Society and Social Justice

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SOCIETY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE: 1
POPULATION AND ASSOCIATED ISSUES
Content:
1 Why population?
2 What is demography?
3 How to determine population trends?
4 How to make sense of such population data?
4.1 Distribution and density of population
4.1.1 Factors Influencing the Distribution of Population
4.1.2 India’s Population Distribution by Density
4.2 Population size and growth
4.2.1 Determinants of Population Change
4.2.2 Trends in Population Growth
4.2.3 Theory of Demographic Transition
4.3 Population composition
4.3.1 Age Composition
4.3.2 Sex composition
4.3.3 The population pyramid (The age-sex pyramid)
4.3.4 Literacy
4.3.5 Rural-Urban Composition
4.3.6 Working Population Composition
5 Demographic Dividend
6 Adolescents as a Distinct Population Group
6.1 National Youth Policy
6.2 National Policy on Senior Citizens
7 Population Policies in India
8 Reproductive Health
.
9 Appendix
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Student Notes:
1] Why population?
All of us hear many people saying that the population of India is a great problem. You also may
be feeling the same. You may be aware that the population of India is more than a billion and it
is still growing. It may overtake the population of China within the next couple of decades,
eventually making India the most populous nation of the world. It is in this way the population
is quite often seen as a liability, a major hindrance to development and quality of life of the
people. Such a large population invariably puts pressure on a country’s limited resources and is
also responsible for many socio-economic problems in the country. But is it true? Let’s think
and understand. Has population not been an asset, a resource for the country? Today, India is
considered as a leading nation in the world in terms of human power. One of the major
contributory factors for this global standing has been the young, educated and productive
people of our country. They are contributing to the development of not only our country, but
many of the foreign countries also. In this context, population is an asset for the economy, the
greatest resource of the country rather than a liability. Let us evaluate this resource. How? It’s
through the science of population, ‘Demography’.
2] What is demography?
Demography is the science of systematic study of population. The term is of Greek origin and is
composed of the two words, ‘demos’ (people) and ‘graphein’ (describe), implying the
description of people. Demography studies the trends and processes associated with
population including – changes in population size; patterns of births, deaths, and migration; and
the structure and composition of the population, such as the relative proportions of women,
men and different age groups. There are different varieties of demography, including formal
demography which is a largely quantitative field, and social demography which focuses on the
social, economic or political aspects of populations. Formal demography is primarily concerned
with the measurement and analysis of the components of population change. Its focus is on
quantitative analysis for which it has a highly developed mathematical methodology suitable for
forecasting population growth and changes in the composition of population. Population
studies or social demography, on the other hand, enquires into the wider causes and
consequences of population structures and change. Social demographers believe that social
processes and structures regulate demographic processes; like sociologists, they seek to trace
the social reasons that account for population trends.
3] How to determine population trends?

What is/are the primary source of such data?
All demographic studies are based on processes of counting or enumeration – such as the
census or the survey – which involve the systematic collection of data on the people residing
within a specified territory.
rmation about Census:
the The procedure of systematically acquiring and
.
members of a given population. The term is used mostly in connection with ‘national
population and door to door censuses’ to be taken every 10 years. The Government of India,
with the assistance of States, has been conducting census to collect data about various
demographic and socio-economic aspects of our population.
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Student Notes:
Survey: The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) in India is a unique setup to carry out
surveys on socio-economic, demographic, agricultural and industrial subjects for collecting data
from house-holds and from enterprises located in villages and in the towns. It is a focal agency
of the Govt. of India (under the newly created Ministry of Statistics and Programme
Implementation (MOSPI)) for collection of statistical data in the areas which are vital for
developmental planning.
4] How to make sense of such population data?

The following three questions can holistically address our concerns about the population data.
Q.1. How many people are there and where are they located?
Q.2. How has the population grown and changed through time?
Q.3. What are their age, sex composition, literacy levels, occupational structure and health
conditions?
Let us answer these questions one by one.
4.1 Distribution and density of population
Patterns of population distribution and density help us to understand the demographic
characteristics of any area. The term ‘Population Distribution’ refers to the way people are
spaced over the earth’s surface. Broadly, 90 per cent of the world population lives in about 10
per cent of its land area. India’s population as on March 2011 stood at 1,210 million, which
account for approx. 17% of the world’s population. These 1.21 billion people are unevenly
distributed over our country’s vast area of 3.28 million square km, which accounts for 2.4 per
cent of the world’s area.
4.1.1 Factors Influencing the Distribution of Population
I. Geographical Factors:-
i. Availability of water: It is the most important factor for life. So, people prefer to live in
areas where fresh water is easily available. Water is used for drinking, bathing and
cooking – and also for cattle, crops, industries and navigation. It is because of this that
river valleys are among the most densely populated areas of the world.
ii. Landforms (Relief): People prefer living on flat plains and gentle slopes. This is because
such areas are favourable for the production of crops and to build roads and industries.
The mountainous and hilly areas hinder the development of transport network and
hence initially do not favour agricultural and industrial development. So, these areas
tend to be less populated. The Ganga plains are among the most densely populated
areas of the world while the mountains zones in the Himalayas are scarcely populated.
iii. Climate: An extreme climate such as very hot or cold deserts are uncomfortable for
human habitation. Areas with a comfortable climate, where there is not much seasonal
variation attract more people. Areas with very heavy rainfall or extreme and harsh
climates have low population.
.
iv. Soils: Fertile soils are important for agricultural and allied activities. Therefore, areas
which have fertile loamy soils have more people living on them as these can support
intensive agriculture. Can you name some areas in India which are thinly populated due
to poor soils?
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Student Notes:
II. Economic Factors:

i. Minerals: Areas with mineral deposits attract industries. Mining and industrial activities
generate employment. So, skilled and semi–skilled workers move to these areas and
make them densely populated.
ii. Urbanisation: Cities offer better employment opportunities, educational and medical
facilities, better means of transport and communication. Good civic amenities and the
attraction of city life draw people to the cities. It leads to rural to urban migration and
cities grow in size. Mega cities of the world continue to attract large number of
migrants every year.
iii. Industrialisation: Industrial belts provide job opportunities and attract large numbers
of people. These include not just factory workers but also transport operators,
shopkeepers, bank employees, doctors, teachers and other service providers.
III. Social and Cultural Factors
Some places attract more people because they have religious or cultural significance. In the
same way – people tend to move away from places where there is social and political unrest.
Many a time governments offer incentives to people to live in sparsely populated areas or move
away from overcrowded places.
Let us now have a look at Fig. S1 given in Appendix 1. What do you infer about the spatial
distribution of population in India?
4.1.2 India’s Population Distribution by Density
Density of population is expressed as number of persons per unit area. It helps in getting a
better understanding of the spatial distribution of population in relation to land. The density of
population in India (2011) is 382 persons per sq km. There has been a steady increase of about
265 persons per sq km over the last 60 years as the density of population increased from 117
persons/ sq km in 1951 to 382 persons/sq km in 2011.
Population density provides a better picture of the uneven distribution. The density of
population is a crude measure of human and land relationship. How can we make it more
meaningful?
4.2 Population size and growth
The population growth or population change refers to the change in number of inhabitants of a
territory during a specific period of time. This change may be positive as well as negative. It can
be expressed either in terms of absolute numbers or in terms of percentage. Population change
in an area is an important indicator of economic development, social upliftment and historical
and cultural background of the region.
Some Basic Concepts in Population Geography
Growth of Population: Change of population in particular area between two points of time is
known as growth of population. For example, if we deduct the population of India 1991 (84.63
crore) from population of 2001 (102.70 crore) then we shall get the growth of population (18.07
crores) in actual numbers.
.
Growth Rate of Population: This is the change of population expressed in percentage.
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Student Notes:
Check Table T1 for better understanding.

4.2.1 Determinants of Population Change
Three factors determine the change in the size of the population of any country: how many
persons are born, how many persons die, and 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 population growth at the national level. However, it does have influence at local
and regional level. It, therefore, becomes necessary to consider in greater detail the other two
factors, that is, fertility and mortality. Migration, as such, would be discussed later.
(i) Fertility
As you know, fertility is an important determinant of population growth. In this section, we
shall discuss the measurement, levels and trends and implications of high fertility.
Measurement of Fertility
At the outset, it is necessary to differentiate between fecundity and fertility. Fecundity
refers to the physiological capacity to reproduce. Fertility, on the other hand, refers to the
actual reproductive performance of an individual or a group. While there is no direct
measurement of fecundity, fertility can be studied from the statistics of births. The crude
birth rate is an important measure of fertility for which only live births, that is, children
born alive are taken into account. The crude birth rate is calculated by dividing the number
of live births occurring during a calendar year in specified areas by the midyear population
of that year. The crude birth rate is generally expressed per thousand of population.
The crude birth rate directly points to the contribution of fertility to the growth rate of the
population. It suffers from certain limitations mainly because it has in the denominator the
total population which includes males as well as very young and very old women who are
biologically not capable of having babies.
There are other more refined fertility measures like the general fertility rate, the age-
specific fertility rates, etc., that overcome these limitations.
General Fertility Rate: It is the number of live births per 1000 women, aged 15-49 years
(child bearing age group), in a given period.
.
Age-Specific Fertility Rate: The number of live births occurring during a given year or
reference period per 1000 women of reproductive age classified in that age group.
ASFR = (Ba/Ea)* 1000, where
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Ba – number of births to women in age-group in a given year or reference period.

Ea – number of person-years of exposure in that age-group during the specified reference
period.
Total Fertility Rate: The total fertility rate refers to the total number of live births that a
hypothetical woman would have if she lived through the reproductive age group and had
the average number of babies in each segment of this age group as determined by the age-
specific fertility rates for that area.
Determinants of High Fertility
Several factors contribute to the high fertility of Indian women. Let us examine some of
these factors:
a) Religious Ideologies
b) The universality of the institution of marriage.
c) Early marriage and early child-bearing.
d) Great emphasis on Child Bearing.
e) The preference for sons ingrained in the Indian culture.
f) Lack of right of self-determination with reference to reproduction.
g) High infant and child mortality rates - (unsatisfactory health, low nutritional status
and poverty) also contribute to a large family size.
h) Children in the Indian society have a great economic, social, cultural as well as
religious value. Fertility of Indian women is, therefore, high. Often, there is no
economic motivation for restricting the number of children, because the biological
parents may not necessarily be called upon to provide for the basic needs of their
own children since the extended family is jointly responsible for all the children
born into it. (Illiteracy and low level of education)
i) The absence of widespread adoption of methods of conception control.
It is important that none of these factors is to be seen in isolation. Indeed, it is the
combination of several factors that contribute towards the high fertility rate in India.
While considering the factors contributing to high fertility, it is also necessary to consider
traditional Indian norms which regulate the reproductive behaviour of couples. Breast-
feeding is universally practiced in Indian sub-continent and this has an inhibiting influence
on conception. Certain taboos are also practiced during the postpartum period when the
couple is expected to abstain from sexual activity. The practice of going to the parental
home for delivery, specially the first one, common in some parts of the country also
ensures abstinence after childbirth leading to postponement of the next pregnancy.
Cohabitation is also prohibited on certain specified days in the month. It is also common
knowledge that a woman would be ridiculed if she continued to bear children after she had
become a grandmother.
Implications of High Fertility
Apart from contributing in a big way to the population problem of the country, high fertility
affects the family and, in turn, society in many ways.
.
Women are tied down to child-bearing and child-rearing for the best years of their
productive lives. They are, therefore, denied the opportunity to explore other avenues for
self-expression and self-development. This could lead to frustration. Excessive child-bearing
affects their own health and that of their children. Looking after a large number of children
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Student Notes:
puts a further strain on the slender physical and emotional resources of such women.
The burden of providing for a large family sits heavily on the bread-winner of the family.
The constant struggle to maintain a subsistence level is exhausting. To escape from the
problems of everyday life, he may take to drinking. This would lead to further deterioration
of the economic and emotional well-being of the family.
The children, often unwanted, unloved and neglected, are left to their own devices to make
life bearable. Indulgence in delinquency is sometimes the result. The children in large
families often have to start working at a very early age to supplement the slender financial
resources of the family. They are, therefore, denied the opportunity to go to school and get
educated.
The girl child is the worst sufferer. She is often not sent to school at all, or is withdrawn
from school at an early age to help her mother in carrying out domestic chores and to look
after her younger siblings when the mother is at work. Early marriage pushes her into child-
bearing, and the vicious cycle continues. The children, both boys and girls, in a large family
are thus often denied the joys of childhood, and are pushed into adult roles at a very early
age.
(ii) Mortality
Measurement of Mortality
Various measures of mortality are employed in the analysis of mortality. For a general
understanding of the process of mortality, it is sufficient to describe three basic measures
of mortality: the crude death rate, the expectation of life at birth, and the infant mortality
rate.
i) Crude Death Rate: The Crude death rate is the ratio of the total registered deaths
occurring in a specified calendar year to the total mid-year population of that year,
multiplied by 1000.
ii) Expectation of Life at Birth: The average expectation of life at birth is a good measure of
the level of mortality because it is not affected by the age structure of the population. The
term “average expectation of life” or life expectancy represents the average number of
years of life which a cohort of new-born babies (that is, those born in the same year) may
be expected to live if they are subjected to the risks of death at each year, according to the
age-specific mortality rates prevailing in the country at the time to which the measure
refers. This measure is complicated to calculate but easy to understand.
iii) Infant Mortality Rate: Infants are defined in demography as all those children in the first
year of life who have not yet reached age one, that is, those who have not celebrated their
first birthday. Infants are studied separately, as mortality during the first year of life is
invariably high. In countries like India, where health conditions are poor, infant deaths
account for a substantial number of all deaths. The infant mortality rate is, therefore, often
used as an indicator for determining the socio-economic status of a country and the
quality of life in it.
*Are you aware of the sub
.
** Can you think of any Global Framework addressing mortality issues in India?
(iii) Migration
Apart from birth and death there is another way by which the population size changes.
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Student Notes:
When people move from one place to another, the place they move from is called the Place
of Origin and the place they move to is called the Place of Destination. The place of origin
shows a decrease in population while the population increases in the place of destination.
Migration may be interpreted as a spontaneous effort to achieve a better balance between
population and resources. Migration may be permanent, temporary or seasonal. It may
take place from rural to rural areas, rural to urban areas, urban to urban areas and urban to
rural areas.
Immigration: Migrants who move into a new place are called Immigrants.
Emigration: Migrants who move out of a place are called Emigrants.
People migrate for a better economic and social life. There are two sets of factors that
influence migration. The Push factors make the place of origin seem less attractive for
reasons like unemployment, poor living conditions, political turmoil, unpleasant climate,
natural disasters, epidemics and socio-economic backwardness. The Pull factors make the
place of destination seem more attractive than the place of origin for reasons like better job
opportunities and living conditions, peace and stability, security of life and property and
pleasant climate.
Migration can be internal (within the country) or international (between the countries).
Internal migration does not change the size of the population, but influences the
distribution of population within the nation. Migration plays a very significant role in
changing the composition and distribution of population.
Now, some more concepts:
Natural Growth of Population: This is the population increased by difference between
births and deaths in a particular region between two points of time.
Natural Growth = Births – Deaths
Actual Growth of Population: This is Births – Deaths + In Migration – Out Migration
Positive Growth of Population: This happens when the birth rate is more than the death rate
between two points of time or when people from other countries migrate permanently to a
region.
Negative Growth of Population: If the population decreases between two points of time it is
known as negative growth of population. It occurs when the birth rate falls below the death
rate or people migrate to other countries.
4.2.2 Trends in Population Growth
It is significant that the percentage decadal growth during 2001-11 has registered the sharpest
decline since Independence. It declined from 23.87% for 1981-1991 to 21.54% for the period
1991-2001, a decrease of 2.33 percentage points. For 2001-2011, this decadal growth has
become 17.64%, a further decrease of 3.90 percentage points.
Similarly, the average exponential growth rate for 2001-2011 has declined to 1.64% per annum
tial growth rate during
from 1.97% per annum during 1991
.
1981-1991 was 2.16.

How can we identify the trend?
The growth rate of population in India over the last one century has been caused by annual
birth rate and death rate and rate of migration and thereby shows different trends. There are
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four distinct phases of growth identified within this period:

Phase I: The period from 1901-1921 is referred to as a period of stagnant or stationary phase of
growth of India’s population, since in this period growth rate was very low, even recording a
negative growth rate during 1911-1921. Both the birth rate and death rate were high keeping
the rate of increase low. Poor health and medical services, illiteracy of people at large and
inefficient distribution system of food and other basic necessities were largely responsible for a
high birth and death rates in this period.
Phase II: The decades 1921-1951 are referred to as the period of steady population growth. An
overall improvement in health and sanitation throughout the country brought down the
mortality rate. At the same time better transport and communication system improved
distribution system. The crude birth rate remained high in this period leading to higher growth
rate than the previous phase. This is impressive at the backdrop of Great Economic Depression,
1920s and World War II.
Phase III: The decades 1951-1981 are referred to as the period of population explosion in India,
which was caused by a rapid fall in the mortality rate but a high fertility rate of population in the
country. The average annual growth rate was as high as 2.2 percent. It is in this period, after the
Independence, that developmental activities were introduced through a centralised planning
process and economy started showing up ensuring the improvement of living condition of
people at large. Consequently, there was a high natural increase and higher growth rate.
Besides, increased international migration bringing in Tibetans, Bangladeshis, Nepalies and
even people from Pakistan contributed to the high growth rate.
Phase IV: In the post 1981 till present, the growth rate of country’s population though remained
high, has started slowing down gradually. A downward trend of crude birthrate is held
responsible for such a population growth. This was, in turn, affected by an increase in theme an
age at marriage, improved quality of life particularly education of females in the country. The
growth rate of population is, however, still high in the country, and it has been projected by
World Development Report that population of India will touch 1,350 million by2025.
The analysis done so far shows the average growth rate, but the country also has wide variation
in growth rates from one area to another which is discussed below. Refer to Fig S4 and S5.
4.2.3 Theory of Demographic Transition
A significant theory in demography is the theory of demographic transition. This suggests that
population growth is linked to overall levels of economic development and that every society
follows a typical pattern of development-related population growth. There are three basic
phases of population growth, which together constitute the Demographic Cycle. The first stage
is that of low population growth in a society that is under-developed and technologically
backward. Growth rates are low because both the death rate and the birth rate are very high,
so that the difference between the two (or the net growth rate) is low. The third (and last) stage
is also one of low growth in a developed society where both death rate and birth rate have
been reduced considerably and the difference between them is again small. Between these two
stages is a transitional stage of movement from a backward to an advanced stage, and this
stage is characterized by very high rates of growth of population.
.
This ‘population explosion’ happens because death rates are brought down relatively quickly
through advanced methods of disease control, public health, and better nutrition. However, it
takes longer for society to adjust to change and alter its reproductive behaviour (which was
evolved during the period of poverty and high death rates) to suit the new situation of relative
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Student Notes:
prosperity and longer life spans. This kind of transition was effected in Western Europe during
the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. More or less similar patterns are followed in
the less developed countries that are struggling to reduce the birth rate in keeping with the
falling mortality rate. In India too, the demographic transition is not yet complete as the
mortality rate has been reduced but the birth rate has not been brought down to the same
extent.
4.3 Population composition

Population composition is a distinct field of study within population geography which gives the
description of population defined by characteristics such as age and sex, place of residence,
ethnic characteristics, tribes, language, religion, marital status, literacy and education,
occupational characteristics, etc. In this section, we shall, therefore, try to understand the
following aspects of the population composition in India:
i. Age composition
ii. Sex composition
Age and sex are the basic characteristics or the biological attributes of any population. Age and
sex are also important factors, because they are indicators of social status. As such, each
individual is ascribed a certain status in society on the basis of sex and age.
.
i. Literacy
ii. Rural-Urban Composition
iii. Working Population Composition
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Student Notes:
4.3.1 Age Composition

The age structure of the population refers to the proportion of persons in different age groups
relative to the total population. The age structure changes in response to changes in levels of
development and the average life expectancy. Initially, poor medical facilities, prevalence of
disease and other factors make for a relatively short life span. Moreover, high infant and
maternal mortality rates also have an impact on the age structure. With development, quality
of life improves and with it the life expectancy also improves. This changes the age structure:
relatively smaller proportions of the population are found in the younger age groups and larger
proportions in the older age groups. This is also referred to as the aging of the population.
The population of a nation is generally grouped into three broad categories:
Children (generally below 15 years): They are economically unproductive and need to be
provided with food, clothing, education and medical care.
Working Age (15-59 years): They are economically productive and biologically reproductive.
They comprise the working population.
Aged (Above 59 years): They can be economically productive though they and may have
retired. They may be working voluntarily but they are not available for employment through
recruitment.
Trends in India: Observe the Table T2 and Figure S7. What can you infer?
Dependency Ratio
The dependency ratio is a measure comparing the portion of a population which is composed
of dependents (i.e., elderly people who are too old to work, and children who are too young to
work) with the portion that is in the working age group, generally defined as 15 to 59 years. The
dependency ratio is equal to the population below 15 or above 60, divided by population in the
15-59 age group; the ratio is usually expressed as a percentage.
A rising dependency ratio is a cause for worry in countries that are facing an aging population,
since it becomes difficult for a relatively smaller proportion of working-age people to carry the
burden of providing for a relatively larger proportion of dependents. On the other hand, a
falling dependency ratio can be a source of economic growth and prosperity due to the larger
proportion of workers relative to non-workers. This is sometimes referred to as the
‘demographic dividend’, or benefit flowing from the changing age structure. However, this
benefit is temporary because the larger pool of working age people will eventually turn into
non-working old people.
Caution: The dependency ratio gives us only a broad idea of economic dependency in any
population, and it is not a full measure for assessing the dependency burden. Why? Think about
it.
4.3.2 Sex composition
Sex composition is a very significant indicator of the quality of population of a country as a
human resource. In fact, primarily it is understood on the basis of sex ratio.
The Sex Ratio refers to the number of fem
en area at a specified
.
time period.
The Child Sex Ratio is the sex ratio in the age group 0-6 years (child) in a given area at a
specified time period.
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Student Notes:
Natural Advantage v/s Social Disadvantage

Females have a biological advantage over males as they tend to be more resilient than males
yet this advantage is cancelled out by the social disadvantages and discriminations that they
face.
Trends in India: Observe Figure S8 – S12. What does it suggest?
The declining sex ratio in India
The sex ratio is an important indicator of gender balance in the population.

Demographers and sociologists have offered several reasons for the decline in the sex ratio in
India. The main health factor that affects women differently from men is childbearing. It is
relevant to ask if the fall in the sex ratio may be partly due to the increased risk of death in
childbirth that only women face. However, maternal mortality is supposed to decline with
development, as levels of nutrition, general education and awareness as well as the availability
of medical and communication facilities improves. Indeed, maternal mortality rates have been
coming down in India even though they remain high by international standards.
So it is difficult to see how maternal mortality could have been responsible for the worsening of
the sex ratio over time. Combined with the fact that the decline in the child sex ratios has been
much steeper than the overall figure, social scientists believe that the cause has to be sought in
the differential treatment of girl babies. Several factors may be held responsible for the decline
in the child sex ratio including – severe neglect of girl babies in infancy, leading to higher death
rates; sex specific abortions that prevent girl babies from being born; and female infanticide (or
the killing of girl babies due to religious or cultural beliefs). Each of these reasons point to a
serious social problem, and there is some evidence that all of these have been at work in India.
Practices of female infanticide have been known to exist in many regions, while increasing
importance is being attached to modern medical techniques by which the sex of the baby can
be determined in the very early stages of pregnancy. The availability of the sonogram (an x-ray
like diagnostic device based on ultra-sound technology), originally developed to identify genetic
or other disorders in the foetus, may be used to identify and selectively abort female foetuses.
The regional pattern of low child sex ratios seems to support this argument. It is striking that
the lowest child sex ratios are found in the most prosperous regions of India. Punjab, Haryana,
Chandigarh, Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra are among the richest states of India in terms of
per capita incomes, and they are also the states with the lowest child sex ratios. So the problem
of selective abortions is not due to poverty or ignorance or lack of resources. For example, if
practices like dowry mean that parents have to make large dowry payments to marry off their
daughters, then prosperous parents would be the ones most able to afford this. However, we
find the sex ratio is lowest in the most prosperous regions. It is also possible (though this issue
is still being researched) that as economically prosperous families decide to have fewer children
– often only one or two now – they may also wish to choose the sex of their child. This becomes
possible with the availability of ultra-sound technology, although the government has passed
strict laws banning this practice and imposing heavy fines and imprisonment as punishment.
Known as the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, this
.
law has been in force since 1996, and has been further strengthened in 2003. However, in the
long run the solution to problems like the bias against girl children depends more on how social
attitudes evolve, even though laws and rules can also help.
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4.3.3 The population pyramid (The age-sex pyramid)

The age-sex structure of a population refers to the number of females and males in different
age groups. A population pyramid is used to show the age-sex structure of the population. The
shape of the population pyramid reflects the characteristics of the population. The left side
shows the percentage of males while the right side shows the percentage of women in each age
group. The following three diagrams show different types of Population Pyramids.
Expanding Population
The age-sex pyramid in such a case is a
triangular shaped pyramid with a wide base
and is typical of less developed countries.
These have larger populations in lower age
groups due to high birth rates.
Constant Population
Here, the age-sex pyramid is bell shaped and
tapered towards the top. This shows birth
and death rates are almost equal leading to a
near constant population.
Declining Population
This pyramid has a narrow base and a tapered
top showing low birth and death rates. The
population growth in developed countries is
usually zero or negative.
.
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Population pyramid of India through years
These pyramids show the effect of a gradual fall in the birth rate and rise in the life expectancy.
As more and more people begin to live to an older age, the top of the pyramid grows wider. As
relatively fewer new births take place, the bottom of the pyramid grows narrower. But the birth
rate is slow to fall, so the bottom doesn’t change much between 1961 and 1981. The middle of
the pyramid grows wider and wider as its share of the total population increases. This creates a
‘bulge’ in the middle age groups that is clearly visible in the pyramid for 2026. This is what is
referred to as the ‘demographic dividend’ which will be discussed later.
.
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Regional variations in age-structure pyramid
As with fertility rates, there are wide regional variations in the age structure as well. While a
state like Kerala is beginning to acquire an
age structure like that of the developed
countries, Uttar Pradesh presents a very
different picture with high proportions in the
younger age groups and relatively low
proportions among the aged. India as a
whole is somewhere in the middle, because
it includes states like Uttar Pradesh as well as
states that are more like Kerala.
The following diagram shows the estimated

population pyramids for Uttar Pradesh and
Kerala in the year 2026. Note the difference
in the location of the widest parts of the
pyramid for Kerala and Uttar Pradesh. The
bias towards younger age groups in the age
structure is believed to be an advantage for
India. Like the East Asian economies in the
past decade and like Ireland today, India is
supposed to be benefitting from a
‘demographic dividend’. This dividend arises
from the fact that the current generation of
working-age people is a relatively large one,
and it has only a relatively small preceding
generation of old people to support. But
there is nothing automatic about this
advantage – it needs to be consciously
exploited through appropriate policies.
4.3.4 Literacy
Literacy as a prerequisite to education is an instrument of empowerment. The more literate the
population the greater the consciousness of career options, as well as participation in the
knowledge economy. Further, literacy can lead to health awareness and fuller participation in
the cultural and economic well-being of the community. Literacy levels have improved
considerably after independence and almost two-thirds of our population is now literate. But
improvements in the literacy rate have to struggle to keep up with the rate of growth of the
Indian population, which is still quite high. Enormous effort is needed to ensure the literacy of
the new generations – which are only just beginning to be smaller in numbers than in the past
(remember the discussion on age structure and the population pyramids earlier).
Literacy varies considerably across gender, across regions, and across social groups. As can be
seen, female literacy has been rising faster than male literacy, partly because it started from
.
relatively low levels. Literacy rates also vary by social group – historically disadvantaged
communities like the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have lower rates of literacy, and
rates of female literacy within these groups are even lower. Regional variations are still very
wide, with states like Kerala approaching universal literacy, while states like Bihar are lagging far
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behind. The inequalities in the literacy rate are specially important because they tend to
reproduce inequality across generations. Illiterate parents are at a severe disadvantage in
ensuring that their children are well educated, thus perpetuating existing inequalities. What can
you infer from Fig. S 13 and S 14?
4.3.5 Rural-Urban Composition
Composition of population by their respective places of residence is an important indicator of
social and economic characteristics. This division is necessary because rural and urban life styles
differ from each other in terms of their livelihood and social conditions. The age-sex-
occupational structure, density of population and level of development vary between rural and
urban areas.
WHAT IS URBAN?
An Urban area is basically an urban settlement, which is a kind of Human Settlement. (A Human
Settlement is defined as a place inhabited more or less permanently.)
The houses may be designed or redesigned, buildings may be altered, functions may change but
the ‘settlement’ continues in time and space. Can you think of an example which is in contrast
to this accepted definition of ‘Settlement’.
How do we define an ‘Urban’ area? It can be defined by evaluation across various parameters.
(i) DEMOGRAPHIC: Population Size is the most important characteristic in this aspect. However,
contrary to appearances, Size is not always decisive; it becomes difficult to separate large
villages and small towns on the basis of population size alone. Hence there is a need for
another parameter – which is Density of population. Thus countries with Low density of
population choose a lower number as the cut-off figure compared to densely populated
countries. For example,
 Denmark, Sweden, Finland – 250
 Canada & Venezuela – 1000
 Colombia – 1500
 Argentina/Portugal – 2000
 Thailand / USA -2500
 India – 5000
 Japan – 30000
In India the limits for an urban area, as defined by Census, are:
 A minimum population size of 5000 persons.
 Minimum Density of 400 persons/km2. (Approx. 1000 persons/mile2)
(ii) ECONOMIC: In India, at least 75% of the MALE working population should be engaged in
NON-AGRICULTURAL pursuits. (included in Census Definition)
(iii) ADMINISTRATIVE: All places with a Municipality, Corporation, Cantonment or Notified Area
Committee, etc. (Similar is the case in Brazil/Bolivia.)
eristics are treated
(iv) LOCATION
as (GEOGRAPHICAL):
.
tegories as such.
urban even if such places do not strictly satisfy the above mentioned c
Location of urban centers is examined with reference to their function. For example, the sitting
requirements of a holiday resort are quite different from that of an industrial town, a military
centre or a seaport. Strategic towns require sites offering natural defence; mining towns require
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the presence of economically valuable minerals; industrial towns generally need local energy
supplies or raw materials; tourist centers require attractive scenery, or a marine beach, a spring
with medicinal water or historical relics, ports require a harbour etc.
Locations of the earliest urban settlements were based on the availability of water, building
materials and fertile land. Today, while these considerations still remain valid, modern
technology plays a significant role in locating urban settlements far away from the source of
these materials. Piped water can be supplied to a distant settlement; building material can be
transported from long distances. Apart from site, the situation plays an important role in the
expansion of towns. The urban centers which are located close to an important trade route
have experienced rapid development.
(v) SOCIO-CULTURAL: Rural and urban settlements differ in terms of social relationship, attitude
and outlook. Rural people are less mobile and therefore, social relations among them are
intimate. In urban areas, on the other hand, way of life is complex and fast, and social relations
are formal. Some features are heterogeneity, impersonality, interdependence and increased use
of technology.
Depending on the size and the services available and functions rendered, urban centers are
designated as town, city, million city, conurbation, and megalopolis.
Town: The concept of ‘town’ can best be understood with reference to ‘village’. Population size
is not the only criterion. Functional contrasts between towns and villages may not always be
clear- cut, but specific functions such as, manufacturing, retail and wholesale trade, and
professional services exist in towns.
City: A city may be regarded as a leading town, which has outstripped its local or regional rivals.
In the words of Lewis Mumford, “the city is in fact the physical form of the highest and most
complex type of associative life”. Cities are much larger than towns and have a greater number
of economic functions. They tend to have transport terminals, major financial institutions and
regional administrative offices. When the population crosses the one million mark it is
designated as a million city.
Conurbation: The term conurbation was coined by Patrick Geddes in 1915 and applied to a
large area of urban development that resulted from the merging of originally separate towns or
cities. Greater London, Manchester, Chicago and Tokyo are examples. Can you find out an
example from India?
Megalopolis: This Greek word meaning “great city”, was popularized by Jean Gottman (1957)
and signifies ‘super- metropolitan’ region extending, as union of conurbations. The urban
landscape stretching from Boston in the north to south of Washington in U.S.A. is the best
known example of a megalopolis.
Million City: The number of million cities in the world has been increasing as never before.
London reached the million mark in 1800, followed by Paris in 1850, New York in 1860, and by
1950 there were around 80 such cities. The rate of increase in the number of million cities has
been three-fold in every three decades – around 160 in 1975 to around 438 in 2005.
Conclusively to define what is
ere is no standard
.
definition of urban; it varies from country to country (United Nations 2009). India’s urban areas
are defined on the basis of two criteria. First, the state government grants municipal status –
corporation, municipal council, notified town area committee or nagar panchayat, etc. – to a
settlement. Such settlements are known as statutory or municipal towns in the census
definition of urban areas. Second, if a settlement does not have an urban civic status, but
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satisfies demographic and economic criteria, like a population of more than 5,000, a density of
400 persons per square kilometer and 75% male workforce in the non-agricultural sector, it can
be declared urban. Such urban areas are termed census towns.
It is important to note that India’s urban definition is very broad-based and closely reflects
levels of development unlike several other developing countries. For example, in south Asia,
Nepal defines urban areas on the basis of population size only: a settlement with a population
of more than 9,000 is declared urban. On the other hand, countries such as Bangladesh, Sri
Lanka and Pakistan apply only the civic status criterion to declare a settlement urban (United
Nations 2009). In each census, the rural-urban framework is prepared based on the above
definition of urban. Many new towns are added and some existing towns revert to rural status if
they do not satisfy the criteria. Thus the rural-urban classification used in India is a dynamic
process, although there are some limitations to the definition (Bhagat 2005).
Classification of Towns on the basis of Population Size
Census of India classifies urban centres into six classes as shown below:
 Class I 100,000 or more
 Class II from 50,000 to 99,999
 Class III from 20,000 to 49,999
 Class IV from 10,000 to 19,999
 Class V from 5000 to 9999, and
 Class VI below 5000
An urban agglomeration (UA) is a continuous urban spread constituting a town and its adjoining
outgrowths (OGs) which have come up near a statutory town outside its statutory limits but
within the revenue limits of a village or villages contiguous to the town. An urban
agglomeration may consist of any one of the following three combinations: (i) a town and its
adjoining urban outgrowths, (ii) two or more contiguous towns with or without their
outgrowths, and (iii) a city and one or more adjoining towns with their outgrowths together
forming a contiguous spread. Examples of urban outgrowth are railway colonies, university
campus, port area, military cantonment, etc. located within the revenue limits of a village or
villages contiguous to the town or city.
Million Plus UAs/Towns: UAs/Towns which have a population of one million (10 Lakh) or above
each are known as Million Plus UAs/Cities.
Metro Cities: UAs/Towns which have a population of four million (40 Lakh) or above each are
known as Metro Cities. 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 has inserted a definition of
“Metropolitan area" as an area having a population of ten lakhs or more, comprised in one or
more districts and consisting of two or more Municipalities or Panchayats or other contiguous
areas, specified by the Governor by public notification to be a Metropolitan area.
Mega Cities: UAs with more than 10 million (100 lakh or 1 crore) persons are known as Mega
Cities.
URBANIZATION- LEVELS, TRENDS AND PATTERNS
n defined in terms of OF URBANIZATION:
LEVELS
proportion of urban population to total population.
.
TRENDS AND PATTERNS:

Refer to Table T3. The declining trend in the urban population growth rate observed during the
1980s and 1990s was reversed at the national level, and the level of urbanisation increased
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faster during 2001- 2011. The urban population grew from 286 million in 2001 to 377 million in
2011 – an increment of 91 million, which is larger than the rural population increment of 90.5
million for the first time since independence. A substantial increase in the urban population is
due to a net rural-urban classification (as will be seen subsequently) and rural-to-urban
migration. A huge number of new towns emerged during the last decade, contributing
significantly to the speeding up of urbanisation.
On the other hand, although the contribution of the natural increase in urban growth has
declined in terms of proportions, its share in absolute numbers (about 40 million) continues to
be huge due to the large base of the urban population. This has implications not only for
providing urban infrastructure and civic amenities, but also for reproductive and child health
services in urban areas.
In Rural-Urban classification: The UAs/Towns are grouped into the following categories on the
basis their population in Census.
Class I UAs/Towns: At the Census 2011, there are 468 such UAs/Towns. The corresponding
number in Census 2001 was 394. Around 70% of the total urban population lives in these Class I
UAs/Towns.
Mega Cities: Among the Million Plus UAs/Cities, there are three very large UAs with more than
10 million persons in the country, known as Mega Cities. These are Greater Mumbai UA (18.4
million), Delhi UA (16.3 million) and Kolkata UA (14.1million).The growth in population in the
Mega Cities has slowed down considerably during the last decade. Greater Mumbai UA, which
had witnessed 30.47% growth in population during 1991-2001 has recorded 12.05% during
2001-2011. Similarly Delhi (UA) (from 52.24% to 26.69% in 2001-2011) and Kolkata UA (from
19.60% to 6.87% in2001-2011) have also slowed down considerably.
On the whole, faster urbanisation shows geographical expansion through the emergence of
small towns and spill over from the existing big cities to it peripheral areas. Overall, the
emerging form of urbanisation is spatially distributed dominated by large number of medium
and small towns.
The sex ratio in our urban areas remains male dominated due to the predominance of male
migration. It is also worth noting that in countries like India, female participation in farming
activity in rural area is fairly high. Shortage of housing, high cost of living, paucity of job
opportunities and lack of security in cities, discourage women to migrate from rural to urban
areas.
4.3.6 Working Population Composition
The population of India according to their economic status is divided into three groups, namely;
main workers, marginal workers and non-workers.
Standard Census Definition:
Main Worker is a person who works for atleast 183
days in a year.
Marginal Worker is a person who works for less than
183 days in a year.
.
Work participation rate is defined as the percentage

of total workers (main and marginal) to total
population.
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It is observed that in India, the proportion of workers (both main and marginal) is only 39 per
cent (2001) leaving a vast majority of 61 per cent as non-workers. This indicates an economic
status in which there is a larger proportion of dependent population, further indicating possible
existence of large number of unemployed or under employed people.
The proportion of working population, of the states and Union Territories show a moderate
variation from about 25 per cent in Goa to about 53 per cent in Mizoram. The states with larger
percentages of workers are Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Meghalaya. Among the Union
Territories, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu have higher participation rate.
It is understood that, in the context of a country like India, the work participation rate tends to
be higher in the areas of lower levels of economic development since number of manual
workers are needed to perform the subsistence or near subsistence economic activities.
The occupational composition (see box) of India’s population (which actually means
engagement of an individual in farming, manufacturing trade, services or any kind of
professional activities) shows a large proportion of primary sector workers compared to
secondary and tertiary sectors. About 58.2 per cent of total working population are cultivators
and agricultural labourers, whereas only 4.2% of workers are engaged in household industries
and 37.6 % are other workers including non-household industries, trade, commerce,
construction and repair and other services. As far as the occupation of country’s male and
female population is concerned, male workers out-number female workers in all the three
sectors.
The number of female workers is relatively high in primary sector, though in recent years there
has been some improvement in work participation of women in secondary and tertiary sectors.
It is important to note that the proportion of workers in agricultural sector in India has shown a
decline over the last few decades (66.85% in 1991 to 58.2% in 2001).
Consequently, the participation rate in secondary and tertiary sector has registered an increase.
This indicates a shift of dependence of workers from farm-based occupations to nonfarm based
ones, indicating a sectoral shift in the economy of the country. The spatial variation of work
participation rate in different sectors in the country is very wide. For instance, the states like
Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland have very large shares of cultivators. On the other hand states
like Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh have
higher proportion of agricultural labourers. The highly urbanised areas like Delhi, Chandigarh
and Pondicherry have a very large proportion of workers being engaged in other services. This
indicates not only availability of limited farming land, but also large scale urbanisation and
industrialisation requiring more workers in non-farm sectors. (Table T4 and Fig. S 15)
5.0 Demographic Dividend

Does the changing age structure offer a ‘demographic dividend’ for India?
The demographic advantage or ‘dividend’ to be derived from the age structure of the
population is due to the fact that India is (and will remain for some time) one of the youngest
.
countries in the world. A third of India’s population was below 15 years of age in 2000. In 2020,
the average Indian will be only 29 years old, compared with an average age of 37 in China and
the United States, 45 in Western Europe, and 48 in Japan. This implies a large and growing
labour force, which can deliver unexpected benefits in terms of growth and prosperity. The
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‘demographic dividend’ results from an increase in the proportion of workers relative to non-
workers in the population. In terms of age, the working population is roughly that between 15
and 64 years of age. This working age group must support itself as well as those outside this age
group (i.e., children and elderly people) who are unable to work and are therefore dependents.
Changes in the age structure due to the demographic transition lower the ‘dependency ratio’, or
the ratio of non-working age to working-age population, thus creating the potential for
generating growth.
But this potential can be converted into actual growth only if the rise in the working age group
is accompanied by increasing levels of education and employment. If the new entrants to the
labour force are not educated then their productivity remains low. If they remain unemployed,
then they are unable to earn at all and become dependents rather than earners. Thus, changing
age structure by itself cannot guarantee any benefits unless it is properly utilised through
planned development. The real problem is in defining the dependency ratio as the ratio of the
non-working age to working-age population, rather than the ratio of non-workers to workers.
The difference between the two is determined by the extent of unemployment and
underemployment, which keep a part of the labour force out of productive work. This
difference explains why some countries are able to exploit the demographic advantage while
others are not.
India is indeed facing a window of opportunity created by the demographic dividend. The effect
of demographic trends on the dependency ratio defined in terms of age groups is quite visible.
The total dependency ratio fell from 79 in 1970 to 64 in 2005. But the process is likely to extend
well into this century with the age-based dependency ratio projected to fall to 48 in 2025
because of continued fall in the proportion of children and then rise to 50 by 2050 because of
an increase in the proportion of the aged. The problem, however, is employment. Data from the
National Sample Survey studies of 1999-2000 and from the 2001 Census of India reveal a sharp
fall in the rate of employment generation (creation of new jobs) across both rural and urban
areas. This is true for the young as well. The rate of growth of employment in the 15-30 age
group, which stood at around 2.4 per cent a year between 1987 and 1994 for both rural and
urban men, fell to 0.7 for rural men and 0.3 per cent for urban men during 1994 to 2004. This
suggests that the advantage offered by a young labour force is not being exploited.
Strategies exist to exploit the demographic window of opportunity that India has today. But
India’s recent experience suggests that market forces by themselves do not ensure that such
strategies would be implemented. Unless a way forward is found, we may miss out on the
potential benefits that the country’s changing age structure temporarily offers.
[Source: Adapted from an article by C.P. Chandrasekhar in Frontline Volume 23 - Issue 01,
January 14-27, 2006]
.
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6.0 Adolescents as a Distinct Population Group

An important aspect of population growth in India is the growth of its adolescents. At present
the share of adolescents i.e. up to the age group of 10-19 years is about 21 per cent (2011).
Refer Table T5. The
adolescent population,
though, regarded as the
youthful population having
high potentials, but at the
same time they are quite
vulnerable if not guided and
channelised properly. There
are many challenges for the
society as far as these
adolescents are concerned,
some of which are lower age
at marriage, illiteracy –
particularly female illiteracy, school dropouts, low intake of nutrients, high rate of maternal
mortality of adolescent mothers, high rates of HIV/AIDS infections, physical and mental
disability or retardedness, drug abuse and alcoholism, juvenile delinquency and committence of
crimes, etc.
In view of these, the Government of India has undertaken certain policies to impart proper
education to the adolescent groups so that their talents are better channelized and properly
utilized.
The National Population Policy 2000 identifies them as an “under-served population group”,
because their needs have not been specifically addressed so far. The Policy describes various
strategies to address different needs of adolescents. These are:
(i) provide accurate information about physical, physiological, psychological and social
changes and developments that take place during adolescence;
(ii) develop the needed life skills to empower them to avoid risky situations and to
attain sound physical, mental and social health;
(iii) provide food supplements and nutritional services; and
(iv) make available the needed health and counselling services available to them.
6.1 National Youth Policy
The vision of NYP-2014 is to empower youth to achieve their full potential, and through them
enable India to find its rightful place in the community of nations. For achieving this vision, the
Policy identifies five well-defined objectives and 11 priority areas and suggests policy
interventions in each priority area. The priority areas are education, skill development and
employment, entrepreneurship, health and healthy lifestyle, sports, promotion of social values,
community engagement, participation in politics and governance, youth engagement, inclusion
and social justice.
The focused approach on youth development and empowerment involving all stakeholders, as
.
envisaged in NYP-2014, would result in development of an educated and healthy young

population, who are not only economically productive, but are also socially responsible citizens
contributing to the task of nation-building.
It will cover the entire country catering the needs of all youth in the age-group of 15-29 years,
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which constitutes 27.5 per cent of the population according to Census-2011, that is about 33
crore persons. It will replace NYP-2003, to take care of developments since 2003 and future
policy imperatives.
The NYP-2014 proposes broad policy interventions for the youth consistent with the 12thPlan
priorities and does not propose any specific programme/ scheme, having financial implications.
All concerned Ministries/ Department would be requested to bring focus on youth issues within
the framework of their plans/ programmes/ schemes etc.
The NYP 2014 will be implemented in four steps -
1) GOI will formulate an action plan within 6 months for the implementation of the policy
across all the concerned ministries and department;
2) The MYAS also constituted a Youth Council consisting of exceptional youth from across the
country to oversee the implementation of the policy;
3) A set of short-term and long-term indicators for measuring the success of the policy, and;
4) The youth are encouraged to engage their elected representatives and the government if
there is any shortcomings in the implementation of youth oriented schemes as outlined in the
NYP.
.
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6.2 National Policy on Senior Citizens

The foundation of the new policy, known as the “National Policy for Senior Citizens 2011” is
based on several factors. These include the demographic explosion among the elderly, the
changing economy and social milieu, advancement in medical research, science and technology
and high levels of destitution among the elderly rural poor (51 million elderly live below the
poverty line). A higher proportion of elderly women than men experience loneliness and are
dependent on children. Social deprivations and exclusion, privatization of health services and
changing pattern of morbidity affect the elderly. All those of 60 years and above are senior
citizens. This policy addresses issues concerning senior citizens living in urban and rural areas,
special needs of the oldest, old and older women. (Table T6 and Fig. S 16)
In principle the policy values an age integrated society. It will endeavour to strengthen
integration between generations, facilitate interaction between the old and the young as well
as strengthen bonds between different age groups. It believes in the development of a formal
and informal social support system, so that the capacity of the family to take care of senior
citizens is strengthened and they continue to live in the family. The policy seeks to reach out in
particular to the bulk of senior citizens living in rural areas who are dependent on family bonds
and intergenerational understanding and support.
The focus of the new policy:
 Mainstream the concerns of senior citizens, especially older women, and bring them
into the national development debate;
 Promote income security, homecare services, old age pension, healthcare insurance
schemes, housing and other programmes/ services;
 Promote care of senior citizens within the family and to consider institutional care as a
last resort;
 Work towards an inclusive, barrier-free and age-friendly society;
 Recognize senior citizens as a valuable resource for the country, protect their rights and
ensure their full participation in society;
 Promote long term savings instruments and credit activities in both rural and urban
areas;
 Encourage employment in income generating activities after superannuation;
 Support organizations that provide counseling, career guidance and training services;
etc.
7.0 Population Policies in India

It will be clear from the discussion in this chapter that population dynamics is an important
matter and that it crucially affects the developmental prospects of a nation as well as the health
and well-being of its people. This is particularly true of developing countries who have to face
special challenges in this regard.
Do you know that discussions on population growth and the need to adopt a population policy
opulation was had begun
set up by in India even before Independence? A Sub
.
the National Planning Committee appointed in 1938by the Interim Government. This
Committee, in its resolution in 1940 said, “in the interest of social economy, family happiness
and national planning, family planning and a limitation of children are essential”.
It is hardly surprising therefore that India has had an official population policy for more than a
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half century. In fact, India was perhaps the first country to explicitly announce such a policy in
1952. The aim of the programme was to reduce birth rates “to stabilize the population at a level
consistent with the requirement of national economy”.
The population policy took the concrete form of the National Family Planning Programme. The
broad objectives of this programme have remained the same – to try to influence the rate and
pattern of population growth in socially desirable directions. In the early days, the most
important objective was to slow down the rate of population growth through the promotion of
various birth control methods, improve public health standards, and increase public awareness
about population and health issues. Over the past half-century or so, India has many significant
achievements to her credit in the field of population, as summarised:
India’s Demographic Achievement
Half a century after formulating the national family welfare programme, India has:
 reduced crude birth rate from 40.8 (1951) to 24.1 (2004, SRS);
 reduced the infant mortality rate from 146 per 1000 live births (1951) to 58 per 1000
live births (2004, SRS);
 quadrupled the couple protection rate from 10.4 percent (1971) to 44 percent (1999);
 reduced crude death rate from 25 (1951) to 7.5 (2004, SRS);
 added 25 years to life expectancy from 37 years to 62 years;
 achieved nearly universal awareness of the need for and methods of family planning,
and„ halved the total fertility rate from 6.0 (1951) to 3.0 (2004, SRS).
Source: National Commission on Population.
The Family Planning Programme suffered a setback during the years of the National Emergency
(1975-76). Normal parliamentary and legal procedures were suspended during this time and
special laws and ordinances issued directly by the government (without being passed by
Parliament) were in force. During this time the government tried to intensify the effort to bring
down the growth The Family Planning Programme suffered a setback during the years of the
National Emergency (1975-76). Normal parliamentary and legal procedures were suspended
during this time and special laws and ordinances issued directly by the government (without
being passed by Parliament) were in force. During this time the government tried to intensify
the effort to bring down the growth rate of population by introducing a coercive programme of
mass sterilisation. Here sterilisation refers to medical procedures like vasectomy (for men) and
tubectomy (for women) which prevent conception and childbirth. Vast numbers of mostly poor
and powerless people were forcibly sterilised and there was massive pressure on lower level
government officials (like school teachers or office workers) to bring people for sterilisation in
the camps that were organised for this purpose. There was widespread popular opposition to
this programme, and the new government elected after the Emergency abandoned it.
The National Family Planning Programme was renamed as the National Family Welfare
Programme after the Emergency, and coercive methods were no longer used. The programme
now has a broad-based set of socio-demographic objectives. A new set of guidelines were
formulated as part of the National Population Policy of the year 2000.
.
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NATIONAL POPULATION POLICY 2000

The National Population Policy 2000 has made a qualitative departure in its approach to
population issues. It does not directly lay emphasis on population control. It states that the
objective of economic and social development is to improve the quality of lives that people
lead, to enhance their
well-being, and to provide
the opportunities and
choices to become
productive assets
(resources) in the society.
Stabilizing population is an
essential requirement for
promoting sustainable
development. The
immediate objective of
the NPP 2000 is to address
the unmet needs for
contraception, health care
infrastructure, and health
personnel, and to provide
integrated service delivery
for basic reproductive and
child health care. The
medium term objective is
to bring the total fertility
rate (TFR) to replacement
levels by 2010 through
vigorous implementation
of inter-sectoral operational strategies. The long term objective is to achieve a stable
population by 2045 with sustainable economic growth, social development, and environmental
protection.
Total Fertility Rate at Replacement Level: It is the total fertility rate at which newborn girls
would have an average of exactly one daughter over their lifetimes. In more familiar terms,
every woman has as many babies as needed to replace her. It results into zero population
growth.
Stable Population: A population where fertility and mortality are constant over a period of
time. This type of population will show an unvarying age distribution and will grow at a
constant rate. Where fertility and mortality are equal, the stable population is stationary.
The history of India’s National Family Welfare Programme teaches us that while the state can do
a lot to try and create the conditions for demographic change, most demographic variables
(specially those related to human fertility) are ultimately matters of economic, social and
cultural change.
.
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8.0 Reproductive Health

Reproductive Health was given an international consensus definition at the International
Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in 1994.
Within the framework of the World Health Organization's (WHO) definition of health as a state
of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or
infirmity, reproductive health, or sexual health/hygiene, addresses the reproductive processes,
functions and system at all stages of life.
.
At its core is promotion of reproductive health, voluntary and safe - sexual and reproductive
choices for individuals and couples, including decisions on family size and timing of marriage.
Sexuality and reproduction are vital aspects of personal identity and are fundamental to human
well-being fulfilling relationship within diverse cultural contexts.
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Sound reproductive health is integral to the vision that every child is wanted, every birth is safe,
every young person is free from HIV, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity. Implicit
in this vision is the idea that men and women will be able to exercise their rights to information
on and access to safe, affordable and acceptable methods of fertility regulation as well as
quality health care services. The latter will enable women to experience safe pregnancy and
childbirth, across the world. Poor women, especially in developing countries, suffer
disproportionately from unintended pregnancies, maternal death and disability, sexually
transmitted infections including HIV, gender based violence and other problems related to their
reproductive system and sexual behavior.
India snapshot
There are several reproductive health concerns in India which need to be addressed in order to
improve reproductive health status of people. In the following paragraphs, an attempt has been
made to highlight some of the major concerns.
High unwanted fertility
 As per the National Family Health Survey III - 2005-2006 (NFHS-III), nearly 21%
pregnancies are either unwanted or mis-timed.
 Total fertility refers to mean number of children born per woman in the age group of
15-49 years. Total wanted fertility represents the level of fertility that will result
theoretically, if all unwanted births are prevented. Total wanted fertility rate in urban
areas is 1.6 and in rural areas 2.6, while total fertility rate is 2.06 in urban areas and
2.98 in rural areas.
 Unmet need for family planning is an important indicator for assessing potential
demand for family planning in India There is a high unmet need for family planning,
with 6.2 % for spacing and 6.6% for limiting methods among currently married women.
Unmet need is also high amongst the illiterate and in the lowest wealth quintile.
 Male participation in sharing responsibility for contraception is low. As per NFHS –III,
male sterilisation was accepted by only 1% of currently married couples.
High maternal mortality
India’s maternal mortality ratio is unacceptably high at 230 per 100,000 live births (2008) as per
UN estimates. Nearly 63,000 Indian women, accounting for almost 18 per cent of estimated
global maternal deaths, die every year due to causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. The
lifetime risk of maternal mortality is 1 in 70; i.e. one in every 70 pregnant women is at risk of
death, even as she gives birth. Available data also indicates that a significant proportion of
women suffer from obstetric morbidities.
Sexually Transmitted Infections/Reproductive Tract Infections
Several studies highlight the widespread prevalence of sexually transmitted and reproductive
tract infections. In a nation-wide community-based study, prevalence was nearly 6% in the 15-
50 years age group. The problem is further compounded by the prevailing culture of silence, as
women are generally reluctant to seek medical treatment for these symptoms.
.
Government policies/programmes
In 1951, India became the world’s first nation to launch a family planning programme. Decades
later, when the International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, 1994)
prompted a paradigm shift in population programmes, with the advocacy of client-centered and
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quality-oriented reproductive health approaches, India formulated appropriate policy and

programmatic responses:
 The National Population Policy was formulated in the year 2000. It affirms the
government’s commitment to promote voluntary and informed choice, and
continuation of the target-free approach in family planning service delivery.
 The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was launched in 2005. It aims to revamp
the public healthcare delivery system and seeks to provide accessible, affordable and
quality healthcare to rural population
 A national level Reproductive and Child Health Programme II (RCH II) was introduced in
2005 and focuses on addressing reproductive health needs of the population through
evidence-based technical intervention through wide range of service delivery network.
There is implicit emphasis on addressing the equity dimension in coverage, while
maintaining focus on quality.
 Conditional Cash Transfer schemes like Janani Suraksha Yojana (for promoting
institutional deliveries) were introduced to help address economic barriers for access to
services.
 A Strategic Approach to Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health
(RMNCH+A) in India is the latest programme taking care of this aspect.
Better access to services is the key
Reproductive health programmes must place emphasis on improving access to quality
reproductive health services by gender sensitive providers. Maternal death and disability can
be reduced dramatically if every woman has access to health services throughout her lifecycle,
especially during pregnancy and childbirth. The highest priority needs to be given to ensuring
that women have access to skilled birth attendants at the time of giving birth and that women
who develop life-threatening complications during pregnancy, childbirth or post-partum can
immediately access treatment at adequately-equipped facilities. The focus needs to be on
eliminating delays in decision- making to seek services, ensuring timely transportation to
proper facilities and enabling prompt treatment on arrival at facilities.
The importance of Family Planning: The number of unwanted and closely spaced births can be
drastically reduced by providing access to quality contraceptive services. It is vital that services
are available to women and men from lower income quintiles, especially in rural areas, which
are currently under serviced.
Moreover, a set of emerging issues, such as infertility, reproductive cancers, morbidities such as
prolapse and gender based violence, need to be studied and addressed.
In addition, programmes need to focus on preventing and treating reproductive tract and
sexually transmitted infections and meeting unmet reproductive health needs of underserved
groups, such as adolescents and people living with HIV/AIDS with special reference to
information, counseling and services.
Reproductive health concerns cut across many socio–economic aspects. Indeed, the health
sector alone cannot resolve them. Yet, many problems and their costly consequences can be
averted if reproductive health is routinely addressed within the context of primary health care
.
as a first line of prevention and care. To achieve this, it is vital to strengthen health systems,
build trust among the communities they serve and expand access to reproductive health
programmes that take in to account to social, cultural, economic and gender dimensions.
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9.0 Appendix
Fig. - S1
.
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Fig. - S2
.
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Fig. - S3
.
Table T1
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Fig. - S4
.
Fig. - S5
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Fig S6
Trivia: Population Doubling Time: Population doubling time is the time taken by any population
to double itself at its current annual growth rate.
Fig. - S7 – Age Structure in India 2011

.
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Table T2
.
Fig. – S8
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Fig. - S9
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Fig. - S 10
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Fig. - S 11
Fig. S 12
.
Fig. - S 13
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Fig. - S 14 – Literacy Rate – India 2011

.
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Table T3
.
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Fig S 15
.
Table T5
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Table T6 – Old Age Population Projection
Fig. - S 16
.

All rights are reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without prior permission of Vision IAS
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VISIONIAS ™
www.visionias.in
SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS
.


Student Notes:
Contents
1.0 What next after Population? .................................................................................................... 2
2.0 What is Society? ....................................................................................................................... 2
3.0 What are the Patterns of social relationships so formed? ....................................................... 2
3.1 Apart from the functional aspects, are these Social Relationships also unequal in nature?2
4.0 Coming back, do these Social Relationships have a more concrete entity? ............................ 3
5.0 What are these Laws that define the Social relationships? ..................................................... 4
6.0 Are these Social Institutions found in all cultures and in all societies? ................................... 4
6.1 Social Institutions ................................................................................................................. 4
6.1.1 Family ............................................................................................................................ 4
6.1.2 Marriage ........................................................................................................................ 6
6.1.3 Kinship ........................................................................................................................... 9
6.2 Caste and the Caste System ................................................................................................. 9
6.2.1 How has caste been traditionally defined? ................................................................. 10
6.2.2 Caste in the Present .................................................................................................... 12
6.2.3 Caste System as a Discriminatory System ................................................................... 15
6.3 Tribal Communities ............................................................................................................ 18
6.3.1 Classifications of Tribal Societies ................................................................................. 18
6.3.2 Mainstream Attitude Towards Tribes .......................................................................... 19
6.3.4 National Development VS. Tribal Development.......................................................... 20
6.3.5 Tribal Identity Today .................................................................................................... 21
6.3.6 Adivasi Struggle ........................................................................................................... 21
6.4 Economic Institutions ......................................................................................................... 22
................................... 25
6.5 Political Institutions................................
.
6.6 Religion ............................................................................................................................... 27
7.0 To Define ................................................................................................................................ 29
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SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS IN INDIA & THEIR SALIENT FEATURES
1.0 What next after Population?

Having studied the structure and dynamics of the population of India previously, we turn now
to the study of social institutions. A population is not just a collection of separate, unrelated
individuals, it is a society made up of distinct but interlinked classes and communities of various
kinds. These communities are sustained and regulated by social institutions and social
relationships. In this module we will be looking forward to understand these institutions that
are central to Indian society.
2.0 What is Society?

Society refers to the sum total of relationships existing among several individuals. In common
sense, society is understood as tangible- a congregation of collectivity of several individuals.
However, it also a mental construct which we realize in everyday life but cannot see it.
This construct is a network of social relationships. That means that an individual is related to
others through the ties of kinship, marriage, neighbourhood, caste, occupation, religions,
political parties, and peers. Thus, an individual becomes part and parcel of several groups
through these different multiple relationships. These relationships do not occur at random.
Rather these are patterned. Therefore, we can now define society as the pattern of social
relationships formed through interaction of its members.
3.0 What are the Patterns of social relationships so formed?

The patterns include – likeness and differentiation, mutual inter-dependence, and co-operation
and conflict. Take for example, a family. Members of a family have a feeling of likeness for each
other. However, even within a family, members differ from one another in terms of gender, age,
personality, outlook and personal preferences. However, these differences complement each
other in such a way that family stability is maintained. All members of the family are also
dependent on each other for their needs. And each co-operates to synergize the working of the
family. Despite conflicting relations amongst siblings or other relationships, family continues to
thrive and exist harmoniously.
3.1 Apart from the functional aspects, are these Social Relationships also
.
unequal in nature?
Yes. The very social institutions that play a significant role in forming communities and
sustaining society also do play a role in creating and sustaining patterns of inequality and
exclusion. It is to say ‘social’ because they are not about individuals but about groups. Second,
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they are social in the sense that they are not economic, although there is usually a strong link
between social and economic inequality. Third, they are systematic and structured – there is a
definite pattern to social inequalities.
Patterns of unequal access to social resources are commonly called social inequality. By and
large, social inequality is not the outcome of innate or ‘natural’ differences between people,
but is produced by the society in which they live. There is a system of ‘social stratification’ by
which categories of people in a society are ranked in a hierarchy. This hierarchy then shapes
people’s identity and experiences, their relations with others, as well as their access to
resources and opportunities. The basis of this stratification can be any – economic resources,
gender, religion, ethnicity, language, caste and disability.
Often such stratifications reflect prejudices. Prejudices refer to pre-conceived opinions or

attitudes held by members of one group towards another. Prejudices are often grounded in
stereotypes, fixed and inflexible characterisations of a group of people. If prejudice describes
attitudes and opinions, discrimination refers to actual behaviour towards another group or
individual. Discrimination can be seen in practices that disqualify members of one group from
opportunities open to others, as when a person is refused a job because of their gender or
religion. Discrimination can be very hard to prove because it may not be open or explicitly
stated.
Continuous discrimination leads to ‘Social Exclusion’, which refers to ways in which individuals
may become cut off from full involvement in the wider society. It focuses attention on a broad
range of factors that prevent individuals or groups from having opportunities open to the
majority of the population. It is important to note that social exclusion is involuntary – that is,
exclusion is practiced regardless of the wishes of those who are excluded. Prolonged experience
of discriminatory or insulting behaviour often produces a reaction on the part of the excluded
who then stop trying for inclusion.
India like most societies has been marked by acute practices of social discrimination and
exclusion. At different periods of history protest movements arose against caste, gender and
religious discrimination. Yet prejudices remain and often, new ones emerge. Thus legislation
alone is unable to transform society or produce lasting social change. A constant social
campaign to change awareness and sensitivity is required to break them.
4.0 Coming back, do these Social Relationships have a more concrete

entity?
When members of any group, small or large, live together in such a way that they share the
basic conditions of a common life, we call that group a Community. Thus, a Community is
usually associated with a definite territory, with a stronger sense of belongingness.
Also an Association is a group of people, who come together and get organised for fulfilment of
.
specific goals or purpose. While society and community function through customs, traditions
and unwritten laws; the association mostly functions through written laws and rules.
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5.0 What are these Laws that define the Social relationships?
If society/ community/ association refer to the social relationships amongst individuals, then,
the rules and procedures that define such relationships are called Social Institutions.
You may be wondering that by Institution, we generally mean an organisation, for example
hospitals and schools. However, just as Society has two different meanings, so does the term
‘Social Institution’. It refers to the established codes of conduct (they may be written or
unwritten) for carrying out group activities. Have you ever realized that why do you go to
church/temple/mosque for worship? In fact, people unconsciously imbibe codes of conduct for
worship, which the religious institutions lay down in society. You cannot see them but they are
there – which provide do’s and don’ts for your behaviour. These are recognized and accepted by
society and they regulate the relations between individuals and group.
Can you give an example which explains the concepts above?
6.0 Are these Social Institutions found in all cultures and in all societies?
There are some primary social institutions that are basic to the survival of any society. They can
be categorized as:
1. * Social Institutions (ex. Family, marriage, kinship, caste)

2. Economic Institutions (ex. Work and labour, market)
3. Political Institutions
4. Religion
5. Education or Socialization; and
6. Expressive institutions such as music, dance, fine arts and literature etc.
The first 4 institutions are found in almost all human societies, and so are called Universal
Institutions. There are some other secondary institutions which are specific to a particular
society and culture. Together, these lay down standard procedures of social living in all societies
and cultures. These institutions do not exist in isolation, rather, there are close connections
between them. Although the number of institutions vary from one society to another. Highly
developed and differentiated societies, like those in contemporary industrial world, have a
larger number of institutions than the simple societies of tribals and nomads. Can you suggest a
reason for this?
Let us understand these institutions one by one!
6.1 Social Institutions

6.1.1 Family
.
Each one of us is born into a family, and most of us spend long years within it. Usually we feel
very strongly about our family. Sometimes we feel very good about our parents, grandparents,
siblings, uncles, aunts and cousins, whereas at others we don’t. On the one hand, we resent
their interference, and yet we miss their overbearing ways when we are away from them. The
family is a space of great warmth and care. It has also been a site of bitter conflicts, injustice
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and violence. Female infanticide, violent conflicts between brothers over property and ugly
legal disputes are as much part of family and kinship as are stories of compassion, sacrifice and
care.
A family is socially defined as a set of relationships between (at least) two persons who are
related by birth, marriage or adoption; usually to provide for procreation, upbringing and
socialization of children.
There is a difference between a family and a household. A household need not include only
family members. It may sometimes include all such persons who may or may not be related to
each other but share the same dwelling unit. The dwelling unit may be a house, an apartment,
or a room. A person living alone is considered living in a household but not in a family.
Types of Family
Family is of many types. There are various factors, which are taken into account while
classifying the family.
1. Residence: Depending on the place of residence of newly-wedded husband and wife.

