marginal or fragile
environments, without access to clean water or sanitation.
A feeling of discrepancy will arise because of poverty. There exists a huge gap between
what one has and what one should have. What one should have differs from one society to an-
other society and it is based on its internal construct. Hence, the reasons for poverty, existence
of poverty and continuance of poverty in one society is different from another society. But, the
feeling of ‘powerlessness’ and ‘resourcelessness’ is experienced by all poor people in all known
societies. The following are identified as few of the dimensions of poverty.
•• Lack of better livelihood opportunities
•• Inaccessibility to resources (money, land, access to basic amenities)
•• Feeling of insecurity and frustrations
•• Inability to maintain and develop social relations with others as a consequence of lack of
resources
•• Size of family, health care/malnutrition
•• Illiteracy, child labour
•• Hunger and lack of shelter
•• Lack of clean water and sanitation
•• Lack of regular job at a minimum decent level
•• Living with a sense of helplessness

Literally poverty means a situation of scarcity for few sections of the individual in society.
From the social and economic point of view, it refers to a condition where the bare minimum
 Chapter 4 • Poverty and Developmental Issues 81

necessities of life are not fulfilled. Thus, the situation of lower standard of living, social back-
wardness is out of poverty. Poverty is a state in which a section of society is unable to get the
basic necessities of life.
Poverty is a relative concept. No individual or country is absolutely poor or rich. A man is
poor or rich in comparison to the others. As Adam Smith says, ‘Man is poor or rich according to
the degree in which he can afford to enjoy the necessaries, conveniences and amusements of life.’
The form of these minimum necessities however changes, with variation in place and time. There
is no uniform standard to define poverty throughout the world. Poverty conventionally refers to
inability of the people to attain certain predetermined minimum consumption needs. But in a
wider sense, poverty is the constraint which restricts people to enjoy certain facilities of life. This
is regarded as capability poverty. Thus, capability poverty is defined as the lack of basic capabilities.
When people are unable to reach a certain level of essential human achievements of func-
tioning, they suffer from capability poverty. Poverty hinders the economic development of a
country by reducing working capacity, efficiency, saving and investment. If mass population
remains below the poverty line it will reduce saving, investment, income and employment. Less
income will further lead to less saving, less investment and less income and employment. Thus,
a vicious circle of poverty operates in a country.
Poverty connotes that people who do not enjoy a certain minimum consumption standard should
be regarded as poor. Experts who have studied poverty quantitatively find it difficult to agree on the
amount of income that will ensure the minimum consumption standard at a specified time. There are a
number of studies made by the government as well as individuals on incidence of poverty.
Literally poverty means a situation of scarcity for few sections of the individual in society.
From the social and economic point of view, it refers to a condition where the bare minimum
necessities of life are not fulfilled. Thus, the situation of lower standard of living, social back-
wardness is out of poverty.
Poverty is a relative concept. No individual or country is absolutely poor or rich. A man is
poor or rich in comparison to the others. As Adam Smith says, ‘Man is poor or rich according to
the degree in which he can afford to enjoy the necessaries, conveniences and amusements of life.’
The form of these minimum necessities however changes, with variation in place and time. There
is no uniform standard to define poverty throughout the world. Poverty conventionally refers to
inability of the people to attain certain predetermined minimum consumption needs. But in a
wider sense, poverty is the constraint which restricts people to enjoy certain facilities of life. This
is regarded as capability poverty. Thus, capability poverty is defined as the lack of basic capabilities.
When people are unable to reach a certain level of essential human achievements of func-
tioning, they suffer from capability poverty. Poverty hinders the economic development of a
country by reducing working capacity, efficiency, saving and investment. If mass population
remains below the poverty line it will reduce saving, investment, income and employment. Less
income will further lead to less saving, less investment and less income and employment. Thus,
a vicious circle of poverty operates in a country.
Poverty connotes that people who do not enjoy a certain minimum consumption standard
should be regarded as poor. Experts who have studied poverty quantitatively find it difficult
to agree on the amount of income that will ensure the minimum consumption standard at a
specified time. There are a number of studies made by the government as well as individuals on
incidence of poverty.
Poverty is determined by the standards that exist within a society. From a sociological
point of view, this definition is more important in terms of the impact which inequality of in-
come has on the life situation and life chances of the poor. Absolute poverty can be reduced/
82 Indian Society for Civil Services

eliminated by putting wealth into the hands of the poor, but ‘inequality’ cannot be solved by
moving people above a certain relative line. As long as there are people at the bottom of the
income scale, they remain poor always. Such a condition will continue to exist as long as we have
social stratification.
Sociologically speaking, the poor are caught up in vicious circles. Being poor means living
in poor neighbourhood, which means being unable to send children to schools, which means
not only the poor themselves but their children too will have low-paying jobs or no jobs at all,
which means being doomed to remain poor forever. Also, being poor means eating poor food,
which means having poor health, which in turn means being handicapped or too weak to handle
the heavy manual work, which also means accepting low-paid work, which leads to remaining
poor forever. Thus, each circle begins and ends with being poor.

MEASUREMENTS OF POVERTY
First, researchers have disagreement in whether poverty should be measured in ‘absolute’ or
‘relative’ terms. Some writers have argued that there is a common minimum standard that can be
applied to all societies below which individuals can be said to be in poverty.
Measures of absolute poverty are usually based upon the idea of subsistence. In other
words, people are in poverty if they do not have the resources to maintain human life.
Supporters of the concept of relative poverty, however, tend to dismiss this view. They
argue that a definition must relate to the standards of a particular society at a particular time.
Level of poverty varies from one group of people from the other group in the same society.
Now the question arises; what are the measurements of poverty? The important mea-
surements are: malnutrition, low consumption expenditure, low income, chronic illness or poor
health, illiteracy, unemployment and/or underemployment and unsanitary housing conditions.
Broadly, the poverty of a given society is expressed in terms of poor resources, low national
income, low per capita income, high disparity in income distribution.

HISTORY OF CALCULATION OF POVERTY IN INDIA

Calculation of poverty was started before independence. Initially it was Dada Bhai Naoroji who
estimated poverty in the second-half of 19th century. He concluded the base line in 1867–68 price
which was based on the cost of a subsistence diet consisting of ‘rice or flour, daal, mutton, vegeta-
bles, ghee, vegetable oil and salt’. Later, in 1938, Congress President Subhash Chandra Bose set up
the National Planning Committee (NPC) with Jawaharlal Nehru as the Chairman. The Committee
regarded the irreducible minimum income between Rs. 15 and Rs. 25 per capita per month at pre-
war prices. By 1979, it was decided that poverty should be measured precisely based on starvation.
Y. K. Alagh Committee was constituted which gave its recommendation as the people consuming
less than 2,100 calories in the urban areas or less than 2,400 calories in the rural areas are poor.

Suresh Tendulkar Committee

In 2005, Suresh Tendulkar Committee was constituted by the Planning Commission. The cur-
rent estimations of poverty are based upon the recommendations of this committee. This com-
mittee recommended to shift away from the calorie-based model and made the poverty line
somewhat broad based by considering monthly spending on education, health, electricity and
transport. It supported nutritional intake rather than caloric intake. The committee also drew a
 Chapter 4 • Poverty and Developmental Issues 83

line based on cost of living. The Tendulkar panel stipulated a benchmark daily per capita expen-
diture of Rs. 27 and Rs. 33 in rural and urban areas, respectively

C. Rangarajan Committee
The committee raised the cost of living per day to Rs. 32 and Rs. 47 for rural and urban areas,
respectively. Hence, the poverty percentage of India worked closely to 30% and in absolute
terms close to 40 crores poor.
Arvind Panagariya Task Force
The task force suggested setting up of committee to identify people ‘Below Poverty Line (BPL)’.
It also suggested participation of states. The task force suggested considering four options for
tracking the poor. First, continue with the poverty line as identified by Tendulkar committee.
Second, switch to the Rangarajan or other higher rural and urban poverty lines. Third, tracking
of people below the poverty line. Over time and fourth, tracking the bottom 30% on specific
components, such as housing, sanitation, electricity, nutritional intake, etc.

CAUSES OF POVERTY
There are two extreme perspectives on the basis of which we can analyse the causes of poverty:
the old and the modern. One view of poverty is that it is providential, and it is the result of an in-
dividual’s past karmas (deeds) or sins. The other view ascribes poverty to be the result of a failure
of an individual’s working abilities or due to his/her lack of motivation. Describing the richness
of a rich person in terms of his/her destiny and the poverty of a poor person in terms of his/
her lack of abilities serves the economic interest of the rich people and thus these sections of the
people are against the idea that inequality in a society is to an extent man made. According to the
modern view, poverty is beyond individual control, and it is the social system functioning which
is the major cause of poverty. The following are generally considered as the cause of poverty.

Individual
The ideology of individualism states that one’s poverty is the result of individual failure. It states
that his/her poor status is because of laziness, dullness, ineffectiveness and lacking of initiatives
and innovation. This ideology emphasis that poverty is good to society which results in survival
of the fittest.
Another aspect of this ideology is the “Protestant Ethics and Spirit of Capitalism” study
by Famous Sociologist Max Weber which lays emphasis on an individual’s success through the
individual’s hard work, virtue and honesty. If he or she fails, he or she has no one but himself or
herself to blame, for he or she has vices, he or she is idle and has bad habits as well. The typical
‘victim-blamer’ is a middle-class person who is enjoying reasonably good material success and
has a good job and steady income. He or she says, ‘I had to struggle to make it; why can’t the
poor? There must be something wrong with them’. Few other famous sociologists like, Spencer,
Carnegie and Lane believed in this ideology.

Culture or Sub-culture of Poverty

The second cause of poverty is the culture of poverty, or the way of life of the poor. Such
culture blocks all the attempts of the society to change the values, norms, beliefs and lifestyle
84 Indian Society for Civil Services

of the poor. The ‘Culture of Poverty’ concept suggests that despite economic changes, the
poor have remained so because of their culture or subculture. The culture of the poor fosters
behaviour and values associated with poverty; it has kept the poor out of the mainstream of
industrial society and the associated growth and development.
Oscar Lewis popularized the notion of culture of poverty in 1959. He mentioned that it
was this culture that passes on poverty from generation to generation. This conservative concept,
often shared by the politicians and the public, has given our society a reason for doing little or
nothing about the poor and poverty as a social problem. Advocates of this ideology categorize
lower-class culture and assume that the lifestyle of the poor is the cause of continued poverty.

Social Structure
While ‘individual’ and ‘culture of poverty’ are accepted as causes of poverty by the conserva­
tives, the liberals, and the radicals, sociologists link poverty to social structure or to ‘miserable
and unjust social conditions’. Our age old social institutions, low level of economic growth low
educational attainment, lack of employable skills, long-term unemployment are the causes and
factors responsible for poverty. Change in social and economic structures is not brought about,
and unfortunately hindered by vested interests.

The Causes of Poverty in Indian Context

The causes of poverty lie in the institutional and social factors that mark the life of the poor.
The poor are deprived of quality education and unable to acquire skills which fetch better in-
comes. Also access to health care is denied to the poor. The main victims of caste, religious and
other discriminatory practices are poor. These can be caused as a result of
1. Social, economic and political inequality
2. Social exclusion
3. Unemployment
4. Indebtedness
5. Unequal distribution of wealth
Apart from the above factors , the following are also one or the other reason for the prevalence
of poverty in India.
1. Population Growth
India’s population grew at an average annual rate of 1.2 per cent between 2010 and 2019
to 1.36 billion, more than double the annual growth rate of China, according to a report by
the United Nations Population Fund. Such huge increase in population raises the demand
for consumption goods considerably. As the population increases there increases huge
demand for the scarce resources which ultimately leads to poverty gap.
2. Agriculture Productivity
Lack of capital, fragmentation of land, non-upgradation of technology has left Indian agri-
culture with very low productivity when compared to international per acreage productiv-
ity. The much available resources are under-utilized in India, which is the key to improve
productivity.
3. Economic Development
The rate of economic development in India has been below the required level. Therefore,
there persists a gap between level of availability and requirements of goods and services.
The net result is poverty.
 Chapter 4 • Poverty and Developmental Issues 85

4. Unmanageable Inflationary Pressures

The persistent steep increase in the price of goods and services drastically affects the poor.
BPL people always find it difficult to cope up with the sudden increase in the prices of es-
sential goods and services and thus and their spending pattern gets affected.
5. Employment
The continuously expanding scenario of unemployed is yet another cause of poverty.
The jobseekers are increasing in number at a higher rate than the increase in employment
opportunities.
6. Capital and Able Entrepreneurship Deficit
Capital and able entrepreneurship have important role in accelerating the growth. But
these are in short supply making it difficult to increase production significantly.
7. Social Factor
The social setup is still backward and is not conducive to faster development. Laws of in-
heritance, caste system, traditions and customs are putting hindrances in the way of faster
development and have aggravated the problem of poverty.
8. Traditionalism
India is a land of traditionalism. Some of the age old practices like communalism,
casteism,linguism and religiousness have a negative effect on country’s progress by mak-
ing people dogmatic in their approach and narrow minded and selfish in outlook.
9. Dominance of Caste and Joint Families
Our caste system still has its hold on the caste members. The caste system compels its mem-
bers to stick on to the traditional and hereditary occupations of the caste. It does not give
encouragement to the caste members to take up to jobs of their choices. In the very same
manner, the joint families which are still dominant in the rural areas do not allow young mem-
bers to take initiative in making new adventures in the employment and economic spheres.
10. Political Factors
The Britishers started lopsided development in India and reduced Indian economy to a
colonial state. They exploited the natural resources to suit their interests and weaken the
industrial base of Indian economy. British destroyed the traditional industries and equal
development in modern industries also got hampered by them.
Withe the advent of globalization,the level of inter regional and intra regional disparity
have also increased in many parts of India.
The present government policies are more to fulfill the international obligations and thus
our state has moved from welfare orientated approach to market oriented in nature.
In independent India, the development plans have been guided by political interests.
Hence, the planning has not been successful to tackle the problems of poverty and
unemployment.
Defective Political System and Lack of Political Will:
Indian political system is very often condemned as corrupt, inefficient and defective. Un-
healthy competition among the political parties for power has many a times damaged our
national interests.
11. Climatic Factors
Climate can also be a cause of poverty. It is said that the hot climate of India reduces the
capacity of people to work, and hence, naturally, production cannot be increased in the
desired quantity.
86 Indian Society for Civil Services

Most members of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes are not able to participate in the
emerging employment opportunities in different sectors of the urban and rural economy
as they do not have the necessary knowledge and skills to do so.
A large section of urban poor in India are largely the overflow of the rural poor who mi-
grate to urban areas in search of employment and a livelihood. Industrialization has not
been able to absorb all these people. The urban poor are either unemployed or intermit-
tently employed as casual labourers.
Casual labourers are among the most vulnerable in society as they have no job security, no
assets, limited skills, sparse opportunities and no surplus to sustain them.
Poverty is, therefore, also closely related to nature of employment, unemployment or un-
deremployment and the casual and intermittent nature of work in both rural and urban
areas that compels indebtedness, in turn, reinforces poverty. Indebtedness is one of the
significant factors of poverty.

THE CONSEQUENCE OF POVERTY

Health: Poor people are the worst sufferers as far as the health of the individual is concerned.
infant mortality,maternal mortality,low nutritional levels,mental illness and associated behavioral
and cognitive problems are few examples. All these problems are associated with low human
productivity in economic sphere.
Education: Poor children typically go to badly maintained schools with inadequate facilities
where they receive poor coaching. Their lack of education in turn restricts them and makes their
own children to suffer from poverty, once again helping to ensure a vicious cycle of continuing
poverty across generations.

Housing and Homelessness

The poor are, not surprisingly, more likely to be homeless than the not so poor but also more
likely to live in dilapidated housing and unable to buy their own homes. Many poor families
spend more than half their income on rent, and they tend to live in poor neighbourhoods that
lack job opportunities, good schools and other features of modern life that wealthier people
take for granted. The lack of adequate housing for the poor remains a major national problem.
Even worse is the case for the complete homeless people.

Stress
Lack of financial resources remains to be one of the major reasons for the stress amongst the
lower sections as well as the middle class in society. Such a situation more often leads to low
productivity amongst the people in particular and society in general.

Violence and Crime Rate

Increase in violence and crime rate is highly interconnected to the prevalence of poverty, un-
employment and marginalization. Poor people resort to criminal activities to earn money. The
prevalence of such crimes is more in urban areas. A poverty ridden society is more susceptible
to emergent nature of crimes where one section of people commits violence against the other
section of people in the same society. This leads to a sense of discontent and rage apart from
social tensions.
 Chapter 4 • Poverty and Developmental Issues 87

Child labour
One of the major reasons for the prevalence of child labour is poverty. No child intends to
work to earn a living. It is because of family situations that a child is compelled to work for his/
her livelihood and for his/her family’s sustenance. There are cases reported of exploitation and
harassment of children in the pretext of employment.

Terrorism
World over recent terrorist incidents point out to a greater number of terrorist attacks where
youth are involved and many of them are decently educated. The emergence of ISIS is one such
example. Now the question is why and how these youth involve in such terrorist activities. What
motivates them to cooperate with the terrorist’s organizations? Many would say religion, but
apart from religion it is poverty and poor life chances that motivates a section of the youth to be
involved in these activities.
Terrorist organizations use the situation to brainwash the people from poverty ridden
families in exchange for a huge sum of money for their family. In such a situation the individual
also feels a kind of accomplishment to this family
Mass Emigration of Population
The main reason for both internal and international migration is poverty and backwardness. As
we all know it is natural for all of us to have affinity for our region. It can be a state or language
or a geographical region. But beyond these forces of affinity for a region, what compels an in-
dividual to migrate from his place to a new place. These reasons are many but one indisputable
reason is poverty and backwardness. People from rural and backward areas migrate to cities and
towns majorly to earn a livelihood.

Family Problems
The poor are at greater threat with family problems, including divorce and domestic violence.
Even in families that are not so poor, running a household can cause stress, children can cause
stress and paying the bills can cause stress. Families that are poor have more stress because of
their poverty and the ordinary stresses of family life happen to be even more intense in poor
families. Majority of family problems occurs because of fewer resources.
Economy
Among the effects of poverty, its impact on the economy of the country is a major issue of
concern. Mainly, the number of people existing in poverty influences employment rates heavily.
Without good education, people are unlikely to find a lucrative or rather a decent paying job.
Unemployment holds back a country from developing into a stronger economic system. A high
unemployment rate will definitely slow down a country from progressing in all aspects.

WHAT IS THE ‘FEMINIZATION’ OF POVERTY?

The feminization of poverty is the phenomenon in which women experience poverty at rates
that are disproportionately high in comparison to men. Though in industrialized nations a great
emphasis is placed on women shattering the glass ceiling and climbing the corporate ladder (and
rightly so), the most unquestionably pressing and widespread socio-economic issues faced by
women around the world is poverty and often extreme poverty at that.
88 Indian Society for Civil Services

Of all the people in the world living in poverty, 70 per cent are women. Women also con-
stitute the majority of the 1.5 billion people living on $1 a day or less.
The actual term ‘feminization of poverty’ was conceived in the 1970s, yet has only truly
gained recognition among scholars and activists in the past two decades. The highly gendered
nature of economic disparity, however, remains largely unrecognized on a global stage.
In this context, poverty is not defined as simply a lack of money, but rather also the denial
of access to fundamental human rights, including health, education, nutritious food, property,
representation, etc.
Why is it important?
Feminization of poverty is not just an issue related to women alone, rather it has larger dimen-
sions. It is a matter of concern for the entire human civilization. Feminized poverty encom-
passes far more than just matters of income or individual suffering; when allowed to perpetuate,
it ensnares generation after generation in a vicious cycle of poverty and hopelessness, threaten-
ing the health and well-being of women and their families all over the world.

The causes for the feminization of poverty

The reasons that give rise to impoverishment of women may also cause the impoverishment
of men as well. Therefore, we need to introspect on the reasons for the emergence of gen-
der inequality behind poverty. In fact, since feminization is a process, what is crucial is the
changes in these gender inequalities or in the factors that result in gender inequalities in our
society.
The feminization of poverty, among many other factors, may be caused by changes in:

Family composition
Largely due to marital breakdown, due to high male mortality rate, large size of the family with
less or no other income earning members, large number of dependent members in the family.

Family organization
Gender division of labour and consumption within the household, gender roles regulating the
control over household resources.

Inequality in the access to public services or in their quality

Barriers to basic and higher education of girls, educational attainment segregated by sex, lack of
women specific health policies, women facing difficulties in having access to some of the basic
services.

Inequality in social protection

Lower access to pensions and social assistance by women, inequality in benefit concession or in ben-
efit values in targeted policies. In most of the cases women are left out of social protection as well.
Labour market inequalities
Occupational segregation, differential levels of employment in paid work, wage discrimination,
duration of work shifts, working conditions, less preference for women in certain jobs.
 Chapter 4 • Poverty and Developmental Issues 89

Legal, paralegal and cultural constraints in public life

Equal right to property, discrimination in the judiciary system, constrains in community and
political life, etc.

The Fallacy of Globalization

A comprehensive and detailed study of gender-based poverty shows that globalization and re-
structuring process have left women workers as victims of capitalist patriarchy [United Nations
Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), 2000]. Women workers are usually in the first fir-
ing line in terms of economic transition and crisis.

MEASURES TO ALLEVIATE POVERTY

The government has adopted the following three-pronged strategy to address the social sector:
1. Distributive strategies
2. Specific strategies
3. Social security

Distributive Strategies
The government of India (GOI) targeting holistically in the following sectors:
1. Irrigation
In order to reduce the poverty in rural areas, agricultural inputs should be well-organized.
The most important of such input is irrigation. Hence, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yo-
jana was introduced by GOI with the vision of extending the coverage of irrigation. The
basic theme of the PMKSY is ‘More Crop Per Drop’.
2. Rural road connectivity
Transport plays a very important role in economic development of the country. The
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) was launched by the GOI to provide
connectivity to unconnected habitations as part of a poverty-reduction strategy. GOI
is endeavouring to set high and uniform technical and management standards and fa-
cilitating policy development and planning at State level in order to ensure sustain-
able management of the rural roads network. This programme covers all villages with
population more than 1,000 and villages in hilly and tribal areas with population more
than 500.
3. Housing
In order to build house for poor in India, two new schemes were introduced. Pradhan Mantri
Awas Yojana—Housing for All (Urban) and Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana (Rural).
The Mission will be implemented during 2015–2022 and will provide central assistance to
Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and other implementing agencies through States/UTs for:
1. In situ rehabilitation of existing slum dwellers using land as a resource through pri-
vate participation
2. Credit-linked subsidy
3. Affordable housing in partnership
4. Subsidy for beneficiary-led individual house construction/enhancement
90 Indian Society for Civil Services

4. Rural electrification
GOI has launched the scheme ‘Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana’ for rural electri-
fication. Under DDUGJY-RE, Ministry of Power has sanctioned 921 projects to electrify
1,21,225 un-electrified villages, intensive electrification of 5,92,979 partially electrified vil-
lages and provide free electricity connections to 397.45 lakh BPL rural households.

Specific Strategies
The government is attempting narrow targeting through:
a. Wage Employment Scheme—primarily through Mahatma Gandhi NREGA
b. Self-employment schemes—primarily through Swaran Jayanti Grameen Sah-rozgar
Yogana (SGSY) in the rural areas and through Swaran Jayanti Shahri Rozgar Yogana
(SJSRY) in the urban areas
c. Food security—primarily through TDPS, AAY, Annapurna Scheme for senior citizens
(details in the next section)
d. Skill Development—Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojna was introduced
by the GOI to engage rural youth specially BPL and SC/ST segment of population in
gainful employment through skill training programmes.
e. Universal basic income (yet to be implemented and suggested in economic survey) is a
radical and compelling paradigm shift in thinking about both social justice and a produc-
tive economy. In simple language, Universal Basic Income (UBI) refers to an uncondi-
tional minimum income paid by a government universally to all its citizens. It is premised
on the idea that a society just needs to guarantee to each individual a minimum income
which they can count on, and which provides the necessary material foundation for a life
with access to basic goods and a life of dignity.

Social Security
The government is providing social security under its various programmes like:
a. Aam Admi Bima Yojana: This scheme is targeted at the rural landless households where
one earning member within the age group of 18–59 years is insured at a premium of
Rs. 200 per year borne 50% by the Central Government and remaining 50% is proposed
to be borne by the state governments.
b. Universal Health Insurance Scheme (UHIS): This scheme provides for coverage of
hospitalization expenses up to Rs. 30,000 per year per person insured under the scheme.
The premium is Rs. 165 per annum for individuals, Rs. 248 per annum for a family of five
and Rs. 330 per annum for a family of seven.
c. Janashree Bima Yogana (JBY): This scheme is being implemented by the Life In-
surance Corporation of India aimed at BPL families, providing insurance cover at a
premium of Rs. 200 per annum (50% to be borne by the insured and 50% by Social
Security Fund). The cover is Rs. 20,000 for natural death and Rs. 50,000 for acciden-
tal death.
d. Swavalamban Scheme: This scheme has been launched by LIC, on behalf of the govern-
ment in 2010 as a pension scheme for the unorganized sector.
e. Atal Pension Yojana: It was launched in 2015 as a pension scheme in order to unorga-
nized sector.
 Chapter 4 • Poverty and Developmental Issues 91

Some of the reasons why the scheme is not 100% productive:

a. The Government has well-thought of and meaning schemes. The question is not about in-
tention but that of implementation of these schemes, proper identification of the targeted
beneficiaries.
b. There is also lack of awareness of these schemes amongst the masses given their illiteracy
and ignorance.
c. There is also absence of any monitoring mechanism for the efficacy of such schemes or
to know the end result. The focus is on increased outlays and new schemes but no mecha-
nism of tracking down the outcome.
d. It may possibly be better to implement these programmes through NGOs after a strict
screening process and with proper checks and balances in place.
e. There is need to bring in an independent ‘social audit’ of these schemes not for fixing
accountability but for plugging leakages, improving delivery so as to make the schemes
effective and true to their intention for the overall benefit of the social sector
f. Today, there is availability of modern technology which can be deployed for capturing
information and creating a database which will enable a tracking mechanism for the target
group and their reach and be useful in refining the schemes in future.
g. And finally the focus of the government has been on schemes, so many that they overlap
with diffused focus and accountability at different levels.

EFFECTIVE MEASURES FOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION

Poverty alleviation has to go hand in hand with a vigorous drive for reforms. A former
member of the Planning Commission suggested the following measures for economic re-
forms in India:

1. Distribution of income: Not only income has to be increased by stimulating polices of eco-
nomic growth by the government (i.e., growth of output and employment), but distribu-
tion of income has also to be given importance in the country. The reforms must have an
affirmative impact on the poor.
2. Encouraging private investment: Investment of capital in private industries has lagged behind
in our country. It can come if there is a belief that profitability will increase over a period
of time. Adopting liberalization can assure such beliefs.
3. Raising resources and planning expenditure: Till private investment increases, there has to be
substantial public investment in infrastructure. This requires raising resources and plan-
ning expenditure. The latter has to focus on cutting expenditure or reducing non-essen-
tial expenditure and raising revenue. The revenue can be raised not by increasing taxes but
by ­increasing tax collection. At present, a very small fraction of people pay income tax.
We have to double the number of those who should be taxed compared to what we have
today.
4. Containing inflation: Inflation may be contained by increasing production.
5. Creating independent banking institutions: In a market-based system, we must have institutions
which are independent. We must, therefore, work for more autonomy of the Reserve
Bank. But, the interest rates and the foreign exchange rate should not be entirety deregu-
lated. The fundamental rates should be stable.
92 Indian Society for Civil Services

6. Reframing of disinvestment policy: The policy pertaining to disinvestment in public sector needs
to be framed in such a way that if the unit is incurring losses, the government must get
out. We have to have existed policy. Then there are units which have to be improved. The
government can sell its shares and use the money for improvement. Since there are units
which are making huge profits, selling the shares of such units is quite like selling the as-
sets. It is a bad policy.

All these necessitate the following measures for eradicating poverty or at least reducing it
significantly.

Creating Employment
Creating employment by such means as the MNREGS is not enough. New initiatives in the
eco-political policy are also needed. If the estimated 20 million people who are unemployed and
therefore also unproductive be converted into productive in the process of being employed,
they would become an enormous productive asset for the community.
Some innovative schemes for generating work and increasing income of the poor people
in villages could be:
1. dissemination of knowledge in eco-technologies to cultivators;
2. training in horticulture, tree plantation and use of unused lands:
3. creating artisan units in villages;
4. establishing micro-enterprises for women;
5. establishing community facility centres; and
6. mobilizing role of NGOs in villages.

Distributive Justice
The setback of poverty is not necessarily the problem of GNP growth only, but about distri-
bution also. It is true that wealth has to be created before it is properly distributed among the
different sections of the society, but the modality and extent of development also conclude the
level of benefits that will dribble down to the poor who are the indicator of society’s develop-
ment. And, hence, the necessity of the ‘reordering of priorities’ for stopping the growing in-
equality between the rich and the poor.

Land–Man Ratio
Despite the fact that land cannot be made greater than before, productivity can be increased by
use of advanced technology. Even shall holdings can be made advantageous and profitable by
proper irrigational facilities, use of modern techniques and by diversification.

Controlling Population Growth

If India’s population had been frozen by some miracle at the 1947 level (300 million), the growth
achieved so far would have been enough to abolish poverty completely. The indication is that a
large number of men and women are not using the required methods for controlling the size of
their families. The primary task, therefore, should be to control population by persuasion. It is
also time to build a political consensus on population control. Providing disincentives for more
than two kids will also help in changing the outlook of the people, which in turn is necessary to
control over population.
 Chapter 4 • Poverty and Developmental Issues 93

Elimination of Black Money

Black money is unaccounted money, tax evaded, concealed income and undisclosed wealth.
Many ingenious and imaginative ways are employed by industrialists, export houses, the film
industry, business men and the corporate sectors to hoodwink and dupe the taxman in the on-
going game of hide and seek. This money is usually spent on conspicuous consumption and
corrupt practices to further generate income and wealth.

Decentralizing Planning and Its Execution

For the success of such anti-poverty/rural development programmes, it is necessary that they
should be planned by the village panchayats. Unless the planning and its execution is decentral-
ized, unless the families living in poverty are objectively identified by individual village panchayats
at the local level, the programmes will not do good to the person for whom they are made.
In the urban areas also, the municipal councils should plan the self-employment programmes
based on local resources and the skills of the slum dwellers. Decentralized plans alone can help
in reducing and ridding ourselves of poverty.

Other Measures
Besides the above-mentioned measures, the following measures can also contribute to poverty
alleviation:

1. Forming a time-bound, result-oriented action plan for rapid industrialization. The expan-
sion in industrial investments will provide employment to millions of people.
2. Participation in the emerging global markets.
3. Change in budgetary outlays to reduce irrelevant government expenditure.
4. Reforms in power sector such as sustainable power supply, arresting transmission losses,
etc.
5. Financial institutions needs to be improved.
6. Mass rapid transit system in big cities should be developed.
7. Training centres should be established for youths to acquire skills on electronic platform,
MSME, etc.
8. Helping women to be self-reliant through a carefully planned programme.
9. Formulating, implementing and monitoring job-oriented policy in every states and involve
people in development of all developmental activities.
10. Strengthening the Panchayati Raj Institutions, so that they can become institutions of
democratic management of rural development both at the district and block levels. The
government officials at the district and village levels can provide technical managerial and
marketing support on the one hand and on the other hand stimulate social awareness and
mobilize the poor households.
11. The help of non-government organizations may be taken in the administrative arrange-
ment for the accomplishment of rural and urban development programmes. It calls for
keeping the official staff to the minimum and increasing the non-formal staff as part or
full-time consultants drawn from academic or voluntary organizations.

Non-government organizations here include professional/technical institutes, polytechnics,

agricultural universities, university faculties, management institutes, research organizations, welfare/
voluntary organizations and professional resources of business organizations and banking sectors.
94 Indian Society for Civil Services

Elimination of poverty is not merely a question of economic upliftment, but it is a social

and a political concern related to the level of the political and social awareness of citizens.
Since 1990’s, coordinated efforts by governmental, intergovernmental and non-govern-
mental organizations have helped to bring down the level of extreme poverty by 50 per cent.
Few of the organizations involved in fighting poverty in developing countries is given below.
These organizations are working together to make the lives of poor people living in developing
countries much better. These organizations majorly concentrate on areas such as global health,
water, sanitation, food, housing and education.
Renowed International Organizations fighting to alleviate poverty in developing
countries:
1. Oxfam
Oxfam is an organization fighting poverty in developing countries. It focusses on major
issues relating to inequality, discrimination and unequal access to resources. The organi-
zation provides assistance during humanitarian crises. Oxfam is also very much involved
in educating the world’s poor about their human rights and civic engagement in order to
identify and eliminate the root causes of poverty at the political level and social level.
2. United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
The main principle behind the formation of UNDP is that people should live with
dignity, opportunity and safety. UNDP also helps to bring about sustainable devel-
opment, democratic governance, peace building, and climate and disaster resilience.
UNDP is an international organization that organizes country specific activities and
programmes through its resident coordinator system with offices in 130 countries.
The organization’s highest goal is to implement the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) in all countries of operation and make various initiatives to achieve the goals
enshrined.
3. United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF)
Protecting and fighting for children’s rights and welfare by strengthening legislation and
social services is one of the main objectives of UNICEF. Some of the major initiatives
include early childhood development, food and nutrition, immunization, clean drinking
water, sanitation and hygiene, children with disabilities and education.
4. The Borgen Project
The Borgen Project is an influential USA based non-profit fighting poverty in developing
countries by enhancing livelihood opportunities through civic engagement and education.
The organization is driven by the principle that developed countries have a moral obli-
gation to help the world’s poor. The organization advocates on Capitol Hill for poverty
reduction legislation, increasing the international affairs budget and making poverty re-
duction in developing countries a primary focus of USA foreign policy.
5. The Hunger Project
Two-third of the world’s illiterate population is constituted by females. Sixty per cent re-
ported cases of HIV/AIDS cases today affect women. The hunger project recognizes that
poverty is gender specific and believes that empowering women is essential to put an end
to world’s hunger and poverty. The project fights for increased access to clean drinking
water, nutrition and sanitation as well as economic growth.
6. World Bank Group
World Bank Group is an important institution engaged in international development. It
primarily funds development projects around the world through traditional loans, interest
 Chapter 4 • Poverty and Developmental Issues 95

free credits and grants. The World Bank Group comes out with some of the world’s lead-
ing research and publications concerning development policies and programs. The World
Bank Group also offers technical advice on policy enunciation, analysis and technical as-
sistance to developing countries throughout the project application process. The world
development report is published by the World Bank and it is responsible for identifying
poverty line in different member countries of the world. Recently, the poverty line was
changed to $1.90 per day.
7. The Red Cross
The Red Cross in an international NGO that provides urgent assistance to those affected
by disaster through medical camps, vaccination campaigns, provide immediate relief facili-
ties, disaster preparedness and by reconnecting families separated by conflict and natural
disasters. The purpose of this organization is to protect life and health and to ensure re-
spect for the human being. It fosters to promote mutual understanding, friendship, coop-
eration and lasting peace amongst all peoples.
There are thousands of other organizations that are working to do their part on local and
international scales. These groups are all increasing standards of living and fighting pov-
erty in developing countries.

CONCLUSION
Since independence, the main objective of all our developmental policies had been aimed at
promoting rapid and balanced economic development with equity and social justice. Regardless
of the government in power, poverty alleviation has remained as one of India’s main challenges
by the policy makers. The continuous effort to bring down poverty has resulted in reduction of
poverty in some states. In some states it is less than the national average. But yet the critics are
of the opinion, though vast resources have been allocated and spent, we are still far from reach-
ing the goal. Standard of living and per capita income have increased. Some progress towards
meeting the basic needs of the people has been made. But when compared to the progress
made by many other major countries of the world, our performance has not been impressive.
Moreover, the benefits of developmental policies and initiatives have not reached to all sections
of the population in our society. There exists interregional and intraregional variations. Some
sections of people, some sectors of the economy, some regions of the country has developed
to an extent where it can compete even with developed countries in terms of social and eco-
nomic development, yet, there are many others who have not been able to come out of the vi-
cious circle of poverty.

PRACTICE QUESTIONS
1. ‘Significant progress has been made by all international community over 20 years in com-
bating global poverty in various dimensions’. With reference to this statement, critically
examine the efforts taken by India for poverty alleviation.
2. ‘Every development scheme launched by the Government is targeted towards poverty al-
leviation’. With reference to this statement, evaluate AMRUT and RURBAN mission with
respect to poverty alleviation.
3. Explain the challenges faced by poor in India and the steps taken by the government to
break the vicious cycle.
96 Indian Society for Civil Services

4. The reason for poverty is not only individual but the structure of society as well. Explain
with references to Indian society
5. “Poverty in the root cause for all social evils in India” – Comment.

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS

1. ‘Despite implementation of various programmes for eradication of poverty by the govern-
ment in India, poverty is still existing’. Explain by giving reasons. (10 marks) 2018
2. ‘An essential condition to eradicate poverty is to liberate the poor from deprivation’. Sub-
stantiate this statement with suitable examples. (10 marks) 2016
3. Critically examine whether growing population is the cause of poverty or poverty is the
main cause of population increase in India. (10 marks) 2016
 Chapter 5
Urbanization,Their Problems and
Their Remedies

Learning Objectives

In this chapter, you will learn about:

• The Concept of Urbanization • Remedies and Suggestions for Urban
• Evolution of Urbanization in India Problems
M. Senthil Kumar
• State Policy on Urban Problems
• Reasons for Urban Population Growth
• Governmental Measures to Address the
• Characteristics of Indian Urbanization
• Problems of Urbanization in India
Issue of Urbanization S. Rijesh
• Government Interventions / Programmes
• Urbanization and Social Mobility

rs / Editors Name With CD Red Band Territory line URL Price mQuest
THE CONCEPT OF URBANIZATION
Urbanization is the process of becoming urban, it is the process by which towns and cities
are formed and develop into larger parts as more and more people begin living and working in
those areas. In other words, it is a demographic process whereby an increasing proportion of
the population of a region or a country lives in metropolitan areas.
Urbanization as a structural process is identified synonymously with industrialization. It’s
believed industrialization led to the emergence of urban towns and cities, as industrialization
gives rise to changes in commercial, financial and administrative setup. It also brings develop-
ments in transport, communication, recreational and cultural activities.
The progression of society’s conversion from a chiefly rural to a predominantly urban
population is known as “urbanization”. It includes two things:
1. An increase in the number of people living in urban settlements
98 Indian Society for Civil Services

2. Increase in the percentage of the population engaged in non-agricultural activities, living

in such places.
It is a characteristic of developing nations, where it is occurring at much more rapidly than
it did historically in the developed (western) world. Urbanization is coupled with industrializa-
tion. Economic development is generally associated with the growth of urbanization. Some
writers go so far as to emphasize that the acid test of development lies in the shift of population
from the rural to the urban areas.
The process of urbanization has to be explained both in demographic and social contexts.
In demographic sense, the term “urbanization” is largely used to explain the process of built-up
growth. In this sense, it refers to the proportion of a total population living in cities and towns
at a given point of time. In sociology, the term urbanization is also used to denote a distinct
way of life, which emerges in cities due to their large, dense and heterogeneous population.
­Obviously this life is dissimilar to the life and activities of the people living in villages.
Urbanization implies a cultural and social psychological process whereby people acquire
the material and non-material culture, including behavioural patterns, forms of organization,
and ideas that originated in, or are distinctive of the city.
For the first time since Independence, the absolute increase in population is more in ­urban
areas than in rural areas. The rural–urban distribution is 68.84% and 31.16%, respectively.
The level of urbanization increased from 27.81% in the 2001 census to 31.16% in the
2011 census, while the proportion of rural population declined from 72.19% to 68.84%.Of the
121 crore Indians, 83.3 crore live in rural areas while 37.7 crore are settled in urban areas.
An urban area has been defined (by the 2011 census) as follows:
1. All places with a municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified town area
committee.
2. All other places which satisfy the following criteria:
(i) a minimum population of 5,000;
(ii) at least 75% of male working population engaged in non-agricultural pursuits; and
(iii) a density of population of at least 400 people per sq. km.
The first category of urban units is known as Statutory Towns. These towns are notified
under law by the concerned State/UT Government and they have local bodies like municipal
corporations, municipalities, municipal committees, etc., irrespective of their demographic char-
acteristics as reckoned on 31st December, 2009 .
Examples: Vadodara (M Corp.), Shimla (M Corp.), etc.
According to Census 2011 there were 53 cities those have more than 1 million population,
on the other hand it was just 35 in 2001. Population of these 53 cities was 166 million, which
was about 44% of total urban population. Ranking of the first seven cities remained intact, with
Greater Bombay topping the list.

Urbanization as a Sociocultural Process

Cities are social artefacts and stands apart from the countryside, in terms of the higher degree
of its acceptance of foreign and cross-cultural influences. It is a melting pot of people with
diverse ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds. Seen in this light, urbanization is a sociocul-
tural process of transformation of folk, peasant or feudal village societies.
 Chapter 5 • Urbanization, Their Problems and Their Remedies 99

India has a continuous history of urbanization since 600 bc. Over this period, three major
sociocultural processes have shaped the character of her urban societies. These are ‘Aryaniza-
tion, Persianization and Westernization’.
The Aryan phase of urbanization generated three types of cities:
(i) The capital cities, where the secular power of the kshatriyas was dominant.
(ii) The commercial cities dominated by the vaishyas.
(iii) The sacred cities, which, for a time, were dominated by Buddhists and Jains, who
were kshatriyas, and later by brahmins.
With the advent of the Muslim rules from the 10th century CE, the urban centres in India
acquired an entirely new social and cultural character. The city became Islamic, Persian and later
Urdu was the official language of state and Persian culture dominated the behaviour of the ur-
ban elite.
The impact of 150 years of British rule in India, that is, westernization, is clearly visible in
various aspects of city life today—in administration, in education, and in the language of social
interaction of the city people and their dress and mannerisms. Urbanism is clearly identified
with westernization.

EVOLUTION OF URBANIZATION IN INDIA

Urbanization in India can be traced back to the ancient Indian period. Harappan urbanism in
Indus valley civilization is considered to be the first phase of urbanization in India. Harappan
cities had a long period of urbanization for about 600 years (between 2350 BC and 1750 BC).
Harappa and Mohenjodaro are the two important cities in Indus valley civilization.
Important towns of the Harappan culture located in India are Lothal, (Gujarat),
­Kalibangan (Rajasthan), Banwali (Haryana) and Rupar (Punjab).
Urbanization in India during the ancient and medieval periods was associated with the
seats of administrations, capitals and trading centres. At the invasion of the Europeans, Indian
urbanization rate was accelerated mainly because of the location and establishment of many
new and modern factories and industries.
Onset of the British East India Company changed the nature of urbanization process
­extraordinarily. The major contribution of the British to the Indian urban prospect can be
­enlisted as follows:
1. The formation of three metropolitan port cities of Mumbai (Bombay), Kolkata (Calcutta)
and Chennai (Madras).
2. Creation of a chain of hill stations in the Himalayan region and in South India.
3. The modification of the urban landscape of the existing cities with the introduction of
civil lines and cantonments.
4. The introduction of railways and modern industry.
5. The improvements in urban amenities and administration.
During the early years of the 20th century, India stumbled upon a phase of economic
s­ tagnation. After independence the process of industrialization, though initiated during the
­Second Plan could make little impact on the economy in terms of population-shift to urban areas
till 1961. Although the Second and the Third Plans decided to have a big programme of industri-
alization, the plans emphasized the development of heavy and basic industries. The employment
100 Indian Society for Civil Services

prospective of these industries being limited, their growth did not lead to absorption of labour
from the rural to urban areas to such an extent as to have a marked impact on the economy.
One can, therefore, observe that the process of industrialization, though started during
the sixties could not gather momentum. Urbanization could hardly absorb a little more than the
natural increase in urban population. As a result, a serious dent in terms of the shift of popula-
tion from rural to urban areas could not be made.
During a single decade, between 1981 and 1991 alone, urban population soared by 60 ­million
approximately which indicated a growing trend towards urbanization. Urban population, in abso-
lute terms reached the figure of 375 million accounting for 31% of the total population in 2011.

REASONS FOR URBAN POPULATION GROWTH

Natural Increase in Population
Population is consistently increasing in the country. Naturally, the urban population is also in-
creasing. The natural cause for the increase in urban population is that, in urban areas the num-
ber of birth always exceeds number of death. Availability of better medical and health services,
good drinking water supply and sanitation, higher rate of literacy, etc., are reasons for the ex-
tended longevity and relatively low level of death rate in the urban areas.

Continuous Migration of People Towards Cities

Both economists and non-economists are of the opinion that the economic and non-economic
forces have been driving the people from the rural surrounding area to the urban regions. Of
the total increase in urban population, a major contributory factor is the natural growth and a
part is also contributed by immigrations from rural areas. Their exact number at the at point of
time can never be properly known. It can only be guessed. The factors that induce people of the
rural areas to shift towards the cities are of two types, namely:
1. Push factors
2. Pull factors.

1. “Push” Factors: People from the rural areas are moving towards the cities for finan-
cially viable reasons and various other reasons too. A large number of agricultural workers,
small and marginal farmers depend upon agriculture for their subsistence. Many of these
people who possess small holdings are not able to ensure productive employment to all
the adult members of the family. Added to this, there is also the disguised unemployment.
Most agricultural workers find only seasonal work and the wages they earn from this work
are definitely not sufficient to run their life throughout the year. Hence, they look forward
to some other work in their own village or nearby villages. If they are not able to get one,
then the economic forces “push” them out of the village, mostly towards towns and cities
in search of better opportunities to lead a decent life.
2. “Pull” Factors: If certain factors are forcibly “pushing” the villagers towards the cit-
ies certain attractions of the cities are also “pulling” or drawing the rural natives towards
them. These “pull” factors are of two types:
(i) The “Pull” of the better job opportunities and
(ii) The Pull of city attractions.
 Chapter 5 • Urbanization, Their Problems and Their Remedies 101

(i) T he “Pull” of better job opportunities: The comparatively better job opportunities
that are available in some cities, are attracting people towards them. All cities do not
have such attractions. Cities or towns with large public investments in industry and
mining and other establishments are the areas of high population concentration. In
the same manner, industrially advanced cities such as Bangalore, Mumbai, Kanpur,
Ahmedabad that belong to the industrially developed states of Karnataka, Maharash-
tra, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat respectively are attracting villagers towards them with
the promise of better wages and better lifestyle. Urban wages are generally higher as
compared to rural wages. Therefore, the “pull” of relatively high urban wages is quite
strong and a large number of people, particularly the young men and women, keep
migrating to the cities to make the best out of the available opportunities.
(ii) The “Pull” of city attractions: The city is undoubtedly a centre of attraction. From
the beginning the city has been attracting a large number of people especially from
the village areas. The city is pulling people from various corners towards its nucleus.
The people belonging to rural areas, who face various economic problems, burdened
with too many children, bored with the monotony of the routine life, and attracted
by the glamour of the city, have started moving towards the cities. The city is tempt-
ing the rural people with its employment opportunities, educational facilities, medi-
cal ­facilities, recreational facilities, such as movies, dramas, night clubs, cabarets,
gambling centres, horse race, library, public parks, museums, orchestra, zoo, circus
shows, concerts, etc.
 Since cities are places of high volume of economic, commercial, political, educational,
scientific, literary and technological activities, they attract lot of migrants and also pro-
vide sufficient scope and opportunities for personal advancement. The rural people are
highly influenced by the attractiveness of the city in its appearance, glamour, luxury and
other infrastructural developments. Moreover, the above aspects also influence the ru-
ral people’s ideology and make them believe that money making is much easier in cities.

The city men and women, their dresses, fashions, habits, styles, tastes, interests, intelli-
gence, talents, comforts, luxuries, etc., have a great impact on the rural people and it allures
them. As a result, they have started flocking towards the cities in a big number. This has contrib-
uted to the process of urbanization. Urbanization resulted in urban concentration on the one
hand and rural de-population, on the other.

Migration and Urnanization

Migration is a complex phenomenon and an understanding about the motives is the most dif-
ficult part of the analysis of the process of migration. With regard to the determinants of
population, distinction has been made between push factors and pull factors. Push factors are
those that operate in areas of out-migration and compel the people to move to other areas. Pull
factors are those that operate in areas of in-migration and attract the people to these areas. It is
not necessary that in an area only push or only pull factors should operate. In fact, both push
and pull factors operate simultaneously in the same area. It is because of this that it sometimes
becomes difficult to differentiate between push and pull factors.
There are several factors in an area that hold the people of the area to it or attract more
people to it and there are innumerable factors that keep the people away from it. The former
category of factors is termed as positive factors and the latter category as negative factors. It
102 Indian Society for Civil Services

is also suggested that there are always certain indifferent factors in all areas. According to this,
each place of origin as well as of destination has its own set of positive, negative and indiffer-
ent factors for each potential migrant. Thus, a factor may be positive for a particular person,
and might be negative for the other and indifferent for still another. It is this complexity of the
­factors that makes most of the generalizations about determinants of migration vague.
The determinants of migration for the convenience of understanding may be classified
into three broad categories of economic, social and demographic determinants.
1. Economic determinants: Observations reveal that economic motives constitute the
most vital determinants of population movement. Included among the various economic
determinants which govern the magnitude and direction of migration are the general eco-
nomic conditions of the area, the availability of good agricultural land, size of landholdings
and the rate of growth of employment opportunities. The depressed economic conditions
in an area generate tendencies of out-migration, as the conditions reflecting the economic
prosperity offer greater employment potential and attract in-migrants. Within this general
framework, the industrial pull has proved to be more dynamic than the agricultural push,
both in industrial and agricultural countries.
  The availability of good agricultural land continues to be most powerful economic factor
determining magnitude and direction of population migration.
  Countries like India, where the processes of agricultural development are in progress,
have been witnessing such migrations in the newly reclaimed areas or to the areas where
extension of irrigation has improved the general conditions of agriculture significantly.
The names of Terai region of Uttar Pradesh and Dandakaranya of Madhya Pradesh, Odi-
sha and Andhra Pradesh have often been quoted in this regard. Closely associated with
this factor is the factor of size of landholdings. Migrations all over the world have been
stimulated by the temptation of increasing the size of one’s landholding. It has commonly
been observed that the regions of dwindling landholdings send out streams of migrants to
the areas of developmental activities.
  This takes us to next factor of availability of employment opportunities. The areas
that are experiencing developmental activities are widening their employment potential.
This has proved to be a powerful economic factor governing population movement. The
development of means of transportation and communication in recent times has also
stimulated migratory tendencies. In most cases the expansion of transport network has
increased the spatial interaction and has accelerated both migration and commuting.
2. Social determinants: Equally noteworthy determinants are the socially rooted determi-
nants of migration. There are certain social customs that generate specific type of migra-
tion. For instance, females move from the place of their parent’s residence to the place of
residence of their spouses after their marriage. This is a type of migration that owes nothing
to the desire of economic gains. It is due to this factor that in India the number of female
migrants is considerably high, although Indian population is considered as least itinerant.
  Other few social factors controlling population include socio-economic status, informa-
tion network, cultural contact, desire for social uplift and government policies. The socio-­
economic status of the potential migrant has been considered as an important factor in
determining the magnitude and direction of migration.

Similarly, in contemporary India, the re-distributional tendencies among its population are
so an expression of regional disparities in their population-resource relationship. Large scale
 Chapter 5 • Urbanization, Their Problems and Their Remedies 103

out-migration from intensely crowded parts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh is largely due a poor
population-resource ratio in these areas. It signifies that the relationship between human and
physical resources form the basis of all population movements.
Demographic Factors
A number of demographic factors also play a determining role in the migration-propensity
spectrum. For instance, age has been recognised as one of the important demographic fac-
tors controlling the degree of desire to move among the potential migrants. No wonder, young
adults are more migratory than other groups. Similarly, the regional disparities in the rate of
nat- rural increase provide the basis for all movements by way of their role in giving a specific
pattern to population-resource nexus of an area. It is the rate of growth of population that
determines the scope of population pressure in an area. The varying degree of population pres-
sure vis-a- vis resource potential of the area finds expression through migration of population.
The great historic movement of European population across the Atlantic was an expression of
increasing stress upon the resources of Europe.
Few Aspects of Migration
However, in the contemporary developed and developing world, there is an overwhelming evi-
dence that better educated, more skilled and economically-sound people have greater predis-
position to migrate, particularly over long distances. Higher status people have the ability, the
training and the information and thus become more mobile. The labour market for higher sta-
tus jobs is also territorially wider. It shows that not all the higher status groups have high rate of
spatial mobility. Highly-earning professionals like doctors, lawyers, architects, require to make
appreciable investment and needless to say that it takes several years to build an appreciable base
of clients, and based on this aspect, they do not move very easily.
Closely associated with this aspect is the feature of information network. The availability
of information through education, cultural contacts, spatial interaction also widens the migra-
tion propensity spectrum. The communities that are ruled by ancient traditions, customs and
strong communal ties are less mobile than those which are socially more awakened and where
people have cultural contact with the other world and possess intense desire for social uplift.
The information network and cultural contacts widen the horizons for job opportunities.
Finally, government policies make their own contribution in giving a specific direction to
the population movement. China, France and Russia reveal the role of government policies in
the migration of population. In the early years of communist regime in China, large number
of people moved out from the countryside to the urban areas as a result of collectivization of
farms. Likewise, the political totalitarianism in Russia resulted in the flight of people from their
homeland at the time of Bolshevik Revolution.
Changes in City Boundaries
The boundaries of the towns have been extending for various reasons and at different times. As
cities get expanded, the semi-urban or entirely rural areas that are found on the outskirts of the
cities also get included in the urban areas. It is not that these rural areas suddenly become urban
areas. They may even continue to retain some of the characteristics of villages. But their inclu-
sion in the expanding cities put them under the areas classified as towns. The people living in
these areas start to get hands on some or many features of urban life. The rural population that
gets included in these areas increase the number of urban population.
104 Indian Society for Civil Services

It is clear from the above explanation that the process of urbanization continues to take
place even today. It is just that ever-happening phenomenon. It has acquired new momentum to-
wards the end of the 20th and in the beginning of the 21st centuries. Expansion of educational
facilities, technological and industrial development, availability of employment ­opportunities,
and such other factors continue to play their role in accelerating the process of urbanization.

CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIAN URBANIZATION

•• Subsistence nature: It implies that the migrants from rural areas are attracted to the
urban centres not only for urban environment but mainly for employment. They may be
eating low-quality food or may be living in ill-maintained houses but they stick to the cities
for jobs. This affects badly the quality of life in the urban places, especially in the class I
and metropolitan cities.
•• Poly-metropolitan apex in which the million cities (more than 1 million citizens) domi-
nate the entire urban scheme accounting for one-third of India’s total urban population.
At present there are as many as 53 million cities, including three mega cities (more than 10
million inhabitants), Mumbai, Kolkata, and Delhi. Eighteen new UAs/Towns have been
added to this list by recent 2011 census
•• Indian towns are growing more on the basis of tertiary rather than the secondary
sector: It is very ironical that cities in India have developed as a result of the growth of
tertiary sector. The growth in communication sector, transport, services and construction
were the main factors for the growth of Indian cities. But in developed countries it is the
manufacturing sector which led to the growth of cities.
•• Southern India is more urbanized than that of the Northern and Eastern India: This
is because of the historical, socio-cultural and educational resource factors widely available.
With the introduction of globalization in India, the development of South India was very
high due to high FDI and establishment of various kinds of industries in these states.
•• Relatively high Stability of urban settlements: It has been observed that the urbaniza-
tion process in India is very closely associated with the relatively high stability of urban
settlements.
•• There is growing trend towards urbanization: Urban population is slowly but steadily
increasing in India. It increased from about 26 million in 1901 to 62 million in 1951 and then
to 218 in 1991.During the decade, 2001-2011 alone urban population increased by 91.7 million
which indicates a growing trend towards urbanization.

Urbanization in India, 2001–2011

The process of urbanization gradually seems to be getting intensified. While in 2001 only 27.8%
of the country’s population had urban residence, on the other hand, by 2011 the percentage
of urban dwellers in the country had improved to 31.16. The number of urban dwellers in the
country increased from 286 million in 2001 to 377 million in 2011. Also the number of towns in
the country increased significantly.
While in 2001 there were 5161 towns in the country, their number increased by no less
than 2774 and reached 7935. Thus, there was an increase of 53.74% in the number of towns
in the country just in 10 years. It indicates that a significant number of large villages earned the
urban status for the first time during 2001–2011 as census towns. These are those large villages
which by virtue of census definition of a town have grown in to a small town.
 Chapter 5 • Urbanization, Their Problems and Their Remedies 105

Generally, union territories in India are highly urbanized as they cover some city region of
national/regional significance. Therefore, in case of all the Union Territories the proportion of
urban population was much higher than the national average. Delhi, the National Capital Ter-
ritory (NCT) had the highest percentage of urban population among the union territories. In
the NCT of Delhi. 97.50% population lived in urban areas. Thus, just 2.5% of population of
NCT of Delhi lived in villages which was gradually becoming non-existent either due to their
transformation into small towns or due to their merger in the neighbouring town. It needs to
be stressed here that the decade 2001-2011 has witnessed large-scale development of housing
colonies in the proximity of all big cities and towns.
However, the union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands recorded the lowest pro-
portion of urban population (35.67%) from among the union territories. Dadra and Nagar
Haveli (46.62%) also had comparatively smaller component of urban population. In case of
Lakshadweep (78.08%), Daman and Diu (75.16%) and Puducherry (68.31%), the proportion of
urban dwellers was considerably high.
These observations reveal that

1. India is still poorly urbanized with only one in every three people in the country living in
urban areas.
2. During the last two decades, the proportion of urban dwellers in the country has improved
only by 5.06 percentage points from 26.1% 1991 to 31.16% in 2011.
3. The union territories in the country are highly urbanized as most of them constitute city
region of some big city of either national or regional significance.
4. There are wide inter-state variations in percentage of urban population as the same varies
from 10.30% in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh to 62.19% in case of Goa which has
emerged as one of the most attractive tourist spots in the country.
5. In case of union territories, the proportion of urban dwellers varies from 35.67% in
­Andaman & Nicobar Islands to 97.50% in NCT of Delhi.
6. The states with high proportion of non-agricultural workers display higher degree of
urbanization signifying positive correlation between urbanization and high growth of
non-agricultural sector although it may be difficult to assess as to which of the two was
dependent/independent variable.
7. The hill states, by and large, displayed poor urban development associated with their dif-
ficult terrains and the limitations of such physiography in terms of movement of goods,
services and people due to poor accessibility.
8. There were still some backward states in terms of urban development where the propor-
tion of urban population continued to be extremely low.
9. All the states and union territories in the country recorded an increase in the proportion
of their urban populations during 2001–2011.
10. The states of Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajas­
than and Jammu and Kashmir have remained stagnant in terms of urban development
as in their case the proportion of urban dwellers has remained stagnant for the last three
decades.
11. It is expected that the upcoming decades will steer to a sea change in the urban scenario
of the country due to immense expansion of tertiary and quaternary sectors of economy.
106 Indian Society for Civil Services

By comparison, vast areas of central and northern India still displayed comparatively
low degree of urbanization with less than 20% of their population living in urban areas
implying that
(i) India still live in the countryside,
(ii) north and south divide in urbanization still exist, and
(iii) east and west divide in the degree of urbanization also continue in the country.
1. There are wide inter-state variations in the proportion of urban dwellers with Himachal
Pradesh being the least and Goa being the most urbanized parts of the country.
2. All the states and union territories in the country recorded an increase in the proportion of
urban population during 2001–2011.
3. The growth rates of rural and urban populations during 2001–2011 were contrastingly dif-
ferent in the country.
4. While the rural areas recorded lower rate of growth of only 12.18%, the urban areas re-
corded a growth rate of 31.8%.
5. Growth in rural areas was even below the national average of natural rate of increase, the
growth in urban areas was more than double this national average.
6. Many states and union territories in India have suffered depopulation in their rural areas
which is a significant transformation in the history of demographic evolution in the country.
7. High rate of growth of population in urban areas was the product of
(a) emergence of a large number of new towns especially the census towns,
(b) merger of villages in the big cities and
(c) considerable in-migration of villagers into urban areas.
8. The states and union territories that have suffered huge losses of rural population through
rural depopulation include Kerala, Goa, Nagaland, Sikkim, Chandigarh, NCT of Delhi,
Daman and Diu, and Lakshadweep.
9. The country seems to have reached a take-off stage as far as its urban development is
concerned.
10. Emergence of large number of huge housing complexes in the vicinity of cities/towns of na-
tional regional significance signals the initiation of new era in the country’s urbanization process.
11. Privatization, globalization, IT-hubs, mushrooming of higher technical and educational in-
stitutes in the country signal the vast expansion of tertiary and quaternary in the decades to
come.

Here are few other merits and Demerits of a City:

Merits
•• The city offers opportunities and facilities for making full use of one’s abilities and talents.
•• City can make life joyful and comfortable.
•• It encourages new ideas and inventions.
•• It quickens social movements and enlarges social contacts.
•• There is less social distance.
•• The city is dynamic.
•• The city has liberated women from the exclusiveness of domesticity.
•• The city provides various means of recreation.
•• The city functions as a laboratory for human genius.
 Chapter 5 • Urbanization, Their Problems and Their Remedies 107

Demerits:
•• The city makes life materialistic and mechanical.
•• Secondary relations are dominant in the city.
•• The city makes the people to become individualistic and selfish.
•• Social control is complex and less effective in the city.
•• City makes human life to become uncertain, insecure and competitive.
•• City is said to be the centre of problems of economic, social, political, psychological and
religious nature.
•• Concentration of people in the city gives rise to the problem of providing basic civic ame-
nities to the people.

CHARACTERISTICS OF URBAN COMMUNITY

There are a number of characteristics associated with an urban community. They include:
1. Social heterogeneity
2. Secondary relations
3. Anonymity of city life
4. Secondary control
5. Large scale division of labour and specialization
6. Large scale social mobility
7. Individuation
8. Voluntary association
9. Social tolerance
10. Spatial segregation
11. Unstable family

PROBLEMS OF URBANIZATION IN INDIA

India is one of the less urbanized countries of the world with only 31% of its population living in
urban agglomerations/towns.
Though urbanization has been an instrument of economic, social and political progress, it
has also led to serious socio-economic problems. The unprecedented migration of the r­ ural peo-
ple to urban areas poses a great challenge to transport, sanitation, housing, electricity, ­education
and other infrastructural bottlenecks. Poverty, unemployment and under employment among the
rural immigrants, beggary, thefts, dacoities, burglaries and other social evils are also on rampage.

Consequences of Urbanization
Urbanization has brought about many changes in various spheres of urban life, namely physical,
social, psychological and cultural, economic and educational aspects. These aspects are elabo-
rated here.

Cultural, Economic, Educational

Physical aspects:
•• Growth of cities • Homelessness
•• Suburbanization
108 Indian Society for Civil Services

Social:
•• Family • Prostitution
•• Crime • Gambling
•• Unemployment • Beggary
•• Poverty • Conflicts

Psychological:
•• Alcoholism • Stress

Cultural:
•• Impersonality of relations • Urban outlook
•• Mechanical way of life • Cosmopolitan outlook

Economical:
•• Industrialization • Emergence of services sector
•• Migration

Agriculture:
•• Change in land use pattern
•• Degradation of productive agricultural lands

Political:
•• Issue of Governance
•• Environmental issues

Some of the above issues are discussed below:

1. Urban Sprawl: It refers to the rapid expansion and spread of urban areas along the erst-
while rural areas. As the population in cities increases, the rapidly growing cities expand
beyond the carrying capacity of the land and hence lead to multiple problems. Massive
immigration from rural areas as well as from small towns into big cities has taken place
almost consistently; thereby adding to the size of cities.
  As the city areas expands,the nearby agricultural land is concerted for non agricultural
purposes.
2. Ribbon Settlement: Suburbs are historically developed along the major roads leading to
the towns and cities. This type of growth is known as ribbon settlement. But soon the
demand for suburban homes causes the land between ribbon settlements to be built and
made accessible by constructing new roads. This type of development is known as infil.
3. Conurbation: Small towns and villages within the commuting distance of major cities are
also developed for residential purposes. In this way towns keep continuously growing and
in some areas the suburbs of a number of neighbouring towns may be so close together as
to form an almost continuous urban belt which is called conurbation.
4. Overcrowding happens when cities experience huge migration of people and in limited
space large size of population has to be accommodated. This situation is seen almost in all
major Indian cities.
  Overcrowding leads to a chronic problem of shortage of houses in urban areas. This
problem is specifically more acute in those urban areas where there is large incursion of
 Chapter 5 • Urbanization, Their Problems and Their Remedies 109

unemployed or underemployed immigrants who have no place to live in when they enter
cities/towns from the surrounding areas.
5. Emergence of Slums: The natural sequel of unchecked, unplanned and haphazard
growth of urban areas is the growth and spread of slums and squatter settlements which
present a striking feature in the ecological structure of Indian cities, especially of metro-
politan centres. The rapid urbanization in conjunction with industrialization has resulted
in the growth of slums.
  Practically it is very difficult to distinguish between slums and squatter settlements ex-
cept that slums are relatively more stable and are located in the inner parts of the city
which are generally very old. On the other hand squatter settlements are relatively tempo-
rary and are scattered in all parts of the city especially outer zones and in outskirts where
urban and rural areas merge.
6. Transportation Problems: With traffic bottleneck and traffic congestion, almost all cities
and towns of India are suffering from acute form of transport problem. Transport problems
increase and become more complex as the town grows in size. With its growth, the town per-
forms varied and complex functions and more people travel to work or shop. As the towns
and cities grow the usage of vehicles both public transport and private vehicle also increases.
In commercial places it is obvious that those localities always face traffic congestions.
7. Homelessness: Lack of proper shelter is one another important and acute problem in
Indian cities. Since cities attract huge number of migrant population it is very difficult to
plan and build houses to accommodate all urban population. Moreover, rent and cost of
living has increased very exorbitantly. Hence, it becomes very difficult for lower class and
middle class people to have a decent house for living. The real estate market and builders
largely focus to construct high-end flats and housing projects.
  So most of the people in urban areas either live in highly crowded areas or in slums and
squatter settlements. In order to overcome this problem we have to focus on construction
of low-cost housing projects.
8. Suburbanization: Suburbanization is one another phenomena associated with urban
­areas. During the initial phase of city development people wanted to stay at the centre
of the city because of various facilities and conveniences. But with the growth of the city
and huge influx of population the city centre became no more a happy place to stay. So
affordable class of people moved from city centre to the outskirts or suburbs. Suburbs
are areas that were once villages and the cities in the spree of expansion have engulfed
these villages. They are characterized by relatively low housing density. Suburbs can be
identified from the fact that they are separated from the central city in the physical aspects
but functionally they are strongly dependent on it for employment, services, goods and
administration.
  Suburbs have been differentiated based on their functions—the residential suburbs and
employment suburbs. The residential suburbs are those that provide only residential space
to their inhabitants and these inhabitants commute to the urban centre for their livelihood
whereas employment suburbs, which are also called satellite towns, are formed when some
industrial complexes provide residences to their employees.
  However, rapid increase in population is disturbing the suburbs as well. Presently sub-
urbs are facing lot of problems of as like an urban centre ranging from traffic congestion
to theft, robbery, poverty, land grabbing and other social crimes as well as air pollution,
despoliation of physical environment, housing problems and financial challenges.
110 Indian Society for Civil Services

  Whatever may be the problems, suburbanization seems to be a new trend. Unlike the
early haphazard and unplanned suburbanization process, it may become more planned
and achieve an orderly growth in the days to come.
9. Water Scarcity: What is one of the most essential elements of nature to sustain life and
right from the beginning of urban civilization, sites for settlements have always been chosen
keeping in view the availability of water to the inhabitants of the settlement. However, sup-
ply of water started falling short of demand as the cities grew in size and number. Today
we have reached a stage where practically no city in India gets sufficient water to meet the
needs of city dwellers.
  In many cities people get water from the municipal sources for less than half an hour
every alternate day. In dry summer season, taps remain dry for days together and people
are denied water supply at a time when they need it the most. The individual towns require
water in larger quantities. Many small towns have no main water supply at all and depend
on such sources as individual tube wells, household open wells or rivers.
10. Sewage Problem: Urban areas in India are almost invariably plagued with insufficient
and inefficient sewage facilities. Not a single city in India is fully sewage. Resource crunch
faced by the municipalities and unauthorized growth of the cities are two major causes of
this pathetic state of affairs. According to latest estimates, only 35%–40% of the urban
population has the privilege of appropriate sewage system.
  Most of the cities have old sewage lines which are not looked after properly. Often sew-
erage lines break down or they are overflowing. Most cities do not have proper arrange-
ments for treating the sewerage waste and it is drained into a nearby river (as in Delhi)
or in sea (as in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai), thereby polluting and contaminating the
water bodies.
11. Waste Disposal: As all Indian cities grow in number and size, the problem of trash dis-
posal is assuming alarming proportions. Huge quantities of garbage produced by our cities
pose a serious health problem. Most cities do not have proper arrangements for garbage
disposal and the existing landfills are full to the brim. These landfills are hotbeds of disease
and innumerable toxic things leaking into their surroundings and spread infections.
  Wastes become rancid in the open inviting disease carrying flies and rats and a filthy,
poisonous liquid, called leachate, which leaks out from below and contaminates ground
water. People who live near the rotting garbage and raw sewage fall easy victims to several
diseases like dysentery, malaria, plague, jaundice, diarrhoea, typhoid, flu, etc.
12. Emergence of Social Crimes: Modern cities present a meeting point of people from dif-
ferent walks of life having no affinity with one another. Like other problems, the problem
of crimes increases with the increase in urbanization. In fact the increasing trend in urban
crimes tends to disturb peace and tranquility of the cities and make them unsafe to live in
particularly for the women. Growing materialism, consumerism, competition in everyday
life, selfishness in the crowd is some of the primary causes responsible for alarming trends
in urban crime. Not only the poor, deprived and slum dwellers take to crime; youngsters
from well-to-do families also resort to crime in order to make fast buck and for meeting
requirements of a lavish life. Occasional failures in life also drag youngsters to crime.
  The problem of urban crime is becoming more complicated in the present day world
because criminals often get protection from politicians, bureaucrats and elite class of the
urban society. Some of the criminals reach high political positions by using their money
and muscle power.
 Chapter 5 • Urbanization, Their Problems and Their Remedies 111

Crime: Social crime in urban places is one another important issues that require high
attention. There are various crimes like
1. Social crimes 2. White collar crimes
3. Political crimes 4. Economic crimes
  Social crimes largely comprise of poverty, crime against women and children, crime
against old-age people, juvenile crime, theft, robbery and human trafficking.
  Technological advancement has led to the emergence of the so called white collar
crimes. Some of them are cyber crimes, E-banking fraud, social media deception, online
black mail, online business fraud, etc.
  Political crimes include criminalization of politics, bribery, treason, etc. Economic
crimes like tax evasion, money laundering, black money, fake currency have become more
common in Indian cities.
13. Pollution: With rapid pace of urbanization, industries and transport systems grow rather
out of proportion. These developments are primarily responsible for pollution of envi-
ronment, largely the urban environment.
14. Energy crisis: With the demand for power consumption increasing day by day because
of industrialization and the increasing use of electronic gadgets of various types, almost
all the cities in India face this problem. It is of urgent importance that we promote other
sources of energy like solar and other renewable sources of energy.
15. Unemployment: Urbanization can lead to unemployment. People are drawn to urban
areas in the false hope of a better standard of living, better healthcare and job opportuni-
ties. Very few people make their fortunes, and the rest must still find ways to eat and sleep
while they wait for their chance. This leads to one of the most obvious bad effects of ur-
banization—the growth of crimes.
  Another reason why unemployed people are increasing in the urban areas is due to
mechanization. The machines are replacing humans, and only a few, who can learn how to
use these machines, are finding employment. The rest remain unemployed. Thus, unem-
ployment is becoming a greater problem in the cities rather than in the rural areas.
  As there are more people competing for fewer jobs in the city, unemployment is a con-
stant problem.
16. Family: One of the most important impact of urbanization on family structure is the emer-
gence of nuclear family. The erstwhile joint family structure got broken down due to migra-
tion and high cost of living in urban places led to the preference for nuclear family system.
  Moreover, urbanization has also led to the need for dual income families, because of
this phenomenon it led to the emergence of secondary institutions like preschool, nursery
schools and day care centres.
  More number of women entered into labour force thus making them economically indepen-
dent and thus improved the position of women in decision making. At the same time the emo-
tional bondage between family members weakened and more secondary relations developed.
17. Prostitution: Urbanization leads to trafficking of women and children from both urban
as well as rural areas. Often, women and children are brought from poor rural areas to the
economically more advanced urban areas, some abducted from their home villages and
sold in large cities. Some women and children are even trafficked across the borders for
prostitution, cheap-labour and adoption.
112 Indian Society for Civil Services

18. Gambling: Gambling is the risking of money or other valuables on the outcome of a
game, race, contest or other event. Although few societies in general have ever wholly ap-
proved of gambling, none has been able to eradicate it.
   Gambling is an organized and planned activity in many urban centres. People living
in cities have a craze to make money. So, they are ready to espouse many means to make
money. Gambling gives them an opportunity to make instant or quick money. The hope
of making quick money easily is what gives gambling its appeal. If the appeal of gambling
is winning money, the thrill of it is in the risk that the wager may be lost. Many people get
addicted to gambling. It is not confined to people of particular economic status but it is
prevalent across all classes of people. It is also not confined to any particular sex as many
women are also involved in these kinds of activities.
19. Isolation: In other words, a city-dweller is physically in proximity with others in different
walks of life, but socially he is under conditions of relative isolation, if not absolute isola-
tion. People ­socially-isolated are rarely found in village communities. In the city, people are
usually unable to make ­intimate and emotionally strong relationships. This tendency goes
on increasing as the city grows in the face of rapid population growth. Older people, the
migrants who are still strangers in the city, people who are unable to get along with others,
socially rejected people, and people who do not find people of their liking often suffer
acute isolation even amidst thousands of the urban dwellers.
   The rapid growth of urban population leads to greater divisions of labour and
specialization of work which, in turn, creates interdependence among individuals par-
ticipating in a given economic activity. Such an inter-dependence is partial and restricted
only up to the fulfilment of a given fraction or a portion of the total activity. Thus,
there is extremely limited scope for sharing a totality of experiences and social life. The
heterogeneity of population, especially in matters of social status, caste, class, religion,
income, occupation, etc, creates partial isolation.
20. Maladjustment: The process of urbanization adds to the complexities of city life. It
generates and strengthens the forces of social change, leading to new social reality and
inevitable pressures of conventionality. As the process of urbanization accelerates, the
city life tends to be rapidly characterized by cultural diversities, socio-economic inequal-
ities, competition, conflict and several other manifestation of complexities of social re-
ality. The fact of social mobility also affects the life of the city-dwellers. In a way, all
these social forces impose a functional adjustment on the part of the city dwellers to
lead a peaceful and fuller life. However, all the city dwellers are not fortunate enough to
satisfactorily adjust to the diverse challenges of a growing city. For example, in the field
of economic activities, even in a rapidly growing city, the number of opportunities for
successful adjustment is smaller than the number of competitors. In such a situation,
several among those, who are the losers, fail to suitably adjust to the reality, and become
victims of frustration, inferiority complex and loss of a meaningful integration with the
totality of city life. All such failures give rise to the problem of maladjustment. Similarly,
even among the successful ones, many fail to conform to the new situations, and be-
come maladjusted
21. Beggary: Out of many, few people, who migrate to the urban centres in search of better
opportunities, end up as beggars. They in fact are a financial burden to the country. The
beggars are economically unproductive and almost remain as parasites in the society. This
problem also has social and moral aspects apart from the economic aspects. Most beggars
 Chapter 5 • Urbanization, Their Problems and Their Remedies 113

usually stay in such an unhealthy and unhygienic environment that they develop some or
the other diseases. Thus, they become lithe which means to spread infectious diseases in
the city and nearby localities.
22. Urbanization and Caste: It is generally held that caste is a rural phenomenon whereas
class is urban and that with urbanization, caste transforms itself into class. But it is neces-
sary to note that the caste system exists in cities as much as it does in villages although
there are significant organizational differences.
   Caste identity tends to diminish with urbanization, education and the development
of an orientation towards individual achievement and modern status symbols. A notice-
able change today is the fusion of sub-castes and fusion of castes
23. Urbanization and Status of Women: Women constitute an important section of ru-
ral–urban migrants. They migrate at the time of marriage and also when they are potential
workers in the place of destination. While middle class women get employed in the white-
collar jobs and professions, lower class women find jobs in the informal sector. Women
are also found in the formal sector as industrial workers.
   The onslaught of forces of rapid industrialization in a patriarchal social system led
men to move out in order to qualify for the labour market by acquiring specialized skills.
Women were traditionally relegated to the informal and family setting. But many positive
developments took place in the socio-economic lives of women as a result of increasing
urbanization. Increasing number of women have taken to white-collar jobs and entered
different professions. These professions were instrumental in enhancing the social and
economic status of women, thereby meaning increased and rigorous hours of work, pro-
fessional loyalty along with increased autonomy.

URBANIZATION AND SOCIAL MOBILITY

It is an accepted fact that urbanized and industrialized societies afford greater prospects for so-
cial mobility. Highly urbanized societies or societies that are moving in this direction commonly
have expanding economies, which means increasing job opportunities and rising incomes, which
in turn involves the creation of new occupations or more jobs, and a need for personnel to fill
these positions. Thus, there are opportunities for upward occupational mobility or possibility
for downward mobility.
Social mobility also occurs in urban centres because of the breakdown of the traditional
society and the social class boundaries. Social mobility comes from the changes in social struc-
ture rather than from individual efforts and achievement. The chances of upward or downward
mobility vary greatly according to various situations or the prevalence of particular attitudes.
Take for instance, M.N. Srinivas description of the Indian society that the pre-British rule re-
sulted, on one hand, in closing the traditional avenues to mobility and on the other, in opening
several new ones.
More importantly, it had set forces in motion, which altered fundamentally the overall
character of society. Indian society ceased to be stationary and became mobile and the quan-
tum of mobility increased as the years went by. The two most potent sources of mobility in
the rigid caste system of Indian cities were the fluidity of the political system, especially at the
lower levels and the change in the education system, law and order, and the overall technological
development. In modern industrial society multiple factors are involved in the process of social
mobility.
114 Indian Society for Civil Services

Consequences of Social Mobility

Social mobility may lead to disruptive interpersonal relationships that are dependent on face-to-
face relations. It also creates stress and strain in individuals as they have to adjust themselves to
new social situations including interpersonal and institutional structures. Upward social mobility
is associated with spatial mobility. Thus, a person moving from lower to upper class likes to shift
his/her place of residence from the existing locality to the locality where most of the people
belonging to his class reside.

The Rural–Urban Continuum

Some sociologists have used the concept of ‘rural–urban continuum’ to stress the idea that
there are no sharp breaking points to be found in the degree or quantity of rural–urban differ-
ences. The impact of urban life over rural life is evident in many ways. With regard to birth rate,
age at marriage, infant mortality, church affiliation, divorce, suicide, etc., rural indices are mov-
ing nearer to urban indices. In this way, rural areas can become highly urbanized.
As the contacts of the city become closer, as transportation and communication become
more rapid, the rural community tends to assume more closely the urban social structure. We
may even speak of different degrees of ‘urbanness’ or ‘ruralness’. One country can be demo-
graphically more urban and yet socially more rural than another.

Rural–Urban Convergence
Though the communities are normally divided into ‘rural’ and ‘urban’, the line of demarcation
is not always clear as Maclver has remarked, between these two types of communities, ‘There
is no sharp demarcation to decide where the city ends and country begins’. ‘Every village pos-
sesses some elements of the city and every city carries some features of the village. The concept
of ‘rural–urban convergence’ refers to the striking similarities between the village and the town
in some aspects of community life.
Cities are growing in number and size everywhere. It is true that the urban culture is dif-
fusing at a very fast rate in the rural areas. As Kingsley Davis has said, ‘the city effects are wider
than the city itself ’. The influence of the city varies with its size also. The urban way of life can
be carried far beyond the city boundaries and can thus characterize people who do not actually
live in cities.
With the diffusion of urban culture to the rural areas, the extreme differences between
rural and urban cultures have diminished. The growing transport and communications, the ra-
dio, press, television, telephone, etc., growing circulation of urban newspapers in the rural areas
have change the attitudes and outlook of the ruralites. Medical, educational, commercial, recre-
ational and other facilities are also being enjoyed by the rural people. The automobile has played
an important role in the rural areas. It has ended the secluded life of the ruralites.

REMEDIES AND SUGGESTIONS TO URBAN PROBLEMS

India can become strong economically, socially and culturally only when our cities remain devel-
oped in all aspects. It is the cities that act as the backbone of economic expansion and urbaniza-
tion is being taken as the positive process which acts as the engine of growth and as a strong
agent of socio political transformation.
 Chapter 5 • Urbanization, Their Problems and Their Remedies 115

Lot of efforts have been taken to face the challenges posed by urban crisis but with little
or no success. National Commission on Urbanization (NCU) has, in its policy proposal of 1988,
emphasized the necessity for
1. The evolution of a proper spatial pattern of economic development and suitable hierar-
chies of human settlements.
2. An optimum distribution of population between rural and urban settlements, and among
towns and cities of various sizes.
3. Distribution of economic activities in small and medium-sized growth centres.
4. Dispersal of economic activities through the establishment of counter magnets in the
region.
5. Provision of minimum levels of services in urban and rural areas. The other major devel-
opment programmes include
i. Urban Basic Services for the Poor (UBSP) programme
ii. The Environmental Improvement of Urban Slums (EIUS) programme
iii. The Integrated Development of Small and Medium Towns (IDSMT)
iv. Various housing and infrastructure financing schemes of Housing and Urban Devel-
opment Corporation (HUDCO)
v. The Mega Cities Project
vi. The Integrated Urban Poverty Eradication Programme (IUPEP)
It is very ironical that almost all urban development projects suffer from chronic dis-
ease of resource crunch. Ever since the first five year plan, urban development has been
given a low priority in the development agenda with hardly 3%–4% of the total plan out-
lay being allocated to the urban sector. The National Commission on Urbanization rec-
ommended in 1988 that at least 8% of the Plan outlay should be dedicated to urban sector.
There is not a single city in the world which is free from problems. Indian cities are no
exception as well. It does not mean that these problems are beyond solutions. Efficient urban
planning and effective implementation of the same can bring about positive results. A few sug-
gestions to face and to solve the urban problems are mention in the following:

Efficient and Integral City Planning

Lack of proper planning is one of the major causes of urban problems. Hence, city administra-
tion has to take sufficient care in making a comprehensive planning for the improvement of
the city. The city planners must have far-sightedness and must take into account the probable
growth of the city in at least another 50 years. There should be coordination among the city
administration, the state administration and also the central administration. While drafting a
plan for the improvement of the city, advice and suggestions of the experts must be sought. It
is equally important to make use of the latest technological knowhow in preparing the plan for
the future. Political interference invariably is the hindrance of the implementation of any suc-
cessful plan.

Financially Independent City Administration

It is essential that the municipal administration must have sufficient financial resources to un-
dertake developmental programmes for the benefit of the city dwellers. City administration can-
not always depend upon the state and the centre for finance. It has to find its own financial
116 Indian Society for Civil Services

resources to meet its requirements. By revising property, water and electricity taxes money can
be collected and more money per head per annum can be made available for providing neces-
sary facilities. City administration is to be toned up and bureaucrats must be made to commit
themselves to the service of the people.
Increased Job Opportunities
We have been concentrating on the rural areas to provide more job opportunities for rural peo-
ple through IRDP, NREP, JRY and such other programmes to hold back people in rural areas.
It is time now to do something for creating better job opportunities for the urban people. This
will not only help jobless urbanites but also add to the urban income. By spreading out various
economic activities and by increasing income in the city it is possible to pay more attention to
the requirements of the people.
Better Transportation Facility
Most of the cosmopolitan cities of India are overcrowded and are not able to provide the necessary
transportation facility to the people. Hence, it is necessary to make proper arrangements to face this
problem. Private transport system can be encouraged along with the existing public transportation
system. Healthy competition between the two systems can help solve the problem to a great extent.

Efficient and Workable Housing Policy

People who migrate to the city stumble upon the housing problem. Existing residents of the
cities do not have satisfactory housing accommodation. It is the responsibility of the city ad-
ministration to make arrangement for affordable housing for all. It can give encouragement to
the private builders, relax the rigid rules for the construction of houses. Private, public and the
cooperative housing boards may be given all the necessary help to construct as many houses
as possible. Employees, government servants and private individuals who want to construct
houses for self-occupation must be helped in getting loans from the nationalized banks, housing
boards, cooperative societies, etc without much of hassles. The National Housing Policy which
the central government presented in 1988 to the Parliament should be made more workable.
The existing Rent Control Act must be amended so as encourage the owners of houses to give
houses on reasonable rent to the needy people.

Limited Environment Pollution

Environment pollution is becoming a major problem in the mega cities. Sufficient care is to
be taken to control this pollution. New industries should not be given permission to start their
establishments near the residential areas. On the other hand, industries should be established far
away from the cities. Scientific arrangement is to be made to dispose of the solid waste includ-
ing the garbage. People should be educated properly in order to maintain cleanliness in the city.
Voluntary organizations and the media can play a vital role in this regard.
To conclude, it may be said that urbanization wherever it takes place, is bound to create
socio-economic problems. These problems are to be countered in a planned and scientific man-
ner though they cannot be completely solved. However, we can keep them under control and
find effective solutions for some of them. City administration or government alone cannot do
that. City dwellers themselves should take an active role and must be prepared to cooperate with
the administration in the elimination of these problems.
 Chapter 5 • Urbanization, Their Problems and Their Remedies 117

STATE POLICY TO ADDRESS URBAN PROBLEMS

In India, it is now recognized that urbanization is not a trivial aspect of the processes of eco-
nomic development and social change. This has led to demand that there ought to be a nation
policy statement on urbanization, as it is true in matters of industrial development, population
growth and education.
It should be noted here that, by and large, the emphasis of these efforts has been towards
the amelioration of the conditions of the poor and the lower income group. A brief appraisal
of the efforts to solve the problem of housing, sanitation and water supply, along with several
other problems of urban development are discussed in the next paragraph.
One of the grave problems of urbanization has been acute shortage of housing facilities
in cities. This problem has reached almost a breaking point in the case of the metropolitan cit-
ies. In order to meet his problem planned efforts are made in the following two directions.
1. Rent Control Act (RCA), 1948
2. Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act (ULCRA), 1976

The Rent Control Act, 1948

The Rent Control Act was enacted with a view to control and regulate the rent of the houses.
It was first enacted in the Bombay State, in 1948, and later on in several other states. The Rent
Control Act also protects the tenants from the atrocities of the house owner, especially in the
sense that the owner of a house can neither force the tenant to vacate house, nor can he raise
the rent of the house at his own will. Further, the Rent Control Act also imposes the responsi-
bility of repairs of the house on the owner rather than on the tenant living in it.
In its interim report, the National Commission on Urbanization made several recommen-
dations relating to the amendments in the terms and conditions of the existing Rent Control
Act, and these recommendation are as follows:

1. The continuation of the protection of the interests of the existing tenants.

2. The inclusion of the possibility of raising rent.
3. The separation of the rules the regulations of renting houses for commercial purposes
from houses to be rented for residential purposes.
4. The provisions of providing incentives to build new houses, etc., It is believed that the inclu-
sion of these amendments, while not necessarily solving the acute problem that has been grow-
ing over the years, will certainly lessen the adverse effects of the existing Rent Control Act.

Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act, 1976

The second important step relating to the management of urban land is the enactment of the
Urban Land Ceiling Act of 1976. This Act has the following three fundamental objectives:

1. Redistribution of Land,
2. Prevention of speculation in land, and
3. Regulation of construction on vacant land.

Under the provisions of this Act, the excess land, that is, land excluding the prescribed
size of the available plot, can be procured by the local authorities or the state government for
118 Indian Society for Civil Services

wider public interests. Usually, the excess land under this act is procured for the construction of
houses for the urban poor and the low income groups. Moreover, this Act imposes restrictions
on the sale of excess land so as to curb speculation in urban land.
Critics have pointed out that despite the existence of this Act the prices of land in every
city have reached far beyond the capacity of common man and speculation in land in flourish-
ing almost unchecked. Moreover, the land procured for construction of houses for the urban
poor and other public utilities is also negligible in size. In several cases, the owner’s excess land
has been successful in escaping the demands of the Land Ceiling Act through corrupt practices
and use of their political connections.

Programmes of Slum Clearance and Construction of New Houses

We have seen that in the face of rapid urban growth, a large section of urban population, is
living in slums and suffering from acute shortage of houses, water-supply, sanitation and other
basic facilities. These urban problems have assumed massive proportion, warranting social leg-
islation and special attention in our national planning. Following from these efforts, one of the
significant programmes is the slum clearance scheme and programme of construction of new
house for the urban poor and the low income groups.
Under the scheme, low-cost houses, equipped with latrine, bathroom, water-tap., sanita-
tion and drainage facilities, are made available to the poor people, who can afford to pay a token
amount as rent from their meagre earnings. Moreover, under the scheme of slum clearance an en-
tire, area inhabitated by economically and socially weaker sections is provided with these common
utilities to be shared by all. These programmes under the slum clearance scheme are subsidized to
provide assistance to the state governments for construction of one crore and 40 lakh new houses
at the rate of Rs. 5000 per house for the benefit of the urban poor and the low and middle income
groups. In addition, the state government and the local bodies of the cities also provide necessary
funds for execution of such projects. It should, however, be noted that the voluntary agencies
have still lagged behind in taking up the activities of slum clearance and construction of houses
for the poor people.

The Five-Year Plans

The policy of decentralization in our national planning had lately been found useful in matters
of urban development also. In the First Five-Year Plan, no special attention was paid to the
solution of urban problems. Yet, it did recognize the acute shortage of housing and steep rise
in land prices in big cities. By the end of the First Five-Year Plan, Several institutional set-ups
to ease this problem came into existence. For example, a new ministry of works and housing
was first established and later renamed as the Ministry of Urban Affairs. The National Building
Organization was established to design low cost housing.
Steps were taken to train personnel in town planning. The Second Five-Year Plan em-
phasized the need for planned development of cities and towns, and advocated an integrated
approach to rural and urban planning in regional framework. During this plan, The Urban De-
velopment Authority came into existence, and a master plan was prepared for the first time for
the development of Delhi. This was a major step in urban planning and its implementation,
which was later followed in the case of other big cities in several states.
The Third and Fourth Five-Year Plans laid emphasis on town planning for which the re-
sponsibility was shifted from the Centre to the states. A model town-planning Act was prepared
 Chapter 5 • Urbanization, Their Problems and Their Remedies 119

in 1957 by the Town and Country Planning Organization in Delhi, and this led to the enactment
of laws in other states. The Third Five-Year Plan extended financial support for the prepara-
tion of master plans for the development of cities and towns in the states. As a result of such
efforts, nearly 400 master plans were prepared. Moreover, the Third Plan also initiated urban
community development schemes in selected cities as an experimental scheme to solve social
and human problems associated with urban slums.
The Fourth Plan recognized the need of financial urban development schemes. It was
during this plan period that an agency—Housing and Urban Development Corporation
(HUDCO)—came into existence to provide funds for the metropolitan authorities, State Hous-
ing Board and other urban institutions for the construction of houses in urban areas.
The Fifth Plan document, in a separate chapter on urban and regional planning, laid down
the following objectives of its urbanization policy;
1. Enhance the prevailing civic services in the urban centres.
2. Tackle the problems of the metropolitan cities on a regional basis.
3. Promote the development of small towns and new urban centres.
4. Assist inter-state projects for the metropolitan projects.
5. Support industrial townships under government undertakings.
The Sixth Plan also had a special chapter on urban problems but greater emphasis was
given to the problem of housing both in urban and rural areas. In this plan, necessary attention
was drawn, for the first time, to regional variations in the levels of urban development. It should
also be mentioned here that, during the Sixth Plan, Provisions were made to develop adequate
infrastructural and other facilities at the small, medium and intermediate towns so as to make
them “growth-centres” in promoting rural development. Further, 200 towns were to be identi-
fied for integrated development of water supply schemes in 550 towns, and sewerage projects in
110 towns in the country. Thus, The Sixth Plan recognized the problems of basic needs of the
urban dwellers and took some concrete steps towards the betterment of their conditions.
The Seventh Plan, on one hand, stressed the need for integrated development of small
and medium towns and, on other, minimising the growth of the metropolitan cities. To attain
this objective, special incentives are offered for the establishment of industries in small and
medium towns. It also advocates for greater financial support to local bodies by the state gov-
ernments. In terms of institutional set up, the Seventh Plan recommended the establishment
of the National Urban Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation, to provide capital
for the development of infrastructure in small and medium towns. Apart from these steps, the
emphasis on housing for the urban poor and the low income groups, integrated development
and provisions for promotion of basic amenities for the urban-dwellers are continued in the
Seventh Plan and proposed draft of the Eighth Five-Year Plan.
In brief, although the Five-Year Plans do not as yet exhibit any comprehensive policy on
India’s urbanization and urban problem, there are obviously certain aspects which have received
greater attention to improve the conditions of the urban-dwellers. Special mention may be made of
1. finance for housing,
2. slum clearance and improvement,
3. town water supply and sewerage,
4. urban transportation, and
5. the preparation of master plans for the development of cities.
120 Indian Society for Civil Services

GOVERNMENTAL MEASURES TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE

OF URBANIZATION
Smart Cities
1. What is a smart city?
A “smart city” is an urban region that is highly advanced in terms of overall infrastructure,
sustainable real estate, communications and market viability. It is a city where information
technology is the principal infrastructure and the basis for providing essential services to
residents. There are many technological platforms involved, including but not limited to
automated sensor networks and data centres. Though this may sound futuristic, it is now
likely to become a reality as the “smart cities” movement unfolds in India.
In a smart city, economic development and activity is sustainable and rationally incremen-
tal by virtue of being based on success-oriented market drivers such as supply and demand.
They benefit everybody, including citizens, businesses, the government and the environment.
2. The origin: The concept of smart cities originated at the time when the entire world was
facing one of the worst economic crises. In 2008, IBM began to work on “smarter cities”
concept as part of its Smarter Planet initiative. By the beginning of 2009, the concept had
captivated the imagination of various nations across the globe.
Huge investment on research and formation of smart cities were done by South Korea,
UAE and China. These projects have become a model for India to emulate.
3. In India: Increasing urbanization and pressure on rural land poses a great challenge to
quality of life in urban areas. Moreover these urban areas have to act as engines of growth
as well. These two aspects were the main reasons behind the government’s announcement
of smart cities project in India with initial development of 100 cities.
To start with few cities with ongoing or proposed smart cities projects include Kochi
in Kerala, Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Aurangabad in Maharashtra, Manesar in Delhi NCR,
Khushkera in Rajasthan, Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, Ponneri in Tamil Nadu and
Tumkur in Karnataka. Many of these cities will include special investment regions or spe-
cial economic zones with modified regulations and tax structures to make it attractive for
foreign investment. This is essential because much of the funding for these projects will
have to come from private developers and from overseas.
Urban Development Ministry sources said the States get the flexibility of designing
schemes based on the needs of identified smart cities and in their execution and monitoring.
Smart City aspirants will be selected through a “City Challenge Competition” intended
to link financing with the ability of the cities to achieve the mission objectives. It is for
each state to identify potential cities to be earmarked as smart city and send the proposal
to the central government for its support.
According to the decision, all States will get at least one such smart city.
4. Features of a Smart City: The key features of a Smart City is in the intersect between
competitiveness, capital and sustainability. The smart cities should be able to provide
good infrastructure such as water, sanitation, reliable utility services, health care; attract
investments; transparent processes that make it easy to run commercial activities; simple
and online processes for obtaining approvals, and various citizen centric services to make
­citizens feel comfortable, safe and happy.
 Chapter 5 • Urbanization, Their Problems and Their Remedies 121

Competitiveness refers to a city’s ability to create employment opportunities, attract

investments, experts, professionals and people. The ease of being able to do business and
the quality of life it offers determines its competitiveness.
Sustainability includes social sustainability, environmental sustainability and financial
sustainability.
Quality of life includes safety and security, inclusiveness, entertainment, ease of seeking
and obtaining public services, cost-efficient healthcare, quality education, transparency,
accountability and opportunities for participation in governance.
5. Pillars of a Smart City
i. Institutional infrastructure including governance
ii. Physical infrastructure including
•• Urban mobility
•• Reliable utility services
•• Water supply
•• Sanitation
•• Solid waste management
•• Storm water drainage
•• Electricity
•• Internet and telephone
•• Urban development
iii. Social infrastructure including
•• Education
•• Healthcare
•• Entertainment
•• Good sports facilities
iv. Economic infrastructure including
•• Incubators and creation of jobs
•• Financial hubs
6. Instruments that make smart cities possible
•• Energy efficiency
•• Demand management
•• Improved access to information
•• Environmental sustainability
•• Use of clean technologies
•• Use of ICT
•• Participation of the private sector
•• Citizen participation
•• Smart governance
7. Challenges: Smart city project obviously has certain challenges. Success of smart city
project depends on its residents, entrepreneurs and visitors as well. It is all these three
groups which make cities sustainable. Moreover, it takes anything between 20–30 years to
build a smart city.
8. Better e-governance: The Indian government has experimented various e-governance ini-
tiatives, most of which have failed to materialize, given poor cyber security and significant
privacy and data protection risk. But the implementation of a secure ICT Infrastructure, com-
prising wireless hotspots, wi-fi networks, and fibre optic Internet delivery at home, remains
fundamental.
122 Indian Society for Civil Services

E-governance could be learnt from these examples. The U.K.’s “Tell us Once” service
allows citizens to inform public authorities about birth, death or significant life events
just once. San Francisco’s DataSF.org displays public transportation arrival and departure
times, recycle zones, crime patterns and more. Service requests for pothole repairs can be
tweeted. Sweden has verksamt.se, both for entrepreneurs and for citizens to use theme-
based portals on healthcare, taxation, etc. All procurement and invoicing is conducted
electronically, restricting corruption. India is towards achieving perfection.
9. Land titling: Providing affordable housing remains a critical challenge. The land prices
have been spiralling than the intrinsic prices. This situation is an attribute to the poorly
conceived policies of the central and state governments. Urban development projects in
India are required to undergo a lengthy approval process. It takes 2–3 years to get ap-
proval for urban development project.
Globally, many countries offer streamlined online processes and incentives to facilitate
affordable housing—these can include tax deductions, density bonuses, direct subsidies, land
grants, land use charges etc. Many countries such as Malaysia and Canada have revamped their
administrative requirements through fee waivers and fast-tracking procedures.
Smart cities make everyday life easier for its residents by simply automating routine func-
tions and providing for better housing and transportation facilities.

Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT)

Providing basic services (e.g. water supply, sewerage, urban transport) to households and build
amenities in cities which will improve the quality of life for all, especially the poor and the disad-
vantaged is a national priority. Observations by the earlier missions have shown that infrastruc-
ture creation should have a direct impact on the real needs of people, such as providing taps and
toilet connections to all households.
Therefore, the purpose of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation
(AMRUT) is to
1. ensure that every household has access to a tap with assured supply of water and a sewer-
age connection.
2. increase the amenity value of cities by developing greenery and well maintained open
spaces (e.g. parks).
3. reduce pollution by switching to public transport or constructing facilities for non-motor-
ized transport (e.g., walking and cycling).
Thrust Areas: The Mission will focus on the following thrust areas:
1. Water supply
2. Sewerage facilities and septage management
3. Storm water drains to reduce flooding
4. Pedestrian, non-motorized and public transport facilities, parking spaces
5. Enhanced amenity value of cities by creating and upgrading green spaces, parks and recre-
ation centres, especially for children.
Coverage: Five hundred cities will be taken up under AMRUT. The list of cities will be notified
at the appropriate time. The category of cities that will be covered in the AMRUT is as follows:
 Chapter 5 • Urbanization, Their Problems and Their Remedies 123

1. All Cities and towns with a population of over one lakh with notified municipalities,
­including cantonment boards (civilian areas).
2. Cities not covered under the scheme include all capital cities of states and union territories.
3. Total of 13 cities/towns with the population of 75,000 to one lakh and situated at the stem
of main rivers.
4. All cities/towns classified as Heritage Cities by MoUD under the HRIDAY Scheme.
5. Ten Cities from hill states, islands and tourist destinations (not more than one from each state).
National Mission on Sustainable Habitat
To promote energy efficiency as a core component of urban planning, the plan calls for:
•• Energy Conservation Building code has to be extended.
•• Putting more emphasis on recycling of urban waste and its proper management including
power production from waste.
•• Strictly
enforcing the economy standards of automotive fuels and using pricing measures
to encourage the purchase of efficient vehicles.
•• Incentives for the use of public transportation.

National Air Quality Index

National Air Quality Index (AQI) monitors the quality of air in major urban centres across the
country on a real-time basis, which will help governments at national level and regional level to
reduce air pollution and associated health issues. The index will provide the current status of the
level of pollution in a given city, with this being depicted through a colour-coded system indicat-
ing air quality, ranging from dark green as “good” to maroon as “severe”.
Developed by the Central Pollution Control Board in consultation with the Indian Insti-
tute of Technology, Kanpur and a group of experts, the index will also alert people about the
possible health impacts of each of its six categories.
The AQI may prove to be a major initiative for improving air quality in urban areas, as it
would enhance public awareness and involvement, and would create a competitive environment
among cities to take steps for air pollution mitigation.

The National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy

The National Urban Housing & Habitat Policy 2007 seeks to promote various types of public-
private partnerships for realizing the goal of “Affordable Housing for All” with special em-
phasis on the urban poor. This Policy intends to promote sustainable development of habitat
in the country with a view to ensuring equitable supply of land, shelter and services at afford-
able prices to all sections of society. Since both the central and state governments are lacking
sufficient funds, the policy seeks to include various stakeholders like private sector, cooperative
Sector, the industrial sector for labour housing and the services/institutional sector for employee
housing. In this manner, the Policy will seek to promote various types of public-private partner-
ships for realizing the goal of “Affordable Housing for All.”
The salient features of the National Urban Housing & Habitat Policy, 2007 are:

1. Focus on affordable urban housing with special emphasis on the urban poor.
2. Role of housing and provision of basic services to the urban poor has been integrated into
the objectives of the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).
124 Indian Society for Civil Services

3. Scheduled castes/Tribes/Backward classes/Minorities and empowerment of women are

covered within the ambit of the urban poor so that they get benefitted.
4. Achieve the goal of “Affordable Housing for all” significant emphasis has been laid on
proper urban planning, special incentives like additional floor area, transferable develop-
ment rights, increased fund flow, use of new technologies related to renewal sources of
energy.
5. Encourage integrated townships and Special Economic Zones.
6. 10%–15% of land in every new public/private housing projects of 20%–25% FAR
whichever is greater to be reserved for EWS/LIG Housing through appropriate spatial
incentives.
7. States to be advised to develop 10 years perspective plan for housing of EWS/LIG.
8. Primacy to provision of shelter to urban poor at their present location or near their work
place.
9. Approach will be in-situ slum rehabilitation. Relocation will be considered only in specific
cases.
10. Micro-finance institutions to be promoted at state level to expedite flow of finances to
urban poor.
11. Model municipal laws to be prepared by the Central Government.
12. Detailed city maps to be prepared based on GIS, aerial survey and ground verification.
13. Use of proven cost effective technology and building materials to be encouraged.
14. Development of Mass Rapid Transit System at sub-regional level is envisaged.
15. Emphasis on green cover for balanced ecological development
16. Habitat infrastructure Action plan to be developed by all states where the city population
is over one lakh.

National Policy on Urban Street Vendors

Urban economy essentially includes street vendors. Street vending not only provides a source of
employment to the urban poor but it also serves the majority of urban population by means of
providing various convenient services regularly.
The policy seeks to provide protection of livelihood-rights, social security of street ven-
dors, regulation of urban street vending in the country and other matters connected therewith
or incidental thereto.
Given the pace of urbanization and the opportunities presented through the develop-
ment of urban areas, the growth of street vendors’ population is likely to have an upward
trend. It is vital that these vendors are enabled to pursue their livelihoods in a congenial and
harassment-free atmosphere. Inclusive growth strategy adopted by the 11th and 12th Five-Year
Plans calls for a facilitating mechanism for street vending to aid economic growth and inclusion
simultaneously.

