Essays and Descriptive Questions

Selected Essays - English .................................................................................................................................... 4

1. LOOKING AHEAD TO THE TWENTY-FIRST 4
2. EVILS OF TERRORISM ..............................................................................................................................5
3. NATIONAL TE IO ........................................................................................................................ 6
4. DOWRY AND DE- ................................................................................................................ 7
5. GOVERNMENT AND ACY ....................................................................................................... 8
6. CRIME AND VIOLENCE IN INDIAN SOCIETY............................................................................................. 9
7. COMMUNAL HARMONY ....................................................................................................................... 11
8. COMMUNAL HARMONY, TOLERANCE AND SURVIVAL OF INDIAN DEMOCRACY ................................12
9. LINGUISTIC ICISM ....................................................................................................................... 13
10. DEMOCRACY AND PUBLIC OPINION ................................................................................................. 14

11. DEMOCRACY AND ILLITERACY CANNOT CO-EXIST ............................................................................ 16

12. ARE WE SECULAR?............................................................................................................................. 17

13. PORTRAIT OF THE INDIAN POLITICIAN..............................................................................................19
14. VIOLENCE AND POLITICS IN INDIA .................................................................................................... 20

15. PEOPLE THE ONLY CENSORS OF 22
16. THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA 23
17. VERTISING..................................................................................................................................... 24

18. WE TALK MORE, WORK LESS ............................................................................................................. 25
19. LIBERTY WITHOUT DISCIPLINE .......................................................................................................... 27
20. OUR STRUGGLE FOR ...............................................................................................28
21. THE NEED FOR 31
22. PROHIBITION ITS IMPACT ON OUR SOCIETY ..................................................................................... 33

23. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ........................................................................................................... 35
24. OUR STRENGTH OUTSIDE DEPENDS ON OUR STRENGTH WITHIN ................................................... 36

25. INDIA AND THE CONCEPT OF 37
26. POVERTY IN PLENTY .......................................................................................................................... 40
27. FUTURE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN INDIA ....................................................................................... 41
28. SHOULD ENGLISH QUIT? ................................................................................................................... 43
29. LANGUAGE AS UNITING AND DIVISIVE FORCE.................................................................................. 44
30. THE INDIAN WOMAN TOD ............................................................................................................ 45
31. SPACE AND D ....................................................................................................................... 47
32. VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS .......................................................................................................... 48
33. EXPERIENCE OF A JOINT FAMILY ....................................................................................................... 50
34. INDIAN CINEMA: GOOD VS BAD ....................................................................................................... 51
35. INFLUENCE OF FILMS ON YOUNG EOPLE ........................................................................................ 53

36. SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF 54
37. FILMS AND INDIAN 55
38. JUDGE A MAN BY THE WAY HE SPENDS LEISURE.............................................................................. 57
39. CIVILISATION AND C E.................................................................................................................. 58
40. CONCEPT AND SIGNIFICANCE OF HUMAN TS ........................................................................... 59
41. EVILS OF 61
42. RELATIONS BETWEEN ART AND LIFE................................................................................................. 64
Descriptive Questions - English........................................................................................................................ 66

1. What effective/pragmatic steps would you suggest to protect wildlife under threat in India? ........ 66
2. Suggest some suitable steps to make urban life in India safe and free from the menace of crime and

3. In the opinion of legal luminaries, victims of crime must get justice. Com ................................. 67

4. Discuss the gender inequality in our country and its impact on our socioeconomic 67
5. Suggest three effective measures to deal with the problem of stress among students ..................... 68
6. ndia badly needs to hasten its justice delivery. Comment ..............................................................69
7. fter hanging fire for the last twelve years, the introduction of the Women Reservation Bill in the
Rajya Sabha recently would go a long way in ensuring better status for women in the Society. Give
arguments For and Against this 69
8. dian youth is required to be channelized properly as per their aptitudes to get their best, if Indians
are to do well in the modern-day globalizing world arguments for and against this view............... 70
Descriptive Questions - E onomics.................................................................................................................. 72
1. Should the policy of giving freebies and subsidies be allowed to continue or done away ith? ........ 72

2. What is micro-financing and how is it progressing in our country? Discuss ........................................ 72
3. th the ongoing food grain scarcities in the world, the policy being followed by most of the surplus
countries may run contrary to the requirements of the World Trade Organisation Give arguments For
and Against this view ................................................................................................................................... 73
4. The best way to control the current price rise is to introduce government regulated controls and
checks. Give arguments For and Against this view .................................................................................... 74
5. The recent budget announcement about waiving of agricultural loans would help the farming
community in the country and would also assist in checking the tendency of suicide among the farmers.
Give arguments For and Against this view .................................................................................................. 75
6. National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), now extended to all the districts of the
country, is going to be the panacea for the problem of rural unemployment arguments For and
Against this view .......................................................................................................................................... 76
Selected Essays - English

1. LOOKING AHEAD TO THE CENTURY
Standing on the threshold of the twenty-first century we can write Jane Austen novels any more. It is
because the world intrudes. The T.V. is in the corner. The crowd is on the street. Politicians are making
decisions every day that affect the daily lives (Salman Rushdie). It is in this mixed milieu of aspirations and
apprehensions, both natural and man-made, that we look ahead (think about what is going to happen in the
future) to the twenty-first-century. Like the legendary Pandor Box, the onset of the third millennium, may
unfold a host of shocks and surprises, angst and alienation, on the one hand, and stupendous successes and
monumental marvels on the other. Since the shape of things to come is shrouded in mystery, it is always
prudent to make surmises, but no prophesy or prediction with certainty or finality.
While looking ahead to the new century, the question that should disturb each one is: Are we entering the
third millennium with a guilty conscience or a clear conscience or with no conscience at all? In the closing
years of the twentieth century, when we look back, we find the outgoing century was both volatile and
vigorous. It witnessed momentous events like the rise and fall of Marxism, two World Wars, complete
collapse of colonialism, formation of UN, the ferocious face of narco-terrorism, deadly AIDS; all these and
other developments both constructive and contentious, symbolising hopes and fears of mankind in the past
and their lingering shadows marching into the future.
If the saying don t count your chickens before they are hatched is relevant, so is the maxim oming events
cast their shadows befo Though the future is always uncertain, there are always enough indications
present from which we can draw broad outlines of the international, economic and cultural, scenarios taking
place in the twenty-first century. The United Nations is likely to become more democratic in functioning and
the Security Council more representative in composition. For many years to come the world will have to bear
with the whims of the only Super Power, before it is challenged by Russia-China together, and possibly by
India too. The chances of total disarmament and complete destruction of nuclear weapons would remain a
dream unlikely to be realised in the initial stages of the next century. Poverty, hunger, disease, malnutrition
and many other socio-economic afflictions would continue to haunt major parts of Asia, Africa and Latin
America.
With consumerist culture ruling the roost, all other concerns, it is feared, will have to take a back seat in the
coming century. Our passions and pursuits, madly moving in the direction to `get rich quick and kick every
one else into the ditch may make us prisoners of our making. Great causes that have shaped the destiny of
mankind since time immemorial may find very little space in the cold calculations of people and nations alike.
The greatest challenge would be posed by globalisation which would undermine the social and moral values
of Afro-Asian societies and bombard them with alternative Western values through the sweeping reach of
Western media and entertainment. In this fast changing and highly challenging scenario, we have to make
concerted efforts to find out new synergies of institutional cooperation and technology upgradation and
follow a highly professional approach so as to face the onslaught of global competitiveness in an effective
manner.

We can look ahead to the twenty first century with excitement because the frontiers of Information
Technology would expand in all directions with ramifications in areas like communications, entertainment,
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education, commerce and industry. Cloning species would help to cure many a human genetic distortion or
informity. Science and technology would cross new frontiers by acquiring a more humane face. Despite the
fact that tod trends in the social domain are dominated by the imperialism of pop music, nude models
and lethal drugs, the onset of the new century may relegate them to a state of non-entity. Pop on the top,
theatre taking a back seat, electronic media scaling new heights and making inroads in the traditional
strongholds of folk lore and filial bonds, may not hold much water when we make a tryst with a twenty-first
century. The disturbing realities of today, where you can bust your brains before you find a book, may not
last long. Since the World survives on hope, it is everybod wish that the twenty-first century opens new
horizons of care, concern and courtesy for environment and an equally strong awareness that `turning a new
leaf in on life is like half the battle won against all odds.
2. EVILS OF TERRORISM
The menace of terrorism has been increasing over the years, though there are spells of intense, widespread
activity, followed by periods of relative calm as if to give respite to the innocent millions and the governments
concerned. The evils of terrorism are so obvious and the world has become so familiar with them that it is
perhaps unnecessary to describe them in detail. Even so, the multi-faceted, pernicious consequences of this
challenge to mankind need to be fully known to all to facilitate the formulation of effective anti-terrorist
plans. Notable among these are a soul-killing sense of insecurity and instability, the heavy loss of life and the
erosion of confidence in the administration pacity to ensure safety.

Several countries, including the world mightiest Power, are affected by the scourge of terrorism which has
taken many forms bomb explosions, assassinations of selected people and sometimes indiscriminate killings,
blackmail, threats of murder if the demanded ransom is not paid and hijacking. While stray shootings and
explosions are a feature of terrorist activity within countries where there is seething discontent among a
section of the people, air transport is a favourite target for international terrorism.
American experts have defined terrorism as the use of international violence by individuals or groups to
achieve political It is, in effect, a type of war, though it is not openly fought. This definition applies to
lawless acts in the international arena; in the national sphere terrorism implies acts of violence indulged in
by politically motivated people who have some real or imaginary grievances which have remained un-
redressed for some reason.

Both national and international terrorists believe in the cult of the gun and the bomb. The funds which feed
the terrorists come from various sources; foreign supporters and collaborators, drug money, the yields of
bank robberies and stray looting of persons carrying bags containing cash, etc.
The usual aim of terrorists is to wreak vengeance against those whom they regard as their enemies,
oppressors and usurpers or otherwise acting as obstacles in the achievement of their goals. It matters little
to these elements that their aims are unethical, illegal and disruptionist. Some of them aim at bringing about
a social revolution and causing political upheaval. The terrorists are in a minority, but they manage to
terrorise large majorities and defy the police month after month.

Terrorists recruit young people in their ranks. Idealistic fervour, apparently, inspires them to join the ranks.

In recent years many steps have been taken to fight terrorism. Sponsors of resolutions in the U.N. against
hijacking, terrorism and hostage-taking have been trying to find ways to strengthen the machinery to counter
5
the evil. Crackdowns on the centres of terrorist activity, tighter security at the airports, railway stations and
Government offices have been ordered.

Social analysts rightly assert that the ultimate battle against terrorism will have to be fought by the people.
Since there is widespread revulsion against the ruthless acts of terrorists, the peop cooperation is vital.
But public enthusiasm to fight the evil must not be allowed to fade away for lack of effective assistance by
all sections of society and all wings of the administration.

3. NATIONAL INTEGRATION
India is a huge country of myriad languages, a veritable babel of tongues, with several faiths and religions;
in fact, the diversities are generally more in evidence than the forces of unity and harmony. But there are
certain common links and uniting bonds that some people seek to develop so as to achieve the eminently
desirable goal of national integration.
There has been much talk of national integration, especially since Independence. The highly commendable
concept postulates communal unity, harmony and concord. It also implies sinking of differences in order to
ensure the emergence of one nation with a common approach to national problems and widely shared goals,
despite the communal, linguistic and other differences, and the divergent political viewpoints. But genuine
integration has proved elusive because of the intense social and economic differences which selfish people
seek to exploit to serve their own selfish ends.

Among the issues thus exploited are those of culture, language, real and imaginary social injustices, the
atrocities committed in the name of caste, sect and community. Linguistic fanaticism and chauvinism raise
their ugly heads every now and then. To these familiar factors has been added, quite recently, another the
activities of extremists and terrorists who seek to create fear as well as a sense of uncertainty all round.
Some years ago the Central Government established the National Integration Council and also a Council for
Emotional Integration. The former body, comprising mostly of retired veterans, Ministers and officials,
occasionally holds meetings at different places and passes high-sounding resolutions emphasising the need
for promoting national integration in as many ways as possible. But all such resolutions remain
unimplemented. In fact, amidst the conflicts on various platforms and the re-emerging fissiparous
tendencies which seek to perpetuate discord, these pious expressions are soon forgotten; they merely swell
the official records in musty secretariat corridors.
The problem of caste, a relic of social strata in ancient Hindu society, is acting as a disruptive force in the
countryside today. The question of boundaries and distribution of river waters also continue to occupy a
notable place in Indian politics. Then, there are the problems of integration of tribes with the national
mainstream. Though they should participate in the process of economic development, their distinct culture
should be maintained at the same time.
The present state of economic backwardness provides fertile soil for imperialists to hatch their plans for
secessionist agitations. The internal and the foreign reactionary forces have been using the toiling masses
and the demoralised, frustrated, angry, unemployed youth as their tools to serve their narrow class interest.
National integration can be promoted only to the extent to which all round national economic development
is assured. In this connection, the historic accords, hike reached on the baffling issues of Punjab and Assam,
which had been major causes of disharmony in our body politic could pave the way for greater integration.
6
Recent experience teaches us that all disruptive forces need to be attacked collectively and jointly, with full
cooperation of non-official organisations, to achieve national integration. Piecemeal reforms do not go a
long way as each major problem is not only deep-rooted but also intrinsically connected with many others.
The administrative machinery should not only keep a watch over forces of discord and suppress them with
dedication; it should also work towards creating a new social order that may give a sense of protection and
dignity to all ethnic groups, especially the minorities. It is essential that the minorities should feel safe and
secure, and also as proud of India as the majority.
Mahatma Gandhi gave his life for communal unity. Though there are Punjabis, Kashmiris, Biharis,
Rajasthanis, Bengalis, Maharashtrians, Dravidians and several other groups in our country, the fact remains
that, despite the divisions and distinctions, we have had a long common history and have lived together for
thousands of years. Those who regard the unity of India as a myth and a dream are sadly mistaken. Of course,
there cannot be uniformity of outlook, habits and dress in this huge country, but there is a basic link. Ours
has been the homeland of many religions. India may be described as histor function station but some
people forget this.
4. DOWRY AND BRIDE-BURNING
The evil of dowry, with the ever-growing demands by greedy parents of well-placed youth from the guardians
of the bride, has assumed menacing proportions. Human greed knows no bounds. It is amazing that even
well-educated parents of young men do not hesitate to resort to downright extortion, the victims of such
avarice being helpless parents of newly married girls who are pestered, by their mothers-in-law in particular,
to bring more money and sophisticated consumer goods of various kinds.
Brides are burnt alive by mothers-in-law acting in complicity with other members of the family of in-laws
sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law and others. Nearly 900 cases of young wives being burnt to death are reported
in the country every year! These include the suicides. Brides are of course not for burning, whether h ey
bring adequate dowry or not. Those who compel them to bring more and yet more dowry, as if the hapless,
badly cornered parental homes are veritable mints or gold-mines, are human sharks who must be
adequately punished.

Those who defend the practice of giving adequate dowry to daughters point to the fact that girls must have
a share in their parent property; that they must be fully equipped to set up a home when they start a new
life; that society would make derisive comments on the parent serly habits if their daughter is not
given various gifts, clothes, jewellery, TV, furniture, a refrigerator, a scooter (or car) depending upon the
social and economic status of the parents. It is also contended that dowry giving is an ancient practice for
which there is indeed a case. Such people do, however, deplore the increasing greed of the bride-groom and
his parents, when they themselves become victims.

The dowry evil and bride-burning have brought much disgrace to this country; foreigners ridicule us and
wonder how, along with the all-round economic and political progress of this country, such callousness as
the burning of women for their inability to yield to extortionist demands for dowry, is increasing. How can
our people claim that India is among the leading democracies of the world? We preach sermons on how
others should behave while at home we indulge in practices that are disgraceful and unpardonable.
7
Hindu society suffers from several evils, and dowry is among the major ones. What sort of a country is this
where there are at fixed for getting well-established bridegrooms like I.A.S. and P.C.S. officers, doctors
and engineers settled within the country or abroad, the p of bridegrooms is increasing, just as the
prices of everything else sold in the market are going up, thanks to the inflation. What goes up in this sphere
seldom comes down.
Of course, there are specific laws against dowry and heavy punishment is prescribed for those who demand
or give dowry. But such laws are among the laws that are easily and flagrantly flouted. Thousands of cases
of dowry extortion are reported every year, but very few people are punished. For lack of evidence most of
the guilty people escape scot-free. Most stringent laws are planned, but laws on the statute-book any
number of them will not have a deterrent effect on the greedy people. Unfortunately, public opinion on this
score has yet to become effective. Public opinion and social boycott of the offenders can go a long way in
checking the menace of dowry.
5. GOVERNMENT AND BUREAUCRACY
Bureaucracy means the rule of the bureau, meaning a table covered by burel The term connotes civil
servants, whose number and overall strength have been growing in every country. The term also refers to
the methods of work, the policies and attitudes of the vast body of State employees entrusted with the task
of running the administration. Initially, the bureaucracy was utilised by Ind foreign rulers, especially the
British, to govern the country. But the bureaucracy grows under both capitalism and socialism. Jawaharlal
Nehru correctly described the role of the bureaucracy when he said: The more socialist we get in this
country, the more will bureaucracy grow. In the complicated modern State, whether it is India or America,
bureaucracy is unavoidab
Government and bureaucracy have almost become synonyms; the common man comes into contact with
officials, high and low, not with the top-level policy makers, and he naturally regards the bureaucracy as the
Government. Ministers, headed by the Prime Minister, are supposed to constitute the principal executive.
They take decisions at the ministerial level, but it is seldom that Ministers frame policies without the advice
and suggestions from the bureaucrats with whom real power rests. More often than not, the bureaucrats,
especially the senior ones heading various departments, operating behind the scenes, are the wielders of
authority and the policy framers as well. For one thing, Ministers keep on changing, sometimes like the
weather; it is the bureaucrats who provide the permanent machinery for carrying on the government from
day to day.

In fact, the sword of bureaucracy is power; this power is so effective that it even overshadows the goals,
idealism and political fervour of Ministers. Very often, idealism gets soaked in the bureaucracy. Even where
bureaucracy is not power itself, it is the institutionalisation of power. Power flourishes behind the curtain
and bureaucracy seldom functions openly. The secrecy that characterises the actions of the bureaucracy
often proves galling to the common man who has perforce to accept what the power-obsessed officials
dictate.
It is a moot point whether Ministers should, in practice, have the upper hand or whether the bureaucracy
should continue to administer the country without let or hindrance. Bureaucracy anywhere is hardly known
for efficiency; it is so firmly bound by the rules and established practices that it is often very difficult to make
8
the machine move. The former Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi, often criticised the machinery of public
administration for acting as a stumbling block in the way of the count social and economic progress. She
preferred a civil service consisting of persons who would think and see that certain things which are
necessary for progress are implemented properly.

As for the lethargy and inefficiency of the administration we have the interesting and tell-tale observation
of Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India (1899-1905), who said the Government is like an elephant very stately, very
dignified but very slow in its movement. am prodding the animal , he added, with most vigorous and
unexpected digs and it gambols plaintively under the novel spu
Political observers have rightly said that the democratic process is the best protection against the
bureaucratic dis in the art and practice of government; the right to question and to criticise is,
therefore, regarded as the most potent anti-bureaucratic hygiene. Bureaucrats, of course, dislike those who
question their authority or cast aspersions on their methods and decisions. It is the self-righteous posture
that brings discredit to many bureaucrats.
Officials, understandably, prefer and help pliant Ministers; they make things hot for those Ministers who
overrule them and issue orders contrary to what the bureaucrats regard as the correct line of action, that is,
the line that tradition, red tape and the rule book dictates. The rigidity that is associated with an
unsympathetic government is in reality imparted by bureaucrats who are well-entrenched in their posts and
who do not think very highly of Ministers and politicians.
But, does democracy mean that the people should merely vote a party into power (to form the government)
every five years or so, but have no access to, or check over it, except through Parliament? This should not
be so, but it is precisely the experience of most people when they deal with the district administration. At
that level their access to the government functionaries, that is, the bureaucrats, is barred. The entire system
of bureaucracy at the district or tehsil headquarters has all along been such that the ordinary people are
overawed by the complex, elaborate and labyrinthine procedures, applications in triplicate, long delays and
heart-breaking apathy of the petty bureaucrats.
The Government of a country is what the bureaucracy makes of it. If the instruments through which the
party in power seeks to function are blunted, it cannot ensure good government. Only a sharp, smooth and
stainless bureaucracy can provide good administration. The link between the two is clear.
6. CRIME AND VIOLENCE IN INDIAN SOCIETY
There are differences in the way violence is discussed. In the West, it is seen to threaten the smooth conduct
of a civil society, where race, drugs and crime are the main problems. In India, media glorification of violence
is seen to endanger not only a patriarchal system but also an authoritarian State a State which tries to
impose order on a society caught between the allure of modernism and the tentacles of old traditions.

You can slam one manhole cover shut, but the force of the sewage will push up somewhere el and
Bernard Inghams. If in the good old past, violence and crime were treated with contempt, they have become
a way of life with some individuals, groups and gangs. Ironically enough, one feels helpless when people who
take to crime as their natural pursuit are respected a lot and the locals of all hues give them all the help they
need. These are the times when the criminals have begun to think they will not get caught. If caught, they
9
will not be convicted. If convicted, it will only be a light sentence. Looking back we can see that is, in fact,
the common man who has played a big role in allowing the criminals to take charge of his surroundings.
If insurgency, secessionism and militancy have spread their wings far and wide and posed a serious threat to
the polity. The perpetrators of such violence, crime and mass killings, were able to find safe haven among
the local people. In a way, both violence and crime receive the much despised and publicised sustenance
from those who either prefer to remain indifferent or from those who aid and abet them in their nefarious
designs and dubious deeds. The dons of the under-world attribute much of their sway and success to
institutionalised corruption and criminalised politics. If violence in the name of caste, community and
ethnicity has gained ground and private armies have flourished and flouted all rules of the law book, the
fault lies with the political patronage that criminals and other of their ilk have come to enjoy in the land of
Buddha, Nanak and Gandhi.
A report of the CBI that the incidence of total cognisable cases in India during 1995 has crossed the mark of
five million, or so, proves beyond doubt that both violence and crime, including economic crimes, have
registered a steady increase in our rural as well as urban areas.

Pelf, power and prestige, no matter what means are adopted and how many emotions are crushed, have
become the obsessive motives of those who can manipulate the levers and reach the top. In some cases,
even the use of bullet, where ballot is the valid way to wrest power, is openly propagated and practised.
Organised violence and pre-planned crime on a big scale had been the bane of many a carnage. How many
culprits, criminals, rioters and the like have been punished is still a matter under investigation and litigation.
In the absence of quick trial and adequate punishment to the actual perpetrators of these perversions and
their masters behind the curtain, the chain or the vicious cycle of crime and violence, whether individual or
collective, cannot be controlled, much less erased from the Indian State.
Erosion of time-tested values like care, concern and compassion for others and an abominable absence of
moral and ethical teachings and ideals among our career conscious youth, are some of the major factors that
have brought us to the present painful pass. Brides being burnt or tortured for dowry, female child killed
before or after birth (infanticide), harassment of women at home and at their work-place, employment of
children in hazardous industries violation of human rights, use of third degree methods by police, long
detention of under trials and such other aberrations are both symptoms and symbols of violence and crime
that have afflicted the Indian psyche with all their virulence and venom.
The `great cau have gone out of our lives and in their place only cold calculations and career-chasing
have become our possessive passions and pursuits. There is an abhorrent absence of such ideals as can
inspire us to see beyond our nose so that we may feel motivated to create such social climate as is conducive,
constructive and creative for a more humane social order. Still all is not lost. In order to rejuvenate the Indian
minds and stir their sullen soul, the message of Tagore ks raise dust, not crop has to be instilled and
injected into their psyche. The place of uses in the national goals and targets has to be recognised and
a relentless crusade against dehumanisation of perceptions and proclivities has to be waged before the rising
deluge of violence, vulgarity and crime overtakes and finally overwhelms us all.
10
7. HARMONY
Thousands of communal riots have taken place in the country since the attainment of Independence in 1947.
The earlier suspicion that communal discord was caused by the British rulers in pursuance of their policy of
divide and ru has proved partially obsolete. It is true, however, that the seeds of disharmony among the
various communities were sown by the British Government. Factional demands were encouraged and all
efforts to bring the Hindus and Muslims together were purposely thwarted to consolidate foreign control.
Communalists of various shades and categories have consistently harped on the differences and encouraged
divisive trends. This has been especially noticeable in the highly sensitive and vulnerable regions where the
timber had only to be ignited by a match-stick; the embers remain hot. Even a minor and an apparently
innocuous incident has sufficed to arouse communal passions and provoke rioting.

