After hundreds of years of slavery and bondage under monarchy,tyranny and imperial rule India became independent and a
free nation in the year 1947.Since thenunder a written constitution India has developed a parliamentary democracy and has been doing reasonably well despite certain internal as well as external problems.India is a burningexample of unity in diversity.With myriad castes,creeds,languages and religions the national leaders most of whom were assigned with the task of framing a constitution were in a fix as to what to do .But with their vision, intelligence and farsight they could manage the situation and come out with a bulky and written constitution which has stood the test of time after so many years of independence. The government’s under different political parties have formulated various policies for the all round development of the country.An almost consistent foreign policy under the stewardship of the Prime Ministers irrespective of the political parties has no doubt boosted the image of India in the world to the extent that countries often look
upto India as a leader in international matters. After almost seventy years of independence the success of the Indian democracy can hardly be overlooked by any political analyst. But there is no room for complacency and a
long war is yet to be waged to fight the ills that still engulf the Indian democracy.Let us try to find out the same and the probablesolutions;
1)Burgeoning population-
The burgeoning population of India has been a matter of
serious concern for the government of India.
From thirty-four crore in the year 1947 the
figure has crossed the one hundred and
fourty-five crore mark .It is really a Himalayan
task to provide food,education and employment to such a huge population.A strict formulation and implementation of a
family planning scheme along with attractive
incentives,public awareness,creation of jobs,
thrust on agriculture,technical education,
employment and schemes for the unemployed youth may solve the population
and population related problems.
2)Corruption-As per a survey of 2023 India
ranks 93rd among one hundred and eighty
countries by scoring 39 in a scale from 1 to
100.Corruption has captured the Indian society like an octopus.Strict action by the
government through its agencies both at the
centre and in the states and a high degree of
public awareness may help in solving the
problem.
3)Regionalism-Regionalism often poses a serious threat to the unity and integrity of the
country.All round development of the country
irrespective of regions with suitable packages by the government,the awareness
that India is one,good centre-state relations
confirming to the Indian federation,amicable
settlement of disputes among states and
strict action against separatists will go a long
way in strengthening India as a nation.
4}Fanaticism-Fanaticism of any kind relating
to caste,religion and other aspects does not
hold good for a secular polity like India. Zero
tolerance by the government and the patriotic feeling amongst people that the
nation stands first will do away with fanaticism.
5)Poverty-Though poverty in India has declined in recent times,as per a latest report
there are still 129 million people living in
extreme poverty in the country.Since more than 83% percent people live in rural India
thrust on agriculture ,small scale and agriculture based industries and rural
development may be instrumental in alleviation of poverty.The government plans and policies may be evaluated from time to time.
6)Illiteracy-The literacy rate in India is 74.04%
with certain states like Arunachal Pradesh,
Bihar and Rajasthan remaining below the
national average.Since the female literacy rate is less than that of male literacy thrust on
women education has to be given.Priority on
adult education,free meal scheme in schools
and incentives for poor families to send their
children to school may help in increasing the
literacy rate in the country.
7)Multi-party democracy-Unlike many countries in the world where there is one party or bi-party system India has developed
a multi party political system since the time
of independence which has led to trends like
hung parliament or assembly and coalition
government and evils like horse trading.In such a situation value based and selfless
politics is the need of the hour.
8)Partition and its aftermath-Partition led to
formation of states in the Indian subcontinent
on the basis of religion and India is yet to
overcome its aftermath.India has got to get
into good relations with the two Muslim
countries,Pakistan and Bangladesh for peace
and development in the region.
9)Demoralised politics-Politicians have got to
be honest,sincere and hard working and stand above party interests in the interest of
the country.
10)Agriculture-India has always given top
priority to agriculture since independence
which should be continued with much more
vigour since it is the mainstay of the Indian
economy.It is reported that the fertility of the
Indian soil has gone down due to excessive
use of chemical fertilizers.There should be a
comeback to manure,traditional methods and
biological fertilizers and pesticides.
11)Unemployment-Unemployment which often
leads to frustration and crime on the part of the youth should be controlled with creation
of jobs,government schemes for the youth for selfemployment ,development in agriculture and small scale industries.
12)Education-Education should be technical
and joboriented with strict control over the
educational institutions in the private sector
by the government so that everybody gets
education suitably and cheaply.
13)pseudo-secularism-India cannot afford to
be psedosecular when the constitution
declares it to be a secular state.Everybody
including the people and the politicians should set the best of standards for secularism.
14)Reservation system-The reservation system should be evaluated from time to time
with thrust on the economic status of the
beneficiary so that the needy,poor and
deserving get the benefits of reservation.
15)Big brother-India is a developing country
and has emerged as a super power in recent
times.Because of its vastness and huge
population it is often considered to be a big
brother in the region.India should try to
eliminate this image and maintain good
relations with countries like Pakistan,Bhutan,
Bangladesh,Nepal and Srilanka for peace and
development in the area.
16)Development-Political parties should put
thrust on the issue of development and work
for it instead of diverting people,’s attention
towards other issues for the sake of coming
to power.
17)Foreign policy-India since independence
has followed a consistent foreign policy under
different Prime Ministers.But in recent times
it has tilted.In the present scenario of
complicated international relations India has
got to be careful while dealing with the super
powers and other developed countries for its
political and economic interests.
18)Media-In a democracy the media cannot
afford to be biased and partisan.It should
create awareness amongst people and put
a check on the excesses of the government
instead of blindly supporting it.
Despite the ills afflicting the Indian
democracy it has done reasonably well since
independence and has emerged as a world
power in recent times to the extent that
countries around the globe look upto India
in times of crises.But there is always room for
improvement and India has still a long way to
go.From a developing country it will become
a developed country and a force to reckon
with in the international arena provided the
ills so discussed are rectified.
Prafulla Kumar Majhi
Retd.Assistant Director(P)
All India Radio
Bhatra,Dhanupali
Sambalpur
Mobile-9861007190