SOCIO ECONOMIC PROBLEMS IN INDIA

Swami Vivekananda rightly said If you are not facing any problem, I am sure that you are heading in a wrong
way.
Yes, problems and issues are usual. A person or a country will definitely face issues or problems in the path of
progress. If we study the history of development of different countries, the reality comes to light. The success lies in
tackling the issues. How we solve the issues matter the most. For a fruitful solution, the issues must be solved at the
source. If we want to stop a smoke, we must have to stop the fire which is causing it. We cant stop smoke by simply
covering it.
India is not only a country where the majority of its population is young, but it is also still a developing nation. Due
to many reasons, our nation is riddled with different socio-economic problems. Some of these problems are new,
while a few are continuing since the British era.
Undoubtedly, terrorism and corruption are the most dangerous and prevalent issues in the recent time. The other
socio-economic problems in India are poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, and communalism and so on. If one could
connect and see it, there is an inter-connection between all the problems; as it is a web of issues.
These problems can be broadly classified as:

1. POVERTY
The major socio-economic problem being faced by India is Poverty. It is the root cause of many socio-economic
problems including population explosion, unemployment, and child labor and rising graph of crimes. Even after six
decades of independence, the country is still fighting against this social evil of poverty. It is estimated that nearly
one third of Indian population of 1.27 Billion, i.e., nearly 426 millions of people are living below poverty line. The
latest UNICEF data shows that one in three malnourished children worldwide is found in India, whilst 42% of the
nation's children under five years of age are underweight. It also shows that a total of 58% of children under five
surveyed were stunted.
It cannot be said that attempts have not been made by the government. Since 1970s poverty alleviation became the
priority in governments development planning. Though Governments are struggling hard to eradicate poverty, the
ever increasing population and mismanagement of government schemes, have fueled the growth of poverty. The
lack of transparency and accountability has hampered our economic development at all levels.
In this regard community participation and awareness campaign can make a difference. The media and the NGOs,
besides other institutions have crucial role to play. The machinery involved in poverty alleviation need to be
accountable, sensitized and sincere. New laws have to be evolved to ensure more accountability.


POPULATION
UNEMPLOYMENT
POLLUTION
BEGGERY
ECONOMIC
CORRUPTION
POVERTY
SANITATION
EDUCATION
ILLITERACY
BRAIN DRAIN
CHILD LABOUR
VOILENCE
NAXALISM
COMMUNALISM
TERRORISM
CRIME AGAINST
WOMEN
2. UNEMPLOYMENT
Unemployment is another major problem of the Indian economy. We know India is a developing economy and
therefore the nature of unemployment here differs from the one that prevails in a developed economy.
In India there disguised unemployment in the rural sector and unemployment among the educated classes in the
urban areas. The main cause of unemployment among the educated lot is the slow rate growth of the economy in
relation to increase in the number of educated persons.
Moreover growing unemployment is forcing people from rural areas to migrate to nearby cities and towns, creating
slums, social unrest, and electricity & water shortages. Nearly 9.4% of Indian population is unemployed. i.e.,
around 120 million people are either unemployed or underemployed. This large number of unemployment is of great
concern and governments are devising new and effective schemes to curb this unemployment.
India's biggest worry and centre of all debates essentially needs to be the growing informal employment which
counts for 94 per cent of the workforce and is growing faster than formal employment.
Unemployment rate in India is showing an increasing trend since 2011 when it was 3.5%. The same rose to 3.6% in
2012 and climbed to 3.7% last year. This year, jobless rate is expected to rise to 3.8%, according to the report
'Global Employment Trends 2014'. However, total employment in India expanded from 2009/10 to 2011/12 by a
much healthier 13.9 million, though many of these jobs are in the informal economy.
The foremost requirement is the changing the existing educational system. There should be perfect coordination and
integration between our education and the industrial environment. The industrial development can relieve us from
this problem to a great extent. We must concentrate on labour intensive units. We have to plan and exploit our
industrial potential to the fullest extent to provide jobs to the fellow youths.
Government should step up their efforts to support skill and retraining activities to address the gaps between demand
and supply of work skills and qualifications and to address long-term unemployment.
Since poverty is directly linked to unemployment, the schemes and effort by government to eradicate
unemployment, also helps in eradicating poverty.

