Modernization, Constitution, and Equality in India

• The period studied is from 1961 to 2000, marking a period of tremendous change
• Life is changing rapidly, with things once unimaginable now part of reality

Religion and Modernization

• In ancient and medieval times, religion was a key part of a person's identity
• Modernization has posed challenges to all religions
• Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar brought about significant change through the Indian Constitution

Indian Constitution and Equality

• All Indians are considered equal before the law
• Discrimination based on religion, race, caste, gender, or birth place is illegal
• All citizens have the right to freedom of speech and expression
• All citizens have the freedom to assemble peacefully without arms
• All citizens can form associations as they see fit
• All citizens have the freedom to move and settle anywhere in Indian territory
• All citizens can practice any occupation
• Indian citizens can nurture their language, script, & culture anywhere in India

Caste System and Social Change

• Constitutional provisions shook the caste system foundation
• The practice of family-run vocations became obsolete
• Change became the trend in every field

Railway System and Social Hierarchy

• During the British era, compartments symbolized Indian social hierarchy
• There were four kinds of compartments: first, second, inter, and third class
• Third class passengers had limited facilities coupled with negative attitudes
• Madhu Dandawate ended the third class in the 1978 Railway Budget
• 'Sinhagad Express' on the Pune-Mumbai route and 'Gitanjali Express' on the Mumbai-Kolkata route trains had no class divisions
• Anyone can enter any restaurant regardless of religion, race, caste, or gender

Freedom of Expression

• People can express opinions against the government post-independence
• Earlier, there were limits on expressing political opinions
• Protests can be registered through newspapers, speeches, and other media

The Institution of the Family

• The family was an important identifying feature of Indian society pre-independence
• India was known as the country of joint families
• Globalisation has created impetus toward nuclear families

Social Welfare

• The objective to establish the welfare state is incorporated in the Indian Constiution
• India claims to be the first country in the world attempting to become a welfare state
• Social welfare programs provide opportunities for employment, healthcare, education and development
• Opportunities for development must reach women, children, differently abled, scheduled castes, tribes, and minorities
• The government of India constituted the Ministry of Social Welfare on June 14, 1964
• Various programs are implemented for nutrition and child development, social security, protection, & women's welfare
• Similar arrangements exist at the state level

Scheduled Castes and Tribes

• According to the 1971 Census, 22% of people in India were scheduled castes and tribes
• Laws were made to provide them with educational scholarships
• Laws were made to ensure representation in Parliament and State Assemblies
• Certain seats are reserved for them in Government services

Public Health

• The Constitution states that the primary duty of the government is to raise the people's living standard
• The government is to also ensure proper nutrition and improve public health
• The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare helps state governments
• An objective of the Sixth Five Year Plan was to make primary health services and medical care available
• Efforts were made to maintain good health by giving recognition to Unani, Homoeopathy, Ayurveda & Naturopathy in addition to Allopathy.

Progress in the Medical Field

• Progress in the medical field gave Indians relatively freedom from health concerns
• The first successful open heart surgery was performed in 1962 under Dr. N. Gopinath
• Surgery was performed at Christian Medical College Hospital at Vellore in Tamil Nadu
• The Jaipur Foot invention transformed the lives of the disabled
• Dr. Pramod Sethi designed and manufactured artificial limbs with Ramchandra Sharma
• Artificial body parts make it easy for the differently abled to walk without shoes and work in wet conditions
• Doctors have succeeded in saving lives using kidney transplants since surgeries can now be performed in India.
• Kidney transplants were not common till 1971, but were successfully performed that year at Vellore

Test Tube Babies

• Having a baby is considered of utmost importance in the Indian familial system
• Since 1978, 'test-tube baby' technology is available to childless couples
• Dr. Subhash Mukhopadhyaya successfully carried out the test-tube baby experiment at Kolkata
• This assisted in artificial conception
• A girl named Durga was born as a result of the experiment

Immunisation

• Prior to 1978, 6/10 Indian infants faced fatal health problems in their first year of birth every year
• Immunisation program was commenced to overcome the threats of polio, measles, tetanus, TB, diphtheria, and whooping cough
• Polio has been controlled due to the ‘pulse polio' immunisation programme started in 1995

Urbanisation

• Urbanisation involves concentration of population in a city or urban area
• Rising population is a major cause of urbanisation
• Other causes impacting urbanisation include the need for air, water, and socio-economic organisations that are necessary for community

Post-Independence Urban Growth

• Increase in urban population is due to reduction in mortality rate and industrialisation
• Increase in urban population is due to unavailability of means of livelihood in rural areas and better jobs in the city
• It’s necessary to make jobs available in villages to reduce strain on cities
• Economic balance, controlled metro expansion, and necessary services and facilities in urban and rural areas are necessary

Rural Areas

• Villages are permanent settlements of farmers near the land they till
• Villages came to existence when farming began.
• Villages have a dense cluster of houses surrounded by farming land
• A settlement smaller than a village is called a hamlet.
• Villages are not uniform across India, differing based on regional and physical features

Post Independence Period

• The collective development scheme has come into place to keep in mind the goal of rural development
• Plans were made to improve farming technology, increase irrigated land, expand facilities, and enact laws for land legislation
• Plans were made to increase agricultural produce & expand the means of transport, health services and increase the scope for education in rural areas
• The government undertook the work through the Gram Panchayats which included castes and tribes
• The Gram Panchayats, Panchayat Samitis, and Zilla Parishads were empowered to achieve rural development.

