UNIT 1

OVERVIEW OF INDIAN SOCIETY

1.1 INTRODUCTION

India is a land of diversities and contrasts. So as to know the character of Indian society it's necessary to know the multi-cultural and pluralistic characteristics of its inhabitants. The multiplicity is reflected in its language, religion, caste, race, ethnicity, weather conditions, geographical features, historical legacies, dress and food habits etc. There are several other additional factors and variables that further divide the society into smaller fragments. There’s a huge difference in the socio- economic and political developments in rural, urban and tribal areas. India, unlike many other nations in the world isn't just a ‘melting pot’ of varied cultures where people come together and switch in to one uniform category for E.g. American culture envelopes all its inhabitants in to 1 uniform identity. But Indian diversity are often identified as a ‘salad bowl’ where in each of its citizen features a distinct identity at various levels of caste, language, religion, region etc.

1.2 DEMOGRAPHIC COMPOSITION OF INDIA

Demographic data refers to the characteristics of a person's population during a particular countryside. It is often defined as a study of size, growth, age and geographical distribution of human population with reference to birth, death, marriage and migrant population.

India being the second most populous country, after China with a population of over 120 billion, and also the seventh largest in terms of area, features a great diversity in its demographic attributes, may it's birth rate and death rate, fertility and death rate , literacy, sex ratio and child sex ratio, poverty, per capita income, employment levels, gender disparity so on.

Table 1.1 Demographic variation

INDIA AS A MULTICULTURAL AND PLURALISTIC SOCIETY

The term multiculturalism refers to the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures. Whereas Pluralism refers to the existence within a nation or a society, of groups distinctive in ethnic origin, cultural patterns, language, religion etc. Pluralism recognizes the existence of various groups at a similar time there's a component of equal opportunities or treatment to those groups.

In spite of the diversity and multiplicity, Indian civilization signifies a particular amount of continuity and confluence. This confluence of cultures also brings out a novel feature of ‘Unity in diversity’. So as to understand this unique feature, it's necessary to know the multiple stratums of multi-religionist, multi-linguist and caste diversities in India.

1.3 MULTI-RELIGIONIST:

India is a cradle of world religions. Its ancestors have preached and practiced all major religions of the planet giving rise to worldly beliefs, practices, rites, rituals, ceremonies and institutions. The co-existence of all the religions and sort of faiths has been a shining example of religious pluralism and tolerance. The principle of secularism in spite of several conflicts and riots has been upheld by our citizens time and again.

Indian Constitution has rightly reflected the thought of multi religionist. It states that “every citizen contains a right to freely practice, preach, profess and propagate any religion or faith”. Secular state has been defined as a “state in which all religions and citizens regardless of their faith would be treated impartially”. Unlike its neighbouring nations India doesn't uphold any one religion because the state religion. Aside from the major religions there are several tribal religions co-existing in Indian society.

Following are the main religions and the percentage of population belonging to that religion.

Table 1.2

• Hinduism - Hinduism is one of the most ancient religions of India. Although followed by majority of population, its origin isn't owed to any prophet or founder. Major Hindu scriptures include Vedas and therefore the holy book is Bhagwad -Gita, Ramayan, Puranas etc. Idol-worship, theory of Purushartha, theory of Karma, doctrine of rebirth  is some of the key principle of Hinduism.

They believe in trinity of Brahma (creator), Vishnu (sustainer) and Mahesh or Shiva (destroyer). The idea of Purushartha includes four principle of Dharma (Duty), Artha (material gain), Kama (physical pleasure) and Moksha (Salvation). Hindus are further divided in to 2 sects i.e. shaivism and vaishism and 4 castes i.e. Brahmin, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras which are discussed later in the section on class structure in India.

• Islam - Islam originated in Arabia in around 7th century A.D. The term Islam in Arabic means surrender to God. Prophet Mohammad is the founder of this religion. It’s a monotheistic religion meaning believes only in one god which is Allah. Quran is the holy book of Islam. The religion relies on five pillars, they're Allah (believe in just one god), Ramzan (fast in the auspicious month), Hajj (Pilgrimage a minimum of once in a lifetime), Namaz (praying five times a day) and Zakkat (Charity). The main two sects of Islam are Shiyahs and Sunnis.

• Christianity: Christianity is also a monotheistic religion. Bible is the holy book of Christianity. They're further divided into Roman Catholics and Protestants. The main principles of the religion are described in the ten commandments. Bible includes the values of humanity, charity, mercy, repentance etc.