Main features of the policy

1. The policy provides for constitution of a Town Vending Authority in each Local Author-
ity, which is the fulcrum of the Bill, for implementing the provisions of the Bill.
2. In order to ensure participatory decision making for aspects relating to street vending
activities like determination of natural market, identification of vending zones, prepara-
tion of street vending plan, survey of street vendors, etc., the TVC is required to have
 Chapter 5 • Urbanization, Their Problems and Their Remedies 125

representation of officials and non-officials and street vendors, including women vendors
with due representation from SC, ST, OBC, minorities and people with disabilities.
3. To avoid unpredictability of authorities, the policy provides a survey of all existing street
vendors, and subsequent survey at least once in every five years, and issue of certificate of
vending to all the street vendors identified in the survey, with preference to SC, ST, OBC,
women, people with disabilities, minorities/marginalized, etc.
4. Where the number of street vendors identified is more than the holding capacity of the
vending zone, the Town Vending Committee (TVC) is required to carry out a draw of lots
for issuing the certificate of vending for that vending zone and the remaining people will
be accommodated in any adjoining vending zone to avoid relocation.
5. The main objective of this policy is to protect the street vendors from harassment and to
promote their livelihoods.
6. Procedure for relocation, eviction and confiscation of goods has been specified and made
street vendor friendly. It is proposed to provide for recommendation of the TVC, as a
necessary condition for relocation being carried out by the local authority.
7. Relocation of street vendors should be exercised as a last resort. Accordingly, a set of
principles to be followed for “relocation” is proposed to be provided for in the second
Schedule of the Bill, which states that
(i) relocation should be avoided as far as possible, unless there is clear and urgent need
for the land in question;
(ii) affected vendors or their representatives shall be involved in planning and implemen-
tation of the rehabilitation project;
(iii) affected vendors shall be relocated so as to improve their livelihoods and standards of
living or at least to restore them, in real terms to pre-evicted levels
(iv) natural markets where street vendors have conducted business for over 50 years shall be
declared as heritage markets, and the street vendors in such markets shall not be relocated.
8. The local authority is required to make out a plan once in every 5 years, on the recommen-
dation of TVC, to promote a supportive environment and adequate space for urban street
vendors to carry out their vocation. It specifically provides that declaration of no-vending
zone shall be carried subject to the specified principles namely: any existing natural market,
or an existing market as identified under the survey shall not be declared as a no-vending
zone; declaration of no-vending zone shall be done in a manner which displaces the mini-
mum percentage of street vendors; no zone will be declared as a no-vending zone till such
time as the survey has not been carried out and the plan for street vending has not been
formulated.
9. There is a provision for establishment of an independent dispute redressal mechanism un-
der the chairmanship of retired judicial officers to maintain impartiality towards grievance
redressal of street vendors.
10. The policy also provides for promotional measures to be undertaken by the Government,
towards availability of credit, insurance and other welfare schemes of social security, ca-
pacity building programmes, research, education and training programme etc. for street
vendors.
11. Section 29 of the Bill provides protection of street vendors from harassment by police and
other authorities and provides for an overriding clause to ensure they carry on their busi-
ness without the fear of harassment by the authorities under any other law.
126 Indian Society for Civil Services

The National Urban Sanitation Policy

The Government of India, Ministry of Urban Development developed and published the
­“National Urban Sanitation Policy” in 2008. It lays out a vision for urban sanitation in India.
It instructs all the states to come up with their own detailed state-level urban sanitation strate-
gies and city sanitation plans.
Funding options are laid out including direct central and state support including through exist-
ing schemes, public-private partnerships, and external funding agencies. It directs that at least 20% of
the funds should be earmarked towards servicing the urban poor. The Centre also plans to institute
awards to the best performing cities, reminiscent of the Nirmal Gram Puraskar awards for villages.
Special focus has been given to hygienic and affordable sanitation facilities for the urban poor
particularly for the urban poor and women and will ensure improved cleanliness in cities and towns.
The National Urban Sanitation Policy envisages transforming all the towns and cities of
India into 100% sanitized, healthy and livable spaces—ensuring sustained public health and im-
proved environmental outcomes for all its citizens.

The National Environment Policy (NEP)

The National Environment Policy (NEP) by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF)
aims at mainstreaming environmental concerns into all developmental activities. It emphasizes
conservation of resources, and points that the best way to aid conservation is to ensure that
people dependent on resources obtain better livelihoods from conservation, than from degrada-
tion of the resources. It is disputed that environmental degradation often leads to poverty and
poor health outcomes amongst population.
The objectives of the policy include:
•• Conservation of critical environmental resources
•• Intra-generational equity
•• Livelihood security for the poor
•• Inter-generational equity
•• Integration of environmental concerns in economic and social development
•• Efficiency in environmental resource usages
•• Environmental governance

Enhancement of resources for environmental conservation

Residex
Residex is a housing price index updated quarterly by National Housing Bank (NHB). NHB,
the Apex level housing finance institution wholly owned by Reserve Bank of India (RBI), regu-
lates activities of housing finance companies (HFCs) in India. NHB Residex tracks residential
property prices in 26 JNNURM cities with the starting index value of 100 and 2007 as the base
year.
Residex tracks prices over a period of time by dwelling size (small/medium/large) and
location (city/zones/locations). Data on housing prices is collected from diverse sources such
as survey of real estate agents, CERSAI registry and housing prices being collected from banks
and HFCs based on home loans sanctioned by them. The data is then put through a model that
 Chapter 5 • Urbanization, Their Problems and Their Remedies 127

produces the index. The index has been constructed using the weighted average methodology
with Price Relative Method (Modified Laspeyre’s approach).
Residex can be used by policy makers, home buyers, banks & HFCs, builders and developers.
•• For buyers and investors, the index helps them compare prices between cities in India
and across various localities within a city of their choice. Further, investors can identify
emerging housing markets and trends by looking at the price movements each quarter.
•• For lenders, residex helps in estimating the value of the property being financed.
•• For developers and builders, it helps in assessing the demand for housing in various urban
locations.
Housing prices for the following Indian cities are being tracked currently: Delhi with
NCR, Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Faridabad, Patna, Ahmedabad, Chen-
nai, Jaipur, Lucknow, Pune, Surat, Kochi, Bhubaneshwar, Guwahati, Ludhiana, Vijayawada, In-
dore, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Dehradun, Meerut, Nagpur and Raipur.

GOVERNMENT INTERVENTIONS/PROGRAMMES
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana—Housing for All (Urban)
The Hon’ble President of India, in his address to the Joint Session of Parliament on 9th June, 2014
had announced “By the time the Nation completes 75 years of its Independence, every family will
have a pucca house with water connection, toilet facilities, 24x7 electricity supply and access.”
Honourable Prime Minister of India announced Housing for All by 2022 when the Na-
tion completes 75 years of its Independence. In order to achieve this foremost objective, Cen-
tral Government has launched a comprehensive mission “Housing for All by 2022.”
Housing for All (HFA) mission is since launched in compliance with the above objective
of the Government and with the approval of competent authority.
The mission seeks to address the housing requirement of urban poor including slum
dwellers through following programme verticals:
•• Slum rehabilitation of slum dwellers with participation of private developers using land as
a resource.
•• Credit-linked subsidy to promote affordable housing for weaker sections.
•• Providing subsidy for beneficiary led individual house construction.

Scope
1. Mission will be implemented as Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) except for the compo-
nent of credit-linked subsidy which will be implemented as a Central Sector Scheme.
2. A beneficiary family will comprise husband, wife, unmarried sons and/or unmarried
daughters. The beneficiary family should not own a pucca house either in his/her name or
in the name of any member of his/her family in any part of India to be eligible to receive
central assistance under the mission.
Coverage and Duration
1. All 4041 statutory towns as per Census 2011 with focus on 500 Class I cities would be
covered in three phases as follows:
•• Phase I (April 2015–March 2017) to cover 100 cities selected from States/UTs as per
their willingness.
128 Indian Society for Civil Services

•• Phase II (April 2017–March 2019) to cover additional 200 cities

•• Phase III (April 2019–March 2022) to cover all other remaining cities
 inistry, however, will have flexibility regarding inclusion of additional cities in earlier
M
phases in case there is a resource backed demand from States/UTs.
2. The mission will support construction of houses up to 30 square meter carpet area with
basic civic infrastructure. States/UTs will have flexibility in terms of determining the size
of house and other facilities at the state level in consultation with the Ministry but without
any enhanced financial assistance from Centre.
Basic civic infrastructure like water, sanitation, sewerage, road and electricity is essential
for the success of slum development and affordable housing projects.
Implementation Methodology
The scheme will be implemented through four verticals to all the beneficiaries. The four verti-
cals are given below.

“In situ” Slum Affordable ­Housing Affordable Subsidy for benefi-

­Redevelopment through Credit ­Housing in ciary led individual
Linked Subsidy ­Partnership house construction
•  Using land as resource •  Interest subvention •  With private sector •  For individuals of
•  With private subsidy for EWS or public sector EWS category
participation and LIG for including Parastatal requiring individual
new house or agencies. house.
•  Extra FSI/TDR/FAR
incremental housing. •  Central Assistance •  State to prepare a
if required to make
projects financially •  EWS Annual per EWS house in separate project for
viable Household Income affordable housing such beneficiaries
Up to Rs. 3 lakh and projects where •  No isolated/
house sizes up to 30 35% of constructed splintered beneficiary
sq. m houses are for to be covered
•  LIG: Annual EWS category
Household Income
Between Rs. 3–6
Lakhs and house
size up to 60 sq. m

Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM)

The JNNURM was launched in 2005 as the first flagship scheme of this ministry. JNNURM
implemented by MoHUPA has two components—Basic Services for Urban Poor (BSUP) and
Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme (IHSDP) which aimed at integrated
development of slums through projects for providing shelter, basic services and other related
civic amenities with a view to providing utilities to the urban poor.
The mission was initially for a seven-year period i.e., up to March 2012 which was ex-
tended up to March 2014 for completion of the already approved projects. During March 2013,
the mission period was extended by one more year i.e., upto March 2015 to complete ongoing
works. Sixty-five mission cities identified based on urban population (Census 2001), cultural
and tourist importance was covered under BSUP and the remaining cities were covered under
IHSDP (887).
 Chapter 5 • Urbanization, Their Problems and Their Remedies 129

Under BSUP, project cost is shared in the ratio of 50:50 for cities with population more
than 1 million (as per Census 2001), 80:20 for other smaller mission cities and 90:10 for north
eastern and special category states. Entire cost of construction of Dwelling Units (DUs) and
associated infrastructure was shared as per the above-mentioned sharing pattern without any
limitation. Under IHSDP, project cost is shared in the ratio of 80:20 for remaining smaller cities
and 90:10 for north eastern and special category states. Cost ceiling of ` 1 lakh per DU includ-
ing cost of infrastructure was applicable for projects taken up under IHSDP scheme.

The two components of JNNURM were mandated to pursue three key pro-poor reforms,
namely:
(i) Earmarking of 25 per cent of municipal budget for the urban poor for provision of basic
services including affordable housing to the urban poor.
(ii) Implementation of 7-Point Charter, namely provision of land tenure, affordable housing,
water, sanitation, education, health and social security to the poor in a time-bound manner
ensuring convergence with other programmes.
(iii) Reservation of 25 per cent of developed land in all housing projects, public or private,
critical for slum improvement.

Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF)

The BRGF programme launched in 2007 is now applicable in 272 identified backward districts
of 27 states, except Goa. The untied funds under the BRGF provide financial resources for sup-
plementing and converging existing development inflows and bridging the critical gaps in local
infrastructure and other development requirements that are not being adequately met through
other sources of funding. The planning is participatory in nature by PRIs with a bottom-up
approach.

National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM)

Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY), replaced by the NULM in September 2013, aims
to endow with rewarding employment to the urban unemployed and underemployed. The NULM
will focus on organising urban poor in SHGs, creating opportunities for skill development lead-
ing to market-based employment, and helping them set up self-employment ventures by ensuring
easy access to credit. The mission aims at providing shelter with basic amenities to the homeless
in the urban areas. It also plans to address livelihood concerns of urban street vendors.
During 2013–2014, an amount of more than 700 crore was released, and the number of
people skill-trained and assisted for self-employment was 6 lakh and 1 lakh respectively.

CONCLUSION
Historical experiences imply that urbanization is an inevitable progression.
In light of this observation, combined with the positive impacts of urbanization outlined,
it is clear that the main challenge at present is not that of slowing-down of urbanization, but of
learning how to cope with rapid and ever-challenging urban growth. In recognition of the role
of cities as engines of economic development, there has recently been a resurgence of interest
in urban management as the main tool for coping with rapid urban growth and maximising the
positive demographic and socio-economic impacts of urbanization.
130 Indian Society for Civil Services

PRACTICE QUESTIONS
1. “A comprehensive plan is needed to make our over grown cities liveable with respect
to all factors”. With reference to above statement, critically analysis various government
schemes directed towards sustainable urbanization.
2. “The growth in number of cities without proper proactive approach brings in multiple
problems which in near future can’t be solved”. With reference to above statement, bring
out all problems of urbanization in India.
3. Discuss various suggestions to solve urbanization induced problems in India.
4. Examine the social problems and challenges present in urbanized area in India.
5. Establish the relationship between the characteristics of urbanization in Indian with that
of social issues in India.

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTION

1. ‘The growth of cities as I.T. hubs has opened up new avenues of employment, but has also
created new problems.’ Substantiate this statement with examples. (15 Marks)  2017
2. With a brief background of quality of urban life in India, introduce the objectives and
strategy of the ‘Smart City Programme.’ (15 Marks) 2016
3. Smart cities in India cannot sustain without smart villages. Discuss this statement in the
backdrop of rural–urban integration. (15 Marks)  2015
4. Discuss the various social problems that originated out of speedy process of urbanization
in India. (200 words) 10 marks
 Chapter 6
Effects of Globalization
on Indian Society

Learning Objectives
In this chapter, you will learn about:
• Globalization: Initial Phase
• Globalization and India
• Social Dimension of Globalization
M. Senthil Kumar
• How Globalization has Impacted the Indian Society?
• Globalization and Its Cultural Dimension S. Rijesh

s / Editors Name INTRODUCTION

With CD Red Band Territory line URL Price mQuest
In very simple terms, globalization can be defined as increasing global interconnectedness. It is
not an outcome, but it is a process which tends to interconnect different parts of the world. The
interconnectedness is primarily an exchange of social, economic, political, cultural and techno-
logical attributes. These attributes happen to interchange when societies of the world comes in
contact with one another. According to some scholars, the process of globalization started ever
since the beginning of mankind and affected everyone and influenced all cultures but on dif-
ferent degree. Though this exchange process is going on for time immemorial, this process was
termed as ‘globalization’ for the first time around the second half of 20th century, while much
of the literature on this has appeared since the late 1970s and 1980s.
The idea of globalization oriented with modernization was mentioned in writing
of famous sociologists like Karl Marx and Saint-Simon. Both these scholars have talked
132 Indian Society for Civil Services

extensively about the modern society that provides for various kinds of modern means of
communication to keep people in different locations to get connected through one or other
means. The process of globalization started ever since the beginning of human being itself.
But one can find a significant difference between present and past trends in globalization.
The contemporary globalization differs in terms of the quantum of exchange and intercon-
nectedness and its subsequent impact on the society. Because of technological advancement,
the process of globalization is much faster also. The current process of globalization, which
is gradual in nature, removes the barrier for trade and investment. Globalization aims to
achieve economic efficiency by competitiveness, while seeking to achieve the broader ob-
jectives of economic and social development. It influences to each and every institution in
which humans interact and involve multiple platforms, such as economic, social, political,
cultural and environmental.
The present era of globalization can be referred to as growing integration of various
countries and societies, in terms of economy, social, cultural and political. The easy and free
movement of capital, including human capital, products, processes, ideas and information, is
the outcome of globalization process. But as already mentioned, the process affects not only
economy but also political, cultural, social and environmental aspects. With the process, far
away places are linked with each other and hence, an event in one end of the world affects the
other end as well. The social relationship between the countries are intensified, and a culture
gets affected by many other cultures.
As mentioned earlier, the globalization as a process develops manifold because of the
Information and communication technologies. The process of the integration was speeded up
because of information and communication technology. But in recent decades, the centrality
of globalization was debated around the issue of global capital. Few scholars argue that the
process of globalization was speeded up because of the global capital was its driving force. But
one should understand that both information and communication technology and global capital
played equal role for the enhancement of the globalization process.
Globalization as understood from neoliberal perspective emphasizes that free market
economy would act as the panacea for the entire problem that happens around the world. In-
creasing integration will reduce the conflict between the countries. It rests on the premise that
by bringing all human actions into the domain of the market and by maximizing the reach and
frequency of market transactions, social good could be maximized.
The intervention of the state in economy is not encouraged in a free society. It believes
that the economy will be more efficient and produce high when it is not intervened by the state.
If the barrier for trade and investment is lifted, it leads to development of the countries; hence
countries adopt free market economy which promoted growth and spread of globalization. But
the controversy arises when capitalist and advanced economies are not following the exact sprit
of free economy and trying to push developing and emerging economics to remove trade barri-
ers, which may hinder the local production and further development of these countries.

GLOBALIZATION: INITIAL PHASE

The Second World War provided an opportunity for scholars to advocate for more market-
based economy. The push for internationalization of economic activities increased. This ten-
dency increased further when United States and United Kingdom moved towards more market.
Jimmy Carter and Margaret Thatcher emphasized market economy in late 1970s. The adaptation
 Chapter 6 • Effects of Globalization on Indian Society 133

of export-oriented development strategies and trade liberalization was wide spread. The former
socialist countries were also in transition to market-oriented economy. This path was seen as a
favoured and most efficient means for achieving development, and many times it is voluntary
by countries; but at times, it is forced by international financial institution, such as International
Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, etc.
The globalization of national policies, policy-making techniques, implementation strate-
gies, etc., of national governments is the result of globalization itself. Various policies and
acts enacted by national government come increasingly under the influence of international
organization and corporate bodies. These bodies influence not only economic policy as seen in
1991, but also other policies, such as social, cultural, environmental and technological. The re-
structuring of national economies with thrust areas, such as more openness, free trade and less
intervention of government on market are influenced and pressured by international organiza-
tions. The national governments are asked by the international organizations supporting free
market, either to increase the taxes or reduce the government spending by reducing expendi-
tures on social sectors, such as education, health, public distribution system, transport, etc. The
organization wanted less intervention of governments on market. The national governments
had to dismantle the administered price mechanism applicable to the essential commodities of
mass consumption.
The globalization has some externalities associated with it and thus, it creates a set of
global ‘bads’. These global bads are climatic change, global warming, depletion of ozone layer,
etc.

GLOBALIZATION AND INDIA

India adopted New Economic Policy in 1991 because of major economic crisis. Indian foreign
exchange reserve was depleted because of high import than export. India approached IMF for
short-term loans in order to manage its deficit. Impetus came from IMF to structurally alter the
economy. This includes the elements of ‘liberalization’, ‘privatization’ and ‘globalization’. Liber-
alization is making Indian economy liberal in terms of foreign investment, decreased govern-
ment spending, lowering tariff, etc. The privatization means engaging private sector and ending
monopoly of government. These two can be seen as direction or methodology to attain the said
objective of globalization.

SOCIAL DIMENSION OF GLOBALIZATION

It is of the view that the current pace of globalization is reflected only on the perspective of eco-
nomics is a myth as it can be observed in social and cultural arena as well. Incidentally understanding
these varied dimensions of globalization is essential for the development of a rationalist response.
The societal perspective refers to its impact over the lifestyle of civilians and their surroundings.
There are many issues being raised on its impact over employment, social protection and working
conditions, etc. In this section, let us see some of the social dimensions of globalization.

Impact on Family, Marriage and Kinship Ties

The globalization process affects each and every aspect of human activity and associated institu-
tions, hence, family is not exceptional. The traditional family system, that is, joint family system has
134 Indian Society for Civil Services

its certain inherent advantages, like economic coordination, primary socialization of children, strong
emotional bondage, etc. The globalization process has altered the family system to a large extent. Tra-
ditional joint family is now replaced with nuclear family. Globalization has led to large-scale migration
and urbanization. Since it is difficult to maintain joint family system in urban places because of high
cost of living, people prefer to live in nuclear families. Increase in awareness also influences people
to have small families. Emergence of nuclear family has got its own advantages and disadvantages.
Nuclear families lack emotional bondage, the relationship is largely based on mutual ben-
efits between the partners. This has also given rise to secondary institutions which performs the
erstwhile functions of family.
Globalization is affecting the marital space too. Work is forcing a married couple to lead
separate lives, away from each other over a long time. This is typical for those in Information
Technology who are working overseas, in the UK, US, France, Australia and elsewhere.
The husband or wife is away. Sometimes, both are working in different locations, because
it’s not always possible to find jobs in the same place, whether it’s the same firm or another. And
sometimes, in a career-driven society, the partners are not willing or able to give up this employ-
ment. It’s long-distance romance for them! But what happens to the kids?
Either they don’t have kids till late in their married life, or the kids don’t enjoy the full fam-
ily. They just have to stay with the dad or mom, or with the grandparents because of schooling
compulsions. Many Indian schools are following an international curriculum to meet the de-
mands of increasingly globalized parents.
Globalization has also influenced to the marriage pattern in India. Earlier people used to
prefer bride or bridegrooms from their own caste. But nowadays, individual choice has become
more common. Love marriages, inter-caste and inter-religious marriages have become more
common. As a reaction to these changes, we could see the prevalence of khap panchayats and
honour killing.
Traditionally, life partners were searched from local communities, usually within the same
caste. Inter-caste marriages are now common. Parents are turning to the web to search for
prospective brides and grooms, and often, they prefer NRIs (Non-Resident Indians) for their
westernized outlook, lifestyles, and higher disposable income. A fatter bank account is more
important than the happiness index.
In modern society and urban spaces, more and more freedom and choices are exercised
by the younger generation while parents and society are becoming broadminded sometimes,
optimistically, at times, reluctantly. Subsequently, ‘the most interesting emerging trend heralded
by portal matrimony is that individuals participate much more in the process of ‘arranging their
marriages’, as a result of which they tend to have greater’ ownership’ over their marriages’. Fur-
thermore, in life partner search, at times, even parents are participating; Divya Gandhi notes this
new trend: Marriage portals are advertised as spaces where individuals, along with their families,
search for life partners. But how real is the individual’s participation? While it’s true that families
are taking on board the preferences of their sons and daughters, it is also true that it is often the
parents or other relatives who initiate and engage with the portal on behalf of their children.
To substantiate, one of the survey reports indicated 40% of the IT professionals opted for love
marriage, several of them later “arranged” by respective parents and extended relatives along
with consent of soon to be married son and daughter. Such drift has perhaps restricted the he-
gemony of caste, customs, traditions and cultural preference that has undoubtedly produced a
significant effect on urban communities in India. In recent times, the traditional marriages have
been dominated by web-based marriages.
 Chapter 6 • Effects of Globalization on Indian Society 135

The impact of cosmopolitan culture and economic independence amongst the young-
sters have led to the emergence of live in relationships in metropolitan cities and towns in
India.

Cohabitation, Live-in Relationship/Marriages

In contemporary urban India, marriage is going through some significant changes with sev-
eral unmarried boys and girls preferring a live-in relationship. Few, if not many, are living
together and even having children and settling down in family life without proper marriage.
This certainly goes against the norm of tradition, custom and moral values established in a
traditional Indian family. Conversely, these types of live-in relationships are also witnessing
a sharp rise in cases of discord and apprehension. Justice S N Dhingra observed, “Live-in
relationship is a walk-in and walk-out relationship. There are no strings attached to this re-
lationship nor does this relationship create any legal bond between the parties.” . The most
significant predicament in a live-in relationship is that no party in a live-in relationship can
complain of immorality or infidelity.
The concept of kinship is much important in Indian context as one’s social, cultural and
economic life is always dependent upon their kinship. It is now, even true in tribal culture; but in
globalized culture, it is no more an important part. The kinship ties have become less diffused
and more of calculative in nature. People maintain relationship with other only based on their
benefits.
The joint family system of India, which has been appreciated worldwide, is breaking up,
paving the way for nuclear families everywhere. Most people now like an independent life, a by-
product of globalization. There are old-age homes and senior communities everywhere, in the
major cities at least. And what’s a real worry is that, many of these nuclear families are getting
further divided because of strained relations between partners.

Impact on Labour Market

Labour market has seen explicit deregulation since ages by legislative means and inad-
equate implementation and bypassing of various laws and systems. There has been an
enormous government intervention in the labour market through wage fixation, employ-
ment policies and securities which had to be relaxed, for which the states around the
world are compelled to ease standards of the labour and its regulations and to bring in
modification in tax regulations to attract more foreign direct investments. The subcon-
tracting of production done by major MNCs have resulted in insecurity of jobs for the
labours and diminished labour welfare since there is improper overseeing authority over
their welfare.
The present trend of globalization also has its effect over casualization and
­informalization of the work force that leads to poor wages for labourers and insecurity in
jobs, though there are increasingly employment opportunities. The rise in the informal sec-
tor gives us ideas that the benefits related to traditional employment and protection mecha-
nisms are unavailable to the people working in this sector. The demand for skilled labour
has also rised due to increased mechanization and growth in latest technology and has put
before the government a challenge to improve the skills that can match with the demand.
This has also left unskilled labours unemployed which has provided an additional burden to
the government.
136 Indian Society for Civil Services

Liberalization, that is, opening up of the market and free trade agreements has increased
the movement of goods and services which have in turn reduced the employment opportunities
for Indians.

Impact Women and Employment of Women

Industrialization, in the globalization perspective is both male-led and export-led as well (UN
1999) and the rate of economic activity of women (20–54 age group) has approached 70%
in 1996. The export-oriented sector has seen much of its rise and is widely attributed to the
increasing Export Processing Zones and Special Economic Zones and in industries that has
moved to developing nations looking for cheap labour. Women are highly preferred in soft in-
dustries, such as apparel and leather, and industries that require unskilled or semi-skilled labours.
Since women are largely in informal jobs, their status has not improved and there are also very
poor working conditions and less pay. Call centres in India comprise an estimated 40% of the
workforce as women.
The increased women participation in employment should be seen as a livelihood op-
tion rather than labour market expansion, because they are not given a chance to exercise their
choice regarding the kind of employment owing to the increased family burden. This may not
be considered the only reason as the other important one is the asymmetrical power and sexual
division of labour which left women less advantaged as household work and reproductive re-
sponsibilities still seen as an obstacle.
Entry of women in the labour market is seen to bring in various changes at the household
level, may it be educational or nutritional status. This is one important perspective and others
like changes in work participation rates, sectoral divisions, which are other perspectives to un-
derstand the importance of reforms.
With the onset of globalization, the position of women changes from mere dependent
to a self-liberator. The globalization provides an opportunity for them to stand up in life and
empowering themselves through economic independence. But recently, the economic indepen-
dence have created ripples in Indian family system as women started to devote much time on
economic pursuit than the family orientation. The family system is getting collapsed because of
the above phenomena. It is evident in increasing divorce rates in India.

NEW MIDDLE CLASSES

The concept of ‘middle class’ is not of contemporary origin. This is apparent by the fact that
Aristotle, ‘during his era (389 BC to 322 BC), used the term middle class’ and measured it to
be exceptionally central for the very continuation of society” . However, India s middle class
development was initiated by the British rule and subsequent introduction of English education
endorsed by the colonial era. It was when Macaulay’s policy of advancement of western educa-
tion in English was implemented that significantly initiated the growth of the middle classes in
India .
However, in the contemporary period, which is the focus of the present study, the ‘new’
middle class, is represented as a social group, which is negotiating India’s new relationship glob-
ally, in both cultural and economic terms. It is of prime importance first to acknowledge that
modern middle class is not a homogenous group, for it is disjointed according to by social posi-
tion and ideology on the one hand and earnings and occupation on the other.
 Chapter 6 • Effects of Globalization on Indian Society 137

Moreover, sectors of the NMC, particularly the lower and middle tiers of the NMC are
economically insolvent and have not significantly benefited by globalization. Moreover, a few
segments of the NMC including the upper tier, face issues and challenges related to family and
overall human development, and even with work-related pressures. These challenges and issues
have caused stress, health and related issues and unrest in personal, and in the family and work
relationships
It is not surprising then that gender equation among the NMC are changing and globaliza-
tion has altered various perceptions about gender status, role,and privileges, issue of freedom,
individuality, the socialization and care of children, the well-being of the elderly, work and fam-
ily relationship . The gap between male and female among the NMCs is ever declining and new
gender roles are being formed and exercised.
The ongoing globalization tremendously impacted the NMC family, particularly, in urban
India. It has brought unprecedented changes in the Indian family structure, pattern, and func-
tions while affecting the institution of marriage, women’s role and status in the family, upsetting
work-life balance and the overall family unit including children and elderly.

Globalization and Poverty Level

Initially, it was theorized that the reforms in economy will boost the growth, and benefits of
growth will trickle down to poor. By opening the economy, it is believed the trade, investment,
etc., will increase and act as ‘engine of growth’ and it brings goodness to economy. But later
it was understood that the result is mixed. Many countries reported that the inequalities are
widening in their economies. This is contrary to the conventional trade theory prescriptions.
Widening wages disparity, contractual labours market, incentives based on skills, etc., were the
results of globalization’s impact. Impoverishing of the lower strata was the consequence, which
is against the initial theories.
Almost every sector was affected by the globalization process. Agriculture-based nations
was suffering from numerous ill effects, such as corporate intervention and genetic engineering
because of liberalization process. The cost of agriculture was increased and hence, the farmer’s
income was adversely affected by the non-sustainable industry-based agriculture. The affected
countries are either in developing or least-developed slot. A blend of devaluation of currencies,
sky rocketing costs of production and a collapse of goods and services prices, all resulting from
the liberalization of the economy.
Indian poverty is increasing year by year which results in social unrest. The formation of
naxalism has its base on poverty issues in India. The gap between rich and poor is kept on in-
creasing in India, which results in such movements. Globalization on its core promised that the
gap can be reduced but the evident shows other way. The rich is getting further richer but the
poor is getting further poorer. Hence, globalization does not lived its dreams.
Economic liberalization and globalization had a direct impact both on rural and urban
poverty. The effects of globalization equally affected both urban and rural areas. The immedi-
ate ­effect was seen in urban areas. This is because the initial reforms or first generation reforms
is concentrated on industrial economy than agriculture. The effect on urban areas can be seen in
land use pattern and employment opportunity. Initially, it was proposed that reforms will bring in
employment opportunity, but studying the post-reform period will definitely prove the other way.
The income disparities and incidence of poor increased at the same time, number of billionaires
also increased which is paradox.
138 Indian Society for Civil Services

The decreased spending on social sector has a profound effect on rural poverty. Initially,
the reach of banks was so good and the rural credit was growing at the greater phase. Later,
the cost of agriculture also increased simultaneously, whereas the profit did not increase, which
pushed the farmers into a vicious cycle. Bank’s bad loan also increased and the rescue is mini-
mal. Farmers’ suicide starts to increase rapidly especially in agriculture-based starts. Govern-
ment of India announced the rationalization of subsidies disbursed to farmers which will have
major effect on the returns to farmers. The matter is also taken up in WTO, an international
trade regulator, which may push India further into subsidy reduction.

Globalization and Sustainable Development

The sustainable development was not present in the practice of the globalization. Initially, the
development made by globalization was not sustainable, as it just satisfied the present needs
only without considering the next generation’s demands. Hence, impact was made to environ-
ment and the society because of not considering equitable distribution of wealth and resources.
The goal of improving and raising the standards and quality of living for everyone and environ-
ment was in vein, because the unsustainable practice involved in globalization. Following the
globalization, the unsustainable development practices were characterized with high level of
market competitiveness.
For instance, the replacement of native seeds by imported hybrid seeds or cash crops in
India has trickled down problems which were not present indigenously in the country. Firstly,
the increased siphoning of ground water through tube wells is occurring since these crops need
more water. As a result, the ground water table has depleted, leading to famine and hence ulti-
mately leading to poverty. Secondly, the usage of pesticides has risen umpteen times because of
the heavy vulnerability of high-yielding hybrid seeds to pest attacks. Thirdly, the crops require
high amounts of fertilizers for increasing production, which results in indiscriminate use of
chemical-based fertilizers. This also increase the production cost. Fourthly, the usage of the fer-
tilizer results in degradation of land ultimately affecting the ecology and ecosystem in the area.
The degradation of land is visible via decreased productivity, which leads to low food produc-
tion and increased incidence of poverty.
Further, because of unsustainable practice, the ponds and wetlands are getting affected
which results in huge loss for economy and society. The unsustainable practice also pollute air
thus industrial town are getting polluted by smog, PM2.5, PM 10, etc.
Another example, the export-oriented policy in fisheries sector opened up the waters of
the Exclusive Economic Zone to corporate for fish trawling. This resulted in the indiscriminate
destruction of the marine eco system and the livelihood of the traditional fishing community.
Because of globalization, the input cost is increasing in agriculture which have eliminated ma-
jority of small farmers from agriculture. The farmers’ suicides are evident because of increasing
debt burden, because of the increasing input cost of certain corps which are genetically modi-
fied such as Bt. Cotton, etc.

Migration, Urbanization and Globalization

Migration is not a new phenomenon. It is impossible to trace when human beings first migrated
and the reason behind the migration. It may be for better employment, education, marriage and
even for entertainment. Migration is not always confined with the State’s boundary but also
outside the boundary. The global migration cause global uprootedness and also displace human
 Chapter 6 • Effects of Globalization on Indian Society 139

in extraordinary scale. Estimates say that nearly 1 out of 6 people in this world, more than one
billion people, are crossing national borders as migrant workers. Migration for many becomes
a necessity rather than choice mainly because of the lack of ubiquitous development between
nations, and between rural and urban centres in a country.
Urbanization becomes an important catalyst for migration because urban areas offer
many economic opportunities to rural people. Urban markets offer people opportunities to
switch jobs rapidly, diversify incomes and enhance upward mobility with a very low asset base
and skills even though there is a lot of variation in the rate of urbanization around the world.
The pattern of economic force, not the rate of economic force, acts as a determining factor
in the increasing rate of urbanization. Economic growth is now based on the expansion of
manufacturing industry—a trademark of current globalization tends to be associated with
higher rates of urbanization—while growth based on the expansion of agriculture is asso-
ciated with the reverse. Increasing globalization also leads to expansion of tertiary sectors,
which are concentrated in and around urban centres also results in migration of workers for
better employment.
Though it is too early to predict how agreements through WTO will affect urbanization,
it is predicted that if the economic growth pattern is shifting towards manufacturing, there is
likely to be a higher rate of urbanization than there would be with agriculture-based growth in
India. It is therefore likely that countries such as China and India whose comparative advantage
lies mainly in labour-intensive manufactured produces will see an acceleration of rural urban
migration, both temporary and long term. The driving force will be the expansion of labour-
intensive exports, which will boost the demand for labour in urban areas, and widen wage gaps
between rural and urban areas.

Globalization and Commercialization of Indigenous Knowledge

The globalization process infiltrates territories, habitats and resources of indigenous people,
which may lead to destruction of their way of life. Big corporate entities get access to indig-
enous knowledge and patent it for their gain and profit. The result can be that the indigenous
people and the rest of humanity will have to pay for access to the knowledge which would have
also been commercialized.
Pharmaceutical corporations in the United States, under the auspices of Human Ge-
nome Diversity Programme, are patenting the indigenous people knowledge themselves.
They monopolize the use of seed, medicines and traditional knowledge systems and human
genomes. Even the essential needs of humanity, such as land, water, wildlife, aquatic life,
and mineral resources, became commodities in the present globalization process at the cost
of the lives and livelihoods of vast majorities around the world: This may result in environ-
mental devastation, social displacement, wiping out of cultural and biological diversity. The
inter-generational and intra-generational sustainability is absent in centralized management
of natural resources.
Similarly, various forms of traditional knowledge systems especially in the fields of medi-
cine and agriculture have been preserved and passed on from one generation to the other. Many
of the health ailments of modern times can also be cured by the traditional forms of medicine.
Any disease you name, we have the traditional medicine to cure that. But there have been re-
cent attempts by some multi-national companies to patent the use of Tulsi, Haldi (turmeric),
Rudraksha and Basmati rice has highlighted the need for protecting the base of its indigenous
knowledge systems.
140 Indian Society for Civil Services

Emergence of Consumerist Culture

Consumer Culture may be defined as an indomitable passion for the purchase and possession
of material goods and services, usually in the high-cost bracket. It is perceived as a symbol
of affluence and aristocracy in the society. Companies take advantage of this idiosyncrasy in
people and accordingly idolise their products to augment sales. In case of India, such a scenario
made its appearance in the globalization era.
Two characteristic features distinguish a consumer economy. First, it is defined by the
spree of spending and buying by the people. Second, consumer culture hinges not so much on
the purchasing power of money, as it does on creating happiness and a sense of satisfaction
obtained through acquiring and owning personal property. Both these features are as a result of
life style changes in India. In major Indian cities cosmopolitan culture prevails and people are in
the mood of shopping spree.
Gone are the days were a supplier dictated what a society shall buy and use, but now it is
the free-thinking and self-directed consumer, who decides what he wants and will possess. This
drives the economy into a liberal, laissez faire, strong, and stable system; purchases lead to more
purchases and the wheels of production keep churning all the time.
Perhaps, one of the most liberating aspects of consumer culture is the concept of creat-
ing a “new self ”, a different avatar, by transforming the person into a more modern individual,
and conferring on him a new identity. The phenomenon of consumer culture is so completely
engrossed in the idea of modernity that the world is no longer governed by custom, conformity,
or tradition; but by flux, fashion, fancy, and fanfare.

Globalization and Wealth Concentration

Globalization is a very asymmetrical process, with unequal distribution of benefits and losses.
In the ongoing process of globalization investment resources, growth and modern technol-
ogy are concentrated in few developed countries, such as North America, Europe, Japan, and
the East Asian countries, which are the industrialized nations of the world. The majorities
of the developing countries are excluded from the process and are used for satisfying the
interests of developed nations that are often detrimental to their interests: for instance, im-
port liberalization may harm their domestic producers and financial liberalization may cause
instability.
Globalization has varied impacts on varied nations. While growth and expansion is
visible in fully participating countries, moderate and fluctuating growth is seen in some
countries attempting to fit into the new globalized framework and marginalization and de-
terioration are experienced by many countries unable to get out of acute problems such as
commodity prices and debt. The uneven and unequal nature of the present globalization
process is manifested in the fast-growing gap between the world’s rich and poor people and
between developed and developing countries and in the large differences among nations in
the distribution of gains and losses. The divide of rich and poor is found in India in more
deliberate way. Every city has rich and poor coexists which is just a classic examples of un-
even process of globalization. The investment is also concentrated on southern states and
few other north states in India which again proves the biased connotation of globalization.
Polarization among countries has also been accompanied by increasing income inequality
within countries.
 Chapter 6 • Effects of Globalization on Indian Society 141

Globalization and Social Sector Expenditure

The role of state in the economic governance of the country has been minimal post-liberal-
ization of Indian economy, in turn reducing the public spending in the country. The access of
people to employment, capital and social services like education, housing and health services
will be much less because of the reduced role of the public sector and the government which
are replaced by the growing private sector. The structural adjustment policies of the national
government involving the relinquishing of economic activities from the public sector into the
hands of the private sector, that is, the state moving away from economic planning and leav-
ing economic decisions to the market, will result in the withdrawal of social protection to the
public. ‘Social dumping’ is also evident now-a-days in order to make the industries competitive.
It means the process of reducing the cost of product by low wages to workers and creating sub-
standard social conditions.
Government of India introduced New Economic policy (NEP) in 1991,this paved the
way for India’s entry in to the global market. This mechanism was facilitated by the compen-
dium of the processes involving Liberalization, Privatization which led to globalization. India’s
entry into the global market was through the compelling economic situations at that point of
time. Moreover, International monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank wanted to bring India
into the global fora. In this situation Indian went on to adopt new liberal model of economic
development. This was famously called as “Washington Consensus“ that requires a government
to reduce the state’s role in the economy activities. some of them are (i) to cut down the state
spending on subsidies (ii)to abolish price control mechanisms (iii) disinvest or privatize loss
making Public sector undertakings wherever possible (iv) reduce tariffs (v) to promote Foreign
direct Investment (v) to liberalize the regulatory mechanisms in financial sector.

Impact on Scheduled Tribes

The entry of multinational companies (MNCs) into industrial mining and commercialization of
forest products are likely to increase inequalities of income and consumption. The new agricul-
tural policy enunciated by the government is capital intensive, improved seeds and fertilizers are
costly and subsidies are being withdrawn. There is also encouragement for mechanized farming.
This is harmful to the tribal interests. Globalization policies threaten to disturb the biodiversity
of forest areas preserved for millennia by the tribal communities. The MNCs are going to steal
the gene resources of plants, herbs and trees or seeds. They will claim intellectual property rights
on those items, which are under the nature and control of the tribal people. Globalization is also
promoting overconsumption of industrial and consumer goods, thus changing the lifestyle of
the tribal and other deprived people to their disadvantage. Disruption of traditional crafts and
small-scale industries is predictable as capital efficiency factor is throwing out small-scale units.
There will be more unemployment as traditional labour intensive small-scale industries will be
displaced by new technologies.
The impact of globalization on the scheduled areas should be a major area of concern
for the tribal population. In order to adapt to the globalization processes the policy makers are
preparing to make a complete reversal of the Indian Constitution wherever people’s rights and
control of resources are concerned. In a globalized situation, it is the market and not the com-
munity, which is the chief player. All laws and policies relating to the scheduled areas— the land
transfer regulations, the forest act, the environmental protection act, the land acquisition act,
are all under immediate threat of repeal, dilution or amendment. These laws were meant for the
142 Indian Society for Civil Services

protection of people and resources while the new policies call for exploitation of resources at
the cost of people. Now all these ‘bottlenecks’ are being removed to promote globalization. The
tribal population has always been known for their strong community life and collective spirit
and they used it as a part of their ‘survival strategy’. This is rapidly being eroded through the
promotion of private rights at the cost of ‘community rights’. Thus, the tribal people are going
to be the worst sufferers and the most coveted sacrificial goat for globalization.

GLOBALIZATION HAS IMPACTED INDIAN SOCIETY PROGRESSIVELY

ON THE FOLLOWING AREAS
Employment Opportunities
The increased demographic dividend is highly favourable to India; it is indeed important for
us to provide employment opportunity to all in order to keep up the phase of growth. Glo-
balization process is much indeed important in this scenario. With globalization, trade and in-
vestment increases which ultimately increases economic opportunity for fellow citizens. Indian
government needs to increase the skills set and training of Indian youth to qualitatively increase
the employment opportunity. Special Economic Zone, National Investment and Manufactur-
ing Zone, etc., are created to boost exports which results in job creation. There are numerous
examples for investment-based job creation as India provides cheap labour.

Competition Level Is High

Globalization results in increased competition between MNCs and domestic firms. Meritori-
ous selection process, as opposed to seniority, in international firms, boosts the profit which
results in increased competitions. The management structure also changes which involves best
practices followed in various countries that leads to corporate culture which keep on motivating
every individual working in companies.

Improvement in Living Standards and Purchasing Power

Globalization has resulted in higher income to both business people and also salaried class b
­ ecause
of entry of MNCs and higher pay packages to qualified workforce. The nation’s wealth will in-
crease because of higher earnings from taxation and increased spending which results in increas-
ing nation’s wealth, which push for development. Development creates better standard of living to
the people, and thus globalization leads to development and higher standard of living.

Indian Youths Getting Empowered

Globalization brings in higher-end technologies and process which a skilled worker can han-
dle. In order to cope up with the situation, Indian youths develop their skills and empower
themselves. The pride of working in global organizations has been on the increase among the
young professionals and that has done wonders in increasing their outstanding confidence levels
even in their early 20s, which is not seen in any other age group. The level of confidence seen
amongst the youngsters significant, and this is also trickling to the young professionals in other
centres of growth. The skill set of IT employees is far better when compared to counter parts
in other countries. Their increased skill set contributes in the form of increased investment at-
traction from all around the world.
 Chapter 6 • Effects of Globalization on Indian Society 143

Increased Outreach on Human Rights

With increasing global integration, the awareness about human rights keeps on increasing. The
best practices are seen and people try to adopt such practices in India. For example, child labour
took a serious turn only after the Multi national companies started to emphasize on working
conditions of labour force. The concept of human rights entered into labour reforms which
resulted increased safety arrangements in factory setup.

Increased Multiple Opportunities

Since globalization, not only the traditional opportunity increased but also non-traditional op-
portunity increased. Non-traditional opportunities can be said that one chooses the career which
is not traditionally available in India. For example, sports person, coaches, disk jockeys, event
management, information and communication technology, etc. The improvement in technol-
ogy orientation also increased or diversified job opportunities. For example, Increase in private
sports fitness centres, pink collar jobs, more opportunities on tourism and travel.

Free Flow of Information Across the Society

With increased awareness and empowerment, people look for information and it forces the
government to disclose information to prove their transparency. The international media, espe-
cially West media, dominate the news industry and capture the inefficiency and ineffectiveness
of government at various stages and bring in awareness about the working of government. This
lead to media activism. The investigative journalism is much celebrated concept which has both
positive and negative aspect in it. For example, government officials are encouraged to disclose
non-sensitive information to people rather than RTI route.
Indian economy will be further motivated strongly because of these positive phenomena.
The expansion is seen significantly in real-estate sector, both housing and commercial dimen-
sions. The economic status of the people and the economic status of the country as the whole
is benefitted by globalization.
But it’s probably the internet that has had the biggest impact. Access to the World Wide
Web, social media, and even satellite television before that, has exposed Indian society to global
practices, trends, fashions, values, and everything else. The Indians learned to think and act dif-
ferently. Many of their age-old traditional beliefs, values and practices came under threat. Many
Indians have developed a westernized lifestyle for good or for worse. Its impact is felt even in
folk culture and performing arts.

GLOBALIZATION AND ITS CULTURAL DIMENSION

Globalization profoundly affects all our cultures and the ways human beings live their lives. Glo-
balization impacts our daily life style, it influences the behaviour of a person, what one should
eat, wear, hear, read, etc. It even decides the communicating language which lets certain language
extinct from face of the earth. It is believed that the penetration of English language is increas-
ing and the East, and the people here are adopting English for competitive edge. Not every
time local language will die when it is encountered by global languages. People, with awareness,
are bi-lingual and multilingual, trying to protect their local language and considerably adopting
global languages also. For example, a person in Kerala generally speaks three languages: Malay-
alam, Hindi and English. Here, you can find cultural assimilation.
144 Indian Society for Civil Services

Many scholars spoke about cultural homogenization which is completely against cultural
heterogenization. Cultural homogenization results in cultural marginalization. It may further lead
to exclusion of a culture as well. The following are the few cultural dimensions of globalization:

Increased Pace of Cultural Penetration

Cultural change or cultural dynamics is the result of interaction and integration of various cul-
tures. But one cannot omit the internal or endogamous change or development. Cultural dyna-
mism is the result of a process of blending, borrowing and adapting tenets and attributes of
alien culture. The cultural dynamism is so visible in those places where the trade and investment
have been high, frequent and continuous. The people movement became important for such
trades and hence, it is important to accommodate other cultures which push for dynamism.
Cultures of the world, presently, are invariably a result of assimilation and integration of
various tenets from other culture. The interpenetration results in a culture which has tenets of
integrating cultures. Further it is impossible to distinguish between the original tenets and incor-
porated tenets of a culture.
Cultural interpenetration through the exchange of commodities is today so pervasive that
it is difficult if not impossible to distinguish between original and imported cultural attributes.
Firstly, consider food and beverage sector in India. All international chain of restaurants opened
their outlets because of globalization. Consider a person drinking ‘Ethiopia Coffee’ in Delhi.
The coffee originated in Ethiopia, the sugar from New Guinea, the porcelain cup in China, the
tablecloth in the restaurant is made from cotton, which originated from a plant domesticated in
Central America and the restaurant itself is a French invention. Secondly, disease which origi-
nated in one place of the world, spreads to other parts of the world, for example, HIV/AIDS
spread from Africa to the rest of the world and a superbug which originated in India was found
in an American women. Thirdly, the penetration of global music with various sophisticated in-
struments has resulted in the marginalization of traditional music among different cultures of
the world. Today, pop music and its local variations can be heard in all social settings from wed-
dings to religious festivals and birthday celebrations rather than traditional music in India.

Development of Hybrid Culture

Like the two sides of a coin, the globalization at times has been inclusive and integrating and at
other times unequal and exclusivist. This is certainly true in cultural impact. Earlier, the cultural
traits of various communities are not known broadly to other communities as the exchange is
been restricted by various means. But the advancement of the science and technology made the
whole world as a global village. The cultural settings of every country, even the remotest, were
brought so close to humans through various advancements in technology. All the local cultural
tenets are easily available through TV channels, Internets, plays, etc. Hence it is very easy for cul-
tural transfusion. Globalization has the power to create what is called as Hybrid Culture which
may lead to homogeneity of the culture across the world. It is social innovation as everybody in
the world may follow the single culture, but the broad culture cannot overcome the core cultural
phenomenon which exists in every culture and it is unique to each other. The new culture form
is a combination of various aspects of various cultures.
The concept of valentine day is very much celebrated among Indian youth. The culture
itself was imported from the West nations, which have totally different cultural settings. ­Because
of various cultures entering in to Indian social settings, the cultural nationalism emerges which
 Chapter 6 • Effects of Globalization on Indian Society 145

is profoundly creating cultural conflicts. These types of cultural conflicts are predominant in
­urbanized area as it has combined population from various social settings. For example, the
issue of moral policing activities in states like Kerala and Uttar Pradesh which has led to huge
unrest amongst youth and various socio-cultural organizations,thus expressing the conflict
­between tradition and modernity in India.
The globalization and free-market economy leads to the corporate advancing its culture so
rapidly in various countries, especially in India. The corporate formed their own culture that fits
into its broad objectives, such as fun with responsibilities, customer first, etc. Hence, the corpo-
rate culture may attain the status of hybrid culture.
Resurgence of Cultural Nationalism
The globalization provides impetus for the rise of cultural nationalism. The local communities
start to campaign against cultural integration and defend local identities. The local histories,
identities, cultural traits, practices, etc., will surface again in order to defend their own culture.
The people involved will start rejecting integration of cultures as they feel integration is a threat
to their community. The rejection may be at times passive and not involving violence, but at
times it became very active and involves violence. For example, various organizations commit-
ted to religious and cultural principles campaign against Valentine’s Day. Another example is
the European and South American nations campaigned against the threat of Americanization
(standardization) and have defended the diversity and difference of European cultures. Moral
policing activities are very high when the level of cultural nationalism prevails very strongly
across the country or a specific region.
Apart from the above aspects, we could see a lot of cultural impacts like emergence of
mail culture in Indian cities. Malls of various dimensions have become places of much attrac-
tion for the urban people. We get everything in a mall, it has made purchase and recreation more
comfortable but at a higher price.
Cultural revivalism is also because of globalization. Emergence of yoga, traditional medi-
cine, and traditional recipes in hotels are as a result of globalization process.
New art forms like cinema, music and sports have lot to do with their impact on Indian culture.
Unprecedented interaction and mobility have dented local cultures. Large-scale immigration
and a transnational workforce, the product of globalization, is dispersing cultures across the world,
leading to a unified world culture. India is no exception. For example, the gesture of greeting elders
has changed. The traditional way of gesture is to humbly say Namaste but, thanks to globalization
now, irrespective of the age, the common way of gesture has become ‘Hi’ and ‘Hello’. However, it’s
not a question of being good or bad. It’s an issue of changed preferences.
Globalization and India’s Performing Arts
Globalization has a significant impact on India’s performing arts. There are changes in the tradi-
tional and rural based performing arts where it has been referred to as part of the entertainment
industry. The once forgotten traditional arts have been brought to the limelight by globalization.
We could see the regular conduct of concerts and music events by members of the performing
arts. The traditional artists were once recognized during historical periods, then after some time
they lost their relevance. Now, with the advancement in technological and communication me-
dium, India’s performing arts is reaching to a large section of people.
That was never the case before. For artists and creators in the past, it was much more about
the artistic urge, art for art’s sake.
146 Indian Society for Civil Services

Mainstream Hindi film music is another classic example. This without doubt enjoys the great-
est listenership. It’s the economically wealthiest genre too.
Undoubtedly, the content quality has come down but looking at it from an artistic point of
view, its popularity and financial success has surged.
One reason for this is Hindi movie songs ability to fit into a template that’s found in the global
music industry. A three to five-minute song template with danceable grooves, snappy tunes and ac-
companying visuals of Bollywood stars is picked-up easily by an increasingly global market. These
have become very much popular amongst the people in India and abroad because it could be down-
loaded instantaneously.
Other genres like Indian pop music, hip hop, electronic music, fusion and remixes are doing
well too, mainly because of the western influence in them, and the propensity of Indians to con-
sume such arts.
On the other side, Indian culture, classical music and other art forms have got worldwide rec-
ognition. As a testimony to this, the regular conduct of Indian music and other art events and per-
formances in various other parts of the world. Another good example is the interest expressed by
many foreigners to learn the famous Indian classical dance Bharatanatyam.
And not just that, western music and dance forms like salsa, jazz, hip hop, and others have
become popular in India as well. Many groups are experimenting mixing east with west. This has
enriched Indian arts through the birth of various forms of fusion music and dance.
The internet is not just globalizing Indian arts, it is actually making them more popular as well.
Artists are able to easily upload their work. And it’s become easier to reach the audience. There was
a time when budding talents had to frantically search for a sponsor or event manager. But not any-
more, scenario has changed. A lot of singers and musicians in the west have become stars through
their YouTube videos and attracted big time labels. This is happening in India as well. One breakout
performance can make all the difference.

