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Formation of linguistic states led to many benefits including strengthening the cause of Indian unity–  • Led to nurturing and promotion of the regional languages and culture, strengthening the country overall.  • Led to better interaction among people of the states with their democratically elected governments without going through hassles of getting translations of sort. It didn’t, mind, stop those who wanted to, to learn other languages and go to other states.  • Led to consolidation of the federal structure. People realized that it was easy and peaceful to be Hindi-speaking and Indian, Tamilspeaking and Indian, Gujarati-speaking and Indian etc.  • Led to growth of English as a medium of inter-state and state-Centre communication, which would have been difficult had the states not been more or less linguistically homogenous. Absence of a united opposition (which is possible for groups of linguistic states) might have led to more pronounced superiority complex of t...

The Nomadic and Denotified tribes constitute about 60 million all over India. Due to the wandering traditions over hundreds of years without any ostensible means of livelihood under the influence of the caste system, they are forced to live under sub human conditions. The large section of these tribes is known as "Vimukta jaatis" or the Ex-Criminal Tribes because they were branded as criminals by birth under the "Criminal Tribes Act, 1871", enacted by the British Government.  In spite of the repeal of the Act in 1952, they are still treated as Criminals by birth and subjected to harassment and persecution at the hands of the police and the state machinery. These tribes have had wandering traditions from generation after generation and they have hardly been integrated in the society. In fact, the society has always looked at them with mistrust and suspicion due to the stigma of criminality attached with them. In that sense, they have been living a life of isolation f...

Patriarchy refers to the dominance of society by male counterparts and thereby intruding considerably in the autonomy of females. It has hampered the position of the middle class working women in India owing to prolonged practices of the past and submissiveness of the females.  Position of the middle class working women is made to be subordinate to that of males. The females are provided with low skilled and low paying jobs in comparison to their male counterparts. In fact, for the same quality and quantity of work women are paid less. Moreover, the domestic work are not even considered as being considerable contribution. Women’s job in India is understood as completely attached to their spouse’s.  A woman has to seek transfer or even leave their job if her husband has moved. Moreover, in times of exigencies, it is females who have to sacrifice their jobs in the name of necessity of the family. Women are expected to perform dual roles of job as well as household works with the...

In India from the pre-historic period, women’s condition was not that much favourable for themselves. They are socially, economically and educationally always exploited. They are pressurised for different social economic and religious matter and used as a product. Not only in society but also at home itself women are exploited. Day by day there is a noticeable number of data came out on domestic violence. Such incident not only undermine the status of women in society but also at home. They have no decision making right within the home for her life also and face torture which leads to physical and mental damages.  Every year we have data on increasing dowry death, which is not only a shameful act but also show what in happening with the women. Every year news come about physical assault, women trafficking not only on rural but also on urban areas. But the 1991-2001 census data shows that the sex ratio increased for the first time which shows a good sign for the Indian society....

It has been recognized the world over that good governance is essential for sustainable development, both economic and social. The three essential aspects emphasized in good governance are transparency, accountability and responsiveness of the administration. The “Citizen’s Charter initiative” is a response to the quest for solving the problems which a citizen encounters, day-in and day-out, while dealing with organisations providing public services.  The concept of Citizen’s Charter enshrines the trust between the service provider and its users. The concept was first articulated and implemented in the United Kingdom by the Conservative Government of John Major in 1991 as a national programme with a simple aim: to continuously improve the quality of public services for the people of the country so that these services respond to the needs and wishes of the users.  Principles: The basic objective of the Citizen’s Charter is to empower the citizen in relation to public service d...

The Importance of Efficient use of Public Resources Effective utilization of public resources is critical to meeting development goals. Key programs in education and health are overwhelmingly conducted within the public sector. And although private provision of infrastructure has expanded in areas like telecommunications and energy, private investors remain wary of socially-oriented sectors, such as water and sanitation, and also show little willingness to invest in the poorest countries. At present, though, research indicates that increases in public spending are only weakly correlated with the achievement of development outcomes in most developing countries. Government ineffectiveness — in the form of waste, inefficiency and corruption — is largely responsible.  Reasons for under-utilization and mis-utilizations of funds:  • Corruption: The large sum of money earmarked from public activities are taken away by officials as well as politicians in form of bribes. This results i...