3. OVERPOPULATION
Our country having only 2.4 per cent of globes area holds 16 per cent of globes human beings. Its current annual
increase at 16 million is the highest in the world. Soon we may achieve the dubious distinction of becoming the most
populous country in the world.
The current population of the India is estimated to be about 1.27 billion people, which is an increase of about 2.3%
from the last record of the population. Based on the total land area and the total population of the country, Based on
the total land area of the country and the estimated population for 2014, the population density in 2014 is about
383.7 people per square kilometer or 993.8 people per square mile(World Population Statistics.Com), thereby it is
adding to the woes of poverty and unemployment.
The addition of population found by the census 2011 is roughly equivalent to the population of Brazil, the fifth
largest country in the world. One Indian state alone Uttar Pradesh now has a population of 199,500,000 people,
just under that of Britain, France and Germany combined. One positive outcome of the 2011 new count showed
population growth in India had slowed down from 21.5% recorded in 2001 to 17.6%. The positive effects of
development are nullified by increase in population. Hence there is an urgent need to curtail population growth, by
adopting strict family planning programs by government.
As the stabilization of population is the most significant task ahead of us, stringent measures are required in this
direction. Some countries have sought to enforce legal remedies for this chronic malady.
We need to address the problem of overpopulation in the broader sense and in a socially controlled way. This can be
done by creating awareness among people and providing them the required means.

4. ILLITERACY
The other major problem faced by India is illiteracy. That literacy is the basic requirement of economic development
has been recognized throughout the world and hence literacy has reached around 99% in countries of Japan, South
Korea, USA, UK, Germany, France etc.
But in India the literacy is still hovering round 74% on an average reaching above 90% in Tripura & Kerala and
below 75% in Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, etc. All efforts and success in literacy have become obliterated
by huge rise in population.
Despite governments initiative in schemes like Sarva Shikhsa Abhiyan (Education for All), many children in rural
India, still do not have access to good schools and quality education.
Further the rural children have to work to contribute to their family income, thereby denying time for education.
Despite the governments effort on compulsory education and child labor ban, many children are still not able to go
to schools. Added to this lack of quality teachers is also a cause for decline in quality education.
Poverty eradication, improvements of rural schools and education system should be a priority area of concern for
governments to address this problem.

5. CORRUPTION
The next important social problem being faced by India is Corruption Corruption is widespread in India. It ranks
94th (Transparency International) among 177 countries in the world. In India corruption takes the form of bribes,
evasion of taxes, misappropriation of funds, embezzlement etc.
A study found that more than 50% had firsthand experience of paying bribe or peddling influence to get a job done
in a public office.
According to a World Bank estimate, 0.5% of Indias Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is lost due to corruption every
year. Furthermore, it makes the business environment less conducive for investors and organization
The main economic consequence of corruption, are loss to exchequer, an unhealthy environment for investment and
increase in cost of government services. Apart from this Corruption also leads to an unethical society. This increases
the already existing gap between poor and wealthy. This may lead to unrest and destruction of modern societies in
the form of violence. This social evil needs to be curbed so as to bring back moral values in the society as well as to
fill the widening gap between the have ones and have nots.
The introduction of Lokpal Bill in the Parliament, its strict implementation and a moral fight against corruption may
help in eradicating corruption in public life.

6. VIOLENCE
The other major problem in form of violence is terrorism, communalism and naxalism, the offshoot of social
inequality. Many youths in India, due to poverty and illiteracy, have taken the path of either Terrorism or Naxalism.
Naxalism though, having its root in Marxism, its main cause lies in unequal distribution of wealth. Inclusive
development seems to be a solution to this menace.
The root cause of terrorism in India is attributable to partly to fundamentalism and partly due to regionalism. If we
curb these two basic issues, by removing social inequality and religious tolerance, and equal development in all the
states, these menaces can be easily controlled.
The Communal issue has deep roots in the Indian past. The colonial rule was based on communal divisions. The
British found the divide and rule policy as the most comfortable way to establish their hold in Indian subcontinent.
Even after independence, communal violence continues with the recent case been the Muzzafarnagar Riots in UP.
While elimination of communal feelings requires multi-pronged strategy involving educational, social and
political measures, prevention of communal conflagration requires alertness and immediate response from the law
and order administration. Timely information can ensure preparedness of the administration for unpleasant
situations.

7. SANITATION
Poor sanitation is something that not only affects the health of the people of the country, but also affects the
economic and social development of the nation. Illnesses caused by germs and worms in feces, wastes and pollutants
are constant source of discomfort for millions of people .India is still lagging far behind many countries in the field
of sanitation. Most cities and towns in India are characterized by over-crowding, congestion, inadequate water
supply and inadequate facilities of disposal of human excreta, wastewater and solid wastes. Fifty five percent of
Indias population (nearly 600 million people) has no access to toilets.
People have no civic sense. They spit on roads. In many buildings, the walls are seen to be spattered with betel leaf
stains. Urinating and defecating in public are common. Trash overflows onto the streets as people just leave their
garbage on the roads. Stray dogs poop everywhere. This is the typical scenario in most Indian cities.It is a shame
that educated people also indulge in such behavior. Littering seems to be a national pastime.
The need for cleanliness has to be inculcated at a young age. Parents should teach children to preserve their
surroundings cleanly. Schools should conduct classes in civic sense. Fines should be strictly enforced.
More public toilets should be built. The collection of garbage should be given to private agencies as in the West.
Garbage bins should be kept at strategic points all over the city. The movement of animals like dogs and cattle on
main roads should be restricted.
Local communities and NGOs should be actively involved in creating awareness for better sanitation. It was the
poor sanitary conditions that led to the outbreak of the Great Plague in Europe, during the middle Ages.
In India, it is the lack of political will that stands in the way of cleaner roads and cities. We should learn from
nations like Singapore and Japan how to keep our country spanking clean. Sanitation in personal and public life is
the joint responsibility of individual, community and state.

