CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS OF INDIAN SOCIETY

A PROJECT REPORT

Submitted by

JATIN CHAUHAN

in partial fulfilment of the requirement of

CBSE AISSCE 2022 - 23

IN

GENERAL STUDIES

CAMBRIDGE SCHOOL GREATER NOIDA

CLASS XII A
ROLL NUMBER – 11
SESSION 2022-23

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 CAMBRIDGE SCHOOL GREATER NOIDA

BONAFIDE
CERTIFICATE

Certified that this project report CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS

OF INDIAN SOCIETY is the bonafide work of JATIN CHAUHAN
who carried out the project work under my supervision.

SIGNATURE

SUPERVISOR
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 Acknowledgment

I would like to express my special thanks of

gratitude to my teacher Ms. Bharti as well as
our principal Ms. Snehlata Krishnan who
gave me the golden opportunity to do this
wonderful project on the topic
contemporary problems of Indian society,
which also helped me in doing a lot of
research and I came to know about so many
new things I am thankful to them.

JATIN CHAUHAN

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER NO. TITLE PAGE NO.

1. INTRODUCTION 5
2. THE ISSUES 6 - 21

2.1. POVERTY
2.2. ILLETRACY
2.3. UNEMPLOYEMENT
2.4. SOCIAL INEQUALITY
2.5. POPULATION AND HEALTH

3. PRESENT SCENARIO AND 22 - 23

CONCLUSION
4. BIBLIOGRAPHY 24

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1. INTRODUTION :
India emerged as an independent nation-state on 15th August
1947, after a long struggle against the British colonial yoke. The
country is a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic
with a parliamentary system of government. Though India has
shown tremendous growth in all spheres of national life in the
years after independence, yet many problems plague the
everyday social life; the problems, many a time, are interrelated.
In fact every society of the world has their social issues unique to
their society. So does Indian society. Indian society is very rooted
in religious beliefs; there are people of different religious beliefs
such as Hindus, Muslims, Jains, Sikhs, Parsis etc. These all adds to
the socio-cultural varieties of the country. India’s social problems
are also rooted in the religious practices and beliefs of it people.
Almost all forms of social issues and problems find their origin in
the religious and cultural practices of the people of India. These
social problems are developed in a long period of times and are
still continuing in one form or other. Furthermore, India has
witnessed several wars of large proportions; several foreign
invaders attacked India in its long history among whom few
made this country as their own and tried to force their socio-
religious practices which also deteriorated social conditions; the
long period of British rule crippled the country and had thrown it
into backwardness. Thus, many such reasons may be cited for
India’s social problems but the fact remains that we have these
issues and only we can solve them. Poverty, Population, Illiteracy,
Gender discrimination, Terrorism, Unemployment, and Health
are the major ones.

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1. THE ISSUES:

1.1. POVERTY

Poverty refers to a situation when people’s basic needs are not fulfilled. When
people doesn’t have the necessary food to eat or clothes to wear or shelter to
stay then its called poverty. Life becomes very difficult for people below the
poverty line (BPL).

Poverty is a vicious circle and is the lack of money or material possessions.

Social, political, as well as economic elements, contribute to poverty. It leads to
a lack of basic life necessities and comfort. Illiteracy is a major cause and effect
of poverty. These people have a low standard of living and poverty is the cause
of many social evils.

Causes: The major reasons or causes of poverty are:

• People don’t get proper education which leads to poverty. People are
poor because they are illiterate, and they are illiterate because they
cannot afford education. Illiteracy and poverty stays side-by-side. They
both are the cause and effect of each other.
• In case where the resources and opportunities are limited and the
population is high, there arises a situation of joblessness which
ultimately leads to poverty.
• When a large number of people live in poverty, there is limited scope
for the development of country’s economy.
• Some natural and environmental problems such as lack of rainfall,
drought, etc. often lead to poverty. There are many other reasons also
like caste system, unemployment, etc.
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Effects: The negative effects of poverty are mentioned below:

• Poor people will always have to depend on others to survive.