Globalization and India’s Languages

English has become one of the primary languages in India, since it could connect people from
across different regions in India. But still owing to its cultural diversity, there are more number
of regional languages in India (Constitution of India under the Schedule VIII recognizes 22
languages). Hence, many people find it difficult to communicate in local regional languages,
when they travel from one region to another region. For instance, Kannada is the first language
in Karnataka, and Malayalam in Kerala. Though these are neighbouring states, a person from
Kerala would still not understand Kannada. It is here that communication in English becomes
necessary.
Hindi and English are thus commonly used by almost everybody. English is slowly taking over
because of the effects of globalization. But are the local languages dying out?
Hardly! The internet is actually preserving them. Take for instance the efforts to preserve Ben-
gali and the works of Rabindranath Tagore. The Gitabitan Project is an online archive of all the
songs, stories, books and poems of Tagore. The internet is not just preserving this, it’s actually tak-
ing Tagore’s work to the world and making it more popular.

Globalization and Indian Festivals

Thankfully, Indian festivals haven’t changed a lot as yet, though some influences can be found.
Many festivals have gone global though, as a lot of Dussehra, Diwali, and Ganesh Chaturthi are
 Chapter 6 • Effects of Globalization on Indian Society 147

celebrated abroad by the diaspora. Many locals attend these festivals as well, and get to learn
about Indian religious events.
But here’s a change within the country that’s quite a surprise. We are celebrating many more in-
ternational events now such as Friendship Day, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, and even Father’s Day and
Mother’s Day. These events hardly had any relevance in Indian society even a couple of decades back.
The traditional Indian customs and traditions have changed over a period of time and some
of them lost its relevance to the major cultures of the world. Though these age-old cultural practices
have taken a backseat, the advent of internet technologies and various communication mediums
have helped to revive and preserve them. These mediums have the capacity to reach millions of
people and make them aware of our rich cultural diversity.

CONCLUSION
Globalization is such a process which left its imprints in every such human endeavour. It has
reached far as the all the nations of the earth are involved in the process but on various degrees.
As India is moving towards the modernization of various arena, it receives imputes in vari-
ous degrees from various countries. The people with much awareness and self-consciousness
started to approach the modernization because it involves identity. For example, the cultural
modernization needs to be approached much consciously as it may affect the core character
of Indian society. Hence, modernization needs to be approached carefully. The vigour of the
transformed sense of self-awareness among the people in India is vital for success of globaliza-
tion. The sense and globalization inputs should not mismatch and need to reconcile each other
at the time of mismatch. The interconnectedness between various cultures in India should rein-
force without disturbing national unity. As the cultural sphere gets affected by the globalization
and modernization, the linkage will get stronger.

PRACTICE QUESTIONS
1. Critically examine the cultural dimension of the globalization process.
2. Globalization, as a process, affects Indian society both on positive and negative connota-
tion. Explain.
3. “Globalization has led to religious resurgence, newfangled religious and god business in
different parts of the world”. Discuss the relevance of the statement in changing Indian
Social context
4. Globalization has brought about the much needed Gender Equality in India-Critically
examine.
5. Briefly discuss about the impact of Globalization on Indian youth highlighting on the so-
cial, economic, cultural and psychological dimensions.

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS

1. Critically examine the effects of globalization on the aged population in India. (200 words)
10 Marks 2013
2. Discuss the positive and negative effects of globalization on women in India? 15 Marks
2015
3. ‘Globalization is generally said to promote cultural homogenization but due to this cultural
specificity appears to be strengthened in the Indian society.’ Elucidate. 15 Marks 2018
 Chapter 7
Communalism

Learning Objectives

In this chapter, you will learn about:

• What Communalism is? • Some Features of Communal Riots Taking
• Various Perspectives to Understand Place in India
Communalism • Incidents of Communalism in India: Few
• Background of the Growth of Communalism
in India •
Examples
M. Senthil Kumar
How to Tackle Communalism?
• Cause and Character of Communalism • Role of Various Institutions/Bodies
• Main Characteristics of Communalism • S. Rijesh
Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme
• Communalism in India: A Comparison for the Welfare of Minorities
• Communalism: International Context

rs / Editors Name With CD Red Band Territory line URL Price mQuest
INTRODUCTION
In broad sense what does communalism mean? Does it simply mean an individual’s adherence
to a religion and religious system and practices? Or does it mean an attachment to a religious
community or religiosity? Both the above contexts does not exactly explain the term communalism.
If religion and religious system is exploited for personal (or) a particular community’s benefit,
then we term it as communalism. Using one religious community against other communities and
against the Nations is communalism. Merely one’s affiliation to any social, cultural and service
organization of a religious community does not amount to communalism. Communalism is
basically an ideology which advocates that the followers of a religion have common interest that
differs from another religion. It is an ideology which preaches hatred against the followers of
other religion or religious communities. Communalism is often seen as a modern phenomenon
 Chapter 7 • Communalism 149

and not a phenomenon of the past. It is a sectarian, prohibitive and negative response to the
modernization process and national building.

DEFINITION OF COMMUNALISM
Communalism can be defined in different ways. Some of them are as follows:
1. Bipin Chandra: ‘The concept of communalism is based on the belief that the religious
distinction is the most important and fundamental distinction and this distinction over-
rides all other distinctions’. He further adds ‘since Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs are different
religious entities, their social, economic, cultural and political interests are also dissimilar
and divergent. As such, the loss of one communal group is the gain of another communal
group and vice versa. If a particular section or community of the society seeks to better its
social, political and economic situation, it is doing at the expense of the other’.
2. Ram Ahuja: ‘The antagonism practiced by the members of one community against the
people of other community and religion can be termed as communalism’.
3. Harbans Mukhia: According to historian Harbans Mukhia, “communalism is the phe-
nomenon of religious differences between groups, often leading to tension and even
rioting between them”. He elaborates, that people of different religious communities, be-
comes hostile when they have to live together and share common economic, political and
other scarce resources.
4. Asghar Ali Engineer: He links communalism with the conflicts of the elites of commu-
nities. Communalism is described as a tool of mobilize people for/against by raising an
appeal on communal lines.
Communalism in the Eyes of the Stalwarts of India
‘Breaking down a temple or a mosque is not as big a sin as breaking someone’s heart. What is the use of
Mandir and Masjid if we do not love each other’?
Kabir

‘I have nothing of the communalist in me because my Hinduism is all inclusive’.

Mahatma Gandhi

‘Communalism of the majority is far more dangerous than that of a minority… the majority community
must show generosity in the matter to allay the fear and suspicion that minorities, even though unreason-
ably, might have’.
Jawaharlal Nehru

‘For great men, religion is a way of making friends; small people make religion a fighting tool’.
Dr A. P. J Abdul Kalam

Communalism is characterized by strong antagonism between different religious groups.

This antagonism goes to the extent of falsely accusing, harming and deliberately insulting a
particular community and extends to looting, burning the homes and shops of the vulnera-
ble section, dishonouring women and even killing persons.While communalism is an ideology,
‘communal violence is a demonstration of this ideology’.
150 Indian Society for Civil Services

Communal persons are those who practice politics through religion. Every religion has a
leader who perceptively has control over the large segment of the religious community. These
individuals tend to mobilise the people of their religious community not only for political gains
but for good as well as bad cause.
Thus, communal is a person who is ‘a man of religion’, and ‘one who is not following
the basic tenets of any of the established religion like Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Christianity
(or) for that matter any other known religion’. Communal people tend to believe God and
religion as instruments to gain political support. From historical records, we have learnt that
King and the Priest used religion to live a life of luxury and to have complete control over the
society.

TYPES OF COMMUNALISM
T.K. Oomen, a famous sociologist, has suggested that there are six dimension of communalism.
These are described in the succeeding paragraphs.

Assimilationist (or) Communist Communalism

In this type of communalism, small religious groups are assimilated/integrated into big reli-
gions group. For ex: Hindus,Jains,Buddhists who are Hindus and few other sections of popu-
lation like Scheduled tribes belonging to Hinduism are covered under the same personal law
popularly called as the Hindu Marriage act 1955.
In this context it should be understood that all the members of the above religious group
though practice similar or different practices in their personal sphere, for all legal purposes they
are considered under the same legislation.
Welfarist Communalism
The main emphasis here to provide welfare for the particular community. For example: provid-
ing education, scholarship, financial assistance in higher studies for the people of a particular
religious community.
Matrimonial assistance, skill development, residential accommodation, etc., are such communal
mobilizations that aim bringing together members member of one’s own community. In the modern
Indian society, we can see a member of these welfarist organizations involved in different kind of
charitable and other social upliftment activities related to their particular community alone.

Retreatist Communalism
Is a type of communalism where a small religious community keeps itself aloof from politics
and any other politically related activity. They keep themselves away from any kind of political
activity, for example, Bahai religious community belongs to this category and keep themselves
away from any political activity.

Retaliatory Communalism
This type of communalism attempts to harm, hurt and injure the members of other religious
communities. More often, this type of communalism is clearly seen in India where the fight
between different groups either religious or caste is omnipresent across all regions in India, for
example, Godhra Riots and its aftermath
 Chapter 7 • Communalism 151

Separatist Communalism
For example, the statehood demand by various communities, at times, has been a major clamor
across different states of the country. Under this type, one religious (or) cultural group wants to
maintain its cultural specificity and demands a separate territorial state within the country, for
example, the demand for Gorkhaland by Gorkhas, Bodoland in Assam by Bodos. Disclaimer:
Nothing intentional to offend the said communities, Vidharbha in Mharashtra, separatist ten-
dencies in Mizoram are few of them.

Secessionist Communalism
It is one in which a religious community demands for a separate political identity and insists to
have a separate state, for example, the demand for Khalisthan, the demand for an independent
Kashmir by militant groups in Kashmir is engaged in practicing this type of communalism. A
recent example under this category is the demand for ‘Nagalim’ from the erstwhile parts of
Nagaland and Myanmar.
Of the six types of communalism, the last three create problems engendering agitations,
communal riots, terrorism and insurgency.

Stages of Communalism
It is a concept which developed in the late 19th and early 20th century. Communalism or com-
munal ideology consists of three basic elements or stages.
First, it is the belief that people who follow the same religion have common secular inter-
ests. From this arises the notion of socio-political communities based on religion and people try
to identify themselves with similar group of people
The second element of communal ideology rests in die notion that in multireligious soci-
ety like India, the secular interests i.e., the social, cultural, economic and political interests of the
followers of one religion are dissimilar and divergent from the interests of the followers of an-
other religion. This stage may be described as liberal communalism or moderate communalism.
The third stage of communalism is reached when the interests of different ‘communities’
are seen to weaken and ultimately eliminate communalism should not be overplayed.

VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES TO UNDERSTAND COMMUNALISM

Communalism, regionalism and casteism have become very closely associated and are consid-
ered in building negative slants in the contemporary Indian political and social system. Increas-
ing awareness and emergence of self-assertion amongst the minority groups are direct examples
of communal tendencies in India.
Some of the perspectives to understand communalism is discussed below:

Particularistic Approach of Minority

This approach basically is concerned about two aspects as follows:
1. Why do communal conflicts pertain to the Hindu majority and Muslim minority alone?
2. Why are Muslims, rather than any other religious minority in India are so conscious of
their grievances?
152 Indian Society for Civil Services

The prevalence of minority consciousness amongst the section of the Muslims is an age-old
phenomena since pre-partition days due to the deliberately devised divisionist policy of the British.
Entry of British also led to the downfall of Mughal rule, and the elites in Muslims lost
their market and their and their economic and social positions got downgraded position.
One of the other factor that led to the emergence of identity consciousness amongst the
Muslims is that after the division of subcontinent, they were looked down upon as traitors who
are disloyal to the motherland. The discriminatory attitude of the majority has further led to the
emergence of alienation amongst the Muslims.
Under this perspective, three important points are analysed as follows:
1. The Muslim-minority population feels marginalized at the hands of the Hindu majority.
2. Hindu–Muslim mistrust has developed into a feeling of fear and prejudice between these
two communities.
3. Government appeasement policy towards the minorities has to a large extent led to the
assertiveness amongst the minorities.
In the long run, for the structural balance in society, all groups (both majority and minority)
have to be integrated into the mainstream society. Looking at the vertical and horizontal division
of the Indian social structure, it is difficult to ascertain the majority and minorities very precisely.

PLURALIST APPROACH
This approach is based on the premise of one Nation theory that recognizes the co-existence
of various minorities and cultural groups. The advocates of this approach believe in protective
discrimination as a positive initiative to uplift the lower section of the society. The ruling party,
which subscribes to this theory, cannot adopt a genuine secular position, since it is concerned
with appeasing the religious sentiments of the majority for giving the obvious political benefit.
Communalism is not a pure religious phenomenon, because from the angle of sociopo-
litical relationship, the area of conflict was confined to the ruling class only. Basically, it was a
struggle for power. For example there were many instances when Mughal rulers took the help of
Rajputs and Shivaji had a Muslim fighter brigade and Muslim generals.

BACKGROUND OF THE GROWTH OF COMMUNALISM IN INDIA

Much of the work done on communalism in the post-Independence period, that is till the pre-
vious decade, has a historical explanation of the phenomenon. Historians tend to view the
communal problem in Indian history as the problem of political relations between Hindus and
Muslims. History reveals that communal riots are neither a product of a day nor an outcome of
a particular event but has a determined historical evolution. These major factors, history indi-
cates, pertain to the presence of mutual animosities, distrust and prejudices. History, therefore,
explains that communal behaviour is not r­ estricted to certain periods or situations but has been a
continuous phenomenon.
The cultural–historical explanation describes it as: (i) the lasting heterogeneity between
Hindus and Muslims; (ii) that the pattern of interaction and relation between the two communi-
ties and their access to power before and during British rule; (iii) the nature and content of the
national movement which is alleged to be either strongly underscored by Hindu sentiments or
secular; (iv) Some sections of the muslim community were strongly against social and cultural
 Chapter 7 • Communalism 153

reforms in the 19th century. This was primarily one important reason for the social backward-
ness of the muslims. (v) preservation of separatist identity as the religious community by them
and their aspirations for political dominance.

COMMUNALISM IN INDIA
(a) Pre-independence
There is no proper account of communalism in India in pre-independence era. Communal
consciousness, usually found among the ruling elite, was inspired more by political expedience
than by religious sentiment in medieval India but manipulation of religious sentiment became
a prominent feature only in British India. The uprising of 1857 completed the ruination of the
Muslim elite and handover the power to British crown. It was understood that Muslim–Hindu
unity would dispel British rule, hence, British sowed the seeds of intense communalism.
The British imperialists followed the policy of ‘Divide and Rule’. The Governor of
Bombay, Lord Elphinston wrote, ‘Divide at Impera was the old roman motto and it
should be ours’. The policy manifested itself for the first time in the form of the division
of Bengal. Viceroy Curzon announced the partition of Bengal in 1905 into the Muslim-
dominated eastern and Hindu-dominated western parts, ostensibly in the name of admin-
istrative efficiency, and convenience was a serious attempt by the British in the direction
of crystallizing the differences between the two communities. The manner in which the
partition was planned and the speeches made by Lord Curzon, the then Viceroy, revealed
that the real motive behind it was to divide the people on the basis of religion and pro-
mote differences and antagonism between Hindus and Muslims.
(b) Religious Revivalism in 1924
The Hindu and Muslim religious revivalism started in order to consolidate their own group
for their gains. The Shuddhi and Sangathan movements were started among the Hindus
and the Tabligh and Tanzim among the Muslims. The religious elite started invoking their
glorious past and try to compare with the present state to crystallize their religion rigidly
against other religion. As a result, the Hindus began to think and speak of Hindu nation-
alism and the Muslims of Islamic nationalism, and thus the foundations of a two-nation
theory were laid. It was not difficult, therefore, for the British to use the cultural and reli-
gious differences between the Hindus and Muslims for their imperial political purposes.
(c) Communal Violence (1923–30)
This particular period of the British era was marked with intensive communal violence.
It started with the Moplah Rebellion, which intensified animosity between the two com-
munities. This period witnessed more serious riots than at any other time in history.Seri-
ous riots occurred in Amritsar, Multan in Punjab. In the same year, violence broke out
in Meerut, Moradabad, Allahabad and Ajmer. The most serious of these disturbances
occurred at Saharanpur in connection with the Muharram festival. The communal senti-
ments were further aggravated because of communal award by British in the third round-
table conference.
Separate representation was provided not only for Muslims, but for the Sikhs, the
Anglo-Indians, the Indian Christians, the Europeans, the Landlords, the depressed classes
as well as commerce and industry. These awards created serious dent in the Indian unity.
In 1928, On Mixing religion with politics, Bhagat Singh wrote, “If religion is separated
from politics, then all of us can jointly initiate political activities, even though in matters
154 Indian Society for Civil Services

of religion we might have many differences with each other. We feel that the true well-
wishers of India would follow these principles and save India from the suicidal path it is
on at present”.
(d) Post-Independence
The post-independence communalism travel deep into the state apparatus as even the officials
of government, and the law and order machinery was compromised for personal and commu-
nal benefits. Contrary to the general impression, religion is not the root cause of the Hindu–
Muslim conflict: it is rather a powerful instrument in the hands of those interests, which seek
to play their game through it. What is relatively marked about the present phase is that the rul-
ing party and state itself are playing a direct role in communalism of the society. Many a time,
politicians are blamed for fanning disharmony in communally sensitive states.
Competition for jobs, land, economic gain or political power is the root cause for commu-
nal clashes. The communalization of Indian politics and the creation of communal ‘Vote Banks’
have an important bearing on communal conflicts in our society. Moreover, in a backward and
communally divided society, the elites of the respective communities, taking advantage of eco-
nomic disparities, are able to exploit religious sentiments among the lower economic class. The
thrust of the argument is to analyse the role of the state in controlling, combating and manipu-
lating communal violence. The frequency of communal violence was increasing from 1970s,
which make State to work more towards bringing peace.
It is to be seen in Indian that electoral process, that is, nominations of candidates, cam-
paigning, communal representation, etc., accentuated the process of communalism in every
state of India. Communalism practiced by both the majority community and the minority
communities is in consonance with the interests of ruling class/classes. Its presupposition of
well-knit and homogeneous communities, its association of Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian
interests and its reliance on religion for mobilising the people comes in the way of changing the
political status quo and property relations.
The fight for consistent democracy and of class struggle implies the completion of anti-
feudal and anti-bourgeoise revolution. In fact, there are a number of scholars and analysts who
subscribe to this interpretation of communal conflicts in India.
If we study a riot in depth, one can understand that not the immediate cause but the
accumulated antagonism is the major reason for communal tension, violence and its associ-
ated activities. The sub-surface study only gives an insignificant matter as the cause but not in
reality. The communal atmosphere provides a ready-tilled soil for communal-minded people
to sow seeds of communal hatred and nurture them till the bitter harvest of a communal riot
is reaped.
Communal philosophy and ideas constantly propagated in communal papers and journals
and from other communal platforms instigate the feeling of hatred amongst both educated
and uneducated sections of the people. The strong communal feeling makes the people to look
down upon the other community with hatred and suspicion.
Communal violence, like wars, is also born in the minds of people. The socioeconomic,
religious and political causes only aggravate the disease of communal violence. It is, therefore,
imperative that efforts are made not only to secularise, but government and the administrative
machinery, particularly police personnel as well as the masses who must learn not only to toler-
ate each other but also to respect human life and dignity and respect law, with reference to the
rights and duties of all citizens, irrespective of caste, creed and community.
 Chapter 7 • Communalism 155

It is ignorance and prejudice that are the major reason for the communal riots, dislikes and
distrust between communities and it can be reduced and further eradicated effectively through a
secular, liberal and inclusive education.
The role of politics in communal violence can be understood in a number of ways. Since
economic growth is taking place at a very slow rate, the politicians can indulge only in politics of
distribution and not of production. Politics being the art of the possible, the politicians find it
more paying in terms of votes to appeal in the name of caste, religion and language. Thus, local
politics often assumes the character of a zero-sum game with built-in potential for social conflict.
In most cases, the riots are politically motivated. Also, in almost all riots, the role of ru-
mours in rousing communal passions is quite prominent. It is reported that the knives used
by rioters were used in a particular manner, suggesting that the users are trained to handle the
knife. Of late, the participants in the riot have begun using lethal weapons and bombs.
Riots are pre-planned and politically-oriented, preceded by almost identical incidents
which rouse religious passions followed by the desired similar results conducive to the growth
of anti-secular politics.
Rajni Kothari, a famous Indian political scientist while analysing the phenomenon
of inter-religious conflict in modern India, relates it to the electoral politics of the post-­
Independence era. He provides a provocative explanation, ‘since then politics has meant a
constant struggle of survival. Survival is through the “number game.” Once this happened,
the notion of pluralism in democracy got perverted into communalism by emphasising the
numerical power of majorities versus minorities. In this sense, those who argue that commu-
nalism is a direct child of secular politics are right. Thus, viewed from this perspective, the phe-
nomenon of inter-religious conflict appears to be essentially related to the struggle for power,
political power and generation of inter-religious conflicts in a multi-religious society becomes
an imperative on the part of those who ‘are involved in the struggle for power’. The success of
the vanquisher would depend on how deep are the cleavages one succeeds in making in society
among the varied religious groups.
CAUSE AND CHARACTER OF COMMUNALISM IN INDIA
(a) Causes for the Growth of Communalism
The main factors and forces which have encouraged the growth of communalism in India can
be mentioned as follows:
1. Communal political parties and organizations that have been fanning the fire of separatism.
2. Minority appeasement policy which the Indian National Congress and some other politi-
cal parties have been nursing since decades.
3. The elections which make the political parties and organizations to make a communal ap-
peal to the voters and to keep alive the communal feelings.
4. The media, literature and textbooks that have communal slant and that give support to
communal forces.
5. The recent issues of conversion and re conversion (Ghar wapsi).
6. Emergence of interreligious marriages (–e.g., Love Jihad controversy).
7. People’s religious sentiments (cow slaughter and related issues) (e.g., Dadri lynching).
8. Separation and isolationism found among the religious minorities.
9. The economic and educational backwardness found amongst the largest minority group
(Muslims).
156 Indian Society for Civil Services

10. The excessive importance given to few religious practices and its over-emphasis by few
major religious communities in India often lead to social tensions.
11. Political opportunism which is found in almost all the political parties in India, which
makes the political leaders to give priority to their partisan political interests rather than to
the national interests.
12. ‘Divide and rule’ policy which the British had followed caused lot of damage to our na-
tional interest. The same type of policy is continued in a surreptitious manner even now.
 In addition to the above mentioned factors, we can also list a few other factors which
are contributing to the phenomenon of communalism in the Indian society.
13. Politization of religion and self-centric interests of political parties.
14. Role of foreign forces which have been instigating communal activities and communal
riots in India. The role of these forces in giving training to the communal extremists and in
supplying sophisticated technical equipment’s for fanning the fire of communalism.
15. Religious conversion is also a reason, as almost all religious followers tend to directly or in-
directly involve in conversion of people, which contributes to communal tensions. These
conversions are often made in a forcible manner and sometimes by means of temptations
and so on.
16. The subversion of secularism by the political parties is also a reason encouraging commu-
nalism. Political parties which speak of secularism pay only lip service to secularism but in
practice support communalism.
17. The growing disappointment among the majority community is also a factor in favour of
communalism. They believed that due to the ‘vote-bank politics’ of the minority commu-
nity, the larger national interests are being sacrificed.
18. The Hindu militancy too has added to the problem of communalism. In their attempt to
defend vested interests and counteract attacks on it, some such organizations have re-
sorted to militant activities. These activities have caused communal frictions and conflicts.
19. Few other factors like failure of government machinery, psychological causes and poor
economic conditions are also linked to the emergence of communalism.
20. Lack of strong and effective international relations.

Causes of Hindu–Muslim Communalism

•• Muslim invasions in which the invaders looted the property and constructed mosques
over/near Hindu temples.
•• British encouragement of Muslim separatism for their own ends during their imperial rule.
•• The behaviour of some Muslims in India after partition like hoisting of Pakistan flag
when Pakistani team wins cricket match.
•• A new aggressiveness on the part of the Muslim political parties in an effort to find a
place in the country.
•• The neglect of the government towards those Muslims who feel alienated due to allega-
tions of being anti-national .
•• The rise of militant Hinduism which looks Muslims with contempt and suspicion of be-
ing a terrorist.
•• Uneven economic development wherein the Muslims as a class have remained backward
due to lack of education among them. They are confined to low category works. Thus,
there is a general feeling of being discriminated and marginalized in the mind of Muslims.
 Chapter 7 • Communalism 157

Furthermore, the state has not succeeded in accomplishing two tasks which are essential
to a development policy. It has not been able to mobilize the unemployed productive forces
on a large-scale, nor has it managed to provide a substantial increase in the rate of national
accumulation. As a result, social and regional inequalities have increased. Poverty, ignorance,
injustice and exploitation arc inseparably linked with each other. This provides an opportunity
to vested interests. The conviction that minorities are vulnerable to discrimination, exploitation
and suppression by those who control the state and its resources is very easy to travel in a scarce
resources society.
Clash in Economic Interest of Both Communities
The traditional occupational pattern of both Hindus and Muslims were different. Advent of In-
dustrialization and Globalization has led to the change in occupational pattern, thereby bringing
both the communities into conflict with each other.
On the eve of partition, the Aristocratic Muslims and the weaker sections stayed back in
India. Some sections of Educated Muslims preferred to migrate to Pakistan as they would get
better employment and other opportunities. With the introduction of Zamindariv Abolition
Act, the upper-class Muslims lost their hold over the land and property and lower class people
also were employed/took up self-employment in low-income generation jobs.
This led to the question of survival for the Indian Muslims. Hence, all these factors in-
creased the mutual competition for survival and domination in various spheres between the
major religious communities in India.

Integration of the Community

The integration amongst the people of minority groups is also an interesting factor that unites
them towards any common goal. A sense of lack of security amongst the minority group also
helps them to unite into a strong close-knit group. So their attachment to the group and the
level of integration remains high.
MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMUNALISM
In the present day India, communalism as a socio-political problem is becoming more and more
complex, and it has become very difficult to arrest the spread of communalism.Unless we un-
derstand the true nature of communalism, it becomes very difficult for us to identify the dif-
ferences between what communalism is and what it is not.Using a religious community against
other communities and against the whole nation is communalism. Let us now discuss the main
characteristic of communalism as follows:
1. Communalism believes that a particular religious community is separate from the rest of
the other communities.
2. It further believes that not only the religious sentiments, but the secular interests of the
community, are also separate from the rest of the other communities.
3. Communalism is driven by the idea that the specific interests of the community can be
promoted by keeping a separate identity and organizing it separately so that their interest
gets served better.
4. Communal interests always super impose on the national interests.
5. Communalism provides fertile ground for the emergence of mutual distrust and dishar-
mony amongst the communities.
158 Indian Society for Civil Services

6. Communalism treats some citizens not as citizens but as member of some specific reli-
gious community.
7. The communal riots, earlier happened to spur the movement, but did not last long; but in
recent years, it is more prolonged. The communal riot in began in Baroda in 1981 lasted
for more than a year.
8. The strength and numbers of communal organization is growing and is a cause of concern.
9. Communalism leads to abuse of power. It seeks to emphasis on the social and religious
norms of the community on the other communities by including force, fraud, economic
and other allurements and even assistance from foreign powers.
10. In its extreme form, communalism demands nationhood for the whole community and
seeks to form a sovereign state.
11. It strikes at the roots of secularism and national integration.
12. It is used by higher class people and elites as an instrument for division and exploitation.
13. Communalism leads to abusive of power.
14. It shakes the foundation stones of democracy, secularism and national integration.
15. At certain point of time, the orthodox members of a religious group work towards the
elimination of other religions and their values.

COMMUNALISM IN INDIA: A COMPARISON

Riots in 1950s Riots after 1960s Till Present
1 The number of communal violence The communal violence is growing in number
is low in numbers
2 Violence is of sudden outburst Violence is of well-planned and prolonged
and short-lived in nature in nature
3 1950s -it was the clash of political 1960s -But, from the 1960s till the late 1980s, the
interests of the elite of two different local political and economic factors played a very
communities which resulted in communal important role in instigating riots.
riots. The emergence of Hindutva politics in the last two
decades has been a cause of communal riots in
this phase where the local factors have also helped
in instigating riots.
4 Loss of life is high in minority community Loss of life is high in minority community
5 Loss of property are high in minority Loss of property are in high with minority
community community
6 The communal riots are more visible The violence is moving towards rural areas also
in urban areas

Communal violence has entered a new phase with the Christians and members of other minor-
ity religions being made the victims of planned attacks. Communal riots in this decade have been
both urban and rural features, but the extent of damage is always greater in the thriving centres
of trade and commerce. Tribal population in the rural areas is being forced to get involved in
the attacks on Christians and Muslims by bringing them within the Hindutva framework. Apart
from economic reasons, the call for Hindu unity which is primarily a means to achieve political
advantage is the main source for communal violence in this decade.
 Chapter 7 • Communalism 159

Godhra was indeed the first major communal riot that got such a wide media coverage
particularly from the satellite channels. Therefore, the media now needs to be more responsible,
considering the influence that it can have over the masses. It is time that the media stopped any
kind of biased reporting as it can further encourage the communal elements to instigate the
masses. Political parties have always had a hand in instigating and exploiting communal violence
so as to meet their electoral interests.
Though communal riots are condemned in various quarters, there is still complete inac-
tion both from the administration and the ruling governments in many states. Though religious
festivals and processions are generally the starting point of communal riots, still sufficient se-
curity is not provided during these times. There is also not much response against incidents of
communal violence from the civil society. Till the time the political parties which instigate com-
munal riots are voted to power, the incentives to combat communalism will not be able to fully
develop.

SOME FEATURES OF COMMUNAL RIOTS TAKING PLACE IN INDIA

In order to understand the phenomena of communalism, various studies have been taken up in
India. A study was instituted to go into the major communal riots that took place in the country
for the last five decades.

•• In most of the instances, the communal riots are found to be politically motivated and
not instigated by religious factors. Madan Commission constituted to look into communal
riots in Maharashtra during 1970s also emphasized that the architects and the builders of
communal tension are the communalists and a certain class of politicians.
•• Apart from political interest, economic interests also play a vital role in augmenting com-
munal clashes. Illicit trade practices also bring communal violence.
•• Statistical reports clearly reveal that communal riots are more in North India than in the South.
•• The possibility of recurrence of communal riots in a town where communal riots have al-
ready taken place once or twice is greater than in towns where riots have never taken place.
•• Most of the communal riots take place during the occasions of religious festival.
•• The intensity of the riots is high if the two communities are almost equal in population.
•• Communal riots are found to be in larger number in urban areas compared to rural areas.
The main reason attributed is the larger concentration of minority people in urban area.
•• Communal riots preceding elections is usually very common in India.
•• Inter-religious conflicts are used by the government to divert the attention of the popula-
tion from genuine problems. The anti-reservation agitation (against the Scheduled Castes
and other Backward Classes reservation, professional colleges and government jobs) in
Ahmedabad in 1985 is cited as an example. This agitation, which was essentially an intra-
communal conflict, was conveniently turned into an inter-religious conflict.

INCIDENTS OF COMMUNALISM IN INDIA: FEW EXAMPLES

In communal violence, people are mobilized against the other community. The movement here is
unpredictable, uncontrollable and carry an emotional fury and violent expressions which take the
form of rioting. The violence is against social discrimination, social neglect and socioreligious ex-
ploitation. The high degree of cohesion in a communal riot is built around hostility, tensions and
polarization of population. Target of attack is the members of the enemy community. Flare-ups
160 Indian Society for Civil Services

in communal disturbances are restricted to particular sections. The leadership is not identifiable.
Aftermath of communal violence is intensified animosity, prejudice and mutual suspicions.
Factors behind Communal Violence
Ten major factors have been identified in the ethology of communalism. These are—social, reli-
gious, political, economic, legal, psychological, administrative, historical, local and international.

1984 Anti-Sikh Riots

The former Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her two Sikh security guards
in 1984. As a retaliation to this act, anti-sikh riots were largely raged in the capital and nearby
localities. The attackers targeted male Sikh which bought lot of emotional pain to the family.
These anti-Sikh riots not only hurt the feelings of Sikhs but also shocked the conscience of all
right-minded persons throughout the country.
December 1992, January 1993–Bombay
The repeated showing of the debris of the Babri Masjid by few famous news channels instigated
more violence; which led to a mob attacking a temple which added to the fury of 1993 - The
then local renowned party seemed to have been preparing for these riots and its party leader
and other activist were blames for the riots. Justice Sri Krishna Commission was appointed to
look into this incident.It blamed them for their ‘political role’ in fomenting communal frenzy
and organizing attacks on Muslims. On the role of the government in the State, the Commis-
sion observed that inefficient political leadership, vacillation for political reasons and conflicting
orders issued to the Commissioner of Police resulted in a dilemma to shoot or not to shoot.

2002 Godhra Riots

The Gujarat riot was caused by a fire incident in a train in which 58 Hindus were killed while they
were returning from Ayodhya. According to official figures, the riots resulted in the deaths of
790 Muslims and 254 Hindus; 2,500 people were injured non-fatally, and 223 more were reported
missing. Other sources estimated that up to 2,500 Muslims died. There were instances of rape,
children being burned alive, and widespread looting and destruction of property. Several promi-
nent government officials were accused of supporting the riots.
Muzaffarnagar Riots
The clashes between the Hindu and Muslim communities in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar
Pradesh, India, in August–September 2013, resulted in at least 62 deaths including 52 Muslims
and 10 Hindus and injured 93 and left more than 50,000 displaced. By 17 September, the cur-
few was lifted from all riot-affected areas, and the army was also withdrawn.
The riot was worst in the state’s history and as a final resort, Army was deployed. Even
the Supreme Court hearing a petition in relation to the riot found prima facie evidence of guilty
against ruling government and officials for not preventing the innocents.

Few other Major Incidents of Communal Riots in India (For Reference)

•• Communal frenzy in Punjab and bordering areas in 1946–48
•• Riots in east India like Calcutta. Jamshedpur, etc., in 1964
 Chapter 7 • Communalism 161

•• Bhagalpur riots in Bihar in 1980s

•• Communal riots in UP and Gujarat in 1990
•• Communal riots in Belgaum (Karnataka) in 1991
•• Communal riots in Varanasi (UP) in 1992
•• Communal riots in Assam (Kokrajhar) in 2012

HOW TO TACKLE COMMUNALISM?

Suggestions to Control and Eradicate Communalism
Communalism has been increasing in this country for the past five decades. It has impeded the
process of development and also has hurt the scientific temper and the secular spirit. ‘Com-
munalism emerges in India as the most dangerous threat to the cultural modernization. It is a
complex process, but its causes generally subsist in the contradictions generated by the forces
of social restructuration’.
A study (conducted by Mainstream, Feb 9, 1988) has revealed that in the time span of 37
years after independence as many as 10,000 communal riots had taken place due to which more
than 1,000 people lost their lives, and property worth a few crores was damaged. The Ayodhya
incident SURPASSED the previous records and a few hundred lost their lives in 1990s. The
communal riot which took place in Gujarat very recently (February–May 2002) cost the lives of
more than 800 people, and property worth crores of rupees was destroyed.
Communalism is a creeping paralysis which demands solution. Communal riots pose a
permanent threat to the religious harmony in this land. They must be effectively dealt with and
minimized. A few of the suggestions in this regard may be noted. It is true that giving sug-
gestions is an easy task, but putting them into practice is itself a big challenge. Communalism
problem can be overcome by two ways: (A) undertaking immediate remedial measures, and (B)
resorting to long-term remedial measures.
(A) Immediate Remedial Measures
1. Setting up Peace Committee: In the riot-torn places, peace committees consisting
of the respected leaders of the different religious communities are to be formed im-
mediately after the outbreak of communal violence. These leaders must exercise their
goodwill on the respective communities and persuade them to maintain peace and
harmony.
2. Use of New Strategies and Plans by the State: Since rioters are making use of mod-
ern sophisticated equipments and weapons to spread communal riots everywhere, it
is necessary for the state to resort to new strategies and plans to hook and book those
rioters and instil confidence in the minds of riot-hit individuals and innocent people.
3. Supervision of the Media: The role of the media is very important in the course of
communal riots. The media must exercise great restraint in spreading rumours and
reports of communal riots. The State must have strict vigilance over the media (e.g.,
WhatsApp videos that spread during Muzaffarpur riots).
4. Suppressing the Extremists: The Government in power must use its authority and
power in suppressing the communal riots. It should not hesitate to impose ban on
communal organizations directly or indirectly indulging in communal riots. All danger-
ous and extremist communal leaders must be arrested during the course of communal
riots preventing them from fanning the fire of communal riots.
162 Indian Society for Civil Services

5. Other Measures:
i. In the riot-torn areas, efficient and secular-minded police officials must be posted.
ii. Special Courts should be established to deal with the cases of communal riots.
Speedy disposal of the cases is an essential step in this direction.
iii. The riot-affected people must be given protection immediately, and sufficient care
should be taken to make arrangements for their rehabilitation if needed.
iv. Immediate legal action should be instituted against those who instigate communal riots.

(B) Long-Term Remedial Measures

1. To Make the People Free from Communal Frenzies and Passions: It is necessary
to educate the people to become free from communal prejudices, feelings, etc. Steps
should be taken to expose the communalist tendencies of the leaders who normally
instigate riots.
2. Preventing Communalization of the State and the Political Elites in Power:
Communal riots often reach new heights due to the support given to it by the politi-
cal parties, leaders and some bureaucrats. Hence it is necessary to see that the political
elites in power become free from communal attitude. All communal forces should be
tackled and treated equally.
3. P
 rotecting the Civil Society from Being Communalized: Communal riots grow
into new proportions when supported by people. Sometimes, ordinary people are also
drawn into communal carnage. Hence it is necessary to see that people do not become
the victims of communal strategies of the leaders. It is in this regard that the intellectu-
als, writers, journalists, voluntary organizations, freedom fighters and non-controversial
political leaders should take a lead in building up public opinion against communalism
and communal riots.
4. Educational System should be Free from Communal Ideas and Ideologies: It is
necessary to see that importance is given to the development of communal harmony
at all levels of education. The young minds should not be polluted with the narrow,
communal ideas. Hence patriotic feelings and sentiments must be strongly encouraged.
Extra care should be taken in writing and teaching lessons in history. Distorting histori-
cal facts is also unfair.
5. Role of the Media: This is an era of publicity and propaganda. The electronic media,
such as television, radio, newspaper, etc., must play a very responsible role. They must
not be allowed to contribute to communal feelings or riots. Communal press must be
banned, and legal actions must be instituted against communal writers.
6. Ideology that Economic Development by Itself Brings Down Communalism Is-
not Correct: Some argue that economic development, industrialization, growth of capi-
talism and the growth of working class would automatically weaken communalism. But
our experience has proved to be contrary. Unless special care is taken, communal riots
cannot be suppressed even in times of economic prosperity. Economic development
alone cannot contain communalism. In fact, communal violence is more prevalent in de-
veloped states,such as Maharashtra, Gujarat and also in developed cities, such as Mum-
bai, Ahmadabad, Jamshedpur and Kanpur. Hence, separate and well-planned efforts
are needed to curb the growing disease of communalism.
7. Legislation against Forcible Conversions: Since forcible conversion of persons
from one religion to another, particularly from Hinduism to Christianity and Islam, is
 Chapter 7 • Communalism 163

one of the major causes of communal riots, it is necessary that all forcible conversion
activities be banned and declared illegal. In fact, a legislation could be introduced in this
regard at the all India level. At the State level, Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,
Orissa and Tamil Nadu Governments have already made legislations prohibiting forc-
ible conversion activities.
• Mahatma Gandhi was also very much against religious conversions. Long back he
had written, ‘Every nation considers its own faith to be as good as that of any other.
Certainly the great faiths held by the people of India are adequate for her people.
India stands in no need of conversion from one faith to another’. As early as in 19th
Jan, 1928, Gandhiji wrote in Young India that we should not even secretly pray that
anyone should be converted, ‘but our utmost prayer should be that a Hindu should
be a better Hindu a Mussalman a better Mussalman and a Christian a better Chris-
tian. This is the fundamental truth of fellowship’. Gandhiji was totally against the
proselytizing activities of the missionaries. In his reply to Mahadev Desai’s question,
Gandhiji had once replied, ‘If I had power and I could legislate, I should certainly
stop all proselytizing. It is the cause of much avoidable conflict between classes and
unnecessary heart-burning among missionaries’. On various occasions, Gandhiji had
expressed his views very strongly against forcible religious conversion.
The long term remedy for fighting communalism lies in initiating the process of de-commu-
nalising the people at all levels. This means waging a continuous and intense ideological-polit-
ical struggle against communalism. If communalism is basically an ideology then it cannot be
suppressed by force. An ideology is to be fought at the level of ideas. An honest educational
and cultural policy along with the use of media are required to educate the members of the
society towards the danger of communalism. That is why controlling the departments of
Education, Home and Information has been central to the scheme of things of the commu-
nal political parties whenever and wherever they are able to have their share in running the
government.
Sometimes, even the positive factors of development such as literacy may be exploited by
an interested ideology and it’s practitioners. Illiteracy, combined with traditional/folk culture,
protected the mass of Indian people from the ideologies of hate.

ROLE OF VARIOUS INSTITUTIONS/BODIES

In 1978, during Morarji Desai’s tenure as Prime Minister, the Minorities Commission was
started. The Union Government set up the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) under
the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. The Commission was to perform all or any
of the following functions, namely
•• Evaluate the progress of the development of minorities under the Union and States.
•• Monitor the working of the safeguards provided in the Constitution and in laws enacted
by Parliament and the State Legislatures.
•• Make recommendations for the effective implementation of safeguards for the protection
of the interests of minorities by the Central Governments or the State Governments.
•• Look into specific complaints regarding deprivation of rights and safeguards of the mi-
norities and take up such matters with the appropriate authorities.
164 Indian Society for Civil Services

•• Cause studies to be undertaken into problems arising out of any discrimination against
minorities and recommend measures for their removal.
•• Conduct studies, research and analysis on the issues relating to socioeconomic and educa-
tional development of the minorities.
•• Suggest appropriate measures in respect of any minority to be undertaken by the Central
Government or the State Governments.
•• Make periodical or special reports to the Central Government on any matter pertaining to
the minorities and in particular the difficulties confronted by them.
•• Any other matter which may be referred to it by the Central Government.

Over the years, the commission recommendations are not binding to central and state govern-
ments, but, the statutory status had changed the position. Its role will not only investigative but
also a judicial one. It is expected that with more powers, the Commission would now become
a truly effective tool in tackling the deteriorating communal situation in the country and ensur-
ing the welfare of the religious minorities which comprise 19.4% of the total population of the
country.
Gandhiji, the father of the nation, commented, ‘Communalism of the virulent type is a
recent growth. The lawlessness is a monster with many faces. It hurts all, in the end, including
those who are primarily responsible for it’.
The government has taken initiatives to promote communal harmony. These include con-
stitution of the National Integration Council (NIC) (1960s), setting up of the National Founda-
tion for Communal Harmony (1992) and laying down of the guidelines for the promotion of
communal harmony from time to time. The NIC, comprising prominent members of various
sections of society, besides several union ministers and chief ministers of states, has been meet-
ing regularly, to discuss and sort out the issues of discord. Since the decision makers at the
Centre and the States are members of the council, a patient hearing is given to the grievances of
various sections of society.
The vision of the National Foundation for Communal Harmony (NFCH) is to have India
free from communal and all other forms of violence, where all citizens especially children and
youth live together in peace and harmony. For this, the NFCH promotes communal harmony,
strengthens national integration and fosters the spirit of unity in diversity through collaborative
social action, awareness programs, reaches out to the victims of violence especially children,
encouraging interfaith dialogue for India’s shared security, peace and prosperity. It provides fi-
nancial assistance to the child victims of societal violence for their care, education and training,
aimed at their effective rehabilitation. It promotes communal harmony and national integration
by organizing a variety of activities either independently or in association with State govern-
ments, NGOs and other organizations. It confers awards for outstanding contribution to the
promotion of communal harmony and national integration. It undertakes activities to highlight
and strengthen the bonds of unity and affinity between different religious groups in the coun-
try, and encourages activities to promote belief in the principles of non-violence in resolving
disputes.
There is no denying the fact that the maintenance of communal harmony, and the preven-
tion/avoidance of communal disturbances/riots and, in the event of any such disturbances oc-
curring, action to control the same and measures to provide protection and relief to the affected
persons, is a prime responsibility of the State governments. The Central government has issued
guidelines for maintenance of communal harmony, which cover preventive and administrative
 Chapter 7 • Communalism 165

measures, personnel policy, and relief and rehabilitation measures. They reiterate the fact that
if due vigilance is maintained, careful planning done and preparatory measures put in place,
many possible incidents of communal violence can be pre-empted and prevented, and, wher-
ever, despite this, communal violence does occur, it can be contained effectively, and much hu-
man suffering avoided, if it is tackled with promptness, grit and determination. Utmost care
and attention require to be given to the planning and implementation of a range of measures to
alleviate the sufferings of those affected by any incidents of communal violence, including the
provision of relief and rehabilitation assistance to the victims of such violence.
The guidelines underline the fact that preventing a communal riot is far more important
than containing it. It is the duty of the district administration to carefully assess the communal
situation in the district on a regular basis and prepare a profile of the district, identifying the
areas which are prone to communal sensitivities and tensions. The police officers should keep a
close watch on the situation in such areas, periodically visit them for promoting public contact
and interface with the civilian population and community leaders. Manpower requirements for
these areas should be realistically assessed, and all vacancies filled up and manned. In the sen-
sitive/hypersensitive areas, detailed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and contingency
plans to deal with escalated situation/riots, etc., should be kept ready. The unregulated use of
loudspeakers, which is often a cause for arousing passions and evoking violent reactions among
different groups of people, need to be checked.
Various kinds of religious processions, which very frequently lead to communal confron-
tation and clashes as often various organizations tend to organize, and view, processions on
religious occasions as a show of strength, which could itself become a cause for provocation,
should be checked. There should be involvement of identified respectable members of the
community, in the peaceful conduct of processions. The use of technology, like video/audio
coverages of events and processions could also act as a deterrent. Effective and meaningful ac-
tion needs to be taken to curb and check rumours, and proper assignment of nodal responsibil-
ity and modalities for information management needs to be ensured. Adequate steps need to be
taken to ensure that no damage is caused to places of worship,
In a communally sensitive area, small shopkeepers, entrepreneurs and daily wagers are
most prone to loss and damage to life and property, if the situation goes out of control, leading
to arson or violence. They are most likely to face economic burden, due to loss of income or
property, most of which is not covered under any type of insurance. They can thus be the most
willing partners in maintaining peace and communal harmony in the area. Similarly, women who
are the worst sufferers in such situations may also be keen to ensure communal harmony. The
district administration can tap the resources and energy of these people/groups in ensuring
peace.
Many voluntary organizations in the country are working in the field of promoting peace,
national integration and communal harmony. Such organizations usually have motivated and
well-intentioned volunteers and workers. The district administration should mobilize support of,
and encourage, such organizations, in their efforts to maintain communal harmony, and diffus-
ing tension if a communal situation arises. Whenever any communal incidents are apprehended
or occur, prompt and immediate preventive/enforcement action may be taken, including, impo-
sition of prohibitory orders/curfew, and strict and neutral enforcement of the same, apprehen-
sion/arrest of the potential miscreants/those indulging in violence, arson, etc., registration/
institution of cases. Prosecution of all offences relating to communal violence/rioting should
166 Indian Society for Civil Services

be carefully monitored and, wherever necessary, Special Investigation Teams (SIT) may be con-
stituted for ensuring fair and impartial investigation.
A lot of resentment is generated on account of non-payment of timely relief/ex gratia
to the riot victims. Interim relief may be provided immediately to the individuals for any loss or
damage suffered due to communal violence. While providing assistance and relief to the victims
of communal violence, it should be ensured that there is no discrimination on the ground of
sex, caste, community, descent or religion. The district administration should ensure timely pro-
vision of essential supplies/services such as food, milk, medicines, water and electricity, etc., in
areas affected by communal violence.
Wherever it becomes necessary to set-up relief camps, proper arrangements for security
and other appropriate amenities should be made, including arrangements for medical examina-
tion/assistance, etc. Wherever required, on account of damage to residential and commercial
property, an appropriate mechanism may be established for speedy disposal of insurance claim
and assistance from financial institutions by way of loans/rescheduling of loans, etc.
The government has enacted ‘The Religious Institutions (Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1988’, with a
view to maintaining sanctity of religious places and to prevent their misuse for political, criminal,
subversive or communal purposes. It cast responsibility on the manager to inform the police in
the event of misuse of the place of worship. The Act also prohibits storage of arms and ammuni-
tion inside any place of worship.
The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 is the law to prohibit conversion of
any place of worship and to provide for the maintenance of the religious character of any place
of worship as it existed on the 15th day of August, 1947. According to it, no religious institu-
tion or manager thereof shall use or allow the use of any premises belonging to the institution
for the promotion or propagation of any political activity, or for the harbouring of any person
accused or convicted of an offence under any law for the time being in force. No arms or am-
munition can be stored, nor can it erect or put up any construction or fortification, including
basements, bunkers, towers or walls without a valid licence or permission. Such premises can’t
be used for the carrying on of any unlawful or subversive act prohibited under any law, or for
the doing of any act which promotes or attempts to promote disharmony or feelings of enmity,
hatred or ill will between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or
communities.
All the religions have the fundamental teaching of love and the feeling of brotherhood
towards fellow beings. When such is the basic tenet of each religion, where is the scope of
discord, hatred and violence. It is amply clear that some people misconstrue or misinterpret the
religious teachings for their selfish, egoistic and short-term gains, and sometimes fan communal
feelings. It is also commonly known that usually the communal disturbances sprout from small,
trivial incidents but with vested interests, they take the shape of a giant.

PRIME MINISTER’S NEW 15-POINT PROGRAMME

FOR THE WELFARE OF MINORITIES
The Prime Minister’s 15 Point Programme was launched in 2005 by the UPA government. It
seeks to ensure the welfare of religious minorities through:
•• Increasing educational and employment opportunities
•• Improving living conditions
•• Preventing and controlling communal riots.
 Chapter 7 • Communalism 167

Currently, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains are identified as religious mi-
norities. Jains were notified as a religious minority community in January 2014.
The objective of this scheme is to enhance opportunities for education and ensuring an
equitable share for minorities in economic activities and employment, through existing and new
schemes, enhanced credit support for self-employment, and recruitment to State and Central
government jobs in those districts which have substantial minority population.
The term ‘substantial minority population’ in the 15 Point Programme applies to such
districts/subdistrict units where at least 25 per cent of the total population of that unit belongs
to minority communities.

Target Areas
These states are Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland. Lakshad-
weep is the only Union Territory in this group. The programme covers 121 districts of the
country where population of minority communities is concentrated. The Central government
has allocated 15 per cent of plan outlays for implementation of the 15 points which are related
to various ministries.
These 15 points are as follows:
Enhancing Opportunities for Education
1. Equitable availability of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)
2. Improving access to school education
3. Greater resources for teaching Urdu
4. Modernizing madrasa education
5. Scholarships for meritorious students from minority communities
6. Improving educational infrastructure through the Maulana Azad Education Foundation.
Equitable Share in Economic Activities and Employment
7. Self-employment and wage employment for the poor
8. Upgradation of skill through technical training
9. Enhanced credit support for economic activities
10. Recruitment to state and central services
Improving the Conditions of Living of Minorities
11. Equitable share in rural housing scheme
12. Improvement in condition of slums inhabited by minority communities.
Prevention and Control of Communal Riots
13. Prevention of communal incidents
14. Prosecution for communal offences
15. Rehabilitation of victims of communal riots.

COMMUNALISM: INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT

International communities of various countries are constantly engaged in tussle amongst one
another because of growing communal ideologies and thoughts. The tension prevails in various
168 Indian Society for Civil Services

regions of the world especially in Middle East, which is very much a cause of concern for India.
Indian citizens who are working there have been constantly brought in to the fold of violence.
The rise of ISIS as a strong terrorist organization in recent years is based on communal feeling
and hatred towards other religion. The men of certain religion are driven by communal ideolo-
gies and started to show hater feeling towards other religion. Violence is very much intensified,
and they are seen as threat to whole world.International forces belonging to various countries
are fighting against ISIS, but ‘the battles are won not the war’. The notorious organization has
so much potential, as one cannot forget its attack on the UK’s parliament.
Other such community-based organization is ‘Boko Haram’. It happens to be originated
in northern Nigeria, whose main aim is to convert the Nigeria into an Islamic nation. They
always indulge in violence, and their most notorious crime activity is they kidnap girls of other
communities and try and force them to convert to Islam.
Many countries use communal feelings against other countries to defeat them. The coun-
try which uses terrorism against other countries is generally called ‘State-sponsored terrorism’.
In the name of religion, some of the neighboring states is sponsoring terrorism against India,
which creates huge security breach and internal security issues.