• Sikhism: Guru Nanak is the founder of Sikhism. Guru granth sahib is the holy book of Sikhs which incorporates all the hymns and the songs composed by all the ten Gurus of Sikhism. Sikhs believe in Satnaam, God as the almighty. A Sect in Sikhs who follow Khalsa Panth are referred to as Singh meaning lion or the protector of religion. They're expected to follow the 5 K’s. i.e. Kesh, Kara, Kanga, Kachha and Kirpaan.

• Jainism: Jainism is a religion based on ethical conduct alone. The twenty-fourth tirthankara was Vardhaman Mahavira who is said to be the founder of Jainism. It's further divided in to 2 sects, Shwetambara and Digambara. Jainism believes in Karma but don't believe in Caste inequalities. Ahimsa (Non- violence), non-stealing, truth, non-possessiveness are a number of the values preached by Jainism. Majority of the followers of this relgion are found in India.

• Buddhism: Buddhism is termed as a universal religion. Though found in India, its followers are found all over the planet. Gautam Buddha is the founder of Buddhism. They’re further divided into Hinayanas and Mahayanas. They believe eight fold path because the solution to sorrow in life.

1.4 MULTI-LINGUIST:

Language isn't merely a tool of communication but a means through which cultures are transmitted and spread for generations together. Indian society has been a birth place to several languages. Actually the major ground on which India was divided in 25 states (now there are 28 states) was language and linguistic diversity. Consistent with the Linguistic survey of India there are nearly 179 languages and over 1652 dialects in India. However after the 1961 census, for a smooth data collection purpose only those languages or dialects which are spoken by a population of over 10,000 were recognized and noted after which the amount has now come down to 115 languages.

On the premise of the origin, languages in India are often broadly categorized in to 3 groups. They’re as follows.

a) The Indo-Aryan languages – They cover almost 72 percent of India’s population. They include Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Oriya, Sindhi, Punjabi, Bihari, Rajasthani, Assamese, Kashmiri and Sanskrit. Majority of the population belonging to the present group reside in northern, western, central and eastern India.

b) Dravidian languages- The population from southern India belong to the present group. The main languages are Tamil, Telegu, Kannada and Malayalam. 25 percent of India’s population uses these languages.

c) Indo-European languages- due to its colonial history English, French and Portuguese are the languages spoken in parts of India. English has been accepted widely as one of the official languages for communication and in education. Small parts of Goa, Diu, Daman and Pondicherry comprise of individuals speaking French or Portuguese.

Eighth schedule and official languages:

In the eighth schedule of Indian Constitution, 22 languages are listed. Post-independence Indian Constitution had listed 15 languages. However after the 71st Amendment of 1992 and 92nd Amendment of 2003, seven more languages were added bringing the entire to 22.

Table 1.3 Languages in 8th schedule of Indian Constitution

(Source: Census of India 2001)

Bi-lingual policy and therefore the linguistic conflicts in India:

India has adapted a bi-lingual policy at the center with Hindi because the primary official language and English because the secondary official language. As per census records of 2001, 41.03% of the population speaks Hindi. Similarly at the state level the language of the respective state and English is accepted as means of communication.

However this decision was never a simple task taking into consideration the variety in the languages in several geographical belts. Since there's no language defined as official language in Indian Constitution, in 1960s there have been attempts to exchange Hindi for English because the sole official language of India. However it witnessed several protests from southern states of Tamilnadu, Kerala, Karnataka and others leading to amendment of Official Languages Act of 1963. It had been later referred to as Official Languages Act (use for official purpose of the Union) Rules act 1976. Several state languages are decided as official supported the demography of that state.

1.5 CASTE SYSTEM INDIA:

The social stratification (division of society) in India is peculiar in its nature. Unlike many other civilizations within the world where the society was divided in to race, ethnicity or clan’s Indian society is broadly divided into a hierarchy of caste. The word caste has come from the Portuguese word ‘Casta’ which suggests breed and intended to use for classification supported purity of blood.

As defined by E.A.G. Blunt “Caste is an endogamous group, bearing a standard name, membership of which is hereditary, imposing on its members certain restrictions within the matter of social intercourse”.

Caste is unique to India and particularly to Hindu traditional society and its customs. It's imposed as a divine and had an extensive sanction in the society. The Sanskrit word for caste is ‘varna’ which implies colour. The caste stratification of the Indian society has its origin in the chaturvarna system. During the Vedic period (about 1500 B.C. To 100 B.C.) there have been four Varna or castes namely Brahmins, kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. This division was based on division of labour and occupation. Alongside occupation it had been also denoting the endogamy (marriage within one’s own caste) and therefore the notion of purity and pollution associated with food restrictions, clothing and language. Further these groups were subdivided in to number of jatis or sub castes based on diversity of occupation. Each group was sort of a water tight compartment moving out from which was impossible for any member of the society.