The habitual offenders, the anti-social elements who thrive on disorder, the selfish politicians and others of
their ilk are, however, incorrigible. They revert to disruptionist tactics whenever there is an opportunity. The
call of religion in danger often proves irresistible to the illiterate masses. Such tactics of mischievous
exploitation queer the pitch for those who draw up high-sounding programmes for promoting communal
harmony in the country.
Article 51-A, which lays down the fundamental duties of the citizens of India, inter alia, stresses the
importance of amity. According to clause (e) of the Article, it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to
promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India, transcending
religious, linguistic and regional, or sectional diversities... Further, clause (i) enjoins upon all citizens to
safeguard public property and to abjure violence . And yet these duties are blatantly ignored and recklessly
flouted by people in India.
The count national traditions and the dictates of real Indian culture, all point to the importance of
maintaining communal harmony. In fact, the basis of Indian culture is peace, brotherhood and amity. Culture
is the result of centuries of evolution and of the growth of ideals and disciplines. In fact, disharmony in any
sphere of life is the very antithesis of true Indian culture. Certain pre-requisites are generally mentioned for
Ind distinctive culture a common approach to most of the basic problems, a broad vision (as against
sectarian viewpoints), similarity of conduct, behaviour and attitudes and sharing of ideas, ideals and
traditions. But far more important is an essential unity of outlook despite the numerous diversities of
language and dialect and the tradition of tolerance. While the basis of all culture, as T.S. Eliot suggested, is
religion, a true concept of it never seeks to create disharmony.

The distinctive mark of Indian culture, which is based on Hindu philosophy, is tolerance. Religion must not
be a matter of exclusive dogma but should be characterised by a wide tolerance respect for the faith and
beliefs of others and a generous attitude of understanding the approach of other people to the challenges
of life. It is this sense of tolerance, charity and broadmindedness that imparts harmony to the inner life of
cultured people in India. Mahatma Gandh concept of tolerance was indeed comprehensive. After long
study and experience, he wrote, have come to the conclusion that all religions are true, all religions have
some errors in them; and all religions are almost as dear to me as Hinduis His own veneration for other
faiths was the same as that for his own faith.
11
Indian culture has encouraged a continuous synthesis even when it was confronted with contrary
philosophies. The desire to absorb and assimilate has persisted and it accounts for its survival over the
centuries. The pity is that Indians, by and large, have forgotten the teachings and precepts of our saints and
sages. Promotion of harmony is the most important duty of each true citizen. The count salvation
depends upon it. Harmony is creative, disharmony is essentially destructive. If the nation wishes to make
sound progress and consolidate its gains in the social, economic, political and scientific spheres, harmony
has to be ensured all round, not only as a transitory phase but as a permanent feature of life.

8. COMMUNAL HARMONY, TOLERANCE AND SURVIVAL OF INDIAN
DEMOCRACY
India, as we all know, is a mosaic in which different pieces retain their identity while contributing to a
colourful collage. Our tradition teaches tolerance, our philosophy preaches tolerance, and our Constitution
practises tolerance. Unity in diversity is our heritage and respect for all faiths and religions has been our
innate strength and a source of survival against all odds and obduracies. When so much positive and
potential exists in our civilisation, as also in our psyche, why do some of the conscience keepers of the polity
remind us so often that without communal harmony and a general atmosphere of tolerance, democracy
cannot survive for long in India? The fears of some who feel and think for India, are not fake but factual and
are based on the happenings nay tragic traumas that have resulted from communal conflicts and an
intolerant atmosphere of hostility and hatred created by the enemies, both within and outside the country.
The concern that Indian democracy may falter and succumb before the evil designs of caste and communal
politics, demands that introspection and corrective action at different levels are the crying need of the hour.
There is no denying the fact that democracy in a country like India, should aim to accommodate reasonable
mores and modes of living of all communities, ethnic, religious and cultural groups so that no one feels
ignored or pushed out of the mainstream. Democracy and division of power from top to bottom are like
twins that survive in an atmosphere of debate and discussion. If in a fit of euphoria or inflated egos
(personalised politics), the ruling elite tries to inflict discretion in place of deliberations, confrontation
instead of the citadel of is likely to tumble down. Under no circumstances, the rulers
and the ruled in India can afford to fan the fires of communal distrust and intolerance towards any group or
community. The philosophy of `political untouchabilit is as devious and dangerous as the cult of communal
violence and virulence. The policy of `ostracization or political isolation of any group or party is fraught with
deadly dimensions.

Difference of opinion and diversity in view-points on socio-economic-cum political issues are a natural
nuance of democracy. Unless political parties put across their views vociferously, democracy cannot hope to
become vibrant and viable. So long political parties remain committed to the rule of law and refrain from
fuelling flames of communal frenzy for electoral gains, the future of democracy in India is squarely safe and
secure. Even in the face of grave provocation, if political parties and their rank and file adhere to the path of
tolerance, democracy would not suffer any subversion or sabotage. It is only when people begin to settle
scores in the streets and communal passions have a better of peop patience and tolerance, democracy
feels the pangs of mindless onslaughts on its fragile personality. After every communal or casteist clash, the
clock of peace and progress moves in the direction. In fact, it is not only but also economic
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progress and social stability that are entirely dependent on the maintenance of communal harmony and
practice of tolerance by one and all.
Democracy is neither a game of only numbers nor is it a trade of tricks. In the context of Indian situation,
democracy is the only form of government that suits the tone and temper of its people. The policy of `give
and tak can work wonders in this context provided both the intent and intentions of the conflicting parties
or groups are clear and candid. There is no place for fanatics and die-hards in our multi-racial and multi-
religious milieu. Only those who are mentally, emotionally and politically convinced of the relevance and
resilience of democracy to Indian problems and prospects, can ensure the survival of democracy in India.
Prejudices and puerile perceptions have no place in our democracy. The temptation to communalise politics
or to garner votes in the name of cast or community, is the negation of principled politics. The earlier we
cleanse the Augean stables of communal politics, the better for the health of Indian democracy.

Democracy, like a delicate plant, fails to strike deep roots in the heart and minds of people if an atmosphere
of distrust and intolerance makes inroads in the day-today relations between communities. Digging out the
past distortions, real or imaginary, can play havoc with the sensitivities and sensibilities of people sharing
the same heritage and history. Unlike the West, where democracy faces no such problems of communal
tensions and intolerant public perceptions, in India we have to live with these dilemmas all the time. In short,
if democracy is to survive in India, we as Indians, will have to get over our phobias and prejudices against
each other. Irrespective of our religion or ethnic affiliation, we must learn to live, think and behave as
members of a joint family called Indian.
9. FANATICISM
Emerson wrote decades ago that language is a city to the building of which every human being brought a
stone. But language is much more than a city or a nation; it is a link that forges unity even across the seas.
English is used by nearly one-fifth of humanity. Language implies a manner of expression, a medium of
conveying ideas, thoughts and concepts from one person to another or to a large section of society. Language
is, thus, the dress of thought.
The great author Webster was, however, on a weak wicket when he said that language, as well as the faculty
of speech, was the immediate gift of God. The very fact that there are people who do not know any language
because they were not exposed to human sounds shows that language is very much an ability inculcated and
developed by human beings to serve as a means of purposeful communication.
A living language, to quote Nehru, is a throbbing, vital thing, ever-changing, ever-growing and mirroring the
people who speak and write it. A language is infinitely greater than grammar and philology. It is the poetic
testament of the genius of a race and culture, and the living embodiment of the thoughts and fancies that
have moulded them. The best way to encourage the growth of a people is through the language they speak,
and a language ultimately grows from the people; it can hardly be imposed by any external agency.

Unfortunately, language, which is supposed to promote unity and cohesion, has often become a highly
controversial issue. Many people, working under a wrong concept or impelled by exaggerated notions, have
become linguistic fanatics. They have fought bitter battles in the name of language; they have killed people
in linguistic riots; and they have made many sacrifices in the name of their languages as if it were a god or
goddess who would be appeased by bloodshed and destruction of private and public property. The principle
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of linguism has been exalted to high dogma, which has been the bane of Indian life in first 50 years of
independence.. Linguistic chauvinism seems to be the governing factor.

Thus, language, which was evolved to serve a vital need and provide a vital link between man and man, has
often brought about destruction and wrought havoc. In Andhra Pradesh a noble man starved himself to
death for the cause of a linguistic State. Similarly, in Punjab an earnest, well-intentioned person, fasted unto
death for the sake of Punjabi Suba. The Government of India was virtually compelled to appoint a States
Reorganisation Commission to suggest demarcation of boundaries of States and to make proposals for
creation of new entities, if necessary, on the basis of language.

In several regions language has created discord and divisive trends instead of serving as an eminently useful
link to establish links and promote harmony. Language, and sometimes the script issue, thus feeds
fissiparous tendencies, even threatening to disrupt society and the State. Exponents of a particular language,
apparently, develop an obsession, which indicates bias and prejudice. In many parts of India, and also in
some foreign countries, sustained campaigns have been conducted for official recognition of a particular
language as the State language. Linguistic controversies, for instance, raged for quite some time in
Bangladesh for priority status to Urdu as against Bengali, and in Pakistan for Urdu as against Punjabi.
In India language controversies were carried on for years in U.P., West Bengal, Punjab and other areas.
Before partition the Congress itself advocated the formation of linguistic States. The J.V.P. Report may be
said to have started the process, which turned out to be vicious at certain places. Article 343 (1) of the
Constitution of India lays down that Hindi in Devanagari script shall be the official language of the Union. But
there is a provision that English shall continue to be used during the transitional stage. Because of the strong
opposition of the Southern States to Hindi, the use of English is continuing and is likely to continue for many
years. There are Hindi-speaking regions in the North (U.P, M.P., Haryana and Himachal Pradesh) which,
backed by the Centre, want the cause of Hindi to be propagated and this language made the national
language without further delay. But the Central Government has assured the people that there will be no
imposition of a particular language and no switch-over without the consent of the Southern States.
Interestingly, English-medium schools are still popular in the country, and students seeking bright careers
opt for English as the medium of instruction for the post-graduate courses. Consequently, the political
lead initial fervour for switching over to Hindi has cooled off, for the present. Other controversies and
developments have engaged the prior attention of the politicians and political parties.
Thus, there is less of linguistic fanaticism in the country now than a decade or so ago. This is all to the good.
After all, language should be used for every-day communication, official work and literary pursuits, and it
must not be exploited for ulterior or extraneous ends.
10. AND PUBLIC OPINION
Democracy, commonly interpreted to mean the rule of the people by the people, is in effect an institutional
arrangement which ensures free participation of the people in the process of controlling ultimate political
power. But rule by all the people is a political myth; nor can we discover the essence of democracy by merely
counting heads. Political parties, an extra-constitutional growth in almost all democracies, are the vehicles
of ideas, and plurality of ideas involves multiple parties. In fact, parties act as the bridge between social
thoughts and political decisions in a democracy. But there are certain vital conditions on which democracy
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and the democratic method of government depend. These are: co-existence of ideas and also of political
parties; universal adult suffrage (a limited or selective electorate inhibits a democratic order and hence must
not be allowed; and, what is equally important, the right to free discussion and periodic elections without
which the people cannot indicate their political opinions and preferences).
Public opinion, therefore, is vital to every democracy. MacIver, the famous political scientist, said the
ncessant activity of popular opinion is the dynamics of democracy Governmental decisions in a
democracy are the function and outcome of public opinion rather than of force; and just as the means for
the expression of opinion, like constitutionally guaranteed liberties, elections, political parties, etc., are
available, the role of public opinion in government comes to be recognised.
But what is public opinion? What concrete form does it take as a determinant of Government policy? And
how is it formed, articulated and effectively expressed? Most definitions of public opinions imply a record of
facts, a belief and a will; opinion postulates valuation; it also asserts a course of action. In the field of politics,
public opinion is intended to produce a concrete governmental policy. In short, public opinion is the opinion
of the community and of the people. The views of a section of society in a democratic set-up cannot be
described as public opinion that is the view only of a minority. The theory of public opinion, derived from
democracy as a form of government, and the broad assumptions of this theory, are that the public is
interested in government (the interest increases and takes adequate shape with the spread of education
and enlightenment), that the public knows what it wants, that it has the ability to express its wishes (this,
again, is ensured by education) and, lastly, that the public will would be enacted into law. There are
obstacles in the implementation of these processes, and what is more, conditions differ from region to
region. But, broadly, these principles are applicable to all democratic societies, irrespective of size, quality
or standard of living.
It has also to be noted that democracy in most cases is government by the majority, and, therefore, it can
be said that public opinion is the opinion of the majority in such a set-up. Bryce, the famous author of works
on democracy, said: The term public opinion is commonly used to denote the aggregates of the views men
(and women) hold regarding matters that affect or interest the community. Rarely is there unanimity on
every issue, or even on most issues, in a democracy, whether direct or indirect; hence it is correct to say that
public opinion is seldom unanimous; actually, democracy implies dissent which, in turn, means that opinions
will continue to differ. But there must be tolerance of dissent and all differences of opinion, otherwise
democracy becomes meaningless. So we can say that opinion can be described as public when it is accepted
by a majority, if not by most of the citizens. Then the majority view must be accepted by everyone; this
makes democracy practicable.

In the modern world, however, certain changes have been noticed in the concepts of majority opinion and
public opinion. Since in most cases it is indirect democracy that prevails, and since the people elect their
to act and frame laws on their behalf, to all intents and purposes the final decisions are taken
not by the people or the public as a whole, not even by the duly elected representatives of the people in a
legislature, however large, but by the Ministry, a small team led by the Prime Minister, the Among
Equ In fact, on many occasions it is the Prime Minister who acts according to his/her own judgement
without consulting the legislature, or even all his or her Ministers. Thus, modern democracy has come to
mean government by a small number of persons, the Ministers or the Cabinet. Of course, the leaders who
15
take the final decisions in a democracy must continue to command the confidence of the majority; otherwise
they would be thrown out, or rather voted out of power, because the use of force for a switchover of the
rulers from one to another is ruled out in a democratic order. So the position can be summed up thus:
Democracy is based on public opinion; an enlightened, educated electorate is necessary for proper and
faithful implementation of public opinion, and that it is, in effect, the opinion of the majority commanding
the confidence of the community.
11. AND CANNOT CO-EXIST
Democracy, which postulates enlightenment, is, by and large, a blessing, and illiteracy, which implies
ignorance, is a menace. How can the two co-exist? Democracy assumes that there is a high degree of political
consciousness, a fair degree of education and intelligence, a continuous interest in public affairs and a full,
abiding realisation of the duties and responsibilities of true citizenship. No less important, there is tolerance
of dissent and a willingness to accept the verdict of the majority. For all these qualities literacy is
indispensable; where there is illiteracy the basic conditions for the success of a democratic set-up do not
exist.

Again, democracy is government by discussion, response and consent. Where there is no discussion, no free
exchange of views and no freedom of expression which enables uninhibited exchange of views, there cannot
be real democracy. These factors also presume the existence of literacy; how can there be discussion, debate
and a free exchange of views on public affairs when the people are not literate and do not possess the basic
qualifications, as well as a fair standard of intelligence which come with literacy and education?
There cannot be any democracy where there is no education, though there can be education even a high
degree of it even where there is no democracy, as in countries where there is dictatorship, arbitrary and
authoritarian rule under which there is blatant denial of the people ndamental rights.
Dissent there always will be, wherever there is a sizable society comprising people of different shades of
opinion, having different approaches to life and sharp inequalities social, economic or political. Democracy
assumes that the people are fully aware of the value of dissent and differences of opinion, and they also
know that all forms of non-violent dissent should be tolerated in a democratic order. If I claim the right to
hold and express any opinion, I must in all fairness recognise and respect the corresponding right of others
to hold any views they prefer. Such tolerance of pinions is essential in a democracy, while
dogmatism, suppression of dissent and intolerance cannot be allowed in a democracy. If these are allowed,
then democracy comes to an end and arbitrary rule (the very antithesis of democracy) replaces it, even when
outward forms and pretences are kept up. Voltaire, in his famous letter to Rousseau, is reported to have
said: do not agree with a word that you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it That is the
true democratic spirit.

Of course, there are inequalities of all sorts in every country. Whichever country, socialist or capitalist, claims
that everyone there is equal physically, economically, socially and politically is merely putting forth a false
and totally untenable claim. The lack of education, that is, illiteracy, creates more inequalities than any other
factor. In this sense also, lack of education and democracy cannot go together. Either the people must
become literate and knowledgeable, and possess a sense of discrimination between right and wrong and the
fake and the genuine, or they will stand to lose every pretension to democracy.
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Democracy can flourish only in a society where there is equality in law and where discriminations on various
grounds such as sex, religion, caste and economic status are illegal. Fundamental rights are where
there is a full sense of responsibility, because absolute freedom of action or expression is absolute nonsense.
So there must be reciprocity, for which also there should be an educational background, that is, a fairly high
standard of literacy.
The Indian masses, it may well be argued, are, by and large, illiterate, the percentage of literacy being only
36 per cent. Thus, the vast majority of the people in India are not illiterate, and even out of those who are
somewhat literate the standard of intelligence and of the awareness of what democracy is, and what it
stands for, is very limited. And yet, India is the world largest democracy and a fairly successful one too, as
has been shown by the series of general elections held in the country since the attainment of Independence.
How do we reconcile these apparently contradictory phenomena democracy and mass illiteracy if we assert
that they cannot co-exist?
The explanation lies in the fact that democracy itself is education; the process is a teacher and an instructor
in the art and responsibilities of citizenship. The masses of India have by now acquired experience of the
democratic system, especially of elections during which they exercise their right of vote. They cannot be
described as politically immature; they have given ample proof of their sense of discrimination by voting
wisely, by rejecting falsehood and inefficiency and also by punishing through a rebuff at the hustings of those
who are known to be corrupt.

In 1977 the Indian masses, notably those in the North who had suffered heavily in various ways through
arbitrary rule and gross misuse of power (in the family planning excesses, for instance) by Mrs Gandhi s
henchmen, rejected her and her party and gave a chance to the Janata alliance, for a change. But when the
Janata leaders proved to be inefficient and incapable of working together for the nation welfare, the same
illiterate voters rejected them, bringing Mrs Gandhi back on the scene and entrusting her with even greater
power and responsibility. The conduct of the Indian electorate won the admiration of all democratic and
other people in the world.

So we can say that even if 100 per cent literacy is not ensured, democracy can function. It is true, however,
that in such cases democracy suffers from several deficiencies and faults, as in India. In the U.S.A., Britain,
Germany and Japan, where literacy is almost universal, democracy is more successful; about this there
cannot be any doubt.
12. ARE WE SECULAR?
India is a Socialist, Secular Democratic Republic pledged to secure to all its citizens justice, liberty and
equality, and to promote among them all fraternity, assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity of
the nation. This is stated in the Preamble of the Constitution itself. Actually, while the word ul is
rather vague, and was introduced by the 42nd Amendment in 1976, Articles 25 to 30 of the Constitution
relating to the freedom of religion and freedom to manage religious affairs are more specific. They contain
the clear directive that no religious instruction shall be provided in any educational institution wholly
maintained out of State fund

There is also the further provision in Article 28(3) that no person attending any educational institution
recognised by the State or receiving aid out of State funds shall be required to take part in any religious
17
instruction that may be imparted in such institution, or to attend any religious worship that may be
conducted in such institution or in any premises attached thereto, unless such person or, if such person is a
minor, his guardian, has given his consent thereto.

Thus, complete religious freedom, with the absence of any compulsion whatsoever in religious matters, is
legally guaranteed by the supreme law of the land. India is, therefore, rightly described as a secular country
in which the State has no religion, nor does it seek to promote or discourage any religion or religious belief.
It is obvious that the Government and people of India are secular, that is, there is no official religion. That is
the legal position. The State stands committed to a policy of non-interference in religious matters. Religion
is a matter of personal beliefs and convictions.
In January, 1948, Jawaharlal Nehru spoke of secularism thus: We shall proceed on secular and national lines
in keeping with the powerful trends towards internationalism ... India will be a land, as in the past, of many
faiths equally honoured and respected, but of one national outlook, not, I hope, a narrow nationalism living
in its own shell but rather the tolerant, creative nationalism which, believing in itself and the genius of the
people, takes full part in the establishment of an international ord
The goal of One World is still far, far away, but since independence the Government of this country has
undeniably kept itself aloof from religious controversies, not taking any side and taking all possible measures
to ensure to every citizen full religious freedom in accordance with enlightened opinion all the world over,
except in the Islamic countries where the tenets of Islam are enforced by law and the whole polity is declared
as Islamic, not secular in any sense. In fact, Islam, like most other religions, regards secularism as a dangerous
challenge.

Again, how is it that in the selection of Ministers of various ranks, adequate representation is generally
assured to members of various communities and even castes? There are te bank in the rural areas
where the caste factor plays a dominant role in determining the decisions of the village Sarpanches and
leaders of the various clans, (and even sub-castes) in directing their followers to exercise their franchise for
a particular candidate. Jats and non-Jats, Brahmins and non-Brahmins, Scheduled Castes and non-Scheduled
Castes these considerations, undeniably sectarian and narrow, determine their actions.
But how far are we, the people, secular in thought, word and deed? When we look around us and examine
the working of various non-government institutions, the various political parties, especially national parties,
which are supposed to be have thrown their membership open to all communities, we find that the spirit of
secularism is being flouted day after day. We are not completely secular in our approach and attitudes. There
are cases where admissions to educational institutions are decided on a basis that is anything but secular. If
we review closely the working of our political parties, we shall find that candidates for elections are often
chosen on communal considerations Hindu candidates for constituencies having a predominantly Hindu
electorate, Muslim candidates for areas where the majority of the voters are Muslims, and so on. There are
exceptions here and there but, by and large, the observation made above is well founded. The voting in
elections is often on communal lines; Hindus voting for Hindu candidates, Muslims for Muslim candidates
and Sikhs for Sikh contestants. Political parties are not formed on a religious basis, but how is it that there
are some distinctly communal parties in this secular country?
18
In an ideal, well-established, modern polity religion should have no connection whatever with politics. But
is that really so in India today? Why do communal riots take place with such disconcerting frequency
wherever members of both communities live in parts of the same city or town? Why are there so much
destruction, ruthless killings and callous indifference to the plight of people of another community?
Outbursts of communal frenzy are totally incompatible with true secularism, and every well- educated
community should have no narrow considerations of religion and caste in worldly matters. And yet, there
are tensions, strains, fears of the impact of liberalisation on a particular religion, the inward hostility and
suspicion towards other religions, and the lack of tolerance. All these point to a state of affairs where genuine
secularism has taken a back seat.
13. PORTRAIT OF THE INDIAN POLITICIAN
Politics is much too complex a phenomenon for anyone to think of it or describe it in straight lines, and since
the vast and ever- growing tribe of politicians practise this art, they too seldom act or plan straight. They are
not what they seem, and they seem what they are not. Jawaharlal Nehru was himself a politician, apart of
course from being a great statesman, thinker, philosopher and a man of letters. But he was frank enough to
concede that politicians usually hide their real reasons and talk pompously of religion, justice, the truth and
the like. And still the great majority of the people are taken in by the soft, deceptive talk of politicians. No
wonder, this tribe generally proves a roaring success in tod gullible India, where the vast majority of the
masses are illiterate and highly credulous.
The typical Indian politician is a man without principles and without scruples of any kind; he is an opportunist
par excellence. He changes his colours like the chameleon. Loyalty, sincerity and honesty are as far removed
from him as the earth is from the sky. It is true that a politician has to deal with human beings and not with
stones and steel; even so, there is no end to the trickery, the sham and the hypocrisy which the Indian
politician symbolises.

Cartoonists generally present pot-bellied, Khaddar-clad people as politicians. Khaddar has, of course, nothing
to do with real Indian politics. Mahatma Gandhi insisted on khaddar and the typical cap as symbols of purity
and sacrifice; but the age of sacrifice and of principles has apparently gone. Nor is every politician in the
country a habitual wearer of khadi.

The Indian politician is supposed to serve the masses and be their servant. Earnest and devoted service of
the masses is, however, rare in this country; instead of selfless service, there is exploitation through
deceptive and heart-moving oratory; and instead of promoting social welfare there is promotion of on
own interests and those of on nephews and nieces, and feathering of own nest. Lincoln defined
politicians as a set of men who have interests aside from the interests of the people and who are generally
many steps re-moved from honest and scrupulous men. Cynics, in fact, assert that politicians and scruples
are poles apart. A scrupulous person may never become a successful politician, and a politician will never
have any he cannot afford to have scruples, otherwise he will not, generally, be able to practise the
subtle art that is politics.
19
Defection and desertion of party or group whenever he gets a higher price elsewhere, are the Indian
politician favourite pastime. Hypocrisy is closely associated with politics, and in this sense Plato, the
inventor of the Lie , is often described as the first hypocrite. men of Athen he said centuries
ago, If I were engaged in politics I would have perished long ago and done no good either to you or to
myself Just as Plato did a lot of good to himself, so the modern politician in India believes in doing
everything for himself; it is his interest that is uppermost in his mind; why bother about the roofless, the
shelterless, the foodless and the waterless? It is enough to fight in their name, to seek power in their name
and to occupy seats of prestige in their name.
And yet, politics and politicians are indispensable, just as political parties are, whether the type of polity is
Capitalist, Socialist or Communist. They are the functionaries, the messengers, the wielders and the self-
appointed protectors of the weak and the helpless. We just cannot keep them out of society because almost
everything in India today is mixed up, in one way or the other, with politics. There is politics in religion, in
education, in culture, in the arts and the cinema, in the home and in offices. Where there is politics, there
are inevitably clever practitioners of the complex art. Thomas Jefferson, the great American statesman-
politician, advised everyone to shun politics. Politics is such a torment, he said, that would advise everyone
I love not to mix with it But even he must have known that, like pure air and unadulterated truth, politics-
free life has become a virtual impossibility.