Indian sub-continent from the earliest times has been an attractive destination for traders, travellers and pilgrims alike. These travellers often left a description of what they observed here. Such authoritative accounts are often used to reconstruct the ancient and medieval Indian history.  Some of the most famous among them came from China and parts of Arabia. While the Arab travellers were curious about India’s riches and its distinct cultural traditions, the Chinese travellers were more motivated by their religious zeal.  Factors underlining the significance of accounts by Chinese and Arab travellers  •These accounts provided an outsider’s perspective to the contemporary issues. Thus, Fa Hien’s account of life in the 5th century Gupta empire was devoid of any biases.  •Such accounts were taken by the travellers to their home countries, which enabled a better understanding about India, and consequently establishment of better diplomatic relations.  •Accounts...

Recently, the government has sought action against ‘The Hindu’ newspaper and news agency ANI under Official Secrets Act, 1923 for publishing documents related to India’s deal to buy 36 Rafael jets from France. Judiciary however made it crystal clear and dispelled the doubts many of us have regarding Officials Secrets Act being an obstacle in effective implementation of Right to Information Act.  Following are the provisions that clarify what happens when OSA and RTI Act come into interaction and have conflict:  •Whenever there is a conflict between the two laws, the provisions of the RTI Act override those of the OSA.  •Section 22 of the RTI Act states that its provisions will have effect notwithstanding anything that is inconsistent with them in the OSA.  •Similarly, under Section 8(2) of the RTI Act, a public authority may allow access to information covered under the OSA, “if the public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to the protected interests”.  •...

“In order to have anything like a complete theory of human rationality, we have to understand what role emotion plays in it.” – (Herbert Simon, American Nobel Laureate scientist) At the point of decision, emotions are very important for choosing. In fact, even with what we believe are logical decisions, the very point of choice is arguably always based on emotion. As Dr. Simon and others have pointed out, emotions influence, skew or sometimes completely determine the outcome of a large number of decisions we are confronted within a day.  Therefore, it is important for all of us who want to make the best, most objective decisions to know all we can about emotions and their effect on our decision-making. People, who are emotionally intelligent, don’t remove all emotions from their decision-making. They remove emotions that have nothing to do with the decision. The secret to making smarter decisions that aren’t swayed by your current emotions, particularly when your emotions are unrel...

The 73rd Amendment along with 74th is called a silent revolution. The most revolutionary provision is said to be the reservation of one-third of the seats for women in local bodies (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the SCs and STs). Further not less than one-third of the total number of offices of chairpersons in the panchayats at each level shall be reserved for women.  Impact of amendment on patriarchal character of Indian political process:  • But has it really made a considerable impact towards improving the status of women is debatable. In spite of progressive nature of the constitution, traditional social structures that restricted women’s social participation were reinforced in which men hold primary power and pre-dominate roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege.  • The reservation of seats in the panchayati raj institutions has enabled women to contest and win elections but lot of structural and procedural chal...

The government schemes are carried out for the welfare of the vulnerable sections. The vulnerable sections include SC, ST, OBCs, backward classes, women, senior citizens, children, Divyang, third gender, minorities. The welfare includes the overall human, social, political, economic development of these sections with a view to achieve dignity and liberty of individuals by enhancing choices and offering avenues of growth.  There are several stages of policy process, where non involvement and lack of awareness leads to inefficient and ineffective performance:  • Identification of the problem - At the time of identification the people for whom the scheme is carried out do not know about the scheme. The people are required to be involved in the policy-making process so that their valuable inputs can enhance the process. • Formulation – While policy formulation takes place, it is really important to involve people. If the people are not aware then that might affect the targeti...

India is among those countries which spend least on social sector services, such as health and education. The government spends only 2.3 % of GDP on health which is far before from the world’s average of 10.02%. Whereas in education sector, it is 3.4% against the world’s average of 4.815%.  This endangers India’s prospects which currently has the world’s largest young population to reap its demographic dividend by human capital formation. This further has led Indian society to divert its resources from food items to non-food items. Reasons behind divergence in relationship between Poverty and Hunger  • India is currently in the third stage of demographic transition with average life expectancy of 68.5 years. Life expectancy increased 61 years in 2001 to 67 years in 2011 and further to 68.5 years in 2019. Further, neonatal mortality, under five mortality and maternal mortality has also decreased considerably which indicates that citizens have considerably spent on health. ...

Farmers’ organisations refer to group of farmers who are organised to protect their own interests related to issues like minimum support price, subsidies, welfare schemes for farmers, etc.  Ex: Bharatiya Kisan Sabha, Sehkari Sangatan, Karnataka Raitha Sangha, etc..  Farmer’s organisations, being a pressure group, follows different types of protests to influence policy-makers:  (a) Lobbying: here they influence policy-makers by providing information about their demands and grievances. For example: Due to protests by Dairy Farmers, KMF increased the rate of milk by Rs. 2 per litre.  (b) Protests and rallies: here they mobilise huge number of farmers and conduct rallies on a large scale to let the people understand their demands.  For example: protests by farmers in Maharashtra last year to increase MSP rates, pension schemes for farmers, implementation of Swaminathan committee recommendations, etc.  (c) Satyagrahas and fast unto death protests: farmers norm...