Changing Economic Life

• Each village was economically self-sufficient in the past

Changing Economic Occupations

• The majority of villagers depended on farming; produce was distributed as payment to artisans for their work
• Rural areas now engage occupations ancillary to farming
• Urban society is engaged in non-agricultural production and services

Rural Development

• 82% of India's population resided in villages in 1961
• 80.01% of India's population resided in villages in 1971
• The rural area continues to provide food grains and raw material to urban areas
• The rural area provides labour to the industrial sectors of the city and takes care of natural resources

Major Challenges of Rural Development

• Bringing about economic development

• Developing the amenities and facilities to meet the needs of citizens

• Bringing about attitudinal change in society, culture and thinking

• It is equally necessary to expedite irrigation projects and focus on land legislation

• Need to prioritise amenities for public hygiene and healthcare

Shortfalls in Rural Amenities

• Year-round provision of drinking water

• Toilets

• Open drainage

• Narrow Roads

• Inadequate electrification

• Lack of facilities for medical treatment

• Lack of educational and support amenities

• Give special attention to rural areas

• The collective development scheme had an important place in all the first four five-year plans of the government of India

• The State of Maharashtra registered remarkable achievements under this scheme. For example, ‘Zilla Parishads' were established in 1962

• A nutritious diet scheme was launched in 1970-1971

• The State commenced a ‘Rural Water Supply Scheme' to sink wells and supply piped water

• The scheme built 1677 small dams by 1971

Rural Electrification

• Fundamental for the development of rural areas
• Automatic pumps are needed to supply water to the fields
• To preserve food such as milk, eggs fruits and vegetables
• To operate fertilizer projects
• To provide light, fans and TV electricity is needed for studying

India's Languages

• Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannad, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Odiya, Punjabi, Sanskrit are official languages of India
• Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Konkani, Manipuri, Nepali and Sindhi are official languages of India
• Indian languages have dialects, but their number is declining
• Timely steps should be taken to nurture them, otherwise we will lose them
• Hindi has united the country through movies

The Growth of English

• The English language is continually gaining traction due to globalisation that began after 1990
• Due to the process, English is becoming more of a language of livelihood
• It is important to ensure this trend does not endanger regional tongues

Sports

• Prior to post-independence, very selected few games were common

• Certain sportspeople changed this dynamic

• Geet Sethi achieved global recognition in snooker he became a national champion at age 15 Won the amateur billiards competition thrice and the professional competition five times His success made billiards popular

• In 1983 the India team won the World Cup under the captainship of Kapil Dev

• It was a historic victory

• Cricket gained high popularity and importance across India

• In 1985, India had another historic victory by winning "Benson and Hedges" World Championship of cricket

• Cricket became a sport played in nearly all states

• Focus on indigenous games went down in India due to the attention on cricket

• Movies were produced and played across different mediums on the topic of cricket

• India has been actively participating in various sports at the Asian and Olympic games

• Karnam Malleshwari won for weightlifting at the Olympics in 2000

• She was the first woman in the India to win a medal at the Olympics

• The Olympics representation rose in different competitions like Ice Hockey

Theatre and Films

• Integral parts of India
• Early theater would run through the night
• Musicals popularity has declined
• Political and social themes have replaced mythological and historical themes
• Black and white movies have been succeeded by coloured movies
• Hindi movies have become popular for entertainment
• Shooting locales for movies have moved abroad
• Movies across different languages are being translated
• English movies use subtitles
• Hindi movies compete with "global" movies as they have reached nearly every part of the world
• Movies reflect politics, social events, industry, and technology
• Movies run for shorter durations than before
• Concept of one screen and one cinema hall has given way to multiplexes
• Days of a movie running for 100 weeks in one cinema hall are over
• Development in economy of movies occurred
• Cinema halls now run for 100 weeks in 1000’s of cinema halls, an industry status
• Production of movies has achieved the status of industry
• This film industry employs crores of people
• The movie industry in different languages is thriving

Newspapers

• The changing lifestyle has had its effect on newspapers and other mass-media
• They in turn have influenced individual as well as community life
• During early post-independence newspapers had multiple objectives
• Newspapers are expected to give the news of events
• Newspapers function to: shape opinions, direct it towards constructive work, carry on the task of public education, keep watch over the government
• Newspapers used to be black and white and has now evolved to colourful printing
• Newspapers were once the face of the district
• Newspapers scope has enlarged
• Fund raising and flood relief is supported
• Meritorious students are uplifted
• Various cultural programs are promoted through newspapers
• They have become indispensable to society

Televison

• Came to India post-independence

Evolution of Television

• It was black and white, but it now coloured
• Was limited, but expanded
• Enlarged to include: reports, bulletins, detailed tours of the President and Prime Minister during newscasts
• People sat glued to the sets during the telecast of Ramayana and Mahabharat
• CNN channel visual reporting of the Iraq war shook society
• Language, technique, studios and technology all advanced
• Now nearly the whole country is connected through media
• Has had impact has had a great impact on politics
• The country is developing, learning from history and progressing forward