14. VIOLENCE AND POLITICS IN INDIA
Politics has come to acquire a bad odour and generally implies unfair, underhand dealings, exploitation of
the poor and the ignorant, though it need not necessarily be so. Since it generally involves the attainment of
certain objectives, such as the seizure of power by all available methods, violence often becomes a part of
it. Of course, violence need not be a vital or essential part of politics even in the most ill-governed country,
but there is no doubt that unscrupulous politicians seldom hesitate to resort to violent methods to achieve
It would not, however, be fair to paint every Indian politician with the same black brush and condemn him
(or her, because there are some women members of the tribe too) squarely. There are black sheep, cheats
and dishonest people in every profession, it is said. That may well be, but certainly there are more dishonest
men and hypocrites among politicians than among any other class of people. The exceptions are so few (even
though they may be outstanding), that they make little difference to the generality. Moreover, truthful,
honest and principled politicians cannot last in a society such as Ind where straight-forwardness and fair
play are at a discount. Just as a lawyer and a diplomat has necessarily to tell lies as a part of his profession,
whatever his motives, similarly a politician in India, which is no longer the land of saints, sages and
spirituality, politicians are men who do not command credibility. They are quick to make tall promises and
give high-sounding assurances at election time, but once they are elected to a legislature for five years or so,
they concentrate on safeguarding their own interests and ensuring their own future. In advanced countries,
such as the U.S.A. and Britain, politicians do not specialise in dishonesty, falsehood and make-believe. They
play fair and accept defeat in the sporting spirit. The people, it is said, get the Government they deserve;
perhaps it is correct to say that a country also gets the politicians it deserves. For, after all, politicians are a
part of ourselves, our own kith and kin. The profession of politics and the politicians can undeniably be
and perhaps the day is not far off when, with the spread of all round education and enlightenment,
honest and principled politicians would emerge and gradually eliminate the black sheep from society.
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their aims. Whenever the practitioners of the art of politics find that normal and socially acceptable methods
and practices have not brought them the desired achievements, they stoop to unethical methods, including
incitement of sensitive people to violence.
It is a tragic reflection on civilisation that with the much-publicised progress in various spheres of human
activity the resort to violence has also increased. In fact, one of the dominating factors in the post-war years
is the growth of the spirit of violence. Even in India, where the apostle of peace and non-violence, Mahatma
Gandhi, preached that violence is both degrading and derogatory to human beings, the menace has been
increasing. Proof of this dismal phenomenon is found in the sharp increase in violent crimes in the country,
including murders, stabbings and other manifestations of cruelty. The concept of ht is right is being
practised with a callousness. That is highly disgraceful and a sorry reflection on civilisation.
It is poor consolation that violence has been on the increase not only in India but also all the world over,
even in the most civilised countries, such as the U.S.A. and Britain. Naked, unabashed violence has even been
glorified in certain continents; the number and intensity of armed clashes between various classes of people
is yet another proof; and so is the increasing number of communal riots, many of which have their roots in
politics. In fact, there would be no communal disturbances in the country if the spirit of non-violence were
universally accepted as a guiding factor of human life.
It is indeed a sorry reflection on the state of our civilisation that more politics has come to imply more
violence; what is worse, violence begets violence. When one party adopts violent means to achieve its
objectives, the other follows suit in the firm, though unwarranted, belief that the only answer to violence is
greater violence, not peaceful overtures or non-violent satyagraha which Mahatma so earnestly advocated.

Yet another tragedy of modern civilisation is that politicians refute by their actions the sound principle that
a State based on force and violence is built on foundations of sand. There can be no social, economic or
political stability where the entire polity is based on force and violence, not on the peop freely expressed
and frequently affirmed (through periodic elections) support and consent. Ousters of one group by another
are sometimes accompanied by force and violence, together with reprisals in various forms. Violence in
politics also takes the form of coercion, which is another form of compulsion, and compulsion involves or
implies the use of force or threat of force.

It is not surprising in such circumstances that politics of peace is becoming uncommon, and politics of war is
replacing it gradually but surely. Some of those who are very much in politics, and seldom hesitate to adopt
violence as a means to an end, quote Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. Even though moral force is
more effective at times, the Mahatma conceded that in certain circumstances, the refusal to fight violence
adequately might smack of cowardice. Why does India maintain a large police force and ever-expanding
military forces? The State has to use force to quell riots of various types and has to be in a constant state of
preparedness to meet aggression by hostile countries. Violence then becomes inescapable. Ironically, both
peace and politics have become difficult to ensure without adequate preparations for fighting violence. This
genuine peace in politics has become uncommon and the spirit of violence is abroad like an infection that
has seeped into all areas of human activity.
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15. PEOPLE THE ONLY CENSORS OF GOVERNMENTS
There are governments of men who are sincere, honest and true, just as there are governments run by self-
seekers, demagogues, power-obsessed tyrants. There are monarchies, oligarchies, dictatorships and
democracies. Who serves as a check on all types of government, good, bad or indifferent? Who acts as the
final arbiter and the ultimate determinant of their worth and performance? The plain answer is the people.
The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government. The legal sovereign, that is, the
authority constituted or set up by law, may have a will of its own and may enforce it for some time, but it is
the political sovereign (who lies behind, and limits, the legal authority) that ultimately prevails.

During the 16th and 17th centuries the doctrine of popular sovereignt emerged as an expression of
resentment of the people against the despotic authority of kings and their reliance on the theory of Divine
Rights. The concept of popular sovereignty attributes ultimate sovereignty to the people. Rousseau was its
great exponent, and it became a slogan of the French Revolution. The American Declaration of Independence
and the U.S. constitution incorporated this principle in the preamble by affirming that Government derives
its authority from the consent of the governed. Popular sovereignty has since then become the basis and
watchword of democracy.

The General Will and popular sovereignty are admittedly vague, indeterminate and diffusive concepts, but
these do convey the basic idea of who is ultimately supreme. Since the electorate sits in judgement over the
performance of the Government at the time of elections, it is called the final censor and the real sovereign.

A President, a Prime Minister or a dictator may establish any number of organisations, small or big, to create
the impression that his policies and actions are approved by representatives of various sections of society.
But this is just for appearances. How can handpicked men and loyalists speak up for the people as a whole?
When the time comes for the final censor the people to have their say, nothing else counts. What is more,
their assessment and censorsip is sound and effective. Of course it is the final word.

The Indian electorate rebuff to Mrs Gandhi affirmed the dictum that censure is often useful, and praise
may at times prove deceitful and misleading. There is also a grain of truth in Swift mment that censure
is the tax a man pays to the public for being eminent. It is the eminent people whose actions, which have a
direct impact on the people, are subjected to final censorship by the ultimate arbiter. A government whose
actions are repeatedly censured by the people does not last long, because every government is ultimately
answerable to the people. A censured, rejected government loses all credibility.
The universal acceptance of this principle prompted a great philosopher to assert that the voice of the
people is the voice of God Another one put the same idea in different words the will of the people is the
Significantly, the people s judgement is mature and fully warranted even when they are largely illiterate. The
people know how to punish and teach a lesson to leaders who abuse their authority and power and who
tend to become arrogant and arbitrary in their conduct. When Mrs Indira Gandhi and her colleagues abused
their power and betrayed the trust reposed in them, the people threw them out in the March, 1977, general
elections and gave an opportunity to the Janata Party, even though it was a conglomeration of irreconcilable
constituents. When the Janata leaders fell out among themselves and proved inept, inefficient and unfit to
govern the country well, the people firmly rejected them thus asserting themselves once again, and in an
unmistakable manner.
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best law Then we have the view of the American statesman Jefferson (1787) tha the people are the only
sure reliance for the preservation of our libert The people indeed are the only effective censor and
sovereign of any country, and no one can fool them for all time.

Public opinion is a great force far more powerful than any other. In fact, public opinion has been described
as much stronger than the mightiest Power on earth. As time passes and as education and general
enlightenment spread, public opinion becomes more and more influential and decisive. The Press reflects it,
faithfully in most cases. In the West the ouster of the Shah of Iran a decade ago is quoted as a notable
example of public opinion acting as the final arbiter of the destiny of a powerful, arrogant Shah who thought
no one could harm him and that he was destined to rule his country for ever.
If public opinion is well organised and clearly articulated, it acts invariably as a mighty censor. There is,
however, the danger of public opinion being misguided in the heat of the moment. Calm and cool judgement
is sometimes not given by the public when, for instance, they are swayed by momentary passions, anger and
deep resentment over a specific act. So the public voice too has its limitations and all public verdicts need
not necessarily be perfect or unexceptionable. But such exceptions apart, the general proposition that the
people alone are the final censors is well-founded and universally accepted.
16. THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA TODAY
The magic of the printed word and the mesmerism of the visual media, though appearing or seeming to vie
with each other to occupy the paramount position, are the two facets equally relevant and revealing in the
fast changing world of today. Without cutting into each oth area of operation, the media best serves the
interests of those who see them, not as crass competitors but as comradesin-arms seriously committed to
expose and explore those areas of human strengths and stupidities that comprise the entire gamut of life.
The role to inform, educate and stir the conscience of the masses is unique and unequal. Journalists and
others associated with the media may find their role cut out for them in the fields of news, views and reviews,
but their functions or contributions in the large socio-economic and socio-cultural context have changed
manifold. In free societies, the media is supposed to meticulously meet the challenges thrown up every
moment, with courage and conviction. Of course, there is no denying the fact that on many occasions the
Like the mighty human mind, medi reach is vast and its role vigorous. In the context of present-day
realities, both pleasant and painful, the question that troubles most right thinking persons is: Does the media
today fulfil the role of Sanjaya, describing the state of affairs to a population as blind and helpless as
Dhirtrashatra? Is the media the ring in the nose of the bull, being used to lead the masses in the direction
people in power want them to be led? Working under constraints, the media does play the role of separating
the wheat from the chaff and the resultant exposure does cause a few ripples in the murky waters of polity,
whether the scoop relates to corruption, violation of human rights, exploitation of the weaker and
dispossessed segments of society. Judicial activism may be attributed to some extent to investigative
journalism or visual capturing of sordid scenes that the media publishes or transmits, as the case may be.
Many skeletons in the cupboards see the light of the day simply because some persons challenge the power-
that-be and come out with startling secrets that have b een allowed to remain hidden or concealed under
the wraps.
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danger of their freedom being curbed or conditioned by subterfuge or subtle dangling of carrot and stick
policy, keeps hanging over their heads.

Media, even when it has now become an industry like any other, should never lose its missionary character.
It is always up against many odds, at home and abroad, and, like a consistent crusader and campaigner, it
has to fight many a battle on many fronts such as political and economic hegemony of some nation-States,
environmental degradation, drug-trafficking and terrorism, preservation and protection of democracy and
human rights.
Undoubtedly, the media needs celebrities and vice versa. Though the law allows the media to burrow, pry,
expose public personalities, its role to indulge in scandals for fun or money, or both, is highly questionable
and even immoral. Such an attempt on the part of `paparazz in recent times has already brought a bad
name to the media. in an age of consumerism is not the end for which the media has acquired
so much power and prest role is not confined to yellow journalism and sensational scoops only.

The media does not function directly as an instrument of social change its primary role is to observe and
describe national and international issues objectively, accommodating diverse views without being
dictatorial. Like any other mirror, the state of the media reflects the condition of the times. The media cannot
construct society those who believe this labour under an illusion. If the media follows a progressive path,
being critical of traditions and history, it must have a clear mental picture of where its slant will take it and
how this will influence the people.

If dress makes a man, extraordinary events make the media. Where even angels fear to tread, some media
men rush in to cover eventy like bloody scenes and armed confrontations, even at the risk of their lives. It
brings into focus those sore points of a society that have remained utterly neglected as a result of some
default or design. Because of its global network, the media brings to the people the immediacy of what is
happening within and outside the national frontiers. If the visual media shows the events and whets the
curiosity of viewers, the pring media informs and satiates peop oppetite for more information and
knowledge. All successful persons have to curry favour with the media, because it is the only channel, if
properly cultivated, that can go a long in ensuring their longevity on the political, cultural, sports and other
horizons. None should dare antagonise it. It is the all-powerful and all-pervasive deity that demands
attention and adulation for its unique role in the lives of one and all. Its influence is like that of an icon, and
those sitting pretty safe in their ivory towers of glory and grandeur can ill-afford to offend it.
17. ADVERTISING
Advertising, though a close companion of market economy, is an unpleasant feature of modern life.
Watching from the sidelines, the glut of consumer goods and the crass craze for something quick and queer,
the conscientious critic sees the menace and mesmerism that advertising has brought about in the lives of
all. To be taken in, or taken for a ride, the confused consumer is always at his wit end on how to sift the
chaff from the grain. Besides the bewilderment that advertising causes in many a case, sometimes strange
but sensational commercials on TV can cost heavily to on pocket or even to life. Recently an innocent
student tried to imitate the acrobat of the youngman in a commercial ad and lost his precious life, for
nothing.
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Advertising and consumerism have reached a stage in America where critics are demanding adequate checks
and balances, because it has begun to influence even human relations on an everyday basis. In some cases,
advertising has started to erode individual provacy. In the name of educating and enlightening the consumer
about his rights to choose the right product, the magazines, television and movies keep dinning into the ears
that material things and sensual pleasures are what life is about. The happiness lies in automatic appliances
and automobiles churned out in various forms and colours. When this instant gratification does not get
translated into reality, the world seems to fall apart. Gradually, the voices of sanity and restraint are being
raised to rein in the wild animal within all and sundry, before it becomes too strong to stop in the face of
temptations let loose by the awful agent called advertising.

There is no denying the fact that advertising has invaded every aspect of human existence and this is being
reached and achieved through sponsoring of events, especially sports, on a global basis. In everyday life, we
find advertising aims at selling goods and services, exploring new avenues and markets and, finally, reaching
out to those people and places that have remained untouched by its ever-expanding shadows and shades.
Propaganda a cheap or inferior form of affecting peop minds and influencing their thinking and
psyche too plays a vital role on certain occasions and situations where static senses and sensibilities have
to be stirred and stimulated to new ideas and ideologies. In the words of Jacques Ellul: Propaganda by its
very nature is an enterprise for perverting the significance of events and insinuating false intentions....The
propagandist will not accuse the enemy of just any misdeed; he will accuse him of the very intention he
himself has and of trying to commit the very crime he himself is about to commit

It is now recognised that solving complex social issues is a managerial task. Communication and advertising
find a crucial place in this new approach. The Green Revolution could not have come about in India without
the help of radio and TV advertisin says an expert. Advertising sells not only goods, it sells ideas as well.
Ideas like national integration and communal harmony have been spread through advertisin Advertising
flourishes in an environment which is free an atmosphere which encourages a different point of view, an
environment where people can disagree without being disagreeable.
In addition to commercial advertising and ideological propaganda there is social advertising, which refers to
the advertisements which deal with social causes and are aimed at the welfare and well-being of the people.
Its target audience is not specific class but the masses who can be educated about socially relevant issues
like health, family welfare, literacy, national security, to mention a few issues only. The importance of such
advertisements has reached such heights that even the government falls back upon them quite often to
highlight the issues to immediate concern. Undoubtedly, in tod context, carrying out compaigns through
social communication is of paramount importance. The society, the economy, the politics and the media
exposure are bringing about changes which are so radical and dynamic that they are creating dissonance and
upheavals. In order to withstand the negative effects of changes, we certainly need these kinds of campaigns
through advertising or propaganda, for sustaining communication with the masses at large. In short,
advertising not only influences the bu perception but also his responses to social problems. It has its
negative effects but the positive side far out-strips the negative side.
18. WE TALK MORE, WORK LESS
Undeniably, there are millions of people in India who think little, act even less but talk too much. Indulgence
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and kismat have in fact become national pastimes. The number of those who can claim that they keep
their tongue within their lips and never talk in vain is limited. The talk of the common people, mostly
irresponsible, creates the impression that they have little to do. Indians are indeed typical of the people of
the Orient who have nothing worthwhile to say, and yet contrive to spend the longest time in saying it.
Those who have endless time on their hands are great babblers. Thinking and reflection postulate a certain
degree of education and intellectual development. About 64 per cent of the people in India are illiterate; so
they have not developed the qualities of thinking and reflection. Montesquieu truly said that the less men
think, the more they talk. India is a land of myriad tongues. The 1961 census listed 1652 languages as mother
tongues spoken in India, and the 1971 census, retaining the number, presented a somewhat more realistic
picture. Judged by any standard, India is a babel of tongues, perhaps the largest in the world. This babel has
been the outcome of a cumulative process resulting from the influx of various races into the country through
the centuries.

Talkers are never good doers; this explains the proverbial sloth, idleness and complacency of the average
Indian. Our material output, our productivity and production, our net contribution to the countr Gross
National Product (GNP) are all far too low. While people should learn to use their hands and to be active all
the time (like the Japanese who have raised their country to the pinnacle of glory despite the havoc done to
their economy during World War II), we have mastered the technique of whiling away time talking and
talking, doing little positive, constructive and concrete work.

Jawaharlal Nehru, in a speech way back in 1952, said he was tired of people who merely talk about various
things. However wise you may be (in India the number of truly wise, sagacious men and women is limited),
he said, you can never enter into the spirit of a thing if you only talk about it and do nothing. We do not
know the value of time; so we do not mind spending precious hours in idle gossip. In part the disinclination
to be up and doing all the time is the result of our fatalistic beliefs and attitudes. Most of us tend to believe
that what God has ordained cannot be averted. What will be, will be; so, they argue, why needlessly waste
energy in thwarting God s will?
Besides, there are many among us who believe that flattery is the shortest route to success in toda dia.
The great talkers, the wily, garrulous politicians who sway audiences through their loud talk, all manage to
mislead the people and promote their selfish ends. A flatterer is in the excellent company of imitators
because imitation is considered the sincerest form of flattery. The easiest weapon adopted by flatterers and
sycophants is smooth talk, not work. A ready and glib tongue has at times proved to be a more precious
weapon than gifts of cash and kind. Through a facile tongue the flatterers continually create illusions and a
world of make-believe. Almost all great talkers are great flatterers; praise inevitably becomes their forte.

Then there are those whose talk mostly comprises advice to all and sundry on everything on earth. Like air
and water, advice too can be had free. Self-appointed advisers are great talkers; they talk their way into your
hearts and they even drive away rationality, good sense and the quality of discriminating between chalk and
cheese. Adking for advice is to tout for flatterers. And flattery feeds the ego and is exhilarating. Most talkers
become bores. But let it be said in defence of the growing tribe of talkers that they do manage at times to
relieve boredom. A quiet gathering at which all those present are serious-minded people deeply engrossed
in thought and philosophy would appear to maintain the silence of the graveyard. The talkers relate funny
26
people, for hours together. There is no tax on talk and gossip. So the idle, endless talker flourishes at the
cost of the silent, constructive worker. It is the latter who can help ensure national progress, not the
ceaseless twisters of the tongue, even though the latter manage to find credulous audiences. True, sincere
and genuine workers cannot stand non-sensical postures, including nonsense talk. But work does not lie in
marching up and down the streets, shouting slogans and lodging protests. Many of us tend to resort to strikes
and work stoppages. Undeniably, our future amongst nations, and the good name of our country, depends
entirely upon our work and work alone. Much valuable work can be done silently and without becoming
noisy or indulging in aimless talk. If everyone realises the truth of this dictum, the salvation of the country
would not be far off.
19. LIBERTY WITHOUT DISCIPLINE
Liberty denotes absence of restraint; in fact the word liberty is derived from the Latin word ibe which
means free. It implies freedom to do what one likes, regardless of the conditions, the environments and the
postures of leaders who rule the land with or without the peop consent. In many regions, especially those
under authoritarian rule, individual liberty in the real sense is still an ideal to be achieved. It is only in genuine
democracies that there can be true liberty for the individual. Liberty or freedom means doing or acting
without any restrictions; where there is restraint or restriction, liberty is limited to that extent.
But liberty does not, and in effect cannot, mean licence to do or act as one pleases, regardless of the
consequences for others. Liberty is a highly cherished and much valued privilege; it implies that we can go
where we like, do what we like, and work as and where we like. But absolute liberty, like absolute rights, is
absolute nonsense, because everyone lives in society and living in society means we have all to observe
certain rules and regulations. That is where discipline comes in. Discipline involves a restraint on liberty but
it is a necessary and vital restraint in the interest of society. Ever since the origin of man and society,
discipline of some kind has been found necessary for both individual and social welfare. Discipline and
restraint were deemed essential in prehistoric times also, and as society has become more and more
complex, the urgency and importance of discipline has been felt all the more.
Actually, discipline is not only desirable but indispensable. Wherever discipline and regulation of human
conduct are absent, moral and material deterioration has set in. And where such deterioration starts the
nation falls a victim to aggression by better organised and more disciplined people from outside. So the
absence of discipline and restraint often means decay; to prevent such decay, discipline has to be imposed
in the common interest and for the common good. Such discipline may be internal, that is, accepted without
demur or protest by the people themselves, or it may be external, in which case it sometimes means the
rule of the jack-booted commissars, as in Communist countries. Discipline has, therefore, to be distinguished
from dictatorship under which individual liberty is rapidly taken away, supposedly in the interest of the State
but in reality to promote the interests of the dictator. History has shown that dictators are firmly opposed
to the grant of basic rights and liberties to the people. They want blind, unflinching obedience instead; the
people are blandly told that theirs is not to reason why but to do and die as and when they are told all in the
interest of their Fatherland or Motherland. That was Hit technique in Nazi Germany and Benito
Mussolin technique in Italy.

The truth, repeatedly affirmed by human experience over the ages, is that it is discipline that enables all the
people to enjoy their liberty while living in the community. Thus liberty and discipline are not contradictory
27
or mutually exclusive terms; they are very much complementary and both are indispensable. One, in fact,
feeds and reinforces the other. When we say that discipline is essential we mean discipline in all walks of
life, social, economic, political and industrial.
In social life the enjoyment of liberties and fundamental rights becomes possible only through due regard
for the corresponding rights and liberties of others. Whoever disregards the corresponding rights of others
becomes a law breaker and an offender, making himself liable to action under the law Do as you want to
be done b is a golden rule.
Discipline means full realisation of the sense of responsibility, and where there is irresponsibility there is
confusion, chaos and worse. It has been well said that we can have discipline without liberty but we cannot
have liberty without discipline. When there is discipline, liberty is not endangered, but when there is liberty
or rather excessive emphasis on liberty alone, it will soon be lost. This leads us to the conclusion that a proper
and reasonable balance has to be struck between liberty and discipline or restraint. The restraints must of
course be designed for the social good, and it is obvious that excessive restraints will inevitably lead to the
erosion of human liberties.

It is this sound reasoning that prompted law-makers to assert that law is the essential condition of liberty.
For instance, if I claim the liberty to rob, kill or injure another, or defy the traffic rules and drive my car or
scooter on the wrong side of the road, I endanger myself as well as others, besides making myself quil of
defying the law and discipline. If everyone thus defies the laws and rules, designed to ensure discipline and
smooth living, what will become of society?

Those who describe laws as restraints on liberty and hostile to individual freedom apparently fail to
understand the true concept of liberty and discipline. It is the State acting through laws that ensures justice
and equality of opportunity to all, especially the weaker sections of society. So it is true to say that discipline
ensures justice and fair play. Is it not a fact that the law which punishes the murderer, the thief, the robber
and the violator of rules and regulations is thereby promoting the rights and liberties of others? The truly
free man is he who, while living in society, invariably observes discipline and accepts the limitations on his
actions imposed for the common good. Thus discipline is as necessary as liberty itself. Each reinforces the
other.

20. OUR STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE
Ind struggle for freedom can be said to have started soon after the battle of Plassey in 1757. The Indians,
since that time, cherished a burning desire in their hearts for driving away from their country the new alien
conquerors who had won that historic battle, not through fair combat but by a treacherous tactical fraud.
However, the flame of patriotism remained largely suppressed till 1857 when Indians Hindus, Muslims and
sikhs, all united made the first organized attempt to drive away the British from India. It was our first battle
of independence against the alien rulers. Though British historians have tried their best to dub this national
uprising of a righteous and patriotic people as a mere mutin of the Indian sepoys, latest researches made
by impartial historians reveal that the 1857 movement had its seeds in the patriotic urge of the Indian people
to make their motherland free. Had it not been purely a national movement, it could not have united the
people of various religions and sects. As the famous Indian historian, Sir Jadunath Sarkar has said, The revolt
had been secret and well organized. It was much more than a mere mutiny of soldiers. It spread rapidly and
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assumed the character of a popular rebellion of the masses; it was not confined to Delhi alone as most of
the British historians take the view; it spread all over the land now known as U.P., Central India, Bihar and
Bengal. Essentially it was not a religious or sentimental outburst. It was a national rising in which Hindus and
Muslims took equal part.
A highly significant feature of life in India after 1857 was the emergence of the middle classes as a political
force. The first impact of Western political thought, numerous reformist movements in the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries, growing economic and political discontent, the arrogance of the new rulers,
improvements in the means of transport and communications, the introduction of the printing-press and
several other factors stimulated the growth of a well-organised middle-class opinion. The first sign of political
organization in India was the formation of the Indian Association by Surendranath Bannerjee in 1876.