The notion of purity and pollution resulted in several atrocities in the hierarchy against the lowest strata. The shudra and atishudras (untouchables) faced tremendous injustice and atrocities at the hands of the upper castes especially Brahmins. It had been termed because the black period of Indian history where several inhuman and heinous practices were prevalent in the society denying the essential human rights of those suppressed classes. However after independence, under the great leadership of Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar they got a special status within the Constitution of India as Scheduled castes. The term used for them was dalit (the depressed) or harijan (as coined by Mahatma Gandhi). Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar was a pioneer to initiate the Dalit movement in India to raise the status of untouchables by converting to Buddhism which doesn't believe in caste hierarchy.

Positive Discrimination (Reservation) in India:

According to the govt of India act, 1935 and Article 17 of Indian constitution all sorts of atrocities against untouchability is prohibited, at the same time there are steps taken for the upliftement of the dalits by giving them a special concession in the sort of positive discrimination or reservation. As per central government policy 15% of the govt jobs and 15% of the student admitted to Universities must be reserved for scheduled caste. There's also provision of reservation for scheduled tribes (7.5%), other backward classes (27%) within the government jobs. This ensures an inclusive society with equal opportunities and access within the field of employment and education.

1.6 GENDER- A DEMOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS

Gender as a demographic variable is a vital component to know the development and social progress of the nation. As rightly pointed by experts “the development which isn't engendered is considered to be endangered “it’s essential to know the parameters of sex ratio, child sex ratio (0-6 years), and health, education and work participation of girls as indicators of gender development of the country.

In this section we might only limit to the phenomenon of sex ratio and child sex ratio as an indicator of women’s empowerment within the nation. (The other components are discussed within the following unit on gender disparity). Sex ratio is defined as the number of females per thousand males in the population. The child sex ratio is defined as the number of females within the age bracket of 0- 6 years per thousand males in the population. It’s a crucial social indicator to measure the extent of prevailing equality between males and females in a society at a given point of time. Internationally this ratio is calculated as number of males per thousand of females including the under developed Sub-Saharan Africa. It’s only in a number of the south Asian countries where there's a rampant incidence of female infanticide and female foeticide that it's calculated the other way.

Since the first census taken in 1901 the sex ratio has shown a declining trend which has been sharper since independence (with a rare incidence of marginal increase). With 972 in 1901 to 946 in 1951 and 927 (lowest in last 100 years) in 1991, it's been showing a declining trend. It’s only in last 20 years , with efforts of civil society organisation and stringent law of PCPNDT act 1994 (amended in 2003) that there has been marginal improvement and has now reached 940 in 2011 census.

The decline in the child sex ratio of 0-6 years is additionally alarmingly high. In 1901 the child sex ratio (juvenile sex ratio) was 976 in1961. It's come all the way down to 927 in 2001. The marginal improvement in overall sex ratio from 1991 to 2001 of six points (from 927 to 933) isn't complemented with any quite improvement in corresponding child sex ratio, which has dropped from 971 in 1981, to 945 in 1991 to 927 in 2001.

Table -1.4  Sex ratio 1901-2011

Against all the popular beliefs and myth the progressive and economically developed states have the lowest sex ratio in the country. Alongside historically female deficit states like Punjab (893 per thousand males) and Haryana (877 per thousand males), Maharashtra (925 per thousand males) and Gujarat (918 per thousand males) has also joined the list of states with sharply declining sex ratio in 2011. Even the child sex ratio in these states has been miserably low with almost 50 point decline as compared to its ratio in 2001.

Although declining child sex ratio is a socio-economic problem, the immediate cause undoubtedly lies in the improper use of medical technology in the sort of pre-conception and pre-natal diagnostic technique (also referred to as sex determination test), which unfortunately leads to pre-birth elimination of female foetus commonly referred to as female foeticide. Another major reason is son preference. Son–preference is deep rooted in Indian society, reinforcing the patriarchal domination. This son preference is usually justified through various socio-economic or religious reasons. The economic justification is that son inherits father’s property and also becomes a source of monetary security in the old age. The religious purpose is that a minimum of one son is inevitable for performing the last rites of their parents. The social interest of carrying the surname forward and continuing the family lineage also play a crucial role. However the foremost important cause for the same is that the evil of dowry, which devalues the girl child as a liability for the parents

Several researches have shown that it's the urban, affluent, literate class of the society which is involved in sex determination and sex selective abortion. It's the tiny family norm and access to technology that leads to the indulgence of such heinous practices by this section of society. The faith wise distribution of sex ratio reveals that Sikhs have the foremost gender biased sex ratio of 786 per thousand of males in 2001, followed by Jains (870) who are then industrialist community. And hence it's proven that economic prosperity varies inversely with the sex ratio.

