Indian social scene

The need for growth of nationalism had its primacy in India before the country attained its political independence. After independence, the major thrust has been on economic development and social transformation. But then, creation of social ethos and value system in the society got neglected in our anxiety for economic progress and perhaps, also due to the fact that our politicians got busy in their internal party squabbles losing sight of the broader national issues.

Still, however, the country is faced with an uphill task of economic growth through social transformation. The age-old social problems remain as difficult to solve as they were some decades back. While on the one hand, a kind of dualistic society has developed in terms of people's income earning and wealth possessing power; on the other, urban and rural dichotomy has become all the more strong what with some changes having taken place in the life-styles of our village folk. By and large, the Indian social scene presents itself in a more confusing canvas blurring our prespective as to where it is leading us to. On the economic plane, one does not know whether our plans are leading us to the stage of take-off at the periphery of limits to growth, or are we in for 'limits to poverty'. On the social front, the problems of untouchability, communalism, dowry, child labour, illiteracy and so on continue to baffle us.