But in course of time, it was the Indian National Congress which came to spearhead the national freedom
movement. The party owed its origin to the inspiration provided by Surendranath Bannerjee and A.O. Hume,
a retired British civil servant who suggested forming an organization for the mental, moral, social and
political regeneration of the people of Ind
The first session of the Indian National Congress was held in Bombay in December 1885 under the
Presidentship of Mr Woomesh Chandra Bonnerjee. To begin with, the Congress started as an organization
committed to the use of constitutional means only for securing certain rights for Indians. This stage in its
career as a political party lasted from 1885 to 1905. During this period, the party leadership pressed modest
demands through prayers, appeals, petitions, deputations etc. It shunned all extra-constitutional or
agitational approach.

But gradually extremist elements inspired by revolutionary nationalism in Europe found their way into the
Congress. Prominent among extremist Congress leaders were Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal,
Aurobindo Ghose and many others. Tilak hailed from Maharashtra. It was he who first gave the call waraj
is my birth-right Extremism held sway from 1906 to 1918. It was the second stage in the life of the Indian
National Congress.

Another wave of nationalistic fervour swept India when the British Parliament, at the end of World War I,
passed the notorious Rowlatt Act. It was an oppressive measure designed to invest the government with
unbridled power to arrest and imprison suspects without trial and to crush civil liberties. This was the reward
India got for having collaborated with Britain in the pursuit of the latt war aims. The Indian people felt
outraged. Mahatma Gandhi who had upto that time maintained that the Congress should serve the country
only as a social and moral reformative organization declared that it should give a tough (non-violent) fight
against this wless law Inspired by Mahatma Gandh patriotic idealism, millions of Indian patriots came
forward to protest against this gross injustice. British imperialism used barbaric means to suppress the
movement. The Jallianwala Bagth tragedy the worst act of inhumanity done by the British administration in
India shocked the entire civilized world. Men, women, children and old men were shot dead by Gen. Dyer
specially deputed by the British Governmen to teach the Indians a lesson

The Jallianwala Bagh incident proved to be a milestone in India fight for freedom. It marked the beginning
of the Gandhian era in Indian politics. Mahatma Gandhi gave a new direction to the national freedom
movement. He adopted a policy of progressive non-violent non-co-operation to agitate political issues. It
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was a novel technique which had not been tried anywhere else in the world. It envisaged surrender of titles,
boycott of legislative bodies and courts and foreign goods, resignations from nominated posts etc. To crush
the movement the Government resorted to a policy of repression which provoked a call of civil disobedience
from Mahatma Gandhi.
The civil disobedience movement passed through many vicissitudes but ultimately it forced the British
Government to have a second look at the working of its administration in India. Meanwhile, the national
movement also had entered a new phase. At its annual session held in Lahore in December 1929 under the
Presidentship of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Indian National Congress had passed a resolution declaring complete
independence to be Indi goal. During the next decade or so, it was a see-saw battle between the resurgent
forces of Indian nationalism and British imperialism. The British introduced half-hearted measures to
increase Indian participation in the task of administering the country but continued to be allergic to the
idea of conceding independence to India.
The breaking out of World War II in 1939 had a profound impact on the political situation in India. When the
war broke out, popular Congress ministries were functioning in eight provinces but as India had not been
consulted before war was declared on behalf of the country by its British rulers, the popular ministries
resigned. The British Government did not take much notice to begin with, but when in 1942 the Japan ese
advance became a real threat to Ind borders, it sent Sir Stafford Cripps with a package of constitutional
reform measures which were found unacceptable by the Indian political leaders.
The next high point in India struggle for freedom was reached in 1942 when Indian patriots were active on
several fronts. Mahatma Gandhi launched the Quit Ind movement within the country. He demanded
immediate end of British rule and sanctioned a non-violent mass struggle on a wide scale to achieve the
objective. A revolutionary upsurge swept the country from one corner to the other and the Government
used its entire machinery to crush the rebellion by ruthless measures and wholesale arrests without trial.
Subhash Chandra Bose, popularly and affectionately known as Net escaped from British captivity and
organized the Indian National Army the first organized and trained army of nationally-inspired and patriotic
Indians. The soldiers of the Indian National Army fought against the British and American forces in Burma,
Malaya and at other places. The revolt of the Indian members of the naval forces in Bombay and Cochin was
a pointer that the Indian soldiers and sailors had also been drawn into the freedom struggle and could no
longer be depended upon by the British.
The plant of independence which sprouted in 1947 was the culmination of more than a century of sacrifices
offered by numberless patriots at the altar of national freedom. We are today free, but we have to preserve
our hard won freedom. For this we have to keep alive in our hearts the sacred memory of those great martyrs
who made tremendous sacrifices for the attainment of freedom. From their memories we can derive
inspiration to work hard to consolidate the freedom we have won at such great cost.
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21. THE NEED FOR ENVIRONMENT-CONSCIOUSNESS
Today, there is now a premium on fresh air and there even are bars in Japan where people can buy whiffs of
oxygen. If we continue to play foul with the environment and interfere with the already disturbed eco-
system, the day is not far off when we shall rue over the mind-boggling progress and excessive exploitation
of nature to feed our follies and glorify our greed.

It is neither a fad nor a fashion to show our concern for the environment. It is a feeling for the fast
deteriorating milieu, both natural and man-made, that pricks the conscience of some who take upon
themselves the rigorous but moral responsibility of creating an awareness among the people, to preserve
the delicate balance in the entire eco-system that has been disturbed beyond repair and recognitiion in many
cases. Since the problem of environmental degradation is global, a concerted effort needs to be launched to
infuse environment-consciousn among all and sundry before it gets too late to mend the matters.

In its mad race to make miracles and bring about a complete metamorphosis in the living styles, modern
human kind seems to have failed to appreciate the inherent worth of animal and plant life in totality. In
ancient times nature held our respect, perhaps due to religious or supernatural associations. Now that we
have a scientific grasp of nature, we have lost sight of its wider aesthetic, spiritual and complementary value.
With the onslaught of industrialisation, nature has been through a rapid exploitation leading to pollution and
depletion of its resources. The destructive trend can be slowed down, if not completely reversed, if collective
care and concern for environment-consciousness is created through different media, education, visual and
performing arts.

Science and technology, glitter and glamour, speed and success these are some of the telling traits of
human condition today, at the cost of degraded eco-system, near extinction of some forms of life, global
warming, and the like. In order to feel secure, without having a clear conscience of the environment, is like
walking waywardly on a land mine. The impression that conservation of the environment is an elitist concern
of some individuals and groups, should be dispelled through every possible means.

Nature rather environment or ecology in all its moods and manifestations represents harmony and deep
power of joy that can enable us to into the life of thin nd thus escape from the sinister sway and
swing of materialistic mores that have made most of us strangers and aliens to the life sustaining forces on
this planet. The urgency to take stock of the current status of biodiversity is the crying need of the hour. It is
because of lack of awareness on our part, of the many species of flora and fauna, that they are being lost by
u unknowingly How to bring such facts close to the consciousness of the people should be the foremost
task of all those who have the good of the earth in their hearts.
No how we manipulate the achievements of science and technology, the moot question would always
stare us in the face. If we fail to create constructive consciousn towards environment, in our work
culture, developmental activities will end in allied areas of action and inter-action. We shall be heading for
an impending catastrophe that a highly polluted environment is going to unleash on one and all.
Our ancestors were more environment-conscious and conscientious that us. Their common needs did not
go beyond fuel collection, flower plucking, fruit gathering and the like. They did not indulge in wanton
destruction of forests nor did they resort to hunting and poaching in an unscrupulous manner. Unlike the
plunder of today, where the governing passion is to explore and exploit the known and unknown sources of
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wealth, the attitude of our forefathers towards life and its mission was and let others Willy-nilly,
planners, policymakers and wheeler-dealers of political power have allowed the things to drift and
degenerate for long. It is time now that we should sit up and see the writing on the wall. The warning signals
are ringing all round.
GAMBLING WITH SURVIVAL

We, the world people, want to survive, but more than that, we want a satisfactory life for all of us and for
our descendants. To achieve that goal, we need a new kind of development and we must learn to live
differently.
We depend on the resources of the earth to meet our basic and vital needs. If they are diminished or
deteriorate, we risk our needs and those of our descendants. Because we have been failing to care for the
earth and living unsustainably the risks have become dangerously high. We are today gambling with the
survival of the civilisation.
We need not lose. We can eliminate the risk by ensuring that the benefits of development and distributed
equitably.
Our civilisation is at risk because we are misusing natural resources and natural ecological systems. We are
pressing the earth to the limits of its capacity. The unprecedented increase in the human numbers and
activity have had major impacts on the environment. The capacity of the earth to support human and other
life forms has significantly diminished. In less than 200 years, the planet has lost six million square kilometers
of forests, the sediment load from soil erosion has risen three-fold in major river basin, and by eight times
in smaller, more intensively used ones, and eater withdrawals have grown from 100 to 3,600 cubic
kilometres a year.
Atmospheric systems have been disturbed, threatening the climatic regime to which we and other forms of
life have long been adapted. Since the mid-eighteenth century, human activities have more than doubled
the methane in the atmosphere, increased the concentrations of carbon-dioxide by 287 per cent and
significantly damaged the stratospheric ozone layer.
Most astonishing to all, the 5.5 billion people now on earth are already using 40 per cent of our most
elemental resource the energy from the sun, made available by green plants on land.
Despite this vast takeover of nature, hundreds of millions of people struggle in poverty, lacking a tolerable
quality of life. One person in five cannot get enough food to support an active working life. A quarter of the
world people are without safe drinking potable water. Every year millions of children die from malnutrition
and preventable diseases. Such conditions are grossly unjust.
They also threaten the peace and stability of many countries, and of the whole world, eventually.
Learning to live sustainably and caring for the earth is the need of the hour. For a start we will need to
understand and accept the consequences of being part of the great community of life and to become more
conscious of the effects of our decisions on other societies, future generations and other species. We will
need to perfect and promote an ethic for living sustainably.
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Living sustainably must be the guiding principle for all the world people, but it never will be when hundreds
of millions live without the basic essentials of life. Today, we need a new kind of development that rapidly
improves the quality of life for the disadvantaged.
The earth has its limits. With the best technology imaginable the limits are not infinitely expandable. To live
within these limits and see that those who now have can soon get more, two things are needed to be done:
population growth rate of the world must be reduced, and the rich must stabilise, and in some cases, reduce
their consumption of resources. Ways exist to do this, without reducing the real quality of life.

Sustainable living must be the new pattern of living at all levels individuals, communities, nations and the
world. To adopt a new pattern will require a significant change in the attitudes and practices of many people.
We will need to ensure that education programmes reflect the importance of ethics of living sustainably and
that information campaigns are mounted to disseminate it.

Local communities are the focus for much that needs to be done in making the change to living sustainable,
but there is little that they can do it if they lack the power to act. Subject to vital interests of the larger
community, they must be allowed to manage the resources on which they depend and to have an effective
voice in the decisions that affect them.

Progress towards sustainability has been slow because of the belief that conservation and development are
opposite. Legal, social, economic and technical measures, aimed at sustainability are to be integrated in
planning and aimed at all levels, particularly in national governments.

The framework already exists for the cooperation, monitoring and management of resources, but
programmes are poorly coordinated and rearly integrated. A new alliance of all the countries, to affect the
reforms and improve the quality of life, should be the agenda to save the possible oblivion of the earth.
22. ITS IMPACT ON OUR SOCIETY
Drinking is a curse. A nation, addicted to drinking has its future completely doomed. A Government which
fattens its purse by selling alcoholic drinks to its people makes prostitution of its sacred function, of making
its people morally better and spiritually elevated. A nation of drunkards is a morally and spiritually dwarfed
section of humanity.

Indeed, drinking has all along been the worst misfortune that has ever befallen mankind. It has been a
damned curse which is responsible for the utter ruin of many a nation. The great Roman Empire, the mighty
Mughal Empire and many others had been cast into oblivion of sheer degeneration under destructive and
damaging impact of drinking. In almost all the religions of the world Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism
drinking has been condemned as a sin. According to Islam, a drunkard has no place in Paradise and that his
place would be in the worst part of Hell, where he would be cast into eternal fire of torture. He can never
expect to be forgiven by God.

Prohibition implies banning of alcoholic drinks. It was first introduced in America in 1923 but due to certain
unavoidable reasons it failed completely. Then it was experimented in China, where the Government laid
special stress on banning of opium. The scheme which operated in the country for a period of three years
had a partial success. The Indian National Congress, even before Ind independence had made it one of
their basic features of programme to launch a country-wide campaign for prohibiting intoxicating drinks.
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Satyagrahas were offered for the same purpose and our leaders had to court imprisonment for picketing
wine shops during the British regime. Immediately after independence when the Congress formed
Government at the Centre and in all the States (then known as Provinces) excepting Punjab and Bengal,
prohibition was experimented and in most of the States it did have a substantial success. At the All India
Congress session of 1953 it was unanimously resolved that in some States there should be complete
prohibition. The Constitution (Article 47) enjoin on the State to endeavour to bring about prohibition of the
consumption of intoxicating drinks and drugs. In December 1954, the Prohibition Enquiry Committee was
appointed to suggest a programme and machinery for the implementation of the Directive. The Committee
recommended that schemes of prohibition be integrated with the countr development plans. This was
affirmed by a resolution in the Lok Sabha on March 31, 1956.

At present there is complete prohibition in the States of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu only. There is ban on
drinking in the public places and partial prohibition in most other States.
Now let us recall a brief history of drinking. It is thought that during the Ashokan period of Indian history,
indulgence in drinks and drugs was considered to be a crime something contrary to the principles of religion,
i.e., Buddhism. According to Magasthenese who visited India during the reign of Chandragupta Maurya, the
Government strictly supervised the manufacture and sale of intoxicating drinks. Most of the Muslim rulers
in India had put strict restrictions on sale of intoxicating wines even though they themselves lavishly indulged
in drinking. It was, however, during the days of the East India Company that Ind cultural and national
progress suffered a heavy loss. The alien rulers in their anxiety to find more money from India to fill their
own count coffer, introduced liquor-revenue and revenue on exploit-drugs. Since the British came to
India there has been an unending chain of public-spirited propaganda for prohibition. All the Indian
reformers, whether social or religious, condemned drinking in unequivocal terms. Men like Raja Ram Mohan
Roy, Keshab Chander Sen, Dr Annie Besant, Tagore, Swami Shardanand condemned the evil of drinking and
accused the British Government of committing a public sin

In India, the story of prohibition, properly speaking, begins with Ma-hatma Gandh campaign against this
injurious habit. Gandhiji regarded it as one of the causes that demoralized the world, because it had brought
the downfall of many a mighty empire. However, prohibition through legislation was introduced in India
after the count attaining independence.
Prohibition creates certain difficult problems. The first problem is unemployment. In Andhra, Bengal and
Assam there are lakhs of people engaged in the production of Tari, a kind of intoxicating drink. In the event
of introducing complete prohibition in these States, all these men would be thrown out of their source of
earning livelihood. Then there is the toughest problem to check illicit manufacture and sale of intoxicating
drinks. The report of the All India Prohibition Committee revealed the fact that in most of the dry are
there have been floods of illicit win It is a pity and a matter of disgrace, too, to note that police and excise
officials and their staff, deputed to make the scheme a success, most miserably abused rather prostituted
their basic functions, thereby making prohibition an utter failure in some States.
Prohibition is a measure of social reform, which has a moral basis. Mere legislative sanction cannot make it
a success, though it can be enforced with the aid of law. For making prohibition a genuine success, the first
and foremost task is to give special type of moral and social education to the masses. People must be morally
convinced of the evils of intoxicating drinks. They should be taught to hate intoxicating drinks through a
34
conviction and mere lip services will not make prohibition a success. Prohibition has to be enforced gradually
and not all of a sudden. People must co-operate with the Government in making prohibition a success in the
real sense of the term.
23. DEVELOPMENT
The advent of freedom released a number of forces making for radical changes in the rural areas of India.
The introduction of Universal suffrage is a revolutionary measure which has placed a powerful weapon in
the hands of the traditionally under-privileged sections of our population, i.e., the village dwellers. They have
awakened from the deep sleep of prejudice, illiteracy and degeneration. With the addition of another great
factor of national re-construction Panchayati Raj they have been inspired to develop themselves as healthy
and self-supporting community.

The Community Development Programme, which had its august inauguration in 1952 six years after the
independence of our country is a land-mark in the history of the development of rural India and, at the same
time, it is a dynamo of inspiration for our future village constructors and social reformers.

The scheme, in a nut-shell, aims at providing first increased employment and increased production by the
application of latest methods of agriculture, including horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries etc. and the
establishment of subsidiary and cottage industries; secondly self-help and self-reliance and the possible
extension of the principle of co-operation, and thirdly, the need for devoting a portion of the vast unutilized
time and energy in the countryside for the benefit of the village community.
There were in 1960, more than two thousand Community Development blocs each one consisting of a
hundred villages and they were expected to serve about 194 million villagers all over the country. By now,
virtually all of Ind 560,000 villages have come under the Community Development Programme. A huge
administrative machinery, engaging hundreds of officials including the Gram Sevak units at the base has
been created. Villagers are beginning to be aware of the fact that there is a Governmental organization
charged with the responsibility of rural development.
Our Indian villagers have been suffering from a chronic disease indebtedness which has been one of the
major causes of their economic miseries. According to the Community Development Programme
arrangements are made for giving loans to poor and deserving cultivators to be paid back conveniently by
easy methods. This had a remarkably encouraging effect. The Indian cultivators, who from ages had been
squeezed and exploited by money lenders and zamindars, are now having a sigh of relief. It is natural that
economic well being leads to social well being. Being economically unworried and unburdened, they can
now look to other avenues of their progress social, cultural and moral. Again, backward groups, like Harijans,
who were throttled by the high caste oneyed have been greatly benefited by the agricultural
loan-giving system.

The Development officials, in their understandable eagerness to achieve the set targets and to show quick
results have been compelled to ignore the less tangible but more important aim of teaching the villagers to
help themse he peasants have to be taught that there are resources at their disposal such as their
own capacity for hard work, their skill, initiative and loyalty to the community and the region. This objective
can be realized only by proper local leadership. Panchayati Raj has already been introduced in a number of
States, like Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and U.P.
35
nd villages have been changing for well over a hundred years. This fact has been obscured by the myths
which educated Indians and foreigners have perpetrated about them. Since Independence, the Government
has launched a vast programme of developing the country as a whole and agriculture in particular. The
gigantic hydro-electric projects as well as the minor irrigation works, the development of transport facilities,
the determined effort to industrialize the country, the Community Development Programme and the policy
of decentralization will ensure that in the not too-distant future Ind villages will change radically.

24. OUR STRENGTH OUTSIDE DEPENDS ON OUR STRENGTH WITHIN
The statement is true of individuals as well as of nations. It emphasizes the quality of strength which is an
attribute essential to the life of both, a person as also a nation. It goes on to point out the dependence of
the external aspect of strength on its innate content.
Strength is, in fact, a basic condition of life. We have to be strong in order to exist. The smallest catastrophe
will annihilate a weakling but the biggest tragedy will bring out hidden reserves of strength in a person made
of sterner stuff, and leave him the stronger for having faced it bravely. We need strength to be able to resist
attacks on our freedom, our honour, our possessions and our person; because strength alone knows conflict.
Weakness is born vanquished. The weak live in a state of constant fear and have to pay dearly for protection.
Finally, we need strength to enjoy life in all its glory, and to enrich it with achievement.
strength in relation to outsid signifies the physical and moral force which we can bring to bear on our
actions in relation to outsiders. It consists in our capacity to make room for ourselves, to gain our rightful
place, not giving any chance to others to push us about. It lies in our ability to uphold and enforce the law
for everyone, without fear. It is something which helps us to attain a position where we become a source of
strength for all on the side of the right, so that we are sought after in friendship, and do not have to go about
looking for friends.
In its negative aspect, our strength in relation to outside means that we should be able to inspire in the
hearts of the evil and the wicked the sort of respect they feel for the gun or the tiger. We should have the
capacity to make them realize that our calmness in the face or provocation is an aspect of the power we
command, and that our forbearance implies strength. They should know that we have the capacity and the
will to punish the wrong- doer.

strength within means that innate strength which enables us to stand on our own feet and thus endows
us with self-respect. If we stand on borrowed feet, we shall have to mortgage our heads and hearts. In that
case we cannot have any pretensions to strength; and hence to self-respect. trength within also denotes
the ability to hold our own against opposing forces so that neither a powerful outside foe nor the inner foes
of passions and temptations can pull us to pieces. Inner strength also signifies that soundness of mind and
body which enables us to think and act straight without feeling the necessity of resorting to subterfuge or
being overwhelmed by vacillation which is the hallmark of the weak.
Unless we are strong within and make determined efforts to consolidate and augment that strength, we
stand exposed to aggression, and all other humiliations which are showered on the weak.
A reference to the history of India will very aptly illustrate the truth in whatever has been stated above.
Whenever India was weakened by internal conflicts and dissensions, she fell a prey to foreign depredations,
so much so that we forfeited our freedom, and had to suffer foreign domination for centuries. But as the
36
brave freedom-fighters instilled in the masses a burning desire for freedom and the national movement
gathered strength, our foreign rulers were left with no other course but to quit the country. Having broken
the chains that bound us, it was our duty to consolidate our freedom, to augment our strength. But once
again we forget the lesson of history. While designing neighbours were keeping a keen eye on how we went
about the business of consolidating our freedom and augmenting our strength, we were keeping ourselves
occupied with party politics and with bids to capture the moral leadership of the world. The enemy could
easily find the chinks in our armour. The result was the Chinese attack of 1962 in which the Indian Army was
worsted for the first time in recent history. As a result of this fresh humiliation which we had to suffer, we
lost face in the sphere of international politics. As our internal weakness stood exposed, the hollow prestige
we had built up vanished into thin air, and we were left almost friendless in the world.
To-day, we go about seeking the help and protection of others. Except in so far as it helps to advance the
interests of the powerful nations, our friendship is worth nothing. We are ridiculed, snubbed and patronized.
And it has to be so, because the world knows that we do not possess that inner strength which can help us
to lay claims to respect in the international sphere.
It cannot, therefore, be gainsaid that our strength in relation to outside depends on our strength within.
Weakness is a sin. Just as it is the moral duty of everyone to maintain and preserve good health, it is the
bounden duty of nations to build up enough inner strength, so that they can exist in this violence-ridden
world with self-respect. It is only innate strength which can help them to win their rightful place in the comity
of nations.
25. INDIA AND THE CONCEPT OF SELF-RELIANCE
Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it

Thomas Paine.

The 1965 Indo-Pak conflict has been beneficial to India in more than one ways. It has helped us to realize the
need for a reappraisal of our foreign policy, and also for some much-needed rectification of attitudes towards
the count economic problems. Perhaps the most significant trend it has unleashed is a universal demand
for making India self-reliant in every respect, particularly in the spheres of food and defence.
There is nothing new in the concept of self-reliance which is just another name for economic freedom, always
regarded as a necessary concomitant of political freedom. In fact, the two types of freedom are
complementary to each other. Without one, the other is incomplete and meaningless. People who rely on
their own strength and know how to help themselves cannot be held in bondage for long. Conversely, a
nation which, though free, depends on other nations for anything it needs, whether it is food, weapons or
machinery, must always be subject to pressures, and so, stands perpetually in danger of losing its freedom.

The imperative need for making the people of India realize the value of self-reliance for the purpose of
acquiring political strength was always keenly felt by the leaders of Ind national movement. That was the
idea behind the cult of Swadeshi which Mahatma Gandhi propagated. Self-reliance was, in fact, the corner-
stone of the constructive programme he advocated. But while the call for throwing out the British struck a
responsive chord in every Indian heart, the significance of the campaign in favour of self-sufficiency was
never fully appreciated.
37
Even after we had attained independence, our outlook in this respect did not undergo any change. Though
we had become politically free, we retained our preference for things foreign. We were free to build our
national economy as we liked. The choice was between a Gandhian approach based on intensive
development effort starting from the grass-roots level on the one hand, and adoption of large-scale
industrialization on the other. While the former presupposed maximum self-reliance at every level and in
every sphere, the latter had to be based on foreign aid. Adoption of the former course meant very hard work
and slow progress, while resort to latter held the promise of quicker and more spectacular result.
Those in power at that time opted in favour of large-scale industrialization with foreign aid. They had their
reasons for taking that decision. Firstly, they felt that if the world was to be made a better and happier place
to live in for the whole human race, the more advanced nations owed it to the under-developed countries
not only to help them in winning political freedom but also to assist them in getting rid of poverty and other
basic ills that plagued them. Secondly, they believed that if India was to keep pace with the modern world,
it was necessary to import and adopt the latest techniques and to develop the most modern sources of
power.
In Ind case, foreign aid was readily available. In fact it was pressed upon her from almost all directions. It
came to us in the form of international grants, foreign exchange loans, rupee credit technical aid, private
foreign capital investment etc. At the time we accepted such aid, we told those who gave it to us and also
assured ourselves that it had to be and was sans political strings of any sort. In keeping with our policy of
non-alignment vis-a-vis the rival power blocs, we accepted such help from both sides.

