India

Introduction

India is the seventh largest country globally by area and the second largest in demography. The country is located in South Asia and has a population of approximately 16 % of the world‘s population. However, with the high number of population, India is still regarded as a developing country. Developing nations such as India are described as countries that have not attained the level of Western style of democratization, and existence of a free market economy, social programs, guarantees of human rights, and industrialization. In the contrary, India possesses the above factors to qualify as a developed nation, but due to poverty it is still considered a developing nation. The transportation facility in India is very wide and composes of a vital sector of the economy. There are various ways of conveyance for transport of goods ranging from people’s heads, bicycle, rickshaws, trucks, and railroad cars. The national railroad has been the major freight hauler at independence. Road transport has also grown rapidly after 1947. Education sector is very important and has played a significant role in reducing poverty and equality; it is the key to enhancing India’s competitiveness in the global economy. Ensuring access to quality education for all, particularly in poor and rural population has been central to economic and social development in India. However, the education system in India is still ranked low, since the actual quantity of schooling that are experienced by school goers is quite insufficient in government schools. Hence, poor quality education, coupled with weak infrastructure and inadequate pedagogic attention has been a common feature in all government schools. There are also diverse religious groups such as Hinduism, Christianity, and Sikhism. Other religions include Buddhism, Jainism, Judaism and Zoroastrianism. Currently, India has a new caste system with the Brahmins being the officialdom, administering and interpreting laws and regulations. The Brahmins determines what the rituals are. The elected politicians are the kshatriyas, and their concern is to enhance the power and wealth. Thus, they do not see themselves as elected officials but as feudal lords. The other group in the hierarchy includes businessmen and professionals who enjoy the taste of freedom and the globalized business culture. These groups of individuals have never been averse to take advantage of the concurrent limitations in the Indian system. The last group which represents people at large is referred to as the Shudras. The origin of the caste system in India is Hinduism that has greatly affected the Indian society. This caste system in the religious form refers to a simple division of the society in which there are four castes that are arranged in a hierarchy and below the hierarchy is the outcast. In the social context, the caste system is more complicated with much caste, sub-castes, and other divisions emerging. According to Magnier, feudal setbacks are implicated by Khap Panchayat who is subjected to their authority (1). In addition, Magnier (2009) describes the class system in his article “More Girls In India are Refusing to become Child Brides” by stating that “…child marriage remains pervasive in India, accounting for one-third of such unions worldwide and underscoring the contradictions and complexities of a society that produces cutting-edge engineers even as it clings to feudal traditions…”.

The main indicators of the gap between the rich and the poor in India are based on consumption expenditure, education and health. The distribution of assets in India is extremely unequal having the top 5% of the households taking control of 85% of the total assets and the remaining bottom 60% of the entire population owning less than 10% of the total assets. This inequality is on the increase in urban areas, however, asset accumulation is quite minimal in the agricultural households in the rural areas and more so in casual labour households in urban areas. Apart from the income inequality, there are other differences in consumption expenditure between the wealthy and the poor both in rural and urban households. In spite of the increase in the economy by 6%, this is still not enough to minimize poverty in India. India has ever experienced a wide difference existing between the rich and the poor, which has only increased over the years. This situation has made the rich become even richer and the poor to become even poorer attributed to economic development and industrialization, which has only served to benefit entrepreneurs. In addition, the salaried employed working class has found it difficult to rise to the middle class. As stated by Mueenuddin, there is a difference between the rich and the poor, for instance “…When the first truck arrived, he stood at the gate, watching the gardeners unload the pots, handing them down to each other and then carrying them up to the house—the loaded vehicle couldn’t climb the steep drive…” this indicates how class system affects the poor in India. Even though there have been improvements in living standards, it has no impact in ending the distinction between the rich and the poor. The Indian markets are flooded with luxurious goods that only benefit the haves who are the privileged class. Furthermore, the middle class have an inability to think beyond the satisfaction of the basic necessities. Among the working class, the pay structure has led to the creation of distinctions such as the upper middle class, and the lower middle class. In the rural areas, economic development has never been heard of as problems of illiteracy and low life expectancy continue to have implications to hinder the rural population.

There exists disconcertion between rulers in the central government and the local rulers. The evidence of this is brought out where the issue of marriage is in contention. Killing an individual that someone was not meant to marry brought about disputes to those who failed to act the way they were supposed to work. In turn, this led to a scenario where death was the punishment for those who failed to follow the laws that society had laid down (Magnier, Para 6). While the central government is keen to insist on the acts of people killing innocent people just because they are different people that the ones they were meant to marry, they do not restrict the deaths that come about. The central government is involved in making laws that were supposed to be followed by local rulers. However, the scenario does not exist in this case, as the only thing the central government does is criticizing the action in the rural areas. It is the responsibility of the central government to make sure that they come up with laws that ensure that there is safety of the citizen both in towns and rural areas. Evidently, this is not the case as the rural leaders are not acting to the expressions of the central government, which is against killing of people married to individuals who have not been selected for them. In 2006, a law was passed that prevented marrying of children who were not of age to their chosen spouses (Magnier, Para 3). As a law, it is expected this was to be practiced in all areas of the country including the rural areas. However, this is not the case; in rural areas parents still are interested in marrying their children before they reach the age of 18 years. Such is a show of disconnection between the government that comes up with  the law and the rural leaders who are supposed to implement the same but fail due to the fact that there are cases of marriage at an age younger than 18.

Work cited

Magnier Mark. Northern India, Village Elders Order ‘Honour Killings’. LA Times, 26^th      September 2009 retrieved on 5^th November 2011 from     http://www.ocnus.net/artman2/publish/Dark_Side_4/In-Northern-India-Village-Elders- Order-Honor-Killings.shtml

Magnier Mark. Dalit women find their voice through a newspaper. Los Angeles Times, 2009, p.2, retrieved on 8^th November 2011 fromhttp://articles.latimes.com/2009/oct/25/world/fg-india-caste25/2.

Magnier Mark. More Girls in India are Refusing to become Child Brides. LA Times, 2009, p.1, retrieved on 8^th November 2011 from http://holyhormones.com/teens/more-girls-in-india-are-refusing-to-become-child-brides/

Mueenuddin Daniyal . A Spoiled Man, The New Yorker, 2008, p.1 retrieved on 8^th November 2011 from http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2008/09/15/080915fi_fiction_mueenuddin

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