They are of 3 types: Patrilocal, Matrilocal and Neolocal.
2. Authority: Patriarchal, Matriarchal
3. Size: Nuclear Family, Joint/ Extended Family
Joint Family in India
Joint family in India has been defined as a group of people belonging to 3 or more generations
who live under the same roof, eat food cooked from the same hearth, and participate in
common activities. These people have common rights in the property.
However, it is not always necessary to share residence and kitchen for members of a joint
family. Two or more families having kinship relationships who may live separately, but share
emotional bonds, joint property and function under one authority can also be termed as
constituting a joint family.
Joint family has an authoritarian structure, with the power to take decisions regarding matters
related to family and individuals lie in the hands of head of the family. It is taken as final and
everyone has to abide by it. Also the interest of the family as a whole is more important than
the individual’s interest. One has to sacrifice one’s personal wishes, likes and dislikes, these go
against family norms or rules or traditions. The status of members is determined by their age
and relationship. Also the Blood relationship gets preference over marital relationship. The
family functions on the ideal of joint responsibility. The family income is pooled together and
needs of the individual members are met according to their needs and not according to their
contribution.
However, the description of joint family along with its characteristics as given above constitutes
-manner having lost
an ideal picture. In reality, therefore, joint family functions in less than ideal
.
many of its ideal characteristics, at least partly.
How does the Institution of Joint Family integrate with other social and economic institutions?
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Changes and Factors of Change in the Family
Factors such as: Industrialization, Urbanization, Western culture, modern education, legislative
measures, family quarrels, emergence of alternative associations to family; are bringing in
changes in family structure and functions. Some of them are:
 Size of family has been reduced.

 Interaction on equal terms among its members.
 Conflict between old and new generation.
 More freedom in the selection of marital partners
 Kinship ties are no longer very important.
 Live-in relationship and co-habitation.
 Family as no longer the unit of production (economic) in most of the societies.
 Families have become more child-centric.
 Other institutions for various family functions – creches, old- people’s homes
 Problem of instability, increasing divorce and consequent problem in upbringing of
children of divorced parents.
 Some employed couples are opting not to have children and they are termed as DINK
families.
6.1.2 Marriage
Marriage can be defined as a socially acknowledged and approved sexual union between two
adult individuals. When two people marry, they become kin to one another. The marriage bond
in Indian society also, however, connects together a wider range of people. Parents, brothers,
sisters and other blood relatives become relatives of the partner through marriage. The family
of birth is called family of orientation and the family in which a person is married is called the
family of procreation.
Forms of Marriage
Marriage has a large variety of forms. These forms can be identified on the basis of the number
of partners and rules governing who can marry whom. In terms of the number of partners that
can legitimately enter into matrimony, we have two forms of marriage, namely, monogamy and
polygamy.
Monogamy restricts the individual to one spouse at a time. Under this system, at any given time
a man can have only one wife and a woman can have only one husband. Even where polygamy
is permitted, in actual practice, monogamy is more widely prevalent. In many societies,
individuals are permitted to marry again, often on the death of the first spouse or after divorce.
But they cannot have more than one spouse at one and the same time. Such a monogamous
marriage is termed serial monogamy. Remarriages on the death of a wife have been a norm for
men for the most part. But as all of you are aware that the right for upper caste Hindu widows
was denied and that the campaign for widow remarriage was a major issue in the 19th century
reform movements. Polygamy denotes marriage to more than one mate at one time and takes
.
the form of either: Polygyny (one husband with two or more wives) or Polyandry (one wife with
two or more husbands).
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The Matter of Arranging Marriages: Rules and Prescriptions
In some societies, the decisions regarding mate selection are made by parents/relatives; in
some other societies individuals are relatively free to choose their own mates.
Rules of Endogamy and Exogamy
In some societies these restrictions are subtle, while in some others, individuals who can or
cannot be married, are more explicitly and specifically defined. Forms of marriage based on
rules governing eligibility/ ineligibility of mates is classified as endogamy and exogamy.
Endogamy requires an individual to marry within a culturally defined group of which he or she
is already a member, as for example, caste. Exogamy, the reverse of endogamy, requires the
individual to marry outside of his/her own group. Endogamy and exogamy are in reference to
certain kinship units, such as, clan, caste and racial, ethnic or religious groupings. In India,
village exogamy is practised in certain parts of north India. Village exogamy ensured that
daughters were married into families from villages far away from home. This arrangement
ensured smooth transition and adjustment of the bride into the affinal home without
interference of her kinsmen. The geographical distance plus the unequal relationship in the
patrilineal system ensured that married daughters did not get to see their parents too often.
Thus parting from natal home was a sad occasion and is the theme of folk songs, which depict
the pain of departure.
Can you think of Inter-caste marriages in the Indian society? What form of it could be allowed?
How is it changing now?
Apart from the Prohibitive Rules mentioned above, there are certain Prescriptive Rules too!
They are:
 Parallel Cousin Marriage – It is the marriage between the children of either two
brothers or two sisters. Such marriages are aimed at strengthening the bond among
two brothers or two sisters. Such marriages are exceptions to the rule of clan exogamy.
Parallel cousin marriage is preferred among Muslims.
 Cross-cousin Marriage – It is the marriage of a man with his maternal uncle’s daughter
(mother’s brother’s daughter) or paternal aunt’s daughter (father’s sister’s daughter). In
the Marathi, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada speaking areas, such marriages are preferred.
Practice of Dowry
Broadly speaking, dowry refers to a specific category of gifts given by the bride’s side to the
groom’s side. As a matter of fact, this act confers prestige and honour to both the sides. Can
you think how?
Today, in legal terms, dowry constitutes what is given to the son-in-law and or to his parents on
demand either in cash or in kind by the bride’s side. There are, of course, regional variations in
-
the practice and people’s understanding of the term ‘dowry’. Some view it mainly as ‘groom
.
price’ and often the price paid to the groom depends on the groom’s qualifications, job, social
status regardless of the bride’s parents’ ability to pay the price demanded by the groom’s side.
Some include in the custom of dowry i) what is given to the bride during and after the wedding,
during occasions like festivals, child birth, initiation etc. in the first few years of marriage ii)
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what is given to the bridegroom before or after marriage and iii) what is presented to the in-
laws of the girl.
The practice of giving gift to the girl at the time of and after the wedding has been viewed as
streedhana. This means that the gifts given to the daughter are a kind of property given to the
daughter of the house who has to leave her natal home to join her husband. Streedhana
reflects the notion of female right to property. It is looked as a source of wealth for the married
daughter to fall back in times of crisis and need.
Today, the practice of dowry has taken a very ugly turn. In many instances, the practice of
dowry has worsened. Highly qualified boys demand a high dowry. As a result of increase in
dowry demand, parents often are unable to get their daughters married. If they do, they get
them married beyond their means and are subject to different kinds of continuing pressures in
the form of dowry demands from the groom’s side. We often hear of dowry deaths or the girl
being sent back to her parents’ home for not fulfilling the dowry demands. Today, we even hear
cases of unmarried girls committing suicide in order to ease the burden of their anxious, guilt-
ridden parents, who have not been able to settle a marriage for them.
In 1961, the Government of India passed the Dowry Prohibition Act. In 1984 and again in 1986,
the Act was amended to make the law more stringent and effective. For instance, today, the
husband and his family can be penalised for demanding dowry if his bride dies within seven
years of the marriage in other than normal circumstance. We even have a Dowry Prohibition
Cell to look into complaints about dowry.
All this does not mean that there are no marriages taking place without dowry. There are
progressive young people who voice their strong opinion against dowry and marry without it.
There are at the same time, young, educated people who accept this practice and say they see
no harm in it. Some get away by saying that it is their parents (whose wishes they never want to
disobey) who perpetuate this practice. Even among other communities, like the Muslim and
Christian, some people demand dowry. Often, discord in family is caused because of the
continuous demand for dowry even after marriage. This may lead to divorce.
Changes and Recent Trends in Marriage
 Attitude towards marriage is changing. It is becoming more and more utility-based.

 Process of selection of marital partner is done more by boys and girls themselves. The
role of parents in the selection of mates id decreasing – especially in urban areas. The
number of Marriages by Choice has also been increasing vis-a-vis arranged marriages.
 The criteria of selection has also undergone considerable change. Along with status,
due importance is also given to the comparative merit of the boy and the girl, their likes
and dislikes as well.
 Individuals are increasingly getting married at a later age.
 Increasing number of divorces and re-marriages.
 The dowry demand is touching new heights among certain sections of society. Despite
the Dowry Prohibition Act in place, girls are being harassed and even killed by their in-
.
laws for bringing insufficient dowry.

 More number of inter-caste marriages and inter-religious marriages are being
recognized and accepted.
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6.1.3 Kinship
Kinship ties are connections between individuals, established either through marriage or
through the lines of descent that connect blood relatives (mothers, fathers, siblings, offspring,
etc.) The kin who are related through “blood” are called consanguinal kin while the kin who are
related through marriage are called affines. Kinship is the social recognition and expression of
family relationship.
Kinship is significant in several ways for individuals as well as groups. It provides identity and
status, social and psychological security and definite patterns of behaviour and roles to
individuals. Kinship is the basis of group formation. It enhances group solidarity, organizes the
group against enemies, controls religious and social interaction, including marriage and
regulates gathering on ritual and religious ceremonies. Inheritance of status, property and
family name is decided on the basis of kinship. Kinship group help their kinsmen in securing
political power, occupational benefits and economic gains.
Rules of Descent connect or affiliate individuals with particular set of kins on the basis of
known or presumed ancestry. In India, we generally find the unilateral descent systems – the
patrilineal and matrilineal, the prior one being the more common.
Patrilineal Descent: Herein the descent is traced through the male line. A man’s son inherits his
status, name and property.
Matrilineal Descent: Here the descent is traced through the female line. Only the daughter of
the woman can inherit her name, status and property. The son is a member of matrilineal group
but cannot inherit anything. It is found among Khasi or Garo of north-east India.
Some of the important groups based on principles of unilateral descent are as follows:
Lineage: It consists of all the consanguinal blood relatives who claim their descent from a
known common ancestor who existed in reality in the known past. It is a strictly exogamous
group. Each lineage is split into a number of families. Lineage members may or may not share a
common residence. Can you connect with the concept of Joint Family here?
Clan: It includes a set of kins whose members believe themselves to be descended from a
common ancestor, but the actual genealogical link may not be demonstrated. The common
ancestor is often a mythical figure such as a saint or a Rishi as in Hindu society. It is called
‘Gotra’ in hindi. The clan grouping is mainly taken into account while initiating marriage
negotiations. It is an exogamous group.
Caste (read Jati) and sub-caste (read sub-Jati) are endogamous groups. Each sub-caste has
several clans within it.
6.2 Caste and the Caste System

.
social institution
Likethat
any Indian, you already k
has been part of Indian history and culture for thousands of years. But like any Indian living in
the twenty-first century, you also know that something called ‘caste’ is definitely a part of
Indian society today. To what extent are these two ‘castes’ – the one that is supposed to be part
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of India’s past, and the one that is part of its present – the same thing? This is the question that
we will try to answer in this section.
At the outset, caste is an institution uniquely associated with the Indian sub-continent.
Although it is an institution characteristic of Hindu society, caste has spread to the major non-
Hindu communities of the Indian sub-continent. This is especially true of Muslims, Christians
and Sikhs.
6.2.1 How has caste been traditionally defined?
As is well-known, the English word ‘caste’ is actually a borrowing from the Portuguese ‘casta’,
meaning pure breed. The word refers to a broad institutional arrangement that in Indian
languages (beginning with the ancient Sanskrit) is referred to by two distinct terms, Varna and
Jati. Varna, literally ‘colour’, is the name given to a four-fold division of society into Brahmana,
Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra, though this excludes a significant section of the population
composed of the ‘outcastes’, foreigners, slaves, conquered peoples and others, sometimes
referred to as the Panchamas or fifth category. Jati is a generic term referring to species or kinds
of anything, ranging from inanimate objects to plants, animals and human beings. Jati is the
word most commonly used to refer to the institution of caste in Indian languages, though it is
interesting to note that, increasingly, Indian language speakers are beginning to use the English
word ‘caste’.
While Varna is taken as a broad all-India aggregative classification, Jati is taken to be a regional
or local sub-classification involving a much more complex system consisting of hundreds or
even thousands of castes and sub-castes. This means that while the four Varna classification is
common to all of India, the Jati hierarchy has more local classifications that vary from region to
region.
Opinions also differ on the exact age of the caste system. It is generally agreed, though, that the
four varna classification is roughly three thousand years old. However, the ‘caste system’ stood
for different things in different time periods. In its earliest phase, in the late Vedic period
roughly between 900 — 500 BC, the caste system was really a varna system and consisted of
only four major divisions. These divisions were not very elaborate or very rigid, and they were
not determined by birth. Movement across the categories seems to have been not only possible
but quite common. It is only in the post-Vedic period that caste became the rigid institution
that is familiar to us from well-known definitions.
The most commonly cited defining features of caste are the following:
1. Caste is determined by birth – a child is “born into” the caste of its parents. Caste is
never a matter of choice. One can never change one’s caste, leave it, or choose not to
join it, although there are instances where a person may be expelled from their caste.
2. Membership in a caste involves strict rules about marriage. Caste groups are
“endogamous”, i.e. marriage is restricted to members of the group.
ring. What kinds of3.food
Caste membership also involves rules about food and food
.
may or may not be eaten is prescribed and who one may share food with is also
specified.
4. Caste involves a system consisting of many castes arranged in a hierarchy of rank and
status. In theory, every person has a caste, and every caste has a specified place in the
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hierarchy of all castes. While the hierarchical position of many castes, particularly in the
middle ranks, may vary from region to region, there is always a hierarchy. You shall soon
see that this very stratification as led caste to be a discriminatory system as well.
5. Castes also involve sub-divisions within themselves, i.e., castes almost always have sub-
castes and sometimes sub-castes may also have sub-sub-castes. This is referred to as a
segmental organisation.
6. Castes were traditionally linked to occupations. A person born into a caste could only
practice the occupation associated with that caste, so that occupations were hereditary,
i.e. passed on from generation to generation. On the other hand, a particular
occupation could only be pursued by the caste associated with it – members of other
castes could not enter the occupation.
These features are the prescribed rules found in ancient scriptural texts. As you can see, most of
the prescriptions involved prohibitions or restrictions of various sorts. It is also clear from the
historical evidence that caste was a very unequal institution – some castes benefitted greatly
from the system, while others were condemned to a life of endless labour and subordination.
Most important, once caste became rigidly determined by birth, it was in principle impossible
for a person to ever change their life circumstances. Whether they deserved it or not, an upper
caste person would always have high status, while a lower caste person would always be of low
status.
Theoretically, the caste system can be understood as the combination of two sets of principles,
one based on difference and separation and the other on wholism and hierarchy. Each caste is
supposed to be different from – and is therefore strictly separated from – every other caste.
Many of the scriptural rules of caste are thus designed to prevent the mixing of castes – rules
ranging from marriage, food sharing and social interaction to occupation. On the other hand,
these different and separated castes do not have an individual existence – they can only exist in
relation to a larger whole, the totality of society consisting of all castes. An important
manifestation of this concept lies in the Jajmani system. Caste system had been functional for
the society particularly in the economic sense. It was a system wherein the lower caste was the
service caste known as Kamin, and they used to provide service to the higher castes known as
Jajmans. The Kamins provided specialised skills and services to the Jajmans and in return used
to get rewards in kind. The relationship between the two used to be permanent and was a
hereditary relationship. Thus, it was a functional relationship in village India. However, due to
introduction of market economy and land reforms, the Jajmani system has gradually been
eroded.
Further, this societal whole or system is a hierarchical rather than egalitarian system. Each
individual caste occupies not just a distinct place, but also an ordered rank – a particular
position in a ladder-like arrangement going from highest to lowest.
The hierarchical ordering of castes is based on the distinction between ‘purity’ and ‘pollution’.
This is a division between something believed to be closer to the sacred (thus connoting ritual
purity), and something believed to be distant from or opposed to the sacred, therefore
ave high status,considered
while ritually polluting. Castes that are
.
those considered less pure or impure have low status. As in all societies, material power (i.e.,
economic or military power) is closely associated with social status, so that those in power tend
to be of high status, and vice versa. Historians believe that those who were defeated in wars
were often assigned low caste status.
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Finally, castes are not only unequal to each other in ritual terms, they are also supposed to be
complementary and non-competing groups. In other words, each caste has its own place in the
system which cannot be taken by any other caste. Since caste is also linked with occupation, the
system functions as the social division of labour, except that, in principle, it allows no mobility.
What features of the caste system are still in practice today? Can you also see some changes?
Every age has to think afresh about such questions and come to its own collective decision
about its social institutions.
6.2.2 Caste in the Present
The present form of caste as a social institution has been shaped very strongly by both the
colonial period as well as the rapid changes that have come about in independent India.
Caste through the Colonial Period
Initially, the British administrators began by trying to understand the complexities of caste in an
effort to learn how to govern the country efficiently. Some of these efforts took the shape of
very methodical and intensive surveys and reports on the ‘customs and manners’ of various
tribes and castes all over the country. By far the most important official effort to collect
information on caste was through the census. The 1901 Census sought to collect information on
the social hierarchy of caste – i.e., the social order of precedence in particular regions, as to the
position of each caste in the rank order. This effort had a huge impact on social perceptions of
caste and hundreds of petitions were addressed to the Census Commissioner by
representatives of different castes claiming a higher position in the social scale and offering
historical and scriptural evidence for their claims. Overall, it is felt that this kind of direct
attempt to count caste and to officially record caste status changed the institution itself. Before
this kind of intervention, caste identities had been much more fluid and less rigid; once they
began to be counted and recorded, caste began to take on a new life.
Other interventions by the colonial state also had an impact on the institution. The land
revenue settlements and related arrangements and laws served to give legal recognition to the
customary (caste-based) rights of the upper castes. These castes now became land owners in
the modern sense rather than feudal classes with claims on the produce of the land, or claims
to revenue or tribute of various kinds. Large scale irrigation schemes like the ones in the Punjab
were accompanied by efforts to settle populations there, and these also had a caste dimension.
At the other end of the scale, towards the end of the colonial period, the administration also
took an interest in the welfare of downtrodden castes, referred to as the ‘depressed classes’ at
that time. It was as part of these efforts that the Government of India Act of 1935 was passed
which gave legal recognition to the lists or ‘schedules’ of castes and tribes marked out for
special treatment by the state. This is how the terms ‘Scheduled Tribes’ and the ‘Scheduled
Castes’ came into being. Castes at the bottom of the hierarchy that suffered severe
discrimination, including all the so-called ‘untouchable’ castes, were included among the
Scheduled Castes.
.
Caste considerations had inevitably played a role in the mass mobilisations of the nationalist
movement as well. Efforts to organise the “depressed classes” and particularly the untouchable
castes predated the nationalist movement, having begun in the second half of the nineteenth
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century. This was an initiative taken from both ends of the caste spectrum – by upper caste
progressive reformers as well as by members of the lower castes such as Mahatma Jyotiba
Phule and Babasaheb Ambedkar in western India, Ayyankali, Sri Narayana Guru, Iyotheedass
and Periyar (E.V. Ramaswamy Naickar) in the South. Both Mahatma Gandhi and Babasaheb
Ambedkar began organising protests against untouchability from the 1920s onwards. Anti-
untouchability programmes became a significant part of the Congress agenda so that, by the
time Independence was on the horizon, there was a broad agreement across the spectrum of
the nationalist movement to abolish caste distinctions. The dominant view in the nationalist
movement was to treat caste as a social evil and as a colonial ploy to divide Indians. But the
nationalist leaders were able to simultaneously work for the upliftment of the lowest castes,
advocate the abolition of untouchability and other caste restrictions, and, at the same time,
reassure the landowning upper castes that their interests, too, would be looked after. Thus
colonialism brought about major fundamental changes in the institution of caste.
From the above discussion can you conclude that caste was institutionalized as a discriminatory
system during the colonial period? Does it have a relation to the concept of Social Inequality
and Social Exclusion as previously explained? Think about it! We shall soon look around the
issue of Untouchability in detail.
Caste post-Independence
The post-Independence Indian state inherited and reflected the contradictions from the
colonial times. On the one hand, the state was committed to the abolition of caste and
explicitly wrote this into the Constitution. On the other hand, the state was both unable and
unwilling to push through radical reforms which would have undermined the economic basis for
caste inequality. At yet another level, the state assumed that if it operated in a caste-blind
manner, this would automatically lead to the undermining of caste based privileges and the
eventual abolition of the institution. For example, appointments to government jobs took no
account of caste, thus leaving the well-educated upper castes and the ill-educated or often
illiterate lower castes to compete on “equal” terms. The only exception to this was in the form
of reservations for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. In other words, in the decades
immediately after Independence, the state did not make sufficient effort to deal with the fact
that the upper castes and the lower castes were far from equal in economic and educational
terms.
The development activity of the state and the growth of private industry also affected caste
indirectly through the speeding up and intensification of economic change. Modern industry
created all kinds of new jobs for which there were no caste rules. Urbanisation and the
conditions of collective living in the cities made it difficult for the caste-segregated patterns of
social interaction to survive.
At a different level, modern educated Indians attracted to the liberal ideas of individualism and
meritocracy, began to abandon the more extreme caste practices. On the other hand, it was
remarkable how resilient caste proved to be. Recruitment to industrial jobs, whether in the
textile mills of Mumbai (then Bombay), the jute mills of Kolkata (then Calcutta), or elsewhere,
.
continued to be organised along caste and kinship-based lines. The middle men who recruited
labour for factories tended to recruit them from their own caste and region so that particular
departments or shop floors were often dominated by specific castes.
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Prejudice against the untouchables remained quite strong and was not absent from the city,
though not as extreme as it could be in the village. Not surprisingly, it was in the cultural and
domestic spheres that caste has proved strongest. Endogamy, or the practice of marrying within
the caste, remained largely unaffected by modernisation and change. Even today, most
marriages take place within caste boundaries, although there are more inter-caste marriages.
While some boundaries may have become more flexible or porous, the borders between
groups of castes of similar socio-economic status are still heavily patrolled. For example, inter-
caste marriages within the upper castes (ex., brahmin, bania, rajput) may be more likely now
than before; but marriages between an upper caste and backward or scheduled caste person
remain rare even today. Something similar may have occurred with regard to rules of food
sharing.
Perhaps, the most eventful and important sphere of change has been that of politics. From its
very beginnings in independent India, democratic politics has been deeply conditioned by caste.
While its functioning has become more and more complex and hard to predict, it cannot be
denied that caste remains central to electoral politics. Since the 1980s we have also seen the
emergence of explicitly caste-based political parties. In the early general elections, it seemed as
though caste solidarities were decisive in winning elections. But the situation soon got very
complicated as parties competed with each other in utilising the same kind of caste calculus.
Many new concepts have been devised to try and understand these processes of change.
Perhaps the most common of these are ‘sanskritisation’ and ‘dominant caste’.
‘Sanskritisation’ refers to a process whereby members of a (usually middle or lower) caste

attempt to raise their own social status by adopting the ritual, domestic and social practices of a
caste (or castes) of higher status. Although this phenomenon is an old one and predates
Independence and perhaps even the colonial period, it has intensified in recent times. The
patterns for emulation chosen most often were the brahmin or kshatriya castes; practices
included adopting vegetarianism, wearing of sacred thread, performance of specific prayers and
religious ceremonies, and so on. Sanskritisation usually accompanies or follows a rise in the
economic status of the caste attempting it, though it may also occur independently. Another
argument suggests that sanskritisation may be a defiant claiming of previously prohibited
ritual/social privileges (such as the wearing of the sacred thread, which used to invite severe
punishment) rather than a flattering imitation of the ‘upper’ castes by the ‘lower’ castes.
‘Dominant caste’ is a term used to refer to those castes which had a large population and were
granted land-rights by the partial land reforms effected after Independence. The land reforms
took away rights from the erstwhile claimants, the upper castes who were ‘absentee landlords’
in the sense that they played no part in the agricultural economy other than claiming their rent.
They frequently did not live in the village either, but were based in towns and cities. These land
rights now came to be vested in the next layer of claimants, those who were involved in the
management of agriculture but were not themselves the cultivators. These intermediate castes
in turn depended on the labour of the lower castes including specially the ‘untouchable’ castes
for tilling and tending the land. However, once they got land rights, they acquired considerable
economic power. Their large numbers also gave them political power in the era of electoral
.
democracy based on universal adult franchise. Thus, these intermediate castes became the
‘dominant’ castes in the country side and played a decisive role in regional politics and the
agrarian economy. Examples of such dominant castes include the Yadavs of Bihar and Uttar
Pradesh, the Vokkaligas of Karnataka, the Reddys and Khammas of Andhra Pradesh, the
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Marathas of Maharashtra, the Jats of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh and the
Patidars of Gujarat.
One of the most significant yet paradoxical changes in the caste system in the contemporary
period is that it has tended to become ‘invisible’ for the upper caste, urban middle and upper
classes. For these groups, who have benefited the most from the developmental policies of the
post-colonial era, caste has appeared to decline in significance precisely because it has done its
job so well. Their caste status had been crucial in ensuring that these groups had the necessary
economic and educational resources to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by
rapid development. In particular, the upper caste elite were able to benefit from subsidised
public education, especially professional education in science, technology, medicine and
management. At the same time, they were also able to take advantage of the expansion of
state sector jobs in the early decades after Independence. In this initial period, their lead over
the rest of society (in terms of education) ensured that they did not face any serious
competition. As their privileged status got consolidated in second and third generations, these
groups began to believe that their advancement had little to do with caste. Certainly for the
third generations from these groups their economic and educational capital alone is quite
sufficient to ensure that they will continue to get the best in terms of life chances. For this
group, it now seems that caste plays no part in their public lives, being limited to the personal
sphere of religious practice or marriage and kinship. However, a further complication is
introduced by the fact that this is a differentiated group. Although the privileged as a group are
overwhelmingly upper caste, not all upper caste people are privileged, some being poor.
For the so called scheduled castes and tribes and the backward castes – the opposite has
happened. For them, caste has become all too visible, indeed their caste has tended to eclipse
the other dimensions of their identities. Because they have no inherited educational and social
capital, and because they must compete with an already entrenched upper caste group, they
cannot afford to abandon their caste identity for it is one of the few collective assets they have.
Moreover, they continue to suffer from discrimination of various kinds. The policies of
reservation and other forms of protective discrimination instituted by the state in response to
political pressure serve as their lifelines. But using this lifeline tends to make their caste the all-
important and often the only aspect of their identity that the world recognises.
The juxtaposition of these two groups – a seemingly caste-less upper caste group and an
apparently caste-defined lower caste group – is one of the central aspects of the institution of
caste in the present.
6.2.3 Caste System as a Discriminatory System
The caste system is a distinct Indian social institution that legitimises and enforces practices of
discrimination against people born into particular castes. These practices of discrimination are
humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative.
As we have understood before, historically, the caste system classified people by their
occupation and status. In strict scriptural terms, social and economic status were supposed to
.
be sharply separated. However, in actual historical practice economic and social status tended
to coincide. There was thus a fairly close correlation between social (i.e. caste) status and
economic status – the ‘high’ castes were almost invariably of high economic status, while the
‘low’ castes were almost always of low economic status.
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In modern times, and particularly since the nineteenth century, the link between caste and
occupation has become much less rigid. Ritual-religious prohibitions on occupational change
are not easily imposed today, and it is easier than before to change one’s occupation. Moreover,
compared to a hundred or fifty years ago, the correlation between caste and economic status is
also weaker – rich and poor people are to be found in every caste. But – and this is the key
point – the caste-class correlation is still remarkably stable at the macro level. As the system
has become less rigid, the distinctions between castes of broadly similar social and economic
status have weakened. Yet, between different socio-economic groupings, the distinctions
continue to be maintained.
Although things have certainly changed, they have not changed much at the macro level – it is
still true that the privileged (and high economic status) sections of society tend to be
overwhelmingly ‘upper’ caste while the disadvantaged (and low economic status) sections are
dominated by the so called ‘lower’ castes. Moreover, the proportion of population that lives in
poverty or affluence differs greatly across caste groups. In short, even though there have been
major changes brought about by social movements over more than a century, and despite
changed modes of production as well as concerted attempts by the state to suppress its public
role in independent India, caste continues to affect the life of Indians in the twenty-first
century.
Untouchability
‘Untouchability’ is an extreme and particularly vicious aspect of the caste system that
prescribes stringent social sanctions against members of castes located at the bottom of the
purity-pollution scale. Strictly speaking, the ‘untouchable’ castes are outside the caste hierarchy
– they are considered to be so ‘impure’ that their mere touch severely pollutes members of all
other castes, bringing terrible punishment for the former and forcing the latter to perform
elaborate purification rituals. In fact, notions of ‘distance pollution’ existed in many regions of
India (particularly in the south) such that even the mere presence or the shadow of an
‘untouchable’ person is considered polluting. Despite the limited literal meaning of the word,
the institution of ‘untouchability’ refers not just to the avoidance or prohibition of physical
contact but to a much broader set of social sanctions.
It is important to emphasise that the three main dimensions of untouchability – namely,

exclusion, humiliation-subordination and exploitation – are all equally important in defining the
phenomenon. Although other (i.e., ‘touchable’) low castes are also subjected to subordination
and exploitation to some degree, they do not suffer the extreme forms of exclusion reserved for
‘untouchables.’ Dalits experience forms of exclusion that are unique and not practised against
other groups – for instance, being prohibited from sharing drinking water sources or
participating in collective religious worship, social ceremonies and festivals. At the same time,
untouchability may also involve forced inclusion in a subordinated role, such as being
compelled to play the drums at a religious event. The performance of publicly visible acts of
(self-) humiliation and subordination is an important part of the practice of untouchability.
Common instances include the imposition of gestures of deference (such as taking off headgear,
carrying footwear in the hand, standing with bowed head, not wearing clean or ‘bright’ clothes,
.
and so on) as well as routinised abuse and humiliation.
Moreover, untouchability is almost always associated with economic exploitation of various

kinds, most commonly through the imposition of forced, unpaid (or under-paid) labour, or the
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confiscation of property. Finally, untouchability is a pan-Indian phenomenon, although its

specific forms and intensity vary considerably across regions and socio-historical contexts.
The so-called ‘untouchables’ have been referred to collectively by many names over the
centuries. Whatever the specific etymology of these names, they are all derogatory and carry a
strongly pejorative charge. In fact, many of them continue to be used as forms of abuse even
today, although their use is now a criminal offence. Mahatma Gandhi had popularised the term
‘Harijan’ (literally, children of God) in the 1930s to counter the pejorative charge carried by
caste names.
However, the ex-untouchable communities and their leaders have coined another term, ‘Dalit’,
which is now the generally accepted term for referring to these groups. In Indian languages, the
term Dalit literally means ‘downtrodden’ and conveys the sense of an oppressed people.
Though it was neither coined by Dr. Ambedkar nor frequently used by him, the term certainly
resonates with his philosophy and the movement for empowerment that he led. It received
wide currency during the caste riots in Mumbai in the early 1970s. The Dalit Panthers, a radical
group that emerged in western India during that time, used the term to assert their identity as
part of their struggle for rights and dignity.
The Other Backward Classes
Untouchability was the most visible and comprehensive form of social discrimination. However,
there were a large group of castes that were of low status and were also subjected to varying
levels of discrimination short of untouchability. These were the service and artisanal castes who
occupied the lower rungs of the caste hierarchy. The Constitution of India recognises the
possibility that there may be groups other than the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes who
suffer from social disadvantages. These groups – which need not be based on caste alone, but
generally are identified by caste – were described as the ‘socially and educationally backward
classes’. This is the constitutional basis of the popular term ‘Other Backward Classes’ (OBCs),
which is in common use today.
The OBCs are defined negatively, by what they are not. They are neither part of the ‘forward’
castes at the upper end of the status spectrum, nor of the Dalits at the lower end. But since
caste has entered all the major Indian religions and is not confined to Hinduism alone, there are
also members of other religions who belong to the backward castes and share the same
traditional occupational identification and similar or worse socio-economic status.
For these reasons, the OBCs are a much more diverse group than the Dalits or adivasis. The first
government of independent India under Jawaharlal Nehru appointed a commission to look into
measures for the welfare of the OBCs. The First Backward Classes Commission headed by Kaka
Kalelkar submitted its report in 1953. But the political climate at the time led to the report
being sidelined. From the mid-fifties, the OBC issue became a regional affair pursued at the
state rather than the central level. The southern states had a long history of backward caste
political agitation that had started in the early twentieth century. Because of these powerful
.
social movements, policies to address the problems of the OBCs were in place long before they
were discussed in most northern states. The OBC issue returned to the central level in the late
1970s after the Emergency when the Janata Party came to power. The Second Backward Classes
Commission headed by B.P. Mandal was appointed at this time. However, it was only in 1990,
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when the central government decided to implement the ten-year old Mandal Commission
report, that the OBC issue became a major one in national politics.
Since the 1990s we have seen the resurgence of lower caste movements in north India, among
both the OBCs and Dalits. The politicisation of the OBCs allows them to convert their large
numbers – recent surveys show that they are about 41% of the national population – into
political influence. This was not possible at the national level before, as shown by the sidelining
of the Kalelkar Commission report, and the neglect of the Mandal Commission report.
The large disparities between the upper OBCs (who are largely landed castes and enjoy
dominance in rural society in many regions of India) and the lower OBCs (who are very poor
and disadvantaged, and are often not very different from Dalits in socio-economic terms) make
this a difficult political category to work with. However, the OBCs are severely under-
represented in all spheres except landholding and political representation (they have a large
number of MLAs and MPs). Although the upper OBCs are dominant in the rural sector, the
situation of urban OBCs is much worse, being much closer to that of the Scheduled Castes and
Tribes than to the upper castes.
6.3 Tribal Communities

‘Tribe’ is a modern term for communities that are very old, being among the oldest inhabitants
of the sub-continent. Tribes in India have generally been defined in terms of what they were
not. Tribes were communities that did not practice a religion with a written text; did not have a
state or political form of the normal kind; did not have sharp class divisions; and, most
important, they did not have caste and were neither Hindus nor peasants. The term was
introduced in the colonial era. The use of a single term for a very disparate set of communities
was more a matter of administrative convenience.
6.3.1 Classifications of Tribal Societies
In terms of positive characteristics, tribes have been classified according to their ‘permanent’
and ‘acquired’ traits.
Permanent Traits
Permanent traits include region, language, physical characteristics and ecological habitat. The
tribal population of India is widely dispersed, but there are also concentrations in certain
regions. About 85% of the tribal population lives in ‘middle India’, a wide band stretching from
Gujarat and Rajasthan in the west to West Bengal and Orissa in the east, with Madhya Pradesh,
Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and parts of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh forming the heart of
this region. Of the remaining 15%, over 11% is in the North Eastern states, leaving only a little
over 3% living in the rest of India. If we look at the share of tribals in the state population, then
the North Eastern states have the highest concentrations, with all states except Assam having
concentrations of more than 30%, and some like Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and
Nagaland with more than 60% and upto 95% of tribal population. In the rest of the country,
.
however, the tribal population is very small, being less than 12% in all states except Orissa and
Madhya Pradesh. The ecological habitats covered include hills, forests, rural plains and urban
industrial areas.
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Distribution of Tribal Communities in India
Region – Major Tribes
 North-east, Sikkim and Himalayas – Naga, Mizo, Adi, Lepcha, Gaddi, Khasi, Garo, Jaintia,
Raji, Bhotia, Tharu
 Western – Seheria, Bhil, Girisia, Rebari, Dang, Mina, Worli
 Central – Munda, Oraon, Santhal, Gond, Ho, Chenchu, Bhumij, Birhor, Knodh, Saora,
Poroja
 South – Irula, Toda, Badaga, Paliyan, Cholanaicken
 Island Communities – Great Andamanese, Jarawa, Onge, Sentinnclose, Shompen,
Nicobarese
In terms of language, tribes are categorised into four categories. Two of them, Indo-Aryan and
Dravidian, are shared by the rest of the Indian population as well, and tribes account for only
about 1% of the former and about 3% of the latter. The other two language groups, the Austric
and Tibeto-Burman, are primarily spoken by tribals, who account for all of the first and over
80% of the second group. In physical-racial terms, tribes are classified under the Negrito,
Australoid, Mongoloid, Dravidian and Aryan categories. The last two are again shared with the
rest of the population of India.
In terms of size, tribes vary a great deal, ranging from about seven million to some Andamanese
islanders who may number less than a hundred persons. The biggest tribes are the Gonds,
Bhils, Santhals, Oraons, Minas, Bodos and Mundas, all of whom are at least a million strong.
The total population of tribes amounts to about 8.2% of the population of India, or about 84
million persons according to the 2001 Census.
Acquired Characteristics
Classifications based on acquired traits use two main criteria – mode of livelihood, and extent
of incorporation into Hindu society – or a combination of the two.
On the basis of livelihood, tribes can be categorised into fishermen, food gatherers and hunters,
shifting cultivators, peasants and plantation and industrial workers. However, the dominant
classification is the degree of assimilation into Hindu society. Assimilation can be seen either
from the point of view of the tribes, or (as has been most often the case) from the point of view
of the dominant Hindu mainstream. From the tribe’s point of view, apart from the extent of
assimilation, attitude towards Hindu society is also a major criterion, with differentiation
between tribes that are positively inclined towards Hinduism and those who resist or oppose it.
From the mainstream point of view, tribes may be viewed in terms of the status accorded to
them in Hindu society, ranging from the high status given to some, to the generally low status
accorded to most.
6.3.2 Mainstream Attitude Towards Tribes

.
Although the early work by the Britishers of the colonial era had described tribes as isolated
cohesive communities, colonialism had already brought irrevocable changes in their world. On
the political and economic front, tribal societies were faced with the incursion of money
lenders. They were also losing their land to non-tribal immigrant settlers, and their access to
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forests because of the government policy of reservation of forests and the introduction of
mining operations. Unlike other areas, where land rent was the primary source of surplus
extraction, in these hilly and forested areas, it was mostly appropriation of natural resources –
forests and minerals – which was the main source of income for the colonial government.
Following the various rebellions in tribal areas in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the
colonial government set up ‘excluded’ and ‘partially excluded’ areas, where the entry of non-
tribals was prohibited or regulated. In these areas, the British favoured indirect rule through
local kings or headmen.
The famous isolation versus integration debate of the 1940s built upon this standard picture of
tribal societies as isolated wholes. The isolationist side argued that tribals needed protection
from traders, moneylenders and Hindu and Christian missionaries, all of whom were intent on
reducing tribals to detribalised landless labour. The integrationists, on the other hand, argued
that tribals were merely backward Hindus, and their problems had to be addressed within the
same framework as that of other backward classes. This opposition dominated the Constituent
Assembly debates, which were finally settled along the lines of a compromise which advocated
welfare schemes that would enable controlled integration. The subsequent schemes for tribal
development – five year plans, tribal sub-plans, tribal welfare blocks, special multipurpose area
schemes all continue with this mode of thinking. But the basic issue here is that the integration
of tribes has neglected their own needs or desires; integration has been on the terms of the
mainstream society and for its own benefit. The tribal societies have had their lands, forests
taken away and their communities shattered in the name of development.
6.3.4 National Development VS. Tribal Development
The imperatives of ‘development’ have governed attitudes towards tribes and shaped the
policies of the state. National development, particularly in the Nehruvian era, involved the
building of large dams, factories and mines. Because the tribal areas were located in mineral
rich and forest covered parts of the country, tribals have paid a disproportionate price for the
development of the rest of Indian society. This kind of development has benefited the
mainstream at the expense of the tribes. The process of dispossessing tribals of their land has
occurred as a necessary by-product of the exploitation of minerals and the utilisation of
favourable sites for setting up hydroelectric power plants, many of which were in tribal areas.
The loss of the forests on which most tribal communities depended has been a major blow.
Forests started to be systematically exploited in British times and the trend continued after
Independence. The coming of private property in land has also adversely affected tribals, whose
community-based forms of collective ownership were placed at a disadvantage in the new
system. The most recent such example is the series of dams being built on the Narmada, where
most of the costs and benefits seem to flow disproportionately to different communities and
regions.
Many tribal concentration regions and states have also been experiencing the problem of heavy
in-migration of non-tribals in response to the pressures of development. This threatens to
disrupt and overwhelm tribal communities and cultures, besides accelerating the process of
.
exploitation of tribals. The industrial areas of Jharkhand for example have suffered a dilution of
the tribal share of population. But the most dramatic cases are probably in the North-East. A
state like Tripura had the tribal share of its population halved within a single decade, reducing
them to a minority. Similar pressure is being felt by Arunachal Pradesh.
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6.3.5 Tribal Identity Today
Forced incorporation of tribal communities into mainstream processes has had its impact on
tribal culture and society as much as its economy. Tribal identities today are formed by this
interactional process rather than any primordial (original, ancient) characteristics peculiar to
tribes. Because the interaction with the mainstream has generally been on terms unfavourable
to the tribal communities, many tribal identities today are centred on ideas of resistance and
opposition to the overwhelming force of the non-tribal world.
The positive impact of successes – such as the achievement of statehood for Jharkhand and
Chattisgarh after a long struggle - is moderated by continuing problems. Many of the states of
the North-East, for example, have been living for decades under special laws that limit the civil
liberties of citizens. Thus, citizens of states like Manipur or Nagaland don’t have the same rights
as other citizens of India because their states have been declared as ‘disturbed areas’. The
vicious circle of armed rebellions provoking state repression which in turn fuels further
rebellions has taken a heavy toll on the economy, culture and society of the North-eastern
states. In another part of the country, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh are yet to make full use of
their new-found statehood, and the political system there is still not autonomous of larger
structures in which tribals are powerless.
Another significant development is the gradual emergence of an educated middle class among
tribal communities. Most visible in the North-eastern states, this is now a segment beginning to
be seen in the rest of the country as well, particularly among members of the larger tribal
communities. In conjunction with policies of reservation, education is creating an urbanised
professional class. As tribal societies get more differentiated – i.e., develop class and other
divisions within themselves – different bases are growing for the assertion of tribal identity.
Two broad sets of issues have been most important in giving rise to tribal movements. These
are issues relating to control over vital economic resources like land and specially forests, and
issues relating to matters of ethnic-cultural identity. The two can often go together, but with
differentiation of tribal society they may also diverge. The reasons why the middle classes
within tribal societies may assert their tribal identity may be different from the reasons why
poor and uneducated tribals join tribal movements. As with any other community, it is the
relationship between these kinds of internal dynamics and external forces that will shape the
future.
6.3.6 Adivasi Struggle
Like the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes are social groups recognised by the Indian
Constitution as specially marked by poverty, powerlessness and social stigma.
In the case of adivasis, the movement of populations from one area to another further
complicates the picture. Today, barring the North-Eastern states, there are no areas of the
country that are inhabited exclusively by tribal people; there are only areas of tribal
have moved into the
concentration. Since the middle of the nineteenth century, non
.
tribal districts of central India, while tribal people from the same districts have migrated to
plantations, mines, factories and other places of employment.
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In the areas where tribal populations are concentrated, their economic and social conditions
are usually much worse than those of non-tribals. The impoverished and exploited
circumstances under which adivasis live can be traced historically to the pattern of accelerated
resource extraction started by the colonial British government and continued by the
government of independent India. From the late nineteenth century onwards, the colonial
government reserved most forest tracts for its own use, severing the rights that adivasis had
long exercised to use the forest for gathering produce and for shifting cultivation.
Forests were now to be protected for maximising timber production. With this policy, the
mainstay of their livelihoods was taken away from adivasis, rendering their lives poorer and
more insecure. Denied access to forests and land for cultivation, adivasis were forced to either
use the forests illegally (and be harassed and prosecuted as ‘encroachers’ and thieves) or
migrate in search of wage labour. The Independence of India in 1947 should have made life
easier for adivasis but this was not the case. One, the government monopoly over forests
continued. If anything, the exploitation of forests accelerated. Two, the policy of capital-
intensive industrialisation adopted by the Indian government required mineral resources and
power-generation capacities which were concentrated in Adivasi areas. Adivasi lands were
rapidly acquired for new mining and dam projects. In the process, millions of adivasis were
displaced without any appropriate compensation or rehabilitation. Justified in the name of
‘national development’ and ‘economic growth’, these policies were actually a form of internal
colonialism, subjugating adivasis and alienating the resources upon which they depended.
Projects such as the Sardar Sarovar dam on the river Narmada in western India and the
Polavaram dam on the river Godavari in Andhra Pradesh will displace hundreds of thousands of
adivasis, driving them to greater destitution. These processes continue to prevail and have
become even more powerful since the 1990s when economic liberalisation policies were
officially adopted by the Indian government. It is now easier for corporate firms to acquire large
areas of land by displacing adivasis.
Like the term Dalit, the term Adivasi connotes political awareness and the assertion of rights.
Literally meaning ‘original inhabitants’, the term was coined in the 1930s as part of the struggle
against the intrusion by the colonial government and outside settlers and moneylenders. Being
Adivasi is about shared experiences of the loss of forests, the alienation of land, repeated
displacements since Independence in the name of ‘development projects’ and much more.
Now, ponder over the changes in the attitude of the government towards the tribal
communities. The coming of the Forest Rights Act, Panchayat – Extension to Scheduled Areas
Act including tribal areas, institutionalizing Minor Forest Produce, Land Acquisition and
Rehabilitation Act, etc. has heralded a new era with respect to tribal development. The holding
of Panchayats in Niyamgiri Hills ruling out industrial development to the culture brings more
light to the adapted change. Look out for more such news in the coming times! Does this mean
– Tribal empowerment in true sense?
6.4 Economic Institutions

Economic Institutions are composed of systems of production, distribution and exchange, and
.
consumption of goods and services with built in social relations. It entails doing of ‘Work’ which
here typically refers to paid employment. This is the most widely understood sense of ‘work’ in
modern times.
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This in fact is an oversimplified view. Many types of work do not conform to the idea of paid
employment. Much of the work done in the informal economy, for example, is not recorded in
any direct way in the official employment statistics. The term informal economy refers to
transactions outside the sphere of regular employment, sometimes involving the exchange of
cash for services provided, but also often involving the direct exchange of goods or services. We
can define work, whether paid or unpaid, as the carrying out of tasks requiring the expenditure
of mental and physical effort, which has as its objective the production of goods and services
that cater to human needs.
Characteristics of Economic Institutions
In pre-modern forms of society most people worked in the field or cared for the livestock. In the
industrially developed society only a tiny proportion of the population works in agriculture, and
farming itself has become industrialised — it is carried on largely by means of machines rather
than by human hand. In a country like India, the larger share of the population continues to be
rural and agricultural or involved in other rural based occupations.
There are other trends in India too, for instance an expansion of the service sector. One of the
most distinctive characteristics of the economic system of modern societies is the existence of a
highly complex division of labour. Work has been divided into an enormous number of different
occupations in which people specialise. In traditional societies, non-agricultural work entailed
the mastery of a craft. Craft skills were learned through a lengthy period of apprenticeship, and
the worker normally carried out all aspects of the production process from beginning to end.
Modern society also witnesses a shift in the location of work. Before industrialisation, most
work took place at home and was completed collectively by all the members of the household.
Advances in industrial technology, such as machinery operating on electricity and coal,
contributed to the separation of work and home. Factories owned by capitalist entrepreneurs
became the focal point of industrial development. People seeking jobs in factories were trained
to perform a specialised task and receive a wage for this work. Managers supervised the work,
for their task was to enhance worker productivity and discipline.
One of the main features of modern societies is an enormous expansion of economic

interdependence. We are all dependent on an immense number of other workers-stretching
right across the world- for the products and services that sustain our lives. With few exceptions,
the vast majority of people in modern societies do not produce the food they eat, the houses
they live in or the material goods they consume.
Also, economy in simple pre-market societies was subsistent in nature, which meant production
was mainly for consumption. Family in simple, traditional societies has been both a unit of
production and a unit of consumption. The members of a family work together on the family
farm to produce what they need for their existence. It is in contrast to complex modern
societies where production is for market. People depend on the market for acquiring things
they need. Family in modern societies is a unit of consumption, not a unit of production,
Market and arebecause
complexthe process of production and distribution a
.
in nature.
modern societies are Simple traditional societies have been subsistence
Market-oriented.
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Understanding the Market
Markets are social institutions that are constructed in culturally specific ways. For example,
markets are often controlled or organised by particular social groups or classes, and have
specific connections to other institutions, social processes and structures. Economies are
socially ‘embedded’.
Market in a Traditional Economy – In most agrarian and peasant societies around, periodic
markets are a central feature of social and economic organization. Weekly markets bring
together people from surrounding villages, who come to sell their agricultural or other produce
and to buy manufactured goods and other items that are not available in their villages. They
attract traders from outside the local area, as well as moneylenders, entertainers, astrologers,
and a host of other specialists offering their services and wares. In rural India there are also
specialised markets that take place at less frequent intervals, for instance, cattle markets. These
periodic markets link different regional and local economies together, and link them to the
wider national economy and to towns and metropolitan centres.
The weekly haat is a common sight in rural and even urban India. In hilly and forested areas
(especially those inhabited by adivasis), where settlements are far-flung, roads and
communications poor, and the economy relatively undeveloped, the weekly market is the major
institution for the exchange of goods as well as for social intercourse. Local people come to the
market to sell their agricultural or forest produce to traders, who carry it to the towns for
resale, and they buy essentials such as salt and agricultural implements, and consumption items
such as bangles and jewellery. But for many visitors, the primary reason to come to the market
is social – to meet kin, to arrange marriages, exchange gossip, and so on.
While the weekly market in tribal areas may be a very old institution, its character has changed
over time. After these remote areas were brought under the control of the colonial state, they
were gradually incorporated into the wider regional and national economies. Tribal areas were
‘opened up’ by building roads and ‘pacifying’ the local people (many of whom resisted colonial
rule through their so-called ‘tribal rebellions’), so that the rich forest and mineral resources of
these areas could be exploited. This led to the influx of traders, moneylenders, and other non-
tribal people from the plains into these areas. The local tribal economy was transformed as
forest produce was sold to outsiders, and money and new kinds of goods entered the system.
Tribals were also recruited as labourers to work on plantations and mines that were established
under colonialism. A ‘market’ for tribal labour developed during the colonial period. Due to all
these changes, local tribal economies became linked into wider markets, usually with very
negative consequences for local people. For example, the entry of traders and moneylenders
from outside the local area led to the impoverishment of adivasis, many of whom lost their land
to outsiders.
Caste-based markets and Trading Networks in India –Apart from the kinds of non-market
exchange systems such as the Jajmani System, there has always been the presence of extensive
and sophisticated trading networks. Of course, we know that for centuries India was a major
nd luxury silks),manufacturer
as well as and exporter of handloom cloth (both
.
the source of many other goods (such as spices) that were in great demand in the global
market, especially in Europe. So it is not surprising that pre-colonial India had well-organised
manufacturing centres as well as indigenous merchant groups, trading networks, and banking
systems that enabled trade to take place within India, and between India and the rest of the
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world. These traditional trading communities or castes had their own systems of banking and
credit. For instance, an important instrument of exchange and credit was the hundi, or bill of
exchange (like a credit note), which allowed merchants to engage in long-distance trade.
Because trade took place primarily within the caste and kinship networks of these communities,
a merchant in one part of the country could issue a hundi that would be honoured by a
merchant in another place. The structures of caste, kinship, and family were oriented towards
commercial activity, and business activity was carried out within these social structures. As in
most ‘traditional’ merchant communities, banks were basically joint family firms, so that the
structure of the business firm was the same as that of the family. Similarly, trading and banking
activities were organised through caste and kinship relationships.
In fact, ‘Vaisyas’ constitute one of the four varnas – an indication of the importance of the
merchant and of trade or business in Indian society since ancient times. The ‘traditional
business communities’ in India include not only ‘Vaisyas’, but also other groups with distinctive
religious or other community identities, such as the Parsis, Sindhis, Bohras, or Jains.
Why do you think the caste and kinship became the basis of organization of economic
institutions? Because businessmen are more likely to trust others of their own community or
kin group, they tend to do business within such networks rather than with others outside – and
this tends to create a caste monopoly within certain areas of business.
6.5 Political Institutions

Political institutions are concerned with the distribution of power in society. Two concepts,
which are critical to the understanding of political institutions, are power and authority. Power
is the ability of individuals or groups to carry out their will even when opposed by others. It
implies that those who hold power do so at the cost of others. There is a fixed amount of power
in a society and if some wield power others do not. In other words, an individual or group does
not hold power in isolation, they hold it in relation to others.
This notion of power is fairly inclusive and extends from family elders assigning domestic duties
to their children to principals enforcing discipline in school; from the General Manager of a
factory distributing work among the executives to political leaders regulating programmes of
their parties. The principal has power to maintain discipline in school. The president of a
political party possesses power to expel a member from the party. In each case, an individual or
group has power to the extent to which others abide by their will. In this sense, political
activities or politics is concerned with ‘power’.
But how is this ‘power’ applied to achieve its aim? Why do people comply with others’
commands? Answers to these questions could be found with reference to a related concept of
‘authority’. Power is exercised through authority. Authority is that form of power, which is
accepted as legitimate, that is, as right and just. It is institutionalised because it is based on
legitimacy. People in general accept the power of those in authority as they consider their
control to be fair and justified. Often ideologies exist that help this process of legitimation.
What is this ideology? Can you make a guess?
.
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The Concept of the State
There exists a Political System within every society which defines the roles that human beings
occupy in order to maintain law and order on the one hand, and supervise the functioning of
society on the other. In complex societies, its other function is to distribute resources for social
and economic development.
An important component of political system is the state. A state exists where there is a political
apparatus of government (institutions like a parliament or congress, plus civil service officials)
ruling over a given territory. Government authority is backed by a legal system and by the
capacity to use military force to implement its policies. One perspective sees the state as
representing the interests of all sections of society while the other perspective might see the
state as representing the dominant sections of society.
Modern states are very different from traditional states. These states are defined by
sovereignty, citizenship and, most often, ideas of nationalism. Sovereignty refers to the
undisputed political rule of a state over a given territorial area. The sovereign state was not, at
first, one in which citizenship carried with it rights of political participation. These were
achieved largely through struggles, which limited the power of monarchs, or actively overthrew
them. The French Revolution and our own Indian independence struggle are two instances of
such movements.
Citizenship rights include civil, political and social rights. Civil rights involve the freedom of
individuals to live where they choose; freedom of speech and religion; the right to own
property; and the right to equal justice before the law. Political rights include the right to
participate in elections and to stand for public office. In most countries governments were
reluctant to admit the principle of universal franchise. In the early years not only women, but a
large section of the male population was excluded as holding a certain amount of property was
an eligibility criterion. Women had to wait longer for the vote.
The third type of citizenship rights are social rights. These concern the prerogative of every
individual to enjoy a certain minimum standard of economic welfare and security. They include
such rights as health benefits, unemployment allowance, setting of minimum level of wages
etc. The broadening of social or welfare rights led to the welfare state, which was established in
Western societies since the Second World War. States of the erstwhile socialist countries had
far-reaching provision in this sector. In most developing countries, this was virtually non-
existent. All over the world today these social rights are being attacked as liabilities on the state
and hindrances to economic growth.
Nationalism can be defined as a set of symbols and beliefs providing the sense of being part of
a single political community. Thus, individuals feel a sense of pride and belonging, in being
‘British’, ‘Indian’, ‘Indonesian’ or ‘French’. Probably people have always felt some kind of
identity with social groups of one form or another — for example, their family, clan or religious
community. Nationalism, however, only made its appearance with the development of the
modern state. Contemporary world is marked both by a rapid expansion of the global market as
.
well as intense nationalist feelings and conflicts.
The broader study of power, is not just about the formal apparatus of government. It is also
related to the distribution of power between parties, between classes, between castes, and
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between communities based on race, language and religion. Its focus is not just on what may be
called specifically political association, such as state legislatures, town councils and political
parties but also associations such as schools, banks and religious institutions whose aims are
not primarily political.
Does Power exist even within a Stateless Society?
Hunting and food-gathering societies, several types of pastoral and agricultural societies do not
have a centralized authority. Absence of political state does not imply that these societies lack
an orderly existence. They certainly are not in a state of anarchy. They have other institutions
that try to maintain order in society. There are the balanced opposition between parts; cross-
cutting alliances, based on kinship, marriage and residence; rites and ceremonies involving the
participation of friends and foes.
As we all know, the modern state has a fixed structure and formal procedures. Yet are not some
of the informal mechanisms mentioned above as features of stateless societies present also in
state societies? Think over and discuss!
6.6 Religion
Religion exists in all known societies, although religious beliefs and practices vary from culture
to culture. Characteristics that all religions seem to share are:
 A set of symbols/ principles, invoking feelings of reverence or awe;

 Rituals or ceremonies;
 A community of believers.
The rituals associated with religion are very diverse. Ritual acts may include praying, chanting,
singing, eating certain kinds of food (or refraining from doing so), fasting on certain days, and so
on. Since ritual acts are oriented towards religious symbols, they are usually seen as quite
distinct from the habits and procedures of ordinary life. Lighting a candle or diya to honour the
divine differs completely in its significance from doing so simply to light a room. Religious rituals
are often carried out by an individual in his/her personal everyday life. But all religions also
involve ceremonials practised collectively by believers. Regular ceremonials normally occur in
special places — churches, mosques, temples, shrines.
Religion is about the sacred realm. Think of what members of different religions do before
entering a sacred realm. For example covering one’s head, or not covering one’s head, taking off
shoes, or wearing particular kind of clothes, etc. What is common to them all is the feeling of
awe, recognition and respect for a sacred places or situations. In most cases, the sacred
includes an element of the supernatural. Often the sacred quality of a tree or a temple comes
with the belief that it is sacred precisely because there is some supernatural force behind it.
However, it is important to keep in mind that some religions like early Buddhism and
Confucianism had no conception of the supernatural, but did allow sufficient reverence for
things and persons which they considered sacred. Religious institutions thus establish the
.
relationship of human beings with entities that they regard as sacred.
Each religion has a community of believers who are involved with religious organizations such
as the church and the sect. For them, a church is a large, well-established religious body. This
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term is used for any religious organization and not necessarily for the organization of Christians.
The church has a formal bureaucratic structure. In its ideology and functioning, it adapts itself
to the social values and the society in which it is found. Often, it justifies the existing social
order. Because of this, it represents the conservative side of religion.
Against the adaptation of the church to the society, many protest movements’ surface. They
criticize the church for justifying social values that need to be condemned. This protest group
that generally emerges around a leader (the founder) is called a Sect. It is a smaller group of
committed believers. Can you think of such an example in India? What happens to this protest
group?
There is another form of religious organization, called the Cult. It resembles sect in some
respects; for instance, both are centered on individual leaders. Both reject the values of the
outside society. But in comparison to a sect, cult is mostly loosely knit. It focusses more on
individual experience. It is quite likely that people may follow the theories of the cult without
joining it formally. The cult leadership may permit its followers to hold the membership of other
religious affiliations. The continuity of the cult may be uncertain after the demise of its founder,
which may not be the case with sect. Does any example come to your mind?
Studying religion also lets us ask questions about the relationship of religion with other social
institutions. Religion has had a very close relationship with power and politics. For instance
periodically in history there have been religious movements for social change, like various anti-
caste movements or movements against gender discrimination. Religion is not just a matter of
the private belief of an individual but it also has a public character. And it is this public character
of religion, which has an important bearing on other institutions of society.
Let us also have a look at Religious Composition of population in India.
The spatial distribution of religious communities in the country shows that there are certain
states and districts having large numerical strength of one religion, while the same may be very
negligibly represented in other states.
Hindus are distributed as a major

group in many states (ranging from
70 - 90 per cent and above) except
the districts of states along Indo-
Bangladesh border, Indo-Pak border,
Jammu & Kashmir, Hill States of
North-East and in scattered areas of
Deccan Plateau and Ganga Plain.
Muslims, the largest religious

minority, are concentrated in Jammu
& Kashmir, certain districts of West
Bengal and Kerala, many districts of
.
Uttar Pradesh, in and around Delhi

and in Lakshadweep. They form
majority in Kashmir valley and Lakshadweep. The Christian population is distributed mostly in
rural areas of the country. The main concentration is observed along the Western coast around
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Goa, Kerala and also in the hill states of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Chotanagpur area and
Hills of Manipur.
Sikhs are mostly concentrated in relatively small area of the country, particularly in the states of
Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. Jains and Buddhists, the smallest religious groups in India have their
concentration only in selected areas of the country. Jains have major concentration in the urban
areas of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra, while the Buddhists are concentrated mostly in
Maharashtra. The other areas of Buddhist majority are Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh in
Jammu & Kashmir, Tripura, and Lahul and Spiti in Himachal Pradesh. The other religions of India
include Zoroastrians, tribal and other indigenous faiths and beliefs. These groups are
concentrated in small pockets scattered throughout the country.
7.0 To Define
(You may add more terms to this list as per your need!)
Modernity: A term designed to encapsulate the distinctiveness, complexity and dynamism of

social processes unleashed during the 18th and 19th centuries which mark a distinct break from
traditional ways of living.
Division of Labour: The specialisation of work tasks, by means of which different occupations
are combined within a production system. All societies have at least some rudimentary form of
division of labour especially between the tasks allocated to men and those performed by
women. With the development of industrialism, however, the division of labour became more
complex than in any prior type of production system. In the modern world, the division of
labour is international in scope.
.

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MIGRATION
.