The future impact of this problem has already started showing with increasing crime and violence against women in sort of trafficking, rape and molestation. Unavailability of brides in female deficit states like Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and now even Maharshtara has resulted in a trade of women from tribal areas at a low prices leading to further devaluation of women. With such a ratio India is ranking at the bottom half of the list of 134 countries for gender development Index.

Though there are several efforts on the a part of civil society organizations, NGOs, academicians and media, government machinery and legal machinery has did not put an end to the present crisis. The welfare schemes for women’s empowerment should be amalgamated with change within the attitude towards the girl child and stringent implementation of the law.

1.7 REGIONAL VARIATIONS OF URBAN-RURAL AND TRIBAL AREAS ITS CHARACTERISTICS

A region is defined as a territory, the inhabitant of which are emotionally attached thereto , due to variety of forces and factors like common language, beliefs, practices and customary socio- economic-political stages of development. India with its cast geographic area and socio-cultural diversity has been divided in to twenty-eight states and seven union territories. The formation largely has been taken place on the idea of language, however the physical features, socio-economic conditions and cultural aspects also gives distinct identity to every region of India.

70% of the population belongs to rural areas 28% to urban areas and a small but important a part of the population i.e. around 2% lives in remote tribal areas. Tribal population is identified by those that are original settlers or inhabitants residing in remote areas of forests or mountains also referred to as adivasis or girijans. Rural areas are predominantly the agricultural region with rarity of population. Urban areas are all places with corporations, Municipalities, cantonment board with a minimum population of 5000, where a minimum of 75% of the population is engaged in non- agricultural activities where the density of population is a minimum of 4000 persons per sq.km.

There are several factors that indicate regional variations between urban and rural areas. There’s a huge difference within the literacy rate, poverty and nature of poverty, nature of occupation and per capita income, sort of unemployment, rate of economic and social infrastructural development, gender ratio and work participation of girls , exposure to media etc. On the premise of these factors the characteristics and problems of every area are discussed below.

Characteristics and problems of tribal areas:

 Isolated and nomadic settlements- they're away from the civilized areas and keep occupation search of occupation and livelihood

 Distinct dialects- The tribal have their own language also as dialect for communication very different from the neighboring areas.

 Animism, totemism and magic- tribal religion compromises of worship of nature and natural elements referred to as animism or a symbolic worship referred to as totemism. They believe that free spirits regulate their lives that they also engage in white (nonviolent) and black (violent) sorts of magic.

 Geographical distribution- Tribals are spread everywhere India with maximum concentration in North East and Central India. The states with predominant tribal population are Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand.

 Low literacy- With a definite dialect and nomadic in nature tribal have very low levels of literacy or complete illiteracy in some areas.

 Low per capita income and uneconomic land holding- With primitive ways of earning livelihood and traditional agricultural practices like zoom cultivation most of them are below poverty line

 Impact of industrialization and commercial agriculture- With increasing industrialization and encroachment of forests and hilly areas for commercial purposes leading to loss of land and livelihood there's unrest and protests from tribal areas. E.g Naxalite movement

Characteristics and problems of rural areas:

 Caste system and joint family system- The rigidity of the caste system and restrictions supported purity and pollution are the essential rules of rural social milieu. The status of an individual is set by his/her birth in a particular caste and under no circumstance that individual can climb the social ladder. Similarly the joint family system reinforces the patriarchal and patrilocal social organization .

 Literacy- Rural literacy rate has always been less than 50% in most of the regions due to the traditional mind set and stronghold of customs and blind faith. This often leads to unemployment and poverty.

 Occupation- Agriculture is backbone for rural economy. However dependence on monsoon and primitive technology restricts the expansion and per hectare yield in rural areas

 Unemployment- due to the seasonal nature of agriculture and uneconomical land holdings, there's seasonal and disguised unemployment.

 Low media exposure- due to high levels of poverty and illiteracy the exposure to print and audio visual media is extremely low.

Characteristics and problem of urban areas:

 Density of population- The four metro cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai alongside few other cities has the highest density of population.

 Literacy- Urban areas often boast of literacy rate of over 70% which is usually above the national average.

 Occupation- The urban population is usually involved in secondary (industrial) or service sector like banking and insurance, education, health etc

 Unemployment- In spite of plenty employment opportunities the high density of population, computerization of service sector and shut down of industrial units lead to educated unemployment and layoffs.

 Pollution and lack of sanitation- High density of population leads to eruption of slums, lack of infrastructural facility, problem of sanitation and pollution in urban areas.