8. BEGGERY

Yet another problem which our country faces today is the problem of begging. Begging in India has developed into
an art and a full-fledged profession. The practice of begging is the result of the poverty of the country and the deep-
seated religious sentiments and superstitions of our country men. Unemployment, illiteracy, ignorance and ever-
increasing population are other causes of begging.

It cannot be denied that the distribution of wealth is not fair and the gap between the rich and the poor is very wide.
Religion seems to teach the rich and well-to-do that charity is the surest passport to heaven. Beggars, in themselves
are problems and they create other social problems by kidnapping women and children. Many people with sound
health and in their prime also become beggars.

Though the problem of begging is gigantic, yet it can easily be solved, if there is will and determination to do so. By
creating healthy public opinion against it and by passing laws which make this profession a punishable offence, the
problem can be solved within no time.

Further, the Government should start its own institutions, where widows, orphans, and other helpless people may
find shelter. This will prevent them from joining the profession. The Government should also pass laws, which
should make begging by persons below a certain age a crime.


9. VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

The problem of violence and atrocities against women in India in various forms is one important problem relating to
women which cannot be ignored.
Such forms include feticide, infanticide, medicine neglect, deprivation of educational opportunities, child marriages,
sexual abuse of the girl child, forced marriages, rapes, prostitution, sexual harassment, pregnancies at small
intervals, wife-battering, bride-burning, cursing the widows, witch-hunting, neglect of the old women, etc. one can
see these forms of violence in his or her own surroundings. The December 16 case or the Nirbhaya incidence is still
fresh in our minds.
It is indeed, ironic that in India, which has given rise to great ideals of peace and non-violence, women have to bear
the brunt of violence-domestic as well as public, physical as well as emotional and mental. In spite of the legislative
measures adopted in favor of women in our society after Independence, the spread of education and womens
gradual economic independence, countless women still continue to be victims of violence and extreme cruelty.
Today, though women are being gradually recognized as important, powerful and meaningful contributors to the life
of men; but some of the cruel practices thrive even today. The number of reported cases of atrocities against women
in India has increased in recent years.
There is a need to raise voice and fight against atrocities against Women. The interests of women are being
protected through institutions such as Mahila Courts, Family Courts, and NGOs. Apart from these institutions, right
thinking men too have to be drawn into the movement against violence. Attitudinal change in society is required if
women are to live in the world as free human beings without fear.

10. CHILD LABOR
Children engaged in economic activity, on part or full-time basis is a common phenomenon that we see everywhere.
This practice deprives children of their childhood, and is harmful to their physical and mental development. Poverty,
lack of good schools and growth of informal economy are considered as the important causes of child labor in India.

Most of these children do not have a childhood and they have no education at all.
Innocent children are employed by industries and individuals who put them to work under dangerous circumstances.
They are made to work for long hours in dangerous factory units and sometimes made to carry load even heavier
than their own body weight. Then there are individual households that hire children as domestic help and beat and
physically torture them when they make a mistake. The children are at times made to starve and are given worn out
clothes to wear. Such is the story of millions of children in India that is painful and yet true.
Poor parents give birth to children thinking them as money-making machines. They carry infants to earn more on the
streets from begging. Then as they grow they make them beggars, and eventually sell them to employers. This
malady is rampant across the length and breadth of India.
The efforts made by sections of the government, social workers, non-government organizations and others to rescue
and rehabilitate the children must be applauded.
In addition, each individual should also take responsibility of reporting about anyone employing a child below the
age of fourteen years. However, considering the magnitude and extent of the problem, concerted efforts from all
sections of the society is needed to make a dent. Measures need to be taken not only to stop this crime against
children, but also to slowly, steadily and surely provide every child a well-deserved healthy and normal childhood.

CONCLUSION

The above problems being faced by modern India cannot be solved just by Government Policies/Schemes or a Non
Government Organization or a Social Activist working for a specific cause, but these can be definitely addressed by
peoples wholehearted participation and willingness to commit ourselves to social values, equality, education and
honesty.
Aptly said by Robin Sharma A PROBLEM BECOMES A PROBLEM ONLY WHEN WE SEE IT AS A
PROBLEM
Together we can..!!