Undoubtedly, such generous foreign assistance contributed a lot to the economic development of India. It
enabled us to build a nucleus of heavy industries which, with the passage of time, may help us to
progressively reduce our dependence on foreign aid. But while this in itself is enough cause for satisfaction,
we cannot possibly ignore the other side of the picture, which has been so clearly brought into focus by the
1965 armed conflict with Pakistan.
The shape of things as it had emerged shows that acceptance of foreign aid has definitely not been an
unmixed blessing. Along with the advantages it has brought us, it has also produced quite a few undesirable
results. First of all, we must know that we have been gradually developing an attitude of dependence on
foreign aid. This will be evident if we have a look at our trade balance position. Obviously, we have been
living beyond our means. But it is only one of the many results of the dangerous mental attitude we have
been developing. It has also served to kill initiative. It is only now when ruination stares us in the face that
we have been obliged to think of import substitution and finding indigenous alternative for imported
materials. Furthermore, it has prevented the full utilization of technical and scientific talent available in the
country. Whereas on the one hand we have been complaining of a serious brain-drain through Indian
scientists preferring to make their homes abroad, on the other we have been persistently and pathetically
dependent on costly foreign expert to advise us on matters well within the competence of indigenous
talent. This over-dependence on foreign technicians has hampered and even discouraged the building us of
a base of indigenous scientific, technological and managerial manpower so necessary for a developing
country. It is also the reason why very few really important industries have been started without foreign
collaboration.
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The sense of urgency now felt about self-reliance as the national goal should also help us to realize that our
habitual dependence on help from abroad has also prevented us from making the best use of assistance
given to us. We must admit that we have not been able to secure the maximum possible growth in those
sectors of our economy where dependence on foreign aid could have been eliminated by now.

Besides all this, in the light of recent events, it cannot be gainsaid that our pet assumptions about all foreign
aid being without strings have also been proved wrong. It has been proved beyond the shadow of a doubt
that the part of it contributed by the western nations was aimed at gaining political leverage in this part of
the world. While we believed that they were just helping us to overcome our initial difficulties, they were
trying to use economic aid to lure India into joining the string of defence pacts with which they were planning
to surround Russia and China in a bid to ontain commun When they failed in deflecting India from
her chosen course of non-alignment, they began to strengthen her arch-enemy, Pakistan, with liberal arms
aid. The Indian leaders naturally protested against this, but they were assured that Pakistan would not be
allowed to use those arms against India. We have seen how much those assurances were worth.

In 1971, while Pakistan was butchering the people of Bangladesh, and India was facing the huge influx of
refugees from that part of Pakistan, the U.S.A., fishing in troubled waters, was secretly supplying ship loads
of lethal weapons to Pakistan (in Pad an Sunderban the two Pakistani ships) in spite of their earlier
commitment and assurance to our Foreign Minister, not to give any arms to Pakistan till the situation in
Bangladesh had become normal.
After the 1965 Indo-Pak war also, in their anxiety to placate Pakistan, and to retain her on their side, they
had stopped aid to India to pressurise the latter into compromising her sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Britain clamped a ban on even commercial purchases of arms by India; and the U.S.A. tried to tie up deliveries
of foodgrains under the P.L. 480 agreement with certain political objectives she was anxious to achieve.

All this has convincingly demonstrated that we were seriously mistaken in placing any reliance on foreign
aid. Such reliance not only undermines our freedom of action, but is also capable of endangering our very
survival. The present upsurge in favour of self-reliance signifies a realistic appreciation of the obligations of
free nationhood. It is an expression of the national desire to invest our political freedom with a more positive
content by achieving economic freedom as well.
Over the years, in a changing context, the implications of self- reliance for India have also undergone
profound changes. When India was a slave country, the word had a connotation quite different from what it
has now when we are free and have to hold our own in a community of nations largely guided by self-interest
rather than by any desire to make this world a better place for mankind as a whole. We have, therefore, to
co-relate our concept of self-reliance with our changed situation and understand clearly what it means.
Judging from the extent to which we have hitherto allowed ourselves to become dependent on foreign aid,
we have to go a long way before we can hope to become self-reliant. We have to lift ourselves up virtually
by our bootstraps. It will require a truly Herculean effort and however inspired we may be by a sense of
urgency, we can at best hope to achieve the ideal only over a period of time. In spite of the earnest efforts
put in during the last eighteen years to remove want and poverty from this land of ours, we have not so far
been able to touch even the fringe of the problem. There is quite a big gap between requirements and means
39
and it has to be bridged. We are up against a formidable economic issue and unless we adopt a practical
approach in tackling it, we shall be seriously jeopardising our chances of achieving success.

Much confusion is created by the common assumption that self- reliance and self-sufficiency are
synonymous terms. It will be wholly wrong to believe that, granted the most strenuous effort, we can
become completely self-sufficient now or in the near future. Even the most advanced nations have not been
able to achieve that goal. In the complex modern industrial society, it is just not possible. No country in the
world can turn its back on international co-operation without endangering its own progress. It is, therefore,
obvious that we cannot hope to ban all imports for all times.
What we have to do immediately is to see in what spheres, to what extent and how soon we can
progressively reduce our dependence on imports. The main items which are at present being imported are
capital goods, certain essential raw materials and oil. It should be obvious to anyone that the import of oil is
a recurring drain on our meagre resources. At the same time, oil being one of the necessaries, our
dependence on other countries for it exposes us to unhealthy political pressures. Therefore, we have to
strain every nerve to make ourselves self-sufficient at least in respect of our requirements of oil. We can do
it by increasing production, reducing consumption and eliminating waste. It would not, however, be possible
to do without imports of capital equipment and essential raw-materials. But by making better use of the
assistance we receive, by applying our minds seriously to import substitution, and by utilizing indigenous
scientific and technical skill and talent, we can hope to reduce such imports considerably. For achieving a
real break-through towards self-reliance in this sphere, however, we shall have to concentrate on the
creation of a large and exportable industrial surplus by which we should be able to pay for everything we
may have to import.

In the final analysis, the attainment of self-reliance mainly involves riddding ourselves of the dangerous
attitude of dependence which we have developed. That the need for it has been realized augurs well, but
the path is certainly beset with difficulties, and only sustained and well-directed efforts, combined with the
practice of maximum austerity on a national level can pull us through.
26. POVERTY IN PLENTY
overty in plent may be an expression of contradiction, but as far as the human race is concerned we have
more poverty to see and suffer around than any other phenomenon. Whatever achievements of mankind
may have been in the areas of development over the ages, the one eye-sore that has remained abhorrent
and abominable by all standards is poverty economic, intellectual and ethical (moral). There is no denying
that poverty is a curse for those who suffer it and a blessing for those who sermonise on it. Notwithstanding
the fact that religions generally have sung the praise of poverty, and promised the poor the kingdom of
heaven, it is a virtual hell that they undergo in their lives spent in slums, hovels, gutters and the like.
Though the modern Messiah, Mother Teresa, loved the poor, she consistently refused to address issues of
social justice. Her belief that poverty was a desirable state, non-criticism of the world-order that perpetuated
poverty, runs counter to the ground realities that are further compounded by the tortuous trinity poverty,
population and pollution. This tyrannical triangle eloquently tells why South Asia is universally acknowledged
as a place of the most wretched, demeaning poverty in the world. When we eulogize the success stories of
those who go up the ladder from to rich we indirectly berate poverty as despicable and
40
dehumanised state of human existence. Who in his senses would covet such life as holds pompous promise
of God grace in heaven but yields virtually no place, pelf and prestige on this planet. Surely, poverty for a
politi-cal-cum-economic thinker like Marx, was an object state of helplessness heapedd upon those who
have nothing to lose but eheir poverty, if properly united and organised under one banner.
The State of poverty that legendary figures like Raja Harishchander, Ma-hatma Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi et
al and an entire tribe of Indian saints and sages, embraced, is entirely different from the d p ssing depths
of deprivation and degradation that millions and millions below the poverty line in India and elsewhere face.
Having led the life of self-abnegation himself, Gandhiji was of the firm conviction that there was enough in
the world for each man s need but not enough for even one man ed

Catchwords and conferences cannot banish poverty. Had it been so somple the garibi hatao slogan of 1971
would have accomplished in one country what the United Nations set out to dor for the world at the summit
for social development in Cophenhagen. The summit was intended to come up with a programme of policies,
actions and measures towards eradication of poverty, full employment and social integration of the
dispossessed and underprivileged. Today in the world, more than a billion people live in miserable poverty,
eight million children die every year from curable diseases and at least a third of the poor Stat population
is undernourished. The British charity organisation, Action aid, has warned that by the end of the century, a
quarter of the word population will be living in abject poverty. The countries where domestic discord
prevails in the form of civil wars, riots or other disturbances are the worst hit.
It is a meaningless exercise to discuss poverty eradication and full employment at national and international
conferences without reference to who will pay for it in an unequal world. The issue of raising the estimated
$ 235 billion needed to take over one billion people living in abysmal poverty, to a level where their basic
needs can be met, in the next five years, does not figure in the declarations; nor does the issue of creating
jobs for the 120 million people unemployed in the world. With economic liberalisation programmes
concentrating on a consumer-oriented global market, it is hard to imagine how the problems of global
poverty and unemployment are going look like in future.
The resources are not scarce but they are cornered and controlled by the rich. In the opinion of some
knowledgeable persons, it is the unsustainable consumption levels of the rich nations that have resulted in
the poor being denied access to resources. Who can deny the fact that less than a quarter of the global
expenditure on arms would be enough to finance a for universal primary health care, vaccination
against killer diseases, drinking water and primary education. Too often assumptions are made about what
the poor want or their views are interpreted to such a point that they bear little relationship to the
development priorities originally identified by the poo (Juan Somavia)
All said and done, let us remember what Rishi Vasishtha tells Rama in Yoga Vasishtham: Poverty is a curse.
A very poor person is hardly alive. I see no difference between a poor man and a dead man Removal of
poverty is indeed the prime duty of all rulers at all times.

27. FUTURE OF ENGLISH IN INDIA
Opinions about the role and future of the English language in India have varied with the years. Before the
attainment of independence both English and Englishmen were condemned as foreign and hence hostile to
the national interests. Mahatma Gandhi, though admittedly a good, effective writer in English, expressed
41
the view that English education has emasculated us, constrained our intellect, and the manner of imparting
this education has rendered us effeminate . He felt that English education put a severe strain upon Indian
student nervous energy and has made us imitators. Many others have also held the view that among the
many evils of foreign rule, the blighting imposition of a foreign medium of instruction upon the youth of
the country will be counted by history as one of the greatest.

Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore, whose writings in English and Bengali won him international fame,
however, paid a deserving tribute to the contribution which English literature made. It nourished our minds,
he said, and even now conveys its deep resonance to the recesses of our heart. The days and nights of
educated people of those times were eloquent with the stately declamations of Burke, and Macaula long-
rolling sentences. Jawaharlal Nehru, himself a master of the English languagge, while admitting that we
cannot educate millions of people, (Ind masses) in a totally foreign language, contended that English will
inevitably remain an important language for us because of our past associations and also because of its
present importance in the world.
English cannot become a common all-India medium of communication but it is, and will continue to be, the
principal medium for us to communicate with the outside world. English education widened the Indian
outlook and horizon. It developed an admiration for the unique English literature and insti u i ons. It is to
English education that the country owes a debt for the emergence of a new class of liberal-minded people
in the professions and the services.
English is among the world atest and richest languages. It is estimated that next only to Chinese, which
is spoken by nearly 800 million people, English is the most popular language in the world. About two-thirds
of the scientific and technical books in the world are published in English. For the people of India English is
perhaps the easiest foreign language to learn. There are other important languages too, but because of the
educational set-up already established in India by the British, English has some foundations which would be
difficult to establish for any other language.
Article 343(1) of India Constitution lays down that the count official language will be Hindi in the
Devanagari script. The second clause of that article provides for the simultaneous use of English, initially for
a period of 15 years from the commencement of the Constitution in 1950. In conformity with the demand
of the Southern States, the provision for the use of English for official purposes of the Union has been
extended several times. All indications point to the continuation of the status quo for an indefinite period,
even though the Founding Fathers of the Constitution and millions of other people, especially in North and
Central India, regarded the provision for the use of English language as essentially a transitional measure.

The English language, instead of being gradually discarded and replaced by Hindi, has become more popular.
This is evident from the number of students opting for the English medium for school, college and university
instruction. Families belonging to the middle and the affluent classes take pride in sending their children to
schools where the medium of instruction is English. They believe, and with considerable justification, that
the careers of their wards, in government and also in private offices, can be built only on the basis of
education in the English medium.

English at present is the language of the elite, who form a small section of the people, and it will continue to
be so. The efforts to popularise the use of Hindi as a national language for official work have succeeded only
42
partially. As a result, work in Central Government offices is done in English, which continues to be the only
acceptable link language for communication between the Centre and the States and among the States
themselves. Moreover, there is widespread recognition of the fact that scientific and technical knowledge
can be acquired only through books and journals published in English. Technical books translated into Hindi
and other Indian languages have not proved popular for various reasons. English has several advantages
precision of expression, worldwide popularity and a rich literature. These ensure for it a bright future despite
the loud protests by language fanatics and the anti-English pleadings in the name of patriotism. While English
cannot become Ind main language, its use as a second language is beneficial to the country.
28. SHOULD ENGLISH QUIT?
When the British left Indian shores it was hoped that English also would leave this country at a no distant
date. The most sanguine of its protagonists could only expect that even if it stayed on in some form it would
forfeit its predominant status. The view was reinforced by the unequivocal declaration in our Constitution:
The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script. For a period of fifteen years from the
commencement of this Constitution, the English language shall continue to be used for all the official
purposes of the Union for which it was being used immediately before such commence

The Constitution commenced in 1950 and English should have been replaced even as a link language in 1965
but by an irony of circumstances this language goes on as merrily as, if not merrier than, before. The number
of public schools, of Convents, of Montessories, all English medium institutions has registered a steep rise.
Cases have come to light where the use of a Hindi word in a class is punishable with a fine, if not a slap. Every
middle-class family prides itself on sending its children to these schools. Not only government officials, even
ministers who cry themselves hoarse on our duty towards Rashtrabhasha do not feel any qualm in
patronising these schools. Et tu, Brute. All sorts of arguments, quite a few of them specious, are advanced in
support of the retention of English and even the status quo. The most vehement of these is that it is our
doorway to the west, and opens up vast vistas of science, technology and literature. It is the most widely
used, spoken as well as written. It has subtle nuances and shades of expression which makes it an ideal
medium of communication. If nothing else, we should retain it for its beneficent role in our movement of
freedom and democracy as well as its contribution towards our cultural renaissance.

Even the most ardent advocate will have to admit that the role of English has been that of a catalytic agent.
When the experiment is over, only a fool will cling to the catalytic agent. And there is the irregutable
argument from statistics. English, today, touches only a fringe of our population. In fact, it is the language of
our elite or on lower levels, the petty officials, the quill-drivers who move the juggernaut of bureaucratic
administration. More than eighty per cent of our people residing in villages do not understand it, except for
a word here or a word there which they have picked up during their visit to the town. At a modest estimate
it might take two centuries to make this language our lingua franca. With our huge democratic Leviathan
waking up out of the slumber of centuries English cannot remain our medium of mass-communication. Apart
from this argument of non-feasibility there is the question of national self-respect. Already a good deal of
damage has been done. Our schools, colleges and universities have been greatly handicapped by the use of
English as a compulsory subject. How much of our talent has withered and rotted. The sooner this tyranny
is over, the better for the country.
43
Withthe lucidity and precision characteristic of him, Gandhiji put the issue in the correct perspective. English
should go as the medium of instruction and be replaced with the mother-tongue. Gandhiji was no English-
hater. In fact he wrote in an English which even the Englishmen envied. But as a patriot his heart was sore
at what harm this language had done. is my considered opinion that English education in the manner in
which it has been given has emasculated the English educated Indians, constrained our intellect and
rendered us effeminate.

English has no legal or moral right to occupy the pre-eminent position it did during the British regime. Its
place might well be in the eighth schedule of our Constitution.
29. LANGUAGE AS UNITING AND DIVISIVE FORCE
Language, as Samuel Johnson said, is the dress of thought; it is only the instrument of science, and words
are but the signs of ideas. When the ideas are good and constructive, language promotes unity and cohesion,
but when the ideas are basically faulty, ill-conceived, deceitful and subversive, language has the contrary
effect. Instead of promoting harmony and serving as the means of purposeful communication between
human beings, it begins to corrode the mind, feeding the base instincts of man and encouraging tendencies
that inevitably lead to divisive and fissiparous tendencies. It then breaks up society into warring factions,
each fighting for its own linguistic rights and preferences. So language does not necessarily ensure unity and
harmony. Bernard Shaw s witty saying that England and America are two countries separated by the same
langu carries a subtle meaning. Language controversies also developed in Pakistan (Urdu Vs Punjabi),
Bangladesh (Urdu Vs Bengali) and other countries.

Much, of course, depends upon the quality and content of a language; a living language, Jawaharlal Nehru
used to say, a throbbing, vital thing, ever changing, ever growing and mirroring the people who speak and
write it. It has its roots in the masses, though its superstructure may represent the culture of a few. Both
language and the faculty of speech are ediate gifts of God and language should do anything it is told,
undertake any job required and not be a stubborn one-idea thing.
Linguistic controversies on a national scale (mostly about the advisability of adopting English or Hindi or both
for education and administration) and also in the various regions (in Punjab, West Bengal, U.P. and
elsewhere), have done havoc in India. The decision to create States on a linguistic basis, following prolonged
agitations in several parts of the country, beginning with Andhra Pradesh for which there was a fast unto
death more than three decades ago in the name of language and linguistic States separating the Telegu-
speaking areas (to form Andhra Pradesh) from the Tamil-speaking areas. As a result we had a Linguistic States
Commission many of whose recommendations for splitting up certain regions into separate and small States
had a distinctly divisive sequel. The divisions thus effected had a far-reaching effect and at times even cut at
the roots of national integration.
Trouble arises when language and those who speak it develop a one-channel mind. When language becomes
an obsession and when some people think their own language is the best in the world and must have primacy
over others even if such primacy is not in the national interest, there is endless discord, disharmony, even
violence and riots, supposedly in the name of a good cause. But no religion and no language propagates the
cult of violence and murder. Those who quarrel and kill in the name of language or religion do a distinct
disservice to both.
44
The J.V.P. Report on linguistic provinces, sponsored by the Congress many years back, was most unfortunate
in many respects. It laid down certain conditions under which re-drawing of provincial boundaries could be
undertaken. The creation of Andhra Pradesh for the benefit of the Telegu-speaking people constituted an
unfortunate precent which has been exploited to justify the splitting up of several States and the redrawing
of boundaries in many cases. In all these cases language has served only to divide, not to unite.
Article 343(1) of the Constitution of India lays down that the official language of the Union shall be Hindi in
Devanagari script. The provision for the use of English (Article 343 (2)) has all along been interpreted by the
founding fathers, and countless others, as essentially a transitional measure. But the southern States of the
country strongly oppose any Central measure that smacks of an intention to impose Hindi on them. Every
time there is talk of promoting the use of Hindi for administrative purposes at the Centre and in Centre-State
communications in accordance with the provision in the Constitution, there is much resentment in the South.
It was this resentment that prompted a leader of the South to coin the slogan: English ever, Hindi n
The language issue is among the principal causes of the strains in the relations of the Centre and the southern
States. After every few years the near-crisis on this issue is got over by an assurance that there would be no
position of any language and that there would be no linguistic switch-over without the consent of the
southern States. The linguistic issue thus hinders the progress of national unity and integration. The
deadliness in this regard have lost credibility. What is more, students seeking bright careers in the national
context have often indicated a preference for English as the medium of instruction for post-graduate
courses. To some extent the student preference has countered the linguistic fervour among the political
leaders of the southern States.

Language has at times prompted fanaticism. For instance, some zealous advocates of Hindi have insisted
that the Head of State should always deliver formal addresses in Hindi. A young man disturbed former
President Redd address to the Sangeet Natak Akademi in March, 1979, insisting that Mr Reddy should
speak in Hindi. The fanatic was downright impertinent and the President remarked: do not like fanatics
and I don want to encourage fanatic The interests of any language are ill-served by linguistic purohit
claiming a monopoly of cultural patriotism.

30. THE INDIAN WOMAN TODAY
The times have changed radically, and the Indian woman of today is no longer reconciled to her traditional
role as a mere housewife, a mother or a daughter. Whether it is higher education, or the general and fast
spreading enlightenment about rights and privileges, and the concepts of equality between man and woman,
that are responsible for the distinctly notable awakening among this section of mankind, it is difficult to say.
Perhaps the change in attitudes and the increasing demands for a better status in life and a more important
role in national life, are the cumulative result of all relevant factors operating simultaneously. The more
enlightened women of today take delight in recalling that woman was regarded in ancient times as the
perfect workmanship of God and the glory of angels.

But is the typical Indian woman, especially in the urban areas, a specimen of the perfect workmanship of
God, a symbol of self-sacrifice, an angel in human form, a source of eternal joy, devotion and everlasting
love and affection? Far from it. Countless women, notably those who are well-educated or otherwise
qualified for certain types of jobs, are eager to get employed and become economically independent.
45
Generally, the desire to get jobs is prompted by the eagerness to supplement the family income in these
hard times, but this is not always the case.

There are cases of women who take up jobs in order to earn some money for their own use, on sarees,
ornaments, cosmetics, etc., and in order to live like modern women. Not every Indian woman even in the
towns and cities is a butterfly, or a society woman, but some indeed are. Their bribe is probably increasing
with the continuous fall in ancient values, the change in the age-old concept of the Indian woman as a
devoted wife, mother or daughter, and with the impact of modern education.

Again, women are supposed to be unique refining influences, and many of them certainly are. But quite a
number of them are not. When a city woman, believing more in the modern concepts of women lib., is
becoming increasingly aware of her rights in the world today, it is futile for the parents or the husband to
expect that she would confine herself to the kitchen and attend to her duties to the family with devotion
and earnestness. Domesticity is, in fact, no longer favoured by thousands of Indian women; they seek
independence and freedom from the boredo which they associate with the home and the care of
children. Why, they ask, should they be expected to serve their husbands when the equality of sexes is
guaranteed by the Indian Constitution? Why, so runs the argument, must they be regarded as inferior human
beings when they are not so in any way?
It is not for nothing that the modern woman is believed to be jealous, quarrelsome, selfish and more
conscious of fashions, dress and physical makeup than need be. Are we to accept the modern woman as she
is because our society has become materialistic and there is all-round deterioration in moral values and
ethical standards of conduct? Are men any better in the performance of their duty? What is the justification
for men regarding as superior beings? How many husbands, some people ask, share the domestic
responsibilities with their wives? Can we blame the various declarations, such as the Mexico Declaration on
the Equality of Women, 1975, and the various resolutions passed by international organisations prescribing
equal wages for equal work? The Constitution of India also lays down that men and women are equal in
status and that there should not be any discrimination on grounds of sex in any area of employment or in
respect of rights and privileges.

But to deplore the attitudes of the odern woman is to ignore the majority of Indian women, especially
in the rural areas, who toil at home day after day, without grumbling and without a protest even when they
are ill-treated by their husbands. The vast majority of them are still devoted, self-effacing and silent sufferers.
Many of them have been debased and exploited, and yet they continue to accept their fate as if it is ordained
by God. To them the World Plan of Action for improving the lot of women all over the world carries no
meaning. The Indian woman will continue to do her duty to her family, irrespective of illness, indisposition
and the general talk of women ib.

The enlightened section of Indian womanhood several of them hold positions of responsibility, such as
ministerships, managership, executive posts, company control, policy-making assignments, educationists
and there are some legislators too. Mrs Vijaylakshmi Pandit was President of the U.N. General Assembly for
a year, and Mrs Indira Gandhi served as Prime Minister for over a decade. They have brought credit to the
country and some of them perform their household duties too and do not neglect their children. Even today
the typical Indian woman has a better sense of responsibility, a better image in the country and abroad and
46
a more secure future than the women of the West who frantically seek jobs and leave their husbands and
children to look after themselves.

It will be relevant to recall what Plato said about women. In his scheme of things women are assigned a place
of complete equality with man. The ancient Indian sages have all regarded women as the very symbols of
patience, fortitude and sacrifice. The recent talk of liberating women from the boredom verging on bondage
has both a positive and a negative aspect. The loud pronouncements about the rights of women are valid up
to a point; when overstressed they are likely to lead to unpleasant consequences and distort Indian life in
millions of homes where the husband and the father are the principal wage earners and where women are
required by custom and tradition to look after the home and the family.

In the Indian context, it is not incorrect to say that the mod berated fashionable and socially busy
society women are ill-fits. The question whether a world ruled by women would be free of corruption and
frull of joy and laughter seems irrelevant in such a context. Women are more honest than men, it is true, but
the physical disabilities and handicaps hardly make them suitable for the onerous duties in the world outside
the home. Only a small minority of working women are successful; the majority of them are known to be
inefficient in administration and have little output.
31. SPACE AND MANKIND
All available evidence points to the fact that the Universe is open and it is ceaselessly expanding. Space
means the whole universe, including the earth, while outer space refers to space other than the earth; outer
space begins where the earth atmosphere ends and extends in all directions. Like the air we breathe, space
is everywhere and all round us. Most people describe space as the universe and do not distinguish between
them. When the Universe was first talked of, as an orderly unit, it was calledx the cosmos, to distinguish it
from chaos or disorder. The study of the cosmos was known as Cosmogony or Cosmology. The popular
references now are to space and space sciences. Space is a wholly natural phenomenon and cannot either
be created or destroyed by mankind, while the space sciences are evolved by talented scientists, a part of
mankind.