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MIGRATION
1.0 What is the need to study Migration? What is its significance?
Migration is the third component of population change, the other two being mortality and
fertility as studied previously. However, migration is different from the other two processes,
namely, mortality and fertility in the sense that it is not a biological factor like the other two,
which operate in a biological framework, though influenced by social, cultural and economic
factors. Migration is influenced by the wishes of persons involved. Usually each migratory
movement is deliberately made, though in exceptional cases this may not hold true. Thus
migration is a response of human organisms to economic, social and demographic forces in the
environment.
The study of migration occupies an important place in population studies, because, along with
fertility and mortality, it determines the size and rate of population growth as well as its
structure and characteristics. Migration also plays an important role in the distribution of the
population of any country, and determines the growth of labour force in any area. India has
witnessed the waves of migrants coming to the country from Central and West Asia and also
from Southeast Asia. In fact, the history of India is a history of waves of migrants coming and
settling one after another in different parts of the country. Similarly, large numbers of people
from India too have been migrating to places in search of better opportunities specially to the
countries of the Middle-East, Western Europe, America, Australia and East and South East Asia.
Migration is thus an important symptom of social change in society.
2.0 The Concept
In a layman’s language, the world ‘migration’ refers to the movements of the people from one
place to another. According to Demographic Dictionary, “migration is a form of geographical
mobility or spatial mobility between one geographical unit and another, generally involving a
change in residence from the place of origin or place of departure to the place of destination or
place of arrival, for a considerable period of time.”
Migration, in the social sense refers to the physical transition of an individual or a group from
one society to another. This transition usually involves abandoning one social-setting and
entering another and different one.
3.0 What are the different forms of migration?
People may move within a country between different states or between different districts of
the same state or they may move between different countries. Therefore, different terms are
used for internal and external migration. Internal migration refers to migration from one place
migration refers to
to another within a country, while
.
migration from one country to another.
a) Immigration and Emigration: ‘Immigration’ refers to migration into a country from

another country and ‘emigration’ refers to migration out of the country. These terms
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are used only in connection with international migration. For example migrants leaving
India to settle down in the United States or Canada are immigrants to the United States
or Canada and emigrants from India.
b) Inmigration and Outmigration: These are used only in connection with internal
migration. ‘Inmigration’ refers to migration into a particular area while ‘outmigration’
refers to movements out of a particular area. Thus, migrants who come from Bihar or
Uttar Pradesh to Punjab are considered to be immigrants for Punjab and outmigrants
for Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
The term ‘inmigration’ is used with reference to the area of destination of the migrants and the
term ‘outmigration’ is used with reference to the area of origin or place of departure of the
migrant.
The main forms of migration can be summarised in a chart.
Typology based on time classified migration into long range migration and short range or
seasonal migration. When a move is made for a longer period, it is called long range migration.
However, when there is permanent shift of population from one region to another, it is known
as permanent migration. But when people shift to the sites of temporary work and residence
for some or several months, it is known as periodic or seasonal migration. For example, during
peak agricultural season excess labour is required, and people from the neighbouring areas
come in. The custom of women returning to her parents to deliver her first child also accounts
for significant short range internal migration.
Apart from these two important types, migration could be voluntary or involuntary or forced,
brain drain (migration of young skilled persons) and migration of refugees and displaced
persons.
4.0 How is the phenomena of migration recorded?
There are three important sources of information on migration in a country. These are national
census, population registers and sample surveys. In India, the most important sources of data
on internal migration are national census and sample surveys.
You are familiar with Census in India. It contains information about migration in the country.
Actually migration was recorded beginning from the first Census of India conducted in 1881.
This data were recorded on the basis of place of birth. However, the first major modification
nts viz; place ofwas
birthintroduced
i.e. in 1961 Census by bringing
.
village or town and duration of residence (if born elsewhere). Further in 1971, additional
information on place of last residence and duration of stay at the place of enumeration were
incorporated. Information on reasons for migration were incorporated in 1981 Census and
modified in consecutive Censuses.
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In the Census the following questions are asked on migration:
 Is the person born in this village or town? If no, then further information is taken on
rural/urban status of the place of birth, name of district and state and if outside India
then name of the country of birth.
 Has the person come to this village or town from elsewhere? If yes, then further
questions are asked about the status (rural/urban) of previous place of residence, name
of district and state and if outside India then name of the country.
In addition, reasons for migration from the place of last residence and duration of residence in
place of enumeration are also asked. In the Census of India migration is enumerated on two
bases: (i) place of birth, if the place of birth is different from the place of enumeration (known
as life-time migrant); (ii) place of residence, if the place of last residence is different from the
place of enumeration (known as migrant by place of last residence). Can you imagine the
proportion of migrants in the population of India? As per 2001 census, out of 1,029 million
people in the country, 307 million (30 per cent) were reported as migrants by place of birth.
However, this figure was 315 million (31 per cent) in case of place of last residence.
5.0 What do we observe regarding migration in the census?
A few facts pertaining to the internal migration (within the country) and international migration
(out of the country and into the country from other countries) are presented in this section.
Under the internal migration, four streams are identified: (a) rural to rural (R-R); (b) rural to
urban (R-U); (c) urban to urban (U-U); and (d) urban to rural (U-R). In India, during 2001, out of
315 million migrants, enumerated on the basis of the last residence, 98 million had changed
their place of residence in the last ten years. Out of these, 81 million were intra-state migrants.
The stream was dominated by female migrants. Most of these were migrants related to
marriage. The distribution of male and female migrants in different streams of intra-state and
inter-state migration is presented in Fig. 1 a and 1 b below. It is clearly evident that females
predominate the streams of short distance rural to rural migration in both types of migration.
Contrary to this, men predominate the rural to urban stream of inter-state migration due to
economic reasons.
.
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Apart from these streams of internal

migration, India also experiences
immigration from and emigration to the
neighbouring countries. The table (in right)
presents the details of migrants from
neighbouring countries. Indian Census
2001 has recorded that more than 5 million
person have migrated to India from other
countries. Out of these, 96 per cent came
from the neighbouring countries:
Bangladesh (3.0 million) followed by
Pakistan (0.9 million) and Nepal (0.5
million). Included in this are 0.16 million
refugees from Tibet, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh,
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and Myanmar.
As far as emigration from India is
concerned it is estimated that there are
around 20 million people of Indian
Diaspora, spread across 110 countries.
Spatial Variation in Migration: Some states

like Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat and Haryana attract migrants from other states such as Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar, etc. Maharashtra occupied first place in the list with 2.3 million net in-migrants,
followed by Delhi, Gujarat and Haryana. On the other hand, Uttar Pradesh (-2.6 million) and
Bihar (-1.7 million) were the states, which had the largest number of net out-migrants from the
state. Among the urban agglomeration (UA), Greater Mumbai received the higher number of in
migrants. Intra-states migration constituted the largest share in it. These differences are largely
due to the size of the state in which these Urban Agglomeration are located.
5.1 Can we now derive any characteristics of the Migrants?
There are some important characteristics of the migrants and migration. An important
characteristic is the age selectivity of the migrants. Generally, young people are more mobile.
Most migration studies, especially in developing countries, have found that rural-urban
migrants are predominantly young adults. It is obvious that migration for employment takes
place mostly at the young adult ages. Also a major part of the female migration consequential
to marriage occurs at the young adult ages. The female migration is largely sequential to
marriage, because it is a Hindu custom to take brides from another village (village exogamy).
Thus people have a tendency to move when they are between their teens and their mid-thirties
(15-35 years) than at other ages.
Another important characteristic is that the migrants have a tendency to move to those places
where they have contacts and where the previous migrants serve as links for the new migrants,
and this chain is thus formed in the process, and is usually called chain migration. They usually
have kinship chains and networks of relatives and friends who help them in different ways. In
.
some cases, the migrants not only tend to have the same destination but also tend to have the
same occupation. For example, in certain hotels in Jaipur almost all the workers belong to one
particular sub-region of Kumaon. The agricultural labourers in Punjab and Haryana are mainly
from Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh.
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The male migrants from rural to urban and urban to urban, employment was the most
important reason. Education accounted only for about 3 to 8 per cent of migration according to
these migration streams. Among women, as expected, marriage was the most important reason
for migration, followed by associational migration. Employment and education accounted for a
very small proportion of the females.
6.0 What can be the reasons that make people migrate?
People, generally are emotionally attached to their place of birth. But millions of people leave
their places of birth and residence. It is important to know why some migrate while others do
not. The important factors, therefore, which cause migration or which motivate people to move
may broadly be classified into four categories: economic factors, demographic factors, socio-
cultural factors, and political factors.
6.1 Economic Factors & Demographic Factors
The major reason of voluntary migration is economic. Low agricultural income, agricultural
unemployment and underemployment are the major factors pushing the migrants towards
areas with greater job opportunities. Even the pressure of population resulting in a high man-
land ratio has been widely recognised as one of the important causes of poverty and rural
outmigration. This is true of both internal as well as international migration.
The most important economic factors that motivate migration may be termed as ‘Push Factors’
and ‘Pull Factors’. In other words it is to see whether people migrate because of the compelling
circumstances at the place of origin which pushed them out, or whether they are lured by the
attractive conditions in the new place. Now we shall discuss these factors.
i) Push Factors: The push factors are those that compel or force a person, due to various
reasons, to leave that place and go to some other place. For example, adverse economic
conditions caused by poverty, low productivity, unemployment, exhaustion of natural
resources, lack of basic infrastructural facilities like healthcare, education, etc. and natural
calamities may compel people to leave their native place in search of better economic
opportunities. The main push factor causing the worker to leave agriculture is the lower levels
of income, as income in agriculture is generally lower than the other sectors of the economy.
Due to rapid increase in population, the per capita availability of cultivable land has declined,
and the numbers of the unemployed and the underemployed in the rural areas have
significantly increased with the result that the rural people are being pushed to the urban
areas. The non-availability of alternative sources of income in the rural area is also another
factor for migration. In addition to this, the existence of the joint family system and laws of
inheritance, which do not permit the division of property, may also cause many young men to
migrate to cities in search of jobs. Even sub division of holdings leads to migration, as the
holdings become too small to support a family.
ii) Pull Factors: Pull factors refer to those factors which attract the migrants to an area, such as,
er wages, better working
opportunities for better employment, availabilit
.
migration, when rapid and better amenities of life, etc. There is generally city
conditions
expansion of industry, commerce and business takes place. In recent years, the high rate of
movement of people from India to the USA, Canada and now to the Middle-East is due to the
better employment opportunities, higher wages and better amenities of life, variety of
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occupations to choose from and the possibility of attaining higher standard of living. Sometimes
the migrants are also attracted to cities in search of better cultural and entertainment activities
or bright city lights. However, pull factors operate not only in the rural-urban migration, but also
in other types of internal as well as international migration.
Sometimes a question is asked which factors are more important, push or pull?
Some argue that the push factor is stronger than the pull factor as they feel that it is the rural
problems rather than the urban attractions that play a crucial role in the shift of the population.
On the other hand, those who consider the pull factors as more important emphasise high rates
of investment in urban areas leading to more employment and business opportunities and
greater attraction for the city way of life.
This classification of motives for migration into push and pull factors is very useful in analysing
determinants of migration, but all migratory movements cannot be explained by these factors
alone. Moreover, sometimes migration may occur not by push or pull factors alone but as a
result of the combined effect of both.
iii) Push Back Factors: In India, and in some other developing countries also, another important
factor which plays crucial role in migration is ‘push back factor’. The urban labour force is
sizeable, and the urban unemployment rates are high, and there also exist pools of
underemployed persons. All these factors acts in combination as deterrents to the fresh flow of
migration from the rural to urban areas. He calls this as a ‘push back factor’. He further adds
that if new employment opportunities are created in the urban areas, the first persons to offer
themselves for employment are the marginally employed already residing in those areas, unless
of course special skills are required.
iv) Pull Back Factors: This has been a recent phenomenon. With better opportunities for
employment (MGNREGA and other schemes, agricultural revolutions) individuals are pulled
back to their native places.
6.2 Socio-Cultural & Political Factors
Besides these push and pull factors, social and cultural factors also play an important role in
migration. Sometimes family conflicts also cause migration. Improved communication facilities,
such as, transportation, impact of the radio and the television, the cinema, the urban-oriented
education and resultant change in attitudes and values also promote migration.
Sometimes even political factors encourage or discourage migration. For instance, in our
country, the adoption of the jobs for ‘sons of the soil policy’ by the State governments will
certainly affect the migration from other states. The rise of Shiv Sena in Bombay, with its hatred
for the migrants and the occasional eruption of violence in the name of local parochial
patriotism, is a significant phenomenon. Even in Calcutta, the Bengali-Marwari conflict will have
far reaching implications. And now Assam and Tamil Nadu are other such examples. Thus the
political attitudes and outlook of the people also influence migration to a great extent. There
.
have also been migrations from Kashmir and Punjab because of the terrorist activities.
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7.0 What are the Consequences of Migration?
Migration is a response to the uneven distribution of opportunities over space. People tend to
move from place of low opportunity and low safety to the place of higher opportunity and
better safety. This, in turn, creates both benefits and problems for the areas, people migrate
from and migrate to. Consequences can be observed in economic, social, psychological,
environmental, political and demographic terms.
7.1 Economic Consequences
There is a view that migration negatively affects the emigrating region and favours the
immigrating region, and that migration would widen the development disparity between the
regions, because of the drain of the resourceful persons from the relatively underdeveloped
region to the more developed region. But the exodus of the more enterprising members of a
community cannot be considered a loss, if there is lack of alternative opportunities in the rural
areas. As long as migration draws upon the surplus labour, it would help the emigrating region.
It will have adverse effects only if human resources are drained away at the cost of the
development of the region.
Another important point is that when migration draws away the unemployed or
underemployed, it would enable the remaining population of the region to improve their living
conditions as this would enable the remaining population to increase the per capita
consumption, since the total number of mouths to be fed into is reduced as a result of
emigration.
A major benefit for the source region is the remittance sent by migrants. Remittances from the
international migrants are one of the major sources of foreign exchange. In 2002, India received
US$ 11 billion as remittances from international migrants. Punjab, Kerala and Tamil Nadu
receive very significant amount from their international migrants. The amount of remittances
sent by the internal migrants is very meagre as compared to international migrants, but it plays
an important role in the growth of economy of the source area.
Remittances are mainly used for food, repayment of debts, treatment, marriages, children’s
education, agricultural inputs, construction of houses, etc. For thousands of the poor villages of
Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, etc. remittance works as life
blood for their economy. Migration from rural areas of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya
Pradesh and Orissa to the rural areas of Punjab, Haryana, and Western Uttar Pradesh accounted
for the success of their green revolution strategy for agricultural development. Besides this,
unregulated migration to the metropolitan cities of India has caused overcrowding.
Development of slums in industrially developed states such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka,
Tamil Nadu and Delhi is a negative consequence of unregulated migration within the country.
7.2 Demographic Consequences
Migration leads to the redistribution of the population within a country. Rural urban migration
.
is one of the important factors contributing to the population growth of cities. Age and skill
selective out migration from the rural area have adverse effect on the rural demographic
structure. However, high out migration from Uttaranchal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and
Eastern Maharashtra have brought serious imbalances in age and sex composition in these
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states. Similar imbalances are also brought in the recipients states. What do you think is the
cause of imbalance in sex ratio in the place of origin and destination of the migrants?
Migration of the unmarried males of young working age results in imbalances in sex ratio. The
absence of many young men from the villages increases the proportion of other groups, such
as, women, children and old people. This tends to reduce the birth rate in the rural areas.
Further the separation of the rural male migrants from their wives for long durations also tends
to reduce the birth rate. Can you think of consequences in the recipient states?
7.3 Social and Psychological Consequences
Migrants act as agents of social change. The new ideas related to new technologies, family
planning, girl’s education, etc. get diffused from urban to rural areas through them. Migration
leads to intermixing of people from diverse cultures. It has positive contribution such as
evolution of composite culture and breaking through the narrow considerations and widens up
the mental horizon of the people at large.
Urban life usually brings about certain social changes in the migrants. Those migrants who
return occasionally or remain in direct or indirect contact with the households of their origin
are also likely to transmit some new ideas back to the areas of origin. There is technological
change to the dynamism of the return migrants, who bring money as well as knowledge and
experience of different production techniques, and this may lead to mechanisation and
commercialisation of agricultural activity. A number of ex-servicemen, on retirement go back to
their native areas and promote such practices in the villages. Contact with the urban and
different cultures also brings attitudinal change in the migrants, and helps them to develop
more modern orientation, including even the consumerist culture in their own areas.
But it also has serious negative consequences such as anonymity, which creates social vacuum
and sense of dejection among individuals. Continued feeling of dejection may motivate people
to fall in the trap of anti-social activities like crime and drug abuse.
Alongside, migration which results in the absence of the adult males for long periods of time
may cause dislocation of the family, and, under such circumstances, women and children often
have to take over more and different types of work and other more important roles in
household decision-making. Very disturbing effects have been revealed because of the male
migration from Kerala. Neurosis, hysteria and depression are said to be on the increase among
the emigrant workers’ wives in Kerala. The gulf boom has also taken a toll of mental health of
the families.
Migration (even excluding the marriage migration) affects the status of women directly or
indirectly. As seen above, in the rural areas, male selective out migration leaving their wives
behind puts extra physical as well mental pressure on the women. Migration of ‘women’ either
for education or employment enhances their autonomy and role in the economy but also
increases their vulnerability.
.
7.4 Environmental Consequences
Overcrowding of people due to rural-urban migration has put pressure on the existing social
and physical infrastructure in the urban areas. This ultimately leads to unplanned growth of
urban settlement and formation of slums shanty colonies.
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Apart from this, due to over-exploitation of natural resources, cities are facing the acute
problem of depletion of ground water, air pollution, and disposal of sewage and management
of solid wastes.
7.5 Political Consequences
If you have properly understood migration within the concept of a nation-state, you can now
list some political consequences of it too. We have already discussed some. Others, we would
be discussing now.
8.0 Problems of Refugees and Displaced Persons
Sometimes forced movements of people take place due to political and religious disturbances
or wars. Such movements shift people to the neighbouring countries as refugees. The United
Nations defines “a refugee as every person, who owing to well-founded fear of being
persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or
political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is
unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.” (U.N. 1984)
Thus many international movements of population involving very large numbers have occurred
due to compelling reasons of political, religious or racial character. Perhaps the largest
movement of people in this century has occurred in the Indian sub-continent. The partition of
the country in 1947 into the Indian Union and Pakistan led to large exodus of the refugees into
each nation from the other. Estimates indicate that not less than 7 million persons went to
Pakistan from India and more than 8 million people came to India from Pakistan. Indo-Pakistan
war in 1971 also caused a large number of people from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to move
into the north-eastern states of India as refugees, and this became a permanent problem for
the region, as much as “Bihari” Muslims continue to be problematic for Pakistan and
Bangladesh. Do you remember the ‘Kokrajhar’ incident in Assam in 2012? Can you now
understand the perspective of the tribal population in India, when they were invaded by the
non-tribals?
Some of the largest forced international migrations in history have occurred through times in
Asia. For example, in the 12 years following 1975 more than 1.7 million refugees have left
Vietnam, Kampuchea and Laos. Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, in 1979, produced a flow of
refugees which has led to some 2.7 million being temporarily settled in Pakistan and 1.5 million
in Iran. Most of these refugees are still in the camps in the neighbouring countries. Due to
political disturbances in Sri Lanka, large numbers of Tamilians have entered India, and are
staying in Tamil Nadu. Can you recall of some recent instances of such large-scale migration
going on in Middle East?
It is found that on humanitarian grounds the refugees are often given shelter by the
governments of various countries. However, the sudden influx of the refugees creates
enormous pressure on the native society. It leads to short supply of essential commodities,
ecological imbalances and health hazards in the countries of asylum. The large magnitude and
.
s create many economic, political and social dimensions of the exodus of the refugee
the various
problems, particularly for the countries of destination. Sometimes they cause political
complications in the receiving countries. They organise themselves by forming groups, and
pressurise the governments for some concessions. For example the United Kingdom, Canada
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Student Notes:
and Sri Lanka are facing political and racial crises due to migration. Sometimes this causes
clashes between the natives and migrants. Sri Lanka is a recent example of this.
But, in some instances, the refugees do make a positive contribution to the development of the
host country, when settled in sparsely populated areas, by clearing and cultivating land.
9.0 Migration Policy
In India, little attention has been paid at the policy level to control the pattern of either
international or internal migration. Can you make out a case for the need for migration policy
for India? What should be its objective, and how should it be fulfilled through its contents?
Discuss.
.

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SOCIETY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE: 4a
URBANIZATION
.


Student Notes:
URBANIZATION
1.0 Introduction
Until now, we have understood the basis of how to classify an urban area. We had also followed
that more than a rural-urban dichotomy, it is a rural-urban continuum. Herein we shall try to
understand urbanisation as a social process.
Urbanisation has been rapid in most of the countries during the twentieth century. A
merely 13 per cent of the global population was urban in 1900, which increased to 29 per cent
in 1950 and crossed the 50 percent mark (50.1 percent) in 2009 (U.N. 2009). On the other hand,
the pattern of urbanization is found to be very uneven between the more developed and
less developed world. At the present, 75% people of developed world lives in urban areas
compared to 45 percent in the less developed ones. In Asia and Africa, merely 4 out 10 persons
live in urban areas, whereas in India only 3 out 10 persons lived in urban areas. In most parts of
Asia and Africa not only have very low level of per capita income, but also the pace of
urbanization has been modest in the recent past. This is even true for India, but in the last two
decades India has experienced an accelerated economic growth after the Central
Government launched economic reforms in 1991. The economic reforms aimed at loosening
the control of the Government and encouraged entrepreneurs to participate actively in India’s
economic development. The economic growth reached about 8 percent per annum during the
first decade of the new millennium compared to just 3 percent rate of growth in the early
1980s. This has also led a very spectacular change in the perception of the Central
Government about urbanization. In Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012), it is argued that
urbanization should be seen as a positive factor in the overall development. This change in the
thinking is coincidental with the fact that urban areas presently contributes to about 65 percent
of GDP.
2.0 To Define – What is Urbanization?
Urbanisation means: An increase in the proportion population of a country who live in

urban areas. It has two components- a natural increase and a net rural to urban migration. Of
course the latter factor mostly determines the rate of growth of urban population.
An increase in the number of areas can also be classified as Urbanization. That is to say
more number of towns and cities.
This then would also mean as growth of IMPORTANCE of towns and cities in the life of a country
or a region conditioned by social and economic progress, as the concentration of economic and
cultural activities in large urban centres.
A large, dense and heterogeneous population gives birth to a new soc

io-economic
.
phenomenon- the urban way of life or “Urbanism”. To quote – ‘Urbanization is a

complex social process accompanied by the emergence of a specific way of life, which
turns the cities into the prevalent form of social activity in our century and the centuries to
come.’
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Student Notes:
3.0 What is the Process of Urbanization?
The process of urbanization involves a dense population (let us call it a City here) in a given
area. That can happen in two ways. It can be a Natural City or it can be a Created City.
Natural cities are ones which have evolved in the due process of time due to their
strategic and natural location. They are primarily the ancient cities and the medieval cities
which shall be explained subsequently.
On the other hand Created cities are established by us for some special requirement.
They are normally new and modern cities. As civilization progresses the process of
industrialization too has taken place. The Created cities are primarily a result of this process of
Industrialization.
Apart from such an understanding, the process of Urbanization can also be understood
in the following manner.
Towns flourished since prehistoric times in India. Even at the time of Indus valley civilisation,
towns like Harappa and Mohenjodaro were in existence. The following period had witnessed
evolution of towns. It continued with periodic ups and downs until the arrival of
Europeans in India in the eighteenth century. On the basis of their evolution in different
periods, Indian towns may be classified as: • Ancient towns, • Medieval towns, and • Modern
towns.
 Ancient Towns: There are number of towns in India having historical background
spanning over 2000 years. Most of them developed as religious and cultural centres.
Varanasi is one of the important towns among these. Prayag (Allahabad), Pataliputra
(Patna), Madurai are some other examples of ancient towns in the country.
 Medieval Towns: About 100 of the existing towns have their roots in the medieval
period. Most of them developed as headquarters of principalities and kingdoms. These
are fort towns which came up on the ruins of ancient towns. Important among
them are Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Agra and Nagpur.
 Modern Towns: The British and other Europeans have developed a number of
towns in India. Starting their foothold on coastal locations, they first developed
some trading ports such as Surat, Daman, Goa, Pondicherry, etc. The British later
consolidated their hold around three principal nodes – Mumbai (Bombay), Chennai
(Madras), and Kolkata (Calcutta) – and built them in the British style. Rapidly
extending their domination either directly or through control over the princely states,
they established their administrative centres, hill towns as summer resorts, and added
new civil, administrative and military areas to them. Towns based on modern industries
also evolved after 1850. Jamshedpur can be cited as an example.
After independence, a large number of towns have been developed as administrative

headquarters, e.g. Chandigarh, Bhubaneswar, Gandhinagar, Dispur, etc. and industrial centres
d as satellite towns
such as Durgapur, Bhilai, Sind
.
around metropolitan cities such as Ghaziabad, Rohtak, Gurgaon around Delhi. With
increasing investment in rural areas, a large number of medium and small towns have
developed all over the country.
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Student Notes:
3.1 Sub-Urbanization:
It is closely related to over-urbanization of a city. When cities get overcrowded by population, it

may result in sub-urbanization. Delhi is a typical example. Suburbanization means
urbanization of rural areas around the cities characterized by the following features:
 A sharp increase in the ‘urban (non-agriculture) uses’ of land

 Inclusion of surrounding areas of towns within its municipal limits, and
 Intensive communication of all types between town and its surrounding areas
3.2 Over-Urbanization:
It refers to the increased exemplifications of the characters of urbanization in a city or its

surrounding rural area. It results from excessive development of urban traits. Due to the
expansion of the range of urban activities and occupations, greater influx of secondary
functions like industry, increasing and widespread development of an intricate
bureaucratic administrative network, the increased sophistication and mechanization of life
and the influx of urban characters into the surrounding rural area, over urbanization gradually
replaces the ruralistic and traditionalistic traits of a community. Mumbai and Kolkata are two
such examples of cities.
3.3 Counter-Urbanization:
It is demographic and social process whereby people move from urban areas to rural areas. It
first took place as a reaction to inner-city deprivation and overcrowding. Counter
urbanization occurs when some large cities reach a point where they stop growing further or
actually begin to decrease in size as their population starts moving into suburban areas
or small cities thereby leapfrogging the rural-urban fringe.
4.0 Urbanization and its Impact
4.1 Urbanization and the Individual
The city is the domain for the modern individual. In its combination of anonymity and the
amenities and institutions that only large numbers can support, the city offers the individual
boundless possibilities for fulfilment. Consequently, cities have come to be called as Cradles
of Innovation. Unlike the village, which discourages individuality and cannot offer much,
the city nurtures the individual. The advantages of high density are that social contacts
multiply, all necessary facilities are easily approachable and selection of friends becomes easier.
There is increased social mobility, both horizontal and vertical. Also to a certain extent there
is increased social tolerance due to mutual interdependence amongst the diverse urban
population.
However, the flip side too exists at two levels. High population density could also erode a
sense of personal identity leading to loneliness and a loss of sense of belonging. The
.
iciality and relationships among individuals are characterise

impersonality.
On the other hand the great divide exists in urban areas too. It is also true that freedom
and opportunity are available only to some individuals. More accurately, only a socially and
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Student Notes:
economically privileged minority can have the luxury of a predominantly free and fulfilling life.
The city life fosters the development of group identities- based on factors like race,
religion, ethnicity, caste region and of course class. These act as larger constraints and limit
relative freedoms for most people in the city. In fact, heavy concentration in a relatively small
space intensifies identities and makes them integral to strategies of survival, resistance and
assertion. Do you recall the recent episode of exodus of North-Easterners?
4.2 Urbanization and Family and Kinship
Urbanization affects not only the family structure but also intra and inter-family relations,
as well as the functions, the family performs. With urbanization, there is a disruption of
the bonds of community and the migrant faces the problem to replace old relationships
with new ones and to find a satisfactory means of continuing relationship with those left
behind.
There are both sides prevailing in our country. In some areas, though the structure of urban
family is changing, the spirit of individualism is not growing in the families. The families which
are residentially nuclear remain joint in function and in property. However there is also a trend
towards a break with the traditional joint family into the nuclear family unit. Small joint family is
now the most typical form of family life in urban India. The disruption of mutually expected
roles and obligations in the wake of unequal rates of social change in different aspects of city-
life results in social disorganization. In the case of the family, the increasing rate of divorce has
been witnessed. Also relations with one’s distant kin are weakening or breaking.
4.3 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 necessary 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. It has been pointed
out that among the westernized elite, class ties are much more important than caste ties.
However caste system continues to persist and exert its influence in some sectors of urban
social life such as employment amongst the working class; while it has changed its form in some
other sectors. Caste solidarity is not as strong as in urban areas as in the rural areas. Caste
panchayats are very weak in cities. There exists a dichotomy between workplace and
domestic situation and both caste and class situations co-exist.
4.4 Urbanization and Status of Women
Women constitute an important section of rural 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 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.
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,
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Student Notes:
thereby meaning increase and rigorous hours of work, professional loyalty along with increased
autonomy. The traditional and cultural institutions remaining the same, crises of values and a
confusion of norms have finally resulted. The personally and socially enlightened woman is
forced to perform dual roles – social and professional.
The status of urban women, because of being comparatively educated and liberal, is higher
than that of rural women. However in the labour market, women continue to be in a
disadvantaged situation.
4.5 Urbanization and Disaster Management
Can you relate how urban areas become focal points in Disaster Management? Can you write
down some points? Thinks in terms of Natural Disasters and Man-made Disasters, security
controls, urban riots and other kind of social movements. With respect to Social movement,
take in case the movement which began due to ‘Nirbhaya’ (Delhi rape-case) incident or the anti-
corruption movement. From the point of view of an administrator, do you think these need to
be managed or the city lends a space for a collective expression of its inhabitants?
4.6 Urbanization and Emergence of Cities as Glocalized Hubs
Today large metropolitans have been the nodal points through which globalisation has
come to effect the population. Presence of Multi-National Corporations, foreign individuals,
interaction with culture, associated markets etc. have brought cultures across the countries to
interact with ours. Can you think of any recent examples?
4.7 Urbanization and Influence on Rural Area
Cities, towns and rural settlements are linked through the movements of goods,
resources and people. Urban-rural linkages are of crucial importance for the sustainability
of human settlements. As the growth of rural population has outpaced the generation of
employment and economic opportunities, rural-to-urban migration has steadily increased
which has put an enormous pressure on urban infrastructure and services that are
already under serious stress. It is urgent to eradicate rural poverty and to improve the quality
of living conditions, as well as to create employment and educational opportunities in rural
settlements. Full advantage must be taken of the complementary contributions and
linkages of rural and urban areas by balancing their different economic, social and
environmental requirements.
Urban Impact through Migration: Can you now identify such urban impacts on rural areas
which happen from rural to urban migration. Delineate some points.
5.0 Urbanization and Related Problems
Most of the important issues and problems of order in towns and cities are related to the
question of space. High population density places a great premium on space and creates
.
very complex
e the spatial viability of problems of logistics. It is t
the city. This means the organisation and management of things like: housing and
residential patterns; mass transit systems for transporting large numbers of workers to and
from work; arranging for the coexistence of residential, public and industrial land-use zones;
and finally all the public health, sanitation, policing, public safety and monitoring needs
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Student Notes:
of urban governance. Each of these functions is a huge undertaking in itself and presents
formidable challenges of planning, implementation and maintenance. What adds to the
complexity is that all of these tasks have to be performed in context where the divisions
and tensions of class, ethnicity, religion, caste and so on are also present and active.
5.1 Housing and Slums:
Since most cities in our country are unplanned, it creates severe congestion. Shortage of
housing, vertical expansion and growth of slums are characteristic features of modern
cities of developing countries. There is acute shortage of housing in urban areas and much of
the available accommodation is of sub-standard quality. This problem has tended to worsen
over the years due to rapid increase in population, fast rate of urbanization and proportionately
inadequate addition to the housing stock. Shortage of housing for the poor leads to
homelessness, and the phenomenon of ‘street people’— those who live and survive on the
streets and footpaths, under bridges and flyovers, abandoned buildings and other empty
spaces.
In many cities an increasing proportion of the population lives in substandard housing,

e.g. Slums and squatter settlements. In most million plus cities in India, one in four inhabitants
lives in illegal settlements, which are growing twice as fast as the rest of the cities. Even
in the Asia Pacific countries, around 60 per cent of the urban population lives in
squatter settlements. With large scale migration to urban areas, many find that the only
option they have is substandard conditions of slums. These are characterized by sub-standard
housing, overcrowding, lack of electrification, ventilation, sanitation, roads and drinking water
facilities. They have been the breeding ground of diseases, environmental pollution,
demoralization and many social tensions. Because of the absence of ‘settled’ property rights
of the kind seen elsewhere, these are the natural breeding ground for ‘dadas’ and
strongmen who impose their authority on the people who live there. Control over such
territory becomes the natural stepping stone to other kinds of extra-legal activities, including
criminal and real estate-related gangs.
With India’s slum population at nearly 40%, slum dwellers form 44% of population in Delhi, 45%
in Mumbai, 42% in Calcutta and 39% in Chennai.
Overcrowding and Depersonalization: In major cities in India like Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune and
Kanpur, somewhere between 85% and 90% of households lives in one or two rooms, 5 to 6
persons live in 1 room. Over-crowding encourages deviant behaviour, spreads diseases and
creates conditions for mental illness, alcoholism and riots. Another effect is people’s apathy and
indifference.
5.2 Other Physical Infrastructure:
5.2.1 Transport: The urban transport system is directly and severely affected by the location of
residential areas relative to industrial and commercial workplaces. If these are far apart, as is
maintained. Commuting
often the case, an elaborate
.
becomes a way of life and an ever present source of possible disruption. The transport system
has a direct impact on the ‘quality of life’ of working people in the city. Reliance on road
transport and especially on private rather than public modes (i.e. cars rather than buses)
creates problems of traffic congestion and vehicular pollution.
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Student Notes:
5.2.2 Water Supply, Drainage and Sanitation: No city has round the clock water supply in
India. Intermittent supply results in a vacuum being created in empty water lines which often
suck in pollution through leaking joints. Many small towns have no main water supply at all and
are dependent on the wells. Drainage situation is equally bad. Because of non-existence of a
drainage system, large pools of stagnant water can even be seen in summer months. Removing
garbage, cleaning drains and unclogging sewers are the main jobs of municipalities and
municipal corporations in Indian cities. There is a total lack of motivation to tackle the basic
sanitation needs of the cities. The spread of slums in congested urban areas and lack of civic
sense among the settlers in these slums further adds to the growing mound of filth and
diseases.
5.2.3 Power Shortage: The use of electrical gadgets has increased very much in cities, and on
the other hand, the establishment of new industries and the expansion of the old industries has
also increased dependence on electricity.
5.3 Economic Problems:
The decreasing employment opportunities in the rural as well as smaller urban areas
consistently push the population to the other significant urban areas. The enormous migrant
population generates a pool of unskilled and semi-skilled labour force, which is already
saturated in urban areas.
5.4 Socio-Cultural:
Where and how people will live in cities is a question that is also filtered through socio-cultural
identities. Residential areas in cities all over the world are almost always segregated by class,
and often also by race, ethnicity, religion and other such variables. Tensions between such
identities both cause these segregation patterns and are also a consequence. This in turn gives
a specific spatial pattern to communal violence whenever it erupts, which again furthers the
‘ghettoisation’ process.
The worldwide phenomenon of ‘gated communities’ is also found in Indian cities. This refers to
the creation of affluent neighbourhoods that are separated from their surroundings by walls
and gates, with controlled entry and exit. Most such communities also have their own parallel
civic facilities, such as water and electricity supply, policing and security.
Cities also suffer from several social ills. Insufficient financial resources fail to create adequate
social infrastructure catering to the basic needs of the huge population. The available
educational and health facilities remain beyond the reach of the urban poor. Health indices
also, present a gloomy picture in such cities. Lack of employment and education tends to
aggravate the crime rates. Male selective migration to the urban areas distorts the sex ratio in
these cities. Other problems include drug addiction, increasing crime, juvenile delinquency,
begging, alcoholism, corruption etc. The increasing old age population and absence of social
security; the enhanced role and sphere of market has led to the poor and marginalized suffering
the most. Studies have also shown that stress levels are found high in cities, which in turn has
.
deleterious impact on the health of the people.
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Student Notes:
5.5 Environmental:
The large urban population not only uses but also disposes off a huge quantity of water and all
types of waste materials. Many cities even find it extremely difficult to provide the minimum
required quantity of potable water and water for domestic and industrial uses. An improper
sewerage system creates unhealthy conditions. Massive use of traditional fuel in the domestic
as well as the industrial sector severely pollutes the air. The domestic and industrial wastes are
either let into the general sewerages or dumped without treatment at unspecified
locations. Huge concrete structures erected to accommodate the population and economy play
a very conducive role to create heat islands.
6.0 Take-Away
As will be clear to you from the above discussion, the apparently simple issue of distribution of
living space is actually a very complex and multi-dimensional aspect of urban society. Are such
urban spaces really sustainable? What efforts need to be taken up to improve city-life? What is
the role of urban local Government? Do you think that the related programmes and schemes
run by the Central and State Governments have been effective enough? Discuss.
.

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VISIONIAS z™
www.visionias.in
SOCIETY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE: 4b
G. S. II – Urbanization
.


Content
 Introduction
 Definition
 Process of Urbanization
 Urbanization in India
 Social effects of urbanization
 Problems of urbanization
 Urbanization and Governance

.

Introduction
Urbanization in India was mainly a post independence phenomenon, due to adoption of mixed system of
economy by the country, which gave rise to the development of private sector. Urbanization has been taking
place at an increasingly fast rate in India. Population residing in urban areas in India, according to 1901 census,
was 11.4%. This count increased to 28.53% in the 2001 census, and has crossed 30% as per the 2011 census,
standing at 31.16% to be exact. According to a 2007 UN State of the World Population report, by 2030, 40.76%
of country's population is expected to reside in urban areas. As per the World Bank, India, along with China,
Indonesia, Nigeria and the United States, will lead the world's urban population surge by 2050.
Urbanization, indeed is the process of becoming urban, moving to cities, changing from agriculture to other
pursuits common to cities, such as trade, manufacturing, industry and management, and corresponding changes
of behavior patterns. It is the process of expansion in the entire system of interrelationships by which population
maintains itself in the habitat.
An increase in the size of towns and cities leading to growth of urban population is the most significant
dimension of urbanization. In ancient times there have been great many cities such as Rome or Baghdad, but
ever since industrialization and increasing industrial production cities have grown phenomenally and now
urbanization is very much part of our contemporary life.
Definition
In this section, we will discuss different definitions and phenomenon’s associated with the urban areas. It
includes Census definition of Urban areas, Urban Agglomeration, Over-Urbanization, Sub Urbanization, Counter
Urbanization and Census towns.
In 1961 census, 'town' was defined and determined on the basis of number of empirical tests:
a) a minimum population of 5000

b) a density of not less than 1,000 per square mile,
c) three-fourth of the occupations of the working population should be outside of agriculture.
d) the place should have a few characteristics and amenities such as newly founded industrial areas, large
housing settlements and places of tourist importance and civic amenities.
Urban Agglomeration: This term was introduced in 1971 census. Very often large railway colonies, university
campuses, port areas, military camps etc. come up outside the statutory limits of the city or town but adjoining
it. Such areas may not themselves qualify to be treated as towns but if they form a continuous spread with the
adjoining town, it would be realistic to treat them as urban. Such settlement has been termed as outgrowths,
and may cover a whole village, or part of a village. Such towns together with their outgrowths have been treated
as one urban unit and called 'urban agglomeration'.
Over-Urbanization: It refers to the increased exemplifications of the characters of urbanization in a city or its
surrounding rural area. It results from excessive development of urban traits. Due to the expansion of the range
of urban activities and occupations, greater influx of secondary functions like industry, increasing and
widespread development of an intricate bureaucratic administrative network, the increased sophistication and
.
mechanization of life and the influx of urban characters into the surrounding rural area, over urbanization
gradually replaces the ruralistic and traditionalistic traits of a community. Mumbai and Kolkata are two such
examples of cities.
Sub-Urbanization: It is closely related to over-urbanization of a city. When cities get over-crowded by

population, it may result in sub-urbanization. Delhi is a typical example. Sub-urbanization means urbanization of
rural areas around the cities characterized by the following features:

 a sharp increase in the ‘urban (non-agricultural) uses’ of land
 inclusion of surrounding areas of towns within its municipal limits, and
 intensive communication of all types between town and its surrounding areas
Counter-Urbanization: It is a demographic and social process whereby people move from urban areas to rural
areas. It first took place as a reaction to inner-city deprivation and overcrowding. Counter urbanization occurs
when some large cities reach a point where they stop growing further or actually begin to decrease in size as
their population start moving into suburban areas or smaller cities thereby leapfrogging the rural-urban fringe.
There are instances which show that the phenomenon of counter urbanization is occurring in India.
Census Towns: In 2011, a new definition of census town has been developed. This urban classification of 'census
towns' helps differentiate between India's small farming communities and the larger market town-type
settlements that are experiencing rapid and haphazard growth.
To be classified as a census town, a village must fulfill three criteria;
a) it need atleast 5,000 inhabitants,

b) a density of 400 people per sq. km, and
c) atleast three quarters of its male working population must be "engaged in non-agricultural pursuits".
Process of Urbanization
Urbanization as a structural process of change is generally related to industrialization but it is not always the
result of industrialization. Urbanization results due to the concentration of large-scale and small scale industrial
an commercial, financial and administrative set up in the cities; technological development in transport and
communication, cultural and recreational activities. The excess of urbanization over industrialization that makes
it possible to provide employment for all persons coming to urban areas is, in fact, what sometimes leads to over
urbanization.
In India, a peculiar phenomenon is seen: industrial growth without a significant shift of population from
agriculture to industry and growth of urban population without a significant rise in the ratio of the urban to the
total population. While in terms of ratio, there may not be a great shift from rural to urban activities, but there is
still a large migration of population from rural areas to urban areas. This makes urban areas choked; while at the
same time there is lack of infrastructural facilities to cope with this rising population.
In context of India, the process of urbanization is seen as a socio-cultural process, economic process and a
geographical process. As a socio-cultural phenomenon, it is a melting pot of people with diverse ethnic,
linguistic and religious backgrounds. As an economic process, the city is a focal point of productive activities. It
exists and grows on the strength of the economic activities existing within itself. Under the geographical
process, it deals with migration or change of location of residence of people and involves the movement of
people from one place to another.
Urbanization in India
.
India has a long history of urbanization with spatial and temporal discontinuities. It is an ongoing process that
has never stopped and has rarely, slowed down since it’s beginning. Urbanization in India is divided into different
phases, beginning from Indus valley civilization to reaching watermark during the Mughal period and also
contribution from the British made to the process of urbanization in India.

Post-independence witnessed rapid urbanization in India on a scale never before achieved. The major changes
that have occurred in India's urban scene after India's urban independence are the building of new
administrative cities, the construction of new industrial cities and township near major cities, the rapid growth of
one-lakh and one million cities, the massive growth of slums and rural-urban fringe, the introduction of city
planning and the general improvement in civic amenities.
India is rapidly urbanizing and the rate of urbanization is expected to climb steeply over the next few decades.
McKinsey Global Institute (2010) predicts an urban population of 590 million by 2030, as compared to 340
million in 2008. For India to be more inclusive, it is imperative that both economic growth and urban population
be more equitably distributed. Therefore, any meaningful long-term vision for India would be incomplete
without planning for the cities of tomorrow.
Urbanization in India has occurred more slowly than in other developing countries and the proportion of the
population in urban areas has been only 28 per cent based on the 2001 census. The pace of urbanization is now
set to accelerate as the country sets to a more rapid growth. Economic reform has already unleashed investment
and growth offering its citizens rich opportunities. Surging growth and employment in cities will prove a
powerful magnet. 300 million Indians currently live in towns and cities. Within 20-25 years, another 300 million
people will get added to Indian towns and cities. This urban expansion will happen at a speed quite unlike
anything that India has seen before. It took nearly forty years for India’s urban population to rise by 230 million.
It could take only half the time to add the next 250 million. If not well managed, this inevitable increase in India’s
urban population will place enormous stress on the system
The speed of urbanization poses an unprecedented managerial and policy challenge—yet India has not engaged
in a national discussion about how to handle the seismic shift in the makeup of the nation.
Urban India today is “distributed” in shape—with a diverse range of large and small cities spread widely around
the nation. India will probably continue on a path of distributed model of urbanization because this suits its
federal structure and helps to ensure that migration flows aren’t unbalanced toward any particular city or cities.
As the urban population and incomes increase, demand for every key service such as water, transportation,
sewage treatment, low income housing will increase five-to seven fold in cities of every size and type. And if
India continues on its current path, urban infrastructure will fall woefully short of what is necessary to sustain
prosperous cities.
Recent reports suggest that India spends $17 per capita per year in urban infrastructure, whereas most
benchmarks suggest a requirement $100. The investment required for building urban infrastructure in India,
over the next 20 years, is estimated at approximately US$ 1 trillion.
There has been an incomplete devolution of functions to the elected bodies as per 74th Constitutional
Amendment Act, possibly because of the unwillingness of the state governments. In addition, very few Indian
cities have 2030 master plans that take into account peak transportation loads, requirements for low-income
affordable housing and climate change. In general, the capacity to execute the urban reforms and projects at the
municipal and state level has been historically inadequate.
Social effects of Urbanization

.
Urbanization has far reaching effects on larger societal process and structures. Following are some of the
sections-
Family and kinship Urbanization affects not only the family structure but also intra and inter-family relations, as
well as the functions the family performs. With urbanization, there is a disruption of the bonds of community
and the migrant faces the problem to replace old relationships with new ones and to find a satisfactory means of
continuing relationship with those left behind.
I.P. Desai (1964) showed that though the structure of urban family is changing, the spirit of individualism is not
growing in the families. He found that 74 percent families were residentially nuclear but functionally and in
property joint, and 21 percent were joint in residence and functioning as well as in property and 5 percent
families were nuclear.
Aileen Ross (1962) in her study of 157 Hindu families belonging to middle and upper classes in Bangalore found
that
1. about 60 percent of the families are nuclear

2. the trend today is towards a break with the traditional joint family form into the nuclear family form into
the nuclear family unit.
3. Small joint family is now the most typical form of family life in urban India.
4. Relations with one’s distant kin are weakening or breaking.
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 necessary 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. It has been pointed out that among the westernized elite,
class ties are much more important than caste ties.
However caste system continues to persist and exert its influence in some sectors of urban social life while it has
changed its form in some other sectors. Caste solidarity is not as strong as in urban areas as in the rural areas.
Caste panchayats are very weak in cities. There exists a dichotomy between workplace and domestic situation
and both caste and class situations co-exist.
Urbanization and the Status of Women: Women constitute an important section of rural 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 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.
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, professional loyalty along with increased autonomy. The traditional and
cultural institutions remaining the same, crises of values and a confusion of norms have finally resulted. The
personally and socially enlightened woman is forced to perform dual roles - social and professional.
The status of urban women, because of being comparatively educated and liberal, is higher than that of rural
women. However in the labour market, women continue to be in a disadvantaged situation.
Problems of Urbanization
The patterns of urbanization in India has been marked by regional and interstate diversities, large scale rural to
urban migration, insufficient infrastructural facilities, growth of slums and other allied problems. Some of the
.
important problems of urbanization faced in different parts of India are as follows:
Housing and Slums
There is acute shortage of housing in urban areas and much of the available accommodation is of sub-standard
quality. This problem has tended to worsen over the years due to rapid increase in population, fast rate of
urbanization and proportionately inadequate addition to the housing stock.

With large scale migration to urban areas many find that the only option they have is substandard conditions of
slums. Slums are characterized by sub-standard housing, overcrowding, lack of electrification, ventilation,
sanitation, roads and drinking water facilities. They have been the breeding ground of diseases, environmental
pollution, demoralization and many social tensions.
With India’s slum population standing at nearly 40%, slum dwellers form 44% of population in Delhi,45% in
Mumbai, 42% in Calcutta and 39% in Chennai.
Over Crowding
In major cities in India like Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune and Kanpur, somewhere between 85% and 90% of households
lives in one or two rooms. In some homes, five to six persons live in one room. Over-crowding encourages
deviant behavior, spreads diseases and creates conditions for mental illness, alcoholism and riots. One effect of
dense urban living is people’s apathy and indifference.
Water supply, Drainage and Sanitation
No city has round the clock water supply in India. Intermittent supply results in a vacuum being created in empty
water lines which often suck in pollutants through leaking joints. Many small towns have no main water supply
at all and are dependent on the wells. Drainage situation is equally bad. Because of the non-existence of a
drainage system, large pools of stagnant water can be seen in city even in summer months.
Removing garbage, cleaning drains and unclogging sewers are the main jobs of municipalities and municipal
corporations in Indian cities. There is a total lack of motivation to tackle the basic sanitation needs of the cities.
The spread of slums in congested urban areas and lack of civic sense among the settlers in these slums further
adds to the growing mound of filth and diseases.
Transportation and Traffic
Absence of planned and adequate arrangements for traffic and transport is another problem in urban centres in
India. Majority of people use buses and tempos, while a few use rail as transit system. The increasing number of
two-wheelers and cars make the traffic problem worse. They cause air pollution as well. Moreover, the number
of buses plying the metropolitan cities is not adequate and commuters have to spend long hours to travel.
Pollution
Our towns and cities are major polluters of the environment. Several cities discharge 40 to 60 percent of their
entire sewage and industrial effluents untreated into the nearby rivers. Urban industry pollutes the atmosphere
with smoke and toxic gases from its chimneys. All these, increases the chances of diseases among the people
living in the urban centres. According to UNICEF, lakhs of urban children die or suffer from diarrhoea, tetanus,
measles etc. because of poor sanitary conditions and water contamination. As a long-term remedy, what is
needed is using new techniques of waste collection, new technology for garbage-disposal and fundamental
change in the municipal infrastructure and land-use planning.
The above is not an exhaustive list of the problems of urbanization. A whole lot of other problems including
increasing rate of crime in the cities, increasing old age population and absence of social security for them,
enhanced role and sphere of market has led to the poor and marginalized suffering the most. Studies have also
deleterious impact shown
on the that
health of the
stress levels are found high in cities, which in turn has
.
people.

Urbanization and Governance
Governance forms an integral part of Urbanization. Governance is the weakest and most crucial link which needs
to be repaired to bring about the urban transformation so urgently needed in India. Financing the large sums
required to meet the investment needs of urban infrastructure is crucially dependent on the reform of
institutions and the capacity of those who run the institutions for service delivery and revenue generation. It is
seen that large expenditures on Indian cities and towns have to be combined with better governance structures,
strong political and administrative will to collect taxes and user charges, and improved capacity to deliver. Cities
must be empowered, financially strengthened, and efficiently governed to respond to the needs of their citizens
and to contribute to the growth momentum.
The municipal entities need to be strengthened as local governments with ‛own’ sources of revenue, predictable
formula-based transfers from state governments, and other transfers from the Government of India and state
governments to help them discharge the larger responsibilities assigned to them by the 74th Constitutional
Amendment. Improved tax revenues combined with rational user charges will enable cities to leverage their own
resources to incur debt and also access new forms of financing through public private partnership (PPP). Only
then can they augment the urban infrastructure base, provide improved quality of services on a sustainable basis
to their residents, and contribute to the growth momentum of the Indian economy.
Administrative reforms commission in its 6th report mentioned measures to strengthen the urban governance.
Some of its important recommendations are-
a) Urban local bodies should be given responsibility for water supply and distribution in their territorial
jurisdiction whether based on their own source or collaborative arrangements with other service
providers.
b) Sanitation, as a matter of hygiene and public health, must be given priority and emphasis in all urban
areas. In all towns, advance action for laying down adequate infrastructure should be taken to avoid
insufficiency of services.
c) Community participation and co-production of services should be encouraged by municipal bodies. This
should be supplemented by awareness generation.
d) In all towns and cities with a population above one lakh, the possibility of taking up PPP projects for
collection and disposal of garbage may be explored.
e) Municipal bodies should be encouraged to take responsibility of power distribution in their area.
f) Urban Transport Authorities, to be called Unified Metropolitan Transport Authorities in the Metropolitan
Corporations, should be set up in cities with population over one million within one year, for
coordinated planning and implementation of urban transport solutions with an overriding priority to
public transport.
Way forward
India needs to work on several areas to manage its urbanization: The following are perhaps the most important:
Inclusive cities, funding, planning, capacity building and low-income housing India also needs to start a political
process where the urban issues are debated with evolution of meaningful solutions:
Inclusive Cities The poor and lower income groups must be brought into the mainstream in cities. Regulations
intended to manage densities and discourage migration both limit the supply of land and require many
households to consume more land than they would choose. This drives urban sprawl and pushes up the price of
.
land and the cost of service delivery for all. High standards for parking, coverage limits, setbacks, elevators, road
widths, reservations for health centers schools etc. (often not used) prevent the poor from choosing how much
to consume of the costliest resource (urban land) to put a roof over their heads, and comply with legal
requirements.
Financing: Devolution has to be supported by more reforms in urban financing that will reduce cities’
dependence on the Centre and the states and unleash internal revenue sources. Consistent with most
international examples, there are several sources of funding that Indian cities could tap into, to a far greater
extent than today: Monetizing land assets; higher collection of property taxes, user charges that reflect costs;
debt and public-private partnerships (PPPs); and central/state government funding. However, internal funding
alone will not be enough, even in large cities. A portion has to come from the central and state governments.
Planning: India needs to make urban planning a central, respected function, investing in skilled people, rigorous
fact base and innovative urban form. This can be done through a “cascaded” planning structure in which large
cities have 40-year and 20-year plans at the metropolitan level that are binding on municipal development plans.
Central to planning in any city is the optimal allocation of space, especially land use and Floor Area Ratio (FAR)
planning. Both should focus on linking public transportation with zoning for affordable houses for low-income
groups. These plans need to be detailed, comprehensive, and enforceable.
Local capacity building: A real step-up in the capabilities and expertise of urban local bodies will be critical to
devolution and improvement of service delivery. Reforms will have to address the development of professional
managers for urban management functions, who are in short supply and will be required in large numbers. New
innovative approaches will have to be explored to tap into the expertise available in the private and social
sectors.
References:
 IGNOU Material
 Approach Paper to the 12th Plan
 2nd ARC
 Economic and Political Weekly
.


VISIONIAS ™
www.visionias.in
GLOBALIZATION
.


Student Notes:
EFFECT OF GLOBALIZATION ON INDIAN SOCIETY
1.0 Introduction to Globalization
You must have found that your city has more labelled clothes than ever before, brand like Nike,
Reebok and others which used to be not available in India are now available. In big cities
fashion trends are very similar to other big cities of the world. Even TV programs have their
global imports, which are localised such as Kaun Banega Crore Pati, Indian Idol. The global
influences are being felt everywhere and all over the world. Bhangra and Yoga are popular in
the West, as cheese, pizza and burgers have become part of our eating habits, at least in big
cities and among the younger generation. Big corporations now have offices in different parts of
the globe where they carry on activities, so corporations have gone global and in that sense the
production processes. There are people who work in India but who don an American accent
and keep American time because they work for international call centre. People are travelling
evermore on work, in search of work, or migrating to seek better lives. There is definitely lot
more movement of people and communication between people. A mother whose son lives in
America not only is regularly in contact with her son and daughter-in-law but might travel to
stay with him a good part of the year.
These changes that we are witnessing is being termed globalisation. While there are many
debates on what exactly constitutes globalisation, what are its chief characteristics
(dimensions) and where does it stem from, the changes that we are witnessing are palpable
and real.
2.0 What is Globalization?
In very simple terms globalisation can be depicted as increasing global interconnectedness. It is

a process rather than an outcome, which refers to the trend toward the growing
interconnectedness of different parts of the world, not to their being interconnected. It
primarily is an interchange of economic, social, cultural, political, technological attributes that
takes place between societies when different societies come into contact with each other.
Before moving further, we would halt to examine whether the process of globalization is really a
new phenomenon.
3.0 Are Global Interconnections New to World and to India?
If globalisation is about global interconnections we can ask whether this is really a new
phenomenon. Was India or the different parts of the world not interacting with each other in
earlier times?
3.1 The Early Years

.
India was not isolated from the world even two thousand years ago. We have read in our
history textbooks about the famous Silk route, which centuries ago connected India to the great
civilisations, which existed in China, Persia, Egypt and Rome. We also know that throughout
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India’s long past, people from different parts came here, sometimes as traders, sometimes as
conquerors, sometimes as migrants in search of new lands and settled down here. In remote
Indian villages often people ‘recall’ a time when their ancestors lived elsewhere, from where
they came and settled down where they now live. Global interactions or even a global outlook
are thus not novel developments unique to the modern period or unique to modern India.
3.2 Colonialism and the Global Connection
Modern capitalism has had a global dimension from its very inception. Colonialism was part of
the system that required new sources of capital, raw materials, energy, markets and a global
network that sustained it. Often globalisation today identifies large-scale movement of people
or migration as a defining feature. You know, however, that perhaps the greatest movement of
people was the migration of European people who settled down in the Americas and Australia.
You will remember how indentured labourers were taken away in ships from India to work in
distant parts of Asia, Africa and Americas. And the slave trade that carted thousands of Africans
away to distant shores.
3.3 Independent India and the World
Independent India retained a global outlook. In many senses this was inherited from the Indian
nationalist movement. Commitment to liberation struggles throughout the world, solidarity
with people from different parts of the world was very much part of this vision. Many Indians
travelled overseas for education and work. Migration was an ongoing process. Export and
import of raw material, goods and technology was very much part of development since
independence. Foreign firms did operate in India. So is the current process of change radically
different from anything we have seen in the past?
3.4 Globalization Now and Then
Thus, globalisation as an interchange of various attributes among different societies is not a

new phenomenon, but an ongoing process. What makes the present day process of
globalisation different and distinct from the earlier ones is the rapid increase in the frequency
and the density of these interchanges and interconnectedness. Everything happens much faster
today than it did in previous eras. The current process of globalisation, which is popularly
described as gradual removal of barriers to trade and investment between nations, was started
towards the end of the 20th century. It is said to aim to achieve economic efficiency through
competitiveness, while seeking the broader objectives of economic and social development. It
touches all spheres of human life; economic, social, cultural, political and environmental.
4.0 So What Constitutes Globalization Now?
It has been seen that India had significant links with the global world from very early times. It is
also known that western capitalism as it emerged in Europe was both built upon and
maintained by global control over resources of other countries as in colonialism. The important
question is, however, whether globalisation is just about global interconnections. Or is it about
.
some significant changes in the capitalist system of production and communication,

organisation of labour and capital, technological innovations and cultural experiences, ways of
governance and social movements? These changes are significant even if some of the patterns
were already evident in the early stages of capitalism. Some of the changes such as those
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flowing from the communication revolution have in a myriad ways transformed the way we
work and live.
At this point, some of the distinctive features of globalisation will be discussed. As we progress,
we shall be able to comment as to why a simple definition of global interconnection does not
capture the intensity and complexity of globalisation.
Globalisation refers to the growing interdependence between different peoples, regions and
countries in the world as social and economic relationships come to stretch world-wide.
Although economic forces are an integral part of globalisation, it would be wrong to suggest
that they alone produce it. It has been driven forward above all by the development of
information and communication technologies that have intensified the speed and scope of
interaction between people all over the world. Moreover, as we shall see, there was a political
context within which it grew. Let us look at the different dimensions of globalisation. To
facilitate our discussion we deal with the economic, political and cultural aspects separately.
However, we will soon realise how closely connected and interconnected they are.
5.0 The Different Dimensions of Globalization
5.1 The Economic
5.1.1 The Economic Policy of Liberalization: Globalisation involves a stretching of social and
economic relationships throughout the world. This stretching is pushed by certain economic
policies. Very broadly this process in India is termed liberalisation. The term liberalisation refers
to a range of policy decisions that the Indian state took since 1991 to open up the Indian
economy to the world market. This marked a break with an earlier stated policy of the
government to have a greater control over the economy. The state after independence had put
in place a large number of laws that ensured that the Indian market and Indian indigenous
business were protected from competition of the wider world. The underlying assumption of
such a policy was that an erstwhile colonial country would be at a disadvantage in a free market
situation. We already know about the economic impact of colonialism. The state also believed
that the market alone would not be able to look after all the welfare of the people, particularly
its disadvantaged sections. It felt that the state had an important role to play for the welfare of
the people. It can be substantiated through the importance of the issues of social justice for the
makers of the Indian Constitution.
Liberalisation of the economy meant the steady removal of the rules that regulated Indian trade
and finance regulations. These measures are also described as economic reforms. What are
these reforms? Since July 1991, the Indian economy has witnessed a series of reforms in all
major sectors of the economy (agriculture, industry, trade, foreign investment and technology,
public sector, financial institutions etc.). The basic assumption was that greater integration into
the global market would be beneficial to Indian economy.
The process of liberalisation also involved the taking of loans from international institutions
such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF). These loans are given on certain conditions.
.
The government makes commitments to pursue certain kind of economic measures that involve
a policy of structural adjustments. These adjustments usually mean cuts in state expenditure on
the social sector such as health, education and social security. There is also a greater say by
international institutions such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
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5.1.2 The Trans-National Corporations: Among the many economic factors driving
globalisation, the role of transnational corporations (TNCs) is particularly important. TNCs are
companies that produce goods or market services in more than one country. These may be
relatively small firms with one or two factories outside the country in which they are based.
They could also be gigantic international ones whose operations crisscross the globe. Some of
the biggest TNCs are companies known all around the world: Coca Cola, General Motors,
Colgate-Palmolive, Kodak, Mitsubishi and many others. They are oriented to the global markets
and global profits even if they have a clear national base. Some Indian corporations are also
becoming transnational. Can you give some examples? We are, however, not sure at this point
of time, what this trend may mean to the people of India as a whole.
Are these TNC’s and MNC’s the same corporations? How are they similar and how are they
different?
5.1.3 The Electronic Economy: The ‘electronic economy’ is another factor that underpins
economic globalisation. Banks, corporations, fund managers and individual investors are able to
shift funds internationally with the click of a mouse. This new ability to move ‘electronic money’
instantaneously carries it with great risks however. In India often this is discussed with
reference to rising stock markets and also sudden dips because of foreign investors buying
stocks, making a profit and then selling them off. Such transactions can happen only because of
the communication revolution, which we discuss later. Do you remember the recent Rupee
debacle? Can you connect with it?
5.1.4 The Weightless Economy or the Knowledge Economy:
In contrast to previous eras, the global economy is no longer primarily agricultural or industrial
in its basis. The weightless economy is one in which products have their base in information, as
in the case with computer software, media and entertainment products and internet based
services. A knowledge economy is one in which much of the workforce is involved not in the
physical production or distribution of material goods, but in their design, development,
technology, marketing, sale and servicing. It can range from the neighbourhood catering service
to large organisations involved in providing a host of services for both professional meets like
conferences to family events like weddings. We have a host of new occupations that was
unheard of a few decades ago, for instance event managers. Have you heard of them? What do
they do? Find out about other such new service.
5.1.5 Globalization of Finance: It should also be noted that for the first time, mainly due to the
information technology revolution, there has been a globalisation of finance. Globally
integrated financial markets undertake billions of dollars worth transactions within seconds in
the electronic circuits. There is a 24-hour trading in capital and security markets. Cities such as
New York, Tokyo and London are the key centres for financial trading. Within India, Mumbai is
known as the financial capital of the country.
5.1A Global Communications:

.
Important advances in technology and the world’s telecommunications infrastructure has led to
revolutionary changes in global communication. Some homes and many offices now have
multiple links to the outside world, including telephones (land lines and mobiles), fax machines,
digital and cable television, electronic mail and the internet.
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Some of you may find many such places. Some of you may not. This is indicative of what is
often termed as the digital divide in our country. Cyber connectivity has largely remained an
urban phenomenon but widely accessible through the cybercafes. But the rural areas with their
erratic power supply, widespread illiteracy and lack of infrastructure like telephone connections
still remain largely unconnected. Can you recall of some mission that Government of India is
taking up to provide internet based communication in rural areas?
Despite this digital divide these forms of technology do facilitate the ‘compression’ of time and
space. Two individuals located on opposite sides of the planet – in Bangalore and New York –
not only can talk, but also send documents and images to one another with the help of satellite
technology. Outsourcing operates on this very principle.
There has also been a remarkable growth in India’s telecom sector. Between 1988 and 1998,
the number of villages with some kind of telephone facility increased from 27,316 to 300,000
villages (half of all villages in India). By 2000, some 650,000 public call offices (PCOs) provided
reliable telephone service, where people can simply walk in, make a call, and pay the metered
charges, had mushroomed all over India, including the remote, rural, hilly, and tribal areas.
The emergence of PCOs satisfies the strong Indian socio-cultural need of keeping in touch with
family members. Much like train travel in India which is often undertaken to celebrate
marriages, visit relatives, or attend funerals, the telephone is also viewed as a way of
maintaining close family ties. Not surprisingly, most advertisement for telephony service show
mothers talking to their sons and daughters, or grandparents talking to grandchildren.
Telephone expansion in India thus serves a strong socio-cultural function for its users, in
addition to a commercial one.
Cellular telephony has also grown enormously and cell phones are part of the self for most
urban-based middle class youth. This has been a tremendous growth in the usage of cell
phones and a marked change in how its use is seen. Initially in the late1980s, cell phones are
being looked at with distrust (misused by criminal elements). As late as 1998 they are perceived
as luxury items (only the rich can own it and so owners should be taxed). By 2006 we have
become the country with the fourth largest usage of cell phones. Delineate some areas where
you feel that Mobile technology has brought in a remarkable change. Discuss issues like Whats
App., social networking sites, online stores, etc.
5.2 The Political
In many ways it was a major political change, namely, the collapse of the erstwhile socialist
world that hastened globalisation. And also gave a specific economic and political approach to
the economic policies that underpin globalisation. These changes are often termed as neo-
liberal economic measures. We have already seen what concrete steps the liberalisation policy
took in India. Broadly these policies reflect a political vision of free enterprise which believes
that a free reign to market forces will be both efficient and fair. It is, therefore, critical of both
state regulation and state subsidies. The existing process of globalisation in this sense does have
a political vision as much as an economic vision. However, the possibilities that there can be a
.
globalisation which is different do exist. We, thus have the con

n inclusive globalisation
that is one, which includes all sections of society.
Another significant political development which is accompanying globalisation is the growth of
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international and regional mechanisms for political collaboration. The European Union (EU), the
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), South Asian Regional Conference (SARC) and
South Asian Federation of Trade Association (SAFTA) are just some of the examples that indicate
the greater role of regional associations.
The other political dimension has been the rise of International Governmental Organisations.
(IGOs) and International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs). An intergovernmental
organisation is a body that is established by participating governments and given responsibility
for regulating, or overseeing a particular domain of activity that is transnational in scope. The
World Trade Organisation (WTO) for instance increasingly has a major say in the rules that
govern trade practices.
As the name suggests, INGOs differ from intergovernmental organisations in that they are not
affiliated with government institutions. Rather they are independent organisations, which make
policy decisions and address international issues. Some of the best known INGOs are
Greenpeace, The Red Cross and Amnesty International, Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors
Without Borders). They have created a global space. These spaces are delineated by networks
of economic, social and cultural relations, and they are being occupied by conscious actors, in
physically separated locations, who link together in networks of particular political and social
purposes. Mostly, these purposes lie outside of purely national interests, in which common
values, aims, concerns and even ideologies are discussed and acted upon.
There are many international organization which network over distance traversing international
boundaries. By undertaking campaigns beyond their own frontiers that help to change the
global agenda, INGO members can bypass their own governments and act directly in global
politics and thus open up new arenas for political participation. Global actors, such MNCs,
international regulatory organizations like WTO and financial organizations like IMF and World
Bank have all produced arenas which exert influence on nation –states and function both within
and without states
5.3 The Social
The social dimension of globalization refers to the impact of globalisation on the life and work
of people, on their families and their societies. Concerns and issues are often raised about the
impact of globalisation on employment, working conditions, income and social protection.
Beyond the world of work, the social dimension encompasses security, inclusion or exclusion
and the cohesiveness of families and communities etc. In this section let us see some of the
social dimensions of globalisation.
5.3.1 Globalization and Labour: Deregulation and privatisation of state enterprises have been
key components of structural adjustment programmes introduced by International Financial
Institutions as conditionalities attached to aid packages to developing countries and for the
acceleration of economic liberalisation. States around the world has felt compelled to ease
labour standards, modify tax regulations and generally relax standards of security and oversight
in the bid to attract more and more FDI. This progressively lowered labour standards. The big
.
corporate
m of subcontracting for companies like TNCs and M
their production. The companies give out their work to labourers, through contractors, who in
turn deliver the output to the company. This results in job insecurity of the labourer and
worsening of labour welfare since there is no checking system for their welfare.
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A new international division of labour has emerged in which more and more routine
manufacturing production and employment is done in the developing world cities. Prominent
activities in India include outsourcing and contract farming.
The current pace of globalisation also results in ‘casualization’ or ‘informalization’ of the work
force causing low wages for labourers and less job security, although it created employment
opportunities to some of the work force. The growth of the informal sector means that the
traditional employment related benefits and mechanisms of protection are not available to
those employed in this sector. Increased mechanisation and use of new technology demand
more skilled labour and displace unskilled labour. The new technologies and fast changing
market – the resultant features of globalisation – also tend to make existing skills obsolete and
require upgradation, new skills and multi-skilling. It also opens up new markets, which workers
can reach by adapting existing or traditional skills.
5.3.2 Globalization and Employment: Another key issue regarding globalisation and labour is
the relationship between employment and globalisation. Here too we seen the uneven impact
of globalisation. For the middle class youth from urban centres, globalisation and the IT
revolution has opened up new career opportunities. Instead of routinely picking up
BSc/BA/BCom degree from colleges, they are learning computer languages at computer
institutes or taking up jobs at call centres or Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies. In
call centres in India, women comprise an estimated 40% of the workforce. The youth are
working as sales persons in shopping malls or picking up jobs at the various restaurants that
have opened up.
Yet the broader trends of employment are disappointing. The creation of new jobs has failed to
keep pace with the country’s impressive economic growth. Liberalisation of the economy has in
some sectors caused loss of employment without creation of new employment. Opening up of
the market and free flow of trade and low tariffs encouraged flow of foreign goods lowering the
employment opportunities of Indian labourers. For example, thousands of silk spinners and
twisters of Bihar have totally lost their job due to the import of China-Korea silk yarn as weavers
and consumers prefer this yarn because it is somewhat cheap and shiny.
5.3.3 Globalization and Poverty: Globalization has so far opened up markets and reached the
rural population as consumers. Branded products, durable consumer good, preserved food
items have been offered in convenient small packs. They have been targeted as mobile
consumers and attractive packages have been made available at their doorsteps. But they (rural
population) have not been intertwined into the production process, as service providers,
workmen, or producers of intermediate goods/ inputs for the production chain of multinational
companies. Simply their earnings, do not match along their consumption demand, thus leading
to indebtedness, or corruption.
Clearly, globalization is a lop-sided prescription. In its present form, globalization has raised GDP
figures, but not the welfare of the masses. Absolute poverty may and has reduced to some
.
extent but relative poverty has increased due to increasing disparities of income distribution
and job opportunities.
5.3.4 Globalization and Rising Inequality in Wealth Concentration: Globalisation is a very
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uneven process, with unequal distribution of benefits and losses. In the ongoing process of
globalisation investment resources, growth and modern technology are focussed in a few
countries such as North America, Europe, Japan, and the East Asian countries, which are the
newly industrialised countries of the world. The majority of the developing countries are
excluded from the process and participating in marginal ways that are often detrimental to their
interests; for example, import liberalisation may harm their domestic producers and financial
liberalisation may cause instability.
The uneven and unequal nature of the present globalisation process is manifested in the fast
growing gap between 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.
Polarisation among countries has also been accompanied by increasing income inequality
within countries. In India, average incomes rose more rapidly in urban areas than in rural areas
between 1993 and 2000, implying the widening gaps between rural and urban areas. Recall the
concept of ‘Gini Coefficient’. Check out its value while you go through the Economic Survey of
India.
Do you remember the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement which began in 2011? Why did it take
root?
5.3.5 Globalization and Migration and Urbanization: The current pace of economic
globalisation has put a new spin on global migration, causing global uprootedness and human
displacement on an unprecedented scale. Migration for many becomes not a choice but an
economic necessity mainly because of the unequal development between nations, and
between rural and urban centres. If we look around in our own country we find that it is not so
rare any more to find that there is some member of the family or other who has moved for a
better life. Countries like USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand have actively been
encouraging immigration. Immigration policies of some of the countries where there is huge
Indian population seems to affect the economic status of the country and the people directly
connected with migrant population. This can be witnessed in the recent deportation of Indian
workers in the gulf or anxiety over the scaling down of H1B visas, which are the visas that Indian
technocrats go on.
Urbanisation is an important driving force for commuting because urban areas offer many
economic opportunities to rural people. Urban labour markets offer opportunities to switch
jobs rapidly, diversify incomes, and become upwardly mobile. The pattern of economic force,
not the rate of economic force, acts as a determining factor in the increasing rate of
urbanisation. Economic growth based on the expansion of manufacturing industry, a trade mark
of current globalisation, tends to be associated with higher rates of urbanisation while growth
based on the expansion of agriculture is associated with the reverse.
In India, there has been a greater emphasis on agricultural produce and export of skilled
services such as IT, both of which may not create such a great demand for labour in urbanised
areas. At the same time cheap imports — a result of liberalisation measures and low import
tariffs — can threaten local agricultural production systems with the result that illiterate people
.
with a limited skills base might migrate to urban areas in search of work (see 6.1). There is also
evidence that in India people move away from; farming sector due to macro-economic reforms
where reduction of subsidies and removal of inter-district movements of grains have put
smaller farmers out of business. In such cases the option before them is to migrate to places
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where there are better economic opportunities.
5.4 The Cultural:
There are many ways that globalisation affects culture. We saw earlier that over the ages India
has had an open approach to cultural influences and have been enriched because of this. The
last decade has seen major cultural changes leading to fears that our local cultures would be
overtaken. Our cultural tradition has been wary of the ‘kupamanduka’, the frog that lives its
whole life within a well, knows nothing else, and is suspicious of everything outside it. It talks to
no one, and argues with no one on anything. It merely harbours the deepest suspicion of the
outside world. Fortunately for us we retain our ‘traditional’ open-ended attitude to this day.
Thus there are heated debates in our society not just about political and economic issues but
also about changes in clothes, styles, music, films, languages, body language. You will recall how
the 19th century reformers and early nationalists also debated on culture and tradition. The
issues today are in some ways the same, in some ways different. What is perhaps different is
the scale and intensity of change.
Increased Pace of Cultural Penetration: Today in the hi-tech communication era, in which ICTs
have made communication easier, faster and cheaper than in the past, more and more cultural
interpenetration is taking place. In other words, we can put it that the acceleration of
globalisation has hastened the pace of cultural change. Cultural interpenetration through the
exchange of commodities today is so pervasive that it is difficult if not impossible to distinguish
between original and imported cultural attributes.
Homogenization Vs. Glocalization of Culture
A central contention is that all cultures will become similar, that is homogeneous. Others argue
that there is an increasing tendency towards glocalisation of culture. Glocalisation refers to the
mixing of the global with the local. It is not entirely spontaneous. Nor is it entirely delinked from
the commercial interests of globalisation.
It is a strategy often adopted by foreign firms while dealing with local traditions in order to
enhance their marketability. In India, we find that all the foreign television channels like Star,
MTV, Channel V and Cartoon Network use Indian languages. Even McDonald sells only
vegetarian and chicken products in India and not its beef products, which are popular abroad.
McDonald’s goes vegetarian during the Navaratri festival. In the field of music, one can see the
growth of popularity of ‘Bhangra pop’, ‘Indi pop’, fusion music and even remixes. Have you
noticed any changes in films produced by Bollywood? While at one time there were scenes shot
in foreign countries, the stories remained local. Then there were stories where characters
returned to India even if part of the story was set abroad. Now there are stories set entirely
outside India.
We have already seen how the strength of Indian culture has been its open ended approach.
We also saw how through the modern period our reformers and nationalists actively debated
tradition and culture. Culture cannot be seen as an unchanging fixed entity that can either
.
collapse or remain the same when faced with social change. What is more likely even today is
that globalisation will lead to the creation of not just new local traditions but global ones too.
Resurgence of Cultural Nationalism
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Globalisation has also given rise to active cultural campaigning to defend local identities.
Nations reject global cultural integration and people remain loyal to local histories, identities
and traditions. For example, European countries have campaigned against the threat of
Americanisation (standardisation) and have defended the diversity and difference of European
cultures. It is also possible to have attempts within the country by certain sections of people
who refuse to integrate or adopt alien cultures as well as conduct massive movements against
this trend. For example Shiv Sena activists have been campaigning against Valentine’s Day
celebrations in India.
GENDER AND CULTURE: Very often defenders of a fixed traditional idea of cultural identity
defend undemocratic and discriminating practices against women in the name of cultural
identity. These could range from a defence of sati to defence of women’s exclusion from
education and participation in public matters. Globalisation can then be taken as a bogey to
defend unjust practices against women. Fortunately for us in India we have been able to retain
and develop a democratic tradition and culture that allows us to define culture in a more
inclusive and democratic fashion.
Culture of Consumption
Often when we speak of culture we refer to dresses, music, dances, food. However, culture as
we know refers to a whole way of life. There are two uses of culture that any chapter on
globalisation should mention. They are the culture of consumption and corporate culture. Look
at the crucial role that cultural consumption is playing in the process of globalisation especially
in shaping the growth of cities. Till the 1970s the manufacturing industries used to play a major
role in the growth of cities. Presently, cultural consumption (of art, food, fashion, music,
tourism) shapes to a large extent the growth of cities. This is evident in the spurt in the growth
of shopping malls, multiplex cinema halls, amusement parks and ‘water world’ in every major
city in India. Most significantly advertisements and the media in general promote a culture
where spending is important. To be careful with money is no longer a virtue.
Shopping is a past time actively encouraged. Successive successes in fashion pageants like Miss
Universe and Miss World have led to a tremendous growth in industries in the fields of fashion,
cosmetics and health. Young girls’ dream of being an Aishwarya Rai or Sushmita Sen. Popular
game shows like Kaun Banega Crorepati actually made it seem possible that your fortunes could
turn over a few games.
Corporate Culture
Corporate culture is a branch of management theory that seeks to increase productivity and
competitiveness though the creation of a unique organisational culture involving all members
of a firm. A dynamic corporate culture – involving company events, rituals and traditions - is
thought to enhance employee loyalty and promote group solidarity. It also refers to way of
doing things, of promotion and packaging products.
The spread of multinational companies and the opportunities opened up by the information
.
technology revolution has created in the metropolitan cities in India class of upwardly mobile
professionals working in software firms, multinational banks, chartered accountancy firms,
stock markets, travel, fashion designing, entertainment, media and other allied fields. These
high-flying professionals have highly stressful work schedules, get exorbitant salaries and are
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the main clientele of the booming consumer industry.
Threat to many indigenous Craft and Literary Traditions and Knowledge Systems
Yet another link between cultural forms and globalisation is evident from the condition of many
indigenous craft and literary traditions and knowledge systems. It is, however, important to
remember that modern development even prior to the stage of globalisation did make inroads
into traditional cultural forms and occupations based on them. But the sheer scale and intensity
of change is enormous. The globalisation process invades territories, habitats and resources of
indigenous people, which may lead to destruction of their way of life. For instance about 30
theatre groups, which were active around the textile mills area of Parel and Girgaum of Mumbai
city, have become defunct, as most of the mill workers are out of jobs in these areas. Some
years back, there were reports of large number of suicides by the traditional weavers in Sircilla
village of Karimnagar district and in Dubakka village in Medak district, both in Andhra Pradesh.
These weavers with no means to invest in technology were unable to adapt to the changing
consumer tastes and competition from power looms.
Similarly, various forms of traditional knowledge systems especially in the fields of medicine
and agriculture have been preserved and passed on from one generation to the other. Big
corporate entities, however, get access to indigenous knowledge and patent it for their gain and
profit. The result can be that the indigenous people and the rest of the humanity will have to
pay for access to the knowledge that will thus have been commercialised. Recent 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. Pharmaceutical corporations in the United States of America under the auspices of
Human Genome Diversity Programme, are patenting the indigenous people themselves. They
monopolise the use of seed, medicines and traditional knowledge systems and human
genomes. Even the life supporting systems of humanity such as land, water, wildlife, aquatic life,
mineral resources became commodities in the present globalisation process at the cost of the
lives and livelihoods of vast majorities around the world. This may result in environmental
devastation, social displacement, wiping out of cultural and biological diversity. Also, the
centralised management of natural resources imposed by trade and investment agreements
does not have space for intergenerational and intra-generational sustainability.
5.5 The Environmental
Sustainable development is defined as development that meets the needs of the present
generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Under this definition development is not just limited to economic growth but is made to
encompass environmental protection, and an equitable distribution of wealth and resources
with the goal of improving and raising the standards and quality of living for everyone. The
development practices followed the world over during the globalisation era marked by a high
level of market competitiveness often seemed to follow unsustainable development practices.
.
For instance, in India the replacement of native seeds by imported hybrid seeds or cash crops
resulted in more and more exploitation of ground water through tube-wells since these crops
need more water. The over exploitation of the groundwater in turn resulted in the depletion of
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ground water level leading to famines and poverty. The high yielding hybrid seeds are
vulnerable to pest attacks resulting in more use of pesticides. The indiscriminate use of
chemical-based fertilizers, especially subsidised fertilizer, has created an imbalance between
the essential mineral contents such as Nitrogen and Potassium. There is a growing realisation of
the degradation of land, water and environment due to the current pattern of agricultural
production and its sustainability among the people. The export oriented policy of the Indian
government in the fisheries sector opened up the waters of the Exclusive Economic Zone to
MNCs and TNCs for fish trawling. This resulted in the indiscriminate destruction of the marine
eco system and the livelihood of the traditional fishing community. Discuss recent examples
such as issues related to foreign companies setting up mining and industrial plants in Indian
forests. Think about tribals, displacement issues, etc.
6.0 Case-Studies
They are to be read for better understanding and to enable one’s mind to think from different
perspectives of society.
6.1 Groundnut Farmers in Chitoor District, Andhra Pradesh, India
Groundnut was once regarded as the “wonder crop” that allowed small farmers in dry areas to
use their family labour productively and earn good cash profits. It spread rapidly during the
1960s in the drought prone Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh, and has been credited with
breaking the system of bonded labour in the area. But the profitability of groundnut, like many
other crops, has fallen over the 1990s due to rising input costs and drought. Lately diseases
such as a bud necrosis have also led to heavy losses. In several parts of Ananthapur and Chitoor
districts of Andhra Pradesh, groundnut used to be the first choice of dryland farmers during
normal monsoon years. A common ex-ante coping strategy followed by dryland farmers in
these areas was to plant horsegram or foxtail millet if they expect the rains to fail. But they
continued with groundnut farming even through worsening drought and disease because just
one good crop in three years would be enough to feed a family.
However this form of livelihood could not survive the added stress introduced by the
liberalisation of edible oil imports. The import duty on edible oils was reduced from 65% in the
mid-1990s to 15% by the end of the 1990s, Palm oil primarily. The share of imported edible oil,
mainly palm oil, has increased from less than one percent in the early 1990s to about 45% by
2001. The government responded by increasing import duties but international prices declined
further and other countries gave their exporters further concessions in order to capture the
lucrative India market. Groundnut prices fell and many farmers who were locked into credit-sale
agreements could not repay their debts. Hundreds of farmers in Rayalaseema have committed
suicide because they could not recover their costs and pay back money that they had
borrowed. A few with sufficient capital, skills and contracts diversified into mango orchards.
Many more started migrating out to the cities in search of work.
Source: www.dbtindia.gov.in
.
6.2 Food Security
“Last year I was in Warangal, Andhra Pradesh where farmers have also been committing suicide.
Farmers who traditionally grew pulses and millets and paddy have been lured by seed
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companies to buy hybrid cotton seeds referred to by the seed merchants as “white gold”, which
were supposed to make them millionaires. Instead they became paupers.
Their native seeds have been displaced with new hybrids which cannot be saved and need to be
purchased every year at high cost. Hybrids are also very vulnerable to pest attacks. Spending on
pesticides in Warangal has shot up 2000 percent from $2.5 million in the 1980s to $50 million in
1997. Now farmers are consuming the same pesticides as a way of killing themselves so that
they can escape permanently from unpayable debt.
The corporations are now trying to introduce genetically engineered seeds, which will further
increase costs and ecological risks. That is why farmers like Malla Reddy of the Andhra Pradesh
Farmers’ Union had uprooted Monsanto’s genetically engineered Bollgard cotton in Warangal.
The rich diversity and sustainable systems of food production are being destroyed in the name
of increasing food production. However, with the destruction of diversity, rich sources of
nutrition disappear. When measured in terms of nutrition per acre, and from the perspective
biodiversity, the so called “high yields” of industrial agriculture or industrial fisheries do not
imply more production of food and nutrition. Yield usually refers to production per unit area of
a single crop. Output refers to the total production of diverse crops and products. Planting only
one crop in the entire field as a monoculture will certainly increase its individual yield. Planting
multiple crops in a mixture will have low yields of individual crops, but will have high total
output of food. Yields have been defined in such a way as to make the food production on small
farms by small farmers disappear.
The Mayan peasants in the Chiapas are characterised as unproductive because they produce
only 2 tons of corn per acre. However, the overall food output is 20 tons per acre when the
diversity of their beans and squashes, their vegetables and their fruit trees are taken into
account.
In Java, small farmers cultivate 607 species in their home gardens. In sub-Saharan Africa,
women cultivate 120 different plants. A single home garden in Thailand has 230 species, and
African home gardens have more than 60 species of trees. Rural families in the Congo eat leaves
from more than 50 species of their farm trees. A study in eastern Nigeria found that home
gardens occupying only 2 per cent of a household’s farmland accounted for half of the farm’s
total output. In Indonesia 20 percent of household income and 40 per cent of domestic food
supplies come from the home gardens managed by women. Research done by FAO has shown
that small bio-diverse farms can produce thousands of times more food than large, industrial
monocultures. And diversity in addition to giving more food is the best strategy for preventing
drought and desertification.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/events/reith_2000/lecture5.stm)
7.0 Suggested Readings
As will be told in class.

.

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VISIONIAS ™
www.visionias.in
IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON INDIAN SOCIETY

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Society material for advance batch
Globalization
Globalization is a process of increasing interdependence, interconnectedness and integration of
economies and societies to such an extent that an event in one part of the globe affects people in other
parts of world.
Impact of Globalization on Women in India:

Globalization presents opportunities to some women but leads to marginalization of many others and
thus advocates mainstreaming in order to achieve gender equality. Globalization affects different groups
of women in different places in different ways. On the one hand it may create new opportunities for
women to be forerunners in economic and social progress.
With the advent of global communication networks and cross-cultural exchange there seems to be a
change in the status of women albeit not to a very large extent. However, globalization has indeed
promoted ideas and norms of equality for women that have brought about an awareness and acted as a
catalyst in their struggle for equitable rights and opportunities.
On the other hand it may exacerbate gender inequality in a patriarchal society, especially in the
developing world. In the economic realm it may lead to further marginalization of women in the
informal labour sector or impoverishment through loss of traditional sources of income.
According to a United Nations Development Fund for Women’s report, over the past two decades the
process of globalization has contributed to widening inequality within and among countries
Positives of globalization:
 Opened up broader communication lines and brought more companies as well as different
worldwide organizations into India- this provides more opportunities for women who are
becoming a larger part of the workforce
 With new jobs for women, there are opportunities for higher pay, which raises self-confidence and
brings about independence
 It has increased rate of urbanization. Women in urban areas have become more independent and
self-sufficient.
 The lower middle class is experiencing a shift in the way family relations worked. Traditionally
women stayed at home taking care of domestic needs and children. Now most of the women are
setting out of their private spaces to earn a living.
 Example: Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in India is a union of women laborers
y might get willing to work hard and seize any work opportunities
 Feminist movement has spread to India due to globalization, making women more vocal about
.
their ideas.
 Globalization has led increase in education of women, it has led to an improvement in health care
facilities, leading to reduction of MMR and IMR
 Different non-profit organizations have been brought to India from around the globe. These
organizations have given women the skills they need to advance, such as literacy and vocational
skills.
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 It has led to an increase in independence of women especially in urban areas. This has been
manifested through inter-caste marriages, single mothers, live-in relationships
 The women in rural settings have been influenced by globalization through media and through
numerous intervention programs like non-profit organizations, increasing self-confidence of
women and motivating them to fight for their rights
 Changes in attitude of women- more acceptance of western clothes, dating has become common
in urban areas, increased use of contraception in rural as well as urban areas
Negative aspects of globalization:

 Though employment opportunities for women are increasing, they are mostly crowded in low
paying jobs, have less social security.
 Women are suffering two fold. As women in developing countries move into the work force, their
domestic responsibilities are not alleviated. Women work two full time jobs.
 Exploitation of women in work place has emerged as a new issue
 Globalization has occurred with the persistence of patriarchal mindset of Indians, this has led to
problems for women like commodification of women, use of social media to harass women,
increase in violence against women
 As consumers, women are increasingly facing a consumer culture which reduces them to
commodities and as producers, women are exposed to work exploitation and occupational
hazards
 Additionally, prostitution, abuse and dowry related suicides are on the increase despite
globalization and some say that the materialistic greed is one of the main causes.
Impact of Globalization on Culture:

Globalization has a wide role to play worldwide. The interchange of world views and ideas has resulted
in a major transformation of the lifestyle and living standard of people globally. Globalization has not
only inculcated the westernization in India, but conversely the Indian culture has also spread its impact
globally.
When we analyze this rich culture with the globalization point of view, we can find many punch holes of
westernization and mixing of other traits and cultures into our beautifully woven blanket.
Homogenization of culture:
 Education across the country has been homogenized, globalization has a huge role to play in it
 Family structure: Joint family has been adversely affected due to globalization. There has been
an increase in nuclear families. This can be clearly manifested in the increasing number of old
age homes that are present now. The diversity in family forms has given way to a dominance of
nuclear family in the globalized India
KFC across the country, Food:has
 there duebeen
to opening
a up of food joints like McDo
.
homogenization of food available across the country, but there has also been heterogenization
in food. Old restaurants are now replaced by Mc. Donalds. Fast food and Chinese dishes have
replaced juice corners and Parathas.
 Use of English has increased manifold in urban areas, this has led to a homogenization in
language across the country, but the rural areas have been less affected by it
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 Borrowing of money has become more acceptable now as compared to the past. Taking loans is
very common due to increasing access to financial institutions
 In place of old cinema halls, multiplex theatres are coming up.
Heterogenization of culture:
 Food: India has its unique cuisine, but the cuisines of foreign countries have become more easily
available, they are modified to suit the taste buds of Indians (like Paneer Tikka Burger in
McDonalds). This has led to a wide variety of food being available, leading to heterogenization
 French, German and Spanish are taught to students right from school level, this shows the
impact globalization has had on language
 Movies: popularity of foreign movies has increased, Hollywood, Chinese and French movies are
quite popular among the urban youth
 Festivals: celebrations of Valentines’ day, Friendship day are examples of change in cultural
values related to festival
 Marriage: Importance of marriage is decreasing, there has been an increase in divorces, increase
in live-in relationships, and the number of single parents is increasing. It is very much evident
from the increasing number of divorce cases and the extra-marital affairs reported every now
and then. Marriage used to be considered as bonding of the souls which will be linked even after
the death; but today marriage is becoming more like a professional bond. There has been a
diversity in the forms of marriage present
 Society has become more open compared to its earlier conservative look due to exposure to
other cultures through DTH or cable network. This has contributed to dating, celebration of
friendship days/valentine day, modeling, fashion shows, rising number of call girls and make
them more prone to sexually transmitted diseases
Revival of culture:
 Revival of Yoga in the country as well as in the international level. This can be seen in the
popularity of the ‘Art of Living’ course by Ravi Shankar, or the celebration of International Yoga
day across the world
 There has been a revival of ayurvedic medicines in the country as well as outside it
 Due to increasing uncertainty by inter-linkage with the outside world, there has been religious
revivalism. This can be manifested in the use of religion to attract voters, or mobilizing people
on the basis of religion.
 Increasing demand for local handicraft products in global market: such as Chikenkari or
.
bandhani .
 Due to increasing global tourism, locals are making efforts to preserve their diversity and revive
their traditions.
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All these changes have led to drastic changes to Indian culture, though most of these changes are
confined to the urban areas, but the rural areas are fast catching up. We can see that the western
culture is influencing the Indian culture, but it is not replacing it, rather there is a mixture of both
cultures.
Impact of Globalization on Family:

Traditionally, in India, the basic unit of society was not individual but the joint family. Ever since
independence, Indian Society has undergone and continues to undergo great change in every walk of
life. Family is becoming progressively weak due to globalization and individualism is growing up.
Changes due to globalization:

 Increasing mobility of younger generation in search of new employment and educational
opportunities has weakened the family relations. The family bonding’s and ties started
loosening due to physical distance as it rendered impracticable for members of family to come
together as often as earlier.
 This affected the earlier idealized nation of 'family' as the caring and nurturing unit for children,
the sick and elderly. With more women joining the workforce system, the care of aged within
families has declined.
 Gradual change in family structure from joint/extended families to nuclear family pattern
 Traditional authority structure has changed. The head of the family- father/grandfather have
started losing their authority to the bread winner of the family
o In nuclear families, there has been a change in marital rules and distributions of powers
o Total subordination of women to men and strict disciplinarian role of father towards
children are changing
o Individualism in younger generation has been increasing, many of them don’t believe in
total surrender of their individual interests to family interests
 Finding partners: younger generations are depending mostly on internet marriage sites like
'Shadi.com, Bharat Matrimony.' Family involvement in finding a groom / bride is reduced to
nominal. Marriages are no more made in heaven but on internet. However, the tradition of
arranged marriages is also present
 Change in family form: divorce rates are increasing especially in cities, concept of single
parenthood is emerging, and live-in relationships are becoming more acceptable. According to
the India’s Ministry of Health reports (1997), teenage pregnancies are reaching an all-time high.
 In most of the working-couple families, parents are not able to devote time to meet and interact
with their children. Behavioral problems are cropping-up among the children due to lack of
interaction and proper guidance by parents. It is often said that as we send out children to
crèches they in turn send us to old age homes.
.
Impact of Globalization on Economy:

 Globalization has intensified interdependence and competition between economies in the world
market. This is reflected in Interdependence in regard to trading in goods and services and in
movement of capital. As a result domestic economic developments are not determined entirely
by domestic policies and market conditions. Rather, they are influenced by both domestic and
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international policies and economic conditions. Direction and depth of all economic activities in
India is now governed largely by global Economy
 Globalization has given nations greater access to global markets, technology, financial resources
and quality services and skilled human resources
 Opening up the economy to foreign direct investment by providing facilities to foreign
companies to invest in different fields of economic activity in India, removing constraints and
obstacles to the entry of MNCs in India, allowing Indian companies to enter into foreign
collaborations and also encouraging them to set up joint ventures abroad. Thus, it has led to
inflow of FDI in India
 Globalization has led to an increase in innovations in the economy, the entire culture of start-
ups which is going on in the economy presently is due to globalization
 Access to global capital resources via the stock market and international debt depending on the
economic potential of nations and their markets
 It has also provided a boost to Indian companies to enter the markets of other countries and
grow in the global market
 Virtual abolition of Industrial licensing Raj
 Free access to foreign technology
 Increased the purchasing capability of the nation through the creation of a sizeable middle class
 Abolition of Government control over capital issues and creation of SEBI to encourage equity
culture in India.
 Sharp reduction in industries reserved for public sector.
 Decision to go for partial disinvestment in public sector enterprises.
 The entire thrust of the present government's policy to better the ease of doing business to
attract foreign investment is an effect of globalization.
 Increase in tourism and development of tourist destinations in India- led to increase in foreign
reserves
 It has given a boost to urbanization and industrialization, which has also led to unplanned
growth of urban centers leading to formation of more slums
 Policies of Privatization and liberalization of economy, along with the process of globalization,
had a dramatic effect on Indian Economy which responded swiftly and positively to these
measures
 It has led to growth of IT sector, telecommunication and aviation sector
 Vast expansion of telecommunications: A notable revolution has occurred in the telecom
sector. In the pre reforms era, this was entirely in the hands of the central government and due
to lack of competition, the call charges were quite high. Further, due to lack of funds with the
government, the government could never meet the demand for telephones. In fact, a person
seeking a telephone connection had to wait for years before he could get a telephone
connection.
 The biggest contribution of globalisation is in the field of quality and development of products
ces are available to selectwith
goods, which
various features to
has led to better quality of products due to competitiveness
.
 Access to global capital resources via the stock market and international debt depending on the
economic potential of nations and their markets
Negatives:
 Indian Economy has become more vulnerable to global shocks like East Asian crisis 1997,
European crisis etc.
5
 Globalization has completely eroded the spirit of ‘Swadeshi movement’ run by Father of the
Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. Large scale migrations from India and easy availability of foreign
products have increased the exposure of Indian population to high quality and reputed foreign
products/brands. Indians now prefer global brands over Indian brands. Globalization has
adversely affected many established companies ( like organisations manufacturing Ambassador
cars or Fiat cars etc) which had failed to face competition from established global players.
 Steep and fast reductions in custom duties have snatched large part of Indian market from
Indian Industry and passed it on to imports from established global players. New opportunities
for exports by Indian Industry opened up by globalization are no comparison to the loss it has
suffered on account of reduction in demand of its products in local market of one billion people.
 For its survival in the face of global competition, Indian industry has transformed itself from
labour intensive processes to Capital intensive processes by adopting global technologies and
automatic machinery. This has resulted in high rate of unemployment in India. Unemployment is
the biggest challenge for Indian Government today.
We may call globalization, at best, a double edged weapon. It has helped Indian consumers to enjoy all
high Quality global brands. It did help Government of India to tide over its serious foreign exchange
problem, though temporarily, by enabling it to get loan from World Bank. But, it has been at the cost of
serious erosion of control of Indian Government over its economy and at the cost of local Industry.
Impact of Globalization on agriculture:

 Introduced new farming practices in India such as drip irrigations etc, improved mechanization in
agriculture
 Use of high yielding varieties specially of cash crops, multi nutrient fertilizers, broad spectrum
herbicides etc. like Bt Cotton, Bt Brinjal
 There has been a shift from Subsistence farming to capitalist farming and contract farming
 It has increased access to developed country markets
 Seed prices have increased due to entry by seed producing MNCs like Monsanto, Cargill
 Trading of agricultural commodities has increased which leads to fluctuation of prices of these
commodities, this is due to impact of globalization
 It has led to feminization of agriculture
 The growth rate of agriculture has declined due to globalization as the state's focus has shifted
away from agriculture to industries
 The globalization of trade in the agricultural sector is perhaps proving to be a big blunder. The
farmers will have to pay a very heavy price, for better variety of imported seeds having resistance
to diseases, because of the patent rights imposed by WTO.
 The Indian farmer cannot export their products to rich countries because of inferior technology
and stringent quality parameters imposed by foreign consumers. The large scale suicide by Indian
farmers in Karnataka, Punjab and Haryana under the burden of heavy loans is directly attributed
example ban of Mangoes by EU(Due
to this. last to sanitary and phytosani
.
year)
6
Impact of Globalization on Informal sector:
Informal sector includes the large amalgam of men and women, who eke out a living unprotected by a
regular salary, and job security, constitute the informal sector. This includes, then, the large and
amorphous category called the self-employed, daily wage laborers, as also those who are salaried
employees but do not have job security, wage revisions and other benefits.
 Globalization led to shrinking of organized sector, which was accompanied by expansion of the
informal sector.
 Globalization tends to benefit large companies who can move quickly and easily across borders,
and to disadvantage labour, especially lower-skilled workers that cannot migrate easily or at all.
This puts a pressure on low skilled workers and petty producers by weakening their bargaining
power and subjecting them to increasing competition
 Globalization often leads to shifts from secure self-employment to more precarious self-
employment, as producers and traders lose their market niche.
 Thus, globalization has led to proliferation of informal sector, it has forced people to shift to
informal sector due to lack of opportunities in the formal sector due to lack of skill, education
and slow pace of generation of jobs in the country
 Casualization of work force: Global competition tends to encourage formal firms to shift formal
wageworkers to informal employment arrangements without minimum wages, assured work, or
benefits and to encourage informal units to shift workers from semi-permanent contracts
without minimum wages or benefits to piece-rate or casual work arrangements without assured
work, minimum wages, or benefits.
 As more and more men enter the informal economy, women tend to be pushed to the lowest
income end of the informal economy.
 Thus, globalization of the economy tends to reinforce the links between poverty, informality,
and gender.
 But globalization can also lead to new opportunities for those who work in the informal
economy in the form of new jobs for wageworkers or new markets for the self-employed.
 There has been a radical restructuring of production and distribution in many key industries
characterized by outsourcing or subcontracting through global commodity chains. The net result
is that more and more workers are being paid very low wages and many of them have to absorb
the non-wage costs of production
However, a collaborative effort on the part of grassroots organizations of those who work in the
informal economy with sympathetic representatives of non-governmental, research, government,
private sector, and international development organizations is needed to enable the most vulnerable
segments of society to seize these opportunities.
Impact of Globalization on employment:

 Globalization has led to casualization of labour, led to improvement in wages of labourers
.
 Real wages of casual labour also increased faster than in the past both among agricultural and
industrial workers.
 Globalization had led to a decrease in elasticity of employment in its initial years
 Skilled labour- shift in the composition of labour force in favour of the skilled labours, in general,
and more significantly in the unorganised sector.
7
 As a natural consequence, labour productivity indicated faster improvement both in organised and
unorganised sectors
 International mobility of labours: The migration of labours across international boundaries is one
of the most striking features of globalisation worldwide.
o Since Independence, migration from India has been characterised by movement of persons
with technical skills and professional expertise to the industrialised countries, and flow of
unskilled and semi-skilled workers to the oil exporting countries of the Middle East.
o During the 1990s, however, there has been a clear shift in the pattern of labour demand in
the Middle East away from unskilled and semi-skilled categories towards service, operations
and maintenance workers requiring high skills.
o Besides, there has been a runaway growth in exports of IT and software services from India
o All these have enhanced the employment opportunities for the Indian labour, particularly
when the country boasts to have very large pool of English speaking people as well as the
second largest pool of scientific and technical manpower in the world
o In the process, sustained remittances from the Indian Diaspora, which is in fact the largest in
the world, have imparted an element of stability in the country’s balance of payments.
 Woman labour: it led to greater feminization of the workforce both in developed and developing
world.
 Child labour: Though undesirable, child labour persists primarily in rural and agricultural activities
on account of socio-economic compulsions. But there has been a decline in participation of
children aged 5- 14 years in the workforce. There has been a substitution effect, which favours the
employability of adult females.
 Industrial relations: Increasingly, consultation, co-operation and consensus are taking the place of
coercion and confrontation. This is reflected in the reduced number of man days lost.
Socio-economic impact of Globalization:

 It has led to improvement in the status of women due to expansion of education and better
health care facilities, but there has been an increase in violence, particularly against women
 There has been an increased recognition of human rights, unprecedented mobility and
interaction of people from different countries which has led to our society being more open as
compared to being orthodox earlier
 Globalization has struck a fatal blow to patriarchy and the domination of male. To-day women
are working in all spheres of Indian Economy. They have challenged male domination in all
respects.
 Changes in family structure and changes in the institution of marriage (explained above)
 Earlier, well defined religious practices were being blindly followed by one and all. But
globalization has now brought in the spirit of reasoning which has weakened established
practices. Secondly, work place integration of different cultures has inter-mixed the religions
practices. This way old age religious practices which differentiated people from different
.
religions are getting blurred.

 Impact on caste system:
o Caste system has weakened due to globalization. Due to expansion of economic
opportunities, education and liberal thoughts the caste system has weakened.
o Inter caste marriages are becoming more common and are being accepted gradually
8
o Traditional division of labour was breaking down due to industrialization, this was given
a boost by globalization which has completely broken down the traditional division of
labour
o Increasing use of modern communication facilities, increased interaction between
members of different castes has led to decrease in feeling of Casteism
 Health: Globalization has increased access to technology, which has led to improvement of
health care system. But there has been a greater threat of spread of communicable diseases like
Ebola
 Globalization has contributed tremendously to have access to important information towards
quality education
 Globalization has through greater exposure liberalized our attitudes, reduced our biases and
predispositions about people, situations and communities worldwide
 There has been a tremendous increase in consumerism for goods and services
Impact of Globalization on youth of India

Globalization offers clear economic opportunities and benefits, but comes with substantial social costs
that often appear to affect young people disproportionately, given their tenuous transitional status
within an uncertain and rapidly evolving global context.
 Globalization has opened the Indian economy to technology, which had led to the Telecom
revolution. Most urban youth carry a smart phone today. Access and usage of internet has
increased, this has led to the more information flow into the country, it has also provided a
platform for connecting the youth across the country
 This information flow has linked the youth with people globally, it has led to an exchange of
ideas between people of different countries
 Employment opportunities outside India have increased, and the number of foreigners coming
to India has also increased. This leads to transmission of ideas, values and customs between
people.
 Globalization has led to the development of education in India, with the content of education
becoming more progressive, and updated with the world. It has led to an integrated knowledge
system, underpinned by wisdom
 But Pawan Gupta argues that "the modern education system has used modern science (and vice
versa) to successfully perpetuate many modern myths which both advertise the superiority of
the modern development paradigm and devalue rural communities and their knowledge
systems, values and wisdom". Gupta terms this as ‘virtual colonialism’- as the presence of
exploiter is no longer required now
 Mass media such as TV, music have penetrated India deeply. This has led to changes in the
outlook of Indian youth, and more acceptances of western values. It has also led to exposure to
.
and involvement with the aesthetics of the arts, music, theatre

 Individualism vs Community: the current age is characterized by “I”, which celebrates self-
centered egoism. Breakdown of families and other social structures are leading to
fragmentation of social glue without which young people are rudderless in their social
orientation. Globalization has also made the youth more self-centered, which is gradually
leading to ignorance of parents after they turn old.
9
 Globalization has also led to empowerment of women, it has led to an increase in confidence
among women by seeing the state on other countries
 Globalization has increased migration of youth both within the country and across countries,
thus leading to development of individualism and also the breakdown of joint families
 Globalization has led to consumerism in India youth. This has led to a fast pace of innovation,
led to increase in productivity during manufacturing, but it has also led to obsoleting
commodities
 Globalization has led to psychological change, it has led acceptance of change and more
tolerance. This can be manifested by the movements for gay and lesbian rights in the country
 Globalization has led to an increase in uncertainty among youth; this underlying instability may
serve to magnify the tensions and lack of control they experience on a daily basis. Uncertainty is
because of the breakdown of traditional norms, weakening of social relations like that of family
and marriage, uncertainty in career due to market economy. This has led to an increase in cases
of depression and suicide among the youth.
 Contact with other countries has also led to spread of diseases among the youth of the country.
Eg. AIDS
The effect of globalization has been more significant in the areas of style of dress, recreational activities,
language preference, music, relationships between members of opposite sex, notion of a successful
person, attitudes towards child adoption, preferences towards ultra-modern activities, taste in movies,
beliefs in rituals of society, growth of individualism leading to changes in the institution of marriage and
family and dance forms.
Thus, globalization has led to a positive and negative impact on the youth of the country. The positives
are mostly in the economic part, whereas the social and cultural aspect has been negatively affected.
Tribals
Tribal life varies significantly from the mainstream life on many fronts – their social composition and
ties, political structure, kinship systems, socio-economic systems within, excessive dependence on
forests for all needs, cut-off or lack of integration with mainstream socio-eco-political systems etc.
This brings forth two types of issues –
(a) Internal issues due to lack of development like hunger, malnourishment, health and sanitation
related issues etc.
(b) Issues that come with integration with mainstream – infringement upon forest rights, cultural
hegemony, alcoholism, development displacement, insurgency etc.
As the internal issues are natural because of the lack of technological advancements and access to
modern
hat these issues can systems
be dealt with of healthcare and resourc
proper
.
programs that address the above.

It is the second set of issues that demand a greater attention as they involve future dynamics of tribes
with the mainstream.
The policies to deal with tribals can be broadly classified into three groups –
10
 The National Park Approach of Verrier Elwin
 Integrationist approach by Ghurye, Thakkar
 Assimilative or the contemporary approach
The British policies were mainly aimed at drawing economic benefits from forests rather than for the
goodwill of the tribes living in them. The passage of successive Forest Acts took way rights of tribal’s
over the forests and made them convicts in their own land for illegal occupation and infringement on
Government property. This systematic exploitation brought them in direct contact with mainstream
contractors and money lenders who further exploited them.
Also, the earlier British policies towards tribals were influenced by the “National Park” approach which
evolved as a result of romanticism of West for the aboriginal and primitive way of life. It was argued that
tribal life was to be respected and allowed to flourish in its own merit, that its purity need not be
disturbed by letting it be influenced by mainstream and they should be keep away from it.
The Indian scholars of that time and post-independence forwarded a view which considered tribal’s as
integral parts of Indian society but not integrated well with it (Ghurye). They considered it essential for
tribal’s to be brought into the mainstream and absorbed into it. This approach was called the
assimilative approach.
This approach was later criticized for viewing tribal culture as inferior or primitive as compared to the
mainstream culture and the policies that Indian Government followed based on it led to massive
resentment and let to direct conflict and demands for secession from the Indian state. This took the
form of insurgency and terrorist activities which further pushed them away from the reach of
developmental activities.
The Integrationist approach to tribal issues developed as a reaction to value the tribal value of life and
encouraging their integration upon their own volition. It was first articulated in the form of Panchasheel
by Jawaharlal Nehru.
Despite this approach the developmental activities require evacuation of tribal’s from their lands for
dam building, mining etc. Though the packages have a rehabilitation component to the same, often the
consent of tribal’s is not taken. Even if taken the rehabilitation packages are seldom made with due care
to tribal way of life leading to loss of culture, social solidarity, force fitting into a new economic system
they are unaware of, breaking of social ties, exploitation of women, health, sanitation and integration
with mainstream related issues.
Hence, it can be said that the problems of the Indian tribal communities can be traced to colonial
policies as well as contemporary developmental policies
Women’s movement
Women’s movement can be defined as the organized effort to achieve a common goal of equality and
liberation of women
life of women. It and it presupposes sensitivities to crucial issues affecting the
.
comprises all the forms and processes of women's upsurge and assertion, including their fights alongside
of men as well as their more obviously 'anti-patriarchal struggles with men.
The women’s movement, like other social movements, brings about or intends to bring about a change
in the existing social structure.
11
The social change that result from a movement may be seen first in terms of the changes in the
positions of the concerned section of a movement and secondly in terms of their impact on the wider
society. One of the consequences of the women’s movement has been the infusion of a keen sensitivity
on the question of women’s oppression and their contribution to all spheres of life and study.
Women’s movements in India can be divided into the following periods or waves:
1. Social reform movements before 1857

2. The freedom movement
3. Movements from 1947 till 1975
4. Movements emerging during and after the international Women’s Decade
Social reform movements

The origin of contemporary women’s movements in India is often stressed to the social reform
movement within the Hindu fold. Due to the influence of the reformers, the British government enacted
laws against the sati system, permitting widow remarriage, abolishing child marriage etc. Efforts were
also made for education of girls. This phase had immense contribution towards women’s movement in
India.
The rights bestowed proved to be the foundation of the Women’s rights in India. The movement in this
era was limited in terms of lack of mobilization of women themselves for their own issues.
Political rights such as equal franchise and representation in legislatures for women were demanded by
women leaders. Women’s organizations such as All India women’s conference (AIWC) came into
existence in the 1920s to spread education among women. They raised similar issues and carried out
welfare programmes
Freedom Struggle
Freedom movement was an important landmark in the history of women’s movement. It helped women
in their struggle for ‘liberation’ as feminism and nationalism were closely interlinked.
Gandhi’s ideology of recruiting women in public life without disturbing their social role as housewives
and his efforts at mobilizing women were responsible for women’s participation in the freedom
struggle.
Aparna Basu says that women were accepted in India’s freedom struggle as political comrades and given
equal opportunities for participation. This paved the way for involvement of women in the wider sphere
of social, political and economic life in future.
Rajani Alexander on the other hand says that women’s participation in the independence movement
took diverse forms and was not always in the form of organized and orchestrated political protests.
Most of women’s involvement in the independence movement was based on community and home
based participation. Nevertheless, the recognition of women as equal participants in the freedom
movement gave a boost both to the status of women and women’s movement.
.
After Independence
Peasant movements, tribal movements, student’s movements etc. witnessed the participation of
women. These movements do not raise the issues affecting women per se but they do raise societal or
class issues.
12
Gail Omvedt aptly describes their significance when she denotes them as “pre-movements” as far as
women are concerned. Their contribution to the cause of women in India can be gauged from the
following:
 They revealed the power of women as a force in a society
 They allowed women opportunity to bring forward their own needs
 They were often part of a process leading to the development of women’s movements as such.
Illina Sen says that women in these movements do not strive for autonomous or independent
articulation of only their women specific demands. At the same time their articulation of demands and
issues exerts a pressure on their movements to take cognizance of the women in their mass base.
Various studies also show the militant role played by women in various agrarian movements. Meera
Velayudhanin her study on women workers and class struggles in Alleppey examines the role and
participation of women. She shows that women participated on a large scale in the 1938 strikes. Later
on, the women workers launched struggles on issues such as maternity benefits and retrenchment of
women workers.
Moreover, the promulgation of the constitution and enactment of various laws for women such as the
Hindu marriage act, the Hindu succession act etc. prepared ground for further struggle.
After the international Women’s Decade
By this time women’s mass movements had realized those women’s issues and problems to be solved
completely required to confront issues head on. Thus they went to the forefront of all major socio-
economic, political and related environmental issues.
During the last three decades a number of micro and macro struggles have been initiated by
autonomous women’s groups around issues which directly affect women and address the question of
emancipation of women.
Protest against Social Evils/Issues
Anti-Price Rise Movement: In 1973, Women of the urban areas organized to fight against the hike in the
prices of essential commodities that was followed by the famine. The movement grew rapidly becoming
a mass women’s movement for consumer protection.
Anti Arrack Movement: Thousands of women joined in picketing liquor outlets, disciplining habitual
drunkards, and demanding from the administration a total ban on alcohol sales. Women realized their
strength and importance and the government bowed to the wishes of people. Sale of arrack was banned
in the district of Nellore to begin with and later on the ban was extended to the rest of the state of
Andhra Pradesh. This agitation inspired people of other states, especially Haryana, to take up similar
issues.
Ecological and Environmental Issues
.
Chipko Movement: The Chipko movement originated around 1970s (though the seeds of the movement
were there from the British period) against indiscriminate forest felling for commercial interests.
Protesting Violence against Women
 Anti Rape Movement: The anti rape movement begun in 1977 by the Civil Rights groups
following an incidence of custodial rape. The Mathura rape case in 1978 was a landmark in the
13
history of mobilization of women. Demonstrations, dharnas, public mass petitions etc were
sparked off with the incident. Rape was signified as a form of violence by the powerful on
powerless, poor and disadvantaged. Desai and Patel say that when women’s groups condemned
the state and society, they signified that the laws and institutions have created hierarchies
between men and women.
 Anti Dowry Movement: It began around 1977 with the organized protest of Mahila Dakshata
Samiti. They protested against the violence inflicted upon women for dowry, especially against
murder and abetment of suicide. Protests in the form of demonstrations and other means by
feminist groups were able to change the indifferent attitude of the wider public and policy
makers to the issues of women’s death by kerosene. The feminist groups devised a series of
strategies to enhance the public awareness of the problems associated with dowry. In 1980 a
year after the anti dowry agitation began, the government passed a law against dowry related
crimes that recognized abetment of suicide because of dowry demands as a special crime and
made mandatory a police investigation into the death of any women within five years of
marriage.
 Anti Sexual Harassment Movement: In the Vishaka case a petition in the Supreme Court was
filed by social action groups and NGOs seeking legal redress for women whose work was
obstructed or inhibited because of sexual harassment at the workplace. The Supreme Court
issued guidelines to tackle the menace in the absence of action from executive and legislature.
The movement continued by advocacy groups. Its culmination is the bill for protection against
sexual harassment at the workplace which has recently been passed by the Lok sabha, signifying
an important step towards complete emancipation of women in India.
Today a number of women’s organizations have mushroomed with and without the support of the state
and donor international organizations. The contemporary women’s movement in India is characterized
by decentralized structure and multiple arenas of interaction. Women’s movement is also widening its
domain and getting involved with issues related to environment, population, child rights, globalization,
marketization etc.
Social and liberal feminists criticize the rise of right forces in India and the world over which have
mobilized middle class women for creating hatred against others including the women of other
community. Barbara Epstein says that it is strongly felt by many that women’s movements are in
doldrums and almost directionless. It has become more an idea than a movement. Nevertheless, it is
beyond any doubt that women’s movement in India in each stage contributed to the emancipation of
women- though the magnitude of contribution may have varied.
Over the decades, women’s groups stood for issues that are not just women-centric but are concerns of
wider society as well. The problems that women face are that of other social categories too. Women’s
mobilizations of the past proved their intended organized actions (as in the case of anti-arrack, anti-
price rise, Chipko etc.) always bring about wider social repercussions. Participating in such mobilizations
definitely gives the women of the community a social identity. And this social identity of course makes
way for their empowerment. Their further empowerment is realized through the affirmative actions
taken by the state as well as the civil society organizations in response to their efforts and capacity to
.
initiate collective action.
14
Dynamics of Dalit Movement
Dalit Movement is not a homogenous movement rather a mix of many movements going
simultaneously in different parts of the country even though their primary goal was to put an end to
caste based discrimination, atrocities & Untouchability.
In the early part of the 20th century – before Independence, Dalit Movements. Incorporated the
religious-cultural ideology in their approach to gain self-respect and honor; raised awareness about
dalit rights mainly Untouchability e.g. Satyashodhak Samaj (Poona Jyotiba Phule); SNDP Movement.
(Kerala); Mahar Movement (Ambedkar in Nagpur); Temple Entry Movement (Kerala), Harijan Movement
by Gandhi.
Post Independence – due to the impact of the ideals like equality, justice, abolition of untouchability,
etc enshrined in the Constitution framed under Ambedkar, the dynamics of Dalit Movement Shifted to
seeking political & economic rights & equality- universal adult franchise, reservations in educational &
political institutions, etc.
1950s & 60s – emerged first generation of Dalit Leadership (including educated middle class
professionals) e.g. Ambedkar through Republican Party of India (RPI), Jagjivan Ram in Bihar etc. which
became critical of the dominant political parties & cultural ethos esp. Congress .Though as a political
force they could not succeed much (esp. in UP as RPI leadership got merged into Congress) but they
gave a new orientation like in 1955 large number of Dalits got converted to Buddhism.
1970s & 80s – Dalit Movement. took radical turn especially in Maharashtra through organization called
‘DALIT PANTHERS’ (1972) & DALIT SANGHARSHA SAMITI (1973 ) Karnataka- influenced by ideologies of
Ambedkar, Marxism, etc ) which spread their ideas through debates & discussions in public spaces- tea-
shops, offices , libraries, Dalit poets & writers provided critique to the exploitative caste structure. This
movement. Saw participation of all the exploitative groups- peasants, dalits, backward classes, workers,
etc & raised issues of women, fight against pol. & eco. Exploitation, against the purity-pollution concept,
etc.
However, like RPI it too suffered from a split on ideological grounds (Ambedkar vs. Marxism); also during
this time Dalits continued to suffer atrocities especially, because of failure of land reforms.
Late 1980s & 1990s- Dalit Movement was manifested in proliferation of Dalit organizations esp. BSP in
UP under Kanshi Ram- fought elections, introduced special policies & schemes for the welfare of Dalits.
The BSP Movement aimed to mobilize the majority “other” sections of society i.e. Bahujan Samaj
consisting of Dalits, Backward Classes, religious minorities against minority high castes i.e. Brahmins,
Rajputs, Banias.
However in the later years, BSP Movement lost its vigor after the party declared to serve “SARVA
SAMAJ”, fixation of power & to capture the votes of “sarvajan” it ignored the vital issue of social justice
of the dalits.
an opportunity & threat- education,
Globalization & Dalit Movement.
.
employment opportunities is increased , however only few urban based petty bourgeoisie Dalit groups
demanding reservations in the private sector and curiously campaigning about ‘Dalit Capitalism’, is
testimony to the fact that , reservation benefits elite & is more urban focused. Dalit Movement not
organized on the issues of mass pauperization, question of land, or the issue of landless Dalits and their
forced displacement by mega-projects and rapidly widening social-economic inequalities due to
mercantile capitalism & globalization.
15
ANALYSIS OF THE DALIT MOVEMENT IN INDIA
Positive Impact-.(i) it implanted positive values of liberty, equality and fraternity; (ii) it promoted
political consciousness to struggle against exploitation and injustice (iii) it declared its allegiance to
scientific rationalism & opposition to religious logic of sustaining untouchability of any kind (iv) it has
created significant resource base for itself in terms of education, organizational experience, and
experience of working with the State apparatus after Reservation & Protective Discrimination.
Weaknesses- Dalit Movements over the years have not geared regional-level sustained movements;
also they have been led and controlled by urban-based petty bourgeoisie Dalits, and they tended to
neglect Dalits living in villages( 89% of dalits live in villages), even benefits of reservation are enjoyed
most by urban dalits ; Dalits have been reduced to a pressure group within the mainstream politics ;
their revolutionary edge is getting blunted ; their strategies, tactics, alliances, even goals, seem to be in
dispute. It looks like the movement has reached an impasse.
Gail Omvedt observes that ‘the “post-Ambedkar Dalit movement” was though, a movement of Dalits,
challenging some of the deepest aspects of oppression and exploitation, but failed to show the way to
ultimate transformation & social mobility in the long run.
.

16
VISIONIAS ™
www.visionias.in
COMMUNALISM, SECULARISM AND REGIONALISM

.


Student Notes:
COMMUNALISM, SECULARISM AND REGIONALISM
Different kinds of social institutions, ranging from the family to the market, can bring people
together, create strong collective identities and strengthen social cohesion. But, on the other
hand, the very same institutions can also be sources of inequality and exclusion. With the
inherent cultural diversity, such discrimination results in associated tensions and difficulties.
1.0 What precisely does ‘cultural diversity’ mean, and why is it seen as a challenge?
The term ‘diversity’ emphasises differences rather than inequalities. When we say that India is a
nation of great cultural diversity, we mean that there are many different types of social groups
and communities living here, as we have seen before. These are communities defined by
cultural markers such as language, religion, sect, race or caste. When these diverse
communities are also part of a larger entity like a nation, then difficulties may be created by
competition or conflict between them.
This is why cultural diversity can present tough challenges. The difficulties arise from the fact
that cultural identities are very powerful – they can arouse intense passions and are often able
to mobilize large numbers of people.
Sometimes cultural differences are accompanied by economic and social inequalities, and this
further complicates things. Measures to address the inequalities or injustices suffered by one
community can provoke opposition from other communities. The situation is made worse when
scarce resources – like river waters, jobs or government funds – have to be shared.
If you read the newspapers regularly, or watch the news on television, you may often have had
the depressing feeling that India has no future. There seem to be so many divisive forces hard
at work tearing apart the unity and integrity of our country – communal riots, demands for
regional autonomy, caste wars… You might have even felt upset that large sections of our
population are not being patriotic and don’t seem to feel as intensely for India as you and your
associates do. But if you look at any book dealing with the history of modern India, or books
dealing specifically with issues like communalism or regionalism, you will realise that these
problems are not new ones. Almost all the major ‘divisive’ problems of today have been there
ever since Independence, or even earlier. But in spite of them India has not only survived as a
nation, but is a stronger nation-state today.
As you prepare to read on, remember that we shall be dealing with difficult issues for which
there are no easy answers. But some answers are better than others, and it is our duty as
citizens to try our utmost to produce the best answers that are possible within the limitations of
our historical and social context. Remember also that, given the immense challenges presented
.
by a vast and extremely diverse collection of peoples and cultures, India has on the whole done
fairly well compared to most other nations. On the other hand, we also have some significant
shortcomings. There is a lot of room for improvement and much work needs to be done in
order to face the challenges of the future.
09650617807, 09968029039, 09717162595
Student Notes:
2.0 Cultural Communities and the Nation-State
Before discussing the major challenges that diversity poses in India – issues such as regionalism,
communalism and casteism – we need to understand the relationship between nation-states
and cultural communities. Why is it so important for people to belong to communities based on
cultural identities like a caste, ethnic group, region, or religion? Why is so much passion aroused
when there is a perceived threat, insult, or injustice to one’s community? Why do these
passions pose problems for the nation-state?
2.1 What is Community Identity?
In order to understand Community Identity, we need to first understand the terms related to
ethnicity and ethnic relations. As you learn, make out the relationship between ethnic identity
and community identity?
2.1.1 Ethnic and Ethnic Group
The term ‘ethnic’ means - that which pertains to a group of people who can be distinguished by
certain features like race, language or any other aspect of culture.
Ethnic group, is, therefore, defined as a cultural group whose members either share some or all
of the following features—a common language, region, religion, race, endogamy, customs and
beliefs. Members may also share a belief in common descent. On the basis of this definition we
may say that the Jews, Negroes, Japanese, Muslims, Biharis all form distinct ethnic groups.
Ethnic group thus refers to a group of people who share some common physical and/ or socio-
cultural characteristics.
Here we may ask the question; why is it so important to understand the concept of ethnic
groups in the context of our examination of ethnic relations? We may say it is important
because ethnic group defines an individual’s social personality. It is formed on the basis of
cultural and racial uniformity. The essence of this group lies in the individual’s feeling of
belongingness to it because of cultural association shared with other members. Birth
determines incorporation into these groups, thereby making membership relatively restrictive.
However, do you think exceptions exist to the above case of membership?
2.1.2 Ethnicity
Ethnicity refers to the interrelationships between ethnic groups. Thus the phenomenon of
ethnicity becomes more pronounced when viewed at an interactional level. It can be defined as
a process of “interaction between culture groups operating within common social contexts”.
Though ethnicity is manifest in intra-ethnic relations, it becomes more apparent in inter-ethnic
situations, as the very essence of ethnicity stems from the need to establish ethnic identity.
2.1.3 Ethnic Identity

.
Ethnic identity reflects both ‘likeness’ and ‘uniqueness’. On the one hand, it reflects on what the
members of an ethnic group hold in common, at the same time differentiating them from other
ethnic groups.
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2.1.4 Ethnic Boundary
Ethnic boundary refers to a social boundary, which does not always correspond to territorial
boundary. The individual defines one-self through one’s ethnic identity whereas ethnic
boundary defines the social limit of the ethnic group.
A dichotomisation of “others” as strangers, as members of another ethnic group, has two

implications:
i. The recognition of one’s own social boundaries (in group and out group) and
ii. The limitation of common understanding and mutual interest. People outside the
boundary are not expected to have a common understanding and interest.
2.1.5 Majority and Minority Groups
The study of ethnic groups incorporates both the majority and the minority groups. The term
‘majority groups’ refer to the numerical representation of persons in a group and its control
over economic and political resources.
Usually it has been noticed that one ethnic group appears to be in dominance over other ethnic
groups. However, we cannot overlook the internal disparities that exist within each ethnic
group in terms of economic status. That is, certain sections in the minority group may enjoy
majority status and vice-versa, in which the group may occupy either minority or majority
status as a totality.
There exists a relationship of inequality between the majority and minority groups. The
dominant group or the majority group enjoys numerical strength and control over economic
and political resources. This group has all the privileges and advantages. The minority group on
the other hand consists of people who are immigrants to the host society. Their numerical
strength is low and they are in a subordinate position to the majority group, in relation to
control over the limited resources.
The co-relation between numerical strength and control over economic and political resources
is a point of argument. As history provides many evidences of minority dominance over mass
majority, for example, the British colonialism in India and the domination of a White minority
on the Black majority in South Africa during the days of apartheid. In the 1980s we had the
immigrant Bengali minority occupying higher offices in Assam. These instances reveal that the
myth surrounding the ‘minority group’ concept, as being a group, which is subjected to
dominance and inferior status because of its low numerical strength, is not true. As it is obvious
that a group having control over political and economic resources irrespective of its numerical
strength becomes a ‘majority minority’.
2.2 The Importance of Ethnic Identity/Community Identity
orld. QuestionsEvery human being needs a sense of stable id

like —
Who am I? How am I different from others? How do others understand and comprehend me?
.
What goals and aspirations should I have? – constantly crop up in our life right from childhood.
We are able to answer many of these questions because of the way in which we are socialised,
or taught how to live in society by our immediate families and our community in various senses.
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The socialisation process involves a continuous dialogue, negotiation and even struggle against
significant others (those directly involved in our lives) like our parents, family, kin group and our
community. Our community provides us the language (our mother tongue) and the cultural
values through which we comprehend the world. It also anchors our self-identity.
Community identity is based on birth and ‘belonging’ rather than on some form of acquired
qualifications or ‘accomplishment’. It is what we ‘are’ rather than what we have ‘become’. We
don’t have to do anything to be born into a community – in fact, no one has any choice about
which family or community or country they are born into. These kinds of identities are called
‘ascriptive’ – that is, they are determined by the accidents of birth and do not involve any
choice on the part of the individuals concerned. It is an odd fact of social life that people feel a
deep sense of security and satisfaction in belonging to communities in which their membership
is entirely accidental. We often identify so strongly with communities we have done nothing to
‘deserve’ – passed no exam, demonstrated no skill or competence… This is very unlike
belonging to, say, a profession or team. Doctors or architects have to pass exams and
demonstrate their competence. Even in sports, a certain level of skill and performance are a
necessary pre-condition for membership in a team. But our membership in our families or
religious or regional communities is without preconditions, and yet it is total. In fact, most
ascriptive identities are very hard to shake off; even if we choose to disown them, others may
continue to identify us by those very markers of belonging.
Perhaps it is because of this accidental, unconditional and yet almost inescapable belonging
that we can often be so emotionally attached to our community identity. Expanding and
overlapping circles of community ties (family, kinship, caste, ethnicity, language, region or
religion) give meaning to our world and give us a sense of identity, of who we are. That is why
people often react emotionally or even violently whenever there is a perceived threat to their
community identity.
A second feature of ascriptive identities and community feeling is that they are universal.
Everyone has a motherland, a mother tongue, a family, a faith… This may not necessarily be
strictly true of every individual, but it is true in a general sense. And we are all equally
committed and loyal to our respective identities. Once again it is possible to come across
people who may not be particularly committed to one or the other aspect of their identity. But
the possibility of this commitment is potentially available to most people. Because of this,
conflicts that involve our communities (whether of nation, language, religion, caste or region)
are very hard to deal with. Each side in the conflict thinks of the other side as a hated enemy,
and there is a tendency to exaggerate the virtues of one’s own side as well as the vices of the
other side. Thus, when two nations are at war, patriots in each nation see the other as the
enemy aggressor; each side believes that God and truth are on their side. In the heat of the
moment, it is very hard for people on either side to see that they are constructing matching but
reversed mirror images of each other.
It is a fact that no country or group ever mobilises its members to struggle for untruth, injustice
or inequality – everyone is always fighting for truth, justice, equality… This does not mean that
both sides are right in every conflict, or that there is no right and wrong, no truth. Sometimes
both sides are indeed equally wrong or right; at other times history may judge one side to be
.
the aggressor and the other to be the victim. But this can only happen long after the heat of the
conflict has cooled down. Some notion of mutually agreed upon truth is very hard to establish
in situations of identity conflict; it usually takes decades, sometimes centuries for one side to
accept that it was wrong.
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2.3 Communities, Nations and Nation-States
At the simplest level, a nation is a sort of large-scale community – it is a community of

communities. Members of a nation share the desire to be part of the same political collectivity.
This desire for political unity usually expresses itself as the aspiration to form a state. In its most
general sense, the term state refers to an abstract entity consisting of a set of political-legal
institutions claiming control over a particular geographical territory and the people living in it.
A nation is a peculiar sort of community that is easy to describe but hard to define. We know
and can describe many specific nations founded on the basis of common cultural, historical and
political institutions like a shared religion, language, ethnicity, history or regional culture. But it
is hard to come up with any defining features, any characteristics that a nation must possess.
For every possible criterion there are exceptions and counter-examples. For example, there are
many nations that do not share a single common language, religion, ethnicity and so on. On the
other hand, there are many languages, religions or ethnicities that are shared across nations.
But this does not lead to the formation of a single unified nation of, say, all English speakers or
of all Buddhists.
How, then, can we distinguish a nation from other kinds of communities, such as an ethnic
group (based on common descent in addition to other commonalities of language or culture), a
religious community, or a regionally defined community? Conceptually, there seems to be no
hard distinction – any of the other types of community can one day form a nation. Conversely,
no particular kind of community can be guaranteed to form a nation.
The criterion that comes closest to distinguishing a nation is the state. Unlike the other kinds of
communities mentioned before, nations are communities that have a state of their own. That is
why the two are joined with a hyphen to form the term nation-state. Generally speaking, in
recent times there has been a one-to-one bond between nation and state (one nation, one
state; one state, one nation). But this is a new development. It was not true in the past that a
single state could represent only one nation, or that every nation must have its own state. For
example, when it was in existence, the Soviet Union explicitly recognised that the peoples it
governed were of different ‘nations’ and more than one hundred such internal nationalities
were recognised. Similarly, people constituting a nation may actually be citizens or residents of
different states. For example, there are more Jamaicans living outside Jamaica than in Jamaica –
that is, the population of ‘non-resident’ Jamaicans exceeds that of ‘resident’ Jamaicans. A
different example is provided by ‘dual citizenship’ laws. These laws allow citizens of a particular
state to also – simultaneously – be citizens of another state. Thus, to cite one instance, Jewish
Americans may be citizens of Israel as well as the USA; they can even serve in the armed forces
of one country without losing their citizenship in the other country.
In short, today it is hard to define a nation in any way other than to say that it is a community
that has succeeded in acquiring a state of its own. Interestingly, the opposite has also become
increasingly true. Just as would-be or aspiring nationalities are now more and more likely to
work towards forming a state, existing states are also finding it more and more necessary to
claim that they represent a nation. One of the characteristic features of the modern era is the
.
establishment of democracy and nationalism as dominant sources of political legitimacy. This

means that, today, ‘the nation’ is the most accepted or proper justification for a state, while
‘the people’ are the ultimate source of legitimacy of the nation. In other words, states ‘need’
the nation as much or even more than nations need states.
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But as we have seen in the preceding paragraphs, there is no historically fixed or logically
necessary relationship between a nation-state and the varied forms of community that it could
be based on. This means that there is no pre-determined answer to the question: How should
the ‘state’ part of the nation-state treat the different kinds of community that make up the
‘nation’ part? Most states have generally been suspicious of cultural diversity and have tried to
reduce or eliminate it. However, there are many successful examples – including India – which
show that it is perfectly possible to have a strong nation-state without having to ‘homogenise’
different types of community identities into one standard type.
You can probably see what the problem is by now. There is no necessary relationship between
any specific form of community and the modern form of the state. Any of the many bases of
community identity (like language, religion, ethnicity and so on) may or may not lead to nation
formation – there are no guarantees. But because community identities can act as the basis for
nation-formation, already existing states see all forms of community identity as dangerous
rivals. That is why states generally tend to favour a single, homogenous national identity, in the
hope of being able to control and manage it. However, suppressing cultural diversity can be
very costly in terms of the alienation of the minority or subordinated communities whose
culture is treated as ‘non-national’. Moreover, the very act of suppression can provoke the
opposite effect of intensifying community identity. So encouraging, or at least allowing, cultural
diversity is good policy from both the practical and the principled point of view.
3.0 Regionalism in the Indian Context
3.1 Region, Regionalism and State
The term region is difficult to define. It is understood in different ways in different contexts.
However, it has been generally defined as “a homogeneous area with physical and cultural
characteristics distinct from those of neighbouring areas”.
A region is a relative term, the meaning of which changes with its usage. When we talk of a
region, what we generally imply is that it is socio-culturally distinct and that it is sufficiently
unified to have a consciousness of its customs, traditions, values and ideals. Because of this
consciousness the people of the region possess a sense of identity distinct from the rest of the
regions be it a nation or a continent or the earth itself.
A region is characterised by a widely shared sense of togetherness among the people. This
togetherness results from a wide variety of sources like geography, topography, religion,
language, customs and mores, political and economic stage of development, way of living,
commonly shared historical experiences, etc. Region provides the basis for the emergence of
regional identity. It results in loyalty towards the region and ultimately takes the shape and
form of regionalism. It gives way to regional politics.
The politics of regionalism in India has both positive and negative aspects. Speaking in positive
.
terms,
such interest as it implies an intense desire for
ethnic,
language, religion, etc. For example, the erstwhile Jharkhand movement which covered wide
regions of Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, had come together as a unified
group to protect and promote their socio-economic and political interests. This process involves
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reaffirming their identity as tribal groups. The movement finally succeeded in forcing the
government in reorganising the states and the formation of Jharkhand State came about on 15th
November 2000 as the 28th State of the Indian Union. It has been carved out of the State of
Bihar and it largely comprises forest tracks of Chhotanagpur plateau and Santhal Paragana.
The negative aspects of regionalism is that it can threaten nation-building efforts such as, the
demand for Khalistan in Punjab which is giving rise to terrorism and violence within and outside
Punjab. The positive aspect has been ignored by most of the analysts of Indian political
situation. This phenomenon reflects the psychology of relative deprivation on the part of
people of an area. They point out that deprivation is deliberately inflicted 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 agitation among the
backward or not so developed regions of the country.
The concept of region is therefore, closely linked with the concept of regionalism. Now let us
see what regionalism means.
Regionalism: Regionalism can be defined as a phenomenon in which people’s political loyalties

become focused upon a region. In other words, it implies people’s love of a particular region in
preference to the country and in certain cases in preference to the state of which the region is a
part. Thus the phenomenon of regionalism is centred around the concept of region.
State: State is generally understood in terms of certain common features that it exhibits. These
common features generally found in all states are
i. Population: State being a human institution population is its obvious element. The
composition of a state is a significant factor as it defines the nature of that society. A
population can be homogeneous, i.e. a population which shares similar language,
values, customs, etc. Or it can be heterogeneous, i.e. a population which has different
and varied languages, values, customs, as in the case of India.
ii. Territorial Boundary: This is considered to be an essential feature of a state. Land, water
and air space comprise the territory of state. The territory of a state may differ from
place to place and there are no accepted rules about the total size of the territory of a
state.
iii. Government: Government and state are very often used inter-changeably. But basically
government is part of the state. It is the machinery for the formulation of public policies
and regulation of common affairs. If refers to the organisational aspect of the state.
iv. Sovereignty: It implies the supreme power of the state, which might be vested in either
one person or in a body of persons.
The Indian nation state is a parliamentary democratic republic which has all the associated
components like a parliament, “responsible” cabinet (one which is accountable to its people),
independent judiciary, electoral machinery, and so on which qualify it to be called a democratic
state. Till 2000 the Indian nation comprised of 25 states and 7 union territories. In the year
2000 three
l more states were added to the list of states. These were Chhattisgarh, Uttarancha
.
and Jharkhand. An area having a distinct cultural regional identity was carved out of Madhya
Pradesh and the State of Chhattisgarh was formed on 1st November 2000 as the 26th State of
the Indian Union. The 27th State of the Indian Union, Uttaranchal, which was carved out of
Uttar Pradesh, came into being on 9th November 2000. As mentioned earlier Jharkhand, which
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was formed on 15th November 2000, is the 28th State of the Indian Union. The various States
of the Indian Union have been divided primarily on a linguistic basis for administrative purpose.
This division and decentralisation of power makes the Indian nation a federal nation and
balance of power is created between the Centre and the States.
The Indian Constitution has established a ‘dual polity’ consisting of the Union Government at
the Centre and State Government at the periphery. In fact the founding fathers of the Indian
Constitution called India as “Union of States”.
By this they indicated among other things, that the country and the people were divided into
different states for convenience of administration and that the country was an integrated whole
living under the rule derived from a single source, namely the Constitution.
In order to regulate the relationship between the centre and the states and also to preserve the
identity of the centre as well as of each state, the Constitution of India has prescribed separate
areas of operation and interaction for centre and states. The areas relate to legislature,
administration, finance, planning and development and trade and commerce.
The Constitution has assigned certain powers to the centre and certain powers to the states.
The powers have been enlisted under The Union List, the State List and the Concurrent List.
By and large in the legislature sphere the centre is given a greater scope for intervening in the
legislature of the state. In administrative and financial spheres too, the dominant position of
the centre vis-a-vis the state can be seen. For instance, the centre exercises administrative
control over the states through the All India Services like IAS and IPS. The recruitment for these
services are done by the centre. Persons recruited through the All India Services hold key
positions in both the central and state government administrations. Thus these services try to
ensure administrative uniformity, cohesion and national integration.
Against this pattern of division of powers and responsibilities between the centre and the state
prescribed by the Constitution we can examine some important issues relating to state politics
in India. Many states are dissatisfied with the amount of power and autonomy given to them.
They often resent the legislative, administrative and financial control the centre has over them.
The role of the Governor (a post controlled by the centre), the right of the centre to impose
President’s Rule in a state, the control of the mass media by the centre are some of the
important factors which generate centre-state friction.
Apart from issues, which involve centre-state relations, there are other issues in state politics,
which are generated by factors within a state. Caste, language, political parties tribal identities,
immigration, unequal development of different sectors within a state are some of the
important factors which throw light on the nature of state politics. We can cite many examples
relating to politics based on intra-state issues. In Karnataka some time ago there was a
confrontation between the Kannada speaking and Marathi speaking sections of the population.
In Assam, the Bodos want to form a separate state of their own as they feel their ethnic
-
interests are at a stake if they remain a part of the state of Assam. In Tamil Nadu, the anti
.
osition that theBrahmin movement challenged the socio