• Low quality foods may leads to bad nutrition.
• Poor people have less liberty for the choice of profession.
• Poverty may affect the moral and self-esteem of people living in
extreme hardship.
• Poverty also results in building stress which ultimately affects
the relationship of people.
• The low standard of living prevails among poor people.

Solutions: The solutions for poverty are discussed below:

• Poverty can be checked by increasing job opportunities. It will decrease

the rate of unemployment which ultimately results in decrease of
poverty in economy.
• Government should take more steps towards charity, trusts and have
some transparency while spending money in those social institutions.
• There is a need for initiatives of paid leave to the workers.
• The education system should be reformed and initiatives should be
taken to bring more children to schools

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1.2. ILLITERACY:

Illiteracy refers to the inability to read and/or write. The problem of illiteracy is
a major social issue in India. The problem has spread through-out the country in
a wide way. It is one of the most dangerous obstacles in the economy’s
growth. People with no education find it difficult to get jobs and remain poor.
They are at risk of poor diet, manual jobs, worse physical and mental health. It
impacts their social situations too.

Causes: The major reasons of illiteracy in India are discussed below:

• Since many adults in India are illiterate, they don’t understand

the importance of getting education for their children.
• Due to the problem of unemployment and poverty, children get
little opportunity for proper education.
• Many people stay illiterate due to some physical or mental disabilities.
• Other social evils like caste system, gender inequality also cause illiteracy.

Negative effects/ Disadvantages:

• One of the major cause for crimes is illiteracy. Due to illiteracy issue, rates
of crime are gradually increasing and health, productivity and growth of
the country is gradually decreasing.
• Most illiterate people are unaware of the benefits of
maintaining cleanliness and hygiene.
• Illiterate people find it very difficulty to secure a good job and earn
livelihood. If a person is looking for a means to earn and work, but is not
getting it then it is known as unemployment. This social problem leads
to frustration.

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 • Overpopulation is a huge increase in the number of people, and it is
caused by some factors out of which illiteracy is a major one.

Solution: The only and the best way to eradicate illiteracy from the society
are by education.

• The scheme for mid-day meals at schools is a welcome step.

• Government should take steps to promote free education for the
backward class of the society in government schools.
• Government also look at the matter that people get fair payment for
their work. Appropriate steps should be taken to create more
employment opportunities for adults, so that they can educate their
children by sending them to school.

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1.3. UNEMPLOYMENT:

If the word demands a definition, “unemployment”, may be elaborated as a state

of not finding work by an individual who is fit and willing to work. It is usually
measured in percentage; the number of individuals without work out of the total
“labour force” of the country or specific social groups. Labour force is the term
collectively applied to the total number of individuals within the population
who are willing and capable of doing work. Unemployment rate of a country is
indicative of its socio-economic health.

The unemployed also does not possess the power of purchase, thus in effect
contributing to bringing down demand of goods in the market and creating more
unemployment. This vicious cycle creates a cascading effect throughout the
economy and trickles down to different social strata. India currently has a
population of about 1.349 billion. According to a recent United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) report, during the period of 1991 to 2013,
Indian economy has experienced maximum growth and yet less than half
number of Indians seeking jobs have managed to land one during this period.
State wise figures reveal that Tripura has the highest unemployment rate in the
country at 19.7% while Gujarat has the lowest at 0.9% in 2015-2016. On the
other hand, unemployment rate is higher among women at 8.7 percent versus
4.3% among men. Women unemployment rate is higher in the rural areas than
in urban sectors of the country. Experts fear that at present, India is
experiencing a jobless growth with not enough jobs being created for its
working age population (15-64 years). There is ample scepticism afloat about
the country not being able to cash in on its demographic bonus, predicted to be
869 million by year 2020 – world’s largest.

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Causes:

Unemployment is a reason for alarming concern in India today. The root of the
problem can be traced to a host of reasons that contributes collectively towards
this problem.