CONCLUSION
Communal violence, now a days, has become very common in the world as well as in In-
dia. The communal violence is polluting the young minds of the present generation, which
is evident from increasing ISIS and other terrorist organization’s gaining strength and increas-
ing their cadre base and trying to expand in geographical space. They are known by various
alternative names;as in China, the communal violence in Xinjiang province is called ethnic
violence. Communal violence and riots have also been called non-State conflict, violent civil or
minorities unrest, mass racial violence, social or inter-communal violence and ethno-religious
violence.
Violence between Buddhists and the Muslim Rohingya, inhabitants of Rakhine state (for-
merly Arakan province), which stretches along most of Myanmar’s coast up to the Bay of Ben-
gal and borders the Chittagong province of Bangladesh, was erupted in 2013. Such incidents in
neighbouring countries like Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Pakistan cause disturbances in India as
well. It also catalyses the problem of refuges. Sri Lanka is also facing international criticism re-
lated to ethnic clashes and action of government against ethnic ­minority, which has direct bear-
ing on India and Sri Lanka relations and India’s internal security aspect as well.
Communalism has played a major role in affecting the secular character of India. It has
been one of the major problems persistent in India since known times. It has always affected
the unity of India and disturbed the prevailing peace and order in the country. Time and again,
the people have suffered due to this extreme practice of religious fundamentalism.
Rationality seems a possible answer for it. The attitudinal change, secular outlook and tol-
erance towards other community are the need of the day in order to stop all the communal ten-
sion and its associated violence. It is the duty of the educated citizens to propagate the adverse
effects of communalism on the development of the country. We should take every possible step
to avoid communalism from entering political, social and economical spheres of the nation.
They are to be opposed not to be appeased.
In India, religion and caste should not be mixed with politics to maintain common broth-
erhood. The unity and integrity of the nation should be attained and the ideology of sarva
dharma sambhavas should be encouraged amongst all.
 Chapter 7 • Communalism 169

Repeated and instigating media coverage that may induce communal prejudice and hatred
should be censored.
Also the division of the society on the basis of majority and minority religion should
be done away with. The policy of acquiring votes through such means has proven to be
detrimental for India. Above all, an overall and equitable development of society will, in
the long run, provide for the much-needed unity where people of all religious faiths will
be united on the common belief and sentiment that we are all one and belong to the com-
mon motherland.

PRACTICE QUESTIONS

1. Communalism has spread its wings in India intensively, which cost too much for Indian
unity and stability. Elaborate.
2. Communalism affects both the sections of the People, the perpetrators of communalism
and the passive people. Critically Examine
3. Trace the origin of communalism in India and explain communalism in the present
context.
4. Communalism gains new ground in rural India as Incidence of violence grows in rural
areas and turn into a battleground for communal politics. In the light of the statement
discuss with recent examples the emergence of communalism in rural India
5. Bring out the relationship between Reservation policy and communalism with recent rel-
evant examples from Indian society.

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTION

1. ‘Communalism arises either due to power struggle or relative deprivation.’ Argue by giving
suitable illustrations. (15 Marks) 2018
2. Distinguish between religiousness/religiosity and communalism giving one example of
how the former has got transformed into the latter in independent India. (15 Marks)2017
 Chapter 8
Regionalism

Learning Objectives
In this chapter, you will learn about:
• Region • Regional Issues in India: Few Examples
• Regionalism • Indian Constitution and Regionalism
• Different Forms of Regionalism in India • Measures and Solutions to Prevent
Regionalism
• Development of Regionalism
• Causes and Determinants of Regionalism
M. Senthil Kumar
• Government Measures to Promote
Nationalism
• Reason for Persistence of Regionalism
• Regional Political Parties and Regionalism S. Rijesh
• Regionalism: International Context

REGION
rs / Editors Name Withof
A region is a part CDa countryRed Band
or the Territory
world which line demarcated
is generally URL based on Price mQuest
some special
characteristics. Even though every region, conceptually, have boundary, practically it is hard to
define it. The region may be as small as a group of village and as big as a whole state.
Though there is no universally acceptable definition of region, a fairly acceptable one may
be that a region is a homogenous area with physical and cultural characteristics distinct from
those of neighbouring areas. It is a permanent and definite area. Region is a multidimensional
concept encompassing the geographical as well as economic and sociocultural factors such
as language. A region can subsume a number of nations such as Arctic region, the region of
Southeast Asia, the far eastern region, and so on. A region can be used for a nation such as the
subcontinent region of India. It can be used for the eastern region, western region, northern
region or southern region in India. The states in India also form distinct regions. Further, there
can be subregions within a state like the Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh, Vidarbha region
in Maharashtra, etc.
 Chapter 8 • Regionalism 171

The following are the characteristic basis for demarcating a region:

1. Language or linguistics basis

2. Caste (jatis) basis
3. Ethnic groups basis
4. Tribes basis
5. Particular social settings form as a basis
6. Cultural pattern form as a basis
7. Music, dance, folk arts, etc.

These above sentiments are shared by those people living in a continuous geographical
area and they have the sense of togetherness and uniqueness when compared with other such set of
people.
Due to the generations of people living in a region, they develop a strong sense of affinity
and emotional attachment with it—the territory, language, culture and history, overall sense of
belonging. Because of all these, people give more importance to their region. Thus, regional-
ism involves a strong sense of loyalty and affinity with one’s region. In this way regionalism is
not a bad thing in itself. But if it promotes separatism and clash with other regions, it becomes
detrimental to national unity. Development of one region is fine but it should not be at the
cost of others. Regionalism in India is because of the high degree of diversity—geographical,
economic, historical, linguistic, ethnic and sociocultural. These diversities have led to different
world views and ideologies. In the field of politics regionalism may also be understood as a po-
litical ideology. Regionalism also embodies as quest for self-identity and self-fulfilment on the
part of the inhabitants.

REGIONALISM
Regionalism is defined as the extreme attachment or affection to one’s region, and in Indian
context it is a state mostly. The attachment may result in developing an antagonistic view against
other region or state. Sometimes the feel may develop as big as it questions the national unity
itself.
The reason for such feelings to arise may be, due to the feelings of constant negligence of
a particular region by others or by government. It even arises when people of a region acquired
political knowledge and awareness about the backwardness of their region. The increased
knowledge of those people serves as fuel for regionalism. As we already saw, regional feelings
demand for autonomy, which question the unity of a country itself.
There are two different connotations associated with the concept of regionalism.
The politics of regionalism in India has both positive and negative aspects. Speaking in
positive terms, it implies an intense desire for concretizing an identity based on such interest as
ethnic, language, religion where people show their love for their own region, culture, etc., which
results in protection of their unique identity that further accelerates the sense of fraternity and
oneness.
For example, the agitation of the people of the Telangana region is a manifestation of
their anger against the capitalist system prevailing in India and the structure of political power
within the present-day Indian Union. Uneven development of capitalism, with wealth and capi-
tal investment being concentrated in certain regions to the neglect of other regions, is a factor
172 Indian Society for Civil Services

that has, time and again, fuelled the demand for creation of separate states. This is also true for
the Telangana region. The aspirations of the regional bourgeoisie for a greater share of power
and wealth and the mobilization of the people’s sentiments against their perceived discrimina-
tion have found their reflection in the demand for the creation of a new state.
The negative aspect of regionalism is that it can threaten nation-building efforts such as,
the demand for separate nationhood for Nagaland, the demand to increase more autonomy
to the state of Jammu and Kashmir which is giving rise to terrorism and violence within and
nearby regions and in many parts of the country as well. These negative forces which emerge
out of regional consciousness tend to question the very foundation of unity of India.
The positive aspect has been ignored by most of the analysts of Indian political situa-
tion. Analysts of regionalism point out that this phenomenon reflects the psychology of relative
deprivation on the part of people of an area. They point out that deprivation is deliberately in-
flicted on them by those in power, particularly when socio-economic programmes have resulted
in wide economic disparities among various regions. This has led to discontentment and agita-
tion among the backward or not so developed regions of the country.
Quite often we see that the sense of regionalism is being encouraged by political leaders
for their electoral gains. They use various strategies to achieve their intended targets. Often they
make political statements, targeting other groups, which generally induce the feeling of regional-
ism. Normally they bring forth various issues in their region without mentioning the solution to
the problem. This adds a regional flavour and makes it as a historic negligence from government
side, which automatically kindle the feeling of regionalism.
One should understand that mere existence of a region, does not per se give rise to re-
gionalism. The nexus between various factors put foundation for regionalism.
Those factors are as follows:
1. Historical negligence from the government
2. Slow phase of socioeconomic development
3. Unscrupulous politicians
4. Politically conscious people
Even though the above factors appear in a region or society, the government should be
competent enough to curtail the raise of regionalism by acting upon the grievances immediately.
But many a times, we see the government’s non-proactive attitude that gives way for regionalism
to appear. This affects not only the region but also the entire country. The internal Dynamics of
a region also goes through a complete reversal which many a times results in further intensified
communalism.

DIFFERENT FORMS OF REGIONALISM IN INDIA

Indian Regionalism is of a multi spectral in character. It has multi lingual,multi cultural,multi re-
ligious, multi communal divisions. The following are the various forms of regionalism in India:

Demand for State Autonomy

Regionalism often motivates people to demand a separate state so that the state can have
more autonomy. In India,if people of a region,within a state or two or more states,feel that
they had been denied a stake in National progress,they may be encouraged by regional political
 Chapter 8 • Regionalism 173

leadership,to go on a intensified fight for separate statehood to enjoy more autonomy. This
evokes people to fight for their separate statehood so that they can enjoy more autonomy. The
demand for statehood or more autonomy has been a rising trend since India’s independence.
One of the best examples is the demand for ‘Gorkhaland’. The Darjeeling district’s people
have been demanding for a separate state as their language and culture differ a lot between the
whole of West Bengal and Darjeeling district. Darjeeling district’s people speak Nepali, whereas
the rest of West Bengal speaks Bengali. Gorkhaland Janmukti Morcha is the largest party in
Darjeeling district, and it has been largely mobilizing people of this region for the creation of a
Gorkhaland state.
The another remarkable example is Telangana in Andra Pradesh. Telangana people, for
more than four decades fought with Andhra Pradesh and government of India (GOI) in order
to carve out the state Telangana from the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. It was successfully done in
‘The Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014’.

Secession from the Union

India is a Union of States and hence no state has any legal right to secede from the union. But
the feeling of Regionalism within the constituent states is so intense which undermines a sense
of nationality and demands independence from the Union. The People feel that separate iden-
tity can be secured and protected only if a separate state is so formed. This type of regionalism
is generally associated with complete violence.
Best example here is the ethno-national terrorism in the north-east part of India. Peo-
ple here are demanding complete independence from the ‘Union of India’ and many po-
litical parties are working towards it. Here, the secessionist movement got an ugly turn and
the Government of India was forced to take a hard step of bringing in ‘The Armed forces
(special powers) Act, 1958’, to restore peace. Recently, Government of India signed a peace
accord with National Socialist Council of Nagaland (IM). The NSCN demands a separate
nation called ‘Greater Nagalim’. A Greater Nagalim comprising and stability in the region.
‘all contiguous Naga-inhabited areas’, including Nagaland and few other districts of Assam,
Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, and also a large tract of Myanmar.
Few other examples of Secessionist movements are
1. The Khalistan movement aimed to create a separate Sikh country. The territorial defini-
tion of the proposed country Khalistan consists of both the Punjab, India along with Pun-
jab, Pakistan and includes parts of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and
Rajasthan.
2. The National Liberation Front of Tripura (or NLFT) is a Tripuri nationalist organisation
which denaded for Tripura to secede from India and establish an independent Tripuri
state.

Inter-State Disputes
Majority of inter-state disputes are the consequence of intensified feeling of regionalism. The
People of a particular regions or state feel aversion towards other people and they show unusual
behaviour which breaks the fabric of unity. The inter-state water disputes, son-of-the-soil con-
cept, employment to local people only are some of the inter-state conflicts that arise because
174 Indian Society for Civil Services

of such rationalistic sentiments. In this case, migrated people from another state or region feel
insecure and attacks are seen now and then, by people of the host state.
While looking into the number of inter-state river water dispute tribunal, one can under-
stand the level of intensified regionalism in India, As of 2019, there are eight different tribunals
functioning to resolve water dispute between the states. The problem arises just because people
consider natural resources in the region as their own commodity and do not consider the needs
of fellow citizens.

Supra-state Regionalism
This implies that more than one state is involved in the issue of regionalism. It is an expression
of group identity of some states. They take a common stand on the issues of mutual interest
vis-à-vis another group of states. The group identity is usually in relation to certain specific is-
sues. It does not in any way imply the total and permanent merger of identity of the states into
the identity of the group. Rivalries, tensions and even conflicts do take place among a few states
belonging to a group. For example, the grouping of the north eastern states for greater access to
economic development is another instance.
Let us refer to the language issue once again in order to illustrate how supra-state regional-
ism is found In India. After independence a major rift was caused over the issue of the official
language for India. The constitution envisaged the replacement of English by Hindi for official
purposes of the Union as the language of communication between the centre and the states
and between states. The state legislatures of Indian Union were given authority to adopt one or
more languages including Hindi for use as the state language. The constitution provides that the
official language of the Union should be Hindi with Devanagari script, with international nu-
merals for a period of 15 years from the commencement of the constitution. However, Parlia-
ment could by law extend the use of English as the link language. The attempt to introduce the
provision regarding the official language has generated more intense language rivalry than unity.
The opposition to Hindi found its strongest political expression in the southern states.
Most of the people in these states as well as those in the non-Hindi speaking areas of eastern
India objected to the imposition of Hindi. It was feared that their own languages would be ulti-
mately replaced by Hindi, which they considered inferior. The adoption of Hindi as an official
language and as a compulsory subject in schools was seen as imposition of a comparatively un-
derdeveloped language upon those whose language contains a richness of thousands of years.
The language policy resolution of the Government of India gave official recognition to
Hindi, English as well as the regional language. The policy resolution also indicated that steps
should be taken to develop Hindi. English continued to be recognized as an important link lan-
guage. The above case shows that the language became an important issue around which supra-
state regionalism developed.

Intrastate Regional Politics or Subregionalism

This refers to regionalism, which exists within a state of the Indian Union. It embodies the
desire of a part of a state for the identity and self-development. It may also reflect a notion of
deprivation or exploitation of a part of the state at the expense of another. This type of region-
alism can be found in many parts of India. The important examples of this kind of subregional-
ism are Vidarbha in Maharashtra, Saurashtra in Gujarat, east UP in Uttar Pradesh.
 Chapter 8 • Regionalism 175

DEVELOPMENT OF REGIONALISM IN INDIA

During British Period
Add this content in place of strike-through:
Regionalism is not a new phenomena in the Indian political system. Historically Indian
is a land of vast diversity in the form of many regions, culture, language etc. However, it was
the British that took advantage of this diversity to prevent the development of national unity.
British imperialists encouraged people to think about their own regions development rather
than considering others welfare. The politics of regionalism started with the implementation of
constitutional reforms under Government of India Acts of 1909,1919, and 1935. The establish-
ment and role of Justice Party in Tamil Nadu and to a lesser extent, of Akali Dal in Punjab in
pre-independence period were examples of emerging regionalism in India.

After Independence
Immediately after independence, the national leaders tried to bring in the feeling of ‘oneness’
in the country. It was bought in by various ways, in the form of a single constitution, single
citizenship, integrated judiciary, all India services, federalism with unitary bias, etc. Ever after
institutionalizing various measures, regionalism continued to be present because India is a ‘Land
of Lands’. Since independence to promote National unity, regionalism acts as a potent force in
Indian politics.
One of the earliest manifestation of regionalism was seen in the demand for reorgani-
zation of states on linguistic basis. The freedom fighter and Gandhian ‘Potti Sriramulu’ died
in 1952 after 52 days of fasting, demanding for a separate state of Telugu-speaking ‘Andhra
Pradesh’ from Madras state. This forced Jawaharlal Nehru, the then PM of India, to think
one of the earliest the same lines of language-based states. Hence, Fazal Ali commission was
formed and new states based on language was formed in 1956 by enacting ‘States Reorganiza-
tion Act’.
Later, regional sentiments emerged in all states when state parties rose to power defeating
Indian national congress. The victory of the DMK against Congress in Tamil Nadu in 1960 was
the initiating point. In the same decade, one could see mass migration for employment which
resulted in violence in many parts of India. The region-oriented feeling, initially, thought to be
confined only with Tamil Nadu, but later it started to develop everywhere in India, posing threat
to the unity of India. Initially congress enjoyed power in both centre and state; hence, the feel-
ing of regionalism was highly suppressed, but the regional parties opened the ‘Pandora Box’.
Following Tamil Nadu, Punjab’s Akali movement gained attention and momentum, followed by
Sheikh Abdullah who revived the National Conference in J&K.
Later, the regionalism emerged north-eastern part of India, which again resulted
in enacting North-Eastern Areas (Reorganization) Act, 1971. It was in response to north-
eastern insurgency and violent riots caused by tribal people for separate statehood and later
nationhood.
Later by 1990s, a violent struggle for separate statehood emerged in central and northern
India. By the year 2000, three states were created, such as Uttaranchal, Jharkhand and Chhat-
tisgarh. It should be noted that Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated into Telangana and Andhra
Pradesh in the year 2014.
In every state of India, regional political parties kindle the sense of regionalism, But most
of the time results in defaming India in international arena.
176 Indian Society for Civil Services

CAUSES AND DETERMINANTS OF REGIONALISM IN INDIA

The following factors decisively affect the nature or outcome of regionalism:

1. Sociocultural Factor: Socio-cultural setting brings in a huge difference between regions,

which is especially true in India, and this encourages the feeling of regionalism. The minorities
want to protect their sociocultural symbols, such as kinship relations, caste and sub-caste, lan-
guage, etc., from the majority. The ability to protect is directly related to various factors, such
as economic power, social power, time, etc. The socio cultural symbols give the identity for an
individual, and every individual often aspires to protect themselves even at the cost of others.
In the course of such efforts, sometimes people tend to believe this creates a larger issue.
Cultural Identity: Language plays a very important role in cultural identity. In Indian so-
ciety language and religion have always been emotive issues. In regionalism religion or reli-
gious identity, like the case with communalism, hardly plays an important role thus language
assumes the most important role (after independence state reorganization was done on the
basis of language). In the 1960s because of certain steps taken by the Central government
southern states, especially Tamil Nadu had erupted on large scale anti-Hindi agitation.
2. Economic Factor: Markedly uneven economic development in the country is the most
striking and common reason for regionalism. People of relatively under developed region,
lagging behind others, have a nagging complaint against it. They also develop a sense of vic-
timhood and get trapped in ‘relative deprivation’. Regional movements in Jharkhand, Chat-
tigarh and Telengana resulting in separate states are the glaring examples of this. Two more
movements of regionalism Vidarbha in Maharashtra and Saurashtra in Gujarat demanding
separate states because of the same reasons have been going on for quite some time.
The problem of uneven development may be increasing more after the adoption of
the New Economic Policy and liberalization of economy. The corporate sector is not in-
terested to invest in the economically backward regions. Instead they prefer the regions
where there are sufficiently strong facilities of infra-structure. This means that it is left to
the government only to invest more and more in such backward regions. Regional imbal-
ances are to be kept minimal if regionalism is to be checked and curbed.
Economic disparity prevails in India as one can see islands of richness and ocean of pov-
erty. Thus regionalism is getting a strong base due to economic disparity.
3. Political Factor: The politico-administrative basis of regionalism is also important but
politics as such does not create regionalism. It only accentuates regionalism. Politicians take
advantage of the situation of regional discontentment and unrest. They convert it into move-
ments for strengthening their individual and factional support bases. It is a known fact that
fighting within Congress gave rise to Telangana agitation. Regional political parties like TDP
(Andhra Pradesh), DMK (Tamil Nadu), Akali Dal (Punjab) have been surviving because of
regional sentiments. Border dispute, like the one between Maharashtra and Karnataka, is also
based on regional sentiments. Other important facts of politics of regionalism are the real or
assumed charges of political discrimination among various regions by the central ruling elite.
The political leaders play regional cards to gain political mileage. It is called as politics of natives.
At times, in order to bring oneness and the sense of nation, the central government at-
tempts to improve a particular factor in states which may be seen as onslaught of their cul-
ture. The states have very strong desire of protecting their own sub-culture and language.
For example, when Government of India give more important to Hindi, the non-Hindi-
speaking states started movement and agitations against it.
 Chapter 8 • Regionalism 177

4. Geographical Factor: Usually people relate their regional identity to certain specific geo-
graphical boundaries. After independence integration of Princely States resulted in the
merger of small states into new big states. The loyalties of citizens were torn between
old territorial boundaries and new territorial structures. As pointed out earlier this was
the major factor responsible for the success of princes in elections particularly when they
contested from their former territories in the newly created states. However, it would be
wrong to over estimate the importance of geographical boundaries. It is true that memo-
ries of old geographical boundaries of princely states still haunt the people and are ex-
ploited by political leaders but it can hardly be denied that they are yielding place to new
and bigger territorial identities like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa.
5. Historical Factor: Common historical experiences, such as social heritage, attitudes,
myths, etc., result in bust of regionalism. Due to certain historical reasons there may be
a deep rooted belief among the people of a particular region that they are different from
others, even with their neighbouring populations. This thinking becomes stronger if the
people were also dominated politically by others.
6. Population Factor: Population Explosion fuels regionalism on the basis of dispropor-
tionate resource sharing.

REASON FOR PERSISTENCE OF REGIONALISM

The following are the reasons for persistence of the regionalism in India:

1. Lack of pro-active approach: The central government and state governments are not
aligning their operations in line with dynamic society. They need to have long insight so
they can take steps which complement the changing society.
2. Low rate of economic growth: Economic growth, as we already discussed keeps the
feeling regionalism ongoing. With right level of economic growth, regionalism can be put
down.
3. Lack of political will: For every problem in India, political will is the solution. The lack
of political will and not educating the people in right direction is another reason for persis-
tence of regionalism.
4. Low level of literacy rate: The literacy rate is directly linked to the thinking ability of the
masses, which is an important factor for regionalism to grow.
5. Lower level of infrastructural facilities in backward states: The level of infrastructural
development, such as power distribution, irrigation facilities, roads, modern market for
agricultural produce has been at backstage.
6. Low level of social expenditure by states on education, health and sanitation:
These subjects are core for Human Resource Development (HRD). The states which have
invested heavily on these subjects fall under the developed and advanced states. For ex-
ample, Tamil Nadu where health care services in primary health centre is benchmark for
other states.

REGIONAL POLITICAL PARTIES AND REGIONALISM

Indian political design allows a multi-party system in which the multiple political parties run
for national elections and state elections. It is one of the striking features of the Indian party
178 Indian Society for Civil Services

system. Probably, no other country in the world have such a large number of political parties.
Political parties can be divided into national parties and regional parties. Both national and re-
gional parties are recognised by Election Commission of India (ECI). It should be noted that in
India, the number of regional parties is very high than the national-level parties.
Generally, national parties work towards the national interest and those interests are very
diverse in nature. On the other hand, the regional parties represent the interest of a particular
state in general or area they in which operate. Hence, the outlook and interest drastically differ
between both. If a national party wins an election in a state and forms a government, it is pos-
sible for them to act with region attitude.
The regional political parties try to play the regional card in elections and capture power.
They try to solve local problems through their development policies. Some of the important
regional parties are DMK and AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, National Conference in Jammu and
Kashmir, Asom Gana Parishad in Assam, Telugu Desam in Andhra Pradesh, Shiv Sena in Ma-
harashtra, Mizo National Front in Mizoram, All Party Hill Leaders Conference in Meghalaya
and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in Haryana.
These regional political parties also participate in forming the national government by
making alliance with National parties. For example, Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s government was con-
tinued even after split in the party in 1969 and lost majority in parliament because the DMK, a
regional party supported it. In the 13th general election, Telugu Desam Party made an alliance
with BJP, a national party, and formed Nation Democratic Alliance and came to power.
The most important work of political parties is that they focus the issues of people in
remote area. They work for political awareness and try to bring in the people to the main stream
of politics. The national parties cannot build a differential attitude; hence, the presence of re-
gional parties plays an important role in fulfilling the local problem.
Regional parties and local leaders exploit the regional sentiments sometime magnifying
the grievances. The ultimate aim is to capture political power. Some of these such as Shiva Sena
exploit the local sentiments by promoting ‘son of the soil’ sentiments. Upto 1970s and 80s they
were targeting the south Indians, now their violence and abuse are directed at the people from
north India especially from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. From time to time they also promote
animosity and hatred against the Muslims (as a group coming from any state), thus preparing
a heady mix of regionalism and communalism. Economy’s failure to create enough employ-
ment opportunities gives such parties and organizations handle to attack the so called ‘outsid-
ers’. When this does not work as effectively as they wish they promote the feelings of ‘relative
deprivation’ by comparing the plight of the local people with the affluent elite of the ‘outsiders’.
Issues such as inter-state water dispute are also magnified fuelling the regional sentiments.
The regional political parties have a largely vital role to play in India’s unity but unfortu-
nately, they do little towards this cause and that is a reason to be concerned about.

REGIONAL ISSUES IN INDIA: FEW EXAMPLES

Anti-North Indian Attitude of MNS Workers
Mumbai, the commercial capital of India has grown in to a global financial hub. Mumbai and
its suburban area inhabit a big population of migrant workers. The 2008 attack on the migrant
workers and various other attacks especially on people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar by the
members of MNS showed the rising anti-North Indian attitude of the party. The justifications
for the attack were that the migrants spoil the tradition and culture of Maharashtra and that
 Chapter 8 • Regionalism 179

with rising migrants, the job opportunities of the native people of the state gets reduced. The
anti-North Indian feeling is a result of linguistic politics and regionalism being used for political
gains. In the recent years, the MNS has stated that they would shed their anti-North Indian im-
age. The Shiv Sena, another political party, founded in 1996, launched agitation against Karna-
taka and other South Indian migrant workers.

Attacks on Bihar Labourers by the ULFA

The United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) is a terrorist and separatist organozation based
out of Assam. It seeks to establish an independent Assam using armed means. It is a banned
organization and is classified as a terrorist group. The US State Department lists it under ‘Other
groups of concern’. It had been killing Bihar migrant workers.

Demand for Dravida Nadu

The early 20th century saw a rise in social reforms movement in Tamil Nadu and other south-
ern states of India. The Justice party and the social reform leader E. V. Ramaswami accused
the Brahmins and the North Indians for dominating the Dravidians and forcing Hindi lan-
guage and culture. The movement was an anti-Brahmin, anti-Aryan and anti-Hindi movement.
As early as 1960s, the DMK and other pro-Tamil organization arranged for a joint campaign
throughout Madras state demanding for a sovereign and independent ‘Tamil Nadu’. Later,
DMK proposed that the states of Madras, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Mysore should come
to together and secede from the Indian union and form an independent ‘Republic of Dravida
Nadu’.
In 1962, C. N. Annadurai alleged that south India has been neglected and ignored by na-
tional governments for a long time and demanded for separate nation.
In 1963, a constitutional bill which makes penalties for sovereignty and integrity of Indian
union was introduced by the Government. DMK dropped its demand of Dravida nation. Even
now, one can see sporadic incidents for the demand of separate country.

Bodoland Demand within Assam

The Bodoland movement has its genesis in the early 1930s where they submitted a memoran-
dum to the Simon Commission demanding a separate political administration for the indigenous
and tribal people of Assam (the Bodos). Though the Assam Gin 1993 formed the Bodoland
Autonomous Council, several provisions were not implemented that led to further agitation.
The increasing number of migrant Muslim workers from Bangladesh instigated fear among the
Bodos of being reduced in to minorities in their homeland. Violent attacks on the Muslims and
Adivasis of the area was a result of regionalism, demographic fears and vote bank politics. The
problem is yet to be solved, as the Bodo leaders are asking the government to resume talks to
find a permanent solution.
Demand for Khalisthan
The claims for Khalistan, as a separate theocratic country for the Sikhs, have its origin in the
1940s, due to the fear of being reduced in to a minority after the partition of India and Paki-
stan. The separatist movement reached its zenith in the 1970s and 1980s with increasing funds
from outside India. Within a short span of time, they started militant activities in Punjab, which
led to anti-militant operations by the Government of India. Operation Blue star was conducted
180 Indian Society for Civil Services

in 1984, in which the Indian security forces entered the Golden Temple forcibly and killed the
militants who were hiding inside the temple. This led to the assassination of then Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi, which resulted in anti-Sikh violence in Delhi and Haryana. The insurgency was
completely suppressed in the early 1990s. Some pro-Khalistan organizations are still active out-
side India.

INDIAN CONSTITUTION AND REGIONALISM

The constitution of India contains several measures to accomodate diversity and thereby re-
duce the negative instigation of regional emotions.

Non-Territorial Measure
The non-territorial measures of Indian Constitution are incorporated to accommodate ethno-
regional identity. The following are such measures:
First, Article 30 speaks about ‘Right of minorities to establish and administer educational
institutions’.
1. All minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and
administer educational institutions of their choice.
2. The State shall not, in granting aid to educational institutions, discriminate against any ed-
ucational institution on the ground that it is under the management of a minority, whether
based on religion or language.
The above articles clearly accommodates regional sentiments and have been incorporated
in order to protect the interest of the minorities.
Second, Article 345 speaks about official language or languages of a State: The legislature
of a State may by law adopt any one or more of the languages in use in the State or Hindi as the
language or languages to be used for all or any of the official purposes of that State.
Another Article, 347, Special provision relating to language spoken by a section of the
population of a State: On a demand being made in that behalf the President may, if he/she
is satisfied that a substantial proportion of the population of a State desire the use of any
language spoken by them to be recognised by that state, direct that such language shall also be
officially recognised throughout that State or any part thereof for such purpose as he/she may
specify.
These two articles are incorporated in the constitution to accommodate the linguistic
groups in a state. The identity of the aggrieved people is satisfied which results in smooth func-
tioning of the system.
The 8th schedule of the India constitution has 22 languages in it. These languages act as
third languages in the India’s ‘three language formula’, that is, Hindi (official language), English
and the 8th Schedule language.
Further as a control mechanism, Article 350B speaks about Special Officer for linguis-
tic minorities. There shall be a Special Officer for linguistic minorities to be appointed by the
President and it shall be the duty of the Special Officer to investigate all matters relating to the
safeguards provided for linguistic minorities under this Constitution and report to the President
upon those matters at such intervals as the President may direct, and the President shall cause
all such reports to be laid before each House of Parliament and sent to the Government of the
States concerned.
 Chapter 8 • Regionalism 181

Territorial Measures
Article 1 (1) of the Indian Constitution define India as ‘a Union of States’, which means all
states shall have no right to secede from the union. But the constitution does not specify the
number of states constituting the Union. Hence, it paves way for accepting regional sentiments.
It accepts the ethno-national movement based on separate identity and aspirations. The adjust-
ment and readjustments are possible to accept the diversified identity.

MEASURES AND SOLUTIONS TO PREVENT REGIONALISM

The following are measures to contain the negative spread of regionalism:

Immediate Measures
1. The areas that are neglected and ignored, both conflict and non-conflict region should be
given preferential treatment as they should feel that they are part of one nation. This can
be done by providing funding, developing infrastructure, recognizing their culture, etc.
2. The interference of central government in the affairs of the state should be minimal or in
unavoidable situations, such as national interest, national security, etc. In other all areas,
the state governments should be given with genuine autonomy or transfer of power.
3. The legislative mechanism should be put in place so that the leaders who inflict regional-
ism gets punished which will act as deterrence. The sedition should be discouraged and
the perpetrators should get punished.
4. A peaceful and constitutional method should be used to solve already existing problem
which should set an example for resolving other issues.
5. Election Commission should provide rules for regional parties as they should not use re-
gionalism as the main agenda to gain political mileage.

Long-term Measures
1. Moral education and national education is the key to address the evils of regionalism. Gov-
ernments should use their resources to provide free and compulsory moral education, which
will reduce unemployment, increase the rate of skill development, etc., which will ultimately
reduce the perils of regionalism.
2. Promoting inclusive growth and try to achieve equitable development. This can be done
by planning accordingly involving all stake holders with necessary checks and balances.
3. Non-Government Organization’s should be used to spread nationalism in every nook
and corner of the country. Although it is a painstaking process, but offers much effective
result.

GOVERNMENT MEASURES TO PROMOTE NATIONALISM

1. The then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, convened National Integration
Council in 1961, to find a suitable way to combat the evils of communalism, casteism,
regionalism, linguism, narrow-mindedness, and to formulate definite conclusions in order
to give a lead to the country. It can discuss and review all the matters related to national
integration.
182 Indian Society for Civil Services

2. The Interstate Council under Article 263 was constituted by GOI after accepting the Jus-
tice Sarkaria Commission’s report on centre-state relation. The Council consists of Prime
Minister as Chairman, Chief Ministers of all States, Chief Ministers of Union Territories
having a Legislative Assembly and Administrators of UTs not having a Legislative As-
semble and Six Ministers of Cabinet rank in the Union Council of Ministers to be nomi-
nated by the Prime Minister, as members. Its vision is to develop the Inter-State Council
Secretariat as a vibrant organization to support Centre-State and Inter-State coordination
and cooperation in India.
3. Establishment of Zonal councils under Part III of the state re-organization act, 1956. The
idea was mooted by the first PM of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, in a parliamentary debate.
Hence, in the light of the vision of Pandit Nehru, five Zonal Councils were established.
The present composition of each of these Zonal Councils is as follows:
(i) The States of Haryana, J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, NCT of Delhi and
Chandigarh are included in the Northern Zonal Council,
(ii) The States of Chhattisgarh, UP, Uttarakhand and MP are included in the Central
Zonal Council.
(iii) The Eastern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Sikkim
and West Bengal.
(iv) The Western Zonal Council, comprising the States of Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra and
the Union Territories of Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli.
(v) The Southern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,
Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
(vi) A special zonal council set up for North-eastern Indian states as North Eastern Coun-
cil under the North Eastern Council act, 1972. This council also includes Sikkim which
was added in 2002.
4. Annual conference of Governor’s, Chief Ministers, chief secretaries, etc.
5. Constitution of Inter-State River Water Disputes commission: In order to solve the water
dispute between states, GOI enacted Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956, which extends
to whole of India.

REGIONALISM: INTERNATIONAL DIMENSION

Regionalism in international context includes group of countries in a particular region, which
are earlier neglected and ignored from development process. These now come together and
form regional organizations for the purpose of accelerating their growth, collective bargaining
and influence other countries for their own growth. The examples for such organizations are
ASEAN, African Union, SCO, etc. In World Trade Organization, Trade Facilitation Agreement
was seen as an onslaught on developing countries because of it has a provision of doing away
with subsidies. India and China, together with developing countries started to resists it.
Here, the regionalism feeling is been used in positive manner to promote growth and co-
operation between the nations. A single nation cannot influence the international community,
but if likeminded countries come together, they can influence and their voice can be heard. The
regionalism also helps in stable economic policies.
In international regionalism, countries shed the historical difference, their cultural and so-
cioeconomic development in order to form an organization, which paves way for development
of the participating country and region as a whole.
 Chapter 8 • Regionalism 183

CONCLUSION
Regionalism is not significant merely as a disintegrating force. Regionalism is not opposed to
national integration. Both can exist together in a creative partnership. Both are in favour of de-
velopment. Regionalism stresses the development of a region and national integration for the de-
velopment of the nation as a whole. If we want to reconcile the competing claims of regionalism
and national integration the political system of the country should remain federal and democratic.
Regionalism is not disruptive of national solidarity. The important condition for national
solidarity is that nationalism should be able to hold the different types of regional sub-nation-
alities together. In other words, there should be healthy reconciliation between regionalism and
nationalism.
Regionalism can make federalism a greater success. In this aspect the accentuation of re-
gional identities should not become problematic. It is quite natural that regional communities,
who are conscious of their distinctive culture, should interact with federal government on the
basis of more equal partnership. It will reduce the centralizing tendencies in a nation and power
will shift from the centre to the states.
Conceived in any form, regionalism and subregionalism are unavoidable in a country as
vast and diverse as India. Their existence is not only an important condition for the expression
of genuine national sentiment, but it is logically generated because of the establishment of the
nation–state. Nothing is, therefore, more basic to the concept of federalism than regionalism
and subregionalism.
The regionalism, per se, is not an anti-national and negative concept, but, the way how we
handle regionalism is more important and using regionalism, we can achieve, the grass-root level
development as what ‘Gandhi ji’ had dreamed.

PRACTICE QUESTIONS
1. We find an increasing trend of regional consciousness. However, regional conscious-
ness is part of Indian social evolution. Elaborate the old and new reasons for regional
consciousness.
2. Will the demand for separate smaller states lead to disintegration of India? Give your
opinion in the light of the emerging demand for creation new, smaller states in India and
its consequence on national integration and unity.
3. Increasing regional attitude is a direct threat to the unity and integrity of India. In this con-
text discuss various steps taken by the government to promote national unity.
4. Explain the role of political parties in balancing federalism and regionalism in India
5. “Regionalism is people’s love for their region, culture or language “. Examine

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTION

1. What is the basis of regionalism? Is it that unequal distribution of benefits of development
on a regional basis eventually promotes regionalism? Substantiate your answer. (15 Marks)
2016
2. Growing feeling of regionalism is an important factor in generation of demand for a sepa-
rate State. Discuss. (10 Marks) 2013
 Chapter 9
Secularism

In this chapter you will learn about:

• Secularism and its Different Facets • T
 heories on Secularism: Gandhian and
• Historical Roots of Secularism Nehruvian Perspectives
• S ecular Imprints in Modern India: • Is Secularism Suitable for India?
Pre-independence • Advantages of Being a Secular State
• Secular Ideals in Indian Constitution
• Western Secularism: American Model
M. Senthil Kumar
• Challenges and Threats to Secularism
• Steps Taken to Promote Secularism
• Characteristics of Indian Secularism • Uniform Civil Code in India—Issues and
• Comparison of Indian Secularism with Challenges S. Rijesh
Western Secularism • Suggestions to Improve Secular Credentials

SECULARISM AND ITS DIFFERENT FACETS

rs / Editors Name With CD Red Band Territory line URL Price mQuest
‘Secularism does not mean irreligion or atheism or even stress on material comforts. It proclaims that it lays stress
on the universality of spiritual values which may be attained by a variety of ways’.
—Dr Radhakrishnan

The word secularism was coined by George Jacob Holyoake in the middle of the nineteenth
century based on the Latin word seculum. Apart from implying a separation of the Church from
the state, it also suggests freedom to the individual. The enlightenment in Europe heralded a
new era where reason rather than religion, became the guiding factor for all aspects of human
life. Secular concerns, it came to be argued, are of this world, and religion which is concerned
with the unknown world was to be kept away from this. However, this did not necessarily imply
a hostile relationship between the two, only that both are exclusive. In India, secularism is popu-
larly understood as the best philosophy that would enable people belonging to diverse religious
 Chapter 9 • Secularism 185

backgrounds to live together in a harmonious manner, and create a state that would accord the
same degree of respect and freedom to all religions.
Secularism not only implies separation of the Church from the state, it also suggests free-
dom to the individual as far the practice of religion is concerned.
The Phenomena of Enlightenment in Europe paved way for reason rather than religion
becoming the guiding factor individual and societal life. Religion and related aspects were kept
apart while Secular concerns were predominant in social practices. However, this did not neces-
sarily imply a hostile relationship between the two, only that both are exclusive.
As far as Indian is concerned Secular philosophy is considered as the best one to enable
people belonging to diverse religious backgrounds to live together in a harmonious manner, and
create a state that would provide the same degree of mutual respect and freedom to all religions.
One of the basic tenets of secularism is that it delineates the domains of the state and
religion. It brings into perspective, the role of religious institutions, be it direct or indirect in the
governance of a state. The importance of understanding secularism cannot be understated in
the current era, as secularism stands as one of the key facets that are indispensable in the admin-
istration of a liberal democracy.
Secularism as an outcome of the relationship between the state and religion can be broadly
classified into three types:
The first one is to keep religion State
away from politics. It regards religion
as purely a private affair of the citizens.
Meanwhile, the state remains impartial (Citizenship) Separation of State
in religious matters and treats people from Religion
of all religions on an equal footing.
Such a view is also referred to as scien-
tific secularism—one that evolved post
French Revolution. It questioned the
very intrusion of the church in state af- Individual Freedom of Religion
Religion

fairs, and so it was later widely adopted Schematic Representation of the Relationship Between
in western countries such as the USA, Religion, State and Individual
Germany, the UK, France, Italy, etc.
The second type commands an abolition of religion in the state. Such a perspective may
be found in countries that follow a communist doctrine in politics. And communist ideology as-
serts ‘materialism’ as an alternative to secularism. Karl Marx, the Father of Communism, once
called the religion as ‘the opium of the masses.’ Countries like China and North Korea are im-
mersed with this kind of extreme secularism.
Finally, the third type ensures equal social participation and recognition to all religions,
especially minority religions is another important principle of secularism. The state shall be un-
biased in promoting religions and in safeguarding the religious institutions. India, being a cradle
of several religions, follows this kind of positive secularism to control the judicious attitude
while dealing with those religions.
Further, as it is known to all, Hinduism is not a religion by itself, whereas it is a school of
thoughts that teaches the moral and righteous way of living to its followers. The population of
Hindus accounts for 79.80 per cent of the total population in India. Therefore, by default, the
values of Hinduism would play a significant role in the governance of India. However, the state
is not tilted towards any specific religion in the matter of governance.
186 Indian Society for Civil Services

Therefore, it can be concluded that secularism is creating a space for all religions to sur-
vive and alleviates insecure feelings of the citizens. Subsequently, it may also reduce the role of
religious institutions in the governance of the state to protect the rule of law.
In the words of Dr Radhakrishnan ‘We hold that no one religion should be given preferential status,
or unique distinction, that no one religion should be accorded special privileges in national life, or international
relations, for that would be a violation of the basic principles of democracy and contrary to the best interest of
religion and government…No group of citizens shall arrogate to itself right and privileges which it denies to oth-
ers. No person shall suffer any form of disability or discrimination because of his religion but all alike should be
free to share to the fullest degree in the common life’.
On the other hand, the theocratic state which is contrary to the secular state, sup-
ports and motivate the propagation of a particular religion. In such system of govern-
ment, the ruler is typically the member of that prescribed religion and also, it is the
religious institutions that act as the source of authority and law of the land in theocratic
states, for example, Vatican City, Saudi Arabia, Andorra, and Iran. And it can be said
that the other religions in such theocratic countries have little or no room to exist. Usu-
ally, such states are found to have persistent human rights issues owing to, aggressive or
hostile attitude towards religious minorities.

HISTORICAL ROOTS OF SECULARISM

Secularism in India is as old as the Indus Valley Civilization. The cities of lower Mesopotamia
and Harappa were not ruled by priests. Unsurprisingly, dance and music were secular in these
urban civilizations.
If traced in history, it is very much evident that it was actually Ashoka, the Mau-
ryan Emperor, who officially propounded the concept of secularism in the name of
Dhamma (the right way of social behaviour) and subsequently encouraged to stretch
its wings throughout the subcontinent. As early as 3rd century bce, he also expressed
that the state would not persecute any religious sects and to propagate this idea, he es-
tablished the 12th Rock Edict, in which he exhorted the tolerance towards all religious
sects and respecting all religions. He prayed that people should desist themselves from
criticizing other religious sects. And, he also expected his people to be concerned
with other religious scriptures. Moreover, the art and architecture of Ashoka, espe-
cially Lion Capital in Sarnatillar and Ellora cave, epitomize India’s secular values at
the global level. In later times, emperor Harshavardhana who described himself was a
Shaivite, also patronized all religions equally and he converted himself into Buddhism
in later part of his life.
During the Sangam Age, poets such as Agathiyar, Tolkappiyar, Nakkirar, and
Thiruvalluvar, were, portraying the concept of secularism in their ok literary works. Till
today, their writings such as Tolkappiyam, Thirukkural, and Purananooru have been
considered as legendary accounts that are secular in character.
Later, in medieval India, the Sufi and Bhakti movements recovered the secular char-
acter of Indian society, which was in a vegetative state due to the orthodox rule of the
Delhi Sultanate, which was encouraged by Ulema. Notable patrons of these movements
were Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, Baba Farid, Kabir Das, Guru Nanak Dev, Tukaram,
and Mira Bai. They were instrumental in spreading the different facets of secularism such
as tolerance, sense of brotherhood, universalism, harmony, and peace in the society.
 Chapter 9 • Secularism 187

‘There is no Hindu and no Musalman, there is no distinction between man and man’.
— Guru Nanak, First Sikh Guru

Akbar, the great Mughal emperor, went a step ahead and protected the secular fabric of
the empire by insisting tolerance among different religions. His religious ideas of Din-e-llahi (Di-
vine faith) and Sulh-i-kul (Peace with all) was mainly based on developing a sense of secularism
among the people of all religions. The construction of Ibadat Khana in Fatehpur Sikri was com-
missioned with the objective of nurturing religious harmony by encouraging different religious
leaders to express their opinions and to have a peaceful dialogue. Despite the dominance of
Hindu population, Mughal rule was accepted by the people owing to the secular credentials it
had.

SECULAR IMPRINTS IN MODERN INDIA: PRE-INDEPENDENCE

The socio-religious reform movements of the 19th century paved the way for a modern secular
Indian society. Raja Ram Mohan Roy’s Brahmo Samaj, Henry Louis Vivian Derozio’s Young
Bengal Movement, Swami Vivekananda’s Ramakrishna Mission, Annie Besant’s Theosophical
Society and Syed Ahmed Khan’s Aligarh Movement were actively tried to get rid of those out-
dated orthodox and superstitious beliefs of various religions.
These movements set the tone for the advent of religious harmony, tolerance and respect
towards other religion in modern times. Both Sepoys Revolt of 1857 and Partition of Bengal,
1905, witnessed a great deal of unity among Hindus and Muslims. On a parallel ground, vision-
aries such as Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy commonly known as Periyar doubted the existence
of God and propagated secular and rational thinking in the society through his Self-Respect
Movement. Sahodaran Ayyappan, who was a rationalist thinker from Kerala, expressed ‘No
Caste, No Religion, and No God for Human Beings’.
Later, Indian National Congress (INC), right from its inception, did not subscribe to any
particular religion and stood neutral. This in fact united the people from different religions and
took the Freedom Movement on a constructive and successful path. Besides, the appointment
of Badruddin Tyabji and Rahimtulla Mahomed Sayani as INC presidents reinforced the secular
attitude of the INC and helped in spreading harmony across the country.
Jawaharlal Nehru gave a detailed report (1928) on the abolition of separate electorate in
order to found a secular state. This report is largely significant as it not only underlined the secu-
lar spirit of our freedom movement but eventually led to the creation of a secular constitution
after independence.

SECULAR IDEALS IN THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION

The Indian Constitution is the most revered document of governance in India. Therefore, the
need to embody the spirit of secularism in it was most important.
Our Indian Constitution adopted principled distance. It means that state will inter-
vene in religious affairs only to eliminate evils in the religious system. It allowed the state
to be distant from all religions so that it can intervene or abstain from interference, de-
pending upon which of these two would better promote liberty, equality and social justice.
188 Indian Society for Civil Services

The following provisions gives a clear manifestation of the secular principles in the
constitution:
Preamble: India is identified as a secular state. It insists secularism in the governance of the
country. However, this term was not explicitly used until when it was added through the 42nd
Amendment Act, 1976.

Article 14: Grants equality before law and equal protection of law to all, irrespective of religion.
Article 15: Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion in public places.
Article 16: Equal opportunity to all citizens in public employment, irrespective of religion.
Article 25: It empowers the citizens with freedom of conscience to choose to profess, practice
and propagate any religion. It also gives them the freedom of conversion. However, forcible
conversion is prohibited.
Article 26: It allows religious denominations to manage their own affairs, which include
the right to acquire property and administer the same in accordance with the law. Article
25 guarantees the rights of individuals, while Article 26 secures the rights of religious
denominations.
Article 27: It prohibits the states from compelling anyone to pay taxes for promoting or main-
taining a particular religion. It also prohibits the states from patronizing any particular religion
over other religions. However, state can use funds to support all religions equally.
Article 28: It provides for freedom to citizens for attending religious instructions in educational
institutions. It also allows certain educational institutions to impart religious instructions, which
is not maintained and administered by state.
Article 29: It empowers religious minorities to conserve their language, script or culture.
Article 30: It gives privileges to religious minorities to establish their own educational institu-
tions. It also mandates that state shall give due compensation in case the state need to acquire
the properties of minorities. It also sets away any discrimination in terms of giving aid.
Article 44: Uniform Civil Code (UCC) ensures that the Civil Rights like marriage, divorce and
adoption of children be governed by a common uniform civil law, irrespective of any reli-
gious laws in India. For example, divorce in the Muslim community is governed by Triple Talaq
method as envisaged in Shariah law. Further, when the Uniform Civil Code is being applied, a
common law shall take precedence over religious rules and diktats.
Article 51 A (e): It promotes harmony and the spirit of fraternity among all the people of India
regardless of religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; it also renounces practices
derogatory to the dignity of women.
Judiciary: To clarify the secular character of the Indian Constitution, the Supreme Court men-
tioned, ‘There is no mysticism in the secular character of the State. Secularism is neither anti-
God nor pro-God, it treats alike the devout, the antagonistic and the atheist. It eliminates God
from the matters of the State and ensures that no one shall be discriminated against on the
ground of religion.’
 Chapter 9 • Secularism 189

In S. R. Bommai versus Union of India case the Supreme Court held that ‘secular-
ism is a basic feature of the constitution…politics and religion cannot be mixed’.
The Supreme Court has held that the right to propagate religion does not include
any right to forcible conversion as these may disturb public order (Stanislaus versus
State of MP, 1977).

WESTERN SECULARISM: AMERICAN MODEL

The secular states have a common secular principle that they shall not be the advocates of re-
ligions. But the plausible conception, especially based on the American Model, is of the view
that the separation of religion and the state shall be perceived as mutually exclusive and the state
shall not interfere with the affairs of religion, so do the religions in terms of the affairs of the
states. Both religion and state have their own arena with independent jurisdictions.
Furthermore, the state should not be a benefactor of any religious institution. It ought
not to offer any financial support to educational institutions run by religious communities. Nor
can it intervene in the activities of religious communities, as long as they act within the realms
of the common law of the land. For example, if a religious institution forbids a woman from
becoming a priest, then the state is not fully entitled to impose common law to deal with this
issue. If a religious community excommunicates its dissenters, the state cannot question the
power of the religious heads in such cases. If a particular religion forbade the entry of some of
its members into the sanctum sanctorum of its temple, the state would not have any option but
to let the matter rest exactly where it is.
In this perspective, religion is a private matter, not a matter of state policy or law. The
western governments emphasize the separation of the state from the church to achieve individ-
ual freedom and equality before the law. To realize this, the freedom of individuals, as a matter
of religion, is ignored.
Finally, this form of mainstream secularism does not allow the state to do any religious
reform under its control. Hence, scholars perceive this concept as a negative form of secularism
which is contrary to India’s positive secularism, i.e., giving protection to all religions under the
ambit of the constitution.

CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIAN SECULARISM

The pluralistic dimensions of culture and the diverse history of the state have led to the evolu-
tion of multifaceted secularism in India. The following are its features:
1. No official religion: India does not recognize any religion as official. Nor does it owe al-
legiance to any particular religion.
2. Religious neutrality: India does not intervene into the affairs of any specific religion. It
respects all religions equally.
3. Freedom to all: It assures religious freedom to members of all religions. Citizens are free
to choose and abide by their religions. It also allows them to build and maintain places of
worship and other religious institutions.
4. Separation of religion from governance: Religious institutions have a diminutive role
in Indian governance. India is not ruled by religious heads. Political parties in India do
not advocate or subscribe to any particular religion. However, many scholars believe
190 Indian Society for Civil Services

that some of the religious violence that happened in the country are politically moti-
vated and a part of the electoral strategy which may question the credibility of India’s
secularism.
5. Strategy of Non-interference: The state does not interfere in any of the religious af-
fairs in order to respect its traditions, customs, and beliefs. However, it may intervene
productively to remove such obsolete, superstitious, backward-looking, and gender biased
practices like child marriage, sati, and polygamy. Through law, it may also impose restric-
tions on the unscrupulous activities of the religious administrations to protect the interest
of the general public and to maintain the social order. For example: Recently, The Hon’ble
Supreme Court has put an end to the medieval practice of Triple Talaq, stating it violates
the 393 fundamental right contained under Article 14 of the Constitution.
6. Supremacy of Law: In India, the government’s administrative structure is based on ‘Law’
and ‘Not of Men’ and hence the constitution protects the native’s religious rights from the
despotic rule of the legislatures and executives. Also, the unamendable basic feature of the
constitution, the ‘Rule of Law’ and right to constitutional remedies, sustains the peoples’
believe on the law of the land and upholds the freedom of conscience of the individuals.
These administrative tools are not based on the beliefs and principles given by the dogmas
and customs of any particular religion whereas they are neutrally enacted to uphold the
sovereignty of the state and promote equality.
7. State is sovereign: None of the religious institutions, be it a temple, church or madrasa,
is above the sovereignty of the State. Everything is legal and accountable under the State’s
sovereignty.
8. State is areligious: Indian secularism is not atheistic that is questioning the very existence
of deities. Whereas, it allows all kind of religious worships and practices. While accepting
the multiple spiritual quests, it disapproves the action of any specific religion as supreme
over the other.
9. Secularism and fundamental right: Secularism in India is constitutionally protected and
is qualitative not quantitative. Even before the term ‘Secularism’ was introduced in the
constitution, the concept was inscribed in it through the fundamental rights. And, it was
our founding father’s vision to design a new India in the secular lines and to give freedom
to the people to protect their own rights. Hence, the religious freedom of each individual
is well secured under Part III of the Constitution and the mechanisms such as ‘judicial
review’ and ‘right to constitutional remedies’ plays a big role in protecting those religious
rights whenever it is breached by the state.
10. Secularism and Education: Indian education is scientific and predicated on the western
education system. Education here is not a reinforcement of religious maxims but it is an
antidote to religious fanaticism and hatred In India. To imbibe secular ideas among the
children, the scientific education has been imparted right from the schoolings which helps
them to test the rationality of any kind of religious affairs. In addition, the secular educa-
tion develops a positive attitude among the children to appreciate and understand others
point of views which ultimately sustains the secular nature of the country.
11. Secularism as Humanism: India’s secularism is humane and is not affected by the spiri-
tual beliefs or values of any particular religion. It considers the people as ‘Citizens’ not as
‘sympathizers of a religion.’ So, the state is at the service of all people irrespective of their
religions. In the words of Swami Vivekananda, secular humanism has been expressed as
‘Service to mankind is service to God.’
 Chapter 9 • Secularism 191

12. Secularism as Universal Faith: One of the hymns of Rig Veda expressed the universal
faith by the following lines, ‘Ekam Sat Vipra Bahudha Vadanti’, i.e., (Truth is one; sages
call it by various names.) The hymn reveals that the secular ideas which India follows are
not only inherited from the advanced societies of the West and the East, but also inspired
from the ancient texts and principles. And, the collection of those secular ethos acts as the
source to promote universalism and to accept all religions in an inclusive manner.
13. Secularism and Modernization: Our secularism is not shaped by an orthodox, obsolete
or narrow beliefs but it is a product of modern values, progressive thoughts, and scientific
outlook. As a visionary and charismatic statesman, Jawaharlal Nehru perceived that only
the economic development and modernization would be the solvent of intercommunity
differences and would create a secularized Indian society. As he visioned, the globalized
era which we are in promotes modern outlook among citizens that makes them tolerate all
the religions without interfering in others religious affairs.
14. Secularism as Cultural Heritage: In the Bommai judgment case, it has been estab-
lished that ‘Secularism and composite culture of India are two sides of the same coin’. It
is viewed that plurality and tolerance are the core values of Indian civilization and cultural
identity. India’s culture is not as the manifestation of cultural practices of a single source
rather it evolved through different processes such as synthesis, assimilation, eclecticism,
and acculturation. Thus, it is evident that the dynamic rich cultural heritage of India fur-
ther strengthens the secular nature of the country.

COMPARISON OF INDIAN SECULARISM WITH THAT

OF WESTERN SECULARISM
Indian secularism sails with western secularism in some aspects but still there exist fundamental
differences. ‘Western dictionaries define secularism as absence of religion but Indian secularism does not mean
irreligiousness. It means profusion of religions.’
Western model of secularism is generally associated with American Model of Secular-
ism and hence, it is not appropriate to compare the Indian Model with the American Model.
Similarities
1. The first amendment to the US Constitution had confirmed that the legislature is pro-
hibited from establishing an official church and allows people to worship as they wish. In
short, it guarantees the freedom of religion to its subjects which are very much similar to
the Indian model of secularism.
2. Both India and the USA faced with handling the same nature of crisis such as fundamen-
talism and the radicalization of youth by Islamic State and Islamophobia.

Difference between Indian and Western Secularism:

S
American Secularism Indian Secularism
No
1 In USA, there is a complete separation Taking away religion from the purview of State is
between the State and religion. Neither not possible in India. Positive intervention of the
the State nor religious entities can State in religious affairs is not prohibited.
interfere with each other subjects.
192 Indian Society for Civil Services

2 Focus is more on intrareligious Focussing both on interreligious and intrareligious

domination than interreligious due to dominations because Indian society is not
religiously homogenous nature of the homogenous rather it is multireligious that has
State. For example, the reformed gender numerous religious denominations and castes
neutral nature of Christianity which is the under each. For example, in Varna system, people
predominant religion of the West. of upper castes treated Dalits inhumanely and such
treatment was abolished legally by the Schedule
Castes and Schedule Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act, 1989.
3 It is concerned with liberty and equality It not only ensures the religious freedom of
among the individuals of the particular individuals but also provides for the religious
religion and often neglected the equality freedom of minorities. It enables an individual to
of other religious minorities. freely pursue his religion and helps the religious
minorities to exist and maintain their culture and
educational institutions as a community.
4 Non-interventionist in nature. Reformist in nature. India enacted several
reformative laws that restructured the Indian
society from evil religious practices like child
marriage, sati, etc. For example, Special Marriage
Act, 1954, lifted the taboo on inter-caste and
interreligious marriages sanctioned by Hinduism.
5 The role of religious bodies is meager in As an implicit control, religious groups could
politics. persuade their followers and control the ballot
box. They could also influence the government in
power in policy making.
6 A state can neither manage nor aid State not only gives aid to religious entities
religious institutions. including minority educational institutions but also
administers many of religious structures as part of
preserving cultural heritage.
Examples: Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage subsidy,
Haj subsidy, Shri Nankana Sahib Yatra for Sikhs,
Income Tax exemptions for various kinds of
religious donations, etc.

THEORIES ON SECULARISM: GANDHIAN AND NEHRUVIAN

PERSPECTIVES
The term ‘Secularism’ remained widely unaccepted until it was first coined by Holyoake in
1851. Charles Bradlaugh further elaborated its basic principles and virtually agreed with Holy-
oke. It was not immediately accepted in politics as well. Lincoln used the word only once but in
a non-political context. Only when the democratic form of government gained popularity, the
usage of secularism started to attract attention.
The Motilal Nehru Committee Report on the Principles of the Constitution of India in
1928 did not use the word ‘Secularism’ at all, though the core part of the report insisted on it.
The Karachi Resolution in 1931, which Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Maulana Azad witnessed,
recounted the religious neutrality of the State. Secularism was an impetus to the resolution but
 Chapter 9 • Secularism 193

the word was not specifically mentioned. Repeated usage of the term found its place in Gan-
dhi’s writings and speeches in 1933.

Gandhian perspective
‘Religion was a personal matter and if we succeeded in confining it to the personal plane, all would be well in
our political life... If officers of Government as well as members of the public undertook the responsibility and
worked wholeheartedly for the creation of a secular state, we could build a new India that would be the glory of
the world.’
— Mahatma Gandhi in Deshbandhu Park, Calcutta, 1947

Private Affair: Mahatma Gandhi mentioned that religion is both a private and personal affair
and the State has no role in it. He added that religion has a set of moral principles that lead
people onto the right path of living. When he spoke in one of the Christian Missionaries, 1946,
he contended, ‘If I were a dictator, religion and state would be separate. I swear by my religion.
I will die for it. But it is my personal affair. The State has nothing to do with it. The State would
look after your secular welfare, health, communications, foreign relations, currency and so on,
but not your or my religion. That is everybody’s personal concern!’
Religious Equality: Mahatma Gandhi was ardently a religious person. Mahatma Gandhi was
not the man who accepted spiritualism only in Hinduism rather he respected the spirituality
in all the religions including Islam and Christianity. His principle of Ahimsa (doing no harm)
could be traced back to the Jain philosophy. He regarded all religions equally and popularized
the concept of ‘Sarva Dharma Sama Bhava’ (equality of all religions). This concept was originally
embraced by Ramakrishna and Vivekananda.
Equality within Religion: Mahatma Gandhi did not accept all the practices of Hinduism as
such rather he looked at it through the prism of liberal thoughts and modern principles to
secure the secular values of Indian culture. He strongly opposed any religious practices that
let down the downtrodden classes in the society (an outcome of the Varna system) and those
that demeaned women. He raised his voice against untouchability and perceived it as a custom
hostile to the moral sense of mankind. Hence, he supported the Bill meant to abolish untouch-
ability that came before central legislature in early 1930’s. On January 27, 1935, while Mahatma
Gandhi was addressing some members of the central legislature, he made himself clear that,
‘even if the whole body of Hindu opinion were to be against the removal of untouchability, still
he would advise a secular legislature like the assembly not to tolerate that attitude.’
Non-communal Politics: In the later years, a new trend emerged in order to separate the peo-
ple in the name of religion, especially after the advent of Muslim League and Hindu Mahas-
abha. But Mahatma Gandhi reiterated the secular politics by his following words, ‘I felt that any
form of political association based exclusively on adherence to a particular religion was worse
than undemocratic’. In another circumstance, he said, ‘Religion was a personal matter and if we
succeeded in confining it to the personal plane, all would be well in our political life.’
Religious Coexistence: Mahatma Gandhi believed that peaceful coexistence of different reli-
gions was possible and could promote religious harmony and tranquillity in the Indian society.
Referring to the Karachi Resolution which demanded the separation of Pakistan from India on
194 Indian Society for Civil Services

religious grounds, he asserted, ‘What conflict of interest can there be between Hindus and Mus-
lims in the matter of revenue, sanitation, police, justice, or the use of public conveniences? The
difference can only be in religious usage and observance with which a secular state has no concern.’
Secular State: Mahatma Gandhi was a strong believer of a secular state, particularly in the context
of the religious plurality in India. He wanted religions to be separated from politics. When he ad-
dressed the gathering in Scottish Church College, Calcutta on the very next day after independence,
he opined that ‘…India should undoubtedly be secular. It could never promote denominational edu-
cation out of public funds. Everyone living in it should be entitled to profess his religion without let
or hindrance, so long as the citizen obeyed the common law of the land. There should be no inter-
ference with missionary effort, but no mission could enjoy the patronage of the State as it did during
the foreign regime.’ These views are manifested in Articles 15 to 28 under the Indian Constitution.
Nevertheless, he supported the intervention of the State in religion to safeguard the secu-
lar values. He unequivocally supported the ‘Untouchability Abolition Bill’. He also gave his re-
joinders to those who did not accept his views saying it was an undue interference in religion.
He clarified there were many situations in which it was necessary for the State to interfere even
in religion. Only ‘undue’ interference ought to be avoided.
On the contrary, he opposed any financial aid given by the State for the promotion of any
religious structures in the name of secular governance. Speaking on Guru Nanak’s birthday by the
end of 1947, Mahatma Gandhi opposed any possibility of State funds being spent for the renova-
tion of the Somnath Temple. His reasoning was, ‘After all, we have formed the government for all.
It is a ‘secular’ government, that is, it is not a theocratic government, rather, and it does not belong
to any particular religion. Hence, it cannot spend money on the basis of communities.’
Therefore, it can be understood that Mahatma Gandhi was religiously secular. He learned val-
ues from religion to lead a right way of life. He understood the merits and demerits in all religions.
He wanted all the religions to exist harmoniously and acknowledged the Indian secular principles.
Nehruvian Perspective of Secularism: Mahatma Gandhi’s secularism rests on a commitment
to the religious fraternity based on the respect for and pursuit of truth. On the other hand,
Nehru’s secularism is based on a commitment to scientific humanism toned with a progressive
view of historical change.
Jawaharlal Nehru proposed the concept of secular State. Indeed, the formation of India
as a secular State may be accepted as ‘one of his greatest achievements’. In the view of Chester
Bowles, ‘Nehru has a great aversion to the intrusion of religious factors into politics, and he is
especially concerned with transforming India from a ‘caste-ridden society’ in which communal-
ism remains a major threat to all the values that he cherishes to ‘a national state’ which includes
people of all religions and shades of opinion and is essentially secular as a state’.
As an architect of Indian secularism, Nehru expressed that ‘Religion is all right.’ And
further he has said, ‘When applied to ethics and morals, but it is not good when mixed with
politics.’ Nehru, a man of faith and science, viewed the decision of Constituent Assembly in
Karachi in 1953 to make Pakistan as the Islamic Republic ‘as a medieval conception totally op-
posed to any democratic conception’.
When a student asked him to spell out what secularism meant in the independent India, he
responded that, ‘Equal protection by the State to all religions’. He expected the secular State to
be the one that ‘should protect all religions but does not favor one in place of others and does
not itself adopt any religion as the State religion.’ Nehru was not a religious man inclined to any
 Chapter 9 • Secularism 195

religion, nor was he the believer of God. However, he inclined towards the values of all religion
and what appeared to him as good. Also, he made it clear that secularism should never be hostile
to any religion. In this sense, Nehru is very different from the Turkish Revolutionary Leader,
Ataturk. Nehru was convinced with the intervention of the State in religious issues as long as it
was required to uphold the sovereignty of the State.
Nehru believed that a secular state may interfere in the matters of religion to bring about
social reforms. He played a pivotal role in enacting laws for eradicating caste discrimination,
dowry and sati, and providing legal rights and social freedom to Indian women.
While Nehru was lenient in many accounts, he was adamant and resolute about one thing;
he felt that secularism should chase away communalisms by all means. Nehru lambasted the
communities with the majority for deliberately allowing communalism that posed a threat to na-
tional unity. According to him, Secularism was not only a matter of principles but also the only
binding force for the unity and integrity of India.
After the decade of non-cooperation movement, gigantic riots broke out between Hindus
and Muslim in the northern India which influenced Nehru to believe religion as a dangerous
and divisive force in Indian politics. Later during the course of freedom struggle Nehru was
equally influenced by the western ideals of Socialism that emphasized on scientific and secular
ethos. Thus, Nehru was absolutely atheistic and scientific in nature whereas Mahatma Gandhi
was certainly a man of religion. For Mahatma Gandhi, religion and morality constituted the
whole of life. They were interwoven together. Nehru gave more importance to scientific moral
values than superstitious religious ideas. He also directed the State to play a constructive role in
the political and economic spheres rather than an ambassador for particular religion.
Though they differed in their religious views, they had a consensual realization about the
circumstances in India that had many religions, especially after independence. They also felt the
need for churning out secular principles to maintain integration among the people of many re-
ligions in India. While they accepted the autonomy for religious institutions, they also called for
the State to play a reformist role.

WHAT IS KEMAL ATATURK’S SECULARISM?

A different kind of secularism has been practiced in Turkey in the first half of the twenti-
eth century. This type of secularism encouraged the direct intervention of State in religions.
The main principle of the State was to keep the organized religions under its microscope.
It openly involved itself in the suppression of religion. This version of secularism was pro-
pounded and practiced by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
He came to power after the First World War. He took the resolution to end the
institution of Khalifa from the public life of Turkey. Ataturk was convinced that re-
moving traditional thinking was the only way to elevate Turkey from the sorry state it
was in.
He acted arrogantly to modernize and secularize Turkey. Ataturk changed his own name
from Mustafa Kemal Pasha to Kemal Ataturk (Ataturk translates as Father of the Turks). The
Fez, a traditional cap worn by Muslims, was banned by the law. The Western dress code was
encouraged for men and women. The Western (Gregorian) calendar replaced the traditional
Turkish calendar. In 1928, the new Turkish alphabet (in a modified Latin form) came into use.
196 Indian Society for Civil Services

IS SECULARISM SUITABLE FOR INDIA?

Secularism is most suitable for India due to following reasons:
1. Multireligious State: Secularism is most suitable for India because India is a multire-
ligious state. So, it is not desirable to accept one single religion as the state religion and
hence all religions have to be treated equally.
2. Impact of ancient culture: Since ancient times diverse religious movements flourished
in different parts of India. And this promoted tolerance. So, the framers of the constitu-
tion felt that secularism was the best option to continue that spirit and to foster a sense of
brotherhood amongst the people.
3. India is a democratic State: India grants freedom of religion and equality of all religions
to every individual and religion remains as a personal affair of its citizens.
4. Partition of the country: The partition of the country and associated communal riots
made us learn that India needs to be a secular country if it wants to maintain peace.

ADVANTAGE OF BEING A SECULAR STATE

‘Secularism and democracy are the twin pillars of our state, the very foundation of our society’.
—Indira Gandhi

1. Excelling Democracy: Secularism has marked the six decades of the successful journey of
Indian democracy. It has led us on the path of progress and thereby created an inclusive and
matured democracy. Now, Indian secularism is a prototype to the multireligious countries
across the world. India has had many Presidents from minority communities including Dr Za-
kir Hussain, Dr A. P. J Kalam and Dr Gyani Zail Singh. Dr Manmohan Singh, who hails from
the Sikh community, was elected twice by the people of India to the office of Prime Minister.
2. Peace and Stability: Secularism inculcated extreme tolerance among the Indians and also
taught them to revere the belief and practices of other religions. This tendency of people
widely ensured religious harmony and peaceful coexistence of different religions. The crux
of India remains intact despite having attained the position of a multireligious country.
Conversely, countries which advocate particular religions are faced with frequent issues of
terrorism, violence (say bombing), religious fundamentalism, intrareligious conflict (Shia-
Sunni), huge civil causalities, etc. For example, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and many middle-
east countries.
3. Minority protection: Secularism undoubtedly prevents the major religious group from
dominating minor religious groups. This principle of secularism deters communal riots
as they happened just before the independence. It also resists the religious prosecution of
minorities. Hitler’s prosecution of Jews is the best example for religious prosecution.
4. Economic Growth: Adherence to secularism would accelerate India to transform itself
into the world’s fastest economy. This would apparently remove the blemishes created by
famines that happened in the 1940s. It has drastically improved the overall standard of liv-
ing of Indian masses by changing their outlook.
5. Cultural Enrichment: Pursuance of secularism during the freedom struggle and post-
independence journey made the communal strain on Indian society disappear, which was
created by medieval theocratic regimes and British’s decisive divide and rule policy.
 Chapter 9 • Secularism 197

CHALLENGES AND THREATS TO SECULARISM

In spite of the government’s adherence to religious equality by giving equal space to religious mi-
norities in socio-economic-politico and cultural sphere and being firm towards religious beliefs
and practices of citizens, the following things continue denting the India’s secular credentials:
1. Communal Politics: Unjustifiably, politicians play with religious sentiments of the
masses and people of one religion are aroused against other religions for their political
gains. It leads to religious polarization in the society by forming political parties, trade
unions and student unions on religious lines. All these would result in hatred and creates
rivalry towards the people of other religions. Eventually, these would push the people to
involve themselves in the activities detrimental to secularism like Babri Masjid demolition
in 1992, and Muzaffarnagar riots in 2013.
2. Interreligious Domination: Equality to all citizens, particularly for minorities, is the
primary principle of secularism. But the following incidents showcase that it is often
neglected.

•• At least 2,700 Sikhs were massacred in Delhi and in many other parts of the country in
1984.
•• Several thousands of Hindu Kashmiri Pandits were evacuated from their homes in
Kashmir valley in the early 1990s.
•• More than 1,000 people, especially Muslims, were massacred during the post-Godhra
riots in Gujarat in 2002.

3. Intrareligious Domination: Despite the explicit prohibition of untouchability in any

form under Article 17, casteism is still prevalent in Hindu society, and the lower castes
continue to suffer the worst. Even in 21st century we see the followng practices in India.
1. Dalit children sit separately from other children in schools. Almost 1 out of every 3
government school in rural areas prohibit children from sitting together.
2. Dalits are prevented from entering police stations in 27.6% of rural villages.
3. Public health workers refuse to enter Dalit homes in 1 out of 3 rural villages.
4. Almost half of Dalit villages are denied access to water sources.
5. Dalit and non-Dalit people cannot eat together in 70% of rural villages.
4. Forced Conversion: Allegations are continuously being made against Christian Mission-
aries for exploiting the lower status accorded to the Dalits in the four-fold Varna system in
order to persuade them for conversion to Christianity for which they use the baits of good
social status and dignified life. As a reaction, right-wing groups have started Ghar Wapsi
(Home coming) movement, which aims to bring back the converted people back into
Hindu fold.
5. Discrimination: The overall participation of religious minorities in the political sphere
continues to occupy a tiny space and they are not given their due shares. They were dis-
criminated in public services. Their economic status is inevitable and worse. As per Sachar
Committee report (2006) it is stated that, ‘while Muslims constitute 14 per cent of the In-
dian population, they comprise only 2.5 per cent of the Indian bureaucracy’. The commit-
tee also highlighted that the conditions of Indian Muslims are below those of Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes. It is to assume they are socially and politically more margin-
alized than the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes.
198 Indian Society for Civil Services

6. Constitutional Contradiction: Constitutional provision meant for secularism has loop-

holes and is discriminative in nature. There are certain secular principles that are mutually
exclusive. For instance, Article 48 advises against the slaughter of cow for respecting the re-
ligious sentiments of Hindu but such actions are approved of as a part of Muslim tradition.
7. Discriminative State Intervention: To retain vote banks, government show bias in reg-
ulating the religious customs and practices. For instance, polygamy is prohibited in Hindu
law but it is allowed in Islam. But the State is not ready to deal with such ambiguities and
gray areas of law.
8. Growing Fundamentalism: Religious fundamentalism refers to the blind and unques-
tioning adherence to particular religious beliefs. It manifests in orthodoxy, conservatism
and singularity as against democratic norms of modernism and plurality. It may motivate
the radicalization of youth and formation of anti-India terrorist groups. The awful increase
in the participation of youth in terrorist activities and joining the Islamic State in recent
times reflects it clearly.
9. Saffronization of Text Books: Since 1977 with the major change in the political power struc-
ture, the government in power as part of their policy has been intervening and realigning few
facts and events in writing NCERT textbooks, especially History books. In 1999 once again
NCERT History textbooks were re-written and alleged to be saffronized. In 2004, the change
in government ordered for the removal of such pieces of information or snippets that deliber-
ately favoured the then ruling government. For example, when one religion or its leader is glo-
rified against another, it would sow the seeds of communalism within the minds of children.
10. Lack of Tolerance: Lack of tolerance among people has become great problem for In-
dian secularism. Politicians also take advantage of this by inoculating more of intolerance
and encouraging them to remain divided and fight.
11. Social Inequalities: Serious social inequalities like poverty, regional imbalances, unem-
ployment has also threatened the growth of secularism.
12. Practice of Pseudo-secularism: Implementing secularism in an indifferent manner or
pretending themselves as the champion of secularism may explain the pseudo-secularism.
For example, the lack of political will to implement the Uniform Civil Code.

STEPS TAKEN TO PROMOTE SECULARISM

1. Abolition of separate electorates and introduction of universal adult franchise (Article
326) immediately after the independence.
2. Establishing India as a secular State with many constitutional securities.
3. Creation of Ministry of Minority Affairs in 2006 as an offspring of the Ministry of Social
Justice and Empowerment.
4. National Integration Council (NIC) was formed in 1961 under the Chairmanship of Prime
Minister.
The council comprises a group of senior politicians and public figures, which may be re-
constituted and convened time to time to monitor the mushrooming of communalism
and other issues so that they can be avoided ab initio.
5. Prime Minister’s 15-point programme for minorities.
6. Sachar Committee was designated to find out the socio-economic conditions of Muslims
(2005–2006) and Ranganath Misra Commission was set to ascertain the status of Religious
and Linguistic Minorities (2004–2007).
 Chapter 9 • Secularism 199

7. National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC) was formed in

1994 to promote economic activities among the backward sections of notified minorities
by providing them financial aids with discounts for self-employment activities.
8. The government launched the Multi-sectoral Development Programme which aims to
enhance the the socio-economic conditions of minorities. It also provides basic ameni-
ties for improving their quality of life and reduces imbalances in the identified minority
concentration.
9. Beginning of welfare schemes like Nai Udaan, Nai Roshni (leadership development among
minority women), Seekho aur Kamao (Learn and Earn).
10. Skill development-cum-employment programmes like Udaan and Himayat to accommo-
date Jammu and Kashmir youth into mainstream development of India were started.
11. Regularization and computerization of Waqf Board.
12. Introduction of value and moral education along with regular curriculum.

UNIFORM CIVIL CODE (UCC) FOR INDIA—ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

(a) Its relevance to India:
India is a miniature of the world which means that India is a multireligious, multicultural,
multilinguistic and multiethnic society. It is important to satisfy each and every citizen of
the country and bringing equality among them all. Here, the criminal laws are applicable
to everyone equally but not the civil law because of religious uniqueness of the country.
Recently, the codification of personal laws has attracted the attention of many in India.
The discussion on whether to bring Uniform Civil Code or not is not something new, it
began since the formation of Constituent Assembly. In Constituent assembly, the question
of Uniform Civil Code had sharply divided the members on the communal lines where the
leaders from major religious community insisted for its enactment but, vehemently opposed
the leaders from few minority communities. Visionaries like Dr B.R. Ambedkar opined in
favour of State’s interference in personal laws. Finally, after hours of debate, it was decided
to keep the Uniform Civil Code under Article 44 of the Directive Principles of State Policy.
Indian government plays a major role in protecting certain vulnerable sections of society
such as women, religious minorities, etc., with its interventionist role in social connotation
while enforcing the principle of equality in political connotation. Hence, it is in ardent
need in bringing the Uniform Civil Code.
The following reasons are in support of India’s need for Uniform Civil Code:
•• Firstly, India is a secular republic that demands a common law for all its citizens rather
than differentiated set of laws based on religious customs and sentiments.
•• Secondly, the UCC will bring gender justice. The rights of women are codified and re-
stricted through religious laws. And, gender inequality has been considered as a norm in
both Hinduism and Islamism.
•• Thirdly, it will integrate the nation as a whole and will impart the collective consciousness
among the public, as everyone will be under the same law.
•• Fourthly, it will help in reducing the vote bank politics as everybody will be brought under
the one law for personal matters and criminal matters.
•• Lastly, it is evident that Indian Constitution makers had a vision of establishing egalitarian
since it is enshrined in Article 44 of the Indian Constitution. So, it is important to bring
Uniform Civil Code in India.
200 Indian Society for Civil Services

(b) Constitutional provisions related to Uniform Civil Code:

Article 44 of the Constitution of India: Uniform Civil Code for the citizens: The State
shall endeavour to secure for its citizens a UCC throughout the territory of India.
(c) Government steps to bring Uniform Civil Code:
It is for the first time, the present ruling government (2016) asked the Law Commission to
examine the feasibility of implementing the Uniform Civil Code in India. The Law Minis-
ter said that, ‘as far as national integration is concerned, this (uniform civil code) is one of
the aspects that we have to take care off’. But it cannot be implemented so soon because
of so many customs, rituals, and sentiments attached to this issue. In the recent consulta-
tion paper on ‘Reforms in Family Law’ submitted by Law Commission Chairman Jus-
tice B. S. Chauhan to the Law Ministry, stated ‘This commission has dealt with laws that
are discriminatory rather than providing a UCC which is neither necessary nor desirable
at this stage. Most countries are now moving towards recognition of difference, and the
mere existence of difference does not imply discrimination, but is indicative of a robust
democracy’.

(d) Cases related to Uniform Civil Code in India:

(i) Mohd. Ahmed Khan versus Shah Bano Begum (1985)
It is a case related to providing alimony under the Section 125 of Code of Criminal
Procedure (CrPC). Shah Bano Begum was a 62-year old and mother of five, filed the
case after she was given triple talaq by her husband. The Supreme Court of India in-
terpreted the law in favour of the woman under Section 125 and said Muslim women
have the right to receive alimony from the husband. However, after the Muslim poli-
ticians mounted a campaign for the verdict’s nullification, the Indian Parliament re-
versed the judgment.
The then Chief Justice of India Y. V. Chandrachud observed that, ‘A common civil
code will help the cause of national integration by removing disparate loyalties to law
which have conflicting ideologies’
After the judgment, the nationwide discussion and agitation brought the Rajiv Gan-
dhi government under pressure of the Muslim community and hence brought in an
act to exempt Muslim women from the purview of Section 125 of the CrPC. Thus,
the new law, The Muslim Women (Right to Protection on Divorce) Act, 1986 was
brought into curtail the right of a Muslim woman for maintenance.
(ii) Sarla Mudgal versus Union of India (1995)
This case is related to the legitimization of Hindu man’s second marriage by convert-
ing himself to Islam. The court held that it is an offence under Section 494 of IPC.
Justice Kuldip Singh said that Article 44 is laying in cold storage for very long and rul-
ers of the day are not in mood to retrieve it. He also raised the question that if 80 per
cent of Indian are brought into a codified personal law, then what is the hindrance for
GoI to bring remaining under one common civil law?
(iii) John Vallamattom versus Union of India (2003)
In this case, John Vallamattom, a Christian priest challenged the validity of Section
118(7) of the Indian Succession Act, 1925. He argued that the Act placed an unrea-
sonable restriction on the Christian’s right to give a donation of property for chari-
table and religious purposes at will. The court struck down the section stating that it is
violative of Article 14 of the constitution.
 Chapter 9 • Secularism 201

The Chief Justice Khare regrets that the government of India is yet to take steps to
bring Uniform Civil Code in India. He expressed that ‘a common civil code will help
the cause of national integration by removing the contradictions based on ideologies.’
These are the three important instances where the Supreme Court of India assertively
supported for Uniform Civil Code.
Later in 2015, the Supreme Court refused to direct the government to bring in UCC
for all citizens in India as it said it is the job of Parliament to makes laws.
(e) Uniform Civil Code and Rights issue:
The personal law covers marriage, divorce, succession, adoption, and maintenance. It is
discriminatory in nature which put women generally in a biased position. The former
Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee said that there will be a new code com-
prising all best elements of personal laws and it will bring gender equality. Further, the
validity of a marriage will also be ensured as all marriages should be registered when
UCC was implemented. In the grounds of inheritance, daughters will get an equal share
as of the son. Once UCC is introduced, women in all religions will enjoy equality. Now
a Muslim woman is not on par with a Hindu woman as far as Right to Equality is con-
cerned. Thus, introducing Uniform Civil Code will bring women at par with men, at
least lawfully.
(f) The reason why some section is against it:
1. To adhere to one’s own personal laws is one of the fundamental rights. People from
different religion fears that if UCC has been implemented, it would rob their very fun-
damental right, right to freedom of religion.
2. The personal law is a way of life, hence any interference to it would change their way of
life which they are following from generation to generation.
3. Anxiousness, fear, and insecurity in the minds of minority as if it would end in depriv-
ing their religious identity.
3. The problem with codification as a key obstacle for the implementation of Uniform
Civil Code.
4. The prevalence of traditional values and strong mindset among the large section of
citizens.

SUGGESTIONS TO IMPROVE SECULAR CREDENTIALS

To preserve the multireligious nature of India and protect the overall interest of citizens who
are rooted religiously, following suggestions may be applicable to strengthen the secular fabric
of the country.
1. Put an end to communal politics and popularize principle based secular politics.
2. Implementing the Uniform Civil Code by getting concurrence from the people across the
various religious sects.
3. Discard pseudo-secularism and avoid cajoling the people.
4. Harbouring on religious harmony and universal brotherhood by spreading the thoughts of
great leaders.
5. Frame policies and programmes in reference with Sachar Committee findings.
6. Consider the following suggestions of Ranganath Misra Commission report:
•• Ten per cent reservation for Muslims and 5 per cent for other minorities in government
jobs and seats in educational institutions.
202 Indian Society for Civil Services

•• Allot 8.4 per cent of 27 per cent existing OBC reservation to minorities.
•• SC reservation to Dalits.
7. Accepting the recommendations of Venkatachaliah who headed the National Commis-
sion to review the working of constitution:
•• Establishment of Interfaith Commission for interreligious harmony and social
solidarity.
•• Article 25 should be amended to separate Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism from
Hinduism.
8. Periodical convention of the National Integration Council with the true spirit of
secularism.
9. Recalibrate the contradictions in the constitutions and ensure conformity between various
statutes and laws in the light of secular ethos.
10. Consider the suggestions of Second ARC (fourth report—Ethics in Governance, fifth re-
port—Public Order) to offer secular governance and handle communal clashes effectively
and promptly.
11. Perhaps one way of preventing religious bias is to work together for mutual under-
standing. Education is a means to effect change in the mindset of people. Individual
examples of sharing and mutual help could reduce prejudice and suspicion between
communities.
12. Learning more about other religions is the first step towards learning to respect and accept
other people and their beliefs.

CONCLUSION: SECURING SECULARISM IN SECULAR WAY

The history of civilizations came across many painful experiences because of the persistent com-
munal problems that existed in each society. However, that us to realize the indispensable nature
of the secular ideals in overcoming these religious anomalies. Secularism is crucial to restrain the
authority of the majority religions and essential to restrict the use of political clout on the basis
of religion. It is also helpful in safeguarding the freedom of individuals (i.e., to exit from their
religion, embrace another religion or have the freedom to interpret religious teachings).
The kind of politics and governance run by the religious minorities across the world (mid-
dle-east) and in the neighboring states of Pakistan and Bangladesh (pathetic status of Shia Mus-
lims) and Myanmar (Rohingyas) affirms the necessity of secularism which keeps religion away
from politics. Secularism is pre-requisite for any country to discourage separatism. The history
of Indian civilization stands as a testimony to the unity among people of various religions. It
occurred elsewhere in the Ottoman Empire.
The Need of the hour is to ensure intrareligious and interreligious equality and freedom
(Sarva Dharma Sama Bhava) among the natives and accept the universality and plurality of reli-
gions (Ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti—Rig Veda). Furthermore, it is mandatory to ensure ade-
quate space for historically suppressed communities and minorities to enable them to effectively
participate in the economic development. The intervention of the State in religious matters is
necessary to reform the religion that should suit futuristic change among the people’s mindset
and worldview. However, this kind of reform must be in tandem with the ideals enshrined in
the constitution. If we succeeded as an absolute harmonious State, India will acquire a lot more
phrases of adulations like ‘Unity in Diversity’ and ‘Melting Pot’ of multiculturalism, ‘World in
Miniature’, etc.
 Chapter 9 • Secularism 203

PRACTICE QUESTIONS
1. Indian model of secularism is different from the western model of secularism in both
structure and spirit. Elucidate.
2. What are the challenges for India in being a secular state? Examine
3. Bring out the significant differences in the Gandhian and Nehruvian ideas on secularism.
Which one you think is best suited for India?
4. What is the constitutional intent as far as secularism is concerned? What does secularism
mean in the Indian context?
5. Indian secularism focusses on more than the religion-state separation. Explain.

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTION

1. How do the Indian debates on secularism differ from the debates in the West? (200 words)
2014
2. How the Indian concept of secularism different from the western model of secularism?
Discuss. (10 Marks) 2018
 Chapter 10
Social Empowerment

Learning Objectives
In this chapter, you will learn about:
• What is Social Empowerment?
• The Necessity of Social Empowerment
• Economic Empowerment Leading to Social Empowerment
• The Socially Disadvantaged Sections of the Society
• The Way Forward for Social Empowerment
M. Senthil Kumar
S. Rijesh
INTRODUCTION
The general vulnerable people’s role in economic development, in most countries of the world,
cannot be undermined. But their social, economic and political status is lower than that of other
sections of the society and they are subjected to the domination and repression of a particular
rs / Editors Name With CDand de facto
order for centuries Redeven
Bandtoday. They
Territory line
are customarily URL to confine
expected Pricethemselves
mQuest
and play only passive role. The decision-making capacity was tightened for centuries and with
the advent for ‘humanities and human rights’, their rights have improved. The concept of social
empowerment is much important here, which has potential to improve the lives of millions.
Empowerment is the expansion of assets and capabilities of poor people to participate in,
negotiate with, influence, control, and hold accountable institutions that affect their lives.

DEFINITION
Social empowerment is a continuous and ongoing process of developing a sense of autonomy
and self-confidence, and acting individually and collectively to change social relationships and
the institutions that exclude the socially disadvantaged section.
 Chapter 10 • Social Empowerment 205

Social Empowerment means to Create an enabling environment for the welfare and devel-
opment of the Socially Disadvantaged Groups by removing the still existing inequalities, dispar-
ities and other persisting problems besides providing easy and equal access to basic minimum
services.
Social empowerment = greater personal choices
Social Empowerment is the process of enhancing the capacity of socially disadvantaged
individuals or groups to make choices and to transform those choices into desired actions and
outcomes by overcoming the social restrictions, taboos and barriers. Central to this process are
actions which both build individual and collective assets, and improve the efficiency and fairness
of the organizations and institutions which govern the use of these assets.
Socially empowered people have freedom of choice and action beyond the social barriers.
They can take better decision that affects them because of freedom of choices.
However, perceptions of being empowered vary across time, culture and domains of a
person’s life:
•• A low-caste person feels empowered when he/she is given a fair hearing in a public meet-
ing, which is comprised of men and women from different social and economic group.
•• A woman from a conservative household feel empowered if she’s allowed to go out alone
without being escorted by male from her house.
•• A transgender feels empowered when she’s given an employment.

In essence, empowerment speaks to self-determined change. It implies providing an en-

abling environment within which socially disadvantaged people live and helping them build and
capitalize on their capabilities by way of making them accessible to various.

NECESSITY OF SOCIAL EMPOWERMENT

There are many challenges an individual faces in society. We need to tackle every challenge so
that we can live happily and sustainably. Innovative and revolutionary ideas are the result of
an empowered mind which takes time to develop. People can decide their correct choices only
when they are aware of their rights, choices and various mechanisms to achieve their desired
goals. This is possible only in a conducive social environment exists.
A good social environment is necessary for an individual to live happily in the society.
since, inequalities exist and persist in society, empowerment is necessary for up liftment of the
downtrodden sections of the population. Following are essential components of social empow-
erment process.
Reduce Poverty
One of the foremost objective of Social Empowerment is to reduce poverty. When people are
empowered, they tend to use their knowledge in right direction and for productive purposes
which not only helps in reducing individual poverty but in the long run help to reduce national
poverty as well.

Reduction in Unemployment
The process of social empowerment necessarily aims at either creating new employment op-
portunities or increasing the existing employment opportunities. This will help people below
poverty line to improve their standard of living and thus come out of vicious circle of poverty.
206 Indian Society for Civil Services

Overall Development of Society

The main advantage of empowerment is that there will be an overall development of the ­society.
Since empowerment is an all inclusive activity, it is set to bring about overall development of the
society, as hither to non participative sections of the people involve in productive activities.

Inclusion and Participation

Participation addresses the question of how they are included and the role they play once included.
Inclusion of poor people and other traditionally excluded groups in priority setting and decision
making is critical to ensure that limited public resources build on local knowledge and priorities,
and to build commitment to change. However, an effort to sustain inclusion and informed par-
ticipation usually requires changing the rules so as to create space for people to debate issues and
participate directly or indirectly in local and national priority setting, budget formation, and deliv-
ery of basic services. Participatory decision making is not always harmonious and priorities may
be contested, so conflict resolution mechanisms need to be in place to manage disagreements.

Economic Benefits
Economic empowerment is thought to allow poor people to think beyond immediate daily sur-
vival and to exercise greater control over both their resources and life choices. Economic em-
powerment can strengthen vulnerable groups participation in the decision-making process. For
example, microfinance programmes have been shown to bolster women’s influence within the
household and marketplace. The evidence also suggests that economic power is often easily
‘converted’ into increased social status or decision-making power.

Reduction in Domestic Violence

Social empowerment leads to decrease in social violence engineered against the deprived section
early. In one empowered socially, they know the rights they enjoy and the duties they serve.

Access to Information
Informed citizens are better equipped to take advantage of opportunities, access services, exer-
cise their rights, negotiate effectively, and hold state and non state actors accountable. Without
information that is relevant, timely, and presented in forms that can be understood, it is impos-
sible for poor people to take effective action. Information dissemination does not stop with the
written word, but also includes group discussions, poetry, storytelling, debates, street theater,
and soap operas—among other culturally appropriate forms—and uses a variety of media in-
cluding radio, television, and the Internet. Laws about rights to information and freedom of
the press, particularly local press in local languages, provide the enabling environment for the
emergence of informed citizen action. Timely access to information in local languages from
independent sources at the local level is particularly important, as more and more countries de-
volve authority to local government.

Accountability of Public Officials

Accountability refers to the ability to call public officials, private employers or service provid-
ers to account, requiring that they be answerable for their policies, actions and use of funds.
Widespread corruption, defined as the abuse of public office for private gain, hurts poor people
 Chapter 10 • Social Empowerment 207

the most because they are the least likely to have direct access to officials and the least able to
use connections to get services; they also have the fewest options to use private services as an
alternative.

Local Organizational Capacity

Local organizational capacity refers to the ability of people to work together, organize them-
selves, and mobilize resources to solve problems of common interest. Often outside the reach
of formal systems, poor people turn to each other for support and strength to solve their ev-
eryday problems. Poor people’s organizations are often informal, as in the case of a group of
women who lend each other money or rice. They may also be formal, with or without legal reg-
istration, as in the case of farmers’ groups or neighborhood clubs.

ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT LEADS TO SOCIAL EMPOWERMENT

Economic empowerment is thought to allow greater control over their resources and life
choices. The economic empowerment kindles people to think on long-term basis and beyond
immediate survival. It allows people to take wise decision in the matter of investment analyzing
the risk involved and maximize their income. It is evidently proven that economic empower-
ment leads to social empowerment by allowing the vulnerable section of society to think on
long-term basis and participation on decision-making process that not only improves the life
chances of the vulnerable sections but in the long run helps in over all well being of the people.
Hence, it is important to increase the capacity and capability of the vulnerable section of the
society to make them participate in main stream of the society. Their participation can be in-
creased by employment generation programme, Universal Basic Income and various other em-
ployment and income generating opportunities.

SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED SECTIONS OF THE SOCIETY

The socially disadvantaged sections are as follows:
a) Women h) Rural population
b) Scheduled castes i) Transgenders
c) Scheduled Tribes j) Senior citizens
d) Socially backward classes k) Disabled and Physically Challenged
e) Minorities l) People affected by various social crimes
f) Children m) People affected by Contagious Diseases
g) Youth

Women
Women empowerment has become a subject matter all around the world in the past few de-
cades. Many international organizations and agencies including United Nations emphasized
gender equality as an important issue to be achieved and practiced by all member countries. It
is understood that women cannot wait any further to claim their equality in social, economical
and political space. The essence of equality has very wide benefits which the whole nation can
enjoy. It is said that empowering women is not only morally important, but also economically
208 Indian Society for Civil Services

important for the country. Out of the total population in India, women constitute 48% of the
total population.
1. Problems Faced by Women in India: Though Indian society gives high respect for
women, but still there exists high inequality between both men and women. Women in
India face multiple problems starting from their birth till death. The following are some of
the most common the problem faced by women in India.
i. Patriarchal society and gender discrimination: The existence of patriarchal society
leads to gender discrimination which is an important reason for backwardness of women.
Patriarchal society means male-dominated society, and gender discrimination is when one
sex is given preferential concern over the others. Prevalence of patriarchy is the foremost
reason for many of the social evils like dowry, honour killing, domestic violence, iliteracy
of women to be present in Indian society.
ii. Dowry: Dowry is one of the most common problem persistent across all regions in
India. Dowry is defined as “when a man or his family, at the time of marriage or later,
gets any material benefits such as money, property, etc., from his wife or wife’s fam-
ily”. Here in India, dowry is seen as matter of prestige hence, at time it is voluntary and
many a times it is coercive. Even 57 years after the Dowry Prohibition Act came into
play, dowry-related deaths continue to dominate a substantial percentage of female ho-
micides in India. A study recently released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime (UNODC) revealed that ‘home’ is the most dangerous place for women. Data
collected between 1999 and 2016 by the NCRB shows a stable trend in the number of
dowry-related deaths in India. In fact, the same data suggests that close to 50 per cent
of female homicides in India are dowry-related.
iii. Violence at home and workplace: Women encounters violence both within the fam-
ily and outside the family in work place and in public places as well. It is said that
sometimes “women has no safe place in earth”. Women face violence within fam-
ily, like dowry-related crimes, verbal and physical abuse, marital rape, genital mutila-
tion, etc., majority of the violence are unreported and many women keep clam just to
save family name. These are called ­domestic violence. National Family Health Survey
(NFHS) data indicate that over 30% of Indian women have been physically, sexually
or emotionally abused by their husbands at some point in their lives. According to
the survey, 27 per cent of women have experienced physical violence since the age
15 in India. This experience of physical violence among women is more common in
rural areas than among women in urban areas. Domestic violence cases, where women
reported physical abuse in rural and urban areas, were at 29 per cent and 23 per cent,
respectively.
  Violence outside the family are sexual violence, such as rape, forced prostitution,
harassment in public places and offices, murder, kidnapping, etc. Because of high
awareness, women now-a-days at least report such incidents, but it is minuscule. In-
dia’s National crime Record bureau reported 338954 crimes against women –includ-
ing 38947 rapes –in 2016, the most recent government data available. That’s up from
309546 reported incidents of violence against women in 2013.
  The recent global and Indian #MeToo movement has revealed that many Indian
women have experienced sexual harassment or sexual assault at the workplace and yet
kept silent about it for years. We observe similar patterns among women who have
been abused by their husbands.
 Chapter 10 • Social Empowerment 209

iv. Poverty: The percentage of poverty is very high with women when compared with
men, because women have access to fewer resources in general. They are last to eat,
have least access to medical facilities and are usually pre occupied by routine unpaid
domestic tasks.
v. Unemployment: The Centre for Monitoring India Economy (CMIE), a private en-
terprise, in its household survey, called the Consumer Pyramids Household Survey
(CPHS), the sample size was 172,365 as compared to that of the official National Sam-
ple Survey Organisation (NSSO), which was 101,724. In both surveys, the sample se-
lection method has been broadly the same.
  India’s female labour participation rate is very low. Official statistics have always
shown that India’s female labour participation rate is low and falling. Researchers have
shown that this fall is because of rising household incomes that reduce the need for
women to join the labour force; increased enrolment in higher education by women
which delays their entry into the labour force, and cultural and security factors that
keep women away from the labour market in India. Further, it is evident that employers
are also biased against hiring women.
  The CPHS shows that the situation with respect to women’s participation in the la-
bour force is extremely poor — much poorer than what the official agencies tell us.
The entire brunt of demonetisation was borne by women. Their labour participation
fell sharply while that of men did not.
2. Constitutional Provisions for Protection and Empowerment of Women: The con-
stitution plays dual role as it ensures equality and also empowers states to positively dis-
criminate women in order to offset the disadvantage they have been facing from time
immemorial. The following are the articles related to women in India:
Articles 14, 15, 15(3), 16, 39(a), 39(b), 39(c) and 42 of the Constitution are of specific
importance in this regard.

Constitutional Provisions
1. Equality before law (Article 14)
2. The State not to discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste,
sex, place of birth or any of them (Article 15 (i))
3. The State to make any special provision in favour of women and children (Article 15 (3))
4. Equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment
to any office under the State (Article 16)
5. The State to direct its policy towards securing for men and women equally the right to an
adequate means of livelihood (Article 39(a)); and equal pay for equal work for both men
and women (Article 39(d))
6. To promote justice, based on equal opportunity and to provide free legal aid by suitable
legislation or in any other way to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not de-
nied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities (Article 39 A)
7. The State to make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for ma-
ternity relief (Article 42)
8. Not less than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to
the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by
direct election in every Panchayat to be reserved for women and such seats to be allotted
by rotation to different constituencies in a Panchayat (Article 243 D(3))
210 Indian Society for Civil Services

9. Not less than one-third of the total number of offices of Chairpersons in the Panchayats
at each level to be reserved for women (Article 243 D (4))
10. Not less than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging
to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to
be filled by direct election in every Municipality to be reserved for women and such
seats to be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Municipality (Article
243 T (3))
Various Criminal Legislations for Protection and Empowerment of Women
The Crimes under the Indian Penal Code (IPC):
1. Rape (Sec. 376 IPC)
2. Kidnapping & Abduction for specified purposes (Sec. 363 - 373 IPC)
3. Homicide for Dowry, Dowry Deaths or their attempts (Sec. 302/304-B IPC)
4. Torture - both mental and physical (Sec. 498-A IPC)
5. Molestation (Sec. 354 IPC)
6. Sexual Harassment (Sec. 509 IPC)
7. Importation of girls (up to 21 years of age) (Sec. 366-B IPC)
The Crimes under the Special & Local Laws:
1. Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956
2. Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961
3. Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986
4. Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987

Steps Taken by Government of India

First, the move to reserve one-third seats in the parliament for women could probably be the
bold and biggest step taken by the Government of India in the area of women empowerment.
The bill, if passed, would result in more than 180 seats in the lower house occupied by women
compared to less than 30 occupied currently. This might also produce a “Trickle down effect”
where even the state governments would pass a similar bill to reserve one-third seats for women
in the State Legislatures.
Second, “Swayamsidha” was introduced in 2001 to provide integrated social empower-
ment of women. It also helps them to establish self-help groups (SHGs). It provides women to
control resources for their development and empowerment.
Another initiative is a program called as STEP (Support to Training and Employment
Program for Women). The objective of this program is to empower women by providing sus-
tainable employment opportunities.
Further, Ministry of Women and child development’s National Mission for Empower-
ment of Women (NMEW) aims to achieve holistic empowerment of women through conver-
gence of schemes/programmes of different Ministries/Departments of Government of India
(GOI) as well as State Governments. Under the scheme women helpline, one-stop centre were
introduced.
Furthermore, National commission for women was started in 1992 to review the con-
stitutional and legal safeguard of women, recommend remedial measures, facilitate grievance
­redressal and advice government on policy matters.
Government of India has devised a new strategy to create an enabling environment, with-
out institutional and structural barriers so that participation of women in employment sector is
 Chapter 10 • Social Empowerment 211

increased with the objective to enhance the female labour force participation rate to at least 30
per cent by 2022–23.
At the all India level, women are confined mainly to the large, informal sector. It is esti-
mated that if women did as much formal work as men, India would experience an additional 1.4
per cent GDP growth. On average, 66 per cent of women’s work in India is unpaid, compared
to 12 per cent of men.
The government has taken some important initiatives to promote gender equality and wel-
fare. These include the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Campaign, the Maternity Benefit (Amend-
ment) Act, 2017, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, POSHAN Abhiyaan and the Pradhan
Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.
Apart from the above-mentioned, few other important aspects to be noted include:
•• Ensure gender sensitive thinking for legislation and policies keeping in view the challenges
faced by women.
•• Strengthen legal frameworks to eliminate discrimination against women and promote gen-
der equity.
•• Generate gender disaggregated data and rank states on key indicators.
•• Encourage women’s participation in industry and enterprise.
•• Improve asset ownership and economic security.
•• Create enabling conditions for women engaged in agriculture.
•• Enhance women’s skills and leveraging ability.
•• Ensure mobility, security and safety for all women.

Few Other Initiatives by the Government for Welfare of Women

Universalization of Women Helpline
The Scheme of Universalization of Women Helpline is being implemented since April, 2015,
intended to provide 24 hours emergency and non-emergency response to women affected by
violence through referral (linking with appropriate authority such as police,
One Stop Centre, hospital) and information about women related government schemes,
programmes across the country through a single uniform number (181).
Mahila Police Volunteers
The broad mandate of Mahila Police Volunteers (MPVs) is to report to authorities/police the
incidences of violence against women such as domestic violence, child marriage, dowry ha-
rassment and violence faced by women in public spaces. Haryana has become the first state to
operationalize the Mahila Police Volunteers Scheme. It was launched jointly by the Ministry of
Women and Child Development and Haryana government in 2016 for the districts of Karnal
and Mahendragarh in Haryana. Other states are expected to follow the same soon.
Panic Button on Mobile Phones
To provide emergency response to women in distress, MWCD had taken up the installation of
physical panic button on mobile phones. Under these rules, all new feature phones will have the
facility of panic button configured to the numeric key 5 or 9 and all smart phones will have it
configured to three times short pressing of the on-off button.
Training for Women Heads of Panchayats
Although 33 per cent posts of heads of Gram Panchayats have been reserved for women,
they are unable to exercise real authority for betterment of villages due to lack of training and
212 Indian Society for Civil Services

continued dominance/interference by their husbands, etc. In order to empower these women at

grass root level, WCD has initiated a massive programme to train over 2 lakh women heads of
Panchayats.
Engagement on Social Media
The ministry is active on social media platforms of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube with
followers numbering in lakhs. Social media is being used as a medium to spread awareness
among the general public on issues concerning women and children, aiding positive attitude
and behaviour change. This medium is also being leveraged to disseminate information on
the various schemes and programmes of the government so as to increase citizen engage-
ment. In line with the agenda of the government to use the power and reach of social media
to reach out to citizens, the ministry has started ‘#HelpMeWCD’ where women and children
can send in their grievances. The ministry is also running a grievance redressal cell which
registers and responds to direct complaints via email from women and children across the
country.