Brahmins enjoyed hitherto.
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When many states have similar demand or the same woes, they merge together over an issue,
thus providing the ground for regional politics. When an issue transcends the boundary of a
particular state, we then talk of a regional issue. The socio-cultural and economic diversity in
India gives rise to regionalism and regional politics. In the next section we will trace the
development of regionalism.
3.2 Regionalism in Indian Politics
Regionalism is a pre-independence phenomenon. It became predominant in post-

independence period. The politics of regionalism started with the implementation of
constitutional reforms under Government of India Acts of 1909, 1919, and 1935. The
establishment and role of Justice Party in Chennai, and to a lesser extent, of Akali Dal in Punjab
in pre-independence period are examples of emerging regionalism in India.
After independence there are four major landmarks in the development of regional politics.
i. After independence, democratic form of government was established. Its main aim was
nation-building on the principles of democracy, secularism national unity and social
justice. All parts of the country wanted a fair deal in nation-building. They started
competing with each other for their development. Anything short of expectation led to
disenchantment and it resulted in the emergence of regional politics.
ii. There was integration of the Princely States. Small states were integrated with the big
states. People continued to nurse loyalties to old territorial units. This was the most
important factor for the success of Princes in elections. The Princes often received
overwhelming support in their former territories in the newly created states and
relatively much less in other parts of the same state.
iii. Reorganisation of states on linguistic basis also played a very vital role in the
development of regional politics. Twenty eight states were reshaped and reduced to 14
states along with centrally administered territories. Later new states were created, then
for example Bombay was divided into Gujarat and Maharashtra, Punjab into, Punjab
and Haryana. But these states were not constituted entirely on linguistic basis. Many
other factors like ethnic-cum-economic considerations gave us Nagaland, Meghalaya,
Manipur, Tripura, Jharkhand, Haryana, Punjab and Chhattisgarh. Language-cum-culture
factors created Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttaranchal; historical and political factors are
responsible for U.P. and Bihar; integration of princely states in and need for viable
groupings gave birth to M.P. and Rajasthan; language and social distinctiveness resulted
in the creation of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Mysore, Bengal and Orissa. Thus various factors
have played a decisive role in the composition of the Indian federation.
In spite of all these considerations, language remained the most important factor in the
reorganisation of states. It became such an important force in the context of
regionalism that linguistic regionalism gained ground in Indian politics.
iv. Another factor which gave rise to regional and parochial tendencies in the country was
the personal and selfish ends of politicians. Immediately, after Independence the
.
struggle for power started among some parties. For enhancing their own authority and
prestige, the regional and state leaders did not hesitate to weaken the authority of the
centre or in some cases of states. The creation of more states meant more governors,
chief ministers, Members of Legislative Assembly or MLAs etc. The professional
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politicians explored the narrow and sectarian sentiments of ignorant masses for
fulfilling their personal and selfish ends.
Keeping these landmarks in mind, can you now identify the bases of regionalism in India?
3.3 Bases of Regionalism
Regionalism is a multidimensional phenomenon. Its bases are varied. Here we will discuss the
geographical, historical, cultural, economic and politico-administrative bases of regionalism.
Geographical Bases: Usually people relate their regional identity to certain specific
geographical 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 memories of old
geographical boundaries of princely states still haunt the people and are exploited 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.
Historical and Social Bases: Historical and social bases constitute the bedrock of the politics of
regionalism. Several components in this category are not only important individually but also in
conjunction with each other.
i. History: It supported regionalism with cultural heritage, folklore, myths and symbolism.
The most striking example is that of Dravida Kazhagam (DK) and the Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and Telugu Desham (TDP)
in Andhra Pradesh. But history cannot be considered as the most important basis of
regionalism. Economic and political factors have combined with history to generate
regionalism. This can again be seen in the change in the stand of DMK from secession
to one of autonomy within the federal framework of the Constitution.
ii. Language: Language is perhaps the most important mark of group identification.
Language expresses the shared life, thought structure and value patterns of people. It
has the capacity to unite the people together and make them work to improve their
common destiny. In this sense linguistic homogeneity strengthens a positive movement.
As early as 1920, Congress had accepted the principle that language must be adopted
as criterion for demarcating the territorial boundaries of provincial units. Establishment
of State Reorganisation Commission (SRC) in 1955 was the result of demand for
formation of regional units based on linguistic regionalism. SRC could not completely
follow the principle of one language one state. This could not be treated as the sole
criteria for the demarcation of state boundaries. Bilingual states like Bombay, Punjab,
etc. were created. However, splitting up of Bombay in 1960, Punjab in 1966, and Assam
ave further impetus to since mid-sixties into linguistically more homogeneous st
.
linguistic regionalism in Indian politics.
If language had been synonymous with region, the political aspiration of every linguistic
group would have been satisfied by the formation of separate states. This, however, is
neither a reality nor a foreseeable possibility. The first reason being that languages
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spoken in India run into hundreds. Even if major languages are taken into account, large
groups of linguistic minorities are bound to be left inside the state whose language
cannot be enshrined in the constitution as an official language.
Secondly, Hindi speaking people are distributed over a very large territory. Their
number is over 300 million at the beginning of twenty first century. One state cannot be
created for them. They have been divided into six states namely, U.P, Bihar, M.P.,
Rajasthan, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh and a couple of Union territories. There has
rarely been a demand for the formation of single state of Hindi speaking people. On the
contrary there have been demands for separate states comprising languages or dialects
within this wider linguistic group. This can be found in the occasional demand for a
Maithili or for recognition of Rajasthani, Haryanvi, etc. as scheduled languages in the
Constitution.
Thus regionalism is closely associated with language but is not synonymous with
linguism. Regionalism can take place inside a linguistic state (for example creation of
Marathi speaking Maharashtra). The seven states of North East India refer to
themselves as seven sisters. They have tried to form common bonds on the basis of
their problems of development. They have also tried to develop a regional identity.
These seven states include Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram,
Nagaland and Tripura. In other words, language is not the sole generator of regionalism.
It is one of the several bases of regionalism in India. In most cases of linguistic
regionalism many interrelated factors are usually found to be working together.
iii. Caste: An important example of the caste factor providing impetus to linguistic
regionalism can be seen in the case of Tamil Nadu. Tamil regionalism gained ground as a
result of non-Brahmin movement. Non-Brahmin castes of Tamil speaking region had
been able to provide a powerful united thrust against Brahmins who had earlier
enjoyed unquestioned dominance in economy, society and polity.
iv. Religion: Religion like caste does not play a significant role except when it is combined
with dominance and linguistic homogeneity as in Punjab or fed on a sense of religious
orthodoxy and economic deprivation as in Jammu and Kashmir.
If casteism reinforced and propelled linguistic regionalism in cases of Tamil Nadu, the
demand for the formation of Punjabi Suba though presented in linguistic garb had
religious overtones. They were mainly responsible for evoking people’s political
loyalties on massive scale rather than their love for their mother tongue. It is difficult to
qualify the mix of communalism and linguism in this particular case. But some studies
make it very clear that demand for Punjabi language state was certainly reinforced by
regular invocation of Punjabi speaking masses’ loyalty towards Sikh religion.
Taking into account these three factors i.e. language, caste and religion one can say that
the study of regionalism in Punjab and Tamil Nadu makes it very clear that political
movements for regional demands were carried out formally in the name of language
but in reality they had substantive non
.
Economic Bases: Economic factor is the crux of regional politics. India is a developing country.
The resources are limited while the demand for resources for the development of various
regions is unlimited or disproportionate to resources. Economic policies have led to regional
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imbalances and wide economic disparities among various regions resulting in discontentment
among them. It may be recalled that most of the demands for constituting new states were
primarily based on allegedly unfair and unequal distribution of development benefits and
expenditure in multi-lingual states. The erstwhile movements for a separate Uttarkhand state in
the hill districts of U.P., a Jharkhand state carved out of parts of Bihar and the demand for a
state of Bodoland comprising a part of Assam may be counted as examples of this type. The
demand for separate states in these instances are mainly on the belief that these regions have
been economically deprived by their respective states. Economic factors have usually assumed
prime importance in regional politics.
Politico-Administrative Bases: 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
movements 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.
3.4 Forms of Regionalism
i. Demand for State Autonomy: The first and the most challenging form of regional
politics was in the demand of people in certain states or regions to secede from the
Indian Union and become independent sovereign states. Such demands occurred soon
after independence but they are mostly non-existent now. The important examples in
this context are that of the Plebiscite Front (Kashmir), Mizo National Front (Lushei Hills
of Assam), Nagaland Socialist Conference (Naga Hills District of Assam) etc.
ii. 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-a-vis another group of states. The group
identity is usually in relation to certain specific issues. It does not in any way imply the
total and permanent merger of identity of the states into the identity of group.
Rivalries, tensions and even conflicts do take place among a few states belonging to a
group. For example, the rivalry existing between south and north India on such issues
as language or location of steel plants illustrates the point. 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 regionalism
is found In India.
South India is separated from North along several differentials, geographically south is
composed of peninsular uplands or Deccan, the mountain ranges of Eastern and
Western Ghats and coastal plains. In terms of political history too, south has never been
incorporated into the empires of the North. This was done for the first time during the
British regime.
.
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
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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
Devanagiri script, with international numerals for a period of 15 years from the
commencement of the Constitution.
However, parliament 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 ultimately 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 underdeveloped language
upon those whose language contains a richness of thousands of years.
In the 1950’s several movements to oppose the imposition of Hindi sprang up. In 1956,
the Academy of Tamil Culture convened in Chennai the Union Language Convention
which stated in a resolution that it would be greatly unjust to make any other language
(meaning Hindi) take the place of English when a population of 100 million are totally
unacquainted with that language.
Significantly this Convention included representatives from different political

organisations i.e., Rajagopalachari (Swatantra), Ramaswamy Naickar (D.K.), Rajan
(Justice Party), Annadurai (DMK) and many others. At a National Conference held on
8th March 1958, Rajagopalachari declared that ‘Hindi is as much foreign to non-Hindi
speaking people as, English to protagonists of Hindi’.
Growing opposition to Hindi in south India led Nehru in 1959 to assure the people of
South that (a) there will be no imposition of Hindi on them and that (b) English will be
an associate regional language which can be used for official purpose so long as people
require it. The decision would be left not to the Hindi speaking people but to the non-
Hindi speaking people.
In late 1964 many things revived the southern fears of “Hindi Imperialism”. With the
death of Pt. Nehru the southern fear about imposition of Hindi had revived. The alarm
grew at the expiry of 15 years when Hindi was to be used in place of English as the
official language. The fears of Southern non-Hindi states could not be removed even by
the Official Language Act, 1963 which made possible the continued use of English both
at the centre and in the states.
On the Republic Day in 1965, in pursuance of Act 343 of Indian Constitution Hindi
became the official language of India. The southern states reacted vehemently. The
DMK party designated 26th January 1965 as a day of mourning. The student
community started an agitation, against the imposition of Hindi. The DMK, which led
.
this agitation, gained greater prestige. It became the ruling party in the state of Tamil
Nadu when the elections took place after two years.
The DMK urged that all the fourteen languages be the official languages of the
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respective states with English as the link language between the states and the centre.
The communists as well as Kamaraj favoured a three-language formula (viz. English,
Hindi and the mother tongue). In June 1965 it was announced that proposal given by
Kamaraj (the president of the Congress) has been accepted. 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 recognised as an important link language. The events described above
show that the language became an important issue around which supra-state
regionalism developed.
iii. Inter-state Regionalism: It is related with state boundaries and involves overlapping of
one or more state identities, which threaten their interests. River water disputes, in
general, and other issues like the Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute in particular
can be cited as examples.
iv. Intra-state Regional Politics or Sub-regionalism: 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 regionalism
can be found in many parts of India. The important examples of this kind of sub-
regionalism are a Vidharbha in Maharashtra, a Saurashtra in Gujarat, a Telangana in
Andhra Pradesh, an East U.P. in Uttar Pradesh and Chattisgarh in Madhya Pradesh.
3.5 Regionalism vs. Nationalism
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
development. Regionalism stresses the development of a region and national integration for
the development 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-
nationalities 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 regional
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 centralising tendencies in a nation and power will shift from the centre to the
avoidable in a country as
states. Conceived in any form,
.
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 sub-regionalism.
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4.0 The Nation-State and Religion Related Issues & Identities
Perhaps the most contentious of all aspects of cultural diversity are issues relating to religious
communities and religion-based identities. These issues may be broadly divided into two
related groups – the secularism–communalism set and the minority–majority set. Questions of
secularism and communalism are about the state’s relationship to religion and to political
groupings that invoke religion as their primary identity. Questions about minorities and
majorities involve decisions on how the state is to treat different religious, ethnic or other
communities that are unequal in terms of numbers and/or power (including social, economic
and political power).
4.1 Minority Rights and Nation Building
In Indian nationalism, the dominant trend was marked by an inclusive and democratic vision.
Inclusive because it recognised diversity and plurality. Democratic because it sought to do away
with discrimination and exclusion and bring forth a just and equitable society. The term ‘people’
has not been seen in exclusive terms, as referring to any specific group defined by religion,
ethnicity, race or caste. Ideas of humanism influenced Indian nationalists and the ugly aspects
of exclusive nationalism were extensively commented upon by leading figures like Mahatma
Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore.
To be effective, the ideas of inclusive nationalism had to be built into the Constitution. There is
a very strong tendency for the dominant group to assume that their culture or language or
religion is synonymous with the nation state. However, for a strong and democratic nation,
special constitutional provisions are required to ensure the rights of all groups and those of
minority groups in particular. A brief discussion on the definition of minorities will enable us to
appreciate the importance of safeguarding minority rights for a strong, united and democratic
nation.
The notion of minority groups is more than a merely numerical distinction – it usually involves
some sense of relative disadvantage. Thus, privileged minorities such as extremely wealthy
people are not usually referred to as minorities; if they are, the term is qualified in some way, as
in the phrase ‘privileged minority’. When minority is used without qualification, it generally
implies a relatively small but also disadvantaged group.
Another sense of minority also implies that the members of the minority form a collectivity –
that is, they have a strong sense of group solidarity, a feeling of togetherness and belonging.
This is linked to disadvantage because the experience of being subjected to prejudice and
discrimination usually heightens feelings of intra-group loyalty and interests. Thus, groups that
may be minorities in a statistical sense, such as people who are left-handed or people born on
29th February, are not minorities in this sense because they do not form a collectivity.
However, it is possible to have anomalous instances where a minority group is disadvantaged in

one sense but not in another. Thus, for example, religious minorities like the Parsis or Sikhs may
in a cultural sense
be relatively well-off economically. But they may still be disadvantag
.
because of their small numbers relative to the overwhelming majority of Hindus. Religious or
cultural minorities need special protection because of the demographic dominance of the
majority. In democratic politics, it is always possible to convert a numerical majority into
political power through elections. This means that religious or cultural minorities – regardless of
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their economic or social position – are politically vulnerable. They must face the risk that the
majority community will capture political power and use the state machinery to suppress their
religious or cultural institutions, ultimately forcing them to abandon their distinctive identity.
In the long years of struggle against British colonialism, Indian nationalists understood the
imperative need to recognise and respect India’s diversity. Indeed ‘unity in diversity’ became a
short hand to capture the plural and diverse nature of Indian society. Discussions on minority
and cultural rights mark many of the deliberations of the Indian National Congress and find final
expression in the Indian Constitution.
The makers of the Indian Constitution were aware that a strong and united nation could be built
only when all sections of people had the freedom to practice their religion, and to develop their
culture and language. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Constitution, made this point
clear in the Constituent Assembly. In the last three decades we have witnessed how non-
recognition of the rights of different groups of people in a country can have grave implications
for national unity.
One of key issues that led to the formation of Bangladesh was the unwillingness of the Pakistani
state to recognise the cultural and linguistic rights of the people of Bangladesh.
One of the many contentious issues that formed the backdrop of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka
was the imposition of Sinhalese as a national language. Likewise any forcible imposition of a
language or religion on any group of people in India weakens national unity which is based
upon a recognition of differences. Indian nationalism recognises this, and the Indian
Constitution affirms this.
Finally, it is useful to note that minorities exist everywhere, not just in India. In most nation-
states, there tend to be a dominant social group whether cultural, ethnic, racial or religious.
Nowhere in the world is there a nation-state consisting exclusively of a single homogenous
cultural group. Even where this was almost true (as in countries like Iceland, Sweden or South
Korea), modern capitalism, colonialism and large scale migration have brought in a plurality of
groups. Even the smallest state will have minorities, whether in religious, ethnic, linguistic or
racial terms.
4.2 Communalism, Secularism and the Nation-State
4.2.1 Communalism
In everyday language, the word ‘communalism’ refers to aggressive chauvinism based on

religious identity. Chauvinism itself is an attitude that sees one’s own group as the only
legitimate or worthy group, with other groups being seen – by definition – as inferior,
illegitimate and opposed. Thus, to simplify further, communalism is an aggressive political
ideology linked to religion. This is a peculiarly Indian, or perhaps South Asian, meaning that is
different from the sense of the ordinary English word. In the English language, “communal”
means something related to a community or collectivity as different from an individual.
.
The English meaning is neutral, whereas the South Asian meaning is strongly charged. The
charge may be seen as positive – if one is sympathetic to communalism – or negative, if one is
opposed to it.
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It is important to emphasise that communalism is about politics, not about religion. Although
communalists are intensely involved with religion, there is in fact no necessary relationship
between personal faith and communalism. A communalist may or may not be a devout person,
and devout believers may or may not be communalists. However, all communalists do believe in
a political identity based on religion.
The key factor is the attitude towards those who believe in other kinds of identities, including
other religion-based identities. Communalists cultivate an aggressive political identity, and are
prepared to condemn or attack everyone who does not share their identity.
One of the characteristic features of communalism is its claim that religious identity overrides
everything else. Whether one is poor or rich, whatever one’s occupation, caste or political
beliefs, it is religion alone that counts. All Hindus are the same as are all Muslims, Sikhs and so
on. This has the effect of constructing large and diverse groups as singular and homogenous. It
is noteworthy that this is done for one’s own group as well as for others. This would obviously
rule out the possibility that Hindus, Muslims and Christians who belong to Kerala, for example,
may have as much or more in common with each other than with their co-religionists from
Kashmir, Gujarat or Nagaland. It also denies the possibility that, for instance, landless
agricultural labourers (or industrialists) may have a lot in common even if they belong to
different religions and regions.
Communalism is an especially important issue in India because it has been a recurrent source of
tension and violence. During communal riots, people become faceless members of their
respective communities. They are willing to kill, rape, and loot members of other communities
in order to redeem their pride, to protect their home turf. A commonly cited justification is to
avenge the deaths or dishonour suffered by their co-religionists elsewhere or even in the
distant past. No region has been wholly exempt from communal violence of one kind or
another. Every religious community has faced this violence in greater or lesser degree, although
the proportionate impact is far more traumatic for minority communities. To the extent that
governments can be held responsible for communal riots, no government or ruling party can
claim to be blameless in this regard. In fact, the two most traumatic contemporary instances of
communal violence occurred under each of the major political parties. The anti-Sikh riots of
Delhi in 1984 took place under a Congress regime. The unprecedented scale and spread of anti-
Muslim violence in Gujarat in 2002 took place under a BJP government.
India has had a history of communal riots from pre-Independence times, often as a result of the
divide-and-rule policy adopted by the colonial rulers. But colonialism did not invent inter-
community conflicts – there is also a long history of pre-colonial conflicts – and it certainly
cannot be blamed for post-Independence riots and killings. Indeed, if we wish to look for
instances of religious, cultural, regional or ethnic conflict they can be found in almost every
phase of our history. But we should not forget that we also have a long tradition of religious
pluralism, ranging from peaceful co-existence to actual inter-mixing or syncretism. This
syncretic heritage is clearly evident in the devotional songs and poetry of the Bhakti and Sufi
movements. In short, history provides us with both good and bad examples; what we wish to
learn from it is up to us.
.
4.2.2 Secularism
As we have seen above, the meanings of the terms communal and communalism are more or
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less clear, despite the bitter controversies between supporters and opponents. By contrast, the
terms ‘secular’ and ‘secularism’ are very hard to define clearly, although they are also equally
controversial.
In fact, secularism is among the most complex terms in social and political theory. In the
western context the main sense of these terms has to do with the separation of church and
state. The separation of religious and political authority marked a major turning point in the
social history of the west. This separation was related to the process of “secularisation”, or the
progressive retreat of religion from public life, as it was converted from a mandatory obligation
to a voluntary personal practice. Secularisation in turn was related to the arrival of modernity
and the rise of science and rationality as alternatives to religious ways of understanding the
world.
The Indian meanings of secular and secularism include the western sense but also involve
others. The most common use of secular in everyday language is as the opposite of communal.
So, a secular person or state is one that does not favour any particular religion over others.
Secularism in this sense is the opposite of religious chauvinism and it need not necessarily
imply hostility to religion as such. In terms of the state-religion relationship, this sense of
secularism implies equal respect for all religions, rather than separation or distancing. For
example, the secular Indian state declares public holidays to mark the festivals of all religions.
One kind of difficulty is created by the tension between the western sense of the state
maintaining a distance from all religions and the Indian sense of the state giving equal respect
to all religions. Supporters of each sense are upset by whatever the state does to uphold the
other sense. Should a secular state provide subsidies for the Haj pilgrimage, or manage the
Tirupati-Tirumala temple complex, or support pilgrimages to Himalayan holy places? Should all
religious holidays be abolished, leaving only Independence Day, Republic Day, Gandhi Jayanti
and Ambedkar Jayanti for example? Should a secular state ban cow slaughter because cows are
holy for a particular religion? If it does so, should it also ban pig slaughter because another
religion prohibits the eating of pork? If Sikh soldiers in the army are allowed to have long hair
and wear turbans, should Hindu soldiers also be allowed to shave their heads or Muslim
soldiers allowed to have long beards? Questions of this sort lead to passionate disagreements
that are hard to settle.
Another set of complications is created by the tension between the Indian state’s simultaneous
commitment to secularism as well as the protection of minorities. The protection of minorities
requires that they be given special consideration in a context where the normal working of the
political system places them at a disadvantage vis-à-vis the majority community. But providing
such protection immediately invites the accusation of favouritism or ‘appeasement’ of
minorities. Opponents argue that secularism of this sort is only an excuse to favour the
minorities in return for their votes or other kinds of support. Supporters argue that without
such special protection, secularism can turn into an excuse for imposing the majority
community’s values and norms on the minorities.
These kind of controversies become harder to solve when political parties and social
.
movements develop a vested interest in keeping them alive. In recent times, communalists of
all religions have contributed to the deadlock. The resurgence and newly acquired political
power of the Hindu communalists has added a further dimension of complexity. Clearly a lot
needs to be done to improve our understanding of secularism as a principle and our practice of
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it as a policy. But despite everything, it is still true that India’s Constitution and legal structure
has proved to be reasonably effective in handling the problems created by various kinds of
communalism.
The first generation of leaders of independent India (who happened to be overwhelmingly

Hindu and upper caste) chose to have a liberal, secular state governed by a democratic
constitution. Accordingly, the ‘state’ was conceived in culturally neutral terms, and the ‘nation’
was also conceived as an inclusive territorial-political community of all citizens. Nation building
was viewed mainly as a state-driven process of economic development and social
transformation. The expectation was that the universalisation of citizenship rights and the
induction of cultural pluralities into the democratic process of open and competitive politics
would evolve new, civic equations among ethnic communities, and between them and the
state. These expectations may not have materialised in the manner expected. But ever since
Independence, the people of India, through their direct political participation and election
verdicts have repeatedly asserted their support for a secular Constitution and state. Their
voices should count.
.

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VISIONIAS ™
www.visionias.in
DEVELOPMENT PROCESS AND THE DEVELOPMENT INDUSTRY – ROLE OF

NGO’s, SHG’s. VARIOUS GROUPS AND ASSOCIATIONS, DONORS, CHARITIES
AND OTHER INSTITUTIONAL STAKEHOLDERS
.


Student Notes:
Contents
1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 2
2.0 From where did Development begin?...................................................................................... 2
2.1 Development Planning in India ............................................................................................ 3
3.0 After knowing that Participative Development is here to stay, how do we understand its
manifestation? What forms/shapes does it take? ......................................................................... 7
3.1 So, what benefits do we realize of participating in the developmental process? ............... 8
4.0 Who are the Stakeholders in this Participatory Development process?.................................. 8
4.1 The State .............................................................................................................................. 8
4.1.1 The Co-operatives ......................................................................................................... 9
4.2 The Market ......................................................................................................................... 15
4.3 The Civil Society ................................................................................................................. 18
4A.0 Are the roles taken up by the CSO’s in isolation, or do they collaborate with those of the
State and of the Market? ......................................................................................................... 23
4A.1 VO and State ................................................................................................................ 23
4A.2 VO and Market ............................................................................................................. 26
4A.3 State + Market + Civil Society ...................................................................................... 27

.
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DEVELOPMENT PROCESS AND THE DEVELOPMENT INDUSTRY –ROLE OF

NGO’s, SHG’s. VARIOUS GROUPS AND ASSOSICATIONS, DONORS,
CHARITIES AND OTHER INSTITUTIONAL STAKEHOLDERS
1.0 Introduction
For a society, to decide as to what constitutes development, either we could mechanically
follow a model which has been previously used in our own, or other countries; or we could plan
keeping in mind the good of the society as a whole as well as the rights of those people whose
lives may be directly affected by development projects. The leaders can either concentrate on
implementing plans regardless of protests or they can proceed democratically, carrying the
people with them.
In the broadest sense of the term, development conveys the ideas of improvement, progress,
well-being and an aspiration for a better life. Through its notion of development, a society
articulates what constitutes its vision for the society as a whole and how best to achieve it.
However, the term development is also often used in a narrower sense to refer to more limited
goals such as increasing the rate of economic growth, or modernising the society. Development
has unfortunately often come to be identified with achieving pre-set targets, or completing
projects like dams, or factories, hospitals, rather than with realising the broader vision of
development which the society upholds. In the process some sections of society may have
benefited while others may have had to suffer loss of their homes, or lands, or way of life,
without any compensatory gains.
Issues such as whether the rights of people have been respected in the course of development,
whether the benefits and burdens of development have been justly distributed, or whether
decisions regarding development priorities have been democratically made, have been raised in
many countries. Hence, development has become the subject of considerable controversy
today. The models of development which have been adopted in different countries have
become the subject of debate and criticism and alternative models have been put forward. In
such a situation the broader understanding of development can serve as a standard by which
the development experience of a country is examined. So to begin with, let us try to understand
the conception of development from its roots.
2.0 From where did Development begin?

The concept of development gained importance after the second half of the twentieth century.
This was the time when a large number of countries in Asia and Africa gained political
independence. Most were impoverished and their populations had a low standard of living.
Education, health and other facilities were poor. They were often described as
‘underdeveloped’ or ‘developing’. The comparison was with the richer countries in Western
Europe and the United States.
.
In the 1950s and 1960s when most countries of Asia and Africa had achieved independence
from colonial rule, the most urgent task in front of them was to solve the pressing problems of
poverty, malnourishment, unemployment, illiteracy and the lack of basic amenities that a
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majority of their populations faced. They argued that the reason why they were backward was
because under colonial rule their resources had been used not for their own benefit but for the
benefit of their colonial masters. With Independence, they could reorganise their resources in
the best possible manner to serve their national interests. Therefore it was now possible for
them to formulate such policies which would allow them to overcome their backwardness and
move towards achieving the standards of their former colonial masters. This provided the
impetus for these countries to undertake development projects.
2.1 Development Planning in India

In India a series of Five Year Plans for development were made starting from the 1950s, and
these included a number of mega projects such as the Bhakra Nangal Dam, setting up steel
plants in different parts of the country, mining, fertilizer production and improving agricultural
techniques. It was hoped that a multipronged strategy would have an impact on the economy
and significantly increase the wealth of the country. It was also hoped that the emerging
prosperity would gradually ‘trickle down’ to the poorest sections of society and help to reduce
inequality. A great deal of faith was placed in adopting the latest discoveries of science and
state of the art technologies. New educational institutions like the Indian Institutes of
Technology were set up and collaboration with advanced countries in order to have access to
their knowledge became a top priority.
It was believed that this process of development would make the society more modern and
forward looking and set it on the path of growth. Our planners pursued the five major
objectives viz, economic growth, self-reliance, modernisation, industrialisation and social
justice. However, the focus was largely on accumulation of physical capital through savings and
investments for promoting industrial development and growth in the war torn economies.
India's experience shows that a considerable amount of success has been achieved in certain
areas. In agriculture and rural development, a large number of new programmes have been
started. Along with these, a diversity of organisational arrangements and administrative
structures have been established. There has been a substantial diversification of the industrial
base over the last decades. Now we are able to produce a broad range of industrial products.
We have achieved self-reliance in basic and capital goods industries.
Though the list of achievements is exhaustive, we still cannot conclude that we have been able
to develop in the way we wanted to. The list of failures and the problems hampering our drive
towards development is equally exhaustive. Some economists doubt India’s achievements on
self-reliance. We have achieved considerable self- sufficiency in food but that is not the case in
other areas. Import of capital goods, technology, petroleum products, edible oils, etc. make a
huge dent in our external resources and we have a heavy balance of trade deficit. Though the
growth rate has been going good, modernisation in agriculture has just begun. Average yield
levels in most regions and farming systems are below what can be attained with known
technology. India now has a large and wide scientific and technical workforce in the world, still
the capacity of the system to absorb these skills fully in productive employment has been less
than adequate. Also in pure and applied research, advances have been limited except in a few
.
areas like agricultural research, atomic energy and space. Average productivity levels are below
the targets.
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Monopolies in industry have grown. Progressive taxation has been quite ineffective. Circulation
of black money has increased in the market. Increase in production has also led to increase in
economic inequalities. The objective of income equality in terms of priority, has always got a
very low place in our plans. The publications of Planning Commission and Plan Documents have
never provided estimates of inequalities of income and wealth distribution.
We have also not been able to make a dent on poverty problem. Anti-poverty programmes
have brought only temporary relief. Improper identification of beneficiaries, lack of awareness
among the poor regarding the benefits of programmes, wastage of funds, lack of monitoring
and evaluation, overemphasis on wage employment schemes, lack of training of staff involved
in implementation of programmes and less involvement of voluntary agencies and cooperatives
in rural development have proved to be the major problems facing our programmes.
Land reforms had not been implemented effectively. Shortage of updated land records,
existence of benami transactions, distribution of bad quality of land, declaration of less land as
surplus, lack of participation by benefactors, almost non- existent cooperatives for land
reforms, use of inappropriate technology in agriculture have impeded their success.
In education, health care and family welfare, past efforts have been concentrated on target-
oriented expansion in facilities or on enrolment and coverage. The greater access of the poor to
secondary and higher education has not been able to reduce the illiteracy rate. Our Five Year
Plans accepted the objective of equity, however, the concrete details of this objective such as
the extent to which income and wealth would be distributed, different types of social equity to
be introduced, the extent to which concentration of income and wealth would be reduced etc.,
have not been spelt out. Various policies and programmes for bringing about equity and steps
needed for this purpose were never specified.
All this happened until the 7th Five Year Plan and the succeeding Annual Plans. During the
1990s, India introduced economic reforms, aiming at liberalising the economy through various
initiatives. As stated in the 8th FYP (1992-1997): “The Eighth Plan is being launched at a time,
which marks a turning point in both international and domestic economic environment.
Centralised economies are disintegrating all over the world. On the other hand, economies of
several regions are integrating under a common philosophy of growth, guided by the market
forces and liberal policies. The emphasis is on autonomy and efficiency induced by competition.
We cannot remain untouched by these trends. We have to draw lessons from the development
experience of other nations during the last four decades.”
Inspired by the publication of the first Global Human Development Report, it was at the same
time recognised that these liberalisation efforts should be combined with a more direct focus
on human development: “Human development will be the ultimate goal of the Eighth Plan. It is
towards this that employment generation; population control, literacy, education, health;
drinking water and provision of adequate food and basic infrastructure are listed as the
priorities.”
Beginning with the 8th FYP, the Five Year Plans continue to be firmly set within the human
.
development paradigm. Addressing human development in India is of vital importance since a

large portion of the population is living below the poverty line, and income inequalities are
rising by the day. The general perception was that liberalisation would generate economic
growth through the power of market forces, which in turn would benefit the poorer sections of
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society through the “trickle-down effect”, again. Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs)
were carried out in order to streamline and “adjust” developing economies into the
liberalisation agenda, but the approach to a large extent failed to tackle the issue of poverty
and inequalities.
It is now increasingly being recognised that there is a need to adopt a broader notion of
development. An excessive focus on economic growth has not only given rise to a wide range of
problems but even economic growth has not always been satisfactory. Hence, development is
now being viewed in broader terms as a process which should improve the quality of life of all
the people. If development is understood as a process which aims to improve the quality of life
of people, it could be argued that measuring the rate of economic growth alone would be an
inadequate and at times misleading indicator of development. There is now a search for
alternative ways of measuring development. One such attempt has been the Human
Development Report (as mentioned earlier) which is annually brought out by the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP). This report ranks countries on the basis of their
performance in social indicators like literacy and education levels, life expectancy and maternal
mortality rates. This measure is called the Human Development Index. According to this
conception development should be a process which allows more and more people to make
meaningful choices and the pre-condition for this is the fulfilment of basic needs like food,
education, health and shelter. This is called the basic needs approach. Popular slogans like ‘roti,
kapda aur makaan’, ‘garibi hatao’ or ‘bijli, sadak, pani’ convey the sentiment that without the
fulfilment of basic needs, it is impossible for an individual to live a dignified life and pursue her
desires. Freedom from want or deprivation is the key to effectively exercising one’s choices and
pursuing one’s desires. In this view, if people die of starvation or cold due to lack of food and
shelter, or if children are working instead of being in school, this is indicative of a state of under-
development.
David Karter said that ‘Development can be realized through people’s movement thereby
development can be successful only when the people are both creator and recipient of
development.
Seen from this viewpoint, development is about removing the obstacles to what a person can
do in life, obstacles such as lack of income, illiteracy, ill health, lack of access to resources, or
lack of civil and political freedoms. As expressed by Sen: ”…the twin recognition that human
beings can 1) fare far better, and 2) do much more to bring this about may sensibly be seen as
the two central thesis of the human development approach.”
The concept of human development was based on the conceptual foundation provided by Dr.
Amartya Sen and Dr. Mahbub ul Haq. The Human Development approach puts people at the
centre of the development agenda, where economic growth and wealth are considered means
to development, not an end by itself.
Alternative Approaches to Development
In the preceding sections we discussed some of the limitations of the model of development
.
pursued so far. There have been huge costs

onmental — of
development policies and the costs and benefits of development have been unequally
distributed among people. Further, the strategies of development adopted in most countries
have been ‘top-down’, that is, the selection of development priorities and strategies and the
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actual implementation of projects were all generally decided by the higher levels of the political
leadership and bureaucracy. There was often little consultation with the people whose lives
would be most immediately affected by development projects. Neither was their experience
and the knowledge acquired over centuries utilized nor were their interests taken into account.
This was as true of democratic countries as of dictatorial ones. Development thus became a
process designed and implemented by the ruling sections in the country who have also often
been the major beneficiaries of development projects. This has underscored the need to think
of alternative ways of understanding and pursuing development which are equitable and
sustainable. Issues of rights, equality, freedom, justice and democracy have all been raised in
the process. In this section, we shall examine how these concepts have taken on newer
meanings in the context of the development debate.
Right Claims
We have noted how the benefits of development have been largely cornered by the powerful
and the costs of the development model have been borne by the poorest and vulnerable
sections of the population whether due to ecological degradation or due to displacement and
loss of livelihood. One of the issues which has been raised is regarding the protections that
affected people can claim from the State and the society as a whole. In a democracy do people
have a right be consulted in decisions which directly affect their lives?
Do they have a right to livelihood which they can claim when an activity sanctioned by the
government threatens their source of livelihood? Another issue is regarding rights to natural
resources. Can communities claim traditional rights to the use of natural resources? This
particularly applies to tribal and aboriginal communities who have a specific way of community
life and relationship to the environment.
The crucial issue here is to whom do natural resources belong? Is it the local community, the
state concerned, or are they a common resource of all humanity? If we understand resources as
common to humanity then humanity would include future generations as well. Negotiating the
competing demands of different sections of a population as well as achieving a balance
between the claims of the present and future is the task of democracies.
Democratic Participation and Participatory Development
How many times have you been told that you must do something— say, obey your parents or
teachers — for your own good? And have you felt like saying, if it is good for me, please let me
decide that myself?
The distinction between democracy and dictatorship is that in a democracy conflicts over
resources, or different visions of the good life, are resolved through debate and a respect for
the rights of all and these cannot be imposed from above. Thus, if everyone in a society has a
common stake in achieving a better life, then everyone needs to be involved in formulating the
goals of development and in devising ways of implementing it. There is a difference between
lans. Firstly, even if
following a plan made by others and sharing in the formulatio
.
others make plans with the best intentions, they are likely to be less aware than you about your
specific needs. Secondly, being an active part of the decision-making process is empowering.
Both democracy and development are concerned with realising the common good. By what
process can the common good be defined? In democratic countries the right of people to
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participate in decision making is emphasised. One of the ways which has been suggested to
ensure participation is to allow local decision-making bodies to take decisions about
development projects in the local area.
Increasing the powers and resources of local bodies is thus being advocated. On the one hand it
is argued that people have to be consulted on issues which most affect them and it should be
possible to reject projects which can adversely affect the community. On the other it is said
that, involvement in planning and formulating policies allows people to direct resources
towards their needs. Where a road must be laid, what should be the route of the metro or local
buses, where a park or school should be located, whether a village needs a check dam or an
internet café should be decisions which must be taken by them.
To conclude:
Decades of development efforts have provoked a feeling of disenchantment with the

conventional growth-oriented strategy of development not producing the desired trickle-down
effect. The failures sensitized the planners and administrators to the need for drawing on
the indigenous knowledge system of the local people. Unless people themselves
participate, the programmes administrated by external agencies remain exogenous to the
rural community thereby affecting results. A people-centred vision is being advanced by
citizen’s organisations working to create an alternative world order based on economic justice,
environmental stability and political inclusiveness. As per the Human Development Report
(UNDP 1993) comment, “People’s participation is becoming the central issue of our times.” But
do you think that ‘people participation’ is a recent discovery or an ever-going phenomena? Can
you justify your case?
3.0 After knowing that Participative Development is here to stay, how do

we understand its manifestation? What forms/shapes does it take?
The following different forms of community organisations representing collective action by the
underprivileged people to improve their socio-economic conditions have been identified:
 First, there are grassroots organisations that are basically economic in nature,
undertaking income-generating activities with the help of internal resource
mobilization supplemented by resource and knowledge support from outside.
 Second, there are other organisations that emerge in ‘pressure group’ activities. They
resist exploitation or oppression by other groups, assert economic, social and human
rights including women’s rights, or demand services from the public agencies.
 Third, some of the organisations undertake social and cultural activities in such areas as
health, education, culture and so on.
 Fourth, some aim at the promotion of holistic life by way of activities that integrate
spiritual advancement with economic and social development.
 Fifth, community organisations to promote ecologically oriented socio-economic life
are also growing in many areas such as organic agriculture, social forestry, coastal
.
fishing etc.
 Sixth, participatory action research is being pursued by some organisations to develop
people’s own thinking about their living conditions and environment.
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3.1 So, what benefits do we realize of participating in the developmental

process?
The value of participation as a facilitative development process has been widely recognised and
major benefits have been identified as follows:
The participatory process provides important information in the planning, programming and
implementation stages thereby ensuring congruence between objectives and community
values and preferences. Monitoring is better, and sustainability of the project is more likely
even after the withdrawal of the external agent, be it government or NGO agency. By
rationalizing manpower resources utilization, the process reduces project cost thereby
streamlining the whole process.
Any change brought about through development is more acceptable to the community if the
local people are involved; also, mistakes are more tolerable if these are made by people who
have to live with them. The community learns from its own involvement and from this point of
view, participation is a two-way learning process in which the administrator and the people
become co-learners. Active community participation helps rebuild community cohesion and
installs a sense of dignity into the community. People gain in confidence and steadily emerge
as real actors in the development process.
Active community participation helps rebuild community cohesion and installs a sense of
dignity into the community. People gain in confidence and steadily emerge as real actors in the
developmental process.
4.0 Who are the Stakeholders in this Participatory Development process?

4.1 The State
The state plays a fundamental role in helping or hindering participation.
State’s actions depend upon the definition and purpose of community participation, state’s
perception about its role and the political will to decentralize power and resources to local
institutions. Accordingly 4 different state’s responses have emerged (ideal models - to
characterize better):
Anti-participatory mode: The state in a capitalist system is interested, not in ameliorating the
conditions of the poor, but in promoting the interests of capital and the ruling class. Power is,
therefore, concentrated and not dispersed to facilitate accumulation of wealth.
Manipulative mode: The state follows a diplomatic approach and the state support to
community participation is intended to ensure political and social control as well as reduce local
development costs and facilitate successful project implementation. State seeks to neutralize
political opposition by co-opting autonomous movements with the ulterior motive of gaining
ocal labour in state’s
control over them. The rheto
.
development activities and to give legitimacy to the regime in power.
Incremental mode: It is marked by an ambivalent approach to community participation. There

is no lack of government support to participation but the policy is unclear and piecemeal & ad-
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hoc approaches are the norm. The state in reality is not willing to part with power and to
devolve resources to local community groups. Also, the bureaucrats and the technocrats have
their own ways of bringing about “efficient” local development management. Still, community
participation is not, in theory, rejected and decentralisation continues in an ad-hoc fashion with
a plurality of actors.
Participatory mode: Characterized by state’s own initiative to create institutions of community

participation to ensure effective involvement at the grassroots level. There are no ulterior
motives and genuine popular involvement is ensured by providing resources to local bodies and
sensitizing bureaucracy through training and directives. Within an overall development
planning framework, the central, regional and local development policies and activities are
harmonized through positive political will and bureaucratic support.
Which of these modes is true for India? Have we evolved from one mode to another or is there
one particular mode more applicable? Or does the state adopt different modes at different
times and different places?
Let us now have a brief know-how of the various developmental agencies propelled by the
State.
There have been several development agencies initiated by the State in tune with the
developmental needs and the planning policy. It started with the establishment of the Public
Sector Enterprises. It was intended to meet the following objectives:
i. To help in the rapid economic growth and industrialisation of the country and create
the necessary infrastructure for economic development;
ii. To earn return on investment and thus generate resources for development,
iii. To promote redistribution of income and wealth;
iv. To create employment opportunities;
v. To promote balanced regional development;
vi. To assist in the development of small-scale and ancillary industries;
vii. To promote import substitution, save and earn foreign exchange for the economy.
The extent to which these objectives have been covered is a different aspects. Can you list out
some reasons as to why these objectives were not fully realised?
Recent developmental initiatives in the Financial Sector include Priority Sector Lending, opening
up of bank branches in rural areas and the whole paradigm of Inclusive Growth.
Alongside there have been the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendment acts which have
established the third tier – Panchayati Raj and Urban Local Governments. These have given
shape to the idea of Democratic decentralisation, devolution and delegation.
4.1.1 The Co-operatives

.
“A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their

common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and
democratically controlled enterprise”. Cooperatives as business enterprise possess some basic
interests such as ownership and control but these interests are directly vested in the hands of
the user. Therefore, they follow certain broad values other than those associated purely with
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profit making. Need for profitability is balanced by the needs of the members and the wider
interest of the community. The values universally recognized as cornerstones of cooperative
behaviour are self-help, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. Voluntary and open
membership, democratic control, economic participation, autonomy, training and information
and concern for community are the overarching features by which the cooperatives put their
values into practice.
History of Cooperatives in India
The Indian cooperative sector completed 103 years of its existence in 2007. It was born during
the later part of the colonial era’ predominantly as a Government initiative to address the twin
issues of farmers’ indebtedness and poverty. This initiative was formalized in a legislation
enacted in 1904 entitled the “Cooperative Credit Societies Act, 1904”. During a century of its
existence, this sector has built a network consisting of more than 5.45 lakh individual
cooperative organisations and over 236 million members. It is numerically the largest
movement of its kind in the world. With a working capital base of Rs. 34,00,555 millions,
presence in practically all walks of rural life and a coverage spanning almost all villages of the
country, the cooperatives have come to be recognized as one of the most important economic
and social organisations in the nation’s life. The Reserve Bank of India formed in 1934, had
agriculture credit as a part of its basic mandate. By extending refinance facilities to the
cooperative credit system it played an important role in spreading the cooperative movement
to far corners of the country. Cooperatives are meant to be enterprises of the citizens and it is
envisaged that a vibrant and robust cooperative movement can significantly contribute in
harnessing the positive potential of social capital for the greater good of society.
Post-Independence, cooperatives were considered to be the part of the strategy of planned

economic development. Pandit Nehru visualized an India in which each village would have a
panchayat, a co-operative and a school. Rapid and equitable economic development became
the focus of the State policy.
Over the years, there has been a growing realisation that undue interference from the State,
lack of autonomy and widespread politicisation has severely impaired the functioning of these
institutions and there is need to introduce urgent reforms in the sector. During the last two
decades, a number of Committees were appointed to go into various issues of cooperatives. A
number of valuable suggestions have been made to turn cooperatives into self-reliant,
autonomous and democratised institutions. These Committees strongly advocated the need to
replace the existing government dominated cooperative laws by a new people centric
legislation.
Government of India announced a National Policy on Co-operatives in 2002. The ultimate

objective of the National Policy is to provide support for promotion and development of
cooperatives as autonomous, independent and democratic organisations so that they can play
their due role in the socio-economic development of the country. The Policy further aims at
reduction of regional imbalances and strengthening of cooperative education, training and
human resource development for professionalization of cooperative management. It recognizes
.
the distinct identity of cooperatives and seeks to support their values and principles by
catalysing States to provide them an appropriate administrative and legislative environment.
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Co-operatives in India have had a chequered history. During the first few decades after
Independence, this sector played a pivotal role in the economy by making significant
contribution to our primary sector production. It had an important role in bringing food
sufficiency through the green revolution, in building up a network for distribution of new
varieties of seeds, fertilizers and cash credit and in creating an environment of participation and
hope among the people. Beginning with Amul in Gujarat, it took extraordinary strides in the
dairy sector too. Currently, 170 District Cooperative Milk Producer Unions and 22 State Dairy
Federations deserve credit for (a) turning India into the largest milk producing nation of the
world, and (b) bringing substantial raise in the family income of millions of milk producers
across the country. But, even this sector has now begun showing some signs of fatigue. In many
areas, production has reached a plateau and the rate of capital formation is inadequate.
Existing Weaknesses
As it exists today, in most of the States, is weak and inactive. A majority of the cooperatives look
towards government patronage both for business as well as for their capital requirement. In
this regard, two areas of concern stand out prominently:
i. Bureaucratisation and Government control – When the colonial rulers officially brought
the cooperatives to India, they created the post of the “omnipotent” Registrar of
Cooperative Societies, a position specially designed by the government with a view to
operating the final levers of control over these institutions and not allowing the
cooperative sector to blossom as a people’s movement. The government of
Independent India, while championing the cause of cooperatives, not only retained this
key position but also further added a complex hierarchy of bureaucratic power centres
to the existing structure. Existence of such a government controlled cooperative
infrastructure has gone against the very logic of the cooperative movement.
ii. Politicisations of cooperative leadership – The Boards of a majority of cooperative
Bodies are dominated by politicians. They are co-operators by default. Many of them
are in cooperatives because they want to use this position as a stepping stone for their
political ambitions. And there are some who join this sector because their current
political standing has gone down. Movement of the first kind may be a normal
phenomenon, but politicians joining cooperatives introduces decay in the system.
Further, the Indian cooperative sector has failed to inculcate two of the very essential
cooperative values. The first is that of self-help. Self-help has been envisaged as a basic tenet of
cooperatives. In its very genesis the movement is opposed to both Market as well as State. It is
widely perceived that these two institutions have failed to protect the interest of the common
man. Both are, in a sense, forces which the co-operators inherently need to resist. Drawing
support from such sources is essentially a result of the modern day political complexities. It
needs to be understood that governments both in centrally planned economies and free market
regimes have generally, been too eager to provide financial and other support to cooperatives
and the sector has very often fallen prey to this temptation. The government thus, succeeds in
establishing its dominance over them. This trend needs to be reversed. A cooperative
endeavour should necessarily depend on its own resources, however small they may be. Its
.
growth and expansion should be evolutionary.
The other important missing value is the member-centrality. Cooperatives by their very nature
are inward looking organisations. They are meant to serve the member community unlike
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outward looking organisations such as the corporates which operate for profits. The focus of
the activities of a cooperative organisation needs to be on its members. Its business is to be
developed around their needs, policies are to be designed according to their views and
administration is to be carried out through member participation. But, in practice, cooperatives
in India have not adhered to the above norms. In the context of the emerging global
integration, it is being felt that the pressures of globalisation in the country will have to be
addressed to a large extent through up-scaling of self-help / cooperative initiatives. The issue of
social capital as an input for development and self-help / cooperative groups as instruments of
economic growth are therefore now being widely discussed.
There is a definite credibility crisis in the cooperative sector. The process of withdrawal of the
State from certain service areas should have in the ordinary course opened up the doors for
cooperativisation instead of privatisation but, this has not happened. The prevailing perception
is that the cooperative sector in its present form, has neither values nor competence to accept
this challenge. Therefore, there is need to inculcate values of self-help and member centrality in
our cooperative organisations so that they not only function as ‘enterprises’ but also as units of
larger ‘cooperative communities’.
It is important to recognize that the circumstances and situation that gave rise to the
cooperative movement about hundred years ago are still in existence in large parts of rural
India. Eighty-four per cent of our farmers fall in the category of landless, marginal and small
landholders, they do not have access to organised markets for their produce and the availability
of agriculture credit is far too inadequate. Non-agriculture activities in rural areas are equally
credit starved. In this background, the most appropriate institutional structure which has the
capacity to tackle these problems is cooperatives. They can provide credit to the rural people at
affordable rates. They can also play a major role in other primary sector activities such as
livestock development, dairy production, fisheries and agro-forestry. Cooperatives can establish
linkages between credit and market and thus develop into multipurpose rural institutions. The
role of cooperatives could be very important in other related operations as well such as sale of
consumer goods, sugar production and housing. There is need to comprehensively revive and
strengthen this sector by adopting a multi-dimensional reform agenda covering all aspects of
legal, institutional and policy changes.
Recognising the importance of cooperatives, the Union Government initiatives in the recent
past (forming Expert Committees on short and long term credit structures, preparing a draft
model law, entering into reform agreement with the State Governments and announcing revival
packages). However, a lot more still remains to be done, particularly, in States where there is
reluctance to move ahead.
Constitutional Context
Co-operative Societies is a state subject under Entry 32 of the State List of the Seventh Schedule
of the Constitution. All states have accordingly enacted their own Cooperative Societies Acts for
incorporation, regulation and winding up of cooperative societies within their territorial
jurisdiction.
.
For cooperative societies working in more than one state, the Parliament has enacted the
Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) Act, 2002under Entry 44 of the Union list of the
Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.
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There was a need for uniformity in cooperative legislation, particularly in respect of aspects
crucial for autonomous and democratic functioning of cooperatives. The Constitution (Ninety
Seventh Amendment) Act 2011 relating to the co-operatives is aimed to encourage economic
activities of cooperatives which in turn help progress of rural India. It is expected to not only
ensure autonomous and democratic functioning of cooperatives, but also the accountability of
the management to the members and other stakeholders. Its objective is ‘To enhance public
faith in cooperatives’ and ‘Insulate the cooperatives from avoidable political or bureaucratic
interference.’ As per the amendment the changes done to constitution are:-
 In Part III of the constitution, after words "or unions" the words "Cooperative
Societies" was added.
 In Part IV a new Article 43B was inserted, which says: The state shall endeavour to
promote voluntary formation, autonomous functioning, democratic control and
professional management of the co-operative societies".
 After Part IXA of the constitution, a Part IXB was inserted to accommodate state vs
centre roles.
Salient features Part IXB:
 It makes Right to form cooperatives is a fundamental right.

 Reservation of one seat for SC/ST and two seats for women on the board of every co-
operative society.
 Cooperatives could set up agency which would oversee election.
 Uniformity in the tenure of Cooperative Board of Directors.
 Provisions for incorporation, regulation and winding up of co-operative societies based
on the principles of democratic process and specifying the maximum number of
directors as twenty-one.
 Providing for a fixed term of five years from the date of election in respect of the
elected members of the board and its office bearers
 Providing for a maximum time limit of six months during which a board of directors of
co-operative society could be kept under suspension
 Providing for independent professional audit
 Providing for right of information to the members of the co-operative societies
 Empowering the State Governments to obtain periodic reports of activities and
accounts of co-operative societies; which have individuals as members from such
categories
 Providing for offences relating to co-operative societies and penalties in respect of
such offences.
Implications
 The amendment of the Constitution to make it obligatory for the states to ensure
autonomy of cooperatives makes it binding for the state governments to facilitate
.
voluntary formation, independent decision-making and democratic control and

functioning of the cooperatives.
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 It also ensures holding regular elections under the supervision of autonomous

authorities, five-year term for functionaries and independent audit. Significantly, it
also mandates that in case the board is dissolved, the new one is constituted within six
months. Such a constitutional provision was urgently required as the woes of the
cooperative sector are far too many, long-lasting and deep-rooted to be addressed
under the present lax legal framework.
 However, it fails to establish what constitutional amendments can’t do in reviving
institutions and may be victim of rival political institutions at the state level as
happened in case of 73rd amendments. It is feared that state-level politicians will do
to this amendment on cooperatives what they did to the one on panchayats. Barring
exceptions in a few sectors and states, the cooperative sector, particularly cooperative
credit societies numbering over 120 million, has for a long time been in a shambles
with all kinds of vested interests using them as personal fiefdoms and ladders to
political power and means of personal aggrandisement.
Do you think introduction of Part IX B truly realizes the spirit behind the co-operatives? Why or
Why not? Justify.
Producer Companies
Economic liberalisation has opened up co-operatives to global competition. When most of the
Indian industries have been deregulated and de-licensed, it undoubtedly makes sense to put
co-operatives on the same level playing field. One of the reasons why cooperatives have not
been able to meet the needs of their members is because, by and large, they continue to be
governed by restrictive cooperative laws. These laws allow little or no freedom to them to
operate as autonomous business entities. The members of co-operatives in India, who are
largely rural, are at a potential disadvantage given their generally limited assets, resources,
education and access to advanced technology. In the present competitive scenario, if
cooperative enterprises are to serve rural producers, they require an alternative to the present
institutional form.
Keeping this in view, Government of India constituted a Committee consisting of experts led by
Dr. Y.K. Alagh, an eminent economist and former Union Minister, to examine and make
recommendations with regard to (a) framing a legislation which would enable incorporation of
cooperatives as companies and (b) ensuring that the proposed legislation accommodates the
unique elements of cooperative business within a regulatory framework similar to that of
companies. On the basis of recommendations of the Committee, a new Part IXA was inserted in
the Companies Act, 1956 through “The Companies (Amendment) Act, 2002”. The legislation
came into force from 6th February, 2003.
Co-operative Credit and Banking Institutions
Cooperative credit institutions came into existence as a mechanism for pooling of resources in
rural areas and for providing easy credit access to the rural people. But in course of time their
.
financial health has declined considerably. The primary reasons are (a) undue State interference
and politicisation, and (b) poor quality of management. At present, these institutions are facing
a host of problems such as - poor resource base, dependence on external funding, excessive
State intrusion, multiplicity of control, huge accumulated losses, low recovery, lack of business
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initiatives and regional disparity. Around half of the Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS),
a fourth of the intermediate tier, viz., the District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs), and under
a sixth of the State level apex institutions, viz., the State Cooperative Banks (SCBs) are loss-
making. In order to regain their health these institutions need (a) massive financial support and
(b) wide ranging legal and institutional reforms.
4.2 The Market

Towards the end of the 19th century the corporate community in India also began setting up
organisations dedicated to the welfare and development of the underprivileged. The J N Tata
Endowment Trust was established in our country in 1892, much before Rockfeller and Carnegie
set up their philanthropic foundations in the USA. A major contribution of this endowment was
the establishment of the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore. In the coming years, such
business philanthropy led to substantial action in the field of art, social work and education and
within a span of the next fifty years, a large number of Corporate Trusts and Societies came into
existence at major industrial and business centres of the country. The JJ School of Arts, Tata
Institute of Social Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Birla Institute of
Technology, Sri Ram College of Commerce and many more such institutions were set up in
metropolitan cities.
The system of corporate donation for philanthropic activities has a history in India. In earlier
times, merchants supported relief activities during the times of flood or famine. They built
temples, promoted schools, and encouraged artistic pursuits. In the pre-Independence era,
many big business houses set up Trusts and Foundations to support schools, colleges and
charitable hospitals. Later, some of the multinationals also joined in, as seen above.
An Action Aid study found that, on the corporate front, only 36% of the 647 companies
surveyed had some sort of policy (21% of these or 8% of the total companies had a written
policy) to get involved in social development activities. The companies which were involved in
developmental activities, primarily made cash contributions, followed by helping the
disadvantaged with employment opportunities. Other activities included donation of company
assets, donating staff time and purchasing materials produced by NGOs. Only 16% had some
kind of partnership with the NGOs, while 80% dealt directly with the beneficiary community.
Most of these partnerships existed in the urban areas. The partnerships were also not with
developmental NGOs, but were more often with institutions like Rotary and Lions Clubs.
However, in this age of global competition, corporates are beginning to realize the stake that it
has as a part of the society. There is a growing realization that they should contribute to social
activities globally with a desire to improve the immediate environment where they work and
many companies are taking keen interest in such activities. Also to a growing degree,
companies that pay genuine attention to the principles of socially responsible behaviors are
also favored by the public and preferred for their goods and services. This has given rise to the
concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
Social responsibility, which means a doctrine that claims that an entity whether it is state,
.
government, corporation, organization or individual has a responsibility to society. According to

Infosys founder, Narayan Murthy, ‘social responsibility is to create maximum shareholders value
working under the circumstances, where it is fair to all its stakeholders, workers, consumers,
the community, government and the environment’. Commission of the European Communities
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(2001) stated that being socially responsible means not only fulfilling legal expectations, but
also going beyond compliance and investing ‘more’ into human capital, the environment and
the relation with stakeholders.
The Notion of CSR
CSR, also sometimes referred to as corporate citizenship or corporate social and environmental
responsibility is a concept that states that organizations especially (but not only) commercial
business have a duty of care to all of their stakeholders in all aspects of their operation.
According to Commission of the European communities (2001), CSR is a concept whereby

companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in
their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis.
A widely quoted definition by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development(1999)
states “Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave
ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the
workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large”.
There are 3 emerging perspectives that inform corporate social responsibility:
Firstly, a business perspective that recognises the importance of 'reputation capital' for
capturing and sustaining markets. Seen thus, corporate social responsibility is basically a new
business strategy to reduce investment risks and maximise profits by taking all the key stake-
holders into confidence. The proponents of this perspective often include corporate social
responsibility in their advertising and social marketing initiatives.
The second is an eco-social perspective. The proponents of this perspective are the new
generation of corporations and the new-economy entrepreneurs who created a tremendous
amount of wealth in a relatively short span of time. They recognise the fact that social and
environmental stability and sustainability are two important prerequisites for the sustainability
of the market in the long run. They also recognise the fact that increasing poverty can lead to
social and political instability. Such socio-political instability can, in turn, be detrimental to
business, which operates from a variety of socio-political and cultural backgrounds.
Seen from the eco-social perspective, corporate social responsibility is both a value and a
strategy to ensuring the sustainability of business. It is a value because it stresses the fact that
business and markets are essentially aimed at the well-being of society. It is a strategy because
it helps to reduce social tensions and facilitate markets.
For the new generation of corporate leaders, optimisation of profits is the key, rather than the
maximisation of profit. Hence there is a shift from accountability to shareholders to
accountability to stakeholders (including employees, consumers and affected communities).
There is a growing realisation that long-term business success can only be achieved by
companies that recognise that the economy is an "open subsystem of the earth's ecosystem,
.
which is finite, non-growing and materially closed".
There is a third and growing perspective that shapes the new principles and practice of
corporate social responsibility – also referred to as Corporate Governance. This is a rights-based
perspective on corporate responsibility. This perspective stresses that consumers, employees,
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affected communities and shareholders have a right to know about corporations and their
business. Corporations are private initiatives, true, but increasingly they are becoming public
institutions whose survival depends on the consumers who buy their products and
shareholders who invest in their stocks. This perspective stresses accountability, transparency
and social and environmental investment as the key aspects of corporate social responsibility.
CSR in India
‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ may be defined as a corporate entity’s commitment to welfare

of society and community and its adherence to ethical values. The term may be relatively new
in the Indian lexicon but the concept is certainly not. Traditions of “trusteeship”, “giving” and
“welfare” have existed since long in our society. The concept of social good has always been
part of the Indian psyche. From the beginning of the 20th century, business and industry in India
have in different ways been paying attention to their obligation and commitment towards
society and the community. The large number of schools, colleges, hospitals and other
charitable establishments, which were set up in the 20th century in different parts of the
country, are fine examples of such social commitment.
In recent years, CSR has shifted from the domain of charity to the domain of standard business
practices. Together with ‘profit’ and ‘growth’, it is one of the essential parameters which define
a business. Stakeholder awareness, increasing power of civil society, intensity of competition
and environmental challenges are some of the factors which have increased the emphasis on
CSR in recent times.
Companies in India now explicitly recognize their social responsibility and many of them
allocate sizable resources to it. The TATAs, ITC and the Azim Premji Foundation are among major
corporate entities which have linked their business plans with ethical and social commitment.
The TATAs have fully dedicated Foundations / philanthropic establishments through which they
take up important issues of social / economic empowerment of the community and society as a
manifestation of their commitment towards citizens. Besides, their manufacturing units too
take up development work in the local areas. ITC has a dedicated social development team
which anchors all corporate social responsibility initiatives. Instead of having a separate
Foundation for taking up standalone philanthropic activities; ITC integrates it with its regular
business plans. It fulfils its social responsibility by forging public-private partnership as a
business link in the areas of social forestry, integrated watershed development, web
enablement of the tobacco farmers, e-choupal’s farm extension services and livestock
development. Another notable example is the Azim Premji Foundation started in the year 2001.
It is a non-profit organisation which works extensively on “enhancing the quality of primary
education being imparted in the government schools in the rural areas”. The Foundation firmly
believes that merely creating islands of excellence in few pockets is not of much consequence
and hence it aims at bringing multi-dimensional systemic changes in the whole environment of
primary education across the country. It has carried out a Learning Guarantee Programme (LPG)
in five States viz. Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand. It also
provides technology support to 16,017 primary schools located in 13 States of the country.
.
Under the new Companies Act, 2013, passed by Parliament in August 2013, profitable
companies must spend every year at least 2 per cent of their average net profit over the
preceding three years on CSR works. This mandatory CSR-spend rule will apply from fiscal 2014-
15 onwards. Those companies that have a turnover of Rs. 1,000 crore or more or net worth of
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Rs. 500 crore or more or net profit of Rs. 5 crore or more will have to comply. The CSR activities
will have to be within India, and the new rules will also apply to foreign companies registered
here.
While the Ministry for Corporate Affairs has prescribed in the new law the quantum of spending
companies must undertake on CSR, it may not distinguish between charity, religious donations
and sustainable philanthropy models for the purpose of delineating what mandatory CSR
spending is. However, funds given to political parties and the money spent for the benefit of the
company's own employees (and their families) will not count as CSR. A company can also carry
out CSR works through a registered trust or society or a separate company
USOF
Apart from the higher capital cost of providing telecom services in rural and remote areas,
these areas also generate lower revenue due to lower population density, low income and lack
of commercial activity. Thus normal market forces alone would not direct the telecom sector to
adequately serve backward and rural areas. Keeping in mind the inadequacy of the market
mechanism to serve rural and inaccessible areas on one hand and the importance of providing
vital telecom connectivity on the other, most countries of the world have put in place policies to
provide Universal Access and Universal Service to ICT.
The New Telecom Policy - 1999 (NTP’99) provided that the resources for meeting the Universal
Service Obligation (USO) would be raised through a ‘Universal Access Levy (UAL)’, which would
be a percentage of the revenue earned by the operators under various licenses. The Universal
Service Support Policy came into effect from 01.04.2002. The Indian Telegraph (Amendment)
Act, 2003 giving statutory status to the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) was passed by
both Houses of Parliament in December 2003. The Rules for administration of the Fund known
as Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Rules, 2004 were notified on 26.03.2004. As per the Indian
Telegraph Act 1885 (as amended in 2003, 2006 and 2008), the Fund is to be utilized exclusively
for meeting the Universal Service Obligation. As per the Indian Telegraph Act 1885 (as amended
in 2003 and 2006) Universal Service Obligation is defined as access to telegraph service to
people in rural and remote areas at affordable and reasonable prices.
4.3 The Civil Society

How do we first of all define Civil Society?
The term ‘Civil Society’ refers to a wide array of non-governmental and not-for-profit
organizations that have a presence in public life, expressing the values and interests of their
members or others, based on ethical, cultural, political, scientific, religious or philanthropic
considerations. It is also often referred to as the ‘Third Sector’ of the society, distinct from
government and business.
Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) therefore refer to a wide array of organizations: community
groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), labour unions, indigenous groups, charitable
.
organizations, faith-based organizations, professional associations and foundations.