1. Education: Although literacy rates have risen in the last few

decades, there still remains a fundamental flaw in the education
system in India. The curriculum is mostly theory-oriented and fails
to provide vocational training required to match up with current
economic environment. The degree-oriented system renders itself
redundant when it comes to producing human resources adept at
fitting into specific profiles within the economy.

2. Population growth: Rapid growth of population has often been

labelled as the major reason for increasing unemployment in the
country. In the last ten years, India’s population has increased by
136.28 million and unemployment was at a 5 year high in the
financial year of 2015-2016. Current survey data revealed that at the
all-India level, 77% of families do not have a regular salaried person.

3. Faulty Employment planning: The five-year plans implemented by

the government have not contributed proportionately towards
generation of employment. The assumption was that growth in
economy will automatically generate enough employment. But in
reality the scenario doesn’t quite match up to the assumption and
there have remained gaps between the required number of jobs
and the actual numbers generated.

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 4. Slow Industrialization: The industrial scenario in India is still slow
to flourish. Agriculture still remains as the biggest employer in the
country. People are not yet keen towards self-employment,
especially in the rural sector, depending on existing employment
opportunities.

5. Lack of Investment: Inadequacy of capital investment persists

heavily in India and that has been a key contributor in not
generating enough industry that in turn provides employment to
the labour force.

6. 10. Immobility of Labour: One more factor that leads to

unemployment is people not being interested to move for jobs.
Responsibility and attachment to family, language barrier, religion
and lack of transport are key contributing factors in this regard.

Effects:

1. Loss of Human Resources::

The problem of unemployment causes loss of human resources. labourers

waste their maximum time in search of employment.

2. Increase in Poverty:

Unemployment deprives a man of all sources of income. As a result he

grows poor. Therefore, unemployment generates poverty.

3. Social Problems: Unemployment breeds many social problems

comprising of dishonesty, gambling, bribery, theft etc. As a result
of unemployment social security is jeopardized.
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4. Political Instability:
Unemployment gives birth to political instability in country. Unemployed
persons can easily be enticed by antisocial elements. They lose all faith in
democratic values and peaceful means. They consider that Government is
worthless which fails to provide them work.

Solutions:

Collective efforts directed by the Government as well as citizens towards the

following points might help alleviate the problem of unemployment in the
country.

1. Increased Industrialization: One of the most sure-shot remedies of

the unemployment situation in India is rapid industrialization.
Increased number of industries translates effectively into increased
number of employment opportunities.

2. Emphasis on Vocational and Technical Training: The curriculum

pursued in universities should be altered to focus more on practical
aspects of learning. More institutions need to be established that
offer vocational courses that will translate directly into relevant
jobs.

3. Improved Infrastructure in Agriculture: Time has come for the

entire agricultural infrastructure in the country to undergo a
serious overhaul. Better irrigation facilities, better farming
equipment, dissemination of knowledge regarding multiple crop
rotation and crop management should be focused on. This will lead
to year
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 round increased production of crops, generating employment
throughout the year.

4. Encouraging Self-employment: Self-employment should be

encouraged more with introduction of liability free loans and
government assistance for funding. Incubation centres need to be
promoted to cultivate original business ideas that will be financially
viable.

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1.4. SOCIAL INEQUALITY:

The social stratification that categorizes people into different groups called
‘caste’ is usually based on the family tree. This system is known as caste system
wherein the social status gets decided by birth. Caste system can be defined as
a social structure according to class of people, which gets decided by their birth.

Caste system is a hereditary classification of people in a society, distinguishing

people by relative degree of social prestige or status. The status of a person gets
pre-determined in a caste system.

The caste system preached inequality among people. People were categorized
into high and low castes and treated differently in the society. The hierarchy of
the castes was decided by their professional and family history. While high caste
people enjoyed every possibly liberty, people from lower castes were treated
miserably by the higher caste ones.