Schedule Caste
Scheduled castes are those castes/races in the country that suffer from extreme social, educa-
tional and economic backwardness arising out of age-old practice of untouchability and certain
others on account of lack of infrastructure facilities and geographical isolation, and who need
special consideration for safeguarding their interests and for their accelerated socio-economic
development. These communities were notified as Scheduled Castes as per provisions con-
tained in Clause 1 of Article 341 of the Constitution. The total population of Schedule caste is
approximately 16% to the total population of India.
(a) Problems Faced by Schedule Castes in India: The following are the problems faced by
schedule castes in the Indian society.
1. Social Problem: The concept of purity and pollution still exist in the Indian society.
Hindus still maintain social distance with schedule caste people. The SCs were d­ enied
many basic amenities, such as drinking water, entering temple, public transport, cem-
etery, etc. Many changes have been brought in, but, its hard reality that the social
­disabilities still prevails.
2. Human rights violation: The schedule caste’s human rights are violated now and then
by Hindus and other sections of the society. They were forced to do manual scaveng-
ing, working as bonded labourer, etc., which violated their basic human rights.
3. Economic Problems: Because of the various social disabilities, their economic pros-
perity has been hindered. Traditionally, they were used for menial jobs and deprived of
property which seriously hampered there development.
4. Low level of literacy: Traditionally, scheduled caste population were not given access
to educational institutions. They were discriminated in educational institution. Recent,
Rohith Vemula’s death can be cited as a befitting example in this aspect.
5. Religious issues: Many a times, schedule castes are denied entry into the temple as
they are still considered as untouchables. These disabilities are generally seen in rural
areas and mostly not seen in urban areas.
(b) Constitutional Provisions for the Protection and Empowerment of scheduled
castes: The safeguards provided to scheduled castes are grouped in the following broad
heads:
 Chapter 10 • Social Empowerment 213

1. Social Safeguards: The State to provide social safeguards to Scheduled Castes under
the articles 17, 23, 24 and 25(2)(b) of the Indian Constitution.
2. Economic Safeguards: Articles 23, 24 and 46 form part of the economic safeguards
for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
3. Educational and Cultural Safeguards: Articles 15(4) empowers the State to make
special provisions for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward
classes of citizens and for SCs.
4. Political Safeguards: Article 243D and 243T speaks about the reservation in rural and
urban local bodies. Article 330 and 332 speaks about reservation of seats for Schedule
Caste and Schedule Tribes in House of People and state Legislative assembly.
5. Service Safeguards: Article 16(4), 16(4A) and 335 are those article speaks about the ser-
vice related safeguards.
(c) Steps taken by Our Government:

National Commission for Scheduled Castes

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes is responsible for monitoring the safeguards
provided for Scheduled Castes and also to review issues concerning their welfare.
Educational Empowerment
•• Pre-Matric Scholarship
•• Pre-Matric Scholarship for SC Students
•• National Overseas Scholarship for SCs
•• Babu Jagjivan Ram Chhatrawas Yojana
The objective of the scheme is to provide hostel facilities to SC boys and girls studying in
middle schools, higher secondary schools, colleges and universities.
•• Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship for SC Students
The scheme provides financial assistance to Scheduled Caste students for pursuing re-
search studies leading to M. Phil, Ph.D., and equivalent research degree in universities,
research institutions and scientific institutions.

Special Central Assistance

Scheduled Castes Sub Plan
Special Central Assistance (SCA) to Scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SCSP) is a central sector
scheme, started in 1980, under which 100 per cent grant is given to the states/UTs, as an addi-
tive to their Scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SCSP). The main objective is to give a thrust to family-
oriented schemes of economic development of SCs below the poverty line.
Scheduled Castes Development Corporations
The Centrally Sponsored Scheme for participating in the equity share of the Scheduled Castes
Development Corporations (SCDCs) in the ratio of 49:51 (central/state) was introduced in
1979.
National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC)
The broad objective of NSFDC is to provide financial assistance in the form of concessional
loans to scheduled castes families, and skill-cum-entrepreneurial training to the youth of the
target group, living below double the poverty line for their economic development.
214 Indian Society for Civil Services

Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Castes

Government announced the setting up of a Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Castes in 2014.
This was to promote entrepreneurship among the Scheduled Castes and to provide conces-
sional finance to them.
Credit Enhancement Guarantee Scheme for Scheduled Castes
In 2014, the government announced that a sum of ` 200 crore will be allocated towards credit
enhancement facility for young and start-up entrepreneurs, belonging to scheduled castes, who
aspire to be part of neo-middle-class category with an objective to encourage entrepreneurship
in the lower strata of the society resulting in job creation.
National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation (NSKFDC)
NSKFDC is an apex corporation under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. The
target group of the corporation are ‘Scavengers’.
Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY)
PMAGY is a rural development programme launched by the Central government in India in the
financial year 2009–10 for the development of villages having a higher ratio (over 50 per cent)
of people belonging to the scheduled castes through convergence of central and state schemes
and allocating financial funding on a per village basis.
Stand-Up India Initiative
Stand-Up India Scheme facilitates bank loans between ` 10 lakh and ` 1 crore to at least one
Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) borrower and at least one woman borrower per
bank branch for setting up a greenfield enterprise. This enterprise may be in manufacturing,
services or the trading sector. In case of non-individual enterprises at least 51 per cent of the
shareholding and controlling stake should be held by either an SC/ST or woman entrepreneur.

Scheduled Tribes
Article 366 (25) of the Constitution of India refers to scheduled tribes as those communities,
who are scheduled in accordance with Article 342 of the Constitution. This Article says that only
those communities who have been declared as such by the President through an initial public
notification or through a subsequent amending Act of Parliament will be considered to be sched-
uled tribes. The schedule caste population is approximately 8% to the total population of India.
Identification of schedule tribes itself is a problem and the set of guidelines was first laid
down by the Lokur Committee, for a community to be identified as scheduled tribes are:
•• Indications of primitive traits
•• Distinctive culture
•• Shyness of contact with the community at large
•• Geographical isolation
•• Backwardness

(a) Problems Faced by Tribal People

1. Problems related to forest: The livelihood of the tribal community is based on forest.
They enjoyed their traditional rights of hunting, gathering, shifting cultivation but the
­advent of modern government, in the name of forest protection stopped the movement
 Chapter 10 • Social Empowerment 215

of STs in to the forest areas. Further, their lands were taken by various government
agencies and private sector for minuscule compensation.

2. Poverty and exploitation: The tribal population were exploited because of their
­innocence and they are pushed to spiral of poverty. They been living in forests from
time immemorial, but after the government’s restriction, many became bonded labour-
ers unemployed.

3. Education: They have been deprived of education mainly because of inaccessibility.
and the ­development of STs is seriously hampered because of illiteracy.

4. Economic status: Their economic status is in very serious trouble, and they are
­reduced to the state of poverty. This is because of denial of the traditional factors of
production, that is, land. Tribal people were also not skilled for other employment
avenues.

5. Technology: The tribes have low level of technology which is not suitable for the
modern day. For example, they are still practicing shifting cultivation which is not only
age old method but rather less productive as well.

6. Problem of assimilation: Now-a-days, the tribes are coming out of their traditional
forest area and are increasingly getting assimilated into non-tribal population by which
they are losing their tribal culture, social institution, language, etc.
(b) Constitutional Provisions for the Schedule Tribes of India

i. Definition:
1. Article 342 empowers the President to notify any community as scheduled tribe in
India.
ii. Educational, economic and public employment-related safeguards
1. Article 15: Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or
place of birth
2. Article 16: Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment
3. Article 19: Protection of certain rights regarding freedom of speech, etc.
4. Article 46: Promotion of educational and economic interests of scheduled castes,
scheduled tribes and other weaker sections
5. Article 335: Claims of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes to services and posts
iii. Political safeguards
1. Article 330: Reservation of seats for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in the
House of the People
2. Article 332: Reservation of seats for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in the
Legislative Assemblies of the States
3. Article 334: Reservation of seats and special representation to cease after 60 years
4. Article 243D: Reservation of seats (in Panchayats)
5. Article 243T: Reservation of seats
Agency for monitoring safeguards
338A: National Commission for Scheduled Tribes
(c) Government of India Steps for Schedule Tribes
Panchsheel: Nehru enunciated the policy of Panchsheel for tribal transformation, which
rested on the following five principles:
1. Avoid imposing the culture of the majority people on them and encouraging in every
way their (tribal) own traditional art and culture.
216 Indian Society for Civil Services

2. Respecting tribal rights on land and forest.

3. Training tribal leaders for administrative and developmental activities with the help of
some technical personnel from outside.
4. Avoiding over-administering of the tribal areas.
5. Judging results not on the basis of money spent but the quality of human character
evolved.
Reservation in the service: They are provided with concessions for their representation in ser-
vices. Those are, age limit exemption, reduction in standards of suitability and inclusion at least in
the lower category for purpose of promotion is otherwise than through qualifying examinations.
Administration of scheduled and tribal areas: “Scheduled Areas” have been declared in the
States of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, ­Himachal
Pradesh and Rajasthan. The scheme of administration of ’ Scheduled Areas under the Fifth
Schedule visualises a division of responsibility between the State and Union Governments.
Tribes’ Advisory Council: The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution provides for the setting
up a Tribes’ Advisory Council in each of the States having scheduled areas. The duty of these
Councils is to advise the Government on such matters concerning the welfare of scheduled
tribes and development of scheduled areas.
Commissioner for the Scheduled Castes and Tribes: Under Article 338 of Indian Consti-
tution, a Commissioner has been appointed by the President of India. The main duty of the
Commissioner is (i) to investigate all matters relating to the safeguards for Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes under the Constitution and (ii) to report the President on working of these
safeguards.
Tribal Research Institute: Tribal and Harijan Research Institutes was set up in MP, ­Odisha,
Bihar, West Bengal and Rajasthan. They study the tribal life style, art and customs for their pro-
tection and documentation.

Other Welfare Initiatives for Scheduled Tribes

National Commission for Scheduled Tribes
National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) was set-up with effect from 19th February
2004. The main duties of the commission are to investigate and monitor all matters relating to
the safeguards provided for the scheduled tribes and to evaluate the working of such safeguards;
and to inquire into specific complaints with respect to the deprivation of rights and safeguards
of the scheduled tribes.
Tribal Sub Plan
The present Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) strategy was initially developed by an Expert Committee set-
up by the Ministry of Education and Social Welfare in 1972 for rapid socio-economic develop-
ment of tribal people and was adopted for the first time in the Fifth Five Year Plan.

National Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation

Special Schemes
Adivasi Mahila Sashaktikaran Yojana (AMSY) is an exclusive scheme for the economic develop-
ment of ST women, at a highly concessional rate of interest.
 Chapter 10 • Social Empowerment 217

Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited

Recognition of Forest Rights of STs
The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights)
Act, 2006 seeks to recognize and vest the forest rights and occupation in forest land in forest
dwelling scheduled tribes and other traditional forest dwellers.

Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana

The Central government launched an approach, namely, ‘Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana’ (VKY)
with a view to translate the available resource into overall development of tribal population with
an outcome-based orientation.

SOCIALLY BACKWARD CLASS

The “Other Backward classes” is the term used to identify a section of the society which is
­socially and educationally disadvantageous. Article 340 states that the President may by ­order
appoint a commission to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward
classes within the territory of India. The backward class contributes approximately 45% of the
total population in India.
(a) Problems Faced by Them: There is definitional problem for backward class, and hence
the problems are very complicated.
1. Poverty: The incidence of the poverty is intermediate, between SC/STs and other
classes. The historical grievances lead to the landlessness, indebtedness, etc., which
­increased the problem of poverty.
2. Education: The OBCs are generally denied of education because of their social posi-
tion. The incidence of the uneducated OBCs is decreasing because of right to educa-
tion being included as one of the fundamental rights under Article 21(A) by the 86th
Constitutional Amendment Act.
3. Health Indicators: Few sections of the OBCs lives in unhealthy and unhygienic con-
ditions because of their poverty. Since they are not economically well off, they cannot
maintain nutritious food which is required.
4. Unemployment: The incidence of unemployment is significant in OBC because of
their poor educational attainment and poverty. They get locked in vicious cycle, which
develop a sub-culture of poverty.
5. Asset ownership: They lack ownership of agri-land and other asset which leads to the
economic problem for OBCs.
(b) Constitutional Provision:
Article 14: Equality before law and equally protection of law is applicable to every section
of the society.
Article 15(4): It is to make special provision for the advancement of any socially and
educated backward classes of the citizen.
Article 16(4): This article speaks about the reservation for appointments or post in fa-
vour of any backward class.
Article 340: President may appoint a commission to investigate the condition of the
backward class in India.
Article 38(1): State should strive to promote the welfare of the people
218 Indian Society for Civil Services

(c) Government of India Steps to Improve OBC:

Reservation: The 2nd Backward Classes Commission, known as the Mandal Commis-
sion, constituted under Article 340, submitted its Report and by 1990, government ac-
cepted 27% reservation in central Government posts. By Central Educational Institutions
(Reservation in Admissions) Act in 2007, 27% reservation in Central Educational Institu-
tions were given to OBCs.
Scholarship Scheme: Pre-matric and post-matric scholarship for OBC students for
studying in India. The pre-matric scholarship for OBC students is given when the parent’s
income from all sources does not exceed ` 44,500 per annum. Post-matric scholarship is
given for higher education which is 100% centrally sponsored scheme. Construction of
hostel for OBC boys and girls is revised in 2010.
Assistance to Voluntary Organizations for Welfare of OBCs: The main purpose of
this scheme of grants-in-aid to voluntary organizations is to involve the civil society and
non-Government sector for improving the socioeconomic conditions of OBCs, through
skill upgradation in various trades, to enable them, to start income generating activities on
their own and get gainfully employed.
Scheme under National Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation
(NBCFDC): The NBCFDC was set up in the year 1992, as a Company, “not for profit”
under Section 25 of the Companies Act 1956 under the aegis of the Ministry of Social
Justice and Empowerment, GOI. The main objective of the Corporation is to provide
concessional financial assistance to the members of the Backward Classes for their so-
cioeconomic development and to upgrade the technological and entrepreneurial skills of
the individuals or groups belonging to the Backward Classes through State Channelising
Agencies (SCAs) nominated by respective State Government/UT.
National Commission for socially and educationally backward classes: Recently,
the Cabinet approved for setting up of national commission for socially and education-
ally backward classes as a constitutional body, inserting an Article – 338B. It will re-
place the national commission for backward class. The new body will have a chairman,
vice-chairmen and three other members and it cares for provisions relating to backward
class.

MINORITIES
India is generally considered as a miniature of world, because of its diversity. India is the land of
multiple languages and multiple religions, and it is a good example of pluralistic society. Government
of India recognised six different religious minorities. Those are Muslims (11%), Christians (2.32%),
Jains (0.41%), Sikhs (2%), Buddhists (0.77%) and Zoroastrians. The majority of these belong to
Hindus (82%). The Indian constitution gave equal rights to all people who are citizen of India.
By virtue of their numerical strength, the Hindus constitute the majority while the rest of
the religious communities come under what is known as “religious minorities.”
(a) Some of the Problems of Minorities in India: In spite of the various provisions, reli-
gious minorities in India often experience some problems amongst which the following
may be noted:
1. Problems of providing protection: Need for security and protection is very often felt
by the minorities. Especially in times of communal violence, caste conflicts, observance
 Chapter 10 • Social Empowerment 219

of festivals and religious functions on a mass scale, minority groups often seek police
protection. Government in power also finds it difficult to provide such a protection to
all the members of the minorities. It is highly expensive also. State governments which
fail to provide such protection are always criticised.
2. Problem of communal tensions and riots: The minority interest is under stake when-
ever a communal riots and tension occurs. The number of social unrest also started to
increase post 1960s. Hence, combined with magnitude and frequency of communal
riots, the minority are losing the confidence over the system and it is highly tough for
government to restore the confidence on them
3. Problem of lack of representation in civil service and politics: The equality and
equal opportunities to all its citizens including the religious minorities is given in In-
dia constitution, the biggest minority community, that is, Muslims, have not availed
themselves of these facilities of basic human cause. There is a feeling among them
that they are neglected and their representation in higher government services is very
minuscule.
4. Problem of separatism: Many of the demands put forward by some religious com-
munities in some areas are not acceptable to others. This has widened the gap between
them and others (e.g., the separatist tendency present among some Muslim extremists
in Kashmir and their demand for the establishment of Independent Kashmir is not ac-
ceptable to others).
5. Failure to stick to secularism: India has declared itself as a “secular” country. The
very spirit of our Constitution is secular. All political parties in India claim to be secular
but in practice, none follows it. In India, the political parties play a major role in politi-
cising a religious issue for vote bank.
6. Problem relating to the introduction of a common civil code: The introduction
of a common civil code is not introduced in India because of problem of majority and
minority and in response to protecting the rights of religious minority.

(b) Constitutional Provisions

The constitution of India under the Article 15 prohibits discrimination on the basic of
caste, class, colour, sex, religion in order to provide equal opportunity to all.
Article 25 promises the right to profess, propagate and practise religion. It is clear that
there is no legal bar on any religious community in India to make use of the opportunities
(educational, economic, etc.) extended to the people.
According to Article 29 of the Constitution, any group living within the jurisdiction
of India is entitled to preserve and promote its own language, script or literature and
culture.
Article 30 states that a minority group “whether based on religion or language shall
have the right to establish and administer educational institution of their choice.”
Article 30 (1) states all minorities whether based on religion or language shall have the
right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.

(c) In a short period of time, not only the ministry has been made fully functional but con-
certed efforts have been made to streamline the ongoing schemes and to launch innova-
tive and effective schemes/programmes for the welfare of minority communities. The
220 Indian Society for Civil Services

details/developments pertaining to scheme run by the ministry as well as its subordinate

organizations are asunder:

Scholarship Schemes for Minority Students
•• Pre-matric scholarship
•• Post-matric scholarship
•• Merit-cum-means scholarship

National Commission for Minorities

State Commission for Minorities
•• Thirteen State governments namely Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gov-
ernment of NCT of Delhi, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Raj-
asthan, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have set-up statutory commissions
for minorities. Manipur and Uttarakhand have set-up non-statutory commissions.
National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities
Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities
•• Constitutional Safeguards for Linguistic Minorities
•• Under the Constitution of India, certain safeguards have been granted to the religious
and linguistic minorities. Articles 29 and 30 of the Constitution seek to protect the in-
terests of minorities and recognize their right to conserve their distinct language, script
or culture and to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.

Central Waqf Council
•• A waqf is a permanent dedication of movable or immovable properties for purposes
recognized by the Muslim Law as religious, pious or charitable.

Dargah Khawaja Saheb Act, 1955
•• Under this Central Act, the administration, control and management of the Dargah en-
dowment has been vested in a representative committee known as the Dargah Commit-
tee appointed by the Central government.

Children
The history of childhood as a modern concept is embedded in the narrative of the modern,
welfare state, and childhood as a protected and prolonged period of life owes its recognition
to popular struggles for welfare waged by the working classes in the context of the sweeping
changes brought into their lives by the industrial revolution during the eighteenth and the nine-
teenth centuries.
(a) Problems Faced by Them
1. Mortality rate: The infant mortality rate (IMR) is when a newborn dies before 1 year
of age out of 1,000 live births. It is calculated in territorial basis. The IMR of the world
is 49.4% according to the United Nations.
IMR of India: Total: 40.5 deaths/1,000 live births
Male: 39.2 deaths/1,000 live births
Female: 41.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2016 est.)
IMR comprises of two parts: Neonatal mortality rate and post-neonatal mortality rate.
A neonatal mortality is defined as a death during the first 28 days of life (0–27 days).
 Chapter 10 • Social Empowerment 221

(No. of neo natal deaths/no. of live births) X 1,000

Neonatal mortality is declining globally. The worldwide neonatal mortality rate fell by
47% between 1990 and 2015 from 36 to 19 deaths per 1,000 live births.
The NMR is often broken down into early- and late-mortality rates.
Early: 0 to 7 days
Late: 8 to 27 days
2. Gender discrimination: Gender discrimination at each stage of the female life cycle
contributes to gender-based health disparities, including sex-selective abortions, neglect
in care of the female child and poor access to healthcare for girls. Female foeticide is
still a problem in India even in this modern age.
3. Child trafficking: Since children are vulnerable, the trafficking is comparatively easy.
The children are used as beggars, prostitutes and various illegal activities.
4. Child bonded labour: Child labour is again one of the biggest issues in India as they
are most obedient workers, no need to pay them, will not ask bonuses and would never
strike. They are majorly used for illegal businesses.
5. Poverty: Poverty is a vicious cycle and it affects the future generation also. Generally,
poor children cannot make it up to schools and hence suffer in poverty.
6. Malnutrition and diseases
7. Poor health and Sanitation
(b) Constitutional Provisions
•• Art 21(a): Right to live with human dignity.
•• Art 21(f): Right to health.
•• Art 21(o): Right against bonded labour.
•• Art 21 A: State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age
of 6 to 14 years in such a manner as the State may determine. Thus, this provision
makes only elementary education as a fundamental right and not higher or profes-
sional education.
•• Art 23: Prohibits traffic in human beings, beggar (forced labour) and other similar
forms of forced labour.
•• Art 24: Prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 years in any fac-
tory, mine or other hazardous activities like construction work or railway.
•• Art 41: Right to work, to education and to public assistance in certain cases.
•• Art 45: Provision for early childhood care and education to children below the age
of 6 years.
•• Art 46: Promotion of educational and economic interests of scheduled castes, sched-
uled tribes and other weaker sections.
•• Art 47: Duty of the State to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and
to improve public health.
(c) Government Initiatives
Integrated Child Development Services: Tackle malnutrition and health problems in
children below 6 years of age and their mothers
Janani Suraksha Yojana: One-time cash incentive to pregnant women for institutional/
home births through skilled assistance.
222 Indian Society for Civil Services

Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya: Educational facilities (residential schools) for girls
belonging to SC, ST, OBC, minority communities and families below the poverty line
(BPL) in educationally backward blocks.
Midday Meal Scheme: Lunch (free of cost) to school children on all working days.
Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP): Tuberculosis control
initiative.
Udisha: Training Program for ICDS workers.
The Mother and Child Tracking System (MCTS): The Mother and Child Tracking
System, launched in 2009, helps monitor the health care system to ensure that all mothers
and their children have access to a range of services, including pregnancy care, medical
care during delivery and immunizations. The system consists of a database of all preg-
nancies registered at health care facilities since 1 December 2009, and all births since 1
­December 2009.
Operation Smile-II and Operation Muskan: Rescue/rehabilitate the missing children.
National Child Labour Project Scheme: The National Child Labour Policy was
­approved by the Cabinet on 14th August 1987 during the Seventh Five Year Plan Period.
The policy was formulated with the basic objective of suitably rehabilitating the children
withdrawn from employment, thereby reducing the incidence of child labour in areas of
known concentration of child labour.

Few Other Child Welfare Schemes:

•• Mid-day Meal Scheme
•• Integrated Child Development Scheme
•• Integrated Child Protection Scheme
•• Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
•• Integrated Programme for Street Children
•• Kishori Shakti Yojana
•• Wheat Based Nutrition Programme (WBNP)
•• Nutrition Programme for Adolescent Girls (NPAG)
•• Rajiv Gandhi National Creche Scheme For the Children of Working Mothers
•• Balika Samriddhi Yojana (BSY)
•• Initiatives to combat trafficking of Women and Children
•• Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA)
•• Shishu Greha Scheme
•• CHILDLINE services
•• Reproductive and Child Health Programme
•• Scheme for Working Children in need of care and protection
•• National Child Labour Project

Youth
The youth represent the most dynamic and vibrant segment of the population. India is one of
the youngest nations in the world, with about 65 per cent of the population under 35 years of
age. The youth in the age group of 15-29 years comprise 27.5 per cent of the population. It is
estimated that by the year 2020, the population of India would have a median age of 28 years
 Chapter 10 • Social Empowerment 223

only. This ‘demographic dividend’ offers a great opportunity. In order to capture this demo-
graphic dividend, it is essential that the economy has the ability to support the increase in the
labour force and the youth have the appropriate education, skills, health awareness and other
enablers to productively contribute to the economy. The Government of India makes signifi-
cant investment on programmes for the youth, through various Ministries/Departments.
(a) Problems: Problems are sign that there is hope for innovation and a better tomorrow.
The pace at which world is changing is drastic. But the adaptation pace is comparatively
very slow. From education system to the way market works, people seem scared of letting
go of conventional and traditional ways of work. And between this tug war of traditional
and modern approach, the one who grinds the most is the youth. Today’s youth is a digi-
tal native directed by digital-immigrant.
•• Education: Today’s youth understand the importance of education and knowledge
capital, and hence they demand a better-quality education, skill development, industry-
oriented training, etc. Further, if India wants to utilize the demographic dividend for
national growth, employment for youth should be the first priority.
•• Unemployment: More than 30 per cent of Indian youth are unemployed and also not
involved in any education or training. With the saturation of the organized sector, find-
ing a job has become tough. This competitive environment makes people simply lock
jobs for financial security. They look at companies as income generators only and noth-
ing more.
•• Depression: Depression is a very common yet overlooked disease among youth. Glob-
ally 300 million plus people were suffering from depression as in the first quarter of
2017. And many may not even realize that they suffer due to lack of knowledge on
mental health. Although this number is only going up, no strong steps have been taken
to create a working atmosphere that allows an employee to remain happy and stress free.
This only adds on to the misery of the person, affecting his or her personal life as well.
•• ‘I am not doing what I love’: The Gallup Poll of 2017 is not very good to look at. What
can be drawn from it is, 85 per cent of the workforce hate their job. This cannot be blamed
on the employee. Big companies provide job security and passionate work provides fun
and satisfaction. Blend of both is hard to find. Well set corporate houses are loaded but
cannot keep their people engaged due to their rigid structure. On the other hand, start-ups
give enthusiastic minds a great environment but their pay is not very promising. All this
leads to unhappy workers which deteriorate the quality of work too.
•• Corruption: The youth of present generation is more disturbed with the persistent is-
sue of corruption. They need to shoulder the great responsibility to develop future In-
dia and hence, they fight against corruption in all quarters. They will need to fight for
rooting out corruption, for ensuring that no one is above the law and uniting the citi-
zens of India as “India first” instead of communal or geographic factions.
(b) Constitutional Provisions Relating to Youth: Indian constitution has certain provi-
sions relating to youth. They are Articles, 21A, 23(1), 24, 39 (a), 39 (f), 46, etc.
(c) Government Initiatives
1. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Kaushal Yojana (DDU-GKY): The Deen Dayal Upad-
hyay Gram Kaushal Yojana (DDU-GKY) is a placement-linked skill development pro-
gram for the rural youth. DDU-GKY funds a variety of skill training programs all over
the country that include over 250 trades such as retail, hospitality, health, construction,
automotive, leather, electrical, plumbing, gems and jewellery, to name a few.
224 Indian Society for Civil Services

2. Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-

NULM): The main aim of DAY-NULM mission is to curb poverty of the urban poor
households by providing them access to their skill-related employment opportunities in
an organized manner. A major objective of the scheme is to help people earn a sustain-
able livelihood through skilling and upskilling.
3. Director General of Training-Modular Employable Skills (DGT-MES): GOI
and the Ministry of Labour under Skill Development Initiative (SDI) launched Modu-
lar Employable Skills (MES). Under this scheme, training will be given on employable
skills to workers of unorganized sector and school drops out. The scheme has been in
operation since 2007 and statistics show that a large number of school dropouts do not
have access to skill development for improving their employability through various vo-
cational training and apprenticeship programs.
4 National Rural Livelihood Mission – Ajeevika skills: Aajeevika- National Rural
Livelihood Mission (NRLM) is an initiative launched by Ministry of Rural Develop-
ment (MoRD), GOI. The Aajeevika Skill Development Programme (ASDP) operates
under NRLM. Its aim is to understand the professional aspirations and interests of
youth and to also increase their daily income. This mission provides young people from
poor communities an opportunity to upgrade their skills and enter the skilled work
force of the country. Some key features of the scheme include, post-placement support,
food and transport during training and assured placement.
5. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY): Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas
Yojana (PMKVY) is a unique initiative by the GOI that aims to train about 2 crore In-
dian youths to be industry relevant, skill based and to prepare them for the global mar-
ket. Under this scheme, the trainees will also be given financial support and a certificate
on successful completion of training and assessment, which will help them in securing a
job for their better future. This scheme mainly focuses on the upbringing of youth and
to prepare them to face the challenges of the industrial world.
6 Sabla or Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls: Empower-
ing adolescent girls (Age) of 11–18 years with focus on out-of-school girls by improve-
ment in their nutritional and health status and upgrading various skills like home skills,
life skills and vocational skills. This scheme was merged with Nutrition Programme for
Adolescent Girls (NPAG) and Kishori Shakti Yojana (KSY).

Few other Schemes under the Ministry of Youth Affairs:

1. Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan
2. National Youth Corps
3. National Programme for Youth and Adolescent Development
4. National Young Leaders Programme
5. National Service Scheme
6. Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development
Rural Population
•• Majority of population in India still lives in rural areas and it is best example of “India
lives in village” said by Gandhi ji. Even though migration have happened lot of years, still
almost 65% population lives in village.
 Chapter 10 • Social Empowerment 225

•• Nearly 70% of the country’s population lives in rural areas where, for the first time since
independence, the overall growth rate of population has sharply declined, according to the
latest census.
•• Of the 121 crore Indians 68.4% of them live in rural areas and 31.16% of them live in
urban areas.
(a) Problems faced: The rural society is much backward in India because of long-term neg-
ligent from policy makers. It is so deep in nature. Hence, any action to overturn it is really
slow and time taking process.
1. Economic Factors
The problems concerning agriculture and allied sectors are as follows:
•• Natural catastrophes like drought, flood, etc.
•• Pest attacks
•• Monsoon failure
•• Unscientific use of fertilizers leading to Infertile soil
•• Soil degradation
•• Small and fragmented land-holdings
•• Lack of mechanization
•• Inadequate storage facilities
•• Credit Insurances for the failure of crops
•• Agricultural marketing
•• Poverty
•• Rural to urban migration

2. Social Factors
•• Illiteracy rate high
•• Inadequate infrastructure facilities like educational institutions
•• Unskilled labours
•• Gender gap
•• Taboo on women education
•• Prevalence of child marriage
•• Female foeticide
•• High unemployment
•• Prevalence of high caste inequality,

3. Health Factors
•• Malnutrition
•• High MMR and IMR
•• Poor health awareness
•• Poor sanitation
•• Negligible investments in health facilities

(b) Constitutional Provisions

•• Art 38: State to secure a social order for the promotion of welfare of the people.
•• Art 40: Organization of village panchayats
•• Art 41: Right to work, to education and to public assistance in certain cases
226 Indian Society for Civil Services

•• Art 42: Provision for just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief
•• Art 43: Living wage, etc., for workers
•• Art 43A: Participation of workers in management of industries
•• Art 43B: Promotion of co-operative societies
•• Art 45: Provision for early childhood care and education to children below the age of 6 years
•• Art 46: Promotion of educational and economic interests of scheduled castes, sched-
uled tribes and other weaker sections
•• Art 47: Duty of the State to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and to
improve public health
•• Art 48: Organization of agriculture and animal husbandry
•• Art 48A: Protection and improvement of environment and safeguarding of forests and
wildlife
•• 73rd and 74th amendment Act of 1992 to strengthen the grassroots levels.

(c) Government Initiatives

There are three important groups of programme. Those are wage employment, self-­
employment, food and social security.
Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana (JGSY): Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana (JGSY) is
the restructured, streamlined and comprehensive version of the erstwhile Jawahar Rozgar
Yojana (JRY). It was started on 1 April 1999. The main aim of this programme was de-
velopment of rural areas. Infrastructure like roads to connect the village to different area,
which made the village more accessible and also other social, educational (schools) and
infrastructure like hospitals.
The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY): It was launched by the Govt. of
India to provide connectivity to unconnected Habitations as part of a poverty reduction
strategy. Govt. of India is endeavouring to set high and uniform technical and manage-
ment standards and facilitating policy development and planning at State level in order to
ensure sustainable management of the rural roads network.
PM Gramin Aawas Yojana: The condition of the poor homes is so miserable and
hence GOI started the scheme in order to house for the poor. Pradhan Mantri Awas
­Yojana—Gramin will be implemented in rural areas across the country except Delhi and
­Chandigarh. Government to construct 1 crore pucca (permanent) houses for the rural
poor in the next 3 years. A total of 4 crore homes would be constructed under PMAY-G
in rural areas across the country by the year 2022.
Annapurna: This scheme was started by the government in 1999–2000 to provide food
to senior citizens who cannot take care of themselves and are not under the National Old
Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS), and who have no one to take care of them in their vil-
lage. This scheme would provide 10 kg of free food grains a month for the eligible senior
citizens. The allocation for this scheme in 2000–2001 was ` 100 crore. They mostly target
groups of “poorest of the poor” and “impoverished senior citizens”.
Integrated Rural Development Program (IRDP): By providing income-generated as-
sets to the poor in rural India, IRDP is ambitious in alleviating rural poverty. The main
objective of IRDP is to raise families of identified target group below poverty line by
creation of sustainable opportunities for self-employment in the rural sector. Assistance
is given in the form of subsidy by the government and term credit advanced by financial
 Chapter 10 • Social Empowerment 227

institutions (commercial banks, cooperatives and regional rural banks.) The program is
implemented in all blocks of the country as centrally sponsored scheme funded on 50:50
basis by the centre and the states.
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA): The NREGA bill notified in
2005 and came into force in 2006 and further modified it as the Mahatma Gandhi National
Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in Oct 2, 2009. This scheme guarantees 150
days of paid work to people in the rural areas. The scheme has proved to be a major boost
in Indian rural population’s income. The Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) is the nodal
Ministry for the implementation of NREGA. It is responsible for ensuring timely and ad-
equate resource support to the States and to the Central Council.

Transgender
Transgender refers to people who do not come under the exclusive biological distinction of
either men or women. The term transgender is different than transsexual in a narrow line. When
an individual accepts his or her changing external appearance and psychologically prefers to live
with that particular identity, then the person is called as transgender. While, people who prefer
to change from one sex to other either as a trans man or trans women through medical interven-
tion, then they are called as transsexuals. However, transsexuals are subset of the transgenders
since most of them are liked to address as such.
(a) Problems of the transgender in society: Though they are blessed to be born as a hu-
man being, more frequently they are being kept in the inhumane condition in the society.
The stigmas attached with those people by the society are not enabling them to stand up
in the society as a dignified one though they are striving to be. Although there has been
venues created by the law makers, they generally do not achieve the commendable posi-
tion they dream off.
1. Social stigma: Transgenders in Indian society have been considered as unwelcomed
and they are constantly being ignored in terms of benefits that others enjoy. They are
merely a victim in the society often prone to facing object social inequality. Moreover,
because of social taboo embraced upon them, they are even denied with the basic
fundamental rights enshrined in the Indian Constitution. We even came across lot of
­incidents that parents abandon their children when they come to know their biological
identity is different from the assigned sex.
2. Education: Though transgender children like to succeed in education, he or she often
end up with drop out due to his or her peer group harassment as well as unequal treat-
ment of the school management. In addition to that, they do not even get facilities like
basic sanitation arrangements. This creates problem in their growth physically as well
psychologically.
3. Economic disparity: Since they are denied with basic education due to unequal treat-
ment in schools and colleges, they are vulnerable to meet their own necessities. Their
livelihood became a question. Though there are very few who completed their educa-
tion till graduation or higher level, couldn’t get the job that meet their educational quali-
fication. As the last option, either they end up working in menial job or entering into a
social sex worker or even as a vagabond.
4. Health: Unemployment and illiteracy acts as a catalyst to deprive their mental and
physical health. The mental stress makes them more susceptible to non-communicable
228 Indian Society for Civil Services

diseases and they couldn’t afford to relieve from it through hospitals. Some medical
practitioner’s perceptions on those people make them to suffer and die even without
getting the necessary health treatment.
(b) Measures by Government of India: Thus unavailability, inaccessibility and unaffordability
of education, employment and health crippled them and made them as a disabled citizen.
It makes them to feel their presence as a burden on the society and motivates them to act
against the social norms at times. Therefore, to make them to be an able one, the attitude
of the society on the transgender must be changed. Before that, stringent and supportive
legislative intervention is needed to bring behavioural change among people. There are no
comprehensive legal measures of transgender. The following are few measures:
Firstly, Odisha government gave transgender people social welfare benefits, such as a
pension, housing and food grains which are usually allocated for only the most impover-
ished. This move by the Odisha government will bring the transgender community at par
with the people living in BPL.
Secondly, Tamil Nadu government is forerunner in providing benefits to transgenders.
It includes housing programme, free education for them in selected colleges and univer-
sity, etc. Tamil Nadu also got a first transgender sub-inspector in the country.
Further, Karnataka State Women Development Corporation has taken a decision to
give ` 20,000 as financial assistance with 50% subsidy to the transgenders to enable them
to take up income-generating activities as a grant with immediate effect.
Furthermore, Mr. Tiruchi Siva, MP of the Rajya Sabha (representing DMK party) fa-
cilitated in passing a private member bill relating to the rights of transgenders. It is a major
achievement by the Indian Parliament and Governmetn of India announced a new bill
relating to the same after passing the bill in the Rajya Sabha.
Finally, The Supreme Court of India, on its various judgments recognized transgenders
as the third gender. The Court ruled that fundamental rights are applicable to the third
gender also. Further, non-recognition of third gender in both criminal and civil statutes
such as those relating to marriage, adoption, divorce, etc., is discriminatory to the third
gender. Centre and State Governments have been directed to take proper measures to
provide medical care to transgender people in the hospitals and also provide them sepa-
rate public toilets and other facilities. Centre and State Governments have been asked to
provide the community various social welfare schemes and to treat the community as so-
cially and economically backward classes.

Reforms Needed to Improve Situation

Legal measures
1. Every person should have the right not only to decide their gender expression and identity
but should also have the right to freely express their gender identity. These individuals
may include transsexual, trans-genders, transvestites and hijras.
2. Measures should be taken to provide a special legal protection against this form of dis-
crimination which is very similar to the practice of untouchability.
3. One of the practical limitations of immoral trafficking act 1956 is that it’s used less for
preventing trafficking than for intimidating those for the most vulnerable, i.e., the indi-
vidual sex worker as opposed to brothel keepers or pimps. A clarity on legal provisions
relating to sex workers has to be formulated to protect their basic rights.
 Chapter 10 • Social Empowerment 229

4. Some of the basic civil rights like the right to get a passport, ration card, make a will, in-
herit property and adopt children must be available to all regardless of change in gender /
sex identities.
Other measures
1. A comprehensive sex education programme should be included as a part of school cur-
riculum in particular. This in the long run will provide for a liberal outlook with regard to
matters of sexuality including orientation, identity and behavior of the individual.
2. Vocational education providing for better livelihood options should be established for
giving the trans-genders new occupational opportunities.
3. The police at all levels should be sanitized through workshops and regular orientation
programmes to break down their social prejudices and to train them to express the same
courteous and humane treatment as they should towards the general public.
4. The press council of India and other regulatory institutions of various popular media (in-
cluding films, video, TV, social networking mediums) should necessarily issue guidelines
to ensure decent and respectful treatment of these issues.

People Affected by Diseases

(a) Major Problems

1. Communicable Disease:
HIV/AIDS: Sex workers, intravenous drug users are most vulnerable to AIDS. De-
••
spite the alarming growth of the epidemic, most women in India have very little
knowledge of AIDS, while studies report that the number of women affected by
HIV would rise in the future. Even among those who had heard of the disease, there
were many misconceptions about modes of transmission.
•• Tuberculosis: Each year more than 2.2 million people are affected by TB in India.
People working in unhygienic environment are more susceptible of getting TB eas-
ily. TB treatment and care in India is provided by the government’s Revised National
TB Control Programme (RNTCP) as well as through private sector health providers.
Indian yet to introduce bedaquiline full-fledged in India.
•• Leprosy: As a result of the introduction of multidrug therapy (MDT) in the national
disease control programme, 98 out of 122 countries have reached the goal of elimina-
tion of leprosy as a public health problem. However, the prevalence of leprosy in India
is still around 5/10,000 population. The new case detection rate has also not shown any
appreciable decline. Twenty four other endemic countries share a similar situation.
•• Malaria: The emergence of chloroquin resistance in P. falciparum and vector resis-
tance to commonly used insecticides are the main obstacles in the control of ma-
laria in the country. New technologies are being introduced for malaria control under
Enhanced Malaria Control Programme. The roll-back malaria programme has been
launched simultaneously in all malaria-endemic countries.
2. Non-communicable Disease:
•• Heart diseases: Heart disease is the number-one killer disease in both men and
women. Now researchers say India, a country with more than one billion people, will
likely account for 60% of heart disease patients worldwide. A study among Asian In-
dian men showed that half of all heart attacks in this population occur under the age
of 50 years and 25% under the age of 40. Although more men die of heart disease
230 Indian Society for Civil Services

than women, females tend to be under-diagnosed, often to the point that it is too late
to help them once the condition is discovered.
•• Cancer: Men are most vulnerable to skin, lung, prostate, colon and testicular can-
cers. Women mostly are affected by breast cancer and lung. It can be lowered by
adopting a healthy lifestyle. The indoor pollution, because of cooking using biomass,
has left women in India with lung cancer.
•• Lifestyle diseases rising: Andhra Pradesh appeared to be turning obese. Studies car-
ried out by the Union health ministry suggested that there was a 33 per cent increase
in obesity cases in the state. In the decade up to 2015, it was observed that there was a
33 per cent increase in obesity cases. The latest Lancet study—covering the 1990-2016
period—on the prevalence of obesity among the people of Gujarat above 20 years has
revealed a 149 per cent rise among men and 121.6 per cent rise among women.

(b) Constitutional Provisions:

•• ARTICLE 21: Right to life and personal liberty. Thus, the right to health has become
an implied right in this article
•• ARTICLE 23 (1): Prevention of trafficking and forced labour
•• ARTICLE 24: Prevention of child labour: No child below the age of 14 years of age is
allowed to work under hazardous conditions and in factories (or) mines
•• ARTICLE 39e: The State shall, in particular, direct its policy in such a way that the
health and strength of workers, men and women, and the tender age of children are
not abused and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter avocations
unsuited to their age or strength;
•• ARTICLE 42: Provision to secure the health of mother and infant by securing just and
humane conditions of work and for maternity relief
•• ARTICLE 47: Duty of the State to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of liv-
ing and to improve public health. State shall endeavour to bring about prohibition of
the consumption except for medicinal purposes of intoxicating drinks and of drugs
which are injurious to health
•• ARTICLE 48A: State shall endeavour to provide a pollution free environment for good
health
(c) Government Measures
•• Universal Immunization Programme: The National Policy of Immunization of
all children during the first year of life with DPT, OPV, BCG to complete the series
of primary vaccination before reaching the age of 1 year. The vaccination schedule is:
BCG (Bacillus Calmette Guerin) 1 dose at birth (up to 1 year if not given earlier); DPT
(Diphtheria, Pertussis and Tetanus Toxoid); Oral Polio Vaccine; Hepatitis B vaccine;
Measles vaccine; Tetanus Toxid; in addition, Japanese Encephalitis (JE vaccine) vaccine
was introduced in 112 endemic districts in campaign mode in phased manner from 2006
to 2010 and has now been incorporated under the Routine Immunization Programme.
•• Rashtiya Swasthiya Bima Yojana (RSBY): RSBY (Rashtriya Swasthiya Bima Yojana)
has been launched by Ministry of Labour and Employment, GOI to provide health
insurance coverage for Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. The objective of RSBY is
to provide protection to BPL households from financial liabilities arising out of health
shocks that involve hospitalization. Beneficiaries under RSBY are entitled to hospitaliza-
tion coverage up to ` 30,000/- for most of the diseases that require hospitalization.
 Chapter 10 • Social Empowerment 231

•• The New National Health Policy: The policy proposes to raise public health expen-
diture to 2.5% of the GDP in a time-bound manner with allocation of a major propor-
tion (two-thirds or more) of resources to primary care. The policy makes shift from
selective primary healthcare services to assured comprehensive primary healthcare with
two-way referrals, which include care for major non-communicable diseases (NCDs),
mental health, geriatric care, palliative care and rehabilitative care. It introduces use of
Electronic Health Records (EHR), use of digital tools for AYUSH services by AYUSH
practitioners, for traditional community level healthcare providers and for household
level preventive, promotive and curative practices.
•• DOTS: National TB treatment guidelines strongly recommend using a patient-centred
case management approach, including directly observed therapy (DOT), when treating
persons with active TB disease. DOT is especially critical for patients with drug-resis-
tant TB, HIV-infected patients and those on intermittent treatment regimens (i.e., 2 or
3 times weekly). DOT means that a trained health care worker or other designated indi-
vidual (excluding a family member) provides the prescribed TB drugs and watches the
patient swallow every dose.

SENIOR CITIZENS—OLD AGE POPULATION

(a) Major Problems
•• Failing Health: The aging process leads to failing health. The older people are sus-
ceptible to non-communicable diseases. Not good understanding about health, non-­
availability of sensitive doctors is reason for failing health. In addition, poor accessibility
and reach, lack of information and knowledge and/or high costs of disease manage-
ment make reasonable elder care beyond the reach of older persons, especially those
who are poor and disadvantaged.
•• Economic Insecurity: Senior citizens lack the opportunity/capacity to be as productive
as they were. Increasing competition from younger people, individual, family and societal
mind-sets, chronic malnutrition and slowing physical and mental faculties, limited access
to resources and lack of awareness of their rights and entitlements play significant roles
in reducing the ability of the elderly to remain financially productive
•• Isolation: Isolation, or a deep sense of loneliness, is a common complaint of many
­elderly is the feeling of being isolated. While there are a few who impose it on them-
selves, isolation is most often imposed purposefully or inadvertently by the families
and/or communities where the elderly live.
•• Neglect: A problem that occurs when a person is left uncared for and that is often
linked with isolation. Families and communities neglect elderly because of changing in
life style, changes in family structure from joint to nuclear family, etc.
•• Lack of Preparedness for Old Age: A large number of people enter “old age” with
little, or no, awareness of what this entails. While demographically, we acknowledge that
a person is considered to be old when (s)he attains the age of 60 years, there is no such
clear indicator available to the individual. Unfortunately, in India, there is almost no for-
mal awareness program—even at higher level institutions or organizations—for people
to prepare for old age. For the vast majority of people, old age sets in quietly, but sud-
denly, and few are prepared to deal with its issues.
232 Indian Society for Civil Services

(b) Constitutional Provisions

•• In the Constitution of India, entry 24 in list III of schedule VII deals with the Welfare
of Labour, including conditions of work, provident funds, liability for workmen’s com-
pensation, invalidity and old-age pension and maternity benefits.
•• Item No. 9 of the State List and item 20, 23 and 24 of Concurrent List relates to old age
pension, social security and social insurance and economic and social planning.
•• Article 41 of Directive Principles of State Policy has particular relevance to old-age
­social security. According to this Article, “the State shall, within the limits of its eco-
nomic capacity and development, make effective provision for securing the right to
work, to education and to public assistance in case of undeserved want”.
(c) Legal Protection
•• Section 20 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956, speaks about the main-
tenance of parents.
•• Even in Muslim person law, it is important to take care of their parents. The Hanafi law
of succession also speaks about taking care of parents by children.
(d) Government Measures
•• The Government of India approved the National Policy for Older Persons on January
13, 1999 in ­order to accelerate welfare measures and empowering the elderly in ways
beneficial for them. This policy included the following major steps: (i) Setting up of
a pension fund for ensuring security for those persons who have been serving in the
unorganized sector, (ii) Construction of old-age homes and day-care centres for every
3 to 4 districts, (iii) Establishment of resource centres and re-employment bureaus for
people above 60 years, (iv) Concessional rail/air fares for travel within and between cit-
ies, that is, 30% discount in train and 50% in Indian Airlines. (v) Enacting legislation for
ensuring compulsory geriatric care in all the public hospitals.
•• The ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has announced the setting up of a
­National Council for Older Person, called Age Well Foundation. It will seek opinion of
aged on measures to make life easier for them.
•• Attempts to sensitise school children to live and work with the elderly. Setting up of a
round the clock help line and discouraging social ostracism of the older persons are be-
ing taken up, settlement of pension, provident fund (PF), gratuity, etc., in order to save
the superannuated persons from any hardships. It also encourages to make the taxation
policies elder sensitive.
•• According to Sec. 88-B, 88-D and 88-DDB of Income Tax Act, there are discount in tax
for the elderly persons.
•• Former Prime Minister A.B. Bajpai was also launch “Annapurana Yojana” for the ben-
efit of aged persons. Under this yojana, unattended aged persons are being given 10 kg
of rice/wheat every month.

DISABLED SECTION OF POPULATION

(a) Major Problems
•• Isolation: The greatest challenge that disabled people have had to face has been soci-
ety’s misperception that they are not normal. Historically they have been pitied, ignored,
vilified, even hidden away in institutions.
 Chapter 10 • Social Empowerment 233

•• Discrimination: Disabled people have some abilities, needs and interests as the rest
of the populations. Nevertheless, discriminations continued to exist in certain impor-
tant areas. Some employers were reluctant to take on or promote disables people; some
landlords refused to give the land on rent to them; and courts sometimes deprived them
of basic rights, including custody of their children. In the recent decades, this situation
has undergone some positive changes through adjustments in legislation and public
attitudes.
•• Infrastructure: The problems related to design of the vehicles (high and incompat-
ible steps of vehicles from the platform level especially in public transports), public
and private buildings beings built without proper provisions of being disabled friendly.
Absence of disabled friendly toilets, stairs and other basic infrastructure in the public
buildings is still a major problem in India
•• Apathy: The approach to disability in India has been motivated by charity and viewed
as an individual issue. Even the Governments rely heavily on charitable NGOs to secure
basic rights like education, work, shelter and health for persons with disabilities. As a
consequence, the entire process of development bypassed people with disabilities.
•• Psychological Issues: The psychological effects of physical and mental disability
causes detrimental effect on the disabled children. At times these disabilities become the
reason of their frustration, anxiety and anger. Disables children at times become pessi-
mistic and start holding them incompetent in comparison to other children.
Few other challenges faced by disabled population in India
1. Inaccessibility: Most of the government buildings or private offices and other infra-
structure are inaccessible for disabling population.
2. Low Representation: The disabled person has a very low representative in fields like
government jobs, politics, economy, etc.
3. Barriers to Health Care: The lack of appropriate services for people with disabilities
is a significant barrier to health care. Affordability of health service and transportation
are two main reasons why people with disabilities do not receive needed health care.
4. The Education System is still not Inclusive: School buildings are not accessible.
Teachers are not well trained to help such students. Even the curriculum does not take
care of the disabled person.
5. Attitudinal Barriers: Attitudinal barriers which help in stigmatization and discrimina-
tion, deny people with disabilities their dignity and potential and are one of the greatest
obstacles to achieving equality of opportunity and social integration.
6. Inaccessible Communication: Inaccessible communication systems prevent access
to information and knowledge and opportunities to participate. Lack of services or
problems with service delivery also restricts the participation of people with disabilities.
7. Institutional Barriers: Institutional barriers include many laws, policies, strategies or
practices that discriminate against people with disabilities. Discrimination may not be
intended but systems can indirectly exclude people with disabilities by not taking their
needs into account.
8. Inadequate Data and Statistics: The lack of rigorous and comparable data and stat-
ics, combined with a lack of evidence on a programme that works, lack of planning,
often delay in understanding and actions on disability inclusion.
9. Poor Implementation: Poor implementation of policies and plans can prevent the
inclusion of people with disabilities.
234 Indian Society for Civil Services

(b) Constitutional Provisions

•• Article 14: It recognizes that all persons are equal before the law. Persons with disabili-
ties are entitled to this guarantee to not be discriminated against in any manner and to
be treated equally, which includes the requirement for special treatment where required.
•• Articles 15 and 16: It prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste,
sex, place of birth or any of them and guarantees equal opportunity in matters of public
employment. Articles 16 (3) and (4) provide that the State can make provision for the
reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which,
in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services. It is on the
basis of Article 16, that the guarantees to reservation and equal opportunity in public
employment are made under the People with Disabilities act.
•• Article 21: It guarantees the right to life to all persons, which has been interpreted by
the Supreme Court to include the right to live with dignity, the right to livelihood, and
the right to education. Article 21A guarantees the right to free and compulsory educa-
tion for all children between the ages of 6 and14 years.
•• Article 41: It enjoins that “The State shall, within the limits of its economic ca-
pacity and development make effective provision for securing the right to work, to
education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and
disablement”.
•• Under Article 253 of the Constitution read with item No. 13 of the Union List, the
GOI enacted “The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of
Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995”, in the effort to ensure equal opportunities for
­persons with disabilities and their full participation in nation-building.
(c) Legal Provisions
•• The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016: The important provision of the
bill is that the number of disabilities is been raised to 21 from earlier 7 and further, the
bill gives power to central government for adding further disabilities.
•• Reservation is increased from 3 to 4 per cent which will benefit the disabled hugely.
•• Reservation on job, educational institute and allotment on land are given preference
to disable people. For strengthening the Prime Minister’s Accessible India Campaign,
stress has been given to ensure accessibility in public buildings (both Government and
private) in a prescribed time-frame.
•• Speech and language disabilities, acid attack victims, dwarfism are added for the first
time.
•• Accessible to public building to full fill PM’s Accessible India Campaign.
•• Right to free education for children with disabilities from 6 to 18 years of age.
•• Special court to handle cases elated to violation of rights of person with disabilities in
each district.
(d) Government Measures
•• The Mental Health Act, 1987: This act was enacted to regulate admissions to psychi-
atric hospitals psychiatric nursing homes of mentally ill persons who do not have suf-
ficient understanding to seek treatment on a voluntary basis and to protect the rights of
such persons while being detained, to protect society from the presence of mentally ill
persons who have become or might become a danger or nuisance to others.
 Chapter 10 • Social Empowerment 235

•• The Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992: This act was passed to regulate the
man power development programmes in the field of education of persons with spe-
cial needs. The main objectives are to regulate the training policies and programmes in
the field of rehabilitation of people with disabilities, to standardize training courses for
rehabilitation professionals, to recognize institutions/universities running degree/di-
ploma/certificate courses in the field of rehabilitation of the disabled and to recognize
and equalize foreign degree/diploma/certificate course.
•• The National Policy on Education 1986: It is implemented to achieve the goal of
providing education to all including the disabled. The objective of this policy is to inte-
grate the physically and mentally handicapped with general community as equal partners
to prepare them for normal growth and to enable them to face life with courage and
confidence.
•• The Government of India launched the District Rehabilitation Centre Scheme in
the year 1995, to provide comprehensive rehabilitation services to the rural disabled
right at their doorsteps.