Volunteering is often considered a defining characteristic of the organizations that constitute
civil society.
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It needs to be understood that the civil society sector has emerged in quite a variety with
respect to its nature and composition. For this reason, definitions of civil society vary
considerably based on differing conceptual paradigms, historic origins and country context.
Also, there has been a dramatic expansion in the size, scope and capacity of civil society around
the globe over the past decade, aided by the process of globalization and the expansion of
democratic governance, telecommunications and economic integration.
The third sector / civil society organisations promote cooperation between two or more
individuals through mutual cohesion, common approach and networking. Democracies
inherently encourage such cooperative behaviour. The Indian Constitution too explicitly
recognizes “right to freedom of speech and expression and to form associations or unions” as
one of the core rights of its citizens under Article 19(1) and hence encourages formation of civil
society groups and community organisations.
In the current model of economic growth, the voluntary/ civil society sector has been
recognized as a key player in achieving equitable, sustainable and inclusive development goals.
Both the State as well as the market-led models of development has been found to be
inadequate and there is an increasing realisation that active involvement of the voluntary
sector is needed in the process of nation building. They are now viewed as partners in progress.
Civil society organisations function outside the conventional space of both State and Market,
but they have the potential to negotiate, persuade and pressurise both these institutions to
make them more responsive to the needs and rights of the citizens.
Amongst such a variety, how do we classify the Civil Society or the Voluntary Sector?
Based on the law under which the CSOs operate and the kind of activities they take up, civil
society groups in our country can be classified into following broad categories (as given in 2nd
ARC):-
a. Registered Societies formed for specific purposes

b. Charitable Organisations and Trusts
c. Local Stakeholders Groups, Microcredit and Thrift Enterprises, SHGs
d. Professional Self-Regulatory Bodies
e. Cooperatives
f. Bodies without having any formal organisational structure
g. Government promoted Third Sector Organisations
However, a broader classification including all non-government and not-for-profit organizations

can be:
 Civil rights advocacy organizations: to promote human rights of specific social groups
e.g. women, migrants, disabled, HIV, sex workers, Dalit people, tribal people, and the
likes.
civil liberties and Civil liberties advocacy organizations:
.
human rights of all citizens, rather than focusing on particular social group.
 Community based organizations, citizen’s groups, farmers’ cooperatives: to increase
citizen’s participation on public policy issues so as to improve the quality of life in a
particular community.
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 Business and industry chambers of commerce: to promotion policies and practices on

business.
 Labour unions: to promote the rights of employees and workers.
 International peace and human rights organizations: to promote peace and human
rights.
 Media, communication organization: to produce, disseminate, or provide production
facilities in one or more media forms; it includes television, printing and radio.
 National resources conservation and protection organizations: to promote
conservation of natural resources, including land, water, energy, wildlife and plant
resources, for public use.
 Private and public foundations: to promote development through grant- making and
partnership.
 Also the Civil society includes - Political Parties; Religious Organizations; Housing
cooperatives, slum dwellers and resident welfare associations.
What is the scope and extent of the spread of the Voluntary Sector in India?
Since voluntary sector organisations in India do not have any apex organisation (a Federation or
a Union) for collection and dissemination of information, it is quite difficult to assess the scale
of their operations in terms of their number or the range of their activities. There are more
than two million such organisations registered under the Societies / Trusts Acts in the country.
This includes a wide diversity of local youth clubs, mahila mandals, private schools, old age
homes and hospitals. How many of these are actually functional is hard to estimate. In recent
years, even government organisations like DRDA and District Health Society have been
registered as Societies. From the data maintained by the Central Social Welfare Board (CSWB),
KVIC, CAPART and Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, it appears that they have been
funding an estimated 10,000 different voluntary organisations in the country. A government
survey in 1994 (Economic Census, 1994), estimated that sixty per cent of these organisations
were concentrated in the four States of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Uttar
Pradesh.
It is equally difficult to estimate the quantum of resources being used by this sector. As on
31.3.2006, 32,144 Associations were registered under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation)
Act, 1976, out of which, 18,570 organisations reported receipt of foreign contribution
amounting to Rs. 7,877.57 crores during the year 2005-06 (source: Annual Report 2005-06,
Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India). Different Ministries and Departments of the
Union and State Governments have floated a vast number of schemes which fund voluntary
work (Report of the Steering Committee on Voluntary Sector for the 10th Five Year Plan
prepared by the Planning Commission, in January 2002).
The non-governmental sector receives a large sum from these government departments and
agencies including large development projects funded by bilateral and multilateral agencies –
(estimated to be Rs. 7,000 crores in the year 2000
a has had a long
sector receivestradition of volunteering and
.
substantially from this source also. A survey by PRIA in 2001-02 on philanthropy indicated that
the total annual outlay of this vast and diverse civil society sector in India could add up to more
than Rs.20,000 crores per year.
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Such a vast network of socio-economic institutions has the potential to play an important
role in many key governmental policy objectives:
 It can help to scale up productivity and competitiveness.

 It can contribute to inclusive wealth creation.
 Enhance the people centricity of the government.
So, what are the various roles and activities taken up by the Voluntary Sector?
The civil society engagement is often based on the concept of ‘Social Capital’. It is based on the
core idea that ‘Social Networks have Value.’ It refers to those institutions, relationships, and
norms that shape the quality and quantity of a society’s interaction. It consists of trust, mutual
understanding, shared values and behaviour that bind together the members of a community
and make cooperative action possible. The basic premise is that such interaction enables
people to build communities, to commit themselves to each other, and to knit the social fabric.
A sense of belonging and the concrete experience of social networking (and the relationships of
trust and tolerance that evolve) can bring great benefits to people. This in turn has a
‘democratising’ worth and democracy – strengthening value. Apart from this, it has positive
contributions to ‘good governance.’
To illustrate, in a comparative study of religious-communal conflicts in Aligarh and Calicut,

Hyderabad and Lucknow, and the role of Civil Society and the State in containing them,
Ashutosh Varshney finds convincing evidence for his hypothesis that exogenous shocks,
tensions, and rumours lead to serious ethnic violence in cities where civic engagement is largely
limited to intra-ethnic relations, whereas cities in which inter-ethnic civic engagements exist,
ethnic peace is more easily maintained or restored.
Thus, at the outset it may seem that frequent communal riots and caste and tribal conflicts are
indicators of weakness or breakdown of civil society. The primary as well as ultimate rationale
for the state is its duty to protect the life, liberty, and property of its citizens from internal
disorder or external aggression. Political liberalism also enjoins on the state the responsibility
for social securities and creating conditions for the realization of the potentialities individuals
and states are capable of. However, no state can succeed in these onerous tasks without an
active cooperation of the Civil Society, as mentioned in the last statement of the above
paragraph.
Now, let us explore some of the roles and activities taken up by the CSOs/VOs.
Agents of rapid change and social transformation- Through their work among the most
backward and marginalized communities, in regions with poor accessibility or with depleting
physical and financial resources, VOs create knowledge hubs using ecologically, culturally and
socially sensitive methodologies that are aimed at holistic development of communities.
Simultaneously, the sector ensures equality in representation, access and control in all forms
of social, political and economic relationships and through this maintains the social fabric
of the itnation, rekindling the notion of self
of society and making
.
more just and egalitarian.
The civil society groups often successfully mobilise citizens to put pressure on governments to
achieve various social goals such as changing forest development policy, transferring erring
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officials, providing housing and medical aid to the poor and slum dwellers and so on. These are
examples of a more activist role of civil society, in which civic actors back up information and
dissemination activities with mobilisation and public advocacy work – Social Change through
Social Activism.
Expertise and promotion of thematic domains- The various thematic domains that VOs work
in include art, culture, sports, spiritual enlightenment, environment and wildlife
conservation, gender equity, innovations in education, science and technology, access to
justice, peace building, conflict resolution, rural development, among various others with
awareness of and experience in regional, cultural, community and identity specific
variations. Eclectic nodal institutions help promote cross fertilization of thematic issues and in
the process empower the poorest and the most disadvantaged to make self-informed choices.
Enabling inclusion of the marginalized by translating people’s aspirations into policy – public
policy and decision-making- With a vast knowledge of grassroots complexities and sensitivity
to socio-cultural contexts, VOs have the expertise to ensure improved interface between
the state, market and people. VOs also enable information and feedback to flow from Gram
Sabhas/ people/ communities/ identity based groups/ individuals to district and centrally
situated planners, thus outlining the different needs and specificities of each category.
Simultaneously, they build capacities of people, people’s organizations, implementing
agencies, planning bodies and private players to help encourage participation of and self-
initiated outreach efforts by marginalized groups. Such structured information flows also
enhance participatory governance. VOs can thus be viewed as supporting agents in the
development of a flourishing grassroots democracy.
Scaling-up grassroots innovations- VOs also contribute to policy by enabling the scaling-up
of grassroots level innovations in rural development and urban poverty management.
Contributions to the creation of local health human resources, self-help groups for women’s
empowerment, preservation of water resources and livelihood generation are particularly
noteworthy.
Promoting Transparency and Information- The activities include discovery, publication and
dissemination of information about issues on legislation, legal provisions, public expenditure
allocations, the implementation of policy and programmes and special enquiries.
Supplementing Government Effort- CSOs contribute by working directly with government in

shaping, financing and delivering public services in a variety of ways. CSOs work closely with
state institutions in designing and providing health and educational services, by mobilising
funds from among client groups and other sources, by providing sources directly and by
monitoring quality and coverage.
Working for Social Justice: In basically 2 roles – either as an Advocate – in pressing for the
implementation of existing laws, plus fresh legislative initiatives and institutional reforms to
improve the functioning and accountability of state policing and security organs. Or otherwise
as a Protector – in sheltering individuals threatened by repressive states, defending their rights
.
through
ervices to a group of the official legal process, for example by providing para
citizens who do not have ready access to the courts (such as Association for Protection of
Democratic Rights).
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4A.0 Are the roles taken up by the CSO’s in isolation, or do they collaborate
with those of the State and of the Market?
Often Voluntary Organizations are at variance with the public and the private sectors. While
differences in opinion are important, it is equally important to preserve, protect and nurture
the space that allows dialogue between conflicting ideologies. Voluntary Organisations also
play multiple roles such as provision of innovative services, research, community development
and outreach. Through these roles, VOs aim at nurturing the multiple strengths of Government
and market agencies through institutional alliances.
It may be added that while expected roles of the three players are well understood, each has
been observed to have contributed to the domain of the other.
4A.1 VO and State
The State recognizes the need for an enabling environment for the development of the
Voluntary sector. This intent can be seen in the various policies and plans as set by the Indian
State.
 National Policy on the Voluntary Sector, 2007:
It recognizes the contribution of the voluntary sector and the need for Government-
Voluntary Sector partnership and that project grants are a useful means for both the
Government to promote its activities without its direct involvement and a valuable
source of support to small and medium Voluntary Organizations. It highlights the need
for Government to encourage all Central and State Government agencies to introduce
pre-service and in-service training modules on constructive relations with
voluntary organizations.
It recognizes the difficulties faced by the voluntary sector in accessing government

schemes and suggests ways to tackle this.
The main objective of the National Policy on the Voluntary Sector is to identify systems
by which the Government may work together with the Voluntary Organizations on the
basis of the principles of mutual trust, respect and shared responsibility. It also
recognizes the importance of independence of voluntary organizations, which allows
them to explore alternative models of development.
The National Policy on the Voluntary Sector is just the beginning of the process to
evolve a new working relationship between the government and the voluntary sector
without affecting its autonomy and identity. There are many areas in which help of the
voluntary sector is sought- for social audits, behavioural change, good governance and
increasingly even for better service delivery.
 Special Mention – Involving State Governments

.
The current system of voluntary sector is working without any policy initiative in the
states. Development initiatives carried out through voluntary sector in different
parts of the country are either sanctioned directly by the department and ministries
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of the Central Government or are part of projects that are funded by national and
international agencies via state governments. There is an urgent need for state
voluntary sector policies on the lines of the national policy on the voluntary sector to
enable and empower an independent, creative and effective voluntary sector in each
state which can contribute to the social, cultural and economic advancement of the
people of the state.
This is also necessary to protect the quality of VO’s work, keep the sector vibrant
enough to meet any developmental and social challenges and increase institutional
linkages between the sector and state governments. Existence of a policy instrument in
each state will be the first step to institutionalize engagement as also mobilize
desired fiscal and administrative reforms to strengthen the growth of Voluntary sector.
Further, it is important that state specific policy, laws, rules and regulations relating to
VOs categorically safeguard their autonomy as well as accountability. Among other
media, interactions should also be facilitated through the creation of a national web
portal that may be accessed by state departments to gather information on VOs for
assessment and other purposes.
This was also a recommendation of the National Policy on the Voluntary Sector and
should be realized within the period of the Twelfth Five Year Plan.
 Policy intent for the Voluntary Sector in the Twelfth Five Year Plan
The Steering Committee on Voluntary Action has envisaged that at the end of the
Twelfth Five Year Plan, the nation should have a more:
I. Coordinated system of dialogue between the state and the Voluntary Sector
on the central issues of poverty eradication, protection of the most
marginalized and vulnerable communities (including minorities, Nomadic Tribes
Transgender groups, differently-abled persons, Primitive Tribal Groups,
Internally Displaced Persons) through access to justice, conflict resolution,
sustainable development, gender equity, rural transformation, heritage and
culture promotion, financial inclusion and capacity building/talent
management of India’s human resource, particularly the youth.
II. Stable, growing, eclectic and better managed Voluntary Sector with greater
transparency and accountability; enabled by laws, institutional structures
and frameworks that can provide support even in a non-homogenous
environment.
III. A Better skilled and equipped body of Voluntary Sector professionals which is
empowered to work towards a more inclusive, equitable and harmonious social
order.
IV. Empowered Voluntary Sector that plays the important role of animating and
establishing among others a robust and participatory Panchayati Raj
.
System of self-governance and encourages youth, both men and women to

give some of their time to nation building as part of their own self
development.
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V. Institutionalized legal measures that are uniformly applicable across states

to ensure protection of all voluntary actors against any form of political,
social or economic harassment by either the state or market forces.
Alongside, the Civil Society has also led to institutionalization of certain important
legislations through its advocacy and force.
 MKSS and RTI movement
For the past few years though, the discourse on People’s Right to Information has
become particularly energetic in India thanks to the ordinary village folk of central
Rajasthan, who in their quest for better governance seek to reclaim development
carried out in their name, but often hijacked midway.
Since mid-1990s, the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), an organisation of

peasants and rural labourers, have tried to make various levels of the government, from
the Gram Panchayat right up to the Centre, to sit up and take notice of this persistent
voice of the ordinary village people in central Rajasthan. This voice endows a fresh
perspective to the discourse on the Right to Information not just in India but beyond
national confines by trying to present a model of accountable and transparent
governance that would be meaningful to ordinary citizens in all democracies.
When workers on government employment works in villages of central Rajasthan found

they were not being paid the standard minimum wage and that despite increased
spending rural infrastructure was non-existent or sub-standard, they decided to
demand copies of the accounts of money spent in their name either as payment of
wages or on infrastructure. This was the beginning of what is generally known as the
MKSS movement for the people’s Right to Information in the mid-1990s. Under the
slogan ‘Hamara Paisa, Hamara Hisab’ the MKSS launched with the peasants and rural
workers of central Rajasthan a movement that has had a direct impact on the lethargic
and corrupt functioning that plagues the development machinery of our country. The
struggle that began for copies of bills, vouchers and muster rolls of development works
won a state law, even though not ideal, on the Right to Information. It has also
expanded into a nationwide demand for a comprehensive law covering all spheres of
democratic functioning.
Of greatest significance in this struggle has been the growing understanding even
among the non-literate people that this right is critical to their other livelihood
entitlements. The struggle has illustrated that the Right to Information is not only a
component of our Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression but is also a part of our
fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution – the Right to Life and Liberty.
The villagers of central Rajasthan have understood, and have made a large section of
enlightened opinion in the country understand, that access to records of development
work in villages would help in obtaining the minimum wage, the entitlement under the
ration quota and the medicines the poor should receive in public health centres. It
.
would also help in preventing abuse by the police, and even in preventing delay and
subterfuge in implementation of other livelihood entitlements.
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It is this perspective that led to the issue becoming a part of the mainstream political
debate in Rajasthan, and led to the passage first of Right to Information provisions in
the State Panchayati Raj Act and then of a State Right to Information Act. It is another
story though that the Rajasthan RTI Act falls well short of the expectations of the
people on several counts. And even this pales before the more dramatic lessons when it
comes to the implementation of the Right to Information provisions in Rajasthan. It is
clear to those who have tried to use the legal entitlement that bureaucratic opposition
to it is strong and entrenched. Unless there is a very strong enactment leaving no
loopholes, it will become just another provision adorning the statute but of little value
to the citizens.
4A.2 VO and Market
Many evolved, multi-national Indian companies are increasingly participating in allocating

both financial and human resource support to VOs over and above self-managed
initiatives (corporate social responsibility, CSR). However, this emerging trend has highlighted
the need for greater demonstrated seriousness in participation and commitment. What is
required perhaps is a streamlining initiative to bring greater accountability and transparency in
the functioning of CSR endeavours and Corporate- VO partnerships. In addition, corporations,
either directly or through their CSR wings should extend support to Voluntary Organizations
only through a common, regulated system with an independent board of directors.
Corporations can thus direct funds to thematic areas of their interest and there by engage
with communities in regions where they are located and do so in an accountable and
transparent manner.
Besides leading more efficient CSR initiatives and Corporate-VO partnerships, there remain
other, more important unmet commitments of the corporate sector. Affirmative action is one
strategy that can be exercised to ensure equity, reduce ethnic and social conflict and make
private/public spaces more sensitive to diversity and social justice. This initiative of the
corporate sector should be nurtured and encouraged; else the commitments envisaged from
the corporate sector to employ people from disadvantaged communities, including SCs, STs and
religious minorities will remain unfulfilled. In view of this, it may be useful to begin a debate
around the importance of introducing legislative measures that bind corporate entities
into giving a set number of employment opportunities to members of vulnerable
communities. Another role where the corporate sector needs to come forward and collaborate
with the voluntary sector is in reducing and working on conflict transformation strategies in
conflict prone areas. As conflict transformation interventionists, the companies should respond
to what the context demands, i.e. Support rehabilitation; engage in employment generation,
value creation, etc.
In the arena of Public Private Partnerships, there exist extremely well-thought through
guidelines evolved for the corporate sector as part of their business strategies giving them
access to credits and projects reserved especially for the public sector. The same set of
guidelines and the mechanism to implement and / or provide quality capacity building,
research, monitoring and evaluation services in development related projects could also
.
become a starting point for finding common spaces between civil society, market-based
institutions and state bodies.
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4A.3 State + Market + Civil Society

The Bharat Rural Livelihood Foundation (BRLF) is being set up as an independent charitable
society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 to facilitate and upscale civil society action in
partnership with Government for transforming livelihoods and lives of rural households, with an
emphasis on women, particularly in the Central Indian Tribal Region.
It will provide financial grants to Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to meet their human
resource and institutional costs for up-scaling of proven interventions; invest in institutional
strengthening of smaller CSOs and capacity building of professional resources working at the
grassroots.
Projects supported by BRLF would be able to reach 10 lakh poor families by the end of the fifth
year. BRLF would also have supported the capacity building of 1,000 CSO professionals and
institutional strengthening of a significant number of smaller CSOs within the above time frame.
Even though BRLF will have an India wide mandate, the initial focus of the organization will be
on the Central Indian Tribal Region, centered on blocks having significant tribal population
across 170 districts in the States of Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Madhya
Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Rs 500 crore will be released for creating the corpus fund of the new Society, in two tranches.
The society will be constituted as a partnership between Government on the one hand and
private sector philanthropies, private and public sector undertakings (under Corporate Social
Responsibility) on the other hand.
.

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VISIONIAS ™
www.visionias.in
DEVELOPMENT PROCESS AND THE DEVELOPMENT INDUSTRY – ROLE OF

NGO’s, SHG’s. VARIOUS GROUPS AND ASSOCIATIONS, DONORS, CHARITIES
AND OTHER INSTITUTIONAL STAKEHOLDERS
.


Student Notes:
Contents
5.0 NGO .......................................................................................................................................... 3
5.1 Definition.............................................................................................................................. 3
5.2 Evolution .............................................................................................................................. 3
5.3 Benefits ................................................................................................................................ 4
5.4 Examples .............................................................................................................................. 6
5.4.1 Collaboration in Health sector- Rogi Kalyan Samitis ..................................................... 6
5.4.2 Collaboration in Education-MV foundation & Pratham ................................................ 6
5.4.3 Collaboration w.r.t governance-PRIA............................................................................. 7
5.5 Issues and Challenges .......................................................................................................... 7
5.6 Suggestions .......................................................................................................................... 9
5.7 Summing Up ......................................................................................................................... 9
6.0 SHG – Self Help Group........................................................................................................ 10
6.1 Definition............................................................................................................................ 10
6.2 Evolution ............................................................................................................................ 10
6.2.1 Community Networks (Self-Help / Joint Liability Groups) – the Beginning ................ 10
6.2.2 SHG Development since 1992 and NABARD ............................................................... 11
6.2.3 Other Agencies involved in the SHG movement ......................................................... 11
6.2.4 Private Initiatives ......................................................................................................... 12
6.3 Examples ........................................................................................................................ 13
6.4 Benefits .............................................................................................................................. 14
6.4.1 Impact of SHG on Rural Life ........................................................................................ 15
6.5 Weaknesses
................................... 16 of the SHG Movement
.
6.6 Issues, Threats and Challenges .......................................................................................... 16
6.7 With an eye on the future, let us explore Corporate-SHG linkages for rural markets: ...... 18
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7.0 Societies, Trusts, Donors, Charities and Other Stakeholders ................................................. 19
8.0 Self-Regulatory Authorities .................................................................................................... 23
8.1 Definition............................................................................................................................ 23
8.2 Trust between Professionals and Citizens .......................................................................... 24
8.3 Issues related to role and management of Self-Regulating Authorities ............................ 24
9.0 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 25

.
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DEVELOPMENT PROCESS AND THE DEVELOPMENT INDUSTRY –ROLE OF

NGO’s, SHG’s. VARIOUS GROUPS AND ASSOSICATIONS, DONORS,
CHARITIES AND OTHER INSTITUTIONAL STAKEHOLDERS – 2
5.0 NGO
5.1 Definition
According to the World Bank, “a Non-governmental Organization (NGO) is a private organization
that pursues activities to relieve suffering, promote the interests of the poor, protect the
environment, provide basic social services, or undertake community development”. In other
words, NGOs are legally constituted organizations, operate independently from the government
and are generally considered to be “non-state, non-profit oriented groups who pursue purposes
of public interest”. The primary objective of NGOs is to provide social justice, development and
human rights.
NGOs are generally funded totally or partly by governments and they maintain their non-
governmental status by excluding government representatives from membership in the
organization.
In a democratic society, it is the state that has the ultimate responsibility for ushering
development to its citizens. In India, through the progressive interpretation of the Constitution
and its laws and policies, the scope of development has been significantly broadened to include
not just economic progress for citizens, but also promotion of social justice, gender equity,
inclusion, citizen’s awareness, empowerment and improved quality of life. To achieve this
holistic vision of development, the state requires the constructive and collaborative
engagement of the civil society in its various developmental activities and programs. Non-
governmental organisations (NGOs) as the operational arm of the civil society therefore have an
important role in the development processes.
5.2 Evolution
In India the state policies have significantly influenced the formation of NGOs and their
activities. The government sponsored and aided programmes provided financial assistance to
NGOs either as grants or as matching grants to support the implementation of social
development projects. The need for the involvement of voluntary organisations has been
acknowledged by a number of official committees dealing with development.
Balwant Rai Mehta Committee, 1957: Today in the implementation of the various schemes of
community development, more and more emphasis is laid on NGOs and workers and on the
principle that ultimately people’s own local organisations should take over the entire work
.
ons can be veryRural-Urban

helpful Relationship Committee, 1
in mobilizing popular support and assistance of the people in the activities of local body.
It is possible to maintain constant and close contact with the people through these
organisations
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Ashok Mehta Committee: Of the several voluntary organisations engaged in rural welfare, a
few have helped the PRIs in preparation of area development plans, conduct feasibility
studies and cost/benefit analysis, explore ways and means to induce local participation in
planning and implementation.
In the Sixth Five Year Plan (1980-1985), the government identified new areas in which NGOs as
new actors could participate in development
The Seventh Five Year Plan (1985- 1990), envisioned a more active role for NGOs as primary
actors in the efforts towards self-reliant communities. This was in tune with the participatory
and empowerment ideologies, which was gaining currency in the developmental discourse at
that time
Government support and encouragement for NGOs continued in the Eighth Five- year
plan, where a nation-wide network of NGOs was sought to be created
The Ninth Five-year plan proposed that NGOs should play a role in development on the public-
private partnership model. Also, the agricultural development policies of the government and
its implementation mechanisms provided scope and space for NGOs. A case in point is the
watershed development program, which has led to the growth of NGOs working for rural
development
In March 2000, the Government declared Planning Commission as the nodal agency for GO-
NGO interface. The message was clear- government has to and will work with the voluntary
sector. A ‘Civil Society Window’ was started in 2004, in the hope that it would enable people to
engage with the Planning Commission and offer the benefit of their field experiences
During the 11th Five Year Plan process a regional consultation was organised to get civil society
feedback. Participation of Civil Society (CS) had thus already become a strong and robust
element in the preparation of the Plan Consultations with citizens on the
Approach Paper to the 12th Plan began on many platforms, including the internet. Members of
Planning Commission travelled across the country attending Public meetings called by CS
around various sectoral issues to gather inputs for the 12 Five Year Plan.
5.3 Benefits
India has a long history of civil society based on the concepts of “daana” means giving
and “seva” means service. Voluntary organizations were active in cultural promotion,
education, health, and natural disaster relief as early as the medieval period. During the second
half of the 19thcentury, nationalist consciousness spread across India and self-help emerged as
the primary focus of socio-political movements. The early examples of such attempts are
Friend-in Need Society (1858), Prathana Samaj (1864), Satya Shodhan Samaj (1873), Arya Samaj
(1875), the National Council for Women in India (1875), the Indian National Conference (1887)
etc. of
m the legal status The Society’s Registration Act (SRA)
the
.
growing body of non-governmental organizations.
In India, it was the 1970s which saw rapid growth in the formation of formally registered
NGOs and the process continues to this day. Most NGOs have created their respective
thematic, social group and geographical priorities such as poverty alleviation, community
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health, education, housing, human rights, child rights, women’s rights, natural resource
management, water and sanitation; and to these ends they put to practice a wide range of
strategies and approaches. Primarily, their focus has been on the search for alternatives to
development thinking and practice; achieved through participatory research, community
capacity building and creation of demonstrable models. When we review some of the work
done by NGOs over the past 3 decades, we find that they have contributed greatly to nation
building.
Many NGOs have worked hard to include children with disability in schools, end caste-
based stigma and discrimination, prevent child labour and promote gender equality resulting
in women receiving equal wages for the same work compared to men. During natural
calamities they have played an active role in relief and rehabilitation efforts, in particular,
providing psycho-social care and support to the disaster affected children, women and men.
NGOs have been instrumental in the formation and capacity building of farmers and producers’
cooperatives and women’s self- help groups. Several NGOs have worked hand in hand with the
Government to ensure that millions of out of school children are enrolled and continue their
school education, thus making the right to education a reality.
The leprosy eradication programme was spearheaded by NGOs and today only residual leprosy
remains in our country. NGOs have implemented the Jeevan Dhara programme for creation of
wells for safe drinking water; promoted community toilets for total sanitation, and supported
the public health programs on immunisation and for eliminating tuberculosis and malaria. The
much celebrated NREGA, ICDS, ICPS, Nirmal Gram and Swasthya Bima of the government have
their roots in the work of many NGOs.
NGOs have significantly influenced the development of laws and policies on several important
social and developmental issues such as the right to information, juvenile justice, ending
corporal punishment in schools, anti-trafficking, forests and environment, wildlife conservation,
women, elderly people, people with disability, rehabilitation and resettlement of development
induced displaced people to name a few. Further, NGOs made their modest attempts to ensure
the effective implementation of these laws and policies by conducting and disseminating
findings from participatory research, budget analysis, public hearings, social audits, workshops,
seminars and conferences.
Summing up, it is now well established that NGOs have an important role to play in the
development processes and that both the state and market need the collaboration of credible,
active, and accountable NGOs. Given their connect with the grassroots realities, NGOs can and
should play the “game changer” to pro-poor development through leadership on
participatory research, community empowerment and search for development alternatives.
With the increasing role of the NGOs in development activities they are now attracting
professionals from various other sectors, and capacities are being built in support areas such
as financial management, resource mobilization, human resources, leadership development,
governance procedures and practices a
.
At another level NGOs have been addressing the social service issues and empowerment
related advocacy efforts have been increasing. The study conducted by a New Delhi based NGO
concluded that every fifth NGO in India works on the issues of community and social service.
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Student Notes:
The favourable disposition of the governments and the political will to involve NGOs is more
pronounced in implementation of the welfare schemes addressing causes of women and
children.
Further, the industrial policies have influenced the formation and relations between the
businesses and NGOs. The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), a leading organisation,
has been raising the issues of corporate social responsibility. The emphasis of industrial
policies on the promotion and development of small, cottage and village industries has also
lead to the formation of agencies such as the Khadi and Village Industries Commission,
Small Industries Associations and likes.
5.4 Examples
5.4.1 Collaboration in Health sector- Rogi Kalyan Samitis
Rogi Kalyan Samiti (Patient Welfare Committee) / Hospital Management Society is a simple yet
effective management structure. This committee, which would be a registered society, acts as a
group of trustees for the hospitals to manage the affairs of the hospital. It consists of members
from local Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), NGOs, local elected representatives and officials
from Government sector who are responsible for proper functioning and management of the
hospital / Community Health Centre / FRUs.
RKS / HMS is free to prescribe, generate and use the funds with it as per its best judgement for
smooth functioning and maintaining the quality of services. The concept was started in 1996 in
Madhya Pradesh, after which the model was institutionalized throughout the state. Its mandate
is to
 manage hospitals
 power to mobilize additional finances & apply them to local needs.
 improve other hospital services
Its working has led to Considerable impact on health reforms and effective management of the
hospitals.
5.4.2 Collaboration in Education-MV foundation & Pratham
The MV Foundation (MVF), a private, charitable Trust in Andhra Pradesh, has developed a
model that uses education as a means of tackling child labour. MVF’s uncompromising agenda is
that every child out of school is a working child, and ensuring access to education is the only
real answer to tackling the problem of working children. The main thrust of MVF’s work has
been to bring bonded child labourers and working children into the ambit of school education.
Starting its work in 1991 in 3 villages in Ranga Reddy district of Andhra Pradesh, MVF has
withdrawn 80000 children from work and has enrolled them into schools.
4000 bonded child labourers have been liberated and put into schools. The age group of
children varies from the very young to adolescents. MVF now operates in nearly 500 villages in
.
which 90% of all children in the 5-11 age group are in schools. The organization has made a
significant dent in the schooling of the difficult age group of 9-14 years. 5000 adolescent
children (including 2000 adolescent working girls) have been enrolled through camps and
bridge courses into formal schools. 157 villages have been declared child labour free.
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MVF uses a set of strategies and systematic efforts to put working children into the school
system. It runs short and long-term residential camps, which help the children to go through
the difficult process of withdrawing from work and preparing for school. Parents are also
oriented to adjust to the schooling of their children. While young children are encouraged to
join school directly, the older ones, mostly first-generation learners, are conditioned to the
process of schooling in long-term camps.
MVF’s work has created the climate for taking up schooling as an inalienable child right, with
responsibilities attached to both the Government and the parents. Although poverty is a major
limiting factor in the schooling of the deprived, the approach used by MVF has demonstrated
that it is indeed possible to ensure schooling of the poorest and that too without financial
incentives to parents.
5.4.3 Collaboration w.r.t governance-PRIA
Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) is an international centre for learning and promotion of
citizen participation and democratic governance. PRIA has promoted ‘governance where people
matter’ to ensure that citizens and their collectives can access and claim their rights through
engaging with governance institutions and processes.
It has worked on the demand side of development by facilitating active citizenship and
empowering civil society. It has also worked on the supply side by reforming institutions and
their governance so that the entitlements of citizens are realised. Following work was
undertaken by PRIA w.r.t. India.
First, community groups and local community leaders were brought to participate in PEVAC
(Pre-Election Voters’ Awareness Campaigns) in 16 states of the country during the previous two
rounds of elections in 2000-02 and 2004-06.These campaigns were aimed at
 making citizens aware of their rights to elect their leaders in panchayats and
municipalities;
 Enabling ‘good’ candidates from the marginalized sections—women, minorities,
scheduled caste, scheduled tribe-to file their nominations;
Secondly, they focused on building the capacities of elected representatives to be able to

perform their new public roles effectively and accountably. Further, PRIA focused its attention
on enabling citizens to continue to interact with, and demand accountability from, elected
representatives through regular campaigns of mobilizations of Gram Sabha.
5.5 Issues and Challenges

In view of the emergence of a new paradigm of scaling up, in which NGOs are seen as catalysts
of policy innovations and social capital; as creators of programmatic knowledge that can be
spun off and integrated into government and market institutions; and as builders of vibrant and
Os in the process of civil societies, it’s imperative to critically analys
diverse
.
development and understanding the challenges facing the sector.
Transparency and accountability are key ingredients of Governance in the NGO Sector as these
determine operational efficiencies and risk mitigation. Over the years, corporate sector has
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Student Notes:
been able to recognize and implement best governance practices through appropriate
institutional framework. However, the NGO sector is yet to evolve any institutionalized
framework, which could potentially play an important role in overall development of the
nation.
NGOs play an increasingly active role in today’s political and social arenas. Civil society
organizations are increasing in number all over India. Of late, some of the local and national
NGOs have been found involved in malpractices and acting irresponsibly, thus undermining the
credibility of civil society. It’s a huge concern and poses a great challenge to the development
movement spearheaded by NGOs in the country.
There is a huge flow of funds into the non-government organization sector and this
requires prudence and good practices to maintain accountability and transparency to the
benefit of all stakeholders. Although NGOs do internal auditing but for maintaining enhanced
accountability and transparency, it is advisable to go through external auditing, especially
where public funds are involved. Hence, issues of internal control mechanisms,
professionalism, accountability, transparency and financial management must be given
impetus.
The challenge is multidimensional, and is compounded by the ‘unorganised’ nature of the

sector, lack of regulatory frameworks and the fact that India boasts of more than a million NGOs
of different roles, structures and sizes. In particular, the Indian voluntary sector urgently needs
self-regulatory guidelines and transparency mechanisms to increase the trust and
awareness as to how the philanthropic funds are being utilised.
This is a critical challenge that creates a barrier to raising funds and capital for the
sector. The general lack of transparency in the functioning of a large proportion of NGOs
leads to aversion in donating funds for charitable causes since the general public is largely
cynical about the ‘genuineness’ of the non-profit spirit of the sector. The stringent governance
standards of an NGO will facilitate the effective management and increase the
accountability to its stakeholders including donors, the government and the community. It is in
the self-interest of the NGOs to realize the fact that to implement a structure of ‘corporate
governance’ principles would provide the real value to the stakeholders.
Also, this would enable to track the potentially dubious sources of funding coming in for the
voluntary sector – an aspect which has gained impetus in the wake of the increased
number of terror attacks and extremist activities.
Recently, the Union Home Ministry has identified some NGOs as security threat to the
country. Such security considerations have underscored the rising need of improving the
governance practices in the Indian NGOs and exercising better regulatory mechanisms,
disclosure norms, and management processes including financial management and
budgeting systems as well. Moreover, in the larger interest going beyond the security
considerations, the impetus has to be on inculcating a culture of including performance
goals, conducting financial and performance audits, and reforms for increasing the operational
.
accountability and transparency in the

donors and other
stakeholders.
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5.6 Suggestions
The implementation of a strategic framework is essentially important in the management of an
NGO. The endorsement of such a framework brings in professionalism and internal control
mechanisms, which further makes the organization’s performance more effective. Developing
strategies also include establishing a mechanism of consistent monitoring of whether they are
being implemented and linking the results to the organization’s goals.
There is need to bolster public confidence in the voluntary sector by opening it up to

greater public scrutiny. The Government should encourage Central and State level agencies
to introduce norms for filing basic documents in respect of NGOs, which have been
receiving funding by Government agencies and placing them in the public domain (with easy
access through the internet) in order to inculcate a spirit of public oversight.
Public donation is an important source of funds for the NGO sector and one that can and must
increase substantially. Tax incentives play a positive role in this process. The Government could
simplify and streamline the system for granting income tax exemption status to charitable
projects under the Income Tax Act. At the same time, the Government might consider
tightening administrative and penal procedures to ensure that these incentives are not misused
by paper charities for private financial gain.
The Government should encourage all relevant Central and State Government agencies to
introduce pre-service and in-service training modules on constructive relations with the
voluntary sector. Such agencies need to introduce time bound procedures for dealing with the
VOs. These could cover registration, income tax clearances, financial assistance, etc. There must
be a formal system for registering complaints and for redressing grievances of NGOs.
The Government should encourage setting up of Joint Consultative Groups / Forums or Joint
Machineries of government and voluntary sector representatives, by relevant Central
Departments and State Governments. It also needs to encourage district administrations,
district planning bodies, district rural development agencies, zilla parishads and local
governments to do so. These groups could be permanent forums with the explicit mandate to
share ideas, views and information and to identify opportunities and mechanisms of
working together. The Government also might introduce suitable mechanisms for involving a
wide cross-section of the voluntary sector in these Groups/Forums.
5.7 Summing Up
We are entering into an important phase where there are many targets that the government
intends to achieve with the active collaboration of VOs, in the 12thplan. Therefore, it is
important to conduct an effective review or report card of the National Policy with specific
recommendations. These recommendations could become an agenda for all Voluntary
Organizations, Planning Commission, state governments and national Ministries. Efforts are also
needed to further disseminate the information about the policy and its intentions with
small VOs as well as government functionaries. There is a need to solicit commitment
.
from state governments and national ministries.
A systematic intervention is also needed to get National Policy approved and adopted by the
Indian Parliament. The most serious challenge faced by India today is the conflict between
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Student Notes:
violent and non-violent approach of development. Needless to say that majority of population
of India is still deprived of basic fruits of development, but rather than adopting the approach
which is more inclusive and look for solutions within the constitution, India is faced by
disturbances in many parts of the country.
This not only hampers the development projects but also shrink the space for people’s
participation to achieve their goals through peaceful means. The voluntary sector being
present in such locations faces the challenge of delivering the services and even mobilizing
people on the development agenda. The need of the hour is to work closely with each other
for the benefit of the marginalized people.
6.0 SHG – Self Help Group

6.1 Definition
Self-Help Groups are informal associations of people who choose to come together to find ways
to improve their living conditions. They help to build Social Capital among the poor, especially
women. The most important functions of a Self-Help Groups are
 To encourage and motivate its members to save

 To persuade them to make a collective plan for generation of additional income
 To act as a conduit for formal banking services to reach them.
Such groups work as a collective guarantee system for members who propose to borrow
from organised sources. Consequently, Self-Help Groups have emerged as the most effective
mechanism for delivery of micro-finance services to the poor. The range of financial services
may include products such as deposits, loans, money transfer and insurance.
6.2 Evolution
6.2.1 Community Networks (Self-Help / Joint Liability Groups) – the Beginning
The first organised initiative in this direction was taken in Gujarat in 1954 when the Textile
Labour Association (TLA) of Ahmedabad formed its women’s wing to organise the women
belonging to households of mill workers in order to train them in primary skills like sewing,
knitting embroidery, typesetting and stenography etc. In 1972, it was given a more
systematized structure when Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) was formed as a
Trade Union under the leadership of Ela Bhatt. She organised women workers such as
hawkers, vendors, home based operators like weavers, potters, papad / agarbatti makers,
manual labourers, service providers and small producers like cattle rearers, salt workers, gum
collectors, cooks and vendors with the primary objective of
a. Increasing their income and assets;

b. Enhancing their food and nutritional standards; and
c. Increasing their organisational and leadership strength.
.
The overall intention was to organise women for full employment. In order to broaden their
access to market and technical inputs, these primary associations were encouraged to form
federations like the Gujarat State Mahila SEWA Cooperative Federation, Banaskantha
DWCRA, Mahila SEWA Association etc. Currently, SEWA has a membership strength of 9,
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59,000 which is predominantly urban. In the 1980s, MYRADA – a Karnataka based

nongovernmental organisation, promoted several locally formed groups to enable the
members to secure credit collectively and use it along with their own savings for
activities which could provide them economically gainful employment.
Major experiments in small group formation at the local level were initiated in Tamil
Nadu and Kerala about two decades ago through the Tamil Nadu Women in Agriculture
Programme (TANWA) 1986, Participatory Poverty Reduction Programme of Kerala,
(Kudumbashree) 1995 and Tamil Nadu Women’s Development Project (TNWDP) 1989. These
initiatives gave a firm footing to SHG movement in these states. Today, around 44% of the total
Bank linked SHGs of the country are in the four southern States of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,
Karnataka and Kerala.
The positive experience gained from the above programmes has led to the emergence of a very
strong consensus that the twin concepts of (a) small group organisation and (b) self-
management are potent tools for economic and social empowerment of the rural poor. Efforts
have been made almost in all parts of the country to adopt this model as a necessary
component of the poverty alleviation programmes.
6.2.2 SHG Development since 1992 and NABARD
Forming small groups and linking them to bank branches for credit delivery has been the most
important feature of the growth of the SHG movement in our country. The SHG-Bank linkage
programme was started as a test project in 1989 when NABARD, the Apex Rural Development
Bank in the country, sanctioned Rs.10.0 lakhs to MYRADA as seed money assistance for forming
credit management groups. In the same year, the Ministry of Rural Development provided
financial support to PRADAN to establish Self-Help Groups in some rural pockets of Rajasthan.
On the basis of these experiences, a full-fledged project involving a partnership among SHGs,
Banks and NGOs was launched by NABARD in 1992. In 1995, acting on the report of a working
group, the RBI streamlined the credit delivery procedure by issuing a set of guidelines to
Commercial Banks. It enabled SHGs to open Bank Accounts based on a simple inter-se
agreement. The scheme was further strengthened by a standing commitment given by NABARD
to provide refinance and promotional support to Banks for credit disbursement under the SHG
– Bank linkage programme.
NABARD’s corporate mission was to make available microfinance services to 20 million poor
households, or one-third of the poor in the country, by the end of 2008. In the initial years, the
progress in the programme was a slow; only 33000 groups could be credit linked during the
period 1992-99. But, thereafter, the programme grew rapidly and the number of SHGs financed
increased from 82000 in 1999-2000 to more than 6.20 lakhs in 2005-06 and 6.87 lakhs in 2006-
07. Cumulatively, 33 million poor households in the country have been able to secure access to
micro-finance from the formal banking system.
6.2.3 Other Agencies involved in the SHG movement

.
Apart from NABARD, there are four other major organisations in the public sector which too
provide loans to financial intermediaries for onward lending to SHGs. They are (a) Small
Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), (b) Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK), and (c) Housing
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and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO). Then, there are public sector/other commercial
banks which are free to take up any lending as per their policy and RBI guidelines.
6.2.3.1 Rashtriya Mahila Kosh
The Rashtriya Mahila Kosh was set up by the Government of India in March 1993 as an
Autonomous Body registered under Societies Registration Act, 1860 under the Department
(now Ministry) of Women and Child Development. The objective was to facilitate credit support
to poor women for their socio-economic upliftment.
It was felt that the credit needs of poor women, especially those in the unorganized sector,
were not adequately addressed by the formal financial institutions of the country. Thus RMK
was established to provide loans in a quasi-formal credit delivery mechanism, which is client-
friendly, has simple and minimal procedure, disburses quickly and repeatedly, has flexible
repayment schedules, links thrifts and savings with credit and has relatively low transaction
costs both for the borrower and the lender. The maximum amount of loan that can be given to
a beneficiary at a time is Rs. 25,000 for income generation, Rs.50,000 for house building and Rs.
10,000 for a family purpose.
The Kosh lends with a unique credit delivery model “RMK – NGO-SHG Beneficiaries”. The
support is extended through NGO’s, Women Development Corporations, State Government
agencies like DRDA’s, Dairy Federations, and Municipal Councils etc.
6.2.3.2 SIDBI
Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) launched its micro finance programme on a
pilot basis in 1994 using the NGO / MFI model of credit delivery wherein such institutions were
used as financial intermediaries for delivering credit to the poor and unreached, mainly women.
Learning from the experience of the pilot phase, SIDBI reoriented and upscaled its micro
finance programme in 1999. A specialised department viz. ‘SIDBI Foundation for Micro Credit’
(SFMC) was set up with the mission to create a national network of strong, viable and
sustainable Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) from the informal and formal financial sectors.
SFMC serves as an apex wholesaler for micro finance in India providing a complete range of
financial and non-financial services to the MFIs so as to facilitate their development into
financially sustainable entities, besides developing a network of service providers and
advocating for appropriate policy framework for the sector. SFMC is implementing the National
Micro Finance Support Programme (NMFSP). The overall goal of NMFSP is to bring about
substantial poverty elimination and reduced vulnerability in India amongst users of micro-
finance services, particularly women.
6.2.4 Private Initiatives
Though, government efforts have played a major role in advancing the SHG movement in the
country, there have been a large number of voluntary organisations (NGOs) which too have
t parts of India.facilitated
SEWA in and assisted SHGs in organizing savings
.
makrishna MissionAhmedabad,
in MYRADA in Karnataka, Nav Bharat Jagriti
Jharkhand, and ADITHI in Bihar are some of the names which took the lead in promoting Self-
Help Groups (mostly of women) around income generation activities using local skills. From
organizing villagers into groups which could work on viable activities, to making a project and
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securing funds (own contribution or through a tie-up with the financial institution), these VOs
have worked with involvement and dedication. PRADAN (Professional Assistance for
Development Action), DHAN Foundation, ASSEFA (Association of Sarva Seva Farms, MALAR
(Mahalir Association for Literacy, Awareness and Rights), SKS, Janodaya, Cohesion Foundation
and Jan Chetna Sansthan are some of the other major non-governmental institutions which are
promoting and nurturing a large number of SHGs of poor people, mostly women into effective
organisations which could leverage credit from formal sources, and develop local resources and
skills to increase productivity and income. It is thus, due to the combined efforts of the
government and these private voluntary agencies that the SHGs have come to occupy a place of
prominence in the socio-economic fabric of rural India.
6.3 Examples
The SHG network in Andhra has gone beyond credit and assumed responsibilities which can
only be called non-traditional. Four are worthy of mention.
Firstly, it has taken up marketing of commodities like maize, neem, soybean, coffee, lac
and red gram. According to estimates, the value of procurement was in the region of Rs 130
crore. The big challenge here is to go beyond traditional marketing and get into value-
addition in meaningful measure and develop linkages with exporters and processors directly.
Secondly, it is being used to distribute old-age pensions – in 2006-07, over Rs 700 crore was
distributed to around three million beneficiaries through the SHGs. Timely disbursement
of pensions and disbursements without a “consideration” are the hallmark of the SHG
involvement.
Thirdly, the elements of a community based food security system are being put in place. At the
moment, it consists almost entirely of a rice credit line but the goal seems to be paddy
purchase and milling by the SHG network at the village and mandal level itself.
Fourthly, dairy interventions have started with livestock being purchased through SHG-bank
linkages and with the SHG network setting up bulk milk coolers and milk procurement
centres. Ensuring that there are links established between the network of SHGs and the
traditional National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) procurement network is important as
dairying is very significant as an income- augmenting occupation to crop agriculture.
There is one more somewhat unusual intervention through the SHG network. This relates to
non-pesticide management (NPM) in agriculture, particularly cotton. It is well known, 50-60 per
cent of the pesticide applied in India is in cotton cultivation; in Andhra Pradesh, the proportion
is 55 per cent. Cotton lies at the heart of the suicide tragedies that have stalked the state over
the past decade and so this particular initiative has great significance. So far, something like two
lakh acres have been covered and by the end of the decade about 10 per cent of the net
sown area in the state will be covered.
lion of spice of spices need special mention. Today, about 25 per cent of the $ 600 mil
Exports
.
exports is accounted for by chillies that are grown predominantly in Andhra Pradesh. Chillies
without pesticide residue command a premium in world markets. One needs to distinguish
between non-pesticide agriculture where fertilisers are still used and organic farming where
yields may turn out to be lower but net returns to farmers could actually increase.
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The 12th plan working group on Disadvantaged Farmers, including Women has recommended
that a collective approach should be promoted in agriculture for small and women farmers at
all points of the value chain. It cites many successful examples that stretch from the Gambhira
farmer’s collective in Gujarat, initiated in 1953 and still going strong, to several initiatives of
women’s group farming in Andhra Pradesh such as one initiated by Deccan Development
Society in 1989 and another initiated by a UNDP-GoI project in 2001 and sustained since 2005
by the Andhra Pradesh Mahila Samakhya (APMSS).
KUDUMBASHREE
Launched by the Government of Kerala in 1998 for wiping out absolute poverty from the State
through concerted community action under the leadership of Local Self Governments,
Kudumbashree is today one of the largest women-empowering projects in the country. The
programme has 40.54 lakh members and covers more than 50% of the households in Kerala.
Built around three critical components, micro credit, entrepreneurship and empowerment, the
Kudumbashree initiative has today succeeded in addressing the basic needs of the less
privileged women, thus providing them a more dignified life and a better future. Literal
meaning of Kudumbashree is prosperity (shree) of family (Kudumbam).
The most recent success story is the collective farming initiative launched in 2007 under
Kudumbashree jointly by Kerala Government and NABARD. Success of these in increasing
production and empowering women point to a need for States to experiment with (i)
channelising NGO strength in mobilising people to encourage small holders to shift from an
individual to a group-oriented approach; and (ii) facilitating land access by groups of
disadvantaged farmers with appropriate arrangement for provision of inputs, including credit.
6.4 Benefits
Participation in group activity significantly contributed to improvement of self-confidence
among the members. In general, group members and particularly women became more vocal
and assertive on social and family issues.
The structure of the SHG is meant to provide mutual support to the participants in saving
money, preparing a common plan for additional income generation and opening bank accounts
that would help them in developing credit relationship with a lending institution. It ultimately
supports them in setting up micro-enterprises e.g. personalised business ventures like tailoring,
grocery, and tool repair shops. It promotes the concept of group accountability ensuring that
the loans are paid back. It provides a platform to the community where the members can
discuss and resolve important issues of mutual concern.
While some of the SHGs have been initiated by the local communities themselves, many of
them have come through the help of a mentor Body (either government or an NGO) which
provided initial information and guidance to them. Such support often consists of training
people on how to manage Bank accounts, how to assess small business potential of the
local markets and how to upgrade their skills. In the end, it creates a local team of resource
.
persons.
Group formation becomes a convenient vehicle for credit delivery in rural areas.
Commercial Banks and other institutions which are otherwise not receptive to the
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demands of marginalized individuals, start considering such groups as their potential

customers. Overall such Joint-Liability Groups expand the outreach of the micro-finance
programme in an effective way, reaching out to the excluded segments e.g. Landless,
sharecroppers, small and marginal farmers, women, SCs/STs etc.
The majority of Self-Help Groups comprise of women members. There is evidence in this
country as well as elsewhere that formation of Self-Help Groups has a multiplier effect in
improving women’s status in society as well as in the family. Their active involvement in
micro-finance and related entrepreneurial activities not only leads to improvement in their
socio-economic condition but also enhances their self-esteem.
Women in a group environment become more articulate in voicing their concerns and a change
occurs in their self-perception. They start to see themselves not only as beneficiaries but also as
clients / informed citizens seeking better services. On the home front, their new found
awareness and the confidence generated out of their entrepreneurial skills make them more
confident vis-à-vis their menfolk.
FINANCIAL
The SHG programme has contributed to a reduced INCLUSION
dependency on informal money lenders

and other non-institutional sources. It has COOPERATIVE WOMEN
FARMING EMPOWERMENT
enabled the participating households to
spend more on education than non- client
households. Families participating in the
programme have reported better school
attendance and lower drop-out rates.
The financial inclusion attained through WORKER RIGHTS EDUCATIONAL
SHGs has led to reduced child mortality,
improved maternal health and the ability
of the poor to combat disease through
better nutrition, housing and health –
especially among women and children. INSURANCE HEALTH
6.4.1 Impact of SHG on Rural Life
A random impact evaluation study covering 560 members of 223 SHGs linked to Banks located
in 11 States was carried out by NABARD. A three year period was selected for this study. The
results of this survey released indicated that
 58% of the households covered under SHGs reported an increase in assets;

 The average value of assets per household increased by 72% from Rs.6,843 to
Rs.11,793;
 Majority of the members developed savings habit against 23% earlier;
 there was a threefold increase in savings and a doubling of borrowings per household;
 the share of consumption loan in the borrowing went down from 50% to 25%;
e generation ventures;
 70% of the loans taken in post
.
 Employment expanded by 18%;

 the average net income per household before joining a SHG was Rs.20,177 which rose
by 33% to 26,889; and
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 About 41.5% of the household studied were below their state specific poverty line in
the pre-SHG enrolment stage; it came down to 22%.
6.5 Weaknesses of the SHG Movement

 Contrary to the vision for SHG development, members of a group do not come
necessarily from the poorest families;
 The SHG model has led to definite social empowerment of the poor but whether the
economic gains are adequate to bring a qualitative change in their life is a matter of
debate;
 Many of the activities undertaken by the SHGs are still based on primitive skills
related mostly to primary sector enterprises. With poor value addition per worker
and prevalence of subsistence level wages, such activities often do not lead to any
substantial increase in the income of group members.
 There is lack of qualified resource personnel in the rural areas who could help in skill
upgradation/acquisition of new skills by group members.
6.6 Issues, Threats and Challenges

Though, during a short span of fifteen years the SHG movement has recorded remarkable
progress much still remains to be done. The movement shows steep territorial variations. Many
areas of the country lack adequate banking structure. Urban and semi-urban areas, to a large
extent, stand excluded from this mode of credit delivery. Further growth of this movement
faces threat from inadequacy of skills in the rural areas. And finally the pace of the
movement needs to be accelerated. The following eight issues of this sector deserve priority
attention:
Maintaining the participatory character: Examples of cooperative sector became a springboard

for political aspirants could be seen through. Though the SHG movement is relatively new,
government interventions and subsidies have already started showing negative results. The
patronage and subsidies provided to the SHGs by government and the Panchayati often lead to
their politicization. Therefore, due care must be taken to ensure that government initiatives do
not erode the fundamental principles of self-help and empowerment of the poor.
Expansion of SHG network: Need to expand the SHG movement to States such as Bihar, Uttar
Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, and Rajasthan and in the North-East (where the SHG
movement and micro-finance entrepreneurship is weak): Overall 73% of the farmer household
(in rural areas) have no access to any formal source of credit. In March, 2001, 71% of the total
linked SHGs of the country were in just four States of the southern region viz. Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The figure went down to 58% in 2005, 54% in 2006
and to 44% in 2007.But even the current figure is a cause of concern when one talks of financial
inclusion for the whole country.
Expansion to peri-urban and urban areas: According to the 2001 census, 314.54 million
1991 census) within
persons changed their place of residence (vis
the country and out of this 29.90 million or 9% changed their place of residence in search
.
of better prospects elsewhere. Since issue of any form of identity card is invariably linked with
the possession of an immovable property, such migrant workers do not have any formal
document to prove their domicile in the city. But the overall economic and social well-being of
the city is closely linked with the condition of this section of the city dwellers. In the absence
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of any documentary proof, it appears that this class of people do not have access to
organised financial services.
As per the existing statutory provisions, NABARD’s mandate is to provide micro-finance facilities
only to rural and semi-urban areas. Branches of the mainstream banks too, though, equipped
with manpower and technology, are not keen to service this sector. Even money lenders are
reluctant to lend to them. The net result is that this segment of the urban population e.g.
pavement sellers, street hawkers, construction workers etc. remains financially excluded.
Mode of SHG development and financial intermediation: Establishing stable linkage between
a SHG and a local financial institution is one of the key elements of the SHG movement.
Currently, four distinct models of financial intermediation are in operation in various parts of
the country namely:
 SHG-Bank linkage promoted by a mentor institute

 SHG-Bank direct linkage
 SHG-Mentor Institution linkage; and
 SHG-Federation model
Since the borrowing SHGs consist mainly of low income members who cannot afford to miss
even a day’s wages, a hassle-free transaction with a Bank which is ready to come to their
doorsteps with appropriate credit products is of great value to them. The SHG – Bank Linkage
Model with a mentor SHPI in town (Model I above) would be the most appropriate one for
delivery of financial services to the SHGs.
Self-Help Groups and Regional Rural Banks: As on 1st April, 2007, out of a total of 622 districts
in the country, 535 have a network of Regional Rural Banks; the rest 87 districts have no RRB
presence. These branches have been created by the Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976 primarily
for providing institutional credit to the marginalized sector of the rural economy (small,
marginal farmers, landless labour and rural artisans). The extension of the RRB network to the
remaining 87 districts would considerably speed up the process of inclusive banking and help in
extending micro- finance to local SHGs.
Issues of sustainability, capacity-building and utilization of technology: The institutional

sustainability and the quality of operations of the SHGs are matters of considerable debate. It is
generally held that only a minority of the Self-Help Groups are able to raise themselves from a
level of micro-finance to that of micro-entrepreneurship. Neither do such Bank linkages lead to
sanction of larger individual loans under the Bank’s normal lending programmes. The ultimate
objective of such a tie-up is to impart financial strength to the SHGs so that they can enter into
a stable relationship with the local financial institutions - without any external support. Even
after many years of existence, by and large, SHGs are heavily dependent on their promoter
NGOs or government agencies. The withdrawal of NGOs / government agencies even from
areas where SHGs have been federated, has often led to their collapse. The leadership and
management of most SHG federations continue to be in the hands of NGOs.
.
Capacity building of small groups / members is an important component of organisational

effectiveness. It consists of participatory training methods covering issues such as SHG
formation, its strengthening, book keeping and some elementary techniques of financial
management. Capacity building of government functionaries and Bank personnel is a necessary
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element of an equitable triangular relationship involving the SHGs, government functionaries

and the local Banks and there is a positive correlation between the training received by
government functionaries/Bank personnel and their overall attitude towards local
organisations. The Commission is of the view that for success of such cooperative / social
capital ventures, there is need to provide extensive training to all the three pillars of the self-
help movement.
Utilization of Technology: Currently, many public sector banks and micro-finance institutions are
unwilling to provide financial services to the poor as the cost of servicing remains high. Use of
appropriate technology can reduce it. The Commission is of the view that high penetration of
telecom connectivity in India, together with the latest mobile technology could be used to
enhance financial inclusion in the country.
Financial assistance to SHPIs and other support institutions: Forty-five per cent of the total
numbers of women SHGs of the country are located in Andhra Pradesh. This enviable position
of the State is primarily due to the initiative shown by promoter NGOs often known as Self-Help
Promoting Institutions (SHPIs) / mentor organisations. If the SHG movement is to spread across
the entire country, there is need to provide major incentives to SHPIs / promoter NGOs.
Currently, the financial support to SHPIs comes from the Micro Finance Development and
Equity Fund (MFDEF) of NABARD. It is limited to an amount of Rs.1500 per SHG (formed and
activated). To attract more and more SHPIs to the rural areas, this quantum of support needs to
be revised.
Role of Micro-Finance Institutions: Micro-credit is defined as provision of thrift, credit, and

other financial services (such as deposits, loans, payment services, money transfer, insurance
and related products) of very small amounts to the poor in rural, semi-urban and urban areas
for enabling them to raise their income levels and improve living standards. Micro-finance
institutions are those which provide such micro-credit facilities. Micro-credit is an instrument
of both social as well as economic policy. It opens up integral development processes such as
use of financial and technical resources, basic services and training opportunities to the
unprivileged.
Access to savings, credit, money- transfer, payment, and insurance can help poor people take
control of their financial life. It also empowers them to make critical choices about
investing in business, sending children to school, improving health care of the family, covering
the cost of key social obligations and unforeseen situations. But the most important of all, an
access to finance generates self- esteem among them.
6.7 With an eye on the future, let us explore Corporate-SHG linkages for rural
markets:
Rural Market offers tremendous potential of growth for corporations by making their products
and services available to these areas. Lot of interventions are designed by various companies to
tap the rural market including designing tailor made supply chain, rural marketing campaigns,
pruning marketing mix elements and integrating social elements to develop their brand
.
awareness and market for their products. Apart from all these endeavours there is still a
significant area largely untapped. Integration of SHGs with corporations as a part of their
company policies in tackling the issues of reach and market awareness is a win-win solution.
With various government initiatives including Promotion of SHG formation, microenterprise
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development, microcredit by FIIs and NBFCs and skill training, SHGs are becoming viable in their
operations. Symbiotic association of corporations and SHGs utilizing distinctive competence can
prove to be fruitful for both in the long run broadly in the form of market and socio-economic
development. SHGs are broadly studied on two basis- Microfinance and Microenterprises. The
first aspect of SHGs (Microfinance) is widely studied and several changes have been
incorporated towards making SHGs viable. Development of Micro-enterprises is relatively a new
phenomenon. As per study of M. Kunhaman, 2012, SHGs can better promote Micro-
enterprises, especially in rural areas.
The real effort to support SHGs in India, however, came in the late 1990s when the central
government of India introduced a holistic program, SGSY- Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar
Yojana based on the group approach for rural development. The SGSY approach was to
encourage the rural poor to organise themselves into SHGs and to independently take up viable
economic activities as micro-enterprises with support from government subsidies and bank
credit. With the development of industrial norms, micro-enterprises are also coming up apart
from large, medium and small industries. Micro-enterprises can be started and managed by
individuals, groups or SHGs. Intended to strengthen viable, small businesses, resulting in
increased household income and savings and thus alleviating the crunch of economic poverty,
Micro-enterprise development aims at building self-esteem, self-reliance, encouraging
autonomy and creating a community atmosphere. It builds economic capital by creating jobs
and generating income, ultimately working towards community development in impoverished
or unemployed areas.
The report of the working committee of RBI (1994) proposed the integration of SHGs into the
strategies and policies of corporations. SHGs can provide a suitable option for companies to
integrate into various functions such as- Marketing, Distribution, Procurement of various raw
materials and semi-finished materials, Production and processing of indigenous products etc.
For example, TAJ group has adopted a SHG for procurement of sea food and meet 60% of their
demands through the SHG. SHGs can also become a suitable vehicle for distribution of rural
products and help in faster diffusion of innovation in the rural market.
7.0 Societies, Trusts, Donors, Charities and Other Stakeholders

The law concerning Societies, Trusts, Waqfs and other endowments in India can be placed in
three broad groupings:
(a) Societies registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and various States
amendments on it after 1947;
(b) Those engaged in pure religious and charitable work registered under the
Religious Endowments Act, 1863; the Charitable and Religious Trusts Act, 1920; the
Waqf Act, 1995 and similar other State Acts;
(c) Trusts and charitable institutions registered under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882;
Charitable Endowments Act, 1890; the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950; and similar
other State Acts.
.
SOCIETIES
A Society is basically an association formed by seven or more persons with some common
objectives for promotion of literature, fine arts, science etc. There may or may not be some
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common asset to start with but, in course of time, the Society can acquire assets. They are
registered under Societies registration Act, 1860. Many of State legislations (through post-
Independence amendments) went for widespread governmental controls to deal with abuses,
malfeasance and nonfeasance of Societies. The legal measures include:
 State’s power of enquiry and investigation;

 cancellation of registration and consequent dissolution of Societies;
 supersession of the Governing Body;
 Appointment of administrator;
 Dissolution; and
 Deletion of defunct organisations.
Because of the legal measures, the originally intended transparency and democratically
controlled by nullified by state intervention.
Trusts, Religious Endowments and Waqfs
Trusts, Endowments and Waqfs are legally created as modes of property

arrangement/settlement dedicated for definite charitable and religious purposes. The details
with regard to their incorporation, organisational structure and distribution of functions and
powers are governed by the provisions of the specific law under which they are registered.
Broadly, such organisations can assume a legal personality in the following five ways
1) By way of formal registration before the Charity Commissioner / Inspector General of
Registration under the respective State Public Trusts Act e.g. the Bombay Public
Trusts Act,1950, the Gujarat Public Trusts Act, the Rajasthan Public Trusts Act etc;
2) By invoking interference of civil courts to lay down schemes for governing a Trust under
Sections 92 and 93 of the Civil Procedure Code;
3) By registering the Trust deed of a Public Charitable Trust under the Registration Act,
1908;
4) By notifying an organisation in the list of Charitable Trusts and Religious Endowments
which are supervised by the Endowments Commissioner of the State or by a Managing
Committee formed under the Charitable Endowments Act, 1890 or under other
State laws on Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments; and
5) By creating a Waqf which could be managed under the provisions of the Waqf Act,
1995.
TRUSTS
Trust is a special form of organisation which emerges out of a will. The will maker exclusively
transfers the ownership of a property to be used for a particular purpose. If the purpose is to
benefit particular individuals, it becomes a Private Trust and if it concerns some purpose of the
common public or the community at large, it is called a Public Trust.
Difference between TRUST and SOCIETY

.
The subjects on which an institution can be registered under the Societies Registration Act,
1860 are practically the same as those on which a Trust could also be formed. The Society,
prima facie, is a
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28 democratic entity, as all its members (at least seven in number) have an equal say in its
running whereas in a Trust, control over the property remains fully in the hands of the Trustees
and depending on the clarity of the will, such a management continues to be in existence for a
long time. Government intervenes only when Trustees change or the Trust becomes too old to
be managed as per stipulations of the original will, or on grounds of malfeasance or abuse of
trust.
RELIGIOUS ENDOWNMENTS
Religious Endowments and Waqfs are variants of Trusts which are formed for specific religious
purposes e.g. for providing support functions relating to the deity, charity and religion amongst
Hindus and Muslims respectively. Unlike Public Trusts, they may not necessarily originate from
formal registration, nor do they specifically emphasise on a triangular relationship among the
donor, Trustee and the beneficiary. Religious endowments arise from dedication of property for
religious purposes. The corresponding action among the Muslim community leads to the
creation of Waqfs. Waqfs tie up the property and devote the usufruct to people.
The Indian Constitution recognizes freedom to manage religious affairs as one of the
fundamental rights of its citizen. According to Article 26 - “Subject to public order, morality and
health, every religious denomination or any section thereof shall have the right:
a) to establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable purposes;
b) to manage its own affairs in matters of religion;
c) to own and acquire movable and immovable property; and
d) to administer such property in accordance with law.
Though, the above provision gives freedom to create Trusts / charitable institutions for religious
purposes, it puts some rider on administration of such property “in accordance with law” –
Article 26(d).
WAQFS IN INDIA
Under Muslim rule in India, the concept of Waqf was more widely comprehended as aligned
with the spirit of charity endorsed by the Quran. Waqf implies the endowment of property,
moveable or immovable, tangible or intangible to God by a Muslim, under the premise that the
transfer will benefit the needy. As it implies a surrender of properties to God, a Waqf deed is
irrevocable and perpetual
Currently, 300000 Waqfs in India are being administered under various provisions of the Waqf
Act, 1995. This Act is applicable throughout the country except for Jammu and Kashmir and
Dargah Khwaja Saheb, Ajmer. The management structure under the Act consists of a Waqf
Board as an apex body in each State. Every Waqf Board is a quasi-judicial body empowered to
rule over Waqf-related disputes. At the national level, there is Central Waqf Council which acts
in an advisory capacity.
f Act,Recently,
has madethe Waqf Amendment Act, 2013 has been enacted. The amended Waq
.
functioning. Some of the for strengthening the Waq

provisions
important provisions incorporated in the Act and highlighted by the Minister include-
 The definition of Waqf has been modified to allow non-Muslims also to create Waqf
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 If the tenancy, lease or license has expired or been terminated, this would be
considered as encroachment
 The Survey Commissioner will be appointed within three months and survey required
to be completed within a year
 Waqf properties already surveyed and notified are not to be reviewed again in
subsequent surveys except where the status of such property has been changed in
accordance with the provisions of any law
 The Central Waqf Council has been empowered to issue directive to the State Waqf
Boards on their financial performance, survey, maintenance of Waqf deeds, revenue
records, and encroachment of Waqf properties seeking annual report and audit report
 Any dispute arising out of a directive issued by the Central Waqf Council to be referred
to a Board of Adjudication to be constituted by the Central Government, to be presided
over by a retired judge of the Supreme Court or a retired Chief Justice of a High Court
 The Establishment of State Waqf Boards within 6 months from the date of
commencement of this Act
 ‘Sale’, ‘Gift’, ‘Mortgage’, ‘Exchange’ and ‘Transfer’ of Waqf properties have been
prohibited to curb alienation of Waqf properties
 ‘Lease’ of Waqf properties is being allowed. However, ‘Lease’ of Mosque, Dargah,
Khanquah, Graveyard and Imambara has been prohibited
 The Board will sanction ‘lease’ when two thirds of total membership of the Board is
present and cast their vote in favour of such transaction
 The lease period has been enhanced uniformly upto 30 years for commercial activities,
education or health purposes with the approval by the State Govt. because of the long
gestation periods of such projects and the long periods of return on capital employed.
The maximum period of lease of agricultural land is fixed for 3 years. Further, lease
beyond 3 years is to be intimated to the State Government and it would become
effective only after 45 days.
 The provisions of this Act shall have overriding effect notwithstanding anything
inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for the time being in force.
Concern has been expressed on the slow pace of Computerisation of records of State Waqf
Boards, that during the last three years, out of three lakh twenty eight thousand records only
50,000 records have been computerised. If U.P., A.P. and Gujarat computerise the records
almost 85% of the work will be completed. These computerised records will be put on net. The
Development of Waqf Properties had also been emphasized, it was considered that vacant plots
and properties are vulnerable to encroachment.
Non-Profit Companies (Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956)
Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 provides for a mechanism through which an Association
can be registered as a Company with a limited liability, if such association is formed for
promoting commerce, art, science, religion or any other useful object and intends to apply its
profits/income in promoting its objects. The objective of this provision is to provide corporate
from some ofpersonality
the to such Associations but
.
cumbersome legal requirements.
This Section reads as –
“25(1) Where it is proved to the satisfaction of the Central Government that an association:
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Is about to be formed as a limited company for promoting commerce, art,
science, religion, charity or any other useful object, Intends to apply its profits, if any, or other
income in promoting its objects, and to prohibit the payment of any dividend to its members,
The Central Government may, by license, direct that the association may be registered as a
company with limited liability, without addition to its name of the word “Limited” or the words
‘Private Limited’.”
An Association registered under the above provision shall enjoy all the privileges and would be
subject to all the obligations of limited companies.
TRADE UNIONS
In terms of Section 2 of the Trade Unions Act, 1926, a “Trade Union means a combination,
whether temporary or permanent, formed primarily for the purpose of regulating relations
between workmen and employers or between workmen and workmen or between employers
and employers, or for imposing restrictive conditions on the conduct of any trade or business,
and includes any federation of two or more Trade Unions.”
The objective of the Trade Unions Act is to provide a legal existence and protection to the Trade
Unions as defined above.
Importantly, it is also provided that no member of the Council of Ministers or a person holding
an office of profit (not being an engagement or employment in an establishment or industry
with which the Trade Union is connected), in the Union or a State, shall be a member of the
executive or other office bearer of a registered Trade Union.
8.0 Self-Regulatory Authorities

8.1 Definition
The Self-Regulatory Authority of a profession means a select Body of its members which is
responsible for growth and development of the profession in the background of its
responsibility towards society and State. The functions of such a Self-Regulatory Body may
include: (i) issues of professional education: development of curriculum, setting up of teaching
standards, institutional infrastructure, recognition of degrees etc. and (ii) matters connected
with licensing, and ethical conduct of the practitioners.
Currently, there are six major professional Bodies operating in India each having been formed
under a specific law.
 Bar Council of India (BCI) – formed under the Advocates Act, 1961
 Medical Council of India (MCI) – formed under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956
 Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) – formed under the Chartered
Accountants Act, 1949
.
med under the CostandInstitute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI)
Works Accountants Act, 1959
 Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) – formed under the Company
Secretaries Act, 1980
 Council of Architecture (COA) – formed under the Architects Act, 1972
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Then, there are organisations like the Institution of Engineers which have been formed purely
by voluntary action by respective members of the profession. They do not have any statutory
background.
All the above professions are vital for society and the economy of a country. In fact, the number
of medical practitioners, lawyers, chartered accountants, engineers and other professionals in a
society per one lakh population is one of the indices on which the status of a nation’s
advancement is measured. As per an estimate, the number of registered lawyers in the country
in 2006 was 8.47 lakhs, while the corresponding figures for doctors, engineers, chartered
accounts, company secretaries, cost accountants and architects were 6.59 lakhs, 4.0 lakhs, 1.30
lakhs, 0.17 lakh, 0.13 lakh and 0.02 lakh22 respectively.
In the Indian context, besides regulating the domain of professional education and setting
standards for the conduct and behaviour of the members, these Self-Regulatory Bodies have
often played a significant role as technical advisers to the government in conceptualizing,
formulating and implementing policies and standards for providing important public services to
the citizens (e.g. on health care and justice delivery).
8.2 Trust between Professionals and Citizens

In general, there is a relationship of deep trust between a professional and his client. A
professional practitioner is in a position to have access to the most personal details of a person
and hence he is obliged to act in consonance with the principles of beneficence and justice to
justify this trust. The professionals need to maintain high standards of practice and show
respect for professional ethical values. The trust also implies that they update their knowledge,
skill and ability at periodic intervals in order to deliver their services competently.
Formed with enthusiasm and vision, the Regulatory Authorities worked with zeal and interest in
the initial years of their existence. Though, commitment to self-interest may have been there in
some form or the other on their agenda, the level of professional competence and conduct was
adequately high in the early years of Independence and by and large, the medical profession,
engineers, lawyers and others conducted themselves with great responsibility and
professionalism. But in recent years, the drift in almost all professions towards self-interest has
become markedly pronounced. The general perception is that instead of being self-regulatory,
Regulatory Bodies have become “self-promoting lobbies running to the rescue of delinquents,
starting agitations against any action that is taken, organising strikes and hardly taking steps to
uphold standards or action against professional misconduct”.
8.3 Issues related to role and management of Self-Regulating Authorities

 Separating Professional Education from Self-Regulatory Authorities – as recommended
by National Knowledge Commission.
 Professional Updation and skill enhancement of members through Continuing
Professional Education programmes.
 Focussing on issues related to Professional Ethics, standards and behaviour. And also
.
prescribing guidelines for enrolment of new members.