Four classes of Caste system: The four classes include:

1. The Brahmins – the priestly class. They were mainly engaged in religious
and priestly activities. They were also appointed as advisors to the Kings.
2. The Kshatriyas – the warrior and ruler class. They were mainly engaged
in warfare activities.
3. The Vaishyas – the trader class. They were mainly engaged in business,
agriculture, and trading activities.
4. The Sudras – the lowest of the four traditional class engaged as
domestic servants and laborers, etc.

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Negative effects of Caste system: Caste system has many
disadvantages such as:

• Encourages untouchability,
• Promotes Inequality,
• Undemocratic in nature,
• Fake differentiation in superiority and inferiority.
• Increases gap between upper and lower caste people.

People are victimized by caste. There is discrimination which divides the

society, and anti-social elements take advantage of this. Caste system is also a
danger towards the National integration of the country. Caste system is a major
cause for many inhuman and immoral social practices such as untouchability,
child marriage, sati system etc.

Causes:

The following are the causes of Caste System.

1. Segregation depending on job capability: Caste system

determined your social status by your ability of doing a job.
People with a certain job capability were judged by their
professional
ability. For example, a locksmith was considered of lower caste than
a business person.

2. Retain hereditary based profession: Caste system dictated

people`s career choice. One was expected to follow the path of
their ancestors and stick to their hereditary based profession. An
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 uneducated cleaner`s child did not have the liberty to get educated
and pursue any other profession other than that of a cleaner`s.

3. Desire to gain power: The so-called ‘higher caste’ people wanted to

gain power over the lower strata people in a caste system. The
whole purpose behind the introduction of caste system was a game
of gaining power in the society. The rich and well-to-do people of
the
society wanted to rule over the weaker sections of the society.

4. Feel superior over others: Caste system allowed people of higher

caste to have a sense of superiority over people of lower caste. The
castes that belonged to the lower parts of the hierarchy ladder
were treated as inferior beings by those at the top.

Solutions:

• Education will help the people to become aware of the disadvantages

of Caste system.
• There is a need for widespread social change in favor of equality of
human-beings. Caste system can be discouraged through social
education in rural areas.
• There should be special classes at schools that imparts value and
moral education to the children.
• Superstitious people are extremely fearful and discourage any change
in social norms. Education will help shed away superstition, which in
turn, will help shed casteism as well.
• With better education and economic progress, people belonging to
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diverse caste get opportunity to mix and work together. Many of them
become friends while working together on a project.

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 1.5. POPULATION AND HEALTH:

India is the second most populous country in the world after China. Recently,
the population of India has crossed the one billion marks. According to the
Census of India 2018, the population of India is 1.349 billion. At the time of
independence, the country's population was 342 million. The number has
multiplied three-fold in around five decades. There was a remarkable growth of
population in India 1951 to 2011. The percentage of population has increased
by three times during the period of 1951-2011. As we know India lives in rural
areas and most of them are engaged in agriculture. Indian government has
designed many anti-poverty and employment generation programmes to reduce
the poverty ratio in the country.

Current population in India: 1.349 billion Sex ratio: 940

females per 1000 males Birth rate: 19.3 per 1000 people

Death rate: 7.3 per 1000 people

Growth rate: 1.19%

India’s population in 2011: 1.21 billion

India’s population in 2001: 1.02 billion

India’s population in 1947: 350 million

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 Causes:

Food
Food safety practices in agriculture Improved agricultural practices have lead to
fewer famines, allowing farmers to sustain much larger numbers of people.
Machinery reduces manpower needed to farm while improved fertilizers and
pesticides increase crop yields and reduce crops lost to pests.

Health Care

Advances in health care technology and medicine allow fewer individuals to die
from injuries and illnesses. Health care is so effective that euthanasia and the
Hippocratic Oath are sometimes debated.

Sanitation

Better sanitation has lead to fewer diseases being spread through water and
contaminated surfaces.

Vaccines

Vaccines have lead to the elimination of many diseases such as measles and
tuberculosis. Measles and tuberculosis were once leading causes of death.

Solutions:

Population explosion is the main obstacle to the smooth development of the

Indian economy. Since this problem is getting powerful day by day, it is
obvious to take appropriate measures to keep it under control by lowering the
birth rate.