The observable universe has a diameter of 25 billion light years and the number of galaxies it contains is still
uncertain. Theories of space also differ, and these are based on the flight of galaxies. Outer space is infinite;
in fact it is so vast that the usual terrestrial units of measurement hardly suit its dimensions. The new units
of measurement evolved by scientists are Light Years and the Astronomical Unit. It is well known that light
and sound are the two principal media through which we gather our impressions of the external world.

The study of space and of outer space is, of course, not the common man s cup of tea, but the interests of
mankind are deeply involved when space is put to certain uses, not all of which are peaceful. The use of
space for civilian flights within a country and for the worldwide air services which have brought mankind and
continents closer than they ever were and which have established means of communication unimagined by
man even a few decades ago. In a matter of hours a person can fly from one continent to another; the
communications gap has been bridged by what seem to be fantastic means through space. The dreamer
and visionarie talk of One World has come true in this sense, even though from the political and military
angle the world stands as badly split and torn asunder as ever. Thus in at least one way the vast expanse
space has been put to good use. Overland or sea routes take months for travelling from one country to a
47
distant one. Travel through space by aircraft of various types and sizes, jets, supersonic, jumbos and others,
is a notable achievement of mankind.
The air in space has also been used for radio broadcasts and television programmes for instruction and
entertainment. Radio waves with different wavelengths have been put to various uses. The spectacular
advances in space technology during the past 25 years or so have enabled mankind to scan outer space.
Today we can study astral phenomena from groundbased radio, optical and infra-red telescopes and also
ultra-violet X-ray and Gamma ray telescopes functioning above the atmosphere of the earth. While these
telescopes operating through space and the atmosphere (which is an insulating blanket protecting the earth)
have brought many benefits to mankind, it is the military use to which space is being put that has been
causing a great deal of worry to billions of people.
Spacecraft and satellites launched by several progressive and technically developed countries have become
an index of scientific progress and of modern civilisation. But these satellites themselves are being put to a
vast variety of uses for broadcasting entertainment programmes, educational programmes, even medical
knowledge, and have thus been of immense benefit to the masses. In fact, instruction and education through
satellites stationed in space (in their allotted places) is a potent instrument for mankind progress. Through
rapid education will come all-round enlightenment and economic prosperity.
It is, however, the spy satellites, the nuclear aircraft, the bombers, the orbiting military stations being set up
in space by the Soviet Union and the U.S.A. that pose a grave danger to mankind. These spies and nuclear
equipped spacecraft enable a big Power to keep an eye on the secret military preparations of the other; the
vicious circle thus set up defies description. The next world war, it is said, will be fought not on land or on
the sea but in space. When space itself becomes an arena of terrible and highly destructive warfare, with
the inevitable nuclear fall-out over many continents, the resultant havoc to mankind can be well imagined.
Rocketry and missiles have opened the way for ceaseless space exploration and the epoch-making landing
of man on the moon. Atomic power has been harnessed for peaceful purposes, it is true, but the highly
destructive uses to which space is likely to be put during a full-scale war between the giant powers is difficult
even to imagine.
Space has thus been put by various countries to different uses, both peaceful and dangerous to global
security. So far as can be foreseen, the position will continue because of the failure of the major countries
to reach any agreement on the uses to which space can be put. Advanced space technologies can certainly
be put to fruitful uses such as solving the basic problems of man and society. Grandiose space schemes are
however best avoided by less affluent countries, despite its great potentialities. Care by mankind is especially
called for because danger constantly lurks in the sky.

32. ORGANISATIONS
Official agencies admittedly form an essential constituent of the governmental set-up in every country, but
nowhere can they perform all the functions and tasks which the people expect of them. The role which such
agencies play has to be supplemented by non-official or voluntary organisations comprising workers inspired
by the spirit of social and national service, without any expectations of regular salaries or other material
rewards and perquisites. Such agencies make a substantial contribution to positive and constructive activity,
48
filling in the gaps and carrying on other useful activity the importance of which is being increasingly
recognised in the modern State.

For several decades the Government of India was indifferent to voluntary organisations. The vital impact of
voluntee work during the count freedom struggle was forgotten. Most of the national activity in those
years was conducted on a voluntary basis; at best some of the workers received a petty subsistence
allowance to keep their body and soul together. In this connection we may recall the work done in the rural
areas, caste-ridden societies, the tribal regions, and among women to facilitate their social transformation,
by voluntary organisations established by G.K. Gokhale, Mahadev Ranade, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Lala
Lajpat Rai.
As a matter of fact, India has for decades been famous for its voluntary agencies, their mechanism and
methods of collaboration. Some of the well-known voluntary organisations currently doing valuable public
service are the Harijan Sevak Sangh, the Bharatiya Depressed Classes League, the Indian Red Cross Society,
the Ramakrishna Mission, the Servants of India Society and the Social Work Centre (Rajasthan).
Official recognition of the vital role which non-official agencies can play was indicated recently through the
Central Government policy clarification. The Government now seeks the widest possible participation of
voluntary organisations in the whole range of nation-building and development activity. The Government
has called for voluntary action for women uplift, child welfare, family planning, and in health, sanitation,
educational, social and economic fields. This alone can involve massive involvement in programmes; in fact,
such schemes are ineffective unless mass participation and community action are assured. In the area of
rural reconstruction and poverty eradication, in particular, the contribution of voluntary organisations has
been considerable. These workers command the local peop confidence while officials of various
categories are regarded as outsiders merely carrying on their prescribed duties and then disappearing like
birds of passage.

Voluntary bodies, especially those working at the grassroots level, can render service of which official
agencies and their staff are incapable. Unfortunately, many high officials, for reasons which smack of
prejudice and mistrust, dislike voluntary organisations. During the Emergency (1975-77), for instance, most
of the voluntary agencies became suspect. Very often there is lack of encouragement by the Government
and the necessary atmosphere conducive to voluntary work is lacking. As a result, according to a recent
study, substantial funds sanctioned under various schemes for voluntary work have remained unutilised.

It is now officially conceded that the selection of intended beneficiaries (the individuals and groups for whom
certain economic assistance and constructive employment programmes are drawn up) is better in every way
and the peop genuine participation is also greater if voluntary agencies are brought into the picture in a
planned manner. Implementation of Government programmes implemented through officials suffers from
various shortcomings and deficiencies bureaucratic attitudes, red-tapism, delays, complacency, lack of
earnestness and of sincerity among the workers, waste and leakage of funds, corruption. No wonder the
overall results are poor despite the heavy expenditure.
Human beings are nowhere perfect, but experience has shown that voluntary workers, especially when they
are given certain incentives, provided with the requisite facilities and are not looked upon with disfavour by
officials, can ensure better results in the social and economic arenas. They have shown initiative as well as
49
enterprise. They have adopted new paths and motivated large sections of the masses while officials are able
to create only temporary fervour and enthusiasm.
The tragedy is that many voluntary organisations, except those which enjoy the patronage of high-ups at the
Central or State levels, have been compelled to fold up owing to several adverse circumstances, including
intense rivalries and lack of adequate funds and workers. Unless they are regarded as partners in progress
and accorded their due place (just as the role of the private sector in the planned economy is described as
vital), they cannot function without let or hindrance. Since the field is now wide open for voluntary
organisations, the prospects of expediting national reconstruction are brighter.
33. EXPERIENCE OF A JOINT FAMILY
The word f comes from the Latin word f which means household. This was truly applicable
to a joint family in India. Living together under the same roof with grandparents, their sons and grandsons,
with their wives and children, is indeed a unique experience, especially in Indian villages. The earnings of
every adult member go into a common fund or pool out of which all expenditure is incurred.

The final authority in family matters is the grandfather, but the grandmother has authority over all the
younger women in the family. There was extended kinship in the real sense of the word. Family ties were
close and highly commendable. There is a common kitchen and there is no question of even newly married
couples having separate arrangements for cooking and eating food. The parental hold on the children was
remarkable; defiance of elders was unthinkable. There was total and genuine respect for all elders, and firm
discipline was maintained.
Joint families, like the autonomous village community and the caste system, were distinctive features of the
Indian social structure for centuries. Since all the members were joint sharers in the common property of
the family, inheritance was by survivorship and the principle of primogeniture, the eldest son succeeding to
the property of his father on the latt demise. Women seldom enjoyed equality of status. In fact, they
were all too preoccupied with domestic duties and chores to think of rights and privileges.
But the joint family system has been rapidly breaking up in India as a result of the increasing individualistic
and independent attitudes of grown-up children. In a joint family there is no scope for individual initiative or
enterprise. My experience has been that there is far too much of suppression, implicit, blind obedience to
the eldest memb dictates, even when these commands are irrational, biassed and disciminative in nature
and impact. A joint family allows for no argument, dissent or discussion; it is all command on one side and
obedience on the other. Disobedience is almost unimaginable. There is seldom any case of a rebel, defiant
child.
After marriage, I found that we had all to eat what was cooked in the common family kitchen, whether the
food was to our taste or not. In fact in no aspect of life was there individual freedom. Personal choice in any
matter was virtually ruled out. It all amounted to a silent, rigid life. The women had hardly any liberty to
move out of the house or dress as they pleased, or to establish friendship with other women of their age
group. The social inhibitions were many; personal liberties few.
The caste system further imposed social restrictions. Every member, male or female, was bound by the
customs, traditions and culture to which the elders were habituated. Little wonder that there was no
opportunity for the development of individual personality. Life was dull and boring; there was no variety,
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which is rightly regarded as the spice of life. Nor was every one happy and contented though the system had
perforce to be accepted as inevitable, as if ordained by God.

There certainly was social and economic security for all members. No member of the joint family, elder and
youngster, had to bother about food and shelter problems which cause a great deal of worry to people who
are living separately and entirely on their own limited resources.

Expenditure on illness also came from the common kitty. But this didn ensure happiness always. Each
couple in olden times had a fairly large number of children, the belief being that there would be shelter and
food for every additional pair of hands. The fires of the common kitchen would be kept burning all the day
through. The feeding system was very much like the community kitchen.
As compared to the busy, crowded joint family establishment in sprawling, though old-fashioned, badly
ventilated and congested ancestral mansions, the small, separate homes of couples choosing to live away
from their parents often look like empty she when both husband and wife are away to work.
Under the traditional joint family system, women were never allowed to take up employment elsewhere,
though many of them worked on the f jointly owned farm, small or big. But in modern times, women,
both before and after marriage, take up employment in offices and factories to supplement the family
income. In joint families there was no incentive for supplementing the parent or husband income; nor
was there any eagerness to maintain or enhance the standard of living.
In the joint family one had to suffer silently; no voices were raised and no protests were made. Joint families
are wholly unsuitable for modern social and economic conditions. As was inevitable, the system has broken
up in most places under the mounting modern pressures of various types. There are very few exceptions of
joint families now, and even these may not last long.

34. INDIAN CINEMA: GOOD VS BAD
Hindi masala films are cinematic litter. In order to accept them, one must exercise willing suspension of
disbelief Even then a sensitive viewer gets shifty at senseless scenes, situations and characters. Often, all
three in a combination. The viewer cannot help craving for the credible.
Barring the mindless masses who see films for catharsis, our viewers expect cinema which has at least some
semblance reality, at least. The means films which mirror our time.

True, there is difficulty in rendering masala films as interpretors of the contemporary society. Thus, cinema
has been imbalanced and grotesque. Some bits of reality are portrayed but they are outclassed by
perversities, distortions, and inanities. An armless Sanjeev Kumar subjugating Gabbar Singh is pitiable than
heroic.

There is truth in this contention. There are few realistic films on India, 80% of which lives in villages. There is
a glut of those dealing with lusty, greedy zaminars and money-lenders. Yet, the bulk of 80% population lives
in villages, and the modernisation process touches them only marginally. The dramatic changes this brings
about in the life of a family and changes in human relationships and values, are ignored.
Garam Hawa, a tragic cinematic essay on the life of a family in the wake of the partition, falls into good,
realistic category.
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Also, some of the features of present history have never been dramastised in the fiction format (life is
springboard for fiction), while incidental and unexceptional subjects are repeated by our high-budget film-
makers.

In this mindless masala stuff, the less articulate sections of society are overlooked. This does not mean that
they are the least important, or that their share in shaping contemporary life is unimportant. They are often
confined to documentaries.
Violent and crime films are the pet themes. Despite the unfortunate spurt in crime, the proportion of
murders in our midst is mercifully not as formidable as it is made out to be!
Killings, lootings, rapes, according to our cinema, strike again and again.
Crime pays in seeking social justice, has become the most popular line in Hindi showbusiness world.

The treatment in any populist crime film is akin to near-perfect. The implications look impressive, until one
sees how non-committal the maker is.
Each case of so-called injustice appears to bbe an isolated case, suggesting vendetta and violence as only
possible solutions. Nothing could be more artificial and non-realistic than this anti-social approach.
One reason of lack of realism in Hindi films is its unwillingness to grapple with real issues. On the contrary,
there is all too familiar willingness to embrace cliches which cover its lack of moral or artistic content and
conviction.

In some films, the honourabl job is assigned to the heroine as in Zakhmi Aurat and Insaf Ki Devi. The
characterization is laughable, if not sad! The hero becomes an appendage unwanted like the sixth finger!
Projection of women is another sickening aspect of our films. Whether it is mother, sister, wife, mistress,
beloved or vamp, it is the same story of a character distorted into grotesque proportions.

Mother is a door-mat, a self-sacrificing woman who puts t to shame. Much the same could be said of
the sister who, in any case, is wronged and seduced by bad characters.
The love girl is sex personified. She wears less clothing but more seductive smiles. She gets chased in public
parks, school or college is teased and tormented all in the name of pyar and finally surrenders to her
tormentor. She f in love!
Absurdity touches its acme when a decent woman goes out for a job. She at once runs into smugglers, pistol-
wielding goondas and ruffians who take her to the oldest profession.
Love is a nobel sentiment. What happens on the silver screen? Anything but silvery. Women do fall in love.
But they do not fall the way they fall in our films. She sheds all inhibitions. She sings, dances and does all
sorts of things, even in public parks. Never mind if she is a doctor, a professor or a highly placed person in
society. All that matters is love. It is dil and sachi mohabaat.
The tragedy is that our makers cannot bring the film story down to the level of everyday reality. Reasons are:
poor scripts, lack of human depth and directors who have no mastery over their crafts manship.
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Traditional film-making in India has remained in a perpetual quagmir It did not call for evolution of new
sysmbols, but the pinpointing of familiar fragments of visible reality and endowing them with a particular
meaning in a particular context. The audience is expected to see (read) a film in the way its maker wants it
to see.
35. INFLUENCE OF FILMS ON YOUNG PEOPLE
Going to the pictures has now become a craze with young people, both boys and girls, and it has been noticed
that they often economise on other items of expenditure but they must see films every week, if not twice or
thrice a week. A healthy hobby is, of course, to be welcomed but seeing films too frequently is far from such
a hobby. This fast growing habit is not only expensive (because of the high rates of admission to cinema halls)
but also results in considerable waste of precious time which can certainly be devoted to healthier, less
wasteful and more gainful pursuits.
If Indian films had been well and properly made, with a sound educative theme forming a part of the story,
the harm done to youth would have been much less than it actually is. But the tragedy is that most Indian
films present scenes of sex, violence, crime and other deviations from normal human behaviour. The
pernicious influence of films is thus obvious. When grossly vulgar and crude romantic scenes are presented
on the screen, along with songs and duets, and when boys are shown chasing girls, indulging in improper
jokes, and singing catchy, lilting tunes, it is no wonder that young boys imitate the screen heroes in everyday
life and try to turn what they see in films into realities.
Education and other experts have repeatedly found that the main source of eve-teasing and assaults on girls
in our towns and cities, in the market place and elsewhere, is the cinema. Young people see on the screen a
hero running after a heroine, approaching and tempting her in subtle ways. Such talk and gestures naturally
catch the attention of the immature cinema fans and affect their thinking and conduct. Thus the social fabric
and the morals of the young people are adversely affected.

The efforts of parents and teachers to give their boys and girls sound education and to teach them good,
ethical behaviour and good morals in order that they may become good citizens are thus defeated. The
parent own hard-earned money is spent by their grown-up boys and girls in seeing films which have an
adverse impact on character and morals, apart from queering the pitch for the training for good citizenship.
The cinema, it is said, can serve as a good medium of education and instruction, and the message that can
be conveyed through films cannot be conveyed as effectively through any other channel, such as the radio,
because of the colourful, visual impact made by gorgeously dressed girls conducting themselves in a
particular fashion, defying their parents and guardians, challenging their judgement, describing them as old-
fashioned etc., walking out of their houses at odd hours and sometimes marrying the hero secretly and then
creating awkward situations or giving major shocks to their parents. The love scenes, the amorous couples,
the stereotyped formula stories and the eternal triangle all create an effect that is far from healthy or
conducive to good morals and good conduct.
The modern cinema propagates false social values and specialises in presenting artificial situations, far too
much of make-believe, deception and hypocrisy. The tragedy is that the general standard of Indian films,
poor as it has been, has been deteriorating in recent years. The trend is towards imitating Western films with
their faminine liberties, free mixing up of the sexes which violate Indian culture, cabaret scenes and semi-
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naked human postures. Young boys and girls are attracted by the affluence and glamour they see on the
screen, and there are many cases of youth either running away from home or pressing their parents to let
them go to Bombay to take up the film line. Each cinema-crazy boy and girl (especially those having an
attractive personality) thinks he or she can prosper like the heroes and the t seen on the screen. All
the stories they hear of top st being paid lakhs of rupees for each film and living in grand style proves
irresistible. Thousands of young boys and girls have virtually ruined themselves in the senseless quest for
becoming cinema tar . Only a handful of talented actors and actresses prosper, while most of the young
aspirants have to face intense frustration and utter disappointment because everyone cannot become a
cinema hero or heroine. Most of them have to remain content with secondary or supporting roles,
sometimes not even that.

Another notable aspect of the situation is that whenever some enterprising producer presents a simple,
true-to-life story, based on the works of famous short story or fiction writers as Prem Chand or Sarat
Chandra, such films, and also art films free of glamour, seldom prove successful and prove to be flops at the
box office. The modern audiences want songs and dances, spectacle and gorgeous costumes, love scenes
and fights. What sort of citizens can the country hope to produce when the films the young see are totally
misleading, lack aesthetical values. The film censors also seem to be more liberal than ever and allow sex
and violent scenes which have a bad effect on the mental make-up of youth. Visiting the cinemas too often
at the cost of class lectures and by missing lectures also spoil the education of youth. Instead of imbibing the
basic virtues of life, our youth begin to think of flirting and seducing, like the screen heroes. The youth imbibe
negative social values. Both rural and urban youth thus fall victims to vicious temptations. It is not contended
that there should be a total ban on films. But steps should certainly be taken to see that good instructive
films are made, not trash and ruinous presentations merely to cater to cheap tastes.

36. SOCIAL OF FILM-MAKERS
India is one of the world major film producers, next only, in respect of the number of motion pictures
produced, to the U.S.A. and Japan. Moreover, in a country like India where the literacy percentage is only
36, the cinema and television (TV) are the best and the most effective audio-visual media; they open the
flood-gates of communication and heighten the effectiveness and acceptability of the message sought to be
conveyed. The cinema in particular is the easiest medium to reach the masses in the country because
television is confined largely to the urban areas, the community reception centres in the rural areas being
very limited and these, too, not in full working order.
But the quality of Indian films is distinctly poor; the stories and the method of presentation of various
situations are hackneyed and obsolete. They conform to a set, all-too-familiar formula, the departures being
few and far between, and where certain film producers show initiative and try to present make a bold
breakthrough in a bid to create pictures of great social utility, the lack of adequate responses by the
audiences (poor box-office returns) act as a damper and a source of discouragement. The result is a return
to commercialisation, the craze for the box-office, cheap popularity and the demand of the masses so as to
make profits or at least to ensure satisfactory returns on the heavy investment generally made in the
productions, partly because of the fabulous fees of the top st the attractive leading heroes and
heroines, who dictate their terms and whose names attract large crowds.
54
It is indeed unfortunate that our film producers forget their social responsibility the duty of imparting real
education and instruction to the masses, to rid them of superstitions and false beliefs and notions. While
films should enlighten them on various issues and thus promote the causes which the Government pursues,
they concentrate only on entertainment, dances and songs, cheap love scenes and lilting, catchy tunes.
Instead of presenting life as it is and as it should be in a country such as India, our film producers create false
values, generally present stories of affluent classes, of life in bungalows and palaces, gorgeous dresses and
costumes, eye-catching dresses and artificial situations far removed from the actualities of Indian life. The
craze for Western styles of dress and living, the cabarets and the dances, etc., also reflect a failure to
discharge the film produc ocial responsibility.
The cinema can certainly act as an effective and highly useful instrument of social change, a change in the
outmoded attitudes and customs, especially in the rural areas. Instead, Indian films lay stress on deportment
and dating (open or secret meetings of handsome boys and girls) by the urban youth. It is true that traditions
die hard and that social change is a matter of evolution and is a time-consuming process. Social reformers
often use the religious cover to usher in radical ideas and propagate a noble ideology. The cinema is
unrivalled in many ways as a communications medium, but whatever little it does by way of conveying sound
and healthy messages is confined, by and large, to the urban and the semi-urban areas. The real fulfilment
of social responsibility is needed in the rural areas where, unfortunately, only the cheap and worn-out films
permeate, mostly because of the lack of good theatres and cinema halls.
It must be recognised, however, that Hindi films, or rather Hindustani films, have helped to command an all-
India market, thus making this language popular and understandable in all parts of the country. It is a factor
worth noting that even in Tamil Nadu and certain other South Indian areas, where there is a strong anti-
Hindi fervour, Bombay-made Hindi films are popular. It is true, however, that if the cinema is to institute the
desired social changes, the regional films must conform more and more to the national ethos. Through well-
developed techniques the films in regional languages can be dubbed
It is also a notable and highly regrettable fact that the Indian cinema remains, by and large, reactionary and
hence incapable of discharging its social duty. Like all industrialists, film makers too have a distinct social
responsibility, and they must not forget their duty towards society in their craze for making profits by all
popular techniques, even by pampering to cheap tastes of the masses. They reflect a deplorable lack of the
sense of citizenship when they make cheap, substandard films merely because these bring them more
profits. Our films seldom give adequate food for serious thought.

37. FILMS AND INDIAN CULTURE
The cinema is unrivalled as a mass communication medium in a country of Ind dimensions and diversities,
especially in rural areas. India produces more films every year than any other country except the U.S.A.,
whose cinema city Hollywood is widely known as the world biggest centre of its kind and a trend setter on
the silver screen. But the tragedy is that most of the Indian films, whether in Hindi or in the various regional
languages, depict scenes of luxurious life in palatial houses or the five-star culture associated with artificial
living and the most prosperous section of society.

These films present scenes of violent crime and other types of abnormal behaviour, besides incredible
situations. True-to-life stories, reflecting the normal conditions in the country, are filmed only once in a
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while. For the most part, it is false, misleading glamour all the way, costumes, ultra-modern make-up and
deportment and Western ways of living, with pop music, cabaret scenes, sensual dances and romantic
episodes are seductively presented.
These create false impressions, arouse abnormal feelings, promote eve-teasing and in some cases prompt
criminal acts. Indian film-makers often copy Western films, and think that scenes showing semi-naked,
attractive girls jumping about, displaying their ware and running after each other, can ensure commercial
success. It is the lure of the box office that has turned films into an instrument for exploitation of the masses
by catering to the baser instincts.

Indian social standards and our cultural values are totally different, but so distorted have the tastes of the
cinema goers become that films which are based on harsh Indian realities, rather than the world of make-
believe and hypocrisy, do not become popular and have to be taken off after short runs of a week or two.
Such films prove to be losing propositions.

The formula for popularity adopted by almost all film producers comprises colourful song-and-dance
sequences, with catchy tunes thrown in on every possible occasion. Surely these do not represent Indian
culture. While parents and sincere teachers try to instruct children on the right lines, stressing the
importance of truth, character, honesty, devotion to duty, ethical values, good morals and respect for elders,
the films are based on unrealistic stories and depict situations which are wholly un-Indian.
Culture is a source of ultimate values held by a particular society which it seeks to express in its institutions,
feelings, art and artistic creations. But our films seem totally differnt from Indian art and Indian ethos,
knowledge and essential unity of outlook. Young boys and girls are very fond of seeing modern films (they
even miss school or college classes and play truant at other places), and the effect on their character and
general mental approach towards life is often ruinous. They seem to think that living in grand style, dressing
as film stars do and reckless indulgence in wasteful entertainment are all part of life which they should try
to emulate. No wonder all the efforts of the Government and of sensible parents to make good citizens out
of the younger generations misfire.

