Emerging India

Emerging India: Social and Political Problems (A Curtain Raiser)

India

, once known as the ‘Land of Plenty’ was full of riches. However, coming of Turks, The Mughals, The Arabs and British for extending their empires have depleted its fragile resources to a great extent and have given various social problems in return. Even at this juncture after sixty years of independence, we have not transformed and are sinking in the avalanche of social & political problems. On the one hand society is going through the snag of Casteism, Women exploitation, Child labour, Drug addiction and on the contrary political system is also sordid with corruption, caste based politics, criminalization of politics. In recent past there was a lot of chaos and pandemonium about ‘India Shining’ which was just an eyewash. The era of ‘Golden Bird’ has been enshrined somewhere and the picture looks quite nebulous. Political scenario is awful nowadays and going through a black phase of corruption. Corruption is entrenching in today’s public life. In the past 60 years we have virtually institutionalized corruption as an inseparable part of our life. The phenomenon of corruption is rampant both in government offices and in politics. Many people become MP’s, MLA’s and ministers in order to make fortune and not to serve the people. Politics is most lucrative business these days where money and muscle power are the investments. After coming in power these tyrannous and haughty politicians spread their act of corruption and utilize their powers to their fullest to pursue their goal of making money. The social activities of these politicians are just a camouflage. Frequent Feud and Riots Also the criminalization of politics has rendered the politicians corrupt and bureaucracy non-functional. The valiant acts of the freedom fighters have been trampled on, shamelessly and all its kudos goes to the decline in democracy. Caste Based Politics

It is not the politicians only who should be blamed, we the civilians of India are also not performing and deferring our duties to elect the diligent, benevolent and honest politicians who can work with finesse and knack. Our election criterion is mostly caste driven in India and not the caliber and honesty. This is a major bottleneck and enigmatic impediment in the political development of country. Besides political system, in government offices also, the problem of corruption is pervading right from the village officer to the head of the government department at the centre or at state. There is a virtual coalition between various officers of a department in act. In most government offices members of the public cannot expect the official to do his duty unless he gets the extra money – the lubricant that helps the machinery to move and make it work hassle free. Modus operandi of the government departments is like a barter system where you have to pay money for asking an officer to do his job. Corruption has reached to this echelon because some of us bait and abet the officers for petty gains or convenience and rest tolerate it and accept it. These Blacksheeps present in various government departments breach and manipulate the rules according to themselves and embezzle money as much as they can. Honest civil servants fail to survive under such a system and only sycophants are considered fit for promotion. This ignominious and frivolous act of corruption has completely paralyzed the entire system and made it a laggard. The social picture is no less scary, which is overflowing with women exploitation, dowry, drug addiction, child labour, casteism etc. Violence against women has the tacit approval of the society world over. Crimes against the women stem from the fact that men cannot accept even today that she can earn more money, respect and social eminence than them. The women in India are still confined & coerced to do household work only and has not yet been delegated their right of equality. Women are still yearning for their right of equality. The ignominious act of sexual assault on women is perverse and denigrated the social picture of India. This erroneous act abducts the rights of women. Also there are lots of impediments in delivering justice to the victim. She has to give an account of incidence and this is an emotional and psychological pain for her. Then there is a question of evidence. In most verdicts the culpable or miscreant is usually let off for lack of evidence & judicial system fails to give nemesis. The women in such cases receive only

empathy from others and fail to get the justice. This act of vandalism has put a black mark on the face of India. Drug addiction is another colossal problem that has spread its paws in all sections of the society and has devastated the youth and novice. In today’s world, in pursuit of materialistic passions man becomes alienated from the society. Failure and despair in his pursuit often leads to discontentment and he finds himself a misfit in this world. Thus for momentary escape people get indulged in this habit. This problem has spread like an epidemic in youth. If this menace will keep on spreading at its accelerating present pace it is apprehended, anticipated and unfazed that every second youngster will be a drug addict within next few years. Complete abstinence from drugs is utmost necessary for abolishing this disease and for ameliorating the image of young India. CHILD LABOUR

India is also facing the challenges in the form of child labour and many other social problems. We are conniving at the destruction of the ambience of Indian values and culture by not protesting against it. The social reforms introduced by Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Jyotibha Phule, and Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru has opened the eyes of few individuals of the society but still, there is a need to percolate these reforms and to give a cue and impetus to the masses to start a crusade against it so that India can be honoured with the ecstasy of its credentials back. India has come a long way since 1947 but this growth is not ample to achieve the dream of ‘Golden Bird’. The gist is that we should not allow these social evils to eclipse the pace of development. This is a hefty and formidable task and only a stupendous & fortuitous effort from all of us would enable us to obliterate these evils from the society. So, it’s the need of the hour that we should all stand together and endeavour to envisage against this monster. It’s the time to wake up and we should pledge to emancipate and cease these evils from the society to fulfill our dream of that era of ‘Golden Bird’.