discuss the religious and social condition of india after independence
Answers
India won freedom mainly through a sustained, non-violent struggle involving the sacrifice of thousands of people, mainly under the leadership of Tilak, Gandhi, Nehru and Bose. India became a free country on 15 August 1947. India was partitioned, and a new nation – Pakistan – was created. India has adopted a democratic-socialist path for its development and progress. It adopted a new Constitution which was implemented on 26 January 1950.
The Constitution guarantees fundamental rights to the citizens of India, ensuring equality, freedom and justice. Besides the fundamental rights, the Constitution also outlines directives for state policy with a view to give a desired direction to social and economic change in India.
Equality before Law:
Today, there is ‘rule of law’ in India. All citizens are equal and subject to the jurisdiction of the same authority. Even, the privy purses, granted to the princes and feudal lords, were abolished in the late sixties. Birth is no more the basis of recognising status and power. Religion, language, caste or ethnicity are no longer considerations for providing social honour and privileges.
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However, the weaker sections of Indian society, particularly the Scheduled Castes (SCs), the Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs), have been provided special facilities and provisions for their upliftment. They are protected against discrimination and exploitation by the dominant sections of Indian society. Women have equality with men. All the citizens of India have the right to vote at all the levels of our political system.
Progress in Education:
There has been tremendous progress in the field of education. More than 100 million children receive education at the primary level. The increase in numbers at the secondary stage is also impressive. Education at college and university levels has also increased enormously. Today, there are about 300 universities in India. Diversification of education at senior school, college and university levels has also been taken up by the Government of India.
Basic education is being provided at the elementary level. Today, at senior school and university levels, emphasis is being put on vocationalisation, computer studies, applied sciences, management and on some other relevant and gainful fields of knowledge to tackle the problem of unemployment among the educated young men and women.
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In 1986, a new Education Policy was implemented by the Government of India placing greater emphasis on the quality of education particularly at the school level. Special attention has been given to the education of the SCs and STs, women and backward sections.
Education has promoted migration of people from villages to towns and cities. There is an increased emphasis on Hindi and other national languages. The policy of learning three languages at the school level has been implemented in all the states of the Union of India.
National Consolidation:
States of India were reorganised in 1955 on the basis of the recommendations made by the States Reorganisation Commission. Since this was done on the basis of the language spoken by the people, each state has some cultural cohesiveness.
India was characterised by the unique type of feudalism under which the rajas, thikanedars, jagirdars and zamindars were treated as Mai-Bap (parents). To begin with, the government abolished such patrimonial feudalism, and subsequently also abolished the privy purses and compensations granted to the rajas.
This was really a ‘revolutionary’ step as the tenants were granted ownership rights. The institution of zamindars as intermediaries was removed with the stroke of a pen. Later on, the consolidation of small landholdings and ceilings on maximum landholdings were taken up as measures of land reforms.
The Green Revolution has been made possible because of these reforms, and also because of adoption of new technology, fertilisers and seeds in the field of agriculture. India is today self-sufficient in food-grains, whereas in the fifties and early sixties it depended upon the United States of America and some other countries for its requirement of food-grains.
Five-Year Plans and Socio-Economic Changes:
In the field of industry as well, India has made a lot of progress since independence. Heavy industries at Hatia, Rourkela, Bokaro, Sindri, Bangalore and other places were established in the fifties and sixties. Small-scale and cottage industries have also received the attention of the government.
Industrialisation has been possible because India adopted the path of planned economic development and social change. The Planning Commission of India was assigned the task of planning. The government has adopted its policy of ‘mixed economy’, a policy of balanced growth of the private, the public, and the joint sectors.
India won freedom mainly through a sustained, non-violent struggle involving the sacrifice of thousands of people, mainly under the leadership of Tilak, Gandhi, Nehru and Bose. India became a free country on 15 August 1947. India was partitioned, and a new nation – Pakistan – was created. India has adopted a democratic-socialist path for its development and progress. It adopted a new Constitution which was implemented on 26 January 1950.
The Constitution guarantees fundamental rights to the citizens of India, ensuring equality, freedom and justice. Besides the fundamental rights, the Constitution also outlines directives for state policy with a view to give a desired direction to social and economic change in India.