 Provision related to revalidation of professional registration/licence after a prescribed
number of years.
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 Composition of the body and Governance issues. Do you remember the recent case of
the MCI chairman – Ketan Desai on charges of corruption to give recognition to a
medical college? Do you come across reports of corruption and bribery from the Bar
Council of India?
 Issues related to accountability and Parliamentary Oversight.
9.0 Conclusion
As is reflected from the above discussion, there are various stakeholders in the development
industry. And therefore, the notion of ‘stakeholders’ is important in this context. Stakeholders
are those who are affected by the outcome – negatively or positively – of a project/scheme or
those who can affect the outcome of a proposed scheme. By popular participation we usually
mean the effective participation of the ‘voiceless’ in the development project – the poor and
the disadvantage, either defined in terms of wealth, education and social status, or ethnicity
and gender, or even in terms of physical incapacity. The aim is inclusive growth or to say
‘Inclusive Development’.
The progress towards inclusiveness is more difficult to assess, because inclusiveness is a

multidimensional concept. Inclusive growth should result in lower incidence of poverty,
broad-based and significant improvement in health outcomes, universal access for children
to school, increased access to higher education and improved standards of education,
including skill development.
It should also be reflected in better opportunities for both wage employment and livelihood,
and in improvement in provision of basic amenities like water, electricity, roads, sanitation
and housing. Particular attention needs to be paid to the needs of the SC/ST and OBC
population. Women and children constitute a group which accounts for 70% of the population
and deserves special attention in terms of the reach of relevant schemes in many sectors.
Minorities and other excluded groups also need special programmes to bring them into the
mainstream. To achieve inclusiveness in all these dimensions requires multiple interventions,
and success depends not only on introducing new policies and government programmes, but
on institutional and attitudinal changes brought about, which take time.
An important consequence of the focus on inclusion has been heightened awareness about
inclusiveness and empowerment amongst people. A greater desire to access information about
the rights and entitlements made available by law and policy, and eagerness to demand
accountability from the public delivery systems augurs well for the future.
.

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VISIONIAS ™
www.visionias.in
ROLE OF WOMEN AND WOMEN’S ORGANIZATIONS

.

All rights are reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of Vision
IAS

Student Notes:
Role of Women and Women’s Organizations

Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction........................................................................................................................ 2
2.0 The Profile of Women in India............................................................................................ 2
2.1 Social Structure, Social Processes and Women .................................................................. 3
3.0 Nature, Range and Patterns of Women’s Work.................................................................. 6
3.1 What is Women’s work?....................................................................................................... 6
3.2 Unpaid Work in Home-Based Production and Family Farms ............................................... 7
3.3 Female Child Labour............................................................................................................. 7
3.4 Paid Work ............................................................................................................................. 8
3.5 Women Workers and the Growth of Unorganized Sector ................................................. 10
4.0 Women’s Issues: A Manifestation ...................................................................................... 10
5.0 Women’s Issues: Responses ............................................................................................. 11
5.1 Women’s Movements ........................................................................................................ 11
5.1.2 Dimensions of India’s Women Movement .................................................................... 12
5.1.3 Pre-Independence Women’s Movements ..................................................................... 13
5.1.4 Post-Independence Women’s Movements ..................................................................... 17
6.0 An Analysis of Women’s Current Situation ........................................................................ 26
7.0 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 30
8.0 Appendix ............................................................................................................................ 31
8.1 Legislative Acts ................................................................................................................... 31
8.2 Constitutional Provisions for women in our constitution .................................................. 32
................................... 32
8.3 Government Response
.
8.4 Women empowerment Programs/Schemes by GoI .......................................................... 33
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1.0 Introduction
Imagine the following scenes:
(i) You are waiting for a bus at the bus stop and a young man takes out a knitting needle
and wool and starts knitting. A school girl who is also waiting for a bus climbs a
tamarind tree to look for a raw tamarind.
(ii) A couple lives in your neighbourhood. The husband stays at home and takes care of
their two-year-old daughter and manages other household chores while the wife works
in a bank as a manager.
Do these events surprise you? What reactions do you expect to hear from people with respect
to these incidents? What is so unique about these scenes / events that people have to express
their surprise or pass such comments? Why cannot a man knit or a girl climb a tree? What is
wrong if a man stays at home and takes responsibility for child care and house work? Why
cannot a woman give full time attention to her career? These images surprise people because
they are contrary to the practices, which they usually see in society. It is our culture, which has
built many stereotype images of men and women, and over a period of time most people have
come to accept it as the right image.
Women can thus be described as a social category. There have been a series of women’s issues
in terms of low access to productive resources, medical facilities, educational and employment
opportunities and various other social and economic discriminations faced by them. Women
play various roles in their lifetime ranging from a mother to that of a breadwinner but are
almost always subordinated to male authority; largely excluded from high status occupation
and decision making both at work and at home. Paradoxically, even in our Indian society where
women goddesses are worshipped, women are denied an independent identity and status.
In recent years, particularly with the rise of Women’s Liberation Movement, this discrimination
against women has been widely debated. Two main positions have emerged from this debate.
One maintains that this inequality between the sexes is based upon the biologically or
genetically based differences between men and women. This view is opposed by the argument
that gender roles are culturally determined and inequality between the sexes is a result of a
long drawn process of socialization.
2.0 The Profile of Women in India

As per World Economic Forum survey, India’s Global Gender Gap Index, 2011 ranking is 113 out
of 134 countries with neighbors like Bangladesh at 69 & China at 60.
1) Sex Ratio & Mortality Rate–Sex ratio is used to describe the number of females per
1000 of males. As per census 2011 sex ratio for India is 940 females per 1000 of males,
i.e. females form a meager 47% of the total population. The State of Haryana has the
lowest sex ratio in India and the figure shows a number of 877 of females to that of
.
1000 males while Kerala has the highest of 1084 females per 1000 males.
Mortality rate or the death rate measures the frequency of deaths. This is an
annual rate and is calculated for different age groups as number of deaths for 1000 live
births. The age-specific death rate data indicates high rate of female infant mortality (0-
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4 years) and maternal mortality (5-24 years). Can you think of reasons for such high
rates?
The life expectancy rate represents the mean life length an individual is expected to
survive given the prevailing mortality conditions. It has been observed that the chances
of longer life expectancy is higher among women during older years, whereas women
in the younger years continue to have relatively higher death rates. What do you think
are the reasons behind this kind of statistic?
2) Health - Studies on hospital admissions and records have shown that males get more
medical care compared to girls. 2% of the female population is absolute anaemic. 12%
of the female population of the country suffers from repeated pregnancy (80% of their
productive life is spent in pregnancy) & lack of nutrition.
3) Literacy - The female literacy levels according to the Literacy Rate 2011 census are
65.46% where the male literacy rate is over 80%. While Kerala has the highest female
literacy rate of 100% , Bihar is at the lowest with only 46.40%
4) Employment – Of the total female population 21.9% are a part of Indian workforce.
Majority of women are employed in the rural areas and in agriculture. Amongst rural
women workers 87% are employed in agriculture as laborers, cultivators, self-employed
like hawkers etc., i.e. in the unorganized sector which almost always remains invisible.
Despite the equal remuneration Act 1976, women are paid lower wages, occupy lower
skilled jobs, have less access to skill training and promotion.
5) Political status – Though India had a women Prime Minister Late Ms. Indira Gandhi,
women are not fairly represented in the Parliament & other State & Local bodies. With
only around 9 per cent women in upper house and around 11 per cent in the lower
house of parliament, India ranks 99th in the world in terms of female representation
among MPs.
However 73rd & 74th amendments to the constitution have ensured the participation of
women in PRIs with a reservation of 1/3rd for women. Today more than 30 million
women are actively participating in the political decision making process at the grass
root.
What are the reasons behind such a low status being accorded to women in India?
Let us explore these reasons in the social structure and social processes characterizing
Indian society.
2.1 Social Structure, Social Processes and Women
In this section let us try to understand the various structures that create the secondary status of
women and perpetuate the discrimination through various social processes.
.
i) The Caste Structure
The subordination of women was crucial to the development of caste hierarchy. The higher the
caste the greater were the constraints on women. It is observed that the development of
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gender division, based on the control of female sexuality, was integral to the formation of the
social structure.
It might be relevant to ask: What was the need to control women’s sexuality? What was it that
women’s power would endanger? How was it linked to material resources? For unravelling
these questions it is important to understand the system of caste.
To remind you, there are thousands of sub-castes regionally known as ‘jatis’. However, the pan-
Indian social hierarchy is based on the ‘varna’ hierarchy, which divides the Hindu population in
four major groups: the Brahmin (priestly caste) at the top, followed by the Khatriya (warrior
caste), then the Vaishya (commoners, usually known as trading castes) and at the bottom the
Shudra (agricultural laborers and artisan). Some who are beyond the caste hierarchy were
considered to be untouchables. The caste boundaries are maintained through strict purity –
pollution principles, rules of commensality and endogamy, commitment to caste occupation
and ascribed life-style. Ritual purity is in the nature of religious status but also coincided with
economic wealth and social esteem. That is, the upper castes own more property and the lower
castes are property less or have the least property. Over the decades the association of ritual
status and economic status has undergone change. The concept of ‘dominant caste’
demonstrates this.
Three of the major signs of purity: vegetarianism, teetotalism and tight constraints on women,
indicate that a significant degree of ritual purity comes through domestic activities. The control
on women comes from two major aspects.
1) Women’s disinheritance from immovable property, removing them from the public sphere
and limiting them to the domestic sphere in the form of seclusion.
2) Far greater control is exercised by men over women’s sexuality through arranged marriage,
child marriage, the prohibition of divorce, and strict monogamy for women, leading to sati and
a ban on widow remarriage, including infant or child widows.
These strictures were enforced most strictly by the upper castes to maintain ritual purity,
biological purity, caste supremacy and economic power. Lower caste groups attempting to
achieve upward status mobility with improvement in economic power, also imbibe upper caste
norms of constraining women’s freedom.
The ideological and material basis for maintaining the caste system was closely regulated by
religious scriptures and the patriarchal, patrilineal and patrilocal family ideology.
ii) The Institution of Family
We have learnt that family is the most important social unit in which members live in a network
of mutual ties, roles and obligations, that it is a unit of procreation, it nurtures the young and
socializes them (i.e. transmits tradition, culture, religious and social values) to enable them to
ontinuity of generations
perform various roles in the society. Family performs the function of
.
and the transmission of private property. The role of

reation is closely
intertwined with the pattern of descent and religious prescriptions/priorities. Descents are of
two types: patrilineal and matrilineal. In the patrilineal descent system the property of the
family is transmitted through the male offspring for example, father to son. In the matrilineal
system the property is transmitted through the women, for example, mother to daughter.
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At present, barring the Nair community of Kerala, the Khasis of the north-east, the Garos of the
North-eastern India, and certain tribes in the Lakshdweep, all the other communities practice
patrilineal descent system. The worship of mother goddesses is prevalent in all parts of India.
Closely connected to the patrilineality is the practice of patrilocality, i.e., the transfer of
residence of women to the village/residence/family of the husband, after marriage. The sons
stay with the father. The property laws, therefore, forbade daughters from inheriting
immovable property, since such property would pass to their husband’s family on marriage.
Instead women were given a portion of movable property (like jewellery) to take with then,
known as dowry.
This provides material reason for anxiety over the birth of daughters. Moreover, the religious
scriptures, especially the Hindu religion place a high preference for sons. According to the code
of Manu, a man could achieve merit only by protecting the purity of his wife and through her, of
his sons. A son is necessary for lighting the funeral pyre of the father, propitiating the souls of
agnatic ascendants through ‘shradha’ and thereby enabling the father and agnatic ascendants
to attain moksha (to be relieved from rebirth). The role of the women is to beget sons,
perpetuate the male descent and facilitate the performance of rituals. This hierarchy of male
and female roles create differential evaluation of children with a strong son preference on the
one hand and daughter neglect on the other, in terms of access to food, health care, education,
freedom, rights and justice. The extraordinary preoccupation of viewing the family as
harmonious, egalitarian and consensual unit, which enables the maintenance of social order,
has blindfolded sociologists from several observations relating to women. The experiences of
women within the family are different from that of men.
iii) Socialization within the Family
Socialization performs the function of transmitting culture, tradition, social values and norms.
Apart from parental socialization in the family, various agencies like the schools, peer groups,
literature and films play a role in early socialization and adult socialization. Girls and boys
receive differential socialization, which further perpetuate asymmetric roles and relationship.
Boys are equipped with higher education and skills in order to perform the ‘breadwinner’s’ role
and the girls are initiated into domestic chores at an early age, given lesser education, trained
to work hard and to develop low self-esteem. Boys receive a status of permanence as against
girls who are seen as temporary members of the family. Very few families enable their
daughters to develop an independent identity and dignity. The family ideology which
determines ‘suitability’ and ‘unsuitability’ of certain jobs for women is also reflected in job
stereotyping in labor market.
It has been observed that school books perpetuate images of mother as the ‘housewife’, father
as the ‘breadwinner’; boys playing with guns and trucks and girls playing with toys and dolls.
Though several schools encourage involvement in sports for boys and girls, there are
stereotyped patterns of playing. Boys play football, basketball and cricket and girls skip and
involve in restricted games. Media messages about women and girls perpetuate stereotyped
sexist images which enable the media industry to maintain its market.
.
iv) Class Structure and Women’s Work
Class is defined primarily by the ownership of property or capital or economic resources. In
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simple terms, in a capitalist structure hierarchy is determined by wage, relation viz., people who
work for a wage and people who hire workers for wages in rural areas, where the social,
economic and political power coincide with caste structure. The constraints on women that
vary from upper to the lower castes are reinforced by the class structure as well. Women of
upper castes/classes are secluded, and participate in activities in the domestic sphere.
Women from middle castes with medium and small holdings are more likely to work on their
own fields and in certain cases work for wages. Women from artisan castes/classes contribute
to the home-based production. The women from the lower castes, also the property less ones,
was laborers. They belong to the bottom of the hierarchy where seclusion and restriction on
mobility are not practiced.
In the urban context, where there is a transition to non-agricultural occupations (from an

‘ascribed’ to ‘achieved’ status situation) the upper castes form the predominant group among
middle classes. Women of this class emerged from seclusion during the century to acquire
education and employment. The important aspect is that the economic dependence on men is
broken. However, this did not drastically change the subordination of women. The class
structure appears to build upon the existing gender hierarchy in the caste structure. The family
within the class structure also derives status from women’s education and employment.
Women perform status – maintaining and enhancing activities to the family – as educated
housewives, mothers and earners. Advertisements in matrimonial columns are ample evidence
of this trend. The family concern in this context is with the kind, quality and purpose of
women’s education, limiting the type and level of employment, and in retaining the
requirement that women perform domestic roles as well as paid employment.
In the next section, we shall explore the nature, range and patterns of women’s work.
Women’s subordination is entrenched in the caste and class hierarchies which have to be
understood. Otherwise, women’s issues will be misunderstood as mere cultural accidents and
violence on women as stray incidents.
3.0 Nature, Range and Patterns of Women’s Work

In this section we shall be dealing with the various components of women’s work. Women do
various types of work. Their household work remains mostly invisible and unrecognised. Here it
is essential to categorise various types of work done by women in terms of paid and unpaid
work. This will give us a broad idea to understand the significance of women’s work both in the
family and in the society. Let us begin with the nature of women’s work.
3.1 What is Women’s work?
Women were the major producer of food, textiles and handicrafts throughout human history
and continue to provide a major labour input where production is still in the small scale
subsistence sector.
.
Defining the exact nature, scope and magnitude of women’s work remains a problem area
because a good deal of women’s work is either invisible or is only partially accounted for in the
data on workforce participation.
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Components of women’s work include housework, paid and unpaid work related to home-
based craft activities, family enterprise or business and paid work outside home. You must have
observed differential work participation of men, women and children within the family both in
quantitative and qualitative terms. The kind of work women do is determined by women’s
position in the society and family’s location in the social hierarchy.
The basic elements of women’s work within the home are related to the division of labour
between men and women. Activities included under ‘housework’ broadly differ according to
age, gender, income, occupational group, location (rural/urban), size and structure of the
family.
3.2 Unpaid Work in Home-Based Production and Family Farms
Economists distinguish between production for self-consumption and production for the
market. Only the latter is counted as ‘work’. The parameters of work used in official data reflect
this bias. Much of the work that women do in household industries and processing of
agricultural products, if unpaid, is not recognised as ‘work’ in the data systems.
In rural areas the women from the poorer households engage in various activities such as
cooking, processing of food for household consumption, storing grains, childcare, fetching
fuelwood, fodder and water, collection of forest produce, preparation of cow dung cakes, care
of livestock and cattle and house repair and maintenance. Much of this work, which is
important for the maintenance of families, is largely done by women. However, this work is
unpaid and is not accounted for as productive work as it is meant for self-consumption. The
conventional definition of ‘work’ does not include activities, which are of ‘use-value’ and do not
have ‘exchange-value’.
In the agricultural sector small and marginal farmer households utilise family labour as they
cannot hire labour like big landlords. In the non-agricultural sector such as handicrafts,
handloom weaving, pottery, food preservation and processing etc., a large proportion of
women are home-based workers.
Activities like dairying, small animal husbandry (poultry, piggery, goatery etc.) fisheries,
weaving, handicrafts, are family activities and every member assists in some aspects of
production. A major part of the work is done within the home and yet a woman is not accorded
the status of a worker. Non-valuation of women’s unpaid work within the home results in non-
recognition of women’s crucial economic contribution.
3.3 Female Child Labour
Girls continue to provide free labour in home-based production. Studies on rural girl child
labour show that she works nine hours a day providing goods and services, which keep her out
of school. She works on an average 318 days a year in the fields and at home providing free
labour.
.
More girls are being inducted into work while more boys are sent to school thus widening the
gap between boy’s and girl’s opportunities. They are employed in agricultural and related
industries in large numbers. Girls are also employed in large numbers in carpet industry of
Kashmir, in lock making in Aligarh, in gem polishing in Jaipur, in match industry in Sivakasi and in
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bidi rolling. In match industry of Sivakasi, ninety per cent child workers are girls under the age
of fourteen. They work under hazardous condition.
Female children working in home based industries are beyond the purview of child labour laws.
These laws are not enforced even in factory based industries. Even in piece-rate system, her
labour is seen as an extension of her mother’s labour and is not given an independent value.
Such work cuts them off from schooling, literacy, learning technical skills and improving their
job prospects. These handicaps remain insurmountable throughout the life.
3.4 Paid Work
Women also work for wages in fields, forests, mines, factories, offices, small-scale and
household industries. The nature and extent of such work differs according to the location of
family in the social hierarchy. In the rural sector the subsistence work burden falls heavily on
women, while in higher castes and higher income groups ‘non-work’ of women is given more
value. Many micro studies have reported inverse relationship between income level of the
household and nature of women’s work participation. Women in the subsistence sector have no
option but to work. However, their options are limited as they are non-entrants or drop-outs
from school. They are often the primary breadwinners of the family, but the ideological bias
views men as the primary breadwinner of the family. Let us examine some other important
aspects of women’s paid employment.
i) Education, Paid Employment and Household Responsibilities
The spread of education among the middle and upper class women has opened up new
avenues of employment. However, we are to keep in mind here that education does not
necessarily lead to employment. On the one hand, illiteracy among the majority of women in
the lower socio-economic group constitutes a major barrier to increasing and diversifying work
and training opportunities.
On the other hand, pre-defined roles, ideology and labour market forces in a labour surplus
economy effectively restrict women’s work opportunity among educated women of certain
sectors. (Studies have shown wastage of skill and ability among women scientists and degree
holders.)
In middle class families, women work for improving or maintaining the standard of living of the
family or to provide a cushion against rising cost of living. Working outside home on the same
terms and conditions, as men, does not absolve them from their domestic responsibilities. The
dual burden of work creates physical, mental and emotional strain. Very few women may be
lucky to get domestic help or kin-support. One of the consequences of double burden may be
delayed promotions or sacrificing new job opportunities due to family responsibilities.
Employment by itself does not guarantee equal sharing of work at home or better status of
women.
ii) Agricultural and Industrial Sectors

.
Gender inequalities exist in all sectors. Inequalities are reflected in distribution of women
workers in different sectors, in job hierarchies and in wages and earnings between men and
women.
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In the latter half of the twentieth century there was very little structural change in women’s
employment. The proportion of female agricultural workers which was less than one-third of
the total workforce in 1951 rose to more than fifty per cent, which means greater dependence
on agriculture sector. In 1993-94, as many as 86.2 percent female workers were engaged in the
primary sector, which includes agriculture and allied sector such as forestry, livestock etc., in the
rural areas. Within agriculture they mostly work as agricultural labourers or cultivators.
Industrialisation has created more work opportunities for a small section of educated women
but at the same time has reduced work opportunities for unskilled women workers who were
the traditional workers in textiles, jute, mines etc. Women workers are concentrated in
plantations (seventy two per cent), food products, tobacco and textiles, cane and bamboo
work, silk worm, rearing coir products, domestic services, education and health services. The
high concentration of women in household industries rather than factory-based production
affects their status as workers with no control on their labour and earnings.
iii) Women in Services and Professions
As far as women in services and professions are concerned there is no wage discrimination but
they are concentrated in certain types of jobs like teachers, nurses, typists and stenographers
and very few occupy higher positions in administration, business, technical jobs and
professions.
Despite impressive increase in the number of educated women in urban areas the gap between
men and women in the services and professions is large. The reasons are many. Some of them
are given below.
a) Girls are generally socialised for their domestic roles.

b) Less investment in the vocational and technical training of girls and female and male
stereotypes determine attitude to work and differential expectations from girls
education, which is rarely seen as an investment for future. In the middle class families
it is seen as a contingency to be drawn on in times of need.
c) Higher concentration of girls is found in humanities and social sciences rather than
vocational and technical courses.
d) There is less physical mobility among women after marriage.
iv) Earning Differentials
Earning differential has been a crucial feature of women’s paid employment. The division of
labour between men and women works against women. An expression of discrimination against
women in labour market is wage differential. They not only get unequal pay for equal work but
many jobs that women do are categorised as low skilled jobs for which lower wages are paid.
For example, men usually do weaving which is better paid while spinning, usually done by
women, is low paid. In construction also men are supposed to do skilled jobs and women do
unskilled work and get lower wages. Sexual divisions of labour and lower duration of women’s
n average are found to reflected into lower wages for women.
work are
.
both
earn only sixty percent of male wage for full time work. Wage differentials exist in
agricultural and non-agricultural occupations. Earning differentials also reflect differences in
skill acquisition, education and training.
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3.5 Women Workers and the Growth of Unorganized Sector
A majority of women are working in the rural and urban unorganized sector without the
protection of labour legislation regarding wages, hours of work, working conditions, health and
maternity benefits and childcare services. Those women workers include agricultural and
construction labourers, women in dairying, small animal husbandry, fisheries, forestry,
handlooms and handicrafts, small vendors and hawkers selling vegetables and food items,
washer-women, scavengers, domestic servants, crafts workers and piece-rate workers in home
based production. The labour force in this sector is characterised by higher incidence of casual
labour and intermittent nature of work, low wages, and low capital incentives.
In 1988, a National Commission on Self-Employed Women and Women in the Informal Sector
carried out a comprehensive analysis of the problem of these workers and suggested to
undertake concrete actions for their protection and organisation. According to an estimate of
the Commission 94% of the total women labour force were in the unorganised sector. The
Commission produced a report entitled ‘Shram Shakti’, which made a number of important
recommendations for legislative changes for the benefit of women.
4.0 Women’s Issues: A Manifestation

There are different forms of violence on women, which act as threats to women’s independent
identity and dignity. Some forms of violence are:
1) Female foeticide & infanticide- According to a survey by British medical journal, Lancet,
nearly 10 million female abortions have taken place in India in the last 20 years, which
is rampant amongst the educated Indian middle class as well.
There are organizations like Swanchetan, which are working towards educating &
bringing awareness in people against the ghastly act.
2) Rape, sexual harassment & abuse- It acts as a deterrent to women’s freedom &
perpetuates the notion that women are the weaker sex. Every 2 hours, a rape occurs
somewhere in India!
The recent Dec. 16 Delhi Gang rape case, shook the entire country and led to protests
all across the country, setting up of Justice Verma panel & helped in the fast track
judgment of the case. However rampant cases of rape of Dalit women, acid attacks, eve
teasing go unnoticed.
3) Domestic violence and dowry deaths- Violence on women in the family were
considered family problems and were never acknowledged as “crimes against women”
until recently. It is prevalent in all classes of society.
4) Prostitution- A large number of women destitute or victims of rape who are disowned
by family fall prey to prostitution forcibly. There are no governmental programs to
alleviate the problem of prostitution.
5) Objectification of women
n(Prohibition) Act, 1986
.
prohibits indecent representation of women through advertisements or in publications,

writings, paintings etc. However a whole lot of indecent representation of women is
done through literature, media, paintings etc upholding the “right to freedom of
expression”.
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5.0 Women’s Issues: Responses
5.1 Women’s Movements

The roots of the Indian women’s movement go back to the nineteenth century male social
reformers who took up issues concerning women and started women’s organizations. Women
started forming their own organization from the end of the nineteenth century first at the local
and then at the national level. In the years before independence, the two main issues they took
up were political rights and reform of personal laws. Women’s participation in the freedom
struggle broadened the base of the women’s movement.
In post-independence India, large number of women’s autonomous groups have sprung up

challenging patriarchy and taking up a variety of issues such as violence against women, greater
share for women in political decision making, etc. both at the activist and academic level. India
has a rich and vibrant women’s movement but it has still a long way to go to achieve gender
equality and gender justice
Within the women’s movement there have been divergent understandings of patriarchal
oppression and its outcomes and, therefore, also varied strategies to combat it. Some
organizations have been small intellectual groups while there have been some that have had
mass support. Some have emerged in support of certain causes or for the purpose of a focussed
campaign, while there are some that have existed for years with evolving agendas. The
ideologies also vary from radical, liberal, socialist, Marxist and Gandhian, to the new
fundamentalist.
5.1.1 Women’s Movement as a Social Movement
Conventionally social movements are viewed as intended and organized collective actions
based on certain defined aims, methodology for collective mobilization, distinct ideology,
identified leadership and organization. A social movement involves collective action that is
distinct from individual action. A collective action becomes a social movement when it becomes
somewhat sustained, as distinct from sporadic occurrence. This collective action, however, does
not need to be formally organized. But it should be able to create an interest and awakening in
a sufficiently large number of people. Thus a social movement essentially involves sustained
collective mobilization through either informal or formal organization. Besides collective
mobilization, social movement is generally oriented towards bringing about change, either
partial or total, in the existing system of relationships, values and norms. Moreover the
individuals indulging in collective mobilization do so based on their common identity and
interests. In a social movement the actor’s collective identity is linked to his/her understanding
of the social situation. Based on collective identity, a social movement can be said as a
collective actor constituted by individuals who understand themselves to have common interest
and, at some significant part of their existence, a common identity. The social movements are
categorized differently based on a number of criteria, such as the consequence of movements,
the locus of the movement, the c
at take part in the
movement, the scale and spatial spread of the movement etc. Nonetheless, it is necessary to
.
emphasize here that any classification only helps to identify the main features of the movement
and it is relative to a particular phase of the movement. In the case of a women’s movement,
on top of all other classifications, gender becomes the collective identity of the majority of
those who take part in the movement.
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The women’s movement, like other social movements, brings about or intends to bring about a
change in the existing social structure. The social change that result from a movement may be
seen first in terms of the changes in the positions of the concerned section of a movement and
secondly in terms of their impact on the wider society. One of the consequences of the
women’s movement has been the infusion of a keen sensitivity on the question of women’s
oppression and their contribution to all spheres of life and study.
5.1.2 Dimensions of India’s Women Movement
Unlike the women’s movement in the West, the Indian women’s movement began in the
shadow of colonial rule and the commitment to attain freedom from colonial rule. Thus the
Indian women’s movement transcended the limited gender framework unlike the women’s
liberation struggles in the other parts of the world, especially in the West where the principal
purpose was to address the relationship between women and men in the private and public
spheres. Questions of independence and of freedom from the colonial power were inextricably
linked with the consciousness of the Indian women’s movement, a consciousness of women in
relation to the larger society, not only to men.
Since the late 19th century Indian society, witnessed an active feminist movement. The early
attempts at reforming the conditions under which Indian women lived were mainly carried out
by western educated middle and high-class men. Soon they were joined by the women of their
families and of families of a similar background. These women along with the men began
organized movements fighting against the oppressive social practices such as female infanticide,
sati, child marriage, laws prohibiting widow remarriage, etc.
The public participation of these women of middle and high caste and class background led to
the birth of women’s organizations in the early 20th century. They began fighting for the status
and rights of women but this task was unambiguously located within the agenda of the
freedom struggle as a whole. Apart from the national movement as a whole, the bourgeoisie
liberals who mainly constituted the leadership of the women’s movement of the period were
also concerned with communalism and the legacy of partition, the enormous violence that
accompanied Independence. Women’s organizations had to engage frontally with victims of
violence, with communalism, and with divisions among women on the basis of their religious
communities.
Another strand in the women’s movement developed roughly around this time. The Left-radical
tendency was shaped in women’s movement by their activities among women of the working
class. Women with left political orientations organized and this movement rapidly grew and
developed structured links with the organized Left political parties. Women with Left political
leanings were involved in working class and revolutionary peasant struggles, such as the
struggle in Telangana.
After Independence, many of the bourgeois-liberal trend believed that once Independence was
unity to address
achieved the new framework of power would gi
women’s problems. Thus women needed to be represented within the system and the status
.
quo, and their concerns adequately articulated, after which their demands would be met. What
the bourgeois liberal women’s movement, then principally affiliated to the Congress, wanted
was a level playing field for women (Brinda Karat 1997). Late 1960s and early 1970s witnessed
the resurgence of women’s movement, which was a repercussion of the problems that cropped
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up at the national front and the women’s active mobilizations at the international front. Left
women’s mobilizations could organize women from all walks of life successfully around women
particular issues that concern women specifically and at the same time the society as a whole,
for example, struggles such as anti price-rise etc.
The struggle against the Emergency saw the rise of many new women’s groups, which rejected
the politics of earlier women’s organizations. These groups sprang up as part of the movement
for democracy and against gender discrimination and later emerged as autonomous
organizations without any explicit party affiliations though many of them were drawn from
political parties. They mainly intended to raise feminist issues in mass organizations such as
trade unions or kisan samitis. Many autonomous groups, which were mostly women-only
groups, without party affiliations and conventional hierarchical organizational structures,
formed.
The women’s movement of the late 1970s and early 1980s were dominated by such
autonomous women’s groups, which are mostly city based. At the same time feminist
consciousness had taken place in some of the rural movements too. Independent women’s
wing formed in some of the movements to represent women’s issues such as wife beating. Thus
we can say Indian Women Movement witnessed three tendencies in terms of their affiliations
bourgeoisie liberals, left radicals and autonomous groups.
5.1.3 Pre-Independence Women’s Movements
The roots of the Indian women’s movement go back to the early nineteenth century when
social reformers, beginning with Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833), began to focus on issues
concerning women. Following them, improving the condition of women became the first tenet
of the Indian social reform movement. Women’s inferior status, enforced seclusion, early
marriage, condition of widows and lack of education were facts documented by reformers
throughout the country. However, women’s movement is linked to both social reform
movements & the nationalist movement.
5.1.3.1 Socio-Religious Reform Movement
Women’s Organizations Started by Men
Men who belonged to the socio religious reform associations began the first organization for
women. They are mentioned as follows:
1) Brahmo Samaj: It was founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy in 1825 & attempted to abolish
restrictions and prejudices against women, which included child marriage, polygamy,
limited rights to inherit property. Education was seen as the major factor to improve
the position of women.
nter-caste marriage,  Civil Marriage Act, 1872

.
legalized divorce and fixed 14 and 18 as the minimum age of marriage for girls
and boys respectively
 Raja Ram Mohan Roy played an important role in getting Sati abolished
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2) Prarthana Samaj: It was founded by MG Ranade & RG Bhandarker in 1867. Its

objectives were more or less similar to that of Brahmo samaj but remained confined to
western India. Justice Ranade criticized child marriage, polygamy, restriction on
remarriage of widows and non access to education.
3) Arya Samaj: It was founded by Dayanand Saraswati in 1875. Unlike the above two it
was a religious revivalist movement, revitalizing the ancient Hindu traditions. It
advocated reform in the caste system, compulsory education for men and women,
prohibition of child marriage by law, remarriage of child widows. It was opposed to
divorce & widow remarriage in general.
4) Social reformers mentioned above eulogized the position of women in ancient India.
However radicals like Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, Jyotibha Phule and Lokhitwadi Gopal
Hari Deshmukh accused the caste system responsible for the subjugation of women in
society.
5) Similar movements began in Islamic community as well. Begum of Bhopal, Syed Ahmad
Khan & Sheikh Abdullah in Aligarh and Karmat Hussain in Lucknow spearheaded a
movement to improve women’s education.
The male-inspired and male-guided organizations for women did valuable work in educating
women and giving them their first experience with public work. While the men wanted their
women to be educated and take part in public activities, they regarded the home as the
primary focus for women. Gender equality was never an agenda for any of the movements
mentioned above. They had a very limited perspective of changing the position of women
within the family through education, as education would improve women’s efficiency as
housewives and mothers!
Women’s Organization Started by Women
By the end of the nineteenth century, a few women emerged from within the reformed families
who formed organizations of their own. One of the first to do so was Swarnakumari Devi,
daughter of Devendranath Tagore, a Brahmo leader, and sister of the poet Rabindranath Tagore,
who formed the Ladies Society in Calcutta in 1882 for educating and imparting skills to widows
and other poor women to make them economically self-reliant. She edited a women journal,
Bharati, thus earning herself the distinction of being the first Indian woman editor.
In the same year, Ramabai Saraswati formed the Arya Mahila Samaj in Pune and a few years
later started the Sharda Sadan in Bombay. The National Conference was formed at the third
session of the Indian National Congress in 1887 to provide a forum for the discussion of social
issues. The Bharat Mahila Parishad was the women’s wing of this and was inaugurated in 1905.
It focused on child marriage, condition of widows, dowry and other “evil” customs. The Parsis,
the Muslims and the Sikhs all formed their own women’s organizations.
Women in Calcutta, Bombay, Madras

associations whose
members were drawn from among a small group of urban educated families. They were useful
.
in bringing women out of their homes, giving them an opportunity to meet other women, doing
philanthropic work, encouraging them to take an interest in public affairs and thus broadening
their horizon. It also gave them the experience of managing an organization.
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National Women’s Organization
The early women’s organizations had been confined to a locality or city. In 1910, Sarala Devi
Chaudhurani, daughter of Swarnakumari Devi formed the Bharat Stree Mandal (Great Circle of
India Women) with the object of bringing together “women of all castes, creeds, classes and
parties… on the basis of their common interest in the moral and material progress of the
women of India.” It planned to open branches all over India to promote women’s education.
Branches were started in different cities such as Lahore, Amritsar, Allahabad, Hyderabad, Delhi,
Karachi and other cities. Purdah was regarded by Sarala Devi as the main obstacle for women’s
education and teachers were sent round to women’s homes to educate them. She wanted
women to escape male domination and so only women were allowed to join her organization.
The Bharat Stree mahila Mandal however proved to be a short lived venture.
5.1.3.2 National Freedom Movement
“Women is the companion of man gifted with equal mental capacities”
-Mahatma Gandhi
While on the one hand women’s organizations were fighting for women’s political and
economic rights and trying to improve their position by education and social reform, women’s
struggle entered a new phase with the arrival of Mahatma Gandhi on the Indian political scene.
Women had been associated with the freedom struggle before that too. They had attended
sessions of the Indian National Congress and taken part in the Swadeshi movement in Bengal,
1905-11 and in the Home Rule Movement. But the involvement of really large number of
women in the national movement began when Gandhiji launched the first Non Co-operation
Movement and gave a special role to women. Peasant women played an important role in the
rural satyagrahas of Borsad and Bardoli. Women participated in the Salt satyagraha, in the Civil
Disobedience Movement, in the Quit India Movement and in all the Gandhian satyagrahas.
They held meetings, organized processions, picketed shops selling foreign cloth and liquor and
went to jail. Gandhiji took interest in collective mobilization of women to fight for political
freedom as well as for their social and political rights. He felt that women were most suited for
Satyagraha as they have great qualities appropriate for non-violent struggle.
While thousands of women joined the freedom movement in response to Gandhi’s call, there
were others who could not accept his creed of non-violence and joined revolutionary or
terrorist groups. Their hatred of the British was intense and their plan was to make attempts on
European lives as widely as possible. They believed in individual acts of heroism not in building
a mass movement.
Women participated in the freedom movement because they were inspired by patriotism and
wanted to see the end of foreign rule. It is debatable as to how far this participation liberated
them. Women’s participation in the freedom movement did not lead to a separate autonomous
women’s movement since it was part of the anti-colonial movement. While women who
picketed
did not question male shops, marched in processions or went to
.
leadership or patriarchal values, it did generate in them a sense of self-confidence and a

realization of their own strength. Many returned to their homes but others continued their
activities in the public arena. It transformed the lives of many young widows such as Durgabai
Deshmukh or Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya. Women won respect for their courage and the large
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numbers in which they participated in the freedom struggle. The first woman to participate in
the nationalist movement during salt march was Sarojini Naidu who later became the first
woman president of the Congress.
Women’s participation in the national movement helped in breaking several of the old barriers
of tradition and custom. Women’s organization side by side raised their voices for removal of
social injustice meted to them, which resulted in passing of the resolution on Fundamental
Right of equal rights for both the sexes at the Karachi session of the Indian National Congress in
1930. The declaration reads as follows:
1. All citizens are equal before the law, irrespective of religion, caste, creed or sex.
2. No disability attaches to any citizen, by reason of his or her religion, caste, creed or sex,
in regard to public employment, office of power or honour, and in the exercise of any
trade or calling.
3. The franchise shall be on the basis of universal adult suffrage.
4. Woman shall have the right to vote, to represent and the right to hold public offices.
(Report of the Sub-Committee, ‘Woman’s Role in Planned Economy’, 1947: 37-38).
Agrarian Struggles and Revolts
It is often assumed that only middle class educated women are involved in social movements.
Part of the struggle has been to remember the forgotten history of women’s participation.
Women participated along with men in struggles and revolts originating in tribal and rural areas
in the colonial period. The Tebhaga movement in Bengal, the Telangana arms struggle from the
erstwhile Nizam’s rule, and the Warli tribal’s revolt against bondage in Maharashtra are some
examples.
Women in Labour Movement
In 1917 Anasuya Sarabhai had led the Ahmedabad textile workers’ strike and in 1920 under her
leadership the Majoor Mahajan, the Ahmedabad textile mill workers union was established. By
the late 1920s, the presence of women in the workers’ movement was noticeable. There were
several prominent women unionists and women workers were consciously organized and a
special role was given to them in the workers’ movement. Bombay was the center of this
development and Maniben Kara emerged as the socialist leader of railway workers and Ushabai
Dange and Parvati Bhore as Communist leaders of textile workers. In the 1928-29 Bombay
textile mill workers’ strike, women played a leading role, as they did in the Calcutta strike during
the same years.
Other Major Organizations
The early 20th century saw the growth of women’s organisations at a national and local level.
The Women’s India Association (WIA) (1917), All India Women’s Conference (AIWC) (1926),
National Council for Women in India (NCWI) (1925) are ready names that we can mention. The
Women’s India Association (WIA) was formed in 1917 by Margaret Cousins, an Irish and an
.
Indian nationalist. This was followed by the formation of the National Council of Indian Women
(NCIW) in 1926 and All India Women’s Conference (AIWC) in 1927. The first of all India women’s
organisation came into existence in 1926, with the setting up of the National Council for
Women in India(NCWI). The NCWI aimed at securing women’s rights through social reforms and
women’s and children’s welfare. The All India Women’s Conference (AIWC) was set up in 1927
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in Poona. Its members were primarily women from the upper and upper-middle classes and
princely families, women members of the Indian National Congress Party, the Communist Party,
professional women like doctors and educationalists, and social workers. The AIWC took up the
questions of women’s education, and it was at its initiative that the Lady Harding College for
women was set up in Delhi in 1932. It also organized a large number of literacy schools and
handicraft centres, which helped women from poor families learn basic skills in order to earn
and be relatively independent economically.
A significant concern for women’s group in this period, in particular the AIWC, was the
campaign against child marriage. As a result of this struggle the Sarada Act was passed in 1929,
fixing the age of marriage at fourteen for girls and eighteen for boys. In the 1930’s the AIWC
directed its energies towards fighting for women’s equal rights in inheritance and marriage, and
reforms in the personal laws of different communities. Jyoti Singh in Gujarat (1934) played an
active role in harnessing energies of women. Several women active in the nationalist movement
became founders of women’s organizations. While many of them began with a limited focus,
their scope extended over time. For instance, the AIWC began with the idea that ‘women’s
welfare’ and ‘politics’ were mutually exclusive. Few years later the Presidential address stated,
“…Can the Indian man or woman be free if India be a slave? How can we remain dumb about
national freedom, the very basis of all great reforms?” (Chaudhuri 1993: 149)
It can be argued that this period of activity (as a freedom movement) did not constitute a social
movement. It can be argued otherwise too. Let us recall some of the features that characterise
social movements. It did have organisations, ideology, leadership, a shared understanding and
the aim of bringing about changes on a public issue. What they succeeded together was to
create an atmosphere where the women’s question could not be ignored.
5.1.4 Post-Independence Women’s Movements
In the post-Independence period a series of institutional initiative has been introduced for the
emancipation of women in the society. The most important of these pertain to the
constitutional provisions and social legislation for women and planned economic development.
Women’s movement has been widely influenced by these broad socio-economic and political
processes of this period.
Let us examine briefly a few important aspects of these processes and the manner they have
affected women’s movement in the latter half of the twentieth century.
5.1.4.1 Constitutional Provisions and Social Legislation
The Constitution of independent India followed the basic principle of women’s equality as
accepted in the Fundamental Rights Resolution of the Karachi Congress. The provision of Article
15(3), which empowered the state to make special provisions for women and children, suggests
that there was a realization of women’s disadvantaged position and the need for the state to
enact special measures to bring them at par with men.
.
During freedom movement it was felt that with the nation’s Independence would disappear
many of the disabilities, and problems of women attributed to colonial rule. The national
government undertook to remove the legal disabilities suffered by women and initiated major
reforms in Hindu family laws. The legal reforms in the 1950s sought to provide greater rights to
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Hindu women in marriage, inheritance and guardianship. However, they failed to bridge the gap
between legal and social realities. Similar changes in the family laws of other communities like
Muslims, Christians, Parsis and Jews, have not yet come up due to political resistance despite
the Directive Principle of State Policy clearly stating the need for uniform laws for all the
communities.
With these legislative measures in the fifties women’s organisation became passive and lost the
vigour shown during the pre-Independence period. Several of these organisations received
government grants and their activities were shaped by the grants they received for activities
like adult education, nutrition programmes for children, tailoring classes under vocational
training programmes and family planning programmes. Most of these organisations were urban
based and the leadership came from the educated middle and upper class women.
In the post-Independence period, two important organisations for rural women were set up,
i.e., Kasturba Memorial Trust and Bharatiya Grameen Mahila Sangh(Indian Rural Women’s
Organisation). Their main objective was to assist the rural women in developing leadership
potential.
5.1.4.2 Planned Development and Women’s Issues
In the post-Independence period it was assumed that economic development policies i.e.,
agriculture development and modernization, industrialization, technological development etc.,
will bring about better life for everyone including women. The overall growth strategies failed
to take note of the existing class, caste and gender inequalities. Planned development in India
increased socio-economic inequalities. Let us discuss the observation in more detail.
The Five Year Plans
From Welfare to Development to Empowerment
Over the year the planning strategies (line of action) for women have shifted from Welfare to
Development and to Empowerment. it is this shift which needs to be critically examined if we
wish to understand the role of the state in women's empowerment.
First to Fifth Five Year plans
The approach of the First Five Year Plan (1951-56) was to provide adequate services to promote
the welfare of women so as to enable them to play their legitimate role in family and
community. Here, the emphasis was on welfare and hence women were treated as mere
recipients of incentives, which the state chose to give. The plan called for setting up of special
organizations both at the central and state levels for promoting the welfare of women. The
Central Social Welfare Board was set up in 1953. It has its branches in the states. These boards
y with a thrust have
on (with
been supporting and conducting a number of programmes, ma
.
an emphasis on) economic advancement.
The approach of the Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Five Year Plans was in no way different
from that of the First Five Year Plan. The welfare approach still guided policies and programmes,
which were launched for women's development. Only two special schemes were introduced
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during this period. These were, the condensed Course of Education and Women and Socio-
Economic Programme introduced during the second plan (1956-61) and Working Girls Hostels
and Short Stay Homes introduced during the Fourth Plan (1969-74).
Towards Equality- A Report, which Actually Set the Government and Voluntary Groups
Thinking.
Conceding to the representations made by the international women’s movement, the United
Nations declared 1975–1985 as the International Decade of the Woman and organised the
World Conference on Women in Mexico (1975). The World Plan of Action formulated during the
Conference stressed the need for research, documentation and analyses into processes in
society that create structures of gender inequalities. In India, the National Committee on the
Status of Women had been set up to examine the status of women in the country and to
investigate into the extent to which the constitutional and legal provisions had impacted on
women’s status including their employment and education.
The Committee was the first major attempt to review and evaluate data on various aspects of
women’s status. It was also empowered to comment on the directions of change in women’s
roles, rights and opportunities due to development.
The Committee came out with its findings in the form of a report, popularly known as the
Towards Equality Report (1974), which became a major landmark for the women’s movement.
The beginnings of the women’s movement in India, has often been traced back to this report.
The report revealed the deplorable condition of women in the country evident from
demographic data, an analysis of the socio-cultural conditions prevalent, the legal provisions
and safeguards, economic role played by women in all sectors, women’s access to education,
political participation, the policies and programmes for welfare and development, the impact of
mass media, etc.
This Report, paved the way for serious thinking on the status of women in different social
institutions in India, because it showed that women far behind men in enjoying the equal rights
conferred on them by them by the constitution. This Report led to a debate in the parliament
and showed the failure of the welfare approach, which treated women as recipients of benefits
and not as equal partners in the development efforts.
The report also made several recommendations which included stressing the important role of
the State and the community in the achievement of ‘gender equality’. It highlighted the need
for a concerted effort to eradicate oppressive practices such as dowry, polygamy, bigamy, child
marriage, ostentatious expenditure on weddings, and it emphasised the need for a campaign
on legal awareness, the provisions of crèches, better working conditions for women including
equal remuneration for equal work, the compulsory registration of marriages, law reform on
aspects concerning divorce, maintenance, inheritance, adoption, guardianship maternity
benefits, the universalisation of education, etc.
The new consciousness that emerged after the publication of Toward Equality has to the setting
.
up of the Women's Welfare's and Development Bureau in 1976 under the Ministry of Social
Welfare. Four Separate working groups on employment of Women, Adult Education
Programmes for Women, Women in Agriculture and Rural Development were also up to work
out strategies for action.
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The Committee on the Status of Women in India was of the view that planners, government
officials, employers and trade union leaders perpetuated the middle class perceptions of
women’s primary role as the homemaker and not as the bread winner. Such a view ignores the
realities of millions of women in the poorer sections in rural and urban areas, who work for the
survival of the family. Millions of rural women work hard on family farms and within the home
as unpaid workers, collect fuel, fodder and water, work as artisans, craftworkers (weaving, cane
and bamboo works etc.) with their men but are recognised as helpers and not as workers.
When they work as wage labourers they are invariably paid less wages than men. The
Government passed the Equal Remuneration Act (1976), however, it remains ineffective.
The report reiterated the constitutional goal of a Uniform Civil Code for the country. It might be
pertinent to say, albeit briefly, at this juncture, that much of these recommendations are yet to
see the light and there remains much to be implemented although a quarter century has
passed. The report of the National Commission for Women in 2002, Towards Equality: The
Unfinished Agenda, the Status of Women in India 2001 laments this (GOI 2002).
Sixth Five Year Plan: The Shift from Welfare to Development
From the Sixth Plan (1980-85) onwards, a marked shift took place from the Welfare to a
Development approach. How are the two different? While the welfare approach treated
women as beneficiaries or recipients of benefits, the development approach recognized women
as participants in development and not as development targets. It was not enough to introduce
a few women specific schemes, but there was need to strive for an all-round development of
women. Look at the examples given below:
Example 1: A women in the village was given tailoring lessons under one of the government
schemes. But, she had no other means of economic needed to open a small tailoring business.
So her training was going waste. She was treated as a target of a welfare programme and
afterwards nobody asked her what she really wanted. This is an example of the welfare
approach with fixed targets.
Example 2: Before sanctioning women's development programme in a village, a meeting of the

women who were residents of the village was called. They were asked to name a few
programme which they thought would be helpful to them to better their economic status. They
were also asked to give suggestions as to how best these programmes could be implemented.
Since the women identified the setting up of a milk- cooperative and basket weaving as their
priorities, the development agency started a milk co-operative and provided the initial funding.
Training in basket weaving, especially keeping the market needs in view was also given. In this
case women were not treated simply as beneficiaries or receivers of a welfare programme, but
they were consulted about their choice of a programme and also involved in managing the
programme. This is an example of the development approach.
Towards the end of the Sixth Five Year Plan i.e., Plan i.e., in 1985, the Department of Women
and Child Development was set up as part of the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
This Department was created to function as a central agency to formulate and implement plans,
.
policies and programmes for the development of women and children.
The Seventh Five Year Plan
The Seventh Five Year Plan (1985-1990) laid emphasis on generation (creation) of employment
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opportunities for women. Two new schemes-Support to Training and Employment (STEP) and
Awareness Generation Programme for Rural and poor Women (AGP) were introduced. Three
important Reports, which were to serve as useful guidelines for future development
programmes of the government were also released during the seventh plan period. These
were:
 Sharma Shakti (Report of the National commission on Self-Employed Women and
Women in the Informal Sector).
 National Perspective Plan on Women in (1988-2000).
 SAARC Guide Book on Women in Development.
The Decade 1990-2000 was declared as the SAARC decade of the Girl Child and as part of this
event, programmes laying special thrust on (giving special importance to the ) the overall
development of girl children were launched.
Landmarks (highlights) of the Eighth Plan
The Eighth plan period also saw a revolutionary amendment to the Constitution of India, which
provided for the reservation of one-third of the seats in Panchayat raj institutions and urban
local self-governing bodies such as municipalities and corporations to women. The 73rd and
74th constitutional amendments, which made this reservation possible, have gone down in the
in the history of women's empowerment in India as a 'democratic revolution'. Today, there are
more than 40.000 women in local governing bodies across the country, a phenomenon (an
occurrence), which would never have been possible, if a provision for reservation of 1/3 seats
for women had not been made.
From Development to Empowerment-The Ninth Five Year Plan
It was during of the Ninth Five Year plan (1997-2002) that two significant development took
place in the framework (outline) for chalking out women's development programmes. Hitherto,
women were either being treated as target for development programmes or as participants.
But not much attention was paid for creating an environment that would enable women to
exercise their rights or enjoying their freedom. The Ninth Plan put forth the concept of
Empowerment, which would create an enabling environment where, women can experience
freedom not just in letter, but also in action. To achieve this goal, a National Policy for the
Empowerment of Women was accepted by the Government of India in 2001. The second
significant development, which took place during the Ninth Plan period was the adoption of a
Women’s Component Plan. This plan directed both the Central and State governments to
earmark (set apart) at least 30 per cent of the funds/benefits in all sectors for women's
development.
Women's Empowerment Year, 2001
The Government of India declared 2001 as the year of Women's Empowerment. Three primary
objectives were set to be achieved during this year. These were:
 Creating and raising large scale awareness of women's issues with active participation
.
and involvement of women and men.

