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liberalizationoftheeconomy.By2000thereweresome19milliontelephonelinesregisteredwiththe
state-ownedTelecommunicationsDepartmentandin2003morethan17millionmobiletelephones
wereinuse.Thestate-ownedAllIndiaRadiobroadcaststoabout116millionradiosets.Programmes
arebroadcastin24principallanguagesandmanydialects.Televisionservessome79million
receivers,manyofthemownedcommunally.Sincethelate1980sthestate-ownedterrestrialservice
hasbeenaugmentedbyavarietyofsatelliteservices,whichhaveexposedmanyordinaryIndiansto
televisionprogrammesfromtheWestforthefirsttime.Theprintedmediaisstillveryimportant.In
themid-1990sthereweremorethan33,612newspapersandperiodicalswithatotalcirculationof
morethan67.6million.The3,740dailynewspapershadacombinedcirculationinexcessof18.8
million.Thepressisfreeandoftenverycriticalofthegovernmentandpoliticians.The Hindu,The
Times of India,andtheIndian ExpressareamongtheinfluentialEnglish-languagedailies.
HealthandWelfare
Sinceindependence,thegovernmenthaspaidparticularattentiontoIndiasendemichealthproblems.
Butdespitevigorouseffortsinareasofpreventivemedicine,sanitation,andnutrition,health
conditionsremainmarginalamongthepooralthoughepidemicsofcholera,dysentery,and
elephantiasisarenolongercommon.Muchofthepopulation,however,continuestosufferfrom
malnutrition.Progresshasbeenmadeincombatingmalariaandplagueandincontrollingtuberculosis.
Overalllifeexpectancyatbirthwasabout69.2yearsin2008,comparedwith32yearsin1941.The
infantmortalityratedeclinedfrom151to91per1,000livebirthsbetween1965and1989.In2008
theinfantmortalityratewas32deathsper1,000livebirths.
In1993some410,875doctorswerepractisingingovernmenthospitalsandprivateclinics,providing
anapproximateratioofonedoctorforevery1,674people.Thecountrywasservedbyover642,100
hospitalbeds,inapproximately15,000hospitals.Muchoftheruralpopulationlacksreadyaccessto
professionalservices.In2001,1.8percentofgovernmentexpenditurewasspentonhealthcare.
Social-welfareprogrammeshavebeenparticularlyinevidenceinsuchareasasfamily-planning,
variouskindsofemergencyrelief,andcarefortheDalits,whoareprotectedbylawbutstillsubjectto
muchharassment.Workerscompensationisprovidedbylaw.
GOVERNMENT
TheRepublicofIndiaisgovernedaccordingtotheprovisionsofaconstitutionadoptedin1949and
amendedfrequentlysince.ItincorporatesvariousfeaturesoftheconstitutionalsystemsoftheUnited
Kingdom,theUnitedStates,andotherWesterndemocracies.
Bythetermsoftheconstitution,IndiaisasovereigndemocraticrepublicwithintheCommonwealthof
Nations.ThegovernmentisfederalinitsstructureandIndiaisaunionofstatesandcentrally
administeredunionterritories.Thereare28states,6unionterritories,andtheNationalCapital
TerritoryofDelhi.