Like most industrialists, businessmen and profiteers, Indi film producers forget their social responsibilities.
Through films they can help build character and inculcate commendable qualities. They can promote the
efforts to rid the country of superstitions and obsolete beliefs. They can enlighten the masses by educating
them even while providing entertainment. But they do no such thing. Their emphasis is almost exclusively
on cheap, frivolous entertainment. Cultural traditions have been almost drowned in commercial gimmicks.
Moreover, the quality of Indian films continues to deteriorate. There is no sign of a renaissance in the Indian
cinema. Scenes of violence are being continually presented on the silver screen as if villains indulging in the
use of the gun and fighting hand-to-hand battles are an important of our cultural background. It is true that
Indian culture is not all spiritual or religious or wholly asceticism. But it does stand for high ideals of duty and
conduct and for noble ideals. It has a universality of outlook and has promoted a synthesis even when
confronted with conflicting views. Most Indian films do not reflect this culture.
The censors have failed to protect the interests of the young (who constitute the majority of cinema goers
today), or to prevent the repeated cinemative onslaughts on Indian culture. Those who argue that it is quite
unrealistic to shield young people from the facts of aggression and violence forget that exaggeration of such
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evils certainly develops a wrong perspective in the minds of those who are exposed to such depiction almost
week by week. It is no surprise that countless Indians have imbibed negative social values which are wholly
contradictory to Indian culture.
38. JUDGE A MAN BY THE WAY HE SPENDS LEISURE
A man or woman free time, when there is nothing specific to do and no duty to perform may be described
as his or her leisure. It is generally agreed that leisure enables a person to do what one likes sleep, walk
about, go for an adventure and be wholly oneself for some time. Without some leisure life would become a
heavy burden and totally unbearable. It would not be wrong to say that there would be hardly any art,
literature, crafts, poetry or philosophy if there is no leisure, for all these are the products of spare time when
there is no restriction or limitation. Diversity in various areas of activity also depends on leisure; the more
the leisure the greater the diversity, and the more the colour in the countr fe and living.

But it is possible to judge the culture, education and mental development of a person by the way he spends
his leisure. Those who merely while away or waste time twiddling their thumbs or remaining idle, or sleeping
for long hours even after a good night rest, or spend their spare time quarrelling with members of their
family or just loaf about cannot be called a cultured or mentally developed people. He is ignorant and of
human values a wasteful type; for, leisure has also to be meaningfully and purposefully utilised. When we
are much too busy with our daily chores, either in office, factory or at home, to read the books we like or
indulge in other constructive and gainful activity, or attend to the duties remaining after the previous day s
or week busy schedule, we show a lack of the true sense of citizenship and unawareness of how leisure
should be utilised.
Obviously, leisure should be treated as opportunity for fruitful activity and creativeness. It is through
creativity, the feeling that we have achieved something in a healthy sphere of human activity that we can
promote our and our fa well being. Time is undoubtedly the most precious thing on earth; it can never
be called back; one hour or a day wasted is gone for ever, never to return. The hours and the minutes tickle
past us constantly, and it is said that time and tide wait for no one. This realisation should make us all fully
conscious of the value of time and of leisure, for leisure is, after all, time that we spend according to our
choice. And our culture and capacity, our education and our sense of good citizenship are all reflected in the
use we make of leisure.

There are people who are so material minded, and so anxious to earn and save money, that they believe
leisure should be utilised for supplementing earnings so as to make up for the deficit in the family
budget caused by inadequate incomes and ever-mounting expenditure and prices. But that would mean
taking a narrow and worldly view of leisure. Repetitive tasks certainly lead to boredom, and the frantic
continuation of the money-earning process, by working overtime or taking up some other boring work during
the leisure hours, merely adds to the burdens of life. In such cases there would be no difference between
regular working days and on holidays during which we should have some change in our occupation and
enrich our minds in one way or the other.



Of course, too much leisure means mere idleness and is hardly helpful in on life. Leisure and rest are
appreciated only when there is enough work during the rest of the week or the month. Excess or surfeit of
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leisure is, therefore, inadvisable; there must be a sense of proportion, that is, a period of sustained work,
followed by a break or rest or change, to refresh the mind and the body. Strain during days or hours of leisure
defeats the very purpose of providing leisure and giving holidays.

Typical examples of people merely wasting their leisure are provided by the count youth who have many
weeks of vacation every year from the colleges and universities but do little constructive work either for
their own mental and intellectual enrichment or for the social good. Efforts have been made at many centres
of education to persuade the students to take to useful activity, according to their taste or preference, during
the long summer vacations, but very limited success has been achieved in this area. Our youth prefer to
waste time in gossip, scandalous talk, personal, defamatory or libellous conversation, outright censure and
condemnation of everyone else, not excluding their own teachers, Principals, and sometimes their parents.
That, surely, is gross abuse of precious leisure.
All the talk of enjoyin on holidays contains many wrong notions about leisure. One can enjo leisure
even while doing some other useful work, such as social service, helping the weak, the handicapped elders
and the hapless, educating the illiterate. In our country the vast majority urgently need instruction and
enlightenment from those who are better placed in life and have had the benefit of education. And yet it is
the height of callousness and a distinct failure of on duty as a wideawake citizen if we are selfish and
ignore our social responsibility because there is no punishment of any kind yet devised by even the most
powerful administrator or dictator for those who k time and waste their leisure. But this does not mean
that we should become irresponsible and wasteful or that we would behave and conduct ourselves better
only under the fear of some punishment.
A person mental, moral and intellectual development can be judged by this yardstick. Does he know how
to make the best possible use of leisure? Of course there is no uniformity in this area; people can, and do,
use their leisure hours differently depending upon their circumstances. But while a good intelligent citizen
uses his leisure gainfully, a bad, careless and irresponsible citizen merely wastes his time when there is
leisure.
Examples have been known in history of people who have utilised their leisure to overcome their crippling
weaknesses and handicaps. The story goes that in ancient Greece, Demosthenes, who was a stammerer and
was conscious of his handicap even though he wanted to become a great orator, overcame his handicap
during his spare time by putting pebbles in his mouth, shouting and speaking hour after hour against the
noise of the sea waves. After some time he discovered that, as a result of the prolonged practice he could
speak clearly, fairly well and without stammering. Leisure thus can be used to overcome deficiencies, and
add an extra dimension to our character and capacities. It all depends on how we spend it.
39. AND CRIME
Everyday the morning papers bring news of dacoities and murders, kidnappings and rapes, hold-ups of trains
and hijackings of planes, adulteration of foodstuffs, drugs and even of poisons. All this makes one sit up and
wonder whether crime is inseparable from civilized life. We appear to live on an earth of well-dressed gangs.

Men have been barbarians much longer than they have been civilized. They are only precariously civilized
and deep within them there is the propensity, persistent as the force of gravity to revert to our first natures.
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Small wonder that under stress and strain the most civilized people are as near barbarism as the most
polished steel is to rust. Nations, like metals have only a superficial brilliancy.
Compared with our wonderful progress in physical service and practical applications, our system of
government, of administering justice of national education, and our whole social and moral organization,
remains in a state of barbarism. The wealth and knowledge and culture of the few do not constitute
civilization. Shaw has castigated our superficial civilization in words bitter but true: Our laws make law
impossible; our liberties destroy all freedom; our property is organized robbery; our morality is an impudent
hypocrisy; our wisdom is administered by in-experinced or mal-exeprienced dupes, our power wielded by
cowards and weaklings, and our honour false in all its points.

Crime and violence are inherent in our political and social system. The poor are always with u said Christ
and the believer reconciled himself to his lot. But the time comes when it is asserted that poverty is man-
made and stems from the inequity of the wicked system that obtains. The covert crime begets the overt
crime.

The biggest of all crimes that we associate with this civilization is the horror of war. War today is murder on
a gigantic scale. At one time it was thought a few hundred corpses would be enough; then came a time when
thousands were still too few and today we cannot even count all the dead wherever we look. And the irony
is that this large-scale killing, this organized butchery is eulogized in glowing terms, and Victoria Crosses are
awarded. Besides, being organized murder, war is also organized loot. All efforts are directed towards
crippling the economy of the enemy. The atom bomb was thrown not on Tokyo, the capital of Japan but on
Hiroshima, the industrial hub of that country. The outcome of war in the modern world is unpayable debts,
repudiations, ruined investments, the utter disorganization of finance, the collapse of the monetary system,
the disappearance of the greater part of foreign trade, and, usually, on top of it, revolution from below. Here
then is a crime which does not pay.
The crimes of extreme civilization are probably worse than those of extreme barbarism, because of their
refinement, the corruption they presuppose and their superior degree of intellectuality. The barbarian
hacked the enemy to pieces; the civilized man tortures him mentally, wins him financially and then, if
necessary liquidates him physically. Politicians are past masters in this sordid game. The barbarian was cruel
but open-handed, his descendant today is no less cruel but hypocritical.
The barbarian was a beast, with beastly appetites. He was a tiger, an ape, a camel, a goat in turn, whatever
suited the occasion. After all it was a struggle for survival, for him. He acted like an automation. There was
no consciousness of crime. The modern civilized man perpetrates crime deliberately. He hoards foodstuffs
with a view to selling them at the opportune moment. And in the meantime millions are starved to death.
Bengal famine was a glaring example of this sordid game.
The civilized man stabs in the dark. His crimes wear a thick cloak.
40. CONCEPT AND OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Human suffering and misery in the remotest part of the world invariably affects the whole family of man.
Man has to suffer, not only when the part of the world in which he is residing is visited by natural calamities
like earthquakes, famines, floods, diseases etc., but occasionally also at the hands of men driven mad by
power political, economic or social. In both types of situations response from the rest of humanity is
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spontaneous. In the former case, it takes the form of efforts to bring relief to the stricken. But whenever
man has been made to suffer at the hands of other men, the conscience of humanity has been outraged,
and the cry has gone round for some sort of guarantees to afford protection to him against the tyranny of
his fellow human beings, so that he can be assured of at least his rights to life, liberty and security of person.
Situations in which the call has gone out for such guarantees have arisen when a State has failed to protect
foreigners against abuse by local authorities, or has adopted an oppressive or discriminatory attitude
towards minorities or racial groups. There are quite a few such black spots in the annals of man. In the
nineteenth century, heart-rending tales of atrocities committed by white slave traders on poor, ignorant
Africans gave rise to cries of protest in Europe and America. Similarly, the massacre of minorities in some
countries in the middle east horrified the world. Nearer our times, before and during World War II, the
atrocities perpetrated by Hit Germany on the jews gave rise to wide-spread insistence that some
mechanism must be evolved to assure international protection for basic human rights.
In fact such demands had been voiced earlier also. Through a series of treaties concluded after World War
II, several European countries had accepted special obligations for the protection of racial and religious
minorities, and had given the League of Nations the right to supervise the fulfilment of these obligations. But
all this could not save thousands of German jews who were exterminated by the Nazis. Therefore, after the
Second World War had come to a conclusion and the victors met in San Francisco to draw up the blueprint
of a new world free of strike, voices were raised urging that provisions covering human rights should be
included in the Charter of the United Nations. As a result, the Conference accepted as one among the
purposes of the United Nations to achieve international co-operation... in promoting and encouraging
respect for human rights and for the fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex,
language or religion (Article 1 of the U.N. Charter). The Charter specifically referred t human right and
fundamental freedoms at six other places, but it did not go beyond saying that the world body was to
promot respect for them and to encourage their observance. Neither did it define these rights and
freedoms in precise terms.

As the Charter, thus, did not create any definite obligations for the United Nations to fulfil, the task of
drawing up a declaration of general principles and a treaty containing binding obligations was entrusted to
a Commission the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
The Declaration drawn up by the Commission recognized two types of human rights, viz., (i) civil and political,
e.g., life, liberty and security of person, freedom from arbitrary arrest, imprisonment or exile, right to a fair
trial, freedom of thought, conscience and religion and freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and
(ii) economic, social and cultural rights, e.g., rights to work, social security, education, participation in the
cultural life of the community, sharing in scientific advancement and its benefits and enjoying the arts. The
declaration was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly at its session held in Paris in 1948 and declared to be
common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and
every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to
promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to
secure their universal and effective recognition and observance .
Although the Declaration defined human rights, yet there were more than one opinions as to its effect. Some
wanted to accord to it the status of an international treaty or agreement whereas there were others who
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refused to accept it as a statement of legal obligations. In any case, it had served to enunciate in precise
terms the obligations which members of the U.N. had already accepted while subscribing to its Charter. On
its basis, the General Assembly condemned the apartheid legislation enacted by South Africa as contrary to
the Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Right

To make the enforcement of human rights more effective, the General Assembly charged the Commission
on Human Rights with drawing up two covenants in treaty form one covering civil and political rights and the
other dealing with economic, social and cultural rights. The task was beset with difficulties but the
Commission fulfilled it and the two covenants were unanimously adopted by the world today. These
covenants define the rights referred to in the Declaration even more precisely and also embody provisions
directing signatory States to enforce the civil and political rights through legislative action and provision of
adequate remedies against violation of such rights. The enforcement of economic, social and cultural rights
has, however, been made contingent upon availability of resources. The ures of implementation
embodied in the covenants also envisage arrangements for an international review of the manner in which
States carry out their obligations under them.
Ultimately, the sanction behind this body of international law which has been created on the subject are the
universal dictates of humanity. That is why the Declaration and the relative covenants may sometimes
appear to be transgressing a Stat right to deal with its citizens as it sees fit. But till the ideal of one world
has been achieved, it is certain that no international organization will be able to over-ride the authority of
supreme national bodies in each State.
However, it can be expected that States will find inspiration for their attitudes and actions in the standards
set by the international community represented in the United Nations. The main instrument at the disposal
of the world body is exposure to world public opinion. The reporting procedure under the international
covenants is designed to give publicity to the progress made by each country in enforcing human rights and
the obstacles it encountered in the process.

Although this is about all that the international community can do to enforce human rights, yet humanity
will under-rate the task at its own peril. States which do not recognise basic human rights or deny them to
their citizens are, sooner or later, bound to find themselves heading towards political and social unrest.
Men cannot hope to rid the world of the scourge of civil and international conflicts nor make it a safe place
till they have created for each member of the human race conditions of life which allow for full development
and unrestricted use of human intelligence and capabilities, so that man should not only be able to satisfy
his physical and spiritual needs, but also seek fulfilment in other ways. Till this has been assured, the fires of
strife and conflict will go on smouldering in the world and lasting peace on earth will remain an empty dream,
therein lies the significance of human rights and their enforcement.
41. EVILS OF INDUSTRIALIZATION
Now-a-days industrialization is regarded as the measure of economic development and material progress
achieved by a country. Economists categorise the nations of the world as developed or highly industrialized
and developin which means on the way to becoming industrialized. The former are rich in material wealth
and their people enjoy high standards of living. As compared to them, the latter are backward and an
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overwhelming majority of their population is poor. From this it would however be wrong to conclude that
industrialization has been an unmixed blessing for man.
The process of industrialization can be said to have had its beginnings in Europe in the eighteenth century.
It has been continuing ever since in different places and at different times. That is how in the contemporary
world we see that whereas countries like the U.S.A. and the West European nations are entering their
nd industrial revolutions, late-comers like India and China have just made a start in that direction. The
socio-economic impact of industrialization has, however, been similar everywhere.
Wherever it has started and as it has progressed, industrialization has brought about a very profound and
many-sided transformation in society. It has served to draw away men and women from agriculture, the
main occupation of mankind since the beginnings of civilization, and introduced them to new ways of
working, living and thinking. This in turn has led to increasing urbanization with its own peculiar problems,
development of working class movements, evolution of new state policies suited to the needs of
industrialized societies and political changes corresponding with the shift in the centres of economic power.
Industrialization has been made possible by the march of science and the progress of technology. But while
great strides have been made in technology, international trade has grown manifold, the national wealth of
industrialised countries has multiplied and what are generally referred to as tandards o have gone
up, man himself has lost more than he has gained in the process.

Besides the changes wrought in men ways of thinking and living, the transformation of agrarian societies
into modern industrial societies has also brought in its wake a host of other problems. The transition from
the cottage in the countryside to factories in cities was bound to create social tensions. The lure of regular
work and wages has induced a large number of men from the rural areas to migrate to the cities. But once
they have settled down to the new ways, they find that the drudgery of performing the same task
continuously and the new regimen of factory discipline tends to turn them into automatons, reducing them
to machines and making the machines their masters. Alongwith the growth of cities has come the problem
Writing on the industrial revolution in Europe and the U.S.A., Lewis Mumford has observed that it produced
a new barb wherein civilization shifted from an interest in human values to measuring life in material
and pecuniary te This has already happened in the western countries and is now happening wherever
industrialization is proceeding apace. It has enabled man to produce more, to travel faster and to
communicate more rapidly. At the same time it has brought within his reach more material comforts and
conveniences. Employment of the techniques of mass production has brought into play the arts of
advertising and sales promotion to needs where none existed before. All this has helped in the
evolution of the acquisitive society wherein material prosperity, rather than moral stature or intrinsic worth
is the yardstick of success for every individual. Instead of finding happiness in limiting their needs, people
belonging to affluent society appear to be engaged constantly in trying to outdo each other in the rat-race
for more and more of money and material comforts, even at the cost of their sanity. This Midas touch is
perhaps the biggest evil resulting from industrialization. It has created in the minds and hearts of men a
restlessness which pines for instant rewards. It is very much in evidence in the permissiveness we see in the
west and the get-rich-quick mentality which afflicts the young in most of the countries of the third world. All
this has been acting as social and spiritual corrosive, undermining both the family and the individual
wherever industrialization has been taking place.
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of slums, known as fertile breeding grounds for crime. In spite of all efforts made to stop their growth, slums
have become a necessary adjunct of industry, particularly in under-developed countries where industrial
growth has just begun and industry is not yet sufficiently aware of its social responsibilities.
In countries in which the pattern of ownership of industry is oligarchical, industrialization has served to
accentuate the disparities of wealth and income. The invention and introduction of machinery has no doubt
helped man in many ways but as Karl Marx has observed, it has without doubt greatly increased the number
of well-to-do id The introduction of labour-saving devices and automation which enables one machine
to do the work of many men has served to add to the difficulties of labour and also to create a new social
phenomenon: chronic mass Instead of being used always to help and ease human
effort, in order to increase profits, it is quite often employed to snatch bread out of the mouths of millions
willing to work.

The economic imbalance created by industrialization has had deep ramifications at all levels from the
individual to the international. The mania for mass-production which gripped Europe in the eighteenth and
the nineteenth centuries gave birth to economic imperialism and launched European nations like Britain,
France, Belgium, Holland, Germany and others on the path of exploiting the weaker and unorganized races
of the world and ultimately subjugating them. It plunged a large number of countries in Asia and Africa into
slavery for several generations. To a very great extent, it is the insatiable material ambition of the
industrialized or developed nations which has repeatedly led to global and international conflicts in the
twentieth century.
Great strides in scientific research and technology have enabled man to bring into use new basic materials,
to develop new sources of power, to invent new machines and to evolve better and faster methods of
transportation and communication. He claims to have gained mastery over nature but the outcry now being
heard against increasing environmental pollution and progressive depletion of natural resources available
to man shows how nature has been suffering on account of thoughtless human intervention in its recycling
process ever since industrialization became the vogue. The problem did not assume serious proportions as
long as the damage was containable and not beyond self-repair. But with the spectacular technological
break-through accomplished during and after the second world war, those limits were exceeded.
It is the highly developed nations of the world which have benefited most from this breakthrough and it was
in their domains that environmental pestilence bred by advanced technology first raised its head. The outcry
against environmental pollution has been the loudest in the U.S.A. which is one of the two most industrially
advanced countries. The bye-products of industrialization, e.g., industrial wastes, discarded packaging
material and other junk, and exhaust fumes from automobiles have contaminated the atmosphere so much
that school-children are warned against deep breathing as dangerous to health. Fears have been expressed
that the rapid combustion of fossil fuels for power and the increasing invasion of the stratosphere by aircraft
are rapidly changing the earth heat balance about which men know very little, and this may well bring on
a new ice-age or cause a deluge.

Environmental pollution following in the wake of growing industrialization is by no means a phenomenon
peculiar to the U.S.A. alone. It is a worldwide problem. In India, the pollution of the Ganga by emissions from
the Barauni oil refinery a few years ago led to a public outcry. The profound changes which the relationship
between man and his environment has been undergoing as the pace of industrialization has grown faster,
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and the continuing and accelerating impairment of the biosphere by modern scientific and technological
developments have been causing international concern for quite some time now.

At the root of most of the socio-cultural, economic, and ecological evils of industrialization is a wrong order
of priorities which places man and his welfare below pecuniary benefits which can be derived from modern
technology.
42. RELATIONS BETWEEN ART AND LIFE
Art is life, not something to be placed in a shrine and substituted for life. Actually, art is an effort to create,
besides the real world, a more human entity. Moreover, a true work of art is but a shadow of the divine
perfection. Indeed, even those who regard art as an ideal and artists as idealists cannot deny that art is a
faithful mirror of the life and civilisation of a period. Everyone concedes what Nehru said that Indian
civilisation of the past periods was full of life; it created things of beauty, the arts flourished, and the echoes
reached distant countries. Nehru was also stating the reality when he said that the art of a people is a true
mirror of their minds. Both arts and crafts have indeed close connections with life; there is no line of
demarcation between arts, crafts and life when the arts have really been an integral constituent of the
peopl daily existence.
Obviously, it is impossible to separate art, or the arts, from life; they are a part and parcel of it. The idea can
also be expressed by saying that when life declines and the standards of living deteriorate, art also declines.
On the other hand, when life marks an upward swing and shows all-round improvement, such an upswing
inevitably gets reflected in the arts. It is during the regimes of eminent influential kings and emperors,
Maharajas and Nawabs in history, especially during the Golden Age, that the arts, such as painting, music,
dance and crafts of various types prospered. Who bothers about art and the artists when there is poverty
and destitution all round, when the rulers are constantly engaged in internecine warfare or struggles for
power during which art is the first casualty? This is also true of the age of exploitation, colonial, imperial or
other.
To say that art is only confined to the artist the painter, the sculptor, the dancer, the musician, the singer or
other craftsman is to take a needlessly rigid and restricted view. Real art is all-round illumination and adds
stature to life. The object of art, it has been well said, is to crystallise human emotions into thought, and
then fix it in a concrete form. After all, a painter thinks, reflects for a long time, tries to imagine something
good and great, has a vision or a dream, and then draws a picture, a drawing or moulds clay or metal into a
figure he has dreamed or thought of. Since dreams, thoughts and visions are all a part of our life, art is also
very much a part of our existence. Even the illusions, which often get reflected in masterpieces of art, can
be entertained only by human beings of talent and cannot, therefore, be separated from life.
Those who seek to present a higher reality are, after all, human beings and very much a part of life and
society. Some people contend that art is mere copying Nature, but this is a fallacious belief. It is true that
much of art is the result of inspiration derived from Nature and from what one sees around oneself the hills,
the rivers, the seas, the beautiful environment, the creatures of God such as birds and butterflies, etc. not
to mention human beings themselves. But even then art is linked with life and living.

An unfortunate aspect of life in the modern world is that misconceptions about art and artists, and about
their role, have been spreading fast. Anyone, it is said, who finds a way to make a lamp or some other artistic
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piece out of a Campa-Cola bottle gets more protection than a humble man who creates a work of real art.
There is indeed a distortion of values in the world of art; really talented artists often starve because of the
lack of patronagte by those who lead a life devoted to unartistic activity. An artist who revolts against man s
fate in life may or may not get adequate encouragement. Moreover, what passes for rt in today world
may in reality be fraud or cheap imitation of a masterpiece.
Again, is it not true that the measure of the creator is the amount of life he puts into his work. A real work
of art has to be full of life; if it is lifeless and soulless or dull, it evidently lacks life. Who can deny that a
painting or a piece of sculpture has great appeal if it is life-like, emanating vigour and activity and if it inspires
human feelings. Besides, the real artist is he who does not cater to cheap tastes or panders to the low,
inhuman or base instincts of men and women. If an artist sells himself for the baser things, he is a traitor to
art.