Urbanization and Industrialization

In the Indian society, joint family system encourages a high birth rate. But
collectively it is creating side effects to the country in the form of more

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 population. Hence every individual should put efforts to reduce the high birth
rate.

Late Marriage

In India girls marry at an early age and a longer span of time to reduce children.
Increasing the minimum age for marriages may also helpful to control the birth
rate.

Lowering Infant Mortality Rate

In India, infant mortality rate is very high and stands at 72 per thousand. Poor
people, in order to ensure that some children do survive, reproduce more.
Therefore, widespread vaccination and proper child and maternity care should
be undertaken to reduce the infant mortality rate.

Spread of Education

In India, 48 percent of total population are illiterate. Rural Indians regard

children as the gift of God and they are not bother about the evils of population
growth. Education is the only one weapon to move illiteracy and spread the
benefit of a small family.

Women education and employment

As compare to other countries, Indian women are less educated and employed
in the world. The Government should take initiatives to spread women
education and create employment opportunities to understand the drawbacks of
population growth and control measures.

Birth control at rural areas

In India, medical facilities, that too family planning facilities, are available in
the urban and semi-urban areas. Rural people are not affordable to get these
medical facilities. There is a need of setting up trained personnel in rural areas
at their doorstep which can helpful to lower the birth rate.

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3. PRESENT SCENARIO AND CONCLUSION:

We try to present our country as a modern, forward looking nation of the world
and it’s true that India is making strides in the world as a nation with
encouraging developments in scientific, economic and technological fields, but
as far as social developments are concerned it is still one of the lowest ranked
countries of the world. India’s Human Development Index (HDI) rank for 2018
is 130 out of 187 countries of the world which are listed in the report. This
shows the sorry state of affairs as far as India’s situation on social indicators is
concerned. This also shows that we as a society are still people of orthodox
beliefs in a negative sense who do not want to believe in the concept of equality
and brotherhood of all.
Though several Governmental and non-governmental (NGOs) bodies are
working towards improving the existing situation in the social fields but results
are not very encouraging. Perhaps the problem lies in the very deep rooted
beliefs in the minds of people of the country which is not letting the situation to
change. For instance: the issue of Female Foeticides is one of the shameful
practices in our country. Though there are various prohibitory measures the
Government and NGOs have taken but the practice is continuing. The real
reason for this is the Patriarchy system of society of our country which
considers male as the superior authority and women as subordinate to them.
Therefore, very strong desire of having a male child in comparison to female
child led to the shameful practice of female foeticides. Thus, it is belief system
or the cultural conditioning of the people which is not letting the society to
change at a fast pace.
Though there have been several positive changes in the society such as now
girls are also going to school in vast majority and their employment ratio is also
increasing; illiteracy as whole is decreasing; conditions of SC/STs are also
improving etc but situation is far from satisfactory.

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We witness inequality against women in our own homes, sexual violence
against women can be heard on daily basis, female foeticide is continuing,
religious-communal violence is on the rise, untouchability is still a reality,
child labour is widely practiced etc.

Therefore, there is a lot needs to be done for the situation to improve. And
without changing the mind set and beliefs of the people it is a very difficult
task. For this purpose educating people about various social problems and
sensitizing them towards changing their way of thinking is the best way
forward. Because without people trying to change themselves, any
governmental or non- governmental efforts will prove as a half-measure. If
we want to make India as a true world leader and a modern 21st country of the
world, it is imperative that that we make an improvement on our social front.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_In
de x

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080622064535AAwPN1

i http://www.advancingwomen.com/politics/49842.php
http://nz.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071205033403AAe10lv

http://archive.thepoint.gm/youthf79.htm

http://www.vedamsbooks.com/no21045.htm

http://business.mapsofindia.com/india-economy/growth.html

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Role_of_youth_in_nation_building

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/india_1900_to_1947.htm

http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/forced-annexation-land-grab-15430

http://arjelito.wordpress.com/

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