 Initiating and accelerating action for improvement access to and control of resources by
women.
 Creating enabling environment for enhancing self-confidence and autonomy of women.
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A number of policies and programmes were initiated during this year to ensure equal
participation of women and men in the social, economic and political life of the nation.
Two prominent schemes that were launched for women during 2001 were: Swayamsiddha and
Swadhar.
Swayamsiddha is an integrated programme, which supports the empowerment of women

through a network of Self-Help Groups of women. It was hoped to bring together all the women
related schemes of the central and state governments at the block level. The government also
launched the Swashakti Project to help the setting up of women's Self-Help Groups in villages
by giving financial incentives. In many villages, Self Help Groups have been doing great work is
not only encourages savings but also mobilizing women to fight against oppression in their
families and villages. Self Help Groups also offer essay credit to members to start or improve
small-scale business enterprises.
Swadhar was launched to prove rehabilitation to women in difficult circumstances such as

destitute windows, women prisoners released from jail and without family support, women
survivors of natural disaster and victims of sexual crimes. Shelter homes are planned to be
constructed in which rehabilitation programmes will be offered a holistic basis.
The Tenth Plan
The Tenth Plan (2002-07) became operational from April 1, 2002. A Working Group on
Empowerment of women was constituted to prepare a base paper, to provide guidelines for
future programmes for women's empowerment. This paper has made the following
recommendations :
 Women must be helped to equip themselves to face the challenges being thrown up by
globalization.
 Even through a number of development policies and programmes have been
formulated to empower women, not all women could make use of these programmes
because of the prevailing social discrimination against them. So investments on health,
education and capacity building must be stepped up in future.
 During the last 10 years there has been a decline in expenditure on health, education
and welfare. Since this affects women's development seriously, efforts must be made to
increase investments on those sectors, which actually help women's development.
The concept of Gender Budgeting was also incorporated during this Plan. Alongside NREGA
scheme specially targeting women was also started.
The Eleventh and the Current Plan
The idea of ‘Inclusive Growth’ related to inclusion of various marginalized groups, of which the
women category has also been specifically addressed too. The Current Plan has also to take up
bhaya Fund. various provisions which include the
.
The Plans Reviewed
Since the planning period began in 1951, a number of programmes have been designed and
implemented for women's empowerment. But all these efforts have not been able to remove
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gender discrimination inherent in such sectors as family life, health, education, employment
and political participation. Dedicating one year to women's empowerment or one decade to girl
children will not automatically bring about women's emancipation. There must be a
commitment to make all these programmes functional in a way as to remove gaps between
men and women on the one hand, and among women of different groups on the other. The
need of the hour is an Action Plan, which believes in action and not just in taking about women.
We will have to wait and see what the 12th plan does.
5.1.4.3 Role of Voluntary Organizations
One of the weaknesses in the political strategies of women’s organisations in the 1950s and
1960s was their inability to mobilise ordinary women and issues that concerned them. The lack
of efforts to reach to the masses and expand the base of women’s movement limited its
effectiveness and agenda for action. The position of peasant and working class women
deteriorated and only a small minority of women benefited.
Resurgence of Women’s Movements in the 70s: Issues and Actions
The late 1970s and 1980s was marked by a resurgence of women’s struggle and emergence of
new women’s groups and organisations. After their participation in nation’s independence
struggle women again withdrew from public life and the debate on women’s issues also faded
out from the public arena. Several scholars have talked about the absence of women’s
movement in the 1950s and 1960s in India and the slow erosion of concern for women’s issues.
The growth of ‘protest polities’ and breaking out of a limited perspective of legislation and
education as the main instrument for improving women’s position marked the women’s
movement in the 1970s. Even the older women’s organisations set up during the pre-
Independence or during the 1950s which were mainly engaged in ‘welfare’ and ‘charity’ work,
gradually started changing their stand on several issues concerning women. There were various
issues that inflamed women’s movement in India.
However, many women activists, who were working with political parties, trade unions, peasant
and workers movements, realised that they were hesitant to take up issues which concerned
women exclusively. The issues women raised were the retrenchment of women from textile
mills and other industries due to technological changes and replacing them by men who
received training on new machines, lack of maternity benefit to women workers, lack of
provision of children at work place, wage discrimination between men and women, inadequate
education and training facilities for women workers and discrimination at work places. These
led to the emergence of separate women’s organisations in various parts of the country, which
seriously attempted to organise poor women for change.
Emergence of New Organizations and Approaches
The growing economic hardships of poor rural and urban women (fifty percent of the
Plan) and failure to take were below poverty level at the end of the Sixth Five
households
.
up women’s issues by the general agrarian and industrial workers’ movements resulted in
women labourers organising separately. Let us now look at the new organisations and
approaches in more detail.
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i) Organisation
Such new organisations as Self-Employment Women’s Association (Gujarat), Working Women’s

Forum (Tamil Nadu), Sramik Mahila Sangathna (Maharashtra) concerned themselves with the
plight of women workers in the unorganised sector. Organising women labour and taking up the
issues of their wages, working conditions, exploitation and health hazards became an important
task for these women’s organisations. Research on women in the unorganised sector helped in
developing new strategies for dealing with the problems of poor rural and urban workers. Anti-
price rise movement in 1973-74 was a united front of women’s organisations belonging to
several parties.
ii) Approaches
In the late nineteen seventies several women’s organisations emerged which were not affiliated
to political parties or to trade unions. They were called ‘autonomous women’s organisations’.
They rejected the ‘welfarist’ approach adopted by the previous women’s organisations, many of
which were set up during the pre-Independence period, and adopted ‘protest polities’ for
mobilising women on specific issues.
Deforestation and Ecological Movement
Economic hardships faced by women in the Himalayan region due to cutting down of forests
resulted in spontaneous mobilisation of women. They hugged the trees to prevent the
contractors from felling them. This is popularly known as Chipko movement. The disappearance
of forests means acute hardships to women who are primarily responsible for the collection of
fuel, fodder, fruits, herbs for medicine and other forest produce which give them income and
employment. This is why we find that women are even now in the forefront of these ecological
agitations.
Issue Based Movements in the 1970s and 1980s
The ineffectiveness of social legislation at reform is clearly indicated by several studies in the
1970s. The autonomous women’s organisations’ took up issues related to women’s oppression
like dowry, violence within the family, alcoholism among men and wife-beating, discrimination
at the work place etc. to mobilise women for collective action. For the first time some groups in
Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Patna etc. raised issues such as sexual exploitation of poor
scheduled castes and scheduled tribe women by upper caste landlords.
Issues of rape, dowry murders, crime and violence against women were taken up. All India anti-
dowry and anti-rape movements were launched by women’s organisations and Civil liberties
and democratic rights organisations also joined them. They launched important issue based
movements. Let us examine few of these movements.
i) Anti-dowry Movements
organisations andmurders have witnessed a sustained campaign by several women’s

Dowry
.
civil rights groups. Journalists wrote extensively about the dowry problem. In the 1980s several
women’s and other progressive organisations formed a joint front in Delhi called “Dahej Virodhi
Chetna Manch”. Organisations in other major cities also campaigned through protest,
demonstrations, discussions, street theatre, posters etc. against the ghastly murders of young
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brides for dowry. The Law Commission and the Parliamentary Committee also looked into the
problem. After a sustained campaign, finally a Bill was introduced in the Parliament in 1984,
which made certain changes in the Dowry Prohibition (Amendment) Act of 1961. The Dowry
Prohibition (Amendment) Act, 1984 was passed. The Act sets a limit to the amount given in
dowry but does not ban dowry. While cruelty by the husband and his relatives leading to
suicide or death has become an offence, punishable with imprisonment, still dowry deaths
continue. In 1986 alone 1,285 dowry deaths were reported but there were few convictions. In
1998, as many as 6917 dowry deaths were reported throughout India (National Human
Development Report 2002).
ii) Anti-sati Movement
In 1829 the practice of Sati was abolished through a legislation which marked the culmination
of a debate initiated by the British. The burning of a young widow Roop Kanwar in 1988 on the
funeral pyre of her husband in Deorala, Rajasthan, sparked off strong protests by women’s
organisations. The delayed response of the government came in the wake of mounting agitation
in the shape of Commission of Sati (Prevention) Bill, which was hurriedly passed in the
Parliament. The Act assumes that it is a practice sanctioned by the custom. It does not seek to
punish those who profit by raising money by selling photographs and raising donations in the
name of so called ‘sati’. There is nothing on preventive action. The pre-sati feeling within the
community mounted a counter agitation against the so called attack on their religious custom.
It is strange that the barbaric practice, against which social reformers raised their voices, still
persists in a country, which reveres mother goddesses.
iii) Anti-rape Movement
An anti-rape movement was launched in the last decade demanding review of the Supreme
Court judgment in a rape case, which acquitted the culprit. Women activists forced the
government to review Rape Laws. Several women’s organisations and legal and social activists
held discussions with the Law Commission to amend the law and in 1983 Criminal Law
(Amendment) Act was passed.
In the 1990s women took up the issue of communalism and globalisation through a wider
networking both at the national and international level. At the beginning of the twenty-first
century the women’s organisations in India are linked together through networks on different
issues and campaigns. While former methods of protest and advocacy are still used, new
methods of resistance and mobilisation for change are also being evolved.
Other Organizations in Voluntary Sector
NFIW: The National Federation of Indian Women in India (NFIW) is amongst the largest
women’s organization in India today. It was founded in 1954 as the women’s wing of the
Communist party of India (CPI), with Aruna Asaf Ali among its prominent leaders.
) takes upon itself

AIDWA:the The All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA)
.
task organising the masses of women in town and villages of India and of building a powerful
broad based women’s movement for the uplift and betterment of the lot of the women as a
whole, to remove all discrimination between man and woman, to fight for democracy, equal
rights and emancipation of women, in a society free from exploitation. It is the women's wing
of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
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The women’s movement during 1970s and 1980s while being effective in bringing women’s
issues back into the arena of public debate, was only a beginning of the long struggle ahead for
equality, justice and dignity to all women.
6.0 An Analysis of Women’s Current Situation

According to Census-2011, India has reached the population of 1210 million, as against 301
million in 1951, of which 58, 64, 69,174 (48.5 %) were females. The population of India
accounted for 17.5% of the total world population and occupied second place. The sex ratio
was 930 in 1971 and it has increased to 940 according to 2011 Census. The female literacy also
increased from 18.3% in 1961 to 74.0% in 2011 and a decrease in male-female literacy gap from
26.6% in 1981 to 16.7 per cent in 2011.
Women empowerment in India is heavily dependent on many different variables that include
geographical location (rural/urban), educational status, social status (caste and class) and
age. Policies on women empowerment exist at national, state and local levels in many
sectors including health, education, economic opportunities, gender based violence and
political participation. The scope and coverage of the schemes launched has been expanding
that include initiatives for economic and social empowerment of women and for securing
gender equality. The following schemes at present are aiming at women empowerment and
gender equality in India:
 Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) (1975)

 Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG) (2010)
 The Rajiv Gandhi National Crèche Scheme for Children of Working Mothers.
 Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) (2009-10)
 Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP)
 Dhanalakshmi (2008)
 Short Stay Homes
 Swadhar
 Ujjawala (2007)
 Scheme for Gender Budgeting (XI Plan)
 National Mission for Empowerment of Women
 Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (1993)
In spite of the effective implementation of all the above schemes and programmes, there are
significant gaps between policy achievements and actual practice at the community level. The
Global Gender Gap Index (2012) observed that India is simply not doing enough for its women.
The ranking of the country has fallen from 113 (out of 134 countries) in 2010 to 113 and out of
135 countries in 2011. However, in 2012, its ranking has improved from 113 in 2011 to 105 with
a score of 0.644 in 2012 according to the recent report of the World Economic Forum.
The World Report-2012 released by the Human Rights Watch (Events of 2011) also observed
that social unrest and protests deepened in resource rich areas of central and eastern India,
.
where rapid economic growth was accompanied by rapidly growing inequality. Despite
repeated claims of progress by the Government, there was no significant improvement in
access to health care and education. According to the latest statistics released by World
Economic Forum(2012) indicate that the current situation of gender gaps is alarming and India
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ranks after our neighbour country Sri lance in all sub-indices except in political empowerment
as shown in Table.1.
The rankings and scores for India amply proves that it is found in the lower rank even compared
to Sri Lanka in all sub-indexes of gender equality. India gained eight places (from 113 ranks in
2011 to 105 rank in 2012) as a result of improvements in the educational attainments and
political empowerment. Among the BRIC economies, India is the lowest ranked featured in the
index. The report has observed that the persistent health, education and economic
participation gaps are acting as detrimental forces to India’s growth. The disproportionate sex
ratio at birth has not changed over the past years. (WEF, 2012)
 EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTS
No doubt, India has attained significant improvement in women’s literacy which was 8.9 % in
1951, improved to 65.5 % as on 2011. As a result the male-female gap in literacy has narrowed
down from 26.6% in 1981 to 16.7% in 2011. However, the Human Development Report-2011
observed that the population with at least secondary education (% age 25 and above) was
only 26.6% for females as against 50.4% for males.(Human Development Report-2011).
Net Attendance Ratio at primary and upper primary levels in rural areas and in urban areas
was found for females were completely low during 2007-08 (India Human Development
Report-2011). Net Attendance Ratio at higher secondary level for females was only
20.0% in rural areas and 39.0% in urban areas. Inspite of the implementation of
programmes like “Sarva Siksha Abhiyan”, still 21.8% of the girl children (6-17 years age) were
found out of schools.
Although the gender differential in literacy has declined over time, the differential remains high
even in the youngest age group among those 15-19 years of age, the percentage of
females who are literate (74%) is 15%, which is less than the males (89%). The National
Family Health Survery-3 (2009) observed that there are great disparities in literacy by wealth
especially for Women
 ECONOMIC PARTICIPATION AND OPPORTUNITY
Women’s participation in labour force is seen as a signal of declining discrimination and

increasing empowerment of women. It is thought that feminization of the workforce is
.
also a sign of improvement of women’s opportunities and position in society. In India, the
statistics show that in both rural and urban areas, the Labour force Participation Rate had
declined in 2009-10 as compared to 1003-94 particularly for females.
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Surveys reveal the fact that in India there are considerable gender disparities in Labour force
Participation Rates. The female labour force participation rate has declined from 49.0% to
37.8% and from 23.8% to 19.4% in rural and urban areas respectively between 1993-94 and
2009-10. The second conclusion is that in 2009-11, the female labour force participation
rate is only 19.4% as against 76.2% for males.
The low labour force participation rates may be due to the reason that women’s work is
statistically less visible, non-monetized and relegated to subsistence production and domestic
side and estimation reveal that this proportion accounts for 60.0% of unpaid work and 98%
of domestic work. The India Human Development Report-2011 observed that poor access to
education was one of the reasons for higher labour force participation rate in rural areas
particularly for females. Further, there is huge gender disparity in both rural and urban areas for
females with reference to Worker Population Ratio.
Women’s workforce participation rate was almost half of that of men in rural areas and less
than a third in urban areas. These figures make it clear that the achievement of economic
development for the past 60 years did not had a telling effect on Workforce Participation
Rate for females in India as almost no change took place in this vital index of women
empowerment.
 WOMEN AND EMPLOYMENT
Employment can also be an important source of empowerment for women, particularly for cash
and in the formal sector. Employment empowers women by providing financial independence,
alternative source of social identity and exposure to power structures.
It is observed that women’s employment both in rural and urban areas is very low compared
with men, particularly in urban areas. It is also found that 49.4% of the women are employed in
rural areas (as against 88.7% of males) as the agricultural work is typically more compatible
with women’s responsibilities as well as with low education. Employment by age also exhibits a
serious gender gap. Employment is found at peak in all the age groups for men, whereas for
women it is found at peak in the age group of 30-39 years (also for males). In each and every
age group, the percentage of women employment is low compared to that of men in our
country.
 ACCESS TO RESOURCES
Access to resources is important for economic freedom of women as freedom of movement is

linked with their economic independence and also infuses with power and expands agency.
The National Family Health Survey-3 has identified five important variables namely: knowledge
of loan programme, get loan, having bank account, higher educational attainment and working
outside as a measure of economic independence.
NFHS-3 has also captured “exposure to media” through four variables namely: reading
ay and knowing about every day, listening radio every day, watching T
newspaper
.
modern contraceptives, as the measurement indicators of women’s empowerment. The

media is important source of information and exposure to new ways of thinking and doing
things. Besides, radio listening, TV watching and reading newspapers or magazines are
important leisure activities and represent an important indication of women’s
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empowerment and have the potential for enabling environment by facilitating greater control
over their own time use.
The survey showed that women’s access to resources is dismally poor in our country. The data
show that only 22.0% of women have access to resources in general and at disaggregate level it
is seen that a meagre 38.6% of women know about the loan programmes and only 10.5 % of
women could get a loan.
It is quite disappointing to note that the women who have a bank saving account was found
very low at 15.07% and in spite of knowing about loan programmes, they have failed to secure
a loan. 36.4% of the women had the freedom to work in outside. These variables are closely
associated with level of education and the higher education, a potent source of
empowerment was found at only 7.3% for women.
It is also evident that women have least exposure to mass media and almost all women know
(98%) about modern contraceptives. The percentage of women who read newspapers and
listen to raid every day was estimated at 12.5% and 17.1% only. It is evident that in our country
only 43.7% of women are watching TV every day. It means 87%, 83% and 56% of the women in
our country are not reading newspapers, listening to radio and watching TV everyday
respectively. However, about the modern contraceptives had a great bearing on the estimation
of index for access to resources at 0.7259
 CONTROL OVER OWN EARNINGS
“Empowerment” also means “to invest with power”. In the context of women empowerment, it
refers to increased control over their own lives, bodies and environment. Hence, an important
indicator of “agency” is decision making power. For women particularly the post-marriage
phase of life decides the capability of women to overcome barriers all translate into
increased/decreased agency.
According to NFHS-3, Married men are more likely than married women to be involved in
decisions about the use of their own earnings. The data also show that men have higher level of
decision making power compared to women to use their own earnings. Further, it is evident
that most than two third of women are unable to make decisions alone about the use of their
own earnings
 PARTICIPARTION IN HOUSEHOLD DECISIONS
NFHS-3 has collected data on how women are participating in several other decisions and who
usually makes them. Specifically, decisions related to own health care, large household
purchases and visits to family or relations are considered for analysis.
The data on specific decisions and how they are being taken by the women exhibit that 73%,
91% and 89% of women even today are not able to take decisions alone with respect to
their
themselves even toown
visit health care, large hous
.
their family or relatives respectively. Less than 50% of women have participated in decisions
about visits to their family or relations jointly and only 35.1% of women have participated
in decisions about their own health care jointly.
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 SPOUSAL VIOLENCE
Domestic violence is one of the most common forms of gender-based violence experienced by
women across the world. Domestic violence results into violation of human rights and
economic costs. It leads to both short term and long term detrimental effects on the health and
welfare of women and their children. Living with constant threat of domestic violence is, as
considered by experts, acts as a source of disempowerment of women.
Domestic violence takes the forms like emotional, physical and sexual violence by their
husbands. It was observed that 27% of currently married women age 15-49 have experienced
the violence during a survey period of 12 months according to NFHS-3. 55% of women who
have experienced physical and sexual violence reported that they were injured by their
husbands. Cuts, eye injuries, sprains, dislocations, deep wounds, broken bones, broken teeth
and other serious injuries were the types of injuries reported
 AUTONOMY OF WOMEN
Autonomy of women in control over decision making freedom in sexual relations,

freedom of movement and women's attitude towards wife-beating are considered as indicators
of women empowerment by the experts. Autonomy of women in refusing sexual
intercourse with their husbands is a very forceful expression of women's control over
their sexuality and control over one’s sexual life is integral to women’s well-being and
autonomy.
According to NFHS 3, the data analysed on female autonomy deals with two important
determinants of autonomy of women as indicators of empowerment. The data reveal that
more than 78% of women in India had hold on sexual intercourse with their husband. It
is evident that in all the three types of reproductive freedoms percentage of women is
almost identical (77.9%, 79.3%, and 77.4%). The overall index was worked out as 0.9761,
which show highest degree of autonomy.
Wife beating is found in India as one of many types of domestic violence on women. It is
observed that it is fairly accepted by the women themselves. Wife beating was justified by the
women to the extent of more than 64% of women were found must assertive in rejecting
the wife beating as the overall index worked out to 0.9599.
7.0 Conclusion
Looking back at the last four decades we can say with a fair amount of certainty that women’s
position in Indian society has changed. This change has been to women’s advantage. There has
no doubt been a wider recognition of women’s rights, several steps taken towards equality
among genders, a greater sensitivity towards gender discrimination, etc. The women’s
movement comprising of autonomous women’s organisations, other women’s groups, women’s
studies centres, etc., has played no small role in the bringing about of this change. We can,
therefore, say without hesitation that, over the last 40 years, the women’s movement has
.
affected the socio-political environment in India. However, this change has been at a gradual
pace and has even affected certain sections more than others leaving yet much to be desired.
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Student Notes:
Despite the current fragmentation, women’s groups have come together with one concerted
voice on certain issues such as violence, health, employment conditions including wages, legal
rights and law reform. The issues today are sexual harassment at the work place, the violence of
development, caste and communal violence, lobbying for increased political participation of
women in the highest levels of decision-making, etc.
The list will go on as long as there is a women’s movement. Many scholars have illustrated how
the women’s movement has not been static but has been compelled to respond to changing
political, social, economic and other national realities and not exclusively influenced by women-
specific issues and problems.
8.0 Appendix
8.1 Legislative Acts
Parliament from time to time has passed several legislations to empower women & to provide
them a legal basis in their fight for equality & justice. Some of them are:
1) Sati (Prevention) Act 1987 – The practice of Sati which was first abolished in 1829, was
revised and made illegal in 1887. It provided for a more effective prevention of the
commission of sati and its glorification and for matters connected therewith.
2) Amendment to criminal Act 1983- This Act talks about domestic violence as an offence,
rape is also made a punishable offence.
3) Special Marriage Act 1954- It has been amended to fix the minimum age of marriage at
21 yrs for males & 18 yrs for females.
4) Hindu Succession Act 1956- Equal share to daughter from property of father, while a
widow has the right to inherit husband’s property. An amendment in this Act in 2005
enabled daughters to have equal share in ancestral properties.
5) Immoral Traffic Prevention Act (ITPA), 1986- Suppression of Immoral Trafficking in
women and girls Act (SITA) 1956 was amended in 1986 & renamed ITPA. SITA was
enacted to prohibit or abolish traffic in women and girls for purposes of prostitution. It
was amended to cover both the sexes & provided enhanced penalties for offenses
involving minors. However the system has failed to crack the mafia working both at
interstate and international levels.
6) Dowry Prohibition Act 1961- Now court is empowered to act in his own knowledge or
on a complaint by any recognized welfare organization on dowry murder. Indian
Evidence Act is also amended to shift the burden of proof to husband & his family
where bride dies within 7 yrs of marriage.
7) Maternity benefit Act 1961- An Act to regulate the employment of women for certain
period before and after childbirth and to provide for maternity benefits like paid leaves
for 6 months.
.
8) Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971- Legalize abortion in case if fetus is

suffering from physical or mental abnormality, in case of rape & unwanted pregnancy
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Student Notes:
within 12 weeks of gestation period & after 12th week, before 20th week if the
pregnancy is harmful for the mother or the child born would be severely deformed.
9) Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986- This Act prohibits
indecent representation of women through advertisements or in publications, writings,
paintings, and figures or in any other manner and for matters connected therewith.
10) Domestic Violence Act 2005- It seeks to determine domestic violence in all forms
against women & make it a punishable offence.
11) Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013 – In the backdrop of Dec 16 gang rape, this Act
was passed amending the CrPC. The new law has provisions for increased sentence for
rape convicts, including life-term and death sentence, besides providing for stringent
punishment for offences such as acid attacks, stalking and voyeurism. Through the
revised Bill, the government has amended various sections of the Indian Penal Code,
the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Indian Evidence Act and the Protection of Children
from Sexual Offences Act.
8.2 Constitutional Provisions for women in our constitution

1) Article 14 - Men and women to have equal rights and opportunities in the political,
economic and social spheres.
2) Article 15(1) - Prohibits discrimination against any citizen on the grounds of religion,
race, caste, sex etc.
3) Article 15(3)- Special provision enabling the State to make affirmative discriminations
in favor of women.
4) Article 16- Equality of opportunities in matter of public appointments for all citizens.
5) Article 23- Bans trafficking in human and forced labor
6) Article 39(a)- The State shall direct its policy towards securing all citizens men and
women, equally, the right to means of livelihood.
7) Article 39(d)- Equal pay for equal work for both men and women.
8) Article 42- The State to make provision for ensuring just and humane conditions of
work and maternity relief.
9) Article 51 (A)(e)- To renounce the practices derogatory to the dignity of women
10) Article 300 (A)- Right of property to women
11) 73rd & 74th Amendment Act 1992- Reservation of 1/3rd of seats in local bodies of
panchayats and municipalities for women.
(The day on which 73rd amendment became operational i.e April 24th is also declared as
Women’s Empowerment Day).
8.3 Government Response

1) Committees on the status of women in India (CSWI) – This was set up in a response to
United Nation’s general assembly Declaration of Elimination of Discrimination Against
Women 1967. It submitted its report in 1974, which stressed the fact that poor are not
.
a homogenous group & highlighted the unequal burden of poverty on women.

2) Draft National Plan of Action for Women- GoI has drawn up a national plan based on
CSWI report. The plan accords priority to the need of concrete action in the areas of
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Student Notes:
education, health, welfare and employment with special reference to weaker section of
society especially women.
3) It was only in 1980s that women were recognized as a separate group and a separate
chapter viz “Women and Development” was included in the 6th Plan Document (1980-
1985) for the first time. Then subsequently it was included in the 5 year plans to ensure
that fruits of development & benefits of Govt. programs do reach women.
4) National Commission for women 1991 - The National Commission for Women was set
up as statutory body in January 1992 under the National Commission for Women Act,
1990 to:
 Protect and promote the interest and safeguard the right of women.
 Study all matters related to constitutional and legal safeguards provided for
women, to review existing legislation & suggest amendments if necessary.
 Look into the complaints and take notice of the cases involving deprivation of
women & provide support legal or otherwise to helpless and needy women.
 It recommended the Govt. to play an active role by incorporating a component
of organizing in all govt. schemes, project etc for the poor, to promote
organization of women at a broader level.
5) National Institute of Public Cooperation and child Development- NIPCCD, New Delhi is
an autonomous organization under the aegis of Department of women and child
development. Its objective is to :
 Develop and promote voluntary action in social development through training

& capacity building of Govt. and Non Govt. functionaries
 Take a comprehensive view of women and child development & develop and
promote programs in pursuance of national policy of children.
 Develop measures for coordination of governmental and voluntary action in
social development.
8.4 Women empowerment Programs/Schemes by GoI
For empowering the women, various program have been initiated by GoI as below:
1) Gender Budgeting- This concept was first introduced in Australia in mid 1980s & India
incorporated this in its budget since 2005-06.
It is not an accounting exercise but an ongoing process of keeping a gender perspective

in policy/ program formulation, its implementation and review. GB involves dissection
of the Government budgets to establish its gender differential impacts and to ensure
that gender commitments are translated in to budgetary commitments.
.
 Nirbhaya fund- In a tribute to the recent Delhi gang-rape victim of Dec 2012,
government in the union budget 2013-14,announced setting up of a 'Nirbhaya
Fund' of Rs 1,000 crore for safety and empowerment of women.
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Student Notes:
 An all-women bank was also proposed to be set up by October, 2013 with an

initial capital of Rs 1,000 crore for the purpose to facilitate women
empowerment
2) Working Women Hostel- The objective of the scheme is to promote availability of safe
and conveniently located accommodation for working women, with day care facility for
their children, in urban, semi urban, or even rural areas where employment
opportunity for women exist.
3) Support to training cum employment for women (STEP)- Ministry of Women and child
development launched this program in the year 1986, for training and employment for
women below poverty line in traditional sectors like agriculture, small animal
husbandry, dairying, fisheries etc. where women are employed on a large scale. Its
basic aim is to upgrade skills of women for self and wage employment.
4) Swayamsidha- It is an integrated program, seeks to empower women through
awareness generation, achievement of economic independence through micro-level
income-generating activities and by establishing convergence of various services such
as literacy, health, rural development etc. It also aims at organizing women into Self-
Help Groups, developing access to micro credit.
5) Swa Shakti – This project aims at establishment of more than 16000 self reliant women
SHGs(Self Help Groups) having 15-20 members each & thereby enhance women’s
access to and control over resources for betterment of their lives. Also to sensitise and
strengthen the institutional capacity of support agencies to pro actively address
women’s need.
6) Rashtriya Mahila Kosh – It is a national level mechanism to meet the micro credit
needs of the poor and asset-less women in the Informal Sector. From inception in 1993
till February 2001, total credit worth Rs. 100 crore was sanctioned to benefit more than
400,000 women through 827 NGOs spread over the country. RMK has a very good
recovery rate of 90 to 95 per cent.
7) Swadhar- This scheme aims to provide basic necessities to marginalised women and
girls who are living in difficult circumstances without any economic or social support.
Under this scheme women are provided with emotional support and counselling. The
target group is mainly women who are victim of violence or survivors of natural
disaster, trafficked women, and women without no families.
.

recording or otherwise, without prior permission of Vision IAS.
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VISIONIAS
www.visionias.in
Issues Relating to Poverty and Hunger

.

Q1. What are the issues related to poverty and hunger?
The following can be cited as the issues related to poverty and hunger:
 Definition of poverty
 Determining who is poor and the puzzle of head count
 Arriving at a satisfactory methodology to determine the BPL population
 Whether ‘poverty line’ is a satisfactory measure of determining the extent of poverty
 Whether causes of poverty lie exclusively in the economic structure or social and cultural structures are
also a determining factor
 How best to tackle poverty - Growth or redistribution
 Is poverty a major cause of hunger and food Insecurity
 Extent of Malnutrition in India
 Calorie consumption as an indication of increased hunger
 Corruption and inefficiency in the Public Distribution System
Q2. What are the issues regarding definition of poverty? Explain the different concepts of Poverty.
There has been a long standing dispute on whether poverty should be measured in Absolute or Relative terms.
This can be better understood in the context of two different approaches: one that considers only material
deprivations and the other that includes notions of social exclusion as well. Let us see how differences in the
definition of poverty arise depending on which of the two approaches we use.
 Absolute Poverty
o People are in poverty if they do not have resources to maintain human life.
o Poverty implies lack of resources.
o Here an attempt is made to judge the basic subsistence needs that are required to maintain
health and physical efficiency. So, measures of poverty are based on the idea of subsistence.
Thus it is also called as ‘Subsistence Poverty’, since it is based on assessments of minimum
subsistence requirements.
However, advocates of Relative Poverty argue that a definition must relate to standards of a particular
society at a particular time. This brings us to the concept of Relative Poverty
 Relative Poverty
People are in poverty if:
o their resources are much below those of average individuals

o they are excluded from ordinary living patterns, customs and activities
o they lack resources to obtain such diets, activities, living conditions and amenities which are
customary or widely encouraged or approved in the societies to which they belong.
Thus it includes notions of social exclusion and multiple deprivations.
There are other ways too, of categorizing poverty. In one such way people who are always poor and those who
are usually poor but who may sometimes have a little more money (example: casual workers) are grouped
.
together as the chronic poor. Another group are the churning poor who regularly move in and out of poverty
(example: small farmers and seasonal workers) and the occasionally poor who are rich most of the time but may
sometimes have a patch of bad luck. They are called transient poor. And then there are those who are never
poor and they are the non-poor.

Source: Indian Economic Development, NCERT for Class XI
Q3. What are the issues that arise while using these different concepts of Poverty?
Certain issues arise while using these concepts of Poverty. They are as follows:
 Absolute Poverty
o Establishing a yardstick to measure poverty: the yardstick should be ideally applicable to all
societies. This yardstick is known as Poverty Line, below which poverty begins and above which
poverty ends. The Poverty Line is based on resources required to maintain health and physical
efficiency. However, this raises the issue of pricing the basic necessities and using it to draw the
Poverty Line.
o There is no consensus on what should be included as basic necessities. While some argue that
only nutrition, clothing, shelter and health should be included; others have argued that basic
cultural needs like education, security, leisure etc. should also be included. However, this
broadens the idea of basic human needs. Therefore, some ideas of Absolute Poverty go beyond
the notion of subsistence and material poverty by introducing the idea of basic cultural needs.
o There have been arguments that the concept of Absolute Poverty is based on the wrong
assumption that there are minimum basic needs for all people, in all societies; rather needs vary
both between and within societies.
o Further, it has also been argued that no account is taken of the kind and demand of occupation.
This makes it difficult to define nutritional needs.
o The idea of Absolute Poverty becomes even more difficult to define when it is broadened to
include the idea of cultural needs. This is because cultural needs vary from place to place and
time to time. Therefore, absolute standards cannot be fixed.
 Relative Poverty
o Relative Poverty is measured in terms of standards specific to a particular place and time. Thus it
can be measured only in terms of judgements by members of a particular society. This
introduces subjectivity.
o It involves preparing a Deprivation Index, covering a number of socially approved items and
that Deprivation Index. The deprivation Index assigning a score to each househol
thereafter,
.
covers both material and social deprivations. This requires finding incomes below which
deprivation increases rapidly. Households with less than this income are in Poverty. But, such a
deprivation index introduces the following issues:
 The index may be inadequate

 Items in the index may not represent people’s view, rather that of an expert
 It introduces subjectivity
 Decisions to include certain items are arbitrary
 The point at which poverty starts is also arbitrary
 No account of ethnicity, class, age, religion etc.
o It also demands examining how resources affect participation in approved social activities.
Therefore, it defines poverty as the inability to participate in approved social activities that are
considered normal. This makes it necessary to move beyond consumption to participation in
lifestyles. This however, can be problematic. This is because the argument for relative standards
rests on the assumption that for practical purposes standards become so fluid that no definition
of need, no matter how broad, satisfies the ever changing expectations of modern life.
o Some have argued that an irreducible core of Absolute Poverty always exists. Thus focus on
Relative Poverty alone can distract from efforts made to address this core.
o Yet another issue is the relationship between Inequality and Poverty. Any society which has
inequality will have Relative Poverty. So do we need to eradicate all inequality? Advocates of
Relative Poverty say that some reduction in inequality is indeed necessary, though total
abolishment may not be required. But, this raises the issue whether there is no poverty if there
is no inequality. This line of argument is however wrong. Relative Poverty can only supplement,
not supplant Absolute Poverty.
Q4. Analyze the debate on the issues of poverty line and head count.
The Indian government uses an official poverty line in terms of per capita income but calibrated to suffice for the
cost of a minimum consumption basket. The concepts of ‘poverty line’ and ‘headcount ratio’ have been central
to State planning towards poverty eradication in India. At the same time, both these concepts have generated
considerable controversy. For instance, the poverty line is taken as a cut-off between poor and non-poor, and is
derived on the basis of a minimum requirement of a person. In the absence of data on income, the poverty line
in India is measured in terms of monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) on food and non-food
items as compiled by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) from its survey of household. But the poverty
figures arrived at by using different methodologies have often been questioned on the premise that poverty
lines considered are low – for instance how can a family of five with Rs. 5000 monthly consumption expenditure
be considered above the poverty line in urban areas?
The estimation of the ‘headcount ratio’ has been another major contentious issue. Varying methodologies and
assumptions have led to varying estimates adding to the confusion. The varying headcount estimates have been
used for contradictory claims on the purported rate of decline of poverty in India since the 1990’s. The debate
has mostly centered on the issue of the correct estimation of poverty in India with reference to the ‘poverty
line’. It is not clear whether the decline has been faster or slower since the 1990’s in comparison to the earlier
decades because of the incomparability of estimates. But there is evidence to suggest that as far as the
‘headcount ratio’ is concerned, poverty level in India has been consistently declining. For instance, if we take the
comparable official estimates of headcount ratio between 1993-94 and 2004-05, the figures showed a decline
from 36 percent to nearly 28 percent.
So what does it mean when the Planning Commission of India states that the headcount-poverty ratio was
almost 28 percent in 2004-05? It means that almost 28 percent of the Indian population was found to subsist
below the per capita income specified by the poverty line. However, it does not say how low the income was of
those below the poverty line or how acute their hunger was. It also means that according to the Government of
India, every
ty is pegged fourth Indian lived in absolute poverty; but since this absolute pover
to a bare
subsistence level defined by the ‘poverty line’, it does not say how many of those who stayed above the line also
.
managed to escape destitution.
Q5. What are the different models adopted to estimate poverty over the years?
The Planning Commission appointed a panel headed by YK Alagh, which defined the poverty line in 1979 as
MPCE level of Rs.49.09 for rural areas and Rs.56.64 for urban areas at 1973-74 prices at national level. Then, the
DT Lakdawala Committee in its 1993 report recommended a poverty line in terms of a calorie norm based on a
fixed consumption basket. A panel headed by Suresh Tendulkar further refined the methodology in 2009 to
include expenses on education and health. It suggested the poverty lines focusing on food, education and health.
However, since there was criticism by several experts that it kept poverty lines low, the government set up a
committee headed by C Rangarajan to revisit the methodology for estimation of poverty.
To understand the issue in detail we start with the history of poverty estimation in India.
 Pre independence poverty estimates: One of the earliest estimations of poverty was done by Dadabhai
Naoroji in his book, ‘Poverty and the Un-British Rule in India’. He formulated a poverty line ranging from
Rs 16 to Rs 35 per capita per year, based on 1867-68 prices. The poverty line proposed by him was
based on the cost of a subsistence diet consisting of ‘rice or flour, dhal, mutton, vegetables, ghee,
vegetable oil and salt’.
Next, in 1938, the National Planning Committee (NPC) estimated a poverty line ranging from Rs 15 to Rs
20 per capita per month. Like the earlier method, the NPC also formulated its poverty line based on ‘a
minimum standard of living perspective in which nutritional requirements are implicit’. In 1944, the
authors of the ‘Bombay Plan’ suggested a poverty line of Rs 75 per capita per year.
 Post-independence poverty estimates: In 1962, the Planning Commission constituted a working

group to estimate poverty nationally, and it formulated separate poverty lines for rural and urban areas
– of Rs 20 and Rs 25 per capita per year respectively.
VM Dandekar and N Rath made the first systematic assessment of poverty in India in 1971, based on
National Sample Survey (NSS) data from 1960-61. They argued that the poverty line must be derived
from the expenditure that was adequate to provide 2250 calories per day in both rural and urban areas.
This generated debate on minimum calorie consumption norms while estimating poverty and variations
in these norms based on age and sex.
 Alagh Committee (1979): In 1979, a task force constituted by the Planning Commission for the purpose
of poverty estimation, chaired by YK Alagh, constructed a poverty line for rural and urban areas on the
basis of nutritional requirements. Table 1 shows the nutritional requirements and related consumption
expenditure based on 1973-74 price levels recommended by the task force. Poverty estimates for
subsequent years were to be calculated by adjusting the price level for inflation.
Table 1: Minimum calorie consumption and per capita consumption expenditure as per the 1979 Planning
Commission task force on poverty estimation
Area Calories Minimum consumption expenditure (Rs per capita per month)
Rural 2400 49.1
Urban 2100 56.7
Source: Report of the Expert Group on Estimation of Proportion and Number of Poor, 1993, Perspective Planning
Division, Planning Commission
 Lakdawala Committee (1993): In 1993, an expert group constituted to review methodology for poverty
estimation, chaired by DT Lakdawala, made the following suggestions: (i) consumption expenditure
should be calculated based on calorie consumption as earlier; (ii) state specific poverty lines should be
constructed and -IW)
these should be updated using the Consumer Price Index of Industrial Workers (CPI
-AL) in rural areas;inand (iii) areas and Consumer Price Index of Agricultural Labour (CPI
urban
.
discontinuation of ‘scaling’ of poverty estimates based on National Accounts Statistics. This assumes
that the basket of goods and services used to calculate CPI-IW and CPI-AL reflect the consumption
patterns of the poor.
 Tendulkar Committee (2009): In 2005, another expert group to review methodology for poverty
estimation, chaired by Suresh Tendulkar, was constituted by the Planning Commission to address the
following three shortcomings of the previous methods: (i) consumption patterns were linked to the
1973-74 poverty line baskets (PLBs) of goods and services, whereas there were significant changes in the
consumption patterns of the poor since that time, which were not reflected in the poverty estimates; (ii)
there were issues with the adjustment of prices for inflation, both spatially (across regions) and
temporally (across time); and (iii) earlier poverty lines assumed that health and education would be
provided by the State and formulated poverty lines accordingly.
It recommended four major changes: (i) a shift away from calorie consumption based poverty
estimation; (ii) a uniform poverty line basket (PLB) across rural and urban India; (iii) a change in the price
adjustment procedure to correct spatial and temporal issues with price adjustment; and (iv)
incorporation of private expenditure on health and education while estimating poverty. The Committee
recommended using Mixed Reference Period (MRP) based estimates, as opposed to Uniform Reference
Period (URP) based estimates that were used in earlier methods for estimating poverty.
It based its calculations on the consumption of the following items: cereal, pulses, milk, edible oil, non-
vegetarian items, vegetables, fresh fruits, dry fruits, sugar, salt & spices, other food, intoxicants, fuel,
clothing, footwear, education, medical (non-institutional and institutional), entertainment, personal &
toilet goods, other goods, other services and durables.
The Committee computed new poverty lines for rural and urban areas of each state. To do this, it used
data on value and quantity consumed of the items mentioned above by the population that was
classified as poor by the previous urban poverty line. It concluded that the all India poverty line was Rs
446.68 per capita per month in rural areas and Rs 578.80 per capita per month in urban areas in 2004-
05. The following table outlines the manner in which the percentage of population below the poverty
line changed after the application of the Tendulkar Committee’s methodology.
Table 2: Percentage of population below poverty line calculated by the Lakdawala Committee and the
Tendulkar Committee for the year 2004-05
Committee Rural Urban Total

Lakdawala Committee 28.3 25.7 27.5
Tendulkar Committee 41.8 27.5 37.2
Source: Report of the Expert Group on Estimation of Proportion and Number of Poor, 1993, Perspective Planning
Division, Planning Commission; Report of the Expert Group to Review the Methodology for Estimation of
Poverty, 2009, Planning Commission
The Committee also recommended a new method of updating poverty lines, adjusting for changes in
prices and patterns of consumption, using the consumption basket of people close to the poverty line.
Thus, the estimates released in 2009-10 and 2011-12 used this method instead of using indices derived
from the CPI-AL for rural areas and CPI-IW for urban areas as was done earlier. Table 3 outlines the
poverty lines computed using the Tendulkar Committee methodology for the years 2004-05, 2009-10
and 2011-12.
Table 3: National poverty lines (in Rs per capita per month) for the years 2004-05, 2009-10 and 2011-12
Year Rural Urban

2004-05 446.7 578.8
2009-10 672.8 859.6
1000.0 2011-12
.
Source: Report of the Expert Group to Review the Methodology for Estimation of Poverty (2009) Planning
Commission; Poverty Estimates 2009-10 and Poverty Estimates 2011-12, Planning Commission
 Rangarajan Committee: In 2012, the Planning Commission constituted a new expert panel on poverty
estimation, chaired by C Rangarajan with the following key objectives: (i) to provide an alternate method
to estimate poverty levels and examine whether poverty lines should be fixed solely in terms of a

consumption basket or if other criteria are also relevant; (ii) to examine divergence between the
consumption estimates based on the NSSO methodology and those emerging from the National
Accounts aggregates; (iii) to review international poverty estimation methods and indicate whether
based on these, a particular method for empirical poverty estimation can be developed in India, and (iv)
to recommend how these estimates of poverty can be linked to eligibility and entitlements under the
various schemes of the Government of India. The Committee is expected to submit its report by 2014.
Q6. Is ‘poverty line’ a satisfactory method for accurately determining the extent of poverty in India?
The ‘poverty line’ is quite unsatisfactory when it comes to grasping the extent of poverty in India. It is not only
because of its extremely narrow definition of ‘who is poor’ and the debatable methodology used to count the
poor but also because of a more fundamental assumption underlying it. It exclusively relies on the notion of
poverty as insufficient income or purchasing power. One can better categorize it by calling it income poverty. If
poverty is ultimately about deprivations affecting human well-being, then income poverty is only one aspect of
it. Income is no doubt a vital means to the attainment of individual well-being, but it is not adequate to ensure
against many other kinds of deprivation. For example, illness due to communicable diseases can seriously affect
the well-being of a person in various ways ranging from depriving her of a healthy life to curtailing her of
income-earning abilities. It is a well-known fact that outbreak of many of the communicable diseases can be
effectively prevented by the provision of safe drinking water, public sanitation and health services. Ensuring
against communicable diseases and the resultant deprivations to well-being then depends on many factors like
access to safe drinking water, public sanitation and health services, and social-insurance systems apart from
private income. A strictly income-based approach to poverty often fails to reflect pervasive deprivations relating
to many of the basic needs when the satisfaction of the need is also dependent on social provision of goods and
services and not just private income and the market.
It is also limiting to think of poverty essentially in terms of material deprivations relating to basic needs. One
must also take into consideration other deprivations rooted in underlying structural inequalities and inherent
disadvantages. Even when resources are available, people may not be able to take full advantage of them
because of pre-existing disadvantages ranging from social constraints like caste, and gender to personal
impediments like old age and physical disabilities. Income-based approach to poverty is again found severely
wanting in taking into account these other kinds of deprivation.
Q7. Examine the issues related to the causes of poverty. Do you think ‘income approach’ poverty’ is sufficient
to holistically understand the concept of poverty and its related problems?
A simplistic view of poverty often explains it as a result of individual circumstances and/or a characteristic of
poor people. Some examples are: (i) low levels of education and skills (ii) infirmity, ill health, sickness. It is also
argued that poverty is a result of general economy-wide problems, such as (i) low capital formation (ii) lack of
infrastructure (iii) lack of demand (iv) pressure of population (v) lack of social/welfare nets.
However, there are arguments that poverty is also caused as a result of (i) social, economic and political
inequality (ii) social exclusion (iii) unemployment (iv) indebtedness (v) unequal distribution of wealth.
It has also been argued that a broader understanding of poverty needs to look beyond the income approach.
One of the most influential concepts in this regard has been the notion of human capability. Jean Dreze and
Amartya Sen write:
.
“Poverty of a life, in this view, lies not merely in the impoverished state in which the person actually lives, but
also in the lack of real opportunity – given by social constraints as well as personal circumstances – to choose
other types of living. Even the relevance of low incomes, meagre possessions, and other aspects of what are
standardly seen as economic poverty relates ultimately to their role in curtailing capabilities (i.e. their role in
severely restricting the choices people have to lead valuable and valued lives”.
The freedom of opportunity available to people is influenced by their personal circumstances as well as social
situations. The personal circumstances that significantly matter are not just access to ‘means’ like income or
wealth but also the access to basic needs and amenities, like food, clothing, shelter, education and health
services, safe drinking water and sanitation. Along with these material means of well-being, it is the actual states
of well-being or ‘outcomes’ achieved by the person, like nutritional status, educational and health achievements
that also impact upon the real opportunities available.
Personal circumstances are found to be embedded in social situations. Social, political and economic relations
and inequalities determine how resources are distributed and what choices are available to different sections of
the society. Some of the most visible examples of these are based on caste, class and gender disparities that
constrain the real opportunities available to people.
Deprivations in the form of access to basic needs, actual states of well-being and social inequalities have a great
role to play in the creation of economic poverty. On the other hand, economic poverty often reinforces these
deprivations. And the circle is difficult to break – a unidimensional approach to poverty as essentially income
poverty overlooks the other dimensions of deprivation that make inequality of opportunity persist and poverty
replicate itself.
The major dimensions of poverty that persist in India relate to deprivations in nutritional, educational and health
achievements, access to basic needs and amenities, quality of physical environment and various social
inequalities like caste and gender disparities. In this context, some of the other targets given in the millennium
development goals (MDGs), besides reduction in head-count ratio, give a sense of the challenge facing
contemporary India in terms of poverty.
India’s progress has been much slower than needed to meet the targets in the reduction of incidence of
mortality and morbidity among women and children, reduction of hunger and improvement in nutritional status,
reduction of gender and caste-related disparities and improvement in general living conditions in terms of better
access to basic amenities. India may not achieve many of these targets even by 2015.
This must be qualified by the fact that social progress in India in terms of human development goals is
characterized by wide inter-regional and intra-regional divergence. It means that in absence of effective
measures directed at bridging the gaps, the regions doing better in terms of human development will be better
placed to seize the benefits of growth. The result can be one of growing economic inequality in India. Such a
scenario cannot be considered conducive either to the process of rapid economic growth or the prospect of
India becoming an economic superpower, if the growing inequalities lead to increasing regional and social
conflicts within India.
Q8. There has been an ongoing debate on the best way to tackle poverty. Explain the issues surrounding the
policies and programmes adopted by the Indian Government to tackle poverty.
The Indian Constitution and five year plans state social justice as the primary objective of the developmental
strategies of the government. To quote the First Five Year Plan (1951-56), “the urge to bring economic and social
change under present conditions comes from the fact of poverty and inequalities in income, wealth and
opportunity”. The Second Five Year Plan (1956-61) also pointed out that “the benefits of economic development
must accrue more and more to the relatively less privileged classes of society”. One can find, in all policy
documents, emphasis being laid on poverty alleviation and that various strategies need to be adopted by the
government for the same.
ensions. The first one

Theisgovernment’s
growth oriented
approach to poverty reduction was of three
.
— rapid approach.
increase inItgross domestic
is based on the expectation that the effects of economic growth
product and per capita income — would spread to all sections of society and will trickle down to the poor
sections also. This was the major focus of planning in the 1950s and early 1960s. It was felt that rapid industrial
development and transformation of agriculture through green revolution in select regions would benefit the
underdeveloped regions and the more backward sections of the community. However the overall growth and
growth of agriculture and industry was not impressive. Population growth resulted in a very low growth in per
capita incomes. The gap between poor and rich actually widened. The Green Revolution exacerbated the

disparities regionally and between large and small farmers. There was unwillingness and inability to redistribute
land. Economists stated that the benefits of economic growth did not trickle down to the poor.
While looking for alternatives to specifically address the poor, policy makers started thinking that incomes and
employment for the poor could be raised through the creation of incremental assets and by means of work
generation. This could be achieved through specific poverty alleviation programmes. This second approach has
been initiated from the Third Five Year Plan (1961-66) and progressively enlarged since then. For instance, one of
the noted programmes initiated in the 1970s was Food for Work. Expanding self employment programmes and
wage employment programmes are being considered as the major ways of addressing poverty. Examples include
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generation Scheme (MGNREGS), Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar
Yojana (SJSRY) etc.
Earlier, under self-employment programmes, financial assistance was given to families or individuals. Since the
1990s, this approach has been changed. Now those who wish to benefit from these programmes are encouraged
to form self-help groups. Initially they are encouraged to save some money and lend among themselves as small
loans. Later, through banks, the government provides partial financial assistance to SHGs which then decide
whom the loan is to be given to for self employment activities.
The third approach to addressing poverty is to provide minimum basic amenities to the people. India was among
the pioneers in the world to envisage that through public expenditure on social consumption needs — provision
of food grains at subsidised rates, education, health, water supply and sanitation— people’s living standard
could be improved. Programmes under this approach are expected to supplement the consumption of the poor,
create employment opportunities and bring about improvements in health and education. One can trace this
approach from the Fifth Five Year Plan, “even with expanded employment opportunities, the poor will not be
able to buy for themselves all the essential goods and services. They have to be supplemented up to at least
certain minimum standards by social consumption and investment in the form of essential food grains,
education, health, nutrition, drinking water, housing, communications and electricity.” Three major programmes
that aimed at improving the food and nutritional status of the poor are Public Distribution System, Integrated
Child Development Scheme and Midday Meal Scheme. Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, Pradhan Mantri
Gramodaya Yojana, Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana were also attempts in the same direction. It may be essential
to briefly state that India has achieved satisfactory progress in many aspects. The government also has a variety
of other social security programmes to help a few specific groups. National Social Assistance Programme is one
such programme initiated by the central government. Under this programme, elderly people who do not have
anyone to take care of them are given pension to sustain themselves. Poor women who are destitute and
widows are also covered under this scheme.
Efforts at poverty alleviation have borne fruit in that for the first time since independence, the percentage of
absolute poor in some states is now well below the national average. However, despite a variety of approaches,
programmes and schemes to alleviate poverty; hunger, malnourishment, illiteracy and lack of basic amenities
continue to be a common feature in many parts of India. Though the policy towards poverty alleviation has
evolved in a progressive manner, over the last five and a half decades, it has not undergone any radical
transformation. We can find change in nomenclature, integration or mutations of programmes. However, none
resulted in any radical change in the ownership of assets, process of production and improvement of basic
amenities to the needy.
Scholars, while assessing these programmes, state following major areas of concern which prevent their
successful implementation. Due to unequal distribution of land and other assets, the benefits from direct
poverty
-poor. Compared to alleviationof
the magnitude programmes have been appropriated by the non
.
poverty, the amount of resources allocated for these programmes is not sufficient. Moreover, these
programmes depend mainly on government and bank officials for their implementation. Since such officials are
ill motivated, inadequately trained, corruption prone and vulnerable to pressure from a variety of local elites,
the resources are inefficiently used and wasted. There is also non-participation of local level institutions in
programme implementation.
Government policies have also failed to address the vast majority of vulnerable people who are living on or just
above the poverty line. It also reveals that high growth alone is not sufficient to reduce poverty. Without the
active participation of the poor, successful implementation of any programme is not possible. Poverty can
effectively be eradicated only when the poor start contributing to growth by their active involvement in the
growth process. This is possible through a process of social mobilisation, encouraging poor people to participate
and get them empowered. This will also help create employment opportunities which may lead to increase in
levels of income, skill development, health and literacy. Moreover, it is necessary to identify poverty stricken
areas and provide infrastructure such as schools, roads, power, telecom, IT services, training institutions etc.
Q9. Explain the growth-redistribution conundrum w.r.t. poverty alleviation.
Critics of a growth-centered poverty-reduction strategy assert that India need not have waited for growth to
happen. It could have, instead, attacked poverty through redistribution from the rich to the poor. This
proposition may have some salience in the industrial countries, which have had the benefit of growth for more
than a century. The high levels of income made possible by prior growth allow these countries to generate
enough revenues to sustain large-scale anti-poverty programmes even if the economy were to fall into long-term
stagnation.
But it is quite different for a country like India, which started with its overwhelming population in poverty at the
time of independence. The option to eradicate (as against making a miniscule impact on) poverty through
redistribution, even if politically feasible, was not available.
The eminent Polish economist Mikhail Kalecki put it rightly when he said that the trouble with India was that
‘there were too many exploited and too few exploiters’. That is to say, there were too few from whom the
government could take and too many to whom it needed to give. Furthermore, the government needed to
attack poverty on a sustained basis rather then approach it as a one-shot affair. With a rising population and
stagnant growth, any favourable effects of redistribution on poverty would have quickly eroded.
When the founding fathers of the country opted for a growth centered strategy, they did so in the full
knowledge that India’s poverty problem was too immense to be solved by redistribution alone. Here it would be
in order to recall Jawaharlal Nehru’s statement in The Discovery of India, where he argued that the immense
poverty of many Indians meant that ‘to remove this lack and ensure an irreducible minimum standard for
everybody, the national income had to be greatly increased.’
The issue of whether poverty could be overcome without growth figured again in the First Five-Year Plan, with
the planners opting to endorse the critical role to be assigned to growth in the assault on poverty. In the early
1960’s when poverty and income distribution became the subject of heated debates in the Parliament and Prime
Minister Nehru became concerned with the question ‘where the growing incomes were going’, the Perspective
Planning Division (PPD) of the Planning Commission took another careful look at the policy options. Among other
things, the fifteen-year plan it produced offered a coherent and clear-headed analysis of why growth was
necessary. It began by noting that the income and consumption distribution data showed that approximately 50
per cent of the population lived in abject poverty on Rs 20 or less per month at 1960-61 prices. It then
proceeded to argue the necessity of growth in the following words:
The minimum which can be guaranteed is limited by the size of the total product and the extent of
redistribution which is feasible. If, at the current level of output, incomes could be redistributed equally
among all the people, the condition of the poorest segments would no doubt improve materially but the
average standard would still be pitifully low. Redistribution on this scale, however, is operationally
meaningless unless revolutionary changes in property rights and scale and structure of wages and
.
compensations are contemplated. Moreover, when even the topmost 30 per cent of the households
have an average per capita expenditure of only rs 62 per month, it is inconceivable that any large
redistribution of income from the higher income groups to the other can be effected. To raise the
standard of living of the vast masses of the people, output therefore would have to be increased very
considerably.
However, in India, despite the skepticism about redistribution as the route to take to assault poverty on a
sustainable basis, redistribution did take place through expenditures on health and education. For instance, as

the fifteen year plan noted, the 40 per cent increase in income between 1950-51 and 1960-61 had allowed
improvements in the social sphere such as an 85 per cent increase in school enrolment and a 65 per cent
increase in hospital beds. But this was hardly a drop in the ocean of poverty.
Q10. Analyze the relationship between poverty, hunger and food insecurity.
Hunger and malnutrition are outcomes of food insecurity or the inability to access adequate food and nutrition.
Hunger-related poverty remains one of the major deprivations of India. An even greater cause of concern is the
status of malnutrition among children. Malnutrition directly affects the development of the child by retarding
their physical and cognitive growth and increases the risk of infection and disease. If lack of income means
vulnerability to food insecurity and malnutrition, then the latter also reduces the lifetime-earning potential.
The deprivations relating to hunger and malnutrition, morbidity, mortality and physical environment often
reinforce each other and the general condition of economic poverty. To give an example, an illness like diarrhoea
is one of the major causes of infant deaths in India, along with malaria, pneumonia and measles contributing to
the high infant-mortality rates. Diarrhoea also leads to loss of absorption of nutrients, causing severe
malnutrition among children. On the other hand, malnutrition has been estimated to be associated with about
half of all child deaths and more than half of child deaths from diarrhea. Access to safe drinking water and basic
sanitation facilities greatly reduces the incidence of diseases like diarrhoea. India’s achievement in terms of
proportion of population having access to either of these basic facilities is woefully low.
There is a gender dimension to hunger and malnutrition in India as well. Half of the country’s women suffer from
anaemia and the prevalence of anaemia is even higher among the pregnant women. Anaemia is one of the
major causes of maternal mortality and also contributes to nearly 30 percent of babies being born underweight.
The low birth weight means that there is greater risk of growth retardation, most of which occurs by the age of
two and is often irreversible.
A greater prevalence of undernourishment can be seen among the children from scheduled-caste and
scheduled-tribe communities. The rate of decline of undernourishment among these sections of the population
is also found to be lower in comparison to the general population. It leads to a widening gap in terms of
nutritional status among these communities and the general population. A similar observation could be made
about the divergence between rural and urban areas in terms of nutritional status. The overall picture that
emerges is one of growing urban-rural, inert-caste, male-female and economic class disparities in nutritional
status.
It is the dark irony of our times that hunger and malnutrition are so pervasive in the country, while the Indian
economy has achieved self-sufficiency in foodgrain production. The Indian government maintains buffer
foodgrain stocks to guard against serious food shortages arising from drought and other crop failures. But
starvation deaths are often reported from various parts of the country as they continue to be affected by
droughts. These happen at the same time when the Food Corporation of India find it difficult to manage the
millions of tones of surplus food grains rotting in its warehouses. It is such cases which led to the ‘Right to Food’
campaign and an ordinance on it thereafter, even as the bill ensuring food security has been introduced in the
Parliament. Though chronic hunger and malnutrition are not as visible and shocking as starvation deaths but
they happen to be more widespread and persistent.
Q11. Is it the
here in the world, including truemuch
that India s
poorer
.
countries in sub-Saharan Africa?
There is constant repetition by Indian as well as foreign-based civil society groups, journalists, international
institutions, bloggers and even academics that India suffers from the worst malnutrition anywhere in the world.
The contention has also been that the country is making no progress in bringing malnutrition down.
However, it has been argued that India’s nutrition indicators have significantly improved during the last 65 years,
starting from abysmal levels that existed at the time of Indian independence. For instance, clinical signs of severe
undernutrition (such as marasmus and kwashiorkor) are much less common now than they used to be, and there
has been a slow but steady improvement in children’s heights and weights. And yet, even today, the nutrition
situation in India (and in much of South Asia) remains appalling – worse than almost anywhere else in the world.
To illustrate, none of the countries for which recent nutrition data are available have a higher proportion of
underweight children than India. The Indian figure, 43 per cent, is close to South Asian average, but much higher
than the estimated averages for sub-Saharan Africa (20 per cent) or the ‘least developed countries’ (25 per cent),
not to speak of other major regions of the world (less than 12 per cent in each case). The latest estimate for
China, 4 per cent, is about one tenth of the corresponding figure for India. The broad patterns are much the
same for stunting (low height for age), although the contrasts in stunting rates are less sharp, and one or two
countries (e.g. Burundi) do have a higher estimated proportion of stunted children than India’s 48 per cent.
The Indian population – not just children – also suffer from massive micronutrient deficiencies, including iron
deficiency (which affects a majority of women and children), but also shortages of many other essential
nutrients. According to the National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau data, the ratio of the average intake to
‘recommended daily allowance’ among children in the age group of 4-6 years was only 16 per cent for Vitamin A,
35 per cent for iron and 45 per cent for calcium in the early 2000s. The situation remains much the same today
in this respect, partly due to the inadequate reach of supplementation programmes. For instance, only one third
of Indian children below the age of five years are covered by the Vitamin A supplementation programme,
compared with near-universal coverage in every other South Asian country and even in much of the sub-Saharan
Africa.
A view is sometimes aired claiming that child undernutrition in India is a ‘myth’, because Indian children are
genetically shorter, so that international anthropometric standards are not applicable to them. However, this
recent reincarnation of the so-called ‘small but healthy’ hypothesis is yet to receive any sort of scientific support.
The phenomenon of high levels of child undernutrition in South Asia (not only India), even compared with many
sub-Saharan African countries that have poorer income and health indicators, is known as ‘the South Asian
enigma’. The low status of women could be a possible explanation for this enigma. One of the connections
between women’s well-being and child nutrition works through low birth weights: women’s poor nutritional
status and other deprivations (especially during pregnancy) lead to poor foetal growth and low birth weights,
affecting children’s nutrition status right from birth and even conception. For instance, weight gain during
pregnancy may be only about half in South Asia as in Africa.
In this connection, it is worth recalling that not only children but also adult women are more undernourished in
India (and South Asia) than almost anywhere else in the world. According to the Demographic and Health
Surveys (DHS), the proportion of adult women with a ‘body mass index’ below 18.5 (a standard cut-off
conventionally associated with chronic energy deficiency) was as high as 36 per cent in India in 2005-06 – higher
than in any other country for which DHS data are available, and nearly three times as high as the corresponding
estimates for sub-Saharan Africa (14 per cent).
Q12. Is the decline in calorie consumption a reliable indicator of increased hunger?
The concern for adult nutrition has originated primarily in the steady decline recorded in per capita calorie
consumption (though a decline in protein intake is also an issue). A 1996 report on nutrition by the National
Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) provides some of the early documentation of this trend. Additional data
appear in similar follow-up reports. The long term trend is one of declining calorie consumption in both rural and
urban areas though the trend is steadier in rural rather than urban areas. Protein intake has shown similar
.
patterns in rural and urban areas though the intake of fats has steadily climbed up.
The trend in calorie consumption and protein and fat intake reflect a shift away from cereals to other lower-
calorie, lower-protein, more fatty and sugary foods. Such a shift in diet due to increased income is likely – finer
grains, white flour, rice, fruits and oily foods replace coarse grains and whole-wheat flour. Consumption of fruits,
fried products and desserts has seen a steady rise in the last few decades.
While activists interpret the decline in calorie consumption as a decisive indication of increased hunger and
malnutrition, other evidence seriously questions such a conclusion. Thus, when directly asked whether they had
enough to eat every day of the year, successive rounds of the expenditure surveys of the NSSO show increasing
proportions of the respondents answering in the affirmative.
Conceptually, the rising trend in the proportion of the population stating that it had enough to eat throughout
the year can be reconciled with the declining trend in calorie consumption once we recognize the factors that
explain why there may be a decline in the need for calorie consumption. For example, greater mechanization in
agriculture, improved means of transportation and a shift away from traditional physically challenging jobs may
have reduced the need for physical activity. Likewise, better absorption of food made possible by improved
epidemiological environment (better child and adult health and better access to safe drinking water) may have
lowered the needed calorie consumption to produce a given amount of energy.
Hence, the inference that declining calorie consumption implies increasing malnourishment is not warranted.
Indeed, the inference is also contradicted by the weight and height trends of adults. While the declining trends
in both calorie consumption and protein intake can be sources of concern, poverty can not be measured by the
ex post calorie consumption. It must be measured, instead, by how many calories the individuals are able to
afford ex ante. The policy response greatly depends on which measure of poverty we choose.
If we measured poverty by the ex post calorie consumption, we would be tempted to offer free food to
Bollywood actresses trying to stay slim on low-calorie diets! If, however, we measured poverty, by the amount of
calories the individual is able to afford ex ante, we would be spared the obvious policy mistakes. Thus, if the
decline in calorie consumption turns out to be the result of lack of affordability, the solution would be to
improve the purchasing power of the citizenry through growth and redistribution. If, instead, the decline took
place in spite of decision-making, we would want to supply better information, undertake persuasive advertising
to ‘nudge’ people into healthy eating and pass laws requiring fortification of major foods by necessary nutrients.
The dominant view is that the decline in calorie consumption represents increased poverty and therefore
hunger. The fact that more and more people in India are able to afford increased rather than reduced food
purchases over time and that the decline in calorie consumption has occurred across all individuals, whether
they be rich or poor and whether they be residents in rural or urban areas, would suggest, however, that
something other than purchasing power – that is reduced need for calorie consumption due to various factors
described above – is behind the change.
Q13. Explain the functioning of Public Distribution System in India and related issues.
Public Distribution System (PDS) is a programme managed by the government with the objective of ensuring
access to food for all. The PDS does not provide the entire requirement of foodgrains to a household but is only
supplemental. The system operates through a three-stage process.
In the first stage, the Food Corporation of India procures foodgrains from farmers at a procurement price. The
procurement exercise is carried out with the purpose of providing farmers with a minimum support price and
protecting them against unexpected price fluctuations in the market. The procured foodgrains are also used for
the maintenance of buffer stocks in times of need and to stabilize the open market prices.
In the second stage, the procured foodgrains are allotted to the various states according to the number of poor
in these states and the level of production of foodgrains in the state. This is used as a balance of availability of
food between surplus and deficit states.
s to the populationIninthe
thethird stage,
various the foodgrains are distribut
states
.
through a chain of fair-price shops under PDS. The foodgrains are also used for distribution through other public
programmes like food-for-work and mid-day meal scheme for children in schools.
Though PDS started as a universal food distribution programme, it faced the problems of extensive leakages and
inability to reach the really vulnerable groups. In 1997, the scheme was restructured to supply the foodgrains at
differential prices to households Below the Poverty Line (BPL) and those Above the Poverty Line (APL). This has
been known as the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS). But the failure of the system has been grossly

highlighted whenever starvation deaths are reported at the same time when FCI warehouses are overflowing
with surplus foodgrains.
The system is found to be so corrupt and inefficient that some studies have estimated that out of every rupee
spent, only 20 paise reaches the poor. In many states the surveys to identify the poor are not carried out at
times, while in others several families don’t even receive identification cards even after surveys. Instances of
massive manipulation and harassment by bureaucrats are often reported. It is in this regard that the UIDAI is
expected to play a constructive role.
The failures of the PDS system are symptomatic of what ails the government anti-poverty programmes the most.
The major drawback has been centralized planning and lack of local level participation leading to mismatched
priorities and bureaucratic control characterized by lack of transparency and accountability.
Q14. What can be done to address the pitfalls of the PDS?
In the context of an inefficient and leaky PDS it needs to be emphasized that significant gains in efficiency can be
achieved by replacing the public distribution system by cash transfers. The argument against such transfers, that
the beneficiaries might spend the money on something other than grains, seems spurious. This is because such
an outcome is also readily achievable under in-kind transfers by selling the grain in the open market. The
advantage of cash transfers is that they would greatly minimize the leakage along the distribution chain and also
eliminate the huge wastage that characterizes the PDS. It is ironic that many activists insist on in-kind transfers
while simultaneously advocating the rural employment guarantee scheme, which, after all, pays the participants
in cash.
Once the issues of transfer of purchasing power and the right basket of consumption are separated, the focus of
policy can shift to ensuring that consumers make the right consumption choices. This would require two sets of
measures. One set would inform and then ‘nudge’ the public in several ways towards a more nourishing diet.
The second set, which is more likely to produce results, would aim at getting wholesalers and retailers to fortify
various foods with necessary nutrients. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India can play an important
role in the implementation of this set of measures.
Of course, even though demand can be shifted towards dairy products, fruits, vegetables, fish and meat, policy
must also be directed to ensure increased availability of these items. The availability of products needed to
promote good nutrition depends on both domestic production and imports. It is surprising, however, that
discussions on food security, which focus on enhancing the availability of various food items over time, rarely
mention imports. This omission has often resulted in India failing to fully exploit the benefits of imports. For
example, in the past few years, the key component of ‘food inflation’ has been milk. Clearly, easing the imports
through a reduced tariff on powdered milk could have greatly alleviated the shortage of this critical item. But the
government did not take advantage of this channel.
As for domestic production, there is, in fact, a critical need for raising productivity on the farm as well as along
the supply chain, for nearly every agricultural commodity. Per-hectare yields in India are lower than in most of
the comparable countries in most crops. Likewise, vast volumes of fruits and vegetables perish in transit as the
produce makes its way from the farm to the final consumer.
A key element in improving productivity is to reform the laws with respect to sales and rentals of agricultural
ult that today moreland.
thanOver
80 per
thecent of land
years, the
.
t holdings less thanland-holdings

one hectare. are
Onlyless
6.5than
per two
cent of the holdings are four hectares or larger. Ease of sales and rentals will help in the consolidation of
holdings. Flexible rental laws, that allow the owner and the tiller to negotiate and sign formal agreements, will
provide better security to the tiller and provide incentive for making productivity enhancing investments in land.
Improvements in the supply chain also require the development of contract farming, infrastructure and
organized retail. Contract farming can establish a direct link between the farmer and the processor of the
produce, thereby cutting all intermediaries and minimizing waste. It can also ensure a good price to the farmer.
Infrastructure development includes the provision of uninterrupted supply of electricity at reasonable prices and
road and railway transport. The former allows the development of cold storage while the latter rapid movement
of produce from the producer to the consumer. Moreover, organized retail has the capacity to develop efficient
supply chains.
Finally, agricultural productivity increases today depend additionally on a new Green Revolution. The old Green
Revolution was based on the new seeds invented under the leadership of Dr Norman Borlaug and spread in India
under the scientific leadership of Dr Swaminathan. Today, they depend on the adoption and absorption of the
GM (genetically modified) and BT (Bacillus Thuringiensis or natural insecticide) seeds and agricultural crops like
cotton and brinjal. Some NGOs have objected to these as Frankenstein foods, though scientific evidence does
not support such fears. We cannot afford to forego the new Second Green Revolution in this way. Else, we will
have also replaced the highly improbable Frankenstein by the certain Grim Reaper as scarcity overtakes
plenitude in the production of food grains and crops!
References:
 Indian Economic Development, NCERT for Class XI
 Contemporary India by Neera Chandhoke and Praveen Priyadarshi
 India’s Tryst with Destiny by Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya
 India Development and Participation by Amartya Sen and Jean Dreze
 An Uncertain Glory: India and its Contradictions by Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen
 PRS Legislative Research
 Yojana, Kurukshetra, EPW and other magazines

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VISIONIAS ™

SOCIETY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE: 1

POPULATION AND ASSOCIATED ISSUES

Copyright © by Vision IAS

www.visionias.in ©Vision IAS

3] How to determine population trends?

4] How to make sense of such population data?

II. Economic Factors:

Growth Rate of Population: This is the change of population expressed in percentage.

Check Table T1 for better understanding.

Ba – number of births to women in age-group in a given year or reference period.

1981-1991 was 2.16.

four distinct phases of growth identified within this period:

4.3 Population composition

4.3.1 Age Composition

Natural Advantage v/s Social Disadvantage

The declining sex ratio in India

The sex ratio is an important indicator of gender balance in the population.

4.3.3 The population pyramid (The age-sex pyramid)

Population pyramid of India through years

Regional variations in age-structure pyramid

The following diagram shows the estimated

TRENDS AND PATTERNS:

Work participation rate is defined as the percentage

5.0 Demographic Dividend

6.0 Adolescents as a Distinct Population Group

envisaged in NYP-2014, would result in development of an educated and healthy young

6.2 National Policy on Senior Citizens

7.0 Population Policies in India

NATIONAL POPULATION POLICY 2000

8.0 Reproductive Health

quality-oriented reproductive health approaches, India formulated appropriate policy and

Fig. - S7 – Age Structure in India 2011

Fig. - S 14 – Literacy Rate – India 2011

Table T6 – Old Age Population Projection

Copyright © by Vision IAS

SOCIETY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE: 2

Copyright © by Vision IAS

www.visionias.in ©Vision IAS

2.0 What is Society? ....................................................................................................................... 2

3.0 What are the Patterns of social relationships so formed? ....................................................... 2

6.1 Social Institutions ................................................................................................................. 4

6.1.1 Family ............................................................................................................................ 4

6.1.2 Marriage ........................................................................................................................ 6

6.1.3 Kinship ........................................................................................................................... 9

6.2 Caste and the Caste System ................................................................................................. 9

6.2.1 How has caste been traditionally defined? ................................................................. 10

6.2.2 Caste in the Present .................................................................................................... 12

6.2.3 Caste System as a Discriminatory System ................................................................... 15

6.3 Tribal Communities ............................................................................................................ 18

6.3.1 Classifications of Tribal Societies ................................................................................. 18

6.3.2 Mainstream Attitude Towards Tribes .......................................................................... 19

6.3.4 National Development VS. Tribal Development.......................................................... 20

6.3.5 Tribal Identity Today .................................................................................................... 21

6.3.6 Adivasi Struggle ........................................................................................................... 21

6.4 Economic Institutions ......................................................................................................... 22

6.6 Religion ............................................................................................................................... 27