PEOPLE AFFECTED BY SOCIAL CRIMES

(a) Problems
•• Caste Based Crimes: In India, people of castes and several tribal groups continue to be
subjected to discrimination, economic and social exclusion and a stigmatized identity, simi-
lar to hate crimes in other parts of the world, these groups have been victims of crimes
and atrocities at the hands of the upper castes – largely on account of their low caste iden-
tity – in the form of rape of women, abuse by police personnel, harassment of lower caste
village council heads, illegal land encroachments, forced evictions and so on.
•• Crimes Against Tribals: The tribals were the recipients of severe social disabilities, slavery
and indignities. Bonded labour, debt trapping and violence of security forces are the crimes
unleashed over the tribes of India even to this day. Exploitation of the tribals by mining
companies and exploitation of the tribal resources are also taking place in a large scale.
•• Crime Against Women: Crimes against women in India, including rape, molestation
and abuse, etc. It is a subject still shrouded in shame and stigma in a country governed
by conventional patriarchy - which means women who have suffered sexual attacks still
hesitate to report it to the police for fear of retribution and social isolation.
•• Female Infanticide And Sex Selective Abortion: Female infanticide is a historic
problem in India’s highly patriarchal society, as daughters are often viewed as a burden
because of the continuing prevalence of the dowry system. Although the 2011 census
showed an increased parity in the country’s overall sex ratio, the child sex ratio was at
an all-time low of 914 females for every 1,000 males.
•• Sex Workers: It is a problem not only in India but exists throughout the world. The
people engaged in prostitution are compelled to do it because of various personal and
social problems such as bad company, socially destitute people, economic cause, etc.
•• Trafficking: It is one of the major businesses in the world and India is not exceptional.
The trafficking of women between India and Bangladesh is so high and India took
many measures to secure them. The people affected by trafficking become so vulnerable
for further trafficking, they become so arrogant and fear for everything. It is important
for us to hold them back and integrate into the society.
236 Indian Society for Civil Services

(b) Constitutional Provisions

•• ARTICLE 17: Untouchability is abolished and its practice in any form is forbidden. The
enforcement of any disability arising out of untouchability shall be an offence punish-
able in accordance with law.
•• ARTICLE 30: Article 30 which provides the right to minorities to establish and admin-
ister educational institutions, and various other statutes.
•• ARTICLE 341: Scheduled castes
•• ARTICLE 342: Scheduled tribes
•• ARTICLE 340: OBCs
•• The Constitution of India not only grants equality to women but also empowers the
State to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favour of women for neutraliz-
ing the cumulative socioeconomic, education and political disadvantages faced by them.
Fundamental rights, among others, ensure equality before the law and equal protection
of law; prohibits discrimination against any citizen on grounds of religion, race, caste,
sex or place of birth, and guarantee equality of opportunity to all citizens in matters
relating to employment. Articles 14, 15, 15(3), 16, 39(a), 39(b), 39(c) and 42 of the Con-
stitution are of specific importance in this regard.
•• ARTICLE 51(A) (e): To promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst
all the people of India and to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women.
•• The Constitution of India guaranteed to all the people of India the civil, political, eco-
nomic, social, and cultural rights for their realization by all sections of the polity without
any kind of discrimination. However, due to poverty, customary and cultural practices
prevailing in the country, there have not much opportunity offered to various groups
and certain sections are frequently subjected to social crimes. There are various disad-
vantaged groups of people such as women, children, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes,
linguistic minorities, religious minorities, sexual minorities, etc. In order to expand their
rights, the Constitution of India has provided a number of concessions to protect them
from exploitation by other groups.
(c) Legal Provisions
•• Section 357 of Code of criminal procedure award compensation by trail and further by
appellate courts. Subsection (1) empowers the courts to appropriate the whole or any
portion of fine recovered for the purpose mentioned in the clauses.
•• Subsection (3) empowers the court, in its discretion, to order the accuse to pay
compensation even though fine does not form part of compensation and hence
although inserted in 1973 added new positive dimension to Indian philosophy of
compensation.
•• Rape (Sec. 376 IPC).
•• Homicide for dowry, dowry deaths or their attempts (Sec. 302/304-B IPC).
•• Molestation (Sec. 354 IPC)
•• Sexual harassment (Sec. 509 IPC).

(d) Government Measures

•• The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,
1989: The term atrocity has not been defined in law. However, atrocity has been made
punishable under the Section 3 of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes (Prevention
of Atrocities) Act 1989. The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes (STs)
 Chapter 10 • Social Empowerment 237

Prevention of Atrocities (PoA) Act, 1989, was amended recently to include new of-
fences and to ensure speedy justice to victims. It includes rationalization of the phasing
of relief amount payment to victims for various offences of atrocities. The rules also
specify relief amount for various offences of atrocities. Provision of relief for offences
of rape and gang rape was also included. The amendments to the act also mandate
establishment of exclusive Special Courts and appointment of Exclusive Special Public
Prosecutors to try the offences under this act. This is made to enable speedy justice and
expeditious disposal of cases.
•• National Commission for Women: The Government set up this statutory body with
a specific mandate to study and monitor all matters relating to the constitutional and
legal safeguards provided for women, review the existing legislation to suggest amend-
ments wherever necessary, etc.
•• The National Plan of Action for the Girl Child (1991–2000): This plan was set up in
order to build better future for girl child through protection, survival and development.

WAY FORWARD
•• Education: Education is one such powerful tool to break all odds faced by socially vul-
nerable people, and it is a best available tool to empower them. Needed measures must be
taken to eliminate discrimination based on any factor, through universalization of educa-
tion. It is important to include sex education, a secular curriculum and art of intolerance
through schools and university syllabus which not only bring awareness but also help to
mobilize large section of people to voice for vulnerable section of the society.
•• Economic opportunities: GOI should provide livelihood opportunities for those
people identified as vulnerable. Because, the present society demand people to be eco-
nomically empowered to be socially empowered. Providing MGNREGS, various socially
security scheme, Universal Basic Income, National urban livelihood mission are such in-
terventionist strategies.
•• Increase social security scheme: It is indeed important for GOI to provide for social
­security such as pension scheme, insurance scheme, etc., in order to protect them from
any adverse situation. The pension should be concentrated not only to organized sector
employment but also to unorganized sector.
•• Psychological intervention: Another most important way to empower people is to build
the self-esteem and confidence on them. Government should start a specialized centres for
motivational lectures which will boost the confidence for downturned section of the society.

Financial Inclusion
The government has launched many flagship schemes to promote financial inclusion and pro-
vide financial security to empower the poor and unbanked in the country. These include the
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, Stand-Up India Scheme,
Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, and Atal Pen-
sion Yojana. In addition, the promotion of Aadhaar and direct benefit transfer schemes facili-
tate financial inclusion. Moreover, the following aspects have to be addressed for the success of
this scheme;
1. Launching a new scheme for comprehensive financial literacy.
238 Indian Society for Civil Services

2. Assess the performance of banking correspondents and give better incentives.

3. Facilitating growth of online and paperless banking.
4. Using technology to improve the assessment of credit worthiness for households and in-
formal businesses.
5. Leverage payment banks and other platforms to scale up payments systems in underserved
areas.
6. Overhaul the regulatory framework governing formal financial products to attract
households.

Skill Development
For harnessing the demographic advantage that it enjoys, India needs to build the capacity and
infrastructure for skilling/reskilling/up-skilling existing and new entrants to the labour force.
The goals to be met until 2022–23 are as follows:
1. Increase the proportion of formally skilled labour from the current 5.4 per cent of India’s
workforce to at least 15 per cent.
2. Ensure inclusivity and reduce divisions based on gender, location, organized/unorga-
nized, etc.
3. India’s skill development infrastructure should be brought on par with global standards
by developing internationally compliant National Occupation Standards (NOS) and the
Qualification Packs (QP) that define a job role.
4. Making all training compliant with the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF).
5. Anticipating future skill needs to adapt skill development courses.
6. Skill development should be made an integral part of the secondary school curriculum.

Governance
1. Citizen-centric framework: An inclusive policy framework with citizens at the centre
needs to be developed, apart from improving public access to information through the
use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the Right to Information
Act (RTI), the RTI’s management information system portal needs to be expanded to
cover more public authorities, especially subordinate offices of ministries and public sec-
tor units.
2. Institutionalized system for effective monitoring of suo moto disclosures: To bring
further transparency to public affairs and adopt safeguards to promote accountability, ef-
fective monitoring of suo moto disclosures is essential.
3. Enhance capability of public authorities: The capabilities and knowledge base of Cen-
tral Public Information Officers (CPIOs), Appellate Authorities (AAs) and information
commissions need to be upgraded on a continuous basis to enable them to perform their
assigned roles without external influence.
4. Protection of civil servants: Introduce an appropriate system of checks and balances, in-
cluding for the process of suspension, to ensure that officers are given their due process and
are not vulnerable to vested interests and political pressures.
5. Revisit Allocation of Business Rules (AoBR)/Transaction of Business Rules (ToBR):
Every ministry/department should review their AoBR/ToBR keeping in view present-day
requirements.
 Chapter 10 • Social Empowerment 239

CONCLUSION
To take forward the development of our country, all the stakeholders—women, SCs, tribals, and
need to participate. In this regard, the importance of social empowerment is far reaching. The
role of Ministry of Social Justice and empowerment along with the NGOs and corporate in
supplanting the Governmental efforts are crucial. “Social empowerment” enables the disadvan-
taged sections of the society to effectively participate in the decision making and enhances their
competency which in turn it will empower the society as a whole. In this endeavour, it has to be
accompanied by economic and political empowerment.

PRACTICE QUESTIONS
1. Explain the necessity of social empowerment in India. Discuss the various components
that constitute social empowerment.
2. Do you think social empowerment is the only solution to the existing problems like com-
munalism and regionalism in India. Express your opinion with suitable examples.
3. “Empowerment of women is not only morally righteous but also economically viable for
our nation”. With respect to the above statement, bring out various constitutional and
statutory provisions for women empowerment in India.
4. “The poverty percentage of India has reduced considerably due to empowerment of vari-
ous section of society”. With reference to the above statement, elucidate the necessity of
social empowerment in Indian Society.
5. Bring out the problems related to the following section of society in India.
a. Children
b. Scheduled tribes
c. Scheduled castes

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTION

1. Why are the tribals in India referred to as ‘the Scheduled Tribes’? Indicate the major provi-
sions enshrined in the Constitution of India for their upliftment. (10 Marks) 2016
2. What are the two major legal initiatives taken by the State since independence addressing
discrimination against Scheduled Tribes (STs)? (10 Marks) 2017
This page is intentionally left blank.
 Appendices

Appendix 1
Social Networking Sites and
Social Change
M. Senthil Kumar
The idea of ‘Social Networking’ has existed for several decades as a way for people to commu-
nicate in society and build relationships with each other. The web-based services which allow
S. Rijesh
individuals to construct a semi-public or public profile in a bounded system is termed as social
networking site. Social networking sites are popular because they enable users to articulate and
make visible their social networks. This results in connection between individuals who are far
off and unknown.

SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES AND SOCIETY

rs / Editors NameThe present
With character
CD ofRed Bandsociety isTerritory
Indian line because
in transition URLof the emergence
Price mQuest
of social
networking sites. These sites have brought enormous changes in interaction and social patterns.
The identity information included in public profiles enables interaction between people which is
not possible otherwise. Virtual world provides opportunities to the actors to interact in abstrac-
tion. Youth engage in various social activities through social networking sites and it is a crucial
part of the process of development of their self-identity. Social networking sites have many fea-
tures such as messaging, scraping, photo and video sharing. An important distinction between
social networking sites and other communication technologies is the articulated social network.
Most of the major networking sites have such forums in which members can go to discuss so-
cial issues. The Indian society too is slowly and steadily heading towards network societal struc-
ture due to the impact of globalization. Therefore, it becomes imperative to critically examine
the role of social networking sites in contemporary Indian society.
A.2 Appendices

Impact of Social Networking Sites on Indian Society

The technological advancement has given rise to network structure of society. Social networking
sites are an important element of network society. It has changed the way people think about
interactions. Identity formation has become very important in globalized era because people
have become social media savvy. Netizens engage in variety of activities on social networking
sites. Just a few decades ago it was tough to connect with people except through face-to-face
interaction. The rise of social networking sites connects people in new ways and enable them
to empathize with each other online. Moreover, the growth of social networking sites in Indian
society show a significant change in the social and personal behaviour of adolescents. Even
though these sites help adolescents to publicize their personal information, it also encourage
them to overstate various aspects of their lives. However, these positive aspects are not without
associated risks such as identity theft and cyber blackmailing. Other adverse effects on adoles-
cents are mood swings, attention deficits at school and addiction. Moreover, these sites serve as
a platform for the adolescents to engage in some deviant acts. People can hide their real identi-
ties on social networking sites and can play with emotions and feelings. They display their best
on these social networking sites creating a false sense of perfection.
It is quite evident that the educated youth of Indian society is as materialistic as their west-
ern counterparts. Owing to changes in values and beliefs, a distinction is made between a ‘found
identity’ and a ‘made identity’. In the past era, people changed their names or appearance if
they want to hide their found identity. But now, due to technological spurge, a new identity can
be created virtually. In India people are encircled in the found identity of caste, creed, religion,
gotra, etc., but virtual space now provides an opportunity to frame a made identity in which they
can mould their identity.
This extraordinary and revolutionary drift has brought changes in values of younger
generation who believe more in change and independence. Social networking sites have be-
come popular for discussing social issues. Social awareness through social networking sites has
brought more maturity, unity and thoughtfulness in Indian society.

SOCIAL CHANGE THROUGH SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

India is in a transitional phase of development with the spread of cyber culture, technology and
social networking sites. A new global culture i.e., a consumer culture, with a panorama of goods
and services, transnational fashions and cosmopolitan personal relationships has emerged. Peo-
ple redefine culture itself as a source of both individual and social identities, as computer net-
works circulate ideas, information and images throughout the world. As more and more citizens
gain access to broadband technologies in Indian society, an increasing number seeks social con-
nectivity through the net. Social networking sites enable families and friends to converse in a
way as if they are in the same place.
The public has reconceptualize the notion of a community after the introduction of so-
cial networking sites. These sites serve as platforms for political-social organization and are not
simply used for personal interests. They are not simple sources of entertainment but are vital
tools of communication and collaboration. For instance, the significant role of social media
in gang rape case in Delhi, the capital of India in December 2012 cannot be undermined. Face-
book reached out to millions to join the movement against culprits. It was a huge platform for
the Indian citizens to vent their outrage against the heinous crime. An online petition platform
 Appendices A.3

change.org received more than 65,000 signatures for an appeal seeking the intervention of Pres-
ident Pranab Mukherjee and Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir on the issue at that time.
A lot of web pages related to social issues like rape, murder, girl’s education, female foe-
ticide, corruption, etc., are created on various social networking sites. One such page is created
by name ‘India against Corruption’ which has earned a widespread popularity. Anna Hazare,
effectively used the social media to mobilize the youth and other segments of society, in his agi-
tation on the Jan Lokpal Bill. His effective use of social media not only made it more global, but
also garnered huge support in his campaign. Finally, in December 2013 Lokpal bill was enacted
and the role of social media cannot be undermined in this historic event. It indicates that social
networking sites are forces of integration for all the regions of the country including various
castes, groups, cultures and minority groups. In addition to common people, many bureaucrats,
politicians and social activists are making their mark on social media. Social networking sites
have brought changes in the thinking of Indian population who relied only on traditional media
for awareness.
Even corporate organizations have integrated social media with internal communication
to create a collaborative work environment. Social media savvy organizations in India conduct
campaigns on a regular basis where social media is the leading component. Companies use so-
cial media to frame strategies for new markets, address consumer grievances and communicate
directly with target groups. However, the darker side of social networking sites has emerged in
the form of cybercrimes. Cybercrimes have become prominent on social networking sites be-
cause of the simple fact that people reveal a lot about themselves on these sites.

CYBERCRIME THROUGH SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

Social networking sites are used for harassing, threatening or intrusive communication. It has
changed its form from traditional obscene, telephone calls to ‘Cyber-stalking’ where persistent
messages are sent to an unwilling recipient. Cyber criminals target social networking sites to
draw out personal details supplied by users. Personal information posted on the sites such as
name, data of birth, address, job details, email and phone numbers, all make its users vulnerable
to cyber criminals. Another danger emanating from social networking site is the popular quiz-
zes, horoscopes and games which are freely downloaded but may contain link to viral sites. Mes-
sages appear to come from friends on various occasions of Diwali, Holi, etc., when in fact they
are linked directly to sites that persuade victim to reveal personal information. Not only this,
traditional bullying in school is now replaced by cyber bullying on social networking sites. Cyber
victims suffer more because of the hidden identities of cyber bullies.
Apart from availability of internet at home, it is easily accessible on mobile phones at a
very cheaper price. One cannot keep an eye on what children are into on social networking sites.
Experts say child guidance is more important than child monitoring in case of social network-
ing. In addition, public concern has increased manifold over the danger that sexual predators
pose online. Other crimes done through social networking sites are cyber defamation and cyber
fraud. The secure feeling of being anonymous on social networking site encourages a person to
commit crime online that a normal person would not commit in the real world. It is evident that
social networking sites are not only attractive and popular among common man but is also the
target of cyber criminals.
A.4 Appendices

Appendix 2
Few other Government Initiatives
to Address the Issue of Poverty
1. DOUBLING FARMERS INCOME
With great optimism of an Income Revolution for India’s farmers, Government of India has
taken the initiative to double farmer income by 2022. There has been a lot of strategy put for-
ward but ‘NITI Aayog’s Strategy for New India @ 75’ was the most insightful document.
To increase income:
•• Increasing productivity and promoting exports
•• Modernize agriculture technology
•• Crop and occupation diversity
•• Maximizing integrated value addition
•• Encouraging private sector participation
•• Institutional mechanism

Constraints to achieve the income doubling:

•• The predominant causes are low irrigation, low quality seeds and knowledge deficit about
improved agricultural practices. Close to 53 per cent of cropped area is water stressed
•• There is very low adaptation of modern technology because of low agriculture research
and IPR. It is also coupled with inefficient use of land such as flood irrigation
•• Fragmented land holding
•• Issues with credit to agriculture area
•• Low market awareness
•• Connectivity constraints
•• Lack of basic infrastructure.

2. EMPLOYMENT AND LABOUR

To alleviate poverty, India must create a good labour market. The following are needed to be
done to achieve better labour market:
•• It is important to improve skills in labour for better employment.
•• It is important to function labour market information system which will act as a database.
•• Enhancing women participation in labour market at least to 30 per cent in next five years.
•• Labour reforms such as codification of labour laws, improve data collection.
•• Promotion of infrastructure.
 Appendices A.5

3. TECHNOLOGY INFUSION
Technology is part and parcel of our day-to-day life in the present generation. It’s role is ever
increasing in daily activity of a common human and technology has more uses than what we
think. By empowering and equipping the poor, technology can drastically change the face of
poverty. Modern technology can radically change the lives of the world’s poor by empower-
ing and equipping them as it is increasingly considered as an effective solution to alleviate
poverty.
The following are the areas where technology helps to empower the poor and reduce the
poverty:
•• Access to clean water with new and renewable power.
•• Research and development of new and modern agriculture techniques in order to pro-
mote productivity and resistance crop variety,
•• Improvement in education: ‘Operation Black Board to Operation Digital Board’.
•• Disaster management relief assistance such as RIMES, etc.
•• Better use of municipal solid water—’Water to Energy’.
•• Banking through mobile phone.

4. TRANSFORMING ASPIRATIONAL DISTRICTS

The government is committed to raise the living standards of its citizens and ensuring inclusive
growth for all —’Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’. Achieving balanced development in India will put
India on its expected development path and thus achieving poverty alleviation.
This programme focuses closely on improving people’s capacity and ability to participate
fully in the growth and development of the economy. This will help in enabling optimum utili-
zation of their potential. The core areas to be focussed include health and nutrition, education,
agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion and skill development and basic infrastruc-
ture. Based on several rounds of discussions with various stakeholders involved, as many as 49
key performance indicators have been chosen to measure progress of the districts. Most of the
districts are aspiring to first catch-up with the best district within their state, and subsequently
they aspire to become one of the best in the country. Thus, by competing with other districts,
many districts can learn the best elements from others in the spirit of competitive and coopera-
tive federalism.
A.6 Appendices

Appendix 3
‘Honour Killing’
Murder of young girls and women in the name of saving or retrieving the ‘honour’ of the
family; caste or community has assumed serious dimensions in democratic India. Though such
filings are not confined to India and may also be seen in other parts of South Asia (Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Nepal and Srilanka), Middle East, South America and Africa in gross violation of
human rights. In US and Europe it is largely confined to the immigrant communities many of
whom continue with their archaic traditional notions of ‘family honour’. Largely speaking, such
killings present the obnoxious face of strongly patriarchal societies.
The so called ‘honour killing’ or ‘crimes of honour’ may be seen as a part of broader
violence against women which is not confined to any particular caste, culture or religion. This
is also not limited to the rural areas or uneducated Illiterate persons. Though such violence
stretching to killings is reported from throughout India except perhaps the tribal regions, the
largest number of reports come from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Western Uttar Pradesh.
Many such killings go unreported largely because of its consent from the entire village
community.
Patriarchy runs deep in Indian society and manifests itself in all forms of violence against
women-female foeticide and infanticide, discrimination domestic violence and killings. The
psyche and mindset behind all forms of violence and discrimination against women must be
understood to situate honour killings in our social structure. This mindset is rooted in the local
culture when women are not regarded as human beings entitled to rights and cultural autonomy
but as property representing the honour of the male members of her family. Her body signifies
the honour of the family. Hence gender and honour becomes the site of honour killing. Per-
haps that is why convicted killers often speak with defiant pride and without regret about their
actions.
Shame, dishonour and loss of face accompany the situation in which the daughter violates
the normative order. The implications of such a situation are not temporary for it would never
be forgotten by the local society.
If we analyse the prevailing trends of ‘honour killings’, the perceived dishonour is normally
the result of one or more of the following behaviour or even the suspicion of such behaviour.
•• Defying and not accepting or terminating a marriage arranged by the family and going for
her own choice or going for divorce
•• Inter-caste marriage or marrying within the village or gotra.
•• Pre-marital or extra marital intimacy or sexual relation.
•• Clothing in a manner going against the traditional dress pattern for women. Often this is
unacceptable to the family or the community.
•• Same sex relation or lesbian relation.
•• Going for a profession against the wishes of the caste system or parents or brothers.

The feminist explanations of such killings look at ‘honour’ as power. It helps us to un-
derstand how patriarchy perpetuates the right and dominance of males over women and how it
 Appendices A.7

justifies the definitions and expectations of males especially with reference to women’s behav-
iour. This ‘honour system’ may be divided into three broad areas:
(a) control over women’s behaviour,
(b) sense of shame in losing this control,
(c) regulation and magnifying this sense of shame by community participation.
Patriarchy believes that the control over sexuality of women is essential in maintaining the
purity and continuity of the male’s seeds. The increasing number of such killings also reflect the
tensions arising out of unwillingness of the rigidly traditional social structures in accepting the
modern laws. The patriarchy and caste rights look at the struggle for women’s rights as a chal-
lenge and threat to its hegemony.
Semi feudal caste-based patriarchy guarded the honour of the women of privileged upper
castes and equated it with the honour of the family and caste, accorded ‘protection’ to them
and envisaged severest of punishments to men of under privileged lower castes for even mild
offences or even advances against the women of higher castes. Perhaps that is why in Haryana,
Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh any relationship with the man of dalit castes not to speak
of marriage invites severest punishment for both-the boy and the girl.
It is important to note here that in the Indian society women of dalit castes enjoyed much
more cultural autonomy and rights than their counterparts from the higher castes. They always
enjoyed the right to visibility (unlike higher caste women who maintain veil or ghunghat), right to
mobility (they worked on the fields and felt free to move about outside the four walls of home),
right to choose life partner and a host of other parameters of autonomy such as going for divorce
if the marriage does not work. The idea and value of Pati Parmeshwar (husband is like god) to be
adored and worshipped without questioning his authority has never been an integral part of the
dalit cultural ethos. Rather, it was part of Brahmanical patriarchy and value system. In the process
of Sanskritization (emulating the life style and value system of higher caste for enhancing social
status and prestige), in most of the regions the dalits emulating the higher castes are shedding a
number of their traditional values and adopting the traditional values of higher castes. In the pro-
cess, the higher castes, in villages expect them too to conform to their values especially with refer-
ence to women. Perhaps, that is why, their liberal and, to some extent, permissive attitude towards
their women is also undergoing change and they too are rapidly nurturing the concept of ‘honour’
and ‘shame’ on the lines of higher castes/’ Thus, sub-ordination of women is proportionately re-
lated to caste hierarchy. Higher the constraints on her, the higher in the caste hierarchy.”
Rigidly patriarchal societies hardly allow any space to the socio cultural autonomy for
women. In the recent decades education and economic freedom has empowered substantial sec-
tions of women. They are enjoying a bigger role in the decision making process and they are tak-
ing up more responsibilities outside home All these changes have loosened the grip of patriarchy
over women’ Religion and caste are not willing to accept these changes. The urban societies unlike
the rural ones find it more difficult to restrict the march of women towards greater freedom and
autonomy. In villages the space of control of males over women is much wider and the support
system against women’s rights is always willing to lend a helping hand to the draconian patriarchy.

ROLE OF TRADITIONAL PANCHAYATS

Numerous studies have shown that the traditional panchayats are still playing a strong and impor-
tant role as a tool of social control in the village societies despite the establishment of statutory
A.8 Appendices

panchayats under Panchayat Raj. Of all such traditional panchayats, the Khap Panchayats of Hary-
ana have grabbed the biggest attention because of its highly questionable role. For several centu-
ries the Khap Panchayats have been characterized for their role in ‘social administration’. Since
ancient times the social fabric of rural India has been known through village units. The village
panchayat has been representing its’ socio-political system. The Khap panchayat, even today, may
be considered equivalent to Tehsil or district. Several Khaps together constitute Sarvakhap. Even
after the emergence of the statutory, constitutional panchayats, the role of Khap remained effec-
tive in terms of social control. In this entire region, or for that matter in different regions of rural
India, the corner stone of village life is based largely on four points - Ekta (unity or solidarity), Iz-
zat (honour), Biradari (larger kin group) and -Bhaichara (brotherhood). The Khaps constructed to
exercise power because it focused on purely social issues, so important to village India.
The main function of the Khap and such other traditional panchayats has been to main-
tain peace, settle disputes especially with reference to the disputes over property and inheritance,
sexual or marital ‘misconduct’ and a host of others. Significantly, such panchayats have been an
all-male institution where the women were always kept on margins in decision making process.
The main source of their strength has been the local dominant castes and they have been in-
strumental in enforcing the decisions taken. In this arrangement the dalits, like the women, have
also been on the margins. In the electoral process, right from the panchayats to parliament, their
influence is there for everybody to see. Perhaps, that is why all the mainstream political parties,
except the left parties, do not challenge its authority openly.
In recent years the hidden hands of Khap panchayats may be seen behind the killing of
hundreds of women though its leaders have always denied it. Negating the constitutional rights
of citizens, Khap panchayats have projected themselves as the protector, guardian and saviour
of the local culture and doing moral policing at will.
As per the latest available published information (Jul ,2018) with National Crime Records
Bureau (NCRB), a total of 28 cases in 2014, 251 cases in 2015 and 77 cases in 2016 were re-
ported with motive as Honour Killing (which includes cases registered under murder (section
302 IPC) & culpable homicide not amounting to murder (section 304 IPC) in the country
In the case of Shakti Vahini the Supreme Court of India had given various guidelines to
prevent honour killing. These guidelines of the Court are as under:
1. There will be fast-track courts for fighting against honour killing cases.
2. The disposal of the cases can be expected within 6 months.
3. Immediate FIR against Khap Panchayat if they order any diktat against any couple.
4. There will be a provision of safe houses for the couples by the government, along with
security, if needed
5. District Magistrate /Superintendent of Police will supervise the safe houses.
6. The safe houses will cater young bachelor-bachelorette couples along with married cou-
ples whose relationship is being opposed by Khap.
7. The Special Cells to be set up by the state govermetns shall create a 24-hour helpline to
receive and register such complaints and to provide necessary assistance/advice and pro-
tection to the couple

GUIDELINES TO PREVENT KHAP INCIDENTS:

1. All the governments should find out districts, villages where incidents of honour killing
have been reported in the past.
 Appendices A.9

2. The governments should also identify villages with the presence of Khap Panchayats in
the last five years.
3. Advisories must be issued to the superintendents of police and the police departments by
the home department of the concerned states in order to be extra vigilant when an inter-
caste marriage under their jurisdiction occurs.
4. If any harm is caused to the couple or their family members, the khap will be criminally
liable.
5. The police must inform Panchayats that holding Khap meetings is illegal.
6. To prevent meetings of Khap, police will invoke provisions of law, invoking prohibitory
orders under section 144 of the Code Of Criminal Procedure.
7. Police can also arrest participants of Khap assembly under Section 151 CRPC, if needed.

STEPS TO PREVENT HONOUR KILLING

1. First of all, we have to change the mentality of the people on this superstitious belief and
have to let them understand the definite sense of honour.
2. Article 21 of the Indian constitution considers honour killing an infringement to law and
Hence there must be some major amendments in IPC, Evidence Act and Hindu Marriage
Act so that strict laws can be enforced on the offenders indulging in the offense.
3. There is a need of functional unity of the government, international community, the
NGOs and local community on the issue.
4. As a major step, women must be given a higher position of legal authority and must get
authorized to speak out on these issues.

LEGISLATIVE MEASURES
The increasingly combative khap panchayats go scot free as the humiliation and killings of
women enjoy the tacit approval of the local community. Public lynching of the ‘guilty’ couples,
public beating and humiliation, blackening of faces, murder made to appear as suicide, are regu-
lar features of these societies and most of these incidents go unreported. Even in cases which
are able to reach courts of law, the rate of conviction is abysmally low the law enforcing person-
nel at the lower levels belong to the same social milieu.
Under the intense pressure of the civil society groups the government is considering to
make some suitable legislation. There is no specific criminal law to deal with the offence of
honour crimes. A special law is required along with some specific provisions in the Indian Penal
Code. The Constitution of India has ample provisions allowing an individual to exercise his/her
choice independent of caste religion or gender and hence any new legislative measures in this
regard would be in conformity with the constitutional rights of Indian citizens.
Needless to say, without strong political will, neither the humiliation of women can be
checked nor the role of the illegal and unconstitutional panchayats. We also have to decide
whether we wish to live as an open, liberal, democratic society or live in the dark and dingy caves
of the past. This social problem shall continue to play havoc with the lives of the millions in the
absence of a strong social movement.
A.10 Appendices

Appendix 4
Social Discrimination Against
Girl Child
THE CONCEPT OF GENDER DISCRIMINATION
Gender discrimination is one of the manifestations of gender inequality. It is nothing but dis-
crimination against people based on their gender. Like many other societies, in the Indian soci-
ety also men and women are never treated on par. Women are always discriminated against. This
is due to the traditional practice of gender discrimination.
•• Gender discrimination refers to “the practice whereby one sex is given preferential treat-
ment over the others”.

SOME MAJOR AREAS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST GIRL CHILD

The practices of female foeticide, female infanticide, child marriage, child labour, pushing girl
children into bonded labour; sale or trafficking of young girls, abduction of girl children, sexual
exploitation and sexual abuse of girl children, girl child prostitution, neglect in respect of pro-
viding educational and health facilities, and opportunities of decent life, etc. reflect the discrimi-
natory practices against the girl child.

1. Discrimination in Socialisation
In our socialisation process, female children are becoming victims of discrimination. In the In-
dian social context, even today male children are preferred to female children. Male preference
and female negligence has almost become a working policy especially in the rural areas. Discrim-
ination between male and female children is made in matters relating to food, dress, healthcare,
education, domestic work, etc. The policy of male preference and female negligence has led to
what are known as “female disadvantages”.

2. Continued Craving for Male Child

In India, due to the predominance of patriarchic values, mothers show preferences for male
children. They give them importance because males are wanted during their old age to offer
protection, males have greater scope than women and occupational avenues are also wider for
males than for females. Woman especially in North India is made to feel that her image would
go down in the circle of relatives if she fails to fetch to her husband’s family a male child Women
with only female children are often humiliated and illtreated. Hence, the craving for male chil-
dren continues even now. The prevalence of high dowry system during and after the marriage
and a strong traditional belief that only the male children will take care of the parents in the old
age are few of the other reaons.
This male preference has led to the abuse of advanced technology. The sophisticated
scanning and super sonographic equipment’s are being misused to find out the sex of the child;
 Appendices A.11

that is to go for abortion if the child is found to be an “unwanted female child”. These medical
tests are now within the reach of the lower middle class and even the middle-lower resulting in
the killing of the female fetuses in a large number.
Some of the major Discriminations against women existing in present day Indian society
is given below:

I. FEMALE FOETICIDE
This refers to an atrocity against a girl even before she is born. Female foeticide is forced abor-
tion of unwanted pregnancies and it has been present in all societies in one or the other form
since olden days. Female Foeticide is a sex selective abortion and is a feature of modern con-
sumerist and sex-biased societies. This is the most unfortunate sophisticated way of getting rid
of daughters through sex determination tests in which greedy doctors are involved. Though the
latest legislation namely, Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Regulation and Prevention of Misuse
Act, 1994, prohibits such an act, it is carried on secretly. The unfortunate trend is that this is
far stronger in urban areas and among literate women than in the rural areas among illiterate
women.

CAUSES OF FOETICIDE
(i) Absence of Rights of Women Over Reproduction: Female foeticide has been on the
increase in spite of the presence of different laws for protecting the right of the unborn
child. This is because, women’s right to control over her own body and her rights to de-
cide whether or not to have a child, have not received due attention in India. Unlike in the
West, the concept of Reproduction Rights of Women has not been recognised in India.
There are instances in which the urban girl child is finished of before it is born, without
taking the consent of the mother.
(ii) Continued Predominance of Patriarchy: Since India socially continues to be a male-
dominated society birth of male children is welcomed and female ones is despised with.
Many parents, including well-educated, are hankering after male children and are ready to
resort to foeticide when they come to know that they will get only a female child. Some
scholars consider the phenomenon of “son worship” as the greatest single cause contrib-
uting to foeticide.
(iii) Fear of Heavy Dowry: In communities where dowry’ is compulsorily practiced, poor
families shudder to think of getting female children one after another repeatedly. No won-
der it such families decide to opt for foeticide.
(iv) Poverty and Economic Crisis: Many Indian families consider the birth of female chil-
dren as a great economic burden. Till the girl is given in marriage to some other family,
parents will have to invest and spend a lot on them. Speaking in monetary terms, it is an
“unproductive investment” for the parental family for she will be joining her husband’s
family after marriage Hence, such poor families think that their economic position be-
comes still more precarious if they get female children, that too, repeatedly.
(v) Role of Greedy Doctors: Too much greediness for money on the part of some modem
doctors is also playing havoc in this notorious practice. By abusing the provisions of “The
Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971”, and also of another Act namely; “Pre-Na-
tal Diagnosis Techniques [Regulation and Prevention] Act. 1994”; many doctors help the
A.12 Appendices

parents to remove/ kill unwanted embryo of their female child by receiving huge sum of
money.
(vi) Women Suffering from Several Problems Often Themselves Decide not to Give
Birth to Female Children: Social situations and circumstances often make women to
become stone- hearted and insist on the removal of the unwanted female child growing in
their womb.
(vii) Weakness in the Enforcement of Law: Though foeticide is declared as illegal, instances
of foeticide are still continued. Those responsible for foeticide escape from the clutches of
the law giving scope for the practice to continue.

CONSEQUENCES OF FOETICIDE
(i) Leads to Continuous Decrease in the Child Sex Ratio: The inevitable consequence of
the practice of foeticide is the sharp fall in the child sex ratio. To indicate this, some states
are known as DEMARU states. In this expression DEMARU, ‘D’ stands for daughter and
‘MARU’ stands for killing. The English letter ‘E’ denotes ‘elimination’. DEMARU states are
thus, those states where daughters, that is, female children are killed in a large number. Pun-
jab, Haryana, Himachalpradcsh, Gujarath and Maharasthra are the DEMARU states known
for the practice of foeticide. During 2001-2011, Though an increasing trend in the child sex
ratio (0-6 years) has been seen in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu,
Mizoram and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, in all remaining 27 states and Union Territo-
ries, the child sex ratio shows decline over Census 2001. The highest child sex ratio has been
reported in Mizoram (971 females against 1000 males) and Meghalaya (970).
Notably, Punjab and Haryana, which have traditionally seen low sex ratio, have recorded
an increasing trend but still remained at the bottom of the list. Haryana has 830 female
children and Punjab 846 against per 1000 male child.
(ii) A Problem that Haunts Even the Educated and the Urban People: The recent de-
mographic statistics reveal that the rate of foeticide is comparatively higher in urban areas
and among the educated than in the rural areas and among the illiterate. As per 2011 cen-
sus report, there are only 926 women per 1000 men in the urban areas whereas this num-
ber is 947 in the rural areas.
(iii) Possibility of Drastic Change in the Sexual Behaviour: Significant decline in the num-
ber of women as we find in Punjab, Haryana, Maharasthra, Gujarath and Himachala Pradesh
may lead to serious changes in the marriage patterns, fertility rate, male- female relationships
and more importantly, in the sexual behaviour of the people. Shortage of women in the soci-
ety may create problems for men to find marital life-partners. This situation may also lead to
an increasing number of sexual atrocities on women.
(iv) Foeticide in a Way, Reflects Atrocity against two Women Simultaneously: Foeticide
is abhorrent for it causes great harm to two victims of gender violence namely, the female
foetus, and its mother who has little or no control over her own body and hence is often
forced unwillingly to abort the unborn girl-child.

II. FEMALE INFANTICIDE

This refers to the practice of killing female babies as soon as they are born. It is reported to be
currently in existence in parts of Haryana, Rajasthan, Bihar, U.P., West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
 Appendices A.13

A few districts of Tamil Nadu have been notorious for this practice. The practice continues to
exist even though its magnitude is reduced a little. India and China are perhaps, the only coun-
tries in Asia where there has been the practice of female infanticide, that is, killing a female child
before she completes one year. The British banned this practice in India in 1900, but the prac-
tice continued even afterwards.

SOME OBSERVATIONS REGARDING FEMALE INFANTICIDE

1. Studies reveal instances of female infanticide are higher in number in North India than in
South India.
2. Illiteracy, superstitious beliefs, anti-women attitude, predominant patriarchal values or the
so called practice of “son worship”, coupled with poverty and the burden of dowry are
found to be the causes of female infanticide.
3. Soon after birth, unwanted female children are throttled to death, or given water or milk
mixed with poison to drink or made to eat poisonous worms, or exposed to unbearable
chill, or extreme heat till their death. These are some of the cruel ways in which the un-
wanted female children are killed before they properly see the world.
4. During the 19th century, among the Jats, Ahirs, Khatris and Gujjars of North India, fe-
male infanticide was in practice. It is said that some remnants of it could be found here
and there even now.
5. The practice of female infanticide sometimes assumes a serious form posing great prob-
lems to the communities which practice it.There are instances of giving severe punish-
ments to those women who refuse to allow their female children to be killed. Some
mothers who refused to kill their female children have even deserted the village to seek
shelter somewhere outside.
It is a pity that wherever female infanticide is a common practice, cases relating to it are
rarely reported to the police. It is difficult to prosecute and convict any one when the people of
the entire village or community are involved in it. In a society where women have in actuality
limited rights, the problem can be solved through awareness building, education and removal
of poverty. Due to poverty, traditional belief and pressure from the male members of family,
women of some tribal communities practice infanticide.

III SELLING OF GIRL CHILDREN

This is the practice of selling girl children for money just as any one sells commodities. There
are organisations and agencies doing this work in a secret manner with the co-operation of cor-
rupt government officers, police, border security forces, etc. Girls from our nation are being
sold mainly to Arab countries and the trade continues even today secretly.
In many parts of India, especially in northern states girl children are sold as brides. Many
of the girl children so purchased are highly exploited by way of involving them in prostitution
or agricultural labourers or as manual labour in household or in commercial establishments.
A.14 Appendices

IV GIRL CHILD PROSTITUTION

The girl child is highly vulnerable to sexual exploitation at home and outside the home. Among
the Jogins of Andhra, Basavis or Devadasis of Karnataka; Bedias, Nats and Gandharvas of
North India, there is the practice of forcing young girls to resort to prostitution. These child
prostitutes are found to be suffering from skin diseases, venereal diseases, T.B., anaemia, AIDS,
etc. Apart from this these children also develop the habit of drug addiction, premature sexual
desire and mental and physical abuse

V SEXUAL ABUSE OF GIRL CHILDREN

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a serious and widespread problem in India as it is in many parts of
the world today. The trauma associated with sexual abuse can contribute to arrested develop-
ment, as well as a host of psychological and emotional disorders, that some children and adoles-
cents may never overcome. When sexual abuse goes unreported and children are not given the
protective and therapeutic assistance they need, they are left to suffer in silence.
Girl children often become the victims of sexual abuse. Sexual abuse refers to the forced
involvement of children in sexual activities who are immature to understand or enjoy sex. Most
of them become the victims of it at about 14 years of age or a little above that age. Around 20%
of the girls suffer from it in one way or another. Girl children are abused at home, neighbour-
hood, school, hospital and such other places. In more than 65% of the cases, they become the
victims at the hands of employers, co-workers, tenants, neighbours and acquaintances.

VI BURDEN OF CHILD BRIDES

India continues to struggle when it comes to preventing young girls from becoming brides. In
states such as Bihar and Rajasthan, mean age of women getting married below 18 years is as low
as 16.6 years. West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Tamil Nadu also see girls of
16.7 years getting married.
In at least six states, including southern states of Kerala and Karnataka, girls from the
urban areas are married off at a much earlier age as compared to rural areas, according to the
National Health Profile 2018.
Prevalence of poverty, insecurity, political and financial reasons, lack of education, patriar-
chy and gender inequalities, inadequate implementation of the law are found to be the reasons
for the prevalence of child marriage.
Despite a decline in number of girls getting married in India before the age of 18, nearly
1.5 million girls in India are child brides. Reducing child marriages and teenage pregnancies are
crucial towards achieving reduced maternal mortality rate in the country, which is also quite high.
Child marriage threatens girls’ lives, well-being ,education, right against exploitation and
their future life. If sufficient and immediate efforts were not accelerated, more than 150 million
girls would be married off before their 18th birthday by 2030.
Improving rates of girl education, proactive government investments in adolescent girls,
and strong public messages around the illegality of child marriage and the harm it causes has to
some extend helped to reduce child marriage.
 Appendices A.15

Appendix 5
Issues Related to Ageing and
Old Age Population
To understand the problems of the elderly people, a new and specified branch of knowledge
was developed. It is Gerontology. It studies the social, psychological and biological aspects of
ageing while geriatrics is the branch of medicine that studies the diseases of older adults.
In most of the gerontological literature, people above 60 years of age are considered as
‘old’ and constituting the ‘elderly’ segment of the population. In academic research, retirement
age is often taken as an index of aged status. The boundary of old age cannot be defined exactly
because it does not have the same meaning in different societies. The Government of India ad-
opted ‘National Policy on Older Persons’ in 1999 and it identifies ‘senior citizen or ‘elderly’ as a
person who is of age 60 or above.
The aged population in India is currently the second highest in the world and it constitutes
around 8% of the total population.
Both the share and size of the elderly population is increasing overtime as a result of ris-
ing life expectancy and longevity largely due to better medical facilities and health care.
By virtue of spectacular medical progress the grey population throughout the world in-
cluding India is rising rapidly because of delayed death. But additional life will bring little cheer
if it js burdened with sickness and suffering. Developing societies like India are on the verge
of entering an ageing society where economic resources are inadequate and the modernization
process is changing the value system in which the care of the aged is slipping lower and lower in
the priorities of the families.

CHANGING SCENARIO
In the traditional Indian society old people have been enjoying respect, honour, and authority
because of norms and values embedded in religious scriptures and ethical system. The older
people have been playing an important role in the joint family system as the Karta or head of
the family. Since the second half of the twelfth century things began to change. Rapid urbaniza-
tion, industrialization and westernization (in urban society) have created several problems for
the aged. A new value system started impacting the traditional Indian society. The joint family
in urban areas started disintegrating. Joint family been serving as an important means of social
security for the aged in the absence of any state support.
The aged in our society, in most of the cases, feel rejected and neglected as our society is
getting more and more youth oriented. In many cases, more in the urban areas and compara-
tively less in rural societies, the old are increasingly being relegated to loneliness and discomfort.
The young in our society show lack of character viz a viz older ones and one wonders now it
is that while parents could take care of three, four, five or more children, several children to-
gether cannot take care of one parent. “The migration of younger people from rural areas to
towns and cities increases the vulnerability of the old who stay behind, particularly those living
in families which do not have independent production sources like land, livestock or household
A.16 Appendices

industry and are dependent primarily on their labour”. The spread of education among women,
accompanied by their employment outside the home, in offices and factories, leaves no time for
such women to take care of old people at the home. Moreover, there is now a greater invest-
ment by the family in the education and upbringing of children. The higher cost of living and
changing priorities are also affecting the intra- family distribution of income in favour of chil-
dren. The wealth flow is turning downward. All these socio-economic changes have adversely
affected the situation of the elderly in India.
As per the, social exchange theory establishes that people will maintain stable relation-
ships only if they find it profitable to continue their exchange. With advancing age, old people
have less to offer to the relationship, which makes them feel awkward and ultimately adversely
affects their well being. It is the responsibility of the younger generation to respect the aged
and to remind them that they still have a productive and useful role to play in society. Thus the
dilution of family support system for the elderly, mobility of the younger generation, paucity of
government funds, incapability of NGOs or private organisations to provide elderly care and
the importance of the elderly learning to take care of themselves through cooperatives have
posed serious problems for the quality of life of the aged in India.
There is now an increasing need to ensure social security for the elderly people especially
women. The population of women in the 60+ age group is higher than the male population and
they are an extremely marginalized group of people. “The dependency of widowhood is most
vulnerable as it is women who mostly outlive their spouses. Further, the fragility of their existence
is accentuated when compared to the dependency of older couples living with their spouses. Men
who were widowed almost always obtained a companion compared to their female counterparts.
Apart from the several socio-economic insecurities that widows alone face, threat to life and injury
to person is in particular always present when there are claims to property and land. Reports about
abuse of elderly people by the family are frequently cited especially in urban areas.

HEALTH PROBLEMS
In old age, physical strength deteriorates and mental stability diminishes demanding greater
coping skills on the part of the aged persons to adjust to the changing environment. Today’s
research on ageing says that economic development and urbanization have brought life style
changes that have led to unhealthy nutrition and physical inactivity contributing to the preva-
lence of diabetese. Almost half of the elderly Indians have at least one chronic disease such as
asthma, arthritis, depression or diabetes. Senility, Alzheimer, Parkinson and mental disorders
are frequent. Visual impairment and vision loss increases dramatically with age. Senility refers
to changes in behavior caused by structural changes in the brain and is used derogatively to
describe the old and their behavior in general. It is an impoverished environment, poor nutri-
tion and diseases that breakdown the nervous system’s resistance against deterioration. Aspects
of physiological deterioration in old age can be reduced through measures of healthcare and
through other strategies that improves quality of life. However, a sense of deprivation, margin-
ality and loneliness is also instrumental in creating several medical problems.

ELDERLY CARE AND SOCIAL SECURITY

Loss of regular assured income and emotional insecurity resulting in the creation of void in life,
loss of spouse, friends and relatives coupled with frailty increases dependency. According to
 Appendices A.17

Helpage as many as 70% of the aged depend on others for their day to day maintenance. The
situation is worse for elderly females where 85-87% are economically dependent, either par-
tially or fully, on others. The situation is compounded by the almost non-existent geriatric care
facilities.
Care for the aged is also known as ‘elderly care’. It emphasizes the social and personal
requirements of senior citizens who need some assistance with daily activities and health care
but who desire to age with dignity. Traditionally, elderly care has been the responsibility of
family, members and was provided within the extended family home. In the face of weaken-
ing or disintegration in joint family it has to be provided by state or charitable institutions.
Unlike the American and European societies there is scarce institutional support for the care
of the aged in India. “Fewer than 10% of Indians have health insurance from private or
public sources and about 72% of health care spending from Public pocket”. However the
aged does not require health care only from the state or charitable organisations but wish to
be with their near and dear ones. They wish to be respected and loved and not to be treated
as unproductive human resource. Family life is necessary for senior citizens to lead a life of
security, care and dignity.
Some social security measures have been in vogue in India directed mostly at workers in
the organized sector. The important ones are the Employees’ Provident Fund Act 1952 Family
Pension Scheme 1971, Maternity Benefit Act 1961.
Since 1990s most of the states have been implementing old age pension to the economi-
cally weaker sections of the society. Though only paltry (ranging from Rs.30-100) amounts
have been paid and this scheme is more of a symbolic value. Even an average pension of Rs.
150-200 may prove to be adequate for the food requirements if they lived with their kins but
grossly inadequate when one has to pay house rent, water, electricity charges, medical bills etc.
Some states like Kerala introduced some progressive measures such as Agricultural Workers
Pension Scheme, Special Pension Scheme for the Handicapped and Destitute Old and Widows
Pension Scheme.

LEGAL RIGHTS OF SENIOR CITIZENS

Article 41 of the Constitution says that the State shall, within the limits of economic capacity
and development, make effective provision for securing the right to work, to education, and to
public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement, and in other
cases of undeserved want.
•• The aged people have also been provided legal protection under various personal laws of
Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Parsis.
•• Prior to 1973 there was no provision for maintenance of parents. Under the Code of
Criminal Procedure a new provision was introduced for the first time in section 125 of
the code of Criminal Procedure in 1973 making the sons and daughters responsible for
the maintenance of the aged parents if they are not in a position to maintain themselves.
A National Policy on Older Persons was announced in 1999 which identified a number of
areas of intervention that inducted financial security, healthcare and nutrition, shelter, protec-
tion of life and property for the well being of the older persons. It was followed by the creation
of a National Council for Older Persons (NCOP) by the ministry of social justice and empow-
erment to operationalize the national policy.
A.18 Appendices

PRIORITY ISSUES
Helpage India, A leading Non Profit Organization in India caring for disadvantaged elderly se-
nior citizens for more than three decades has identified the priority issues to be addressed by the
State. It covers a wide range of ameliorating measures such as:
•• Non-Contributory Pensions to the older persons in BPL families.
•• Income generation opportunities for the able bodied and willing older person.
•• Imaginative schemes for contributory pensions for those older persons who can afford to
save in their prime years.
•• Special schemes for women, dalits, rural poor, destitute and disabled older persons and
widows.
•• Accessible availability and affordable geriatric health facilities to all older persons.
•• Provision of infrastructure and trained personnel.
•• Development of facilities in public health arena for the poor.

It is estimated that by 2020 the number of senior citizens would be more than ten crores.
The State and non-state response to this great challenge is grossly unsatisfactory. Needless to
say if this problem is not addressed urgently and on war footing, the aged people shall be in a
miserable state.