True art grasps, rediscovers and reveals to us reality which human beings tend to forget and from which we
often seek to get away. Often the reality is harsh; even that serves as a reminder of what we are prone to
ignore. When the reality is pleasant, and artistic creations please, we begin to appreciate art, not otherwise.
Art, like most human beings, is temperamental; it is no secret that artists, poets and musicians work when
they get the requisite inspiration. Dictation and imposition of authority are what art and artists firmly resent.
In this sense art is an intense form of individualism. Even so, art should never seek popularity; on the contrary
the people should try to value art and make themselves artistic as far as they can.
Life itself is an art, and though artists and poets may seem visionaries, they have a specific and distinct role
to play. The irony, however, is that if art and artists continue to live in a world of their own, far removed
from life, they may have to starve unless they are able to get permanent and affluent patrons. Art and artists
are now being patronised and encouraged by the Government of India and the State Governments. But
official patronage alone cannot be a lasting guarantee of the prosperity of art; the people themselves must
learn to appreciate art in whichever form it comes before them.
Life itself is an art. The swing of the pendulum may raise art to the skies or bring it down crashing to the
earth. Experimentation is what art thrives on, and such experimentation, as in science, ultimately proves
highly beneficial to society. The progress in art reveals the progress of a country and its innermost character.
The relationship is, therefore, intimate and is becoming increasingly obvious.
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Descriptive Questions - English
1. What effective/pragmatic steps would you suggest to protect
under in India?
Ans. There is nothing more damning and deplorable than the fact that it is not just Ind national animal
t which is in danger at the hands of poachers but other animals in the wild such as elephants, rhinos
and critically endangered gharials who are equally under threat of being poached and rendered extinct in
the years to come. Official figures, if not fudged, suggest in no uncertain terms that Ind wildlife has been
under threat for quite some time. A few steps taken by the Central and State governments, it seems to our
dismay, have not deterred the poachers and others of their ilk from playing havoc with Ind diverse and
unique wildlife spread across the landscape of varying shapes and colours, climate and topography. The
wake-up c is there to rise and act now or never. There is no option but to address the problem in all
seriousness by taking such effective and pragmatic steps as are urgently required to protect our wildlife
before it gets too late to mend the matters

In order to meet the challenge that the depleting number of tigers in the country posed, the Finance Minister
announced a special grant of Rs 50 crore in the Budget (2008-09) to raise a tiger protection force and thus
enable the National Tiger Conservation Authority to redouble efforts to protect the big cat
In the case of gharials the reason for their decline over the years has been attributed to possibility of
nephrotoxin entering the food chain and loss of habitat due to illegal sand mining. These aberrations,
coupled with poaching, shrinking of the forest areas as a result of urbanization, mining and industrialization
need to be rectified by devising such ways and means as are practical and do not come in the way of
economic development
The constitution of multidisciplinary Tiger and Other Endangered Species Crime Control Bureau, comprising
officers from the police, forest, customs and other enforcement agencies, is one of the most effective ways
to control illegal trade in wildlife. An increase in patrolling and co-ordination with other law-enforcing
agencies at the State level can go a long way in addressing the problem and thus protecting the wild-life in
India

2. Suggest some steps to make urban life in India safe and free
from the menace of crime and violence
Ans. There is no denying that urban India is getting congested and crowded beyond its known means of
tackling day-to-day needs of its people, as a result of which the entire urban scenario tends to get vitiated
with all hues and hypes of crime and violence. The ground realities call for deep introspection on the part of
those who are supposed to run the affairs of the State and take such suitable and stringent steps as can
ensure safety for urban citizens, both at homes and on the roads. It is nobod demand that we should have
a utopian State where milk and honey flows and people can leave their hearths and homes unlocked without
any trace of anxiety and angst on their faces. What a civilised society like ours requires is an atmosphere of
reasonable safety and security in the fast growing urban milieu. In order to realize such an ambience of
peace, certain measures have to be taken to establish the rule of law where it has either been allowed to
disappear or implemented half heartedly
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No doubt, urban India offers a multitude of opportunities, both for those who come to earn as also to those
who are eager to learn. Coupled with this rosy side of the picture, is the growing perception that there are
too many hazards that urban dwellers have to face day in and day out

The increasing incidents of chain/purse snatchings, road-rage, dacoities, house break-ins, coldblooded
murder of elderly people by domestic help, thefts of two/four wheelers with impunity, are some of the dark
spots that send the chill down the spine of urban dwellers. Eve-teasing and molestation of women,
kidnapping of children are all signs of a worsening law and order situation
In order to meet the menace head-on and make urban life safe, it is incumbent on law enforcing agencies to
strengthen their intelligence network and the urban dwellers, particularly the women to be vigilant all the
time

The tendency on the part of powers-that-b to remit sentences of those undergoing jail-terms for serious
crimes, is not only a practice bad in law but also suspect in intent and purpose. Such an uncalled- for
generosity should be avoided because it sends a wrong signal to other prospective law-breakers
3. In the opinion of legal luminaries, victims of crime must get justice.
Comment
Ans. Under our judicial system, the court proceedings are influenced by direct or circumstantial evidence
and in some high profile cases witnesses turn hostile as a result of which the victims of crime are left high
and dry. If the crux and soul of the proposition under discussion says that victims of crime must get justice
under all circumstance, it is certainly the crying need of the hour

When legal luminaries and people at large say that victims of crime must be given justice, to strengthen their
confidence in the administration of justice, they are absolutely in tune with the spirit and mainstay of the
edifice of judicial system. In the event of justice eluding the victims of it would mean an open invitation
to anarchy, oppression and injustice
Irrespective of the fact that there is a growing trend of witnesses turning hostile in some high profile cases,
no stone should be left unturned by all those concerned with free and free trial of the cases to search the
truth and help courts to take a participatory role in the trial. In the august opinion of a legal luminary, the
courts are not expected to be tape recorders to record whatever is being stated by the witnesses. The
presiding officers of courts are empowered to elicit all necessary materials by playing an active role in the
evidence collecting process. Despite the fact that threats, coercion and monetary considerations at the
instance of those in power, to smother and stifle truth and realities coming out to surface, it is the duty of
the courts that justice is given to the victims of crime
4. Discuss the gender inequality in our country and its impact on our
socioeconomic development
Ans. There is no denying that India is living with the ignominy of a gender imbalance as a result of continuing
gender inequality. Multiple deprivations, with roots in the oppressive structure of patriarchy in most parts
of our country, have resulted in bias against girls and women. Publically, one and all agree that no nation,
no society, no community can hold its head high and claim to be part of the civilized world if it condones the
practice of discriminating against one half of its own population, but when one scans the ground realities as
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they prevail in our country, one finds that there is nothing but an open dance of bias and prejudice practiced
against girls and women
The most mortifying manifestations of gender inequality in our country are the pernicious proclivities on the
part of males to indulge in wife beatin and force child bearing mothers to resort to female foeticid All
thinking persons know that the declining number of females vis-vis males is going to create a very
dangerous situation in future. Too many males chasing too few girls for matrimony would give rise to social
tensions with all its adverse consequences. The United Nations reports on the girl child and expectant
mothers are equally disturbing because of the fact that there is a high mortality rate among girls and mothers
at the time of birth/delivery. The social and economic costs of such a deplorable situation are too high to
bear for a developing country like ours
Victims of both physical and mental violence and vulnerable to all kinds of harassment and humiliation, a
majority of Indian women remain at the receiving end most of the time of their existence. Malnourished and
maltreated at every stage of their existence, they tend to become malfunctional

Objects of wilful neglect, they are made to work like beasts of burden with no wages in return nor any
acknowledgement of their contribution in fields and factories, at home or outside
Barring a few exceptions here and there, women in general are treated badly in our maledominated society
The crying need of the hour is a drastic change in the mindset of males, which is the fundamental cause of
gender inequality. Besides, in matters of education, food, security and much more, discrimination against
the girl child must go because civilisations are judged by the way they treat their women

5. Suggest three effective measures to deal with the problem of stress
among students
Ans. Earlier it was speed and success that kept people on their toes. Now it is stress and success that are
causing tension, and in some cases even tearing trouble among people, particularly in case of students at
the secondary level. Scoring exceptionally high marks and writing on own success story have become
compulsive obsessions with students and their highly ambitious parents
Failure has come to mean the end of all dreams and a long nightmare ahead. All right thinking people,
whether intellectuals, creative artists or parliamentarians, are genuinely concerned about the levels of stress
that our youngsters have to face before examinations. It is high time for parents, teachers and others to sit
up and see if the following measures could effectively deal with the problem of stress among students
Since charity begins at home, it is the parents who have to be on guard and restrain themselves from realizing
their unfulfilled aspirations through their children. They must know that capability and capacity differs from
child to child. Instead of imposing their will on children, the latter should be allowed to pursue his/her
passion or courses of study. Such an attitude on the part of parents would spare children from unwanted
pressure and stress that are responsible for so many unsavoury happenings

School is the other place where a child develops an unrealistic ambition or aspiration. The system of
education and grading needs to be rehauled. The intense competition of entering colleges or simply
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performing well which at its most intense level is the proverbial at race will remain unless one disables
the very source of extreme stress before examinations
In the days gone by, growing pains were always tended to within the family. But for many teenagers a
traditional family structure no longer exists. Faster-paced lives with parents absorbed in their own lives and
careers, often provoke feelings of alienation, rejection and neglect among teenagers. In most cases family
members remain unaware of the inchoate emotional forces running rampant in adolescent minds. Such
distortions need to be addressed and corrected, both at home and outside, to effectively cope with stress
among students

6. badly needs to hasten its justice Comment
Ans. All agree that unless we do something concrete and candid to hasten justice delivery in our country,
the whole system would get crushed under its weight. We must guard against the system getting discredited
every passing day and people losing faith in it and taking recourse to extra legal remedies. Needless to
reiterate that the Constitution of India reflects the aspiration of all Indians, irrespective of their socio-
economic status, for justice, when its preamble speaks of justice in all its forms: social, economic and
political. Those who suffer physically, mentally or economically approach the courts with great hope for
redressal of their grievances. As law abiding citizens they refrain from taking law into their own hands, as
they believe that one day or the other, they would get justice from the courts. Justice delivery system is
under an obligation to deliver prompt and inexpensive justice to its seekers, without in any manner
compromising on the quality of justice or the elements of fairness, equality and impartiality. However, there
is a growing concern about the inability of courts to effectively deal with and wipe out the huge backlog of
cases. The delay in the disposal of cases has affected not only the ordinary type of cases but also those which
by their very nature call for early relief
Many a times, inordinate delay contributes to acquittal of guilty persons either because the evidence is lost
or because of lapse of time, or the witnesses turn hostile or they do not come forward to give true evidence
due to threats, inducement or sympathy. Whatever may be the reason, it is justice that becomes a casualty.
We must realise that the very existence of an orderly society depends upon a sound and efficient functioning
of criminal justice system

It is high time we make a scientific and rational analysis of the factors behind accumulation of arrears and
devise specific plans to at least bring them within acceptable limit in a reasonable time frame. We have to
put our heads together and find out ways and means to deal with the problem, so as to retain the confidence
of our people in the credibility and candidness of the system

7. hanging fire for the last twelve years, the of the
Women Bill in the Rajya Sabha recently would go a long way
in ensuring better status for women in the Societ Give arguments For
and Against this view
Ans. It is a matter of common knowledge that the women suffer from several social disadvantages in India
and such disadvantages can only be undone if there is political and economic empowerment of women.
While the government has introduced several schemes for socioeconomic empowerment of the women,
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particularly for the women belonging to the weaker sections of the society, true political empowerment has
continued to remain a pipedream. Since 1996, the Women Reservation Bill has remained only in discussions
and every time this Bill is introduced, several political parties either oppose the format of the Bill or object
to the fact that no quota within qu for the weaker sections has been proposed. The net result is that the
women continue to get a raw deal and have been waiting for this major empowerment initiative to
materialise for more than a decade. It is felt by many social scientists that the introduction of the Reservation
Bill would go a long way in ensuring a better place for women in Indian society

Arguments For the View (a) Reservation of one-third seats in the Parliament and Legislative Assemblies of
the States would result in a positive shift in the perception of the society about the women
(b) Reservation of at least one-third seats in the Panchayati Raj Institutions and the Urban Local Bodies in
the country was introduced way back in early nineties. It is all the more important to have similar provisions
for elections to the Parliament and the Legislative Assemblies, which denote epitome of political power
(c) Traditionally, women in all sections of society in India have been suffering from several social handicaps
for the last few centuries. It has been long overdue that the women got their due share in the governance
of the country by being entitled to at least one-third quota as against their 50 per cent share in the total
population

(d) In most of the developed countries, the percentage of women in governance and politics is quite high
but in India their proportion in political governance in the highest echelons of governance is dismally low.
Reservation of seats will help in removing this anomaly. Arguments Against the View (a) Mere introduction
of the Reservation Bill in Rajya Sabha does not mean anything. It has been introduced many times in the
Parliament, only to be withdrawn later. Actual empowerment would take place only after the Legislative Act
is enacted

Status of women in any society is determined by their economic empowerment. Economic empowerment
brings with it social as well. Rather than pushing for political it would be more
appropriate to strive for economic empowerment of women

Most of the political parties have only tried to get the political mileage out of the proposal. Even this time
the very fact that the Bill has been introduced in the Rajya Sabha, shows that the aim is on only getting
political benefit in the forthcoming Parliament elections

8. Indian youth is required to be channelized properly as per their
aptitudes to get their best, if Indians are to do well in the modern-day
world Give arguments for and against this view
Ans. Globally speaking, Indian economy has several advantages which include its being broadbased, versatile
and vibrant. One additional advantage that India enjoys over most of the developing and developed
economies is that the average age of its labour force is quite low and it can continue to be the major supplier
of the workforce to the world economy for many decades to follow. This calls for a very careful human
resource development effort in the country
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Unfortunately, there has not been any serious attempt in this direction and if the country is to excel in the
labour market for many years, it has to train the right people in the right profession and skills. It is felt that
the country needs to identify the aptitudes and talents of youth early and train them in the respective fields.
Arguments For the View Indian students have to undergo very intense competition, which is particularly
tough in the fields of quality education in medicine, engineering, commerce and management. At times,
under pressure from the parents, students keep pursuing the disciplines in which they have no interests or
aptitude. Such practice must stop.
There is a need for searching the aptitude and talent of the youth at early stage of their career, without
which will result in putting the proverbial ound peg in a square hole
Aptitude search and right channelization at early age is required to compete in extremely competitive and
specialized environment worldwide Arguments Against the View (a) India is a democratic country and every
individual has the right to pursue the studies of his choice. The educational system must not try to force a
person to a particular stream
In a country like ours, with its geographical size and massive population it may not be humanly possible to
cover each and every student at the early stages of his career and have his aptitude test carried out
In India, availability of quality education is very poor. Particularly in the rural areas, there is a need to improve
the quality of education immensely. Under such a scenario, it is utopian to talk of aptitude tests and quality
education. The government should first try to consolidate the gains made in the educational sector and then
think of these innovations
The country also needs to pay more attention to improve the standards of higher, technical and professional
education rather than providing for facilities for aptitude testing.
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Descriptive Questions - Economics
1. Should the policy of giving freebies and subsidies be allowed to
continue or done away with?
Ans. All populist programs in India have come to stay and no political party is prepared to voice its opposition
against their continuation for fear of losing their grass-root support. Whether the policy of giving freebies,
subsidies, sops, grants et al is politically sound and economically viable, no political person, whatever his/her
affiliation or ideology, is ever prepared to consider. In the heart of heart every thinking person feels that it
is a suicidal course to continue with freebies like free power and water, highly subsidized items of food and
energy, doles and grants that seldom reach the targeted groups or persons, yet there is a studied silence on
the issue. The issue needs to be scrutinized in view of the precarious financial health of many an Indian State
on account of populist policies

In 2008 Budget, the Finance Minister added a new page to the practice of populist or vote bank politics by
announcing a massive farm loan waiver running to thousands of crores. Every political party knows fully well
that a benefit given once can never be withdrawn, however adversely it may affect the economic health of
the State. It is quite ironical that instead of tackling the root causes of rural indebtedness, poverty,
unemployment and a host of other problems affecting the lives of the rural poor and deprived, our rulers
resort to short-cuts like freebies, unbridled grants and what not. None can deny the fact that free power
means its wastage and misuse with the result that overdraw of under-ground has resulted in the water-table
going down drastically. Similar is the fate of other concessions because they seldom reach the intended
people in full measure. The harsh realities stare us in the face but no political person or party can dare do
away with or withdraw these sops. It is time that a broad consensus was arrived among parties to not indulge
in competitive politics because bad politics is certainly bad economic
2. What is micro-financing and how is it progressing in our country?
Discuss
Ans. In lay man language, micro-financing means providing finance/funds by banks, financial institution,
Industrial Development Corporations etc. at the micro level i.e. to small traders, selfemployed persons,
small but skilled entrepreneurs, auto-drivers and the like, for productive and promotional purposes. As
compared to macro-financing, where big industrial houses and their ilk manage to garner huge credits, under
the micro-financing dispensation, adequate and timely finances are made available to the deserving at the
lowest level and remotest corner of our socioeconomic spectrum. The journey from micro-financing to
financial inclusion has witnessed many ups and downs. Right from 1969, when banks were nationalised, to
the present-day, the intention of every government and those sitting in the opposition has been to help the
ordinary man engaged in some productive pursuit to enhance his business prospects/entrepreneurial
proclivities. A constant and consistent attempt has been on board that no one at micro-level of our society
should suffer because of lack of finance. Policies have been made in such a way that with least hassle, micro-
financing becomes a reality for each Indian who merits attention, and at the most favourable terms
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3. the ongoing food grain in the the being
followed by most of the surplus countries may run contrary to the
of the World Trade Give arguments For and
Against this view
Ans. With the ongoing shortages of the food articles being experienced all over the world, most the agri-
surplus countries have either banned the exports of the food articles from their countries or have imposed
restrictions in the form of increased export duties on the food articles. In this regard most of the countries
have acted in their self-interest to ensure that there was no shortage of food articles in their respective
countries and the prices of such articles were also kept in check. This may have protected the interests of
the agriculture surplus countries but this measure has put the agriculture deficit and importing countries in
a quandary. Countries like Japan, which have remained dependent on huge quantities of import of food
articles, are feeling the crunch of serious food shortages and facing exorbitant rise in their prices. The
practice is considered to be against the dictates of the World Trade Organisation (WTO)

Arguments for the View

(a)WTO aims at terminating all the subsidies in the agriculture sector. But for most of the developing
countries agriculture is the mainstay of their economies. It is debatable whether the developing world would
ever agree for such a stipulation for doing away with all the subsidies in the agriculture sector
(b)The WTO also requires that reduction in tariffs must be introduced by all the countries simultaneously.
Under such a stipulation, the WTO members are bound to object to the proposals of agriculture exporting
countries to increase the export duties on the agriculture products
(c)Most of the developed countries are actually importers of agriculture produce and they insist on a format
of agreement on agriculture which it is to their advantage. As a result, the developing countries are always
fighting out against any agreement on agriculture which is to their detriment
The attitudes of the developed countries may now change and they may begin to look for a sustainable
settlement which could be to their advantage, especially during the periods of food scarcity
Arguments against the View
(a)No agreement or treaty is above the national interests of any country and it becomes even more
important when it comes to food security for its population

(b)Food security and the need to feed the population is of prime concern for the developing countries.
International trade, comes to the fore only after countries have exportable surpluses. It does not matter
whether it is as per WTO requirement or not

(c) Even the WTO has recognised the rights of the member countries to take care of their specific problems
and the regulations of the WTO are not rigid in this regard
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4. best way to control the current price rise is to introduce
government regulated controls and checks. Give arguments For and
Against this view
Ans. Despite high growth of around 9 per cent in the past few years, and the projections of over 8 per cent
growth rate during the current financial year, the prices have continued to rise. The government has taken
certain measures by banning and restricting export of certain essential commodities, on the one hand, and
liberalising the imports of food articles, on the other, but the inflationary pressures have continued to
mount. What worries the economists is that price rise has continued to happen despite certain active
measures taken by the government of India as well as a few State governments. Many people feel that the
best way to control the current price rise is to re-introduce the system of price controls, regulations and
checks so that immediate relief is given to the people
Arguments for the View
(a) It is the duty of the government to protect the consumers from the excessive price rise
Particularly in the developing countries the weaker sections of the society have to be protected. In case the
economic methods like monetary policy and fiscal policy fail to moderate the price level, the government
must introduce controls and checks

(b) It is well known that it is the prices of the commodities like the petroleum products, food articles and the
building materials which are putting pressure on the overall price level of the country. Introduction of
government controls over the prices of these few commodities would go a long way in controlling the price
rise
(c) Till early nineties, the government followed the system of administered prices in case of certain essential
commodities and also had dual pricing for the products like cement to protect the interests of the people
belonging to the vulnerable sections of the society. It would not be a bad idea to re-introduce such checks
and controls

(d)While the fiscal and monetary measures undertaken by the government take some time to show results
on the price level in the economy, the direct methods of price controls would have immediate and certain
impact on the price line

Arguments against the View
(a)Most of the countries in the world today are following the system that allows free interaction of the
market forces of demand and supply for determining the prices in the economy. Reintroducing control on
prices will have negative effect in the long-term
(b)Artificial price level by price controls and checks suppresses the operation of the forces of demand and
supply and actually results in sudden and exorbitant price rise as and when such checks are lifted. Hence,
such a measure may actually do more harm to the economy
(c)When there is increase in the global prices of the inputs of several commodities, the artificial controls fail
to check the resultant price rise. For example, the petroleum prices have been increasing mainly on account
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of spurt in the crude prices in the world and no amount of price controls by the government of India would
be able to check this

(d)Price rise is an economic problem and it can best be tackled by economic measures only and not by
administrative acts like artificial price controls
5. recent budget announcement about waiving of agricultural
loans would help the farming community in the country and would also
assist in checking the tendency of suicide among the farmers.
arguments For and Against this view
Ans. One important scheme for the benefit of small and marginal farmers is the budget announcement about
waiving of agricultural loans of the farmers. While the defaulting amount in respect of all small and medium
farmers is proposed to be waived, 25% of the amount of such loans pertaining to the bigger farmers is also
proposed for waiving off. This announcement has been seen by many in the context of the recent tendency
of suicides on part of the farming community of the country. One of the reasons advanced for this tendency
has been that the agricultural operations are not profitable and the farmers who are fully dependent on such
operations find themselves unable to repay the bank loans. Further, since significant proportion of the
cultivable land is rain-fed, failure of a monsoon or one winter rain spells doom for them

Regular failure of rains in a region for a couple of years also coerces the farmers of that particular region to
commit suicide. Many feel that the new scheme of loan waivers introduced by the Finance Minister would
go a long way in checking this tendency
Arguments for the View
(a) It is well known that the growth of incomes in the agricultural sector is not as fast as in other sectors of
the economy. This slower growth rate makes the farmers indebted and the loan waiver is a welcome step in
this direction
(b)Productivity of agricultural sector in the country is among the lowest in the world. The reasons include
lack of irrigation facilities, lack of capital investment, use of primitive implements, lack of good variety of
seeds and fertilizers and use of traditional cropping patterns. This results in low returns to the farmers and
indebts them
(c)Waiving of loans would help the farming community to overcome the problems offered by agricultural
operations in the country. If the outstanding loans are taken care, the farmers can begin their journey afresh
into the new globalised era
(d)Many a time, the farmers take loans for the purposes other than agriculture with the hope of repaying
out of their future agricultural incomes. Such loans are sanctioned as agricultural loans on paper and waiver
of such loans would immensely reduce the pressure off the farming sector

Arguments against the View

(a)Waiving off the loans may be good politics but is certainly bad economics. There is every likelihood of the
money being misutilised, defeating the very purpose of the scheme
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(b)The decision to waive outstanding agricultural loans is a political gimmick aimed at winning votes. It is a
glaring example of wasting the hard earned money of the tax payers
(c)Many people feel that this measure would benefit only the banks concerned, as the dead loans of the
banks would be recovered and their non-performing assets would go down drastically, resulting in a
welcome change in their balance sheets
(d)Loan waiver is a short-term measure which would not tackle this problem of indebtedness of the farmers
in the long run. Rather than making such knee-jerk reactions, the Finance Minister should have come up with
a long-term plan to tackle the problem of agricultural productivity
6. National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), now
extended to all the districts of the country, is going to be the panacea for
the problem of rural unemploy Give arguments For and Against
this view
Ans. After the passing of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and its implementation in
some select districts during 2007-08, a new and ambitious scheme of rural employment guarantee was
introduced as a flagship programme of the Union government. The new scheme envisaged that at least one
member of every rural household, willing to employ himself in manual labour work, shall be provided with
employment for at least 100 days within his own Panchayat area. The employment is to be provided in
creating permanent assets, for which labour and material component at 60:40 ratio is admissible. In case the
government failed to provide the prescribed employment, it shall provide unemployment dole for 100 days
to the registered persons. Encouraged by the response that the Scheme received, the government of India
decided to introduce the same to all 596 rural districts in the country

Arguments for the View

(a)With more than two-third of the total households in the country living in the rural areas and dependent
on agriculture, they are unemployed for some part of the year when not busy with farm operations. This
seasonal unemployment period can be gainfully utilised with employment guarantee from the government
under the NREGS
(b)There is an utter lack of employment opportunities in the rural areas, particularly if there are no industries
in the vicinity. Agriculture operations are also known to be less remunerative
Additional employment guarantee for more than three months in a year for every rural household has the
potential of revolutionising the rural economy
(c) In the 2008 Budget, the government of India has provided a sum of Rs 16,000 crore for the scheme, with
the assurance from the Finance Minister that if required, more funds shall be provided. With this kind of
money being spent in the rural areas, the rural economy is expected to receive a big push in the coming
years
Arguments against the View
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(a) Executing agencies of the government in the field are not known for their efficiency. The programme may
be good but if it is not executed properly, it may fail utterly. This has happened in the past when many good
schemes failed to deliver because of poor implementation
(b)NREGS has been extended to all the rural districts of the country by the Union government in undue hurry,
due to the compulsions of election year. It would have been appropriate if the scheme was watched for a
couple of years and then extended to the other districts with the required modifications
(c) As per the information available, the utilisation of the NREGS has been less than 50 per cent in select
districts. Even several of the officials executing the scheme are themselves not clear about its features. It
would have been better had the scheme been introduced after training the field functionaries properly

(d) Indian system is well-known for its leakages and it is understood that only a fraction of every rupee spent
by the government agencies actually travels to the beneficiaries and rest of the funds get leaked. It is not
understood as to how such a system would make a dent on the problem of rural unemployment.
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