Women are the building blocks of the society. They are traditionally referred as Goddesses. However, in the Indian society, they continue to be exploited for the sake of the conventions of the society and face challenges even today.  The following are the various challenges faced by the women: • Patriarchy: Women face the male dominance in various institutions, structures of the country. This has hampered the overall development and rise of women in the societal roles.  • Political participation: Women are not able to express themselves politically. The bill for reservation women is still pending in the parliament.  • Economic participation: Women are not able to reach the topmost positions in the corporations, private or public except a few. Also, women are imparted roles which are regarded as specifically for women like Pink color Jobs, Health sector, etc.  • Education: They are still considered as burden in the villages of many states, though the situation has ...

Empowerment refers to measures designed to increase the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities in order to enable them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one’s life and claiming one’s rights.  Women empowerment will help in tackling population growth:  • Political Empowerment: This would result in increase in women’s participation in the political processes, structures, institutions. This would enhance the voice of women at different platforms. Hence, women will be able to raise awareness about need of small families and birth control and the associated benefits.  • Economic Empowerment: This will lead to the participation of women in the economic activities. It will increase the family income and also improve the situation of women in making financial decisions. Thus, there will be fewer ...

Culture is a way of life of people. It includes architecture, literature, art, science, etc. Although Indian society is multi-cultural, plural, diverse having different religions, traditions, philosophies and lifestyles, yet it is able to sustain its diverse culture.  Features of Indian Society which led to is sustainability  • Principles of Tolerance and Respect: Indian society has been founded upon these principles which result in mutual respect and understanding for each other. The religions like Buddhism and Jainism have been founded upon these.  • Assimilation Process: Migrants from the times of Aryans to the Mughals have come and lived in India peacefully assimilating into the Indian way of life, thereby sustaining the culture of the nation.  • Spiritualism: Indians have been always curious to find a unique way of life giving rise to spiritualistic elements in the way of life. The various philosophies have given way to a spiritual dimension in the way of livin...

36. Definition. —In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires, “the State” has the same meaning as in Part III.  37. Application of the principles contained in this Part .—The provisions contained in this Part shall not be enforceable by any court, but the principles therein laid down are nevertheless fundamental in the governance of the country and it shall be the duty of the State to apply these principles in making laws. 38. State to secure a social order for the promotion of welfare of the people. (1) The State shall strive to promote the welfare of the people by securing and protecting as effectively as it may a social order in which justice, social, economic and political, shall inform all the institutions of the national life. (2) The State shall, in particular, strive to minimise the inequalities in income, and endeavour to eliminate inequalities in status, facilities and opportunities, not only amongst individuals but also amongst groups of people residing in differ...

The 19th century in India was that of contradictions as the European values and principles were being adopted in the Indian society.  1. Denial of Education- Majority of men were against the women education. But some initiatives were taken : • 1819 Calcutta Female Juvenile Society set up by Christian society  • 1849 Bethune School, Calcutta  • 1854 Wood's Dispatch on Education laid emphasis on woman education  • Jyotiba Phule was the greatest champion of women education in 19th Century.  2. Female Infanticide-especially in northern and western India, mainly by landed and the dominant castes.  3. Child Marriages  • B.M. Malabari worked against child marriage and got the enactment of the Consent Act (which fixed minimum age of female bride at 12, raised by Sharda Act to 14 and ultimately to 18 by Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929.  • This issue assimilates all the social issues like poverty, bride price, religious and social pressures, regional cus...

I. Indian Society, Structure, Issues and Social Movements  1. Indian Society: Salient features, Unity in Diversity; Family, Marriage, Kinship, Caste, Tribe, Religion, Language; Rural – Urban continuum; Multi-culturalism.  2. Social Exclusion and Vulnerable Groups: Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes, Minorities, Women, Children, Aged and Disabled.  3. Social Issues: Poverty; Unemployment, Child Labour, Violence against Women; Regionalism; Communalism and Secularism; Corruption; Caste Conflicts, Problems of Agricultural Labour; Urbanization; Development and Displacement; Environmental Degradation; Sustainable Development; Population Explosion; Agrarian Distress; Migration.  4. (a)Social Issues in Telangana: Vetti; Jogini and Devadasi System; Girl Child; Flourosis; Child Labour; Migrant Labour; Child Marriages.       (b) Social Movements in Telangana.  5. Social Policies and Programmes in India and Telangana: Policies for Women...