SOCIAL PROBLEMS IN INDIA

INTRODUCTION
The country is a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic with a parliamentary
system of government. Though India has shown tremendous growth in all spheres of
national life in the years after independence, yet many problems plague the everyday social
life; the problems, many a time, are interrelated. Poverty, Population, Pollution, Illiteracy,
Corruption, Inequality, Gender discrimination, Terrorism, Communalism, Lack of
Infrastructure, Unemployment, Regionalism, Casteism, Alcoholism, Drugs Abuse, Violence
against women is some of the major ones.
Contemporary Indian society is flecked with numerous issues that are labelled as social
problems. Some of them are age-old, and some are of recent origin that have erupted owing
to the change in global socio-political order. A social problem, in general, is the condition
which is not ideal and disrupts the balance of a society. A dictionary of sociology defines
social problems as, “any undesirable condition or situation that is judged by an influential
number of persons within a community to be intolerable and to require group action toward
constructive reform”.
Another widely used definition specifies that “no condition, no matter how dramatic or
shocking to someone else, is a social problem unless and until the values of a considerable
number of people define it as a problem”.

Sociology has emerged as a discipline which systematically studies social behaviour or

society, including its origins, development, organisation, networks, and institutions and
problems. The American Sociological Association defines Sociology as “the study of social
life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behaviour”. To a
sociologist, a social problem is an issue that negatively affects a person’s state of being in a
society. We often see social issues from our personal viewpoints, interpreting actions at
face value, i.e. a micro (small- scale) view. Using only a micro point of view is detrimental to
a holistic and genuine understanding of the world. It can negatively influence our
understanding of events while applying sociological imagination, and considering that an
individual might act and respond because of a number of reasons.
The shift is to look at social problems in relation to other aspects of society like economy,
culture, or religion. The sociological imagination is stimulated by a willingness to view the
social world from the perspective of others. It involves moving from thinking about the
individual and his problems, and focusing on social, economic, and historical circumstances
that produce the problem. 
 POVERTY
Poverty is humiliation, the sense of being dependent on them, and of being forced to accept
rudeness, insults, and indifference when we seek help. In the simplest term, poverty may be defined
as a social condition where individuals do not have financial means to meet the most basic standards
of life that is acceptable by the society. Individuals experiencing poverty do not have the means to
pay for basic needs of daily life like food, clothes and shelter.

Poverty also staves people off from accessing much needed social tools of well-being like education
and health requirements. The direct consequences stemming from this problem are hunger,
malnutrition and susceptibility to diseases which have been identified as major problems across the
world. It impacts individuals in a socio-psychological way with them not being able to afford simple
recreational activities and getting progressively marginalized in the society.

The term poverty is interconnected with the notion of the poverty line/ threshold that may be
defined as the minimum figure of income that is required in a particular country for maintaining the
socially acceptable quality of life in terms of nutritional, clothing and sheltering needs. 

CAUSES OF POVERTY
1. Demographic :- the main factor that contributes to poverty-ridden state of the country from
a demographical point of view is the problem of over population. The growth of population
in the country has so far exceeded the growth in economy and the gross result is that the
poverty figures have remained more or less consistent.
2. Poor Agricultural Infrastructure:- Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy. But
outdated farming practices, lack of proper irrigation infrastructure and even lack of formal
knowledge of crop handling has affected the productivity in this sector tremendously.
3. Unequal distribution of assets – with the economy changing directions rapidly, the
earning structure evolves differently in different economic income groups. Upper
and middle income groups see a faster increase in earnings than lower income
groups. 
4. Unemployment – another major economic factor that is causative of poverty.
5. Gender inequality–the weak status attached with women, deep-rooted social
marginalization and long embedded perceptions of domesticity renders about 50% of the
country’s population unable to work. 
6. Individual – individual lack of efforts also contribute towards generating poverty.
Some people are unwilling to work hard or even not willing to work altogether,
leaving their families in the darkness of poverty. 
7. Political – in India, socio-economic reform strategies has been largely directed by
political interest and are implemented to serve a choice section of the society that is
potentially a deciding factor in the elections.
8. Climatic – maximum portion of India experiences a tropical climate throughout the
year that is not conducive to hard manual labour leading to lowering of productivity
and the wages suffer consequently.
SOLUTIONS FOR POVERTY
The measures that should be taken to fight the demon of poverty in India are outlined
below:-
1. Growth of population at the current rate should be checked by implementation of policies
and awareness promoting birth control.
2. All efforts should be made to increase the employment opportunities in the country,
either by inviting more foreign investments or by encouraging self-employment schemes.
3. Measures should be taken to bridge the immense gap that remains in distribution in
wealth among different levels of the society.
4. Certain Indian states are more poverty stricken than others like Odhisha and the North
East states. Government should seek to encourage investment in these states by offering
special concessions on taxes.
5. Primary needs of people for attaining a satisfactory quality of life like food items, clean
drinking water should be available more readily. Improvement of the Subsidy rates on
commodities and Public Distribution system should be made. Free high school education
and an increased number of functioning health centers should be provided by the
government.

UNEMPLOYMENT
Unemployment is a situation where in the person willing to work fails to find a job that
earns him/her a living. Unemployment has been considered as one of the biggest problems
of India. Unemployment is a situation when a person actively searches for a job and is
unable to find work. Unemployment indicates the health of the economy. 
The unemployment rate is the most frequent measure of unemployment. The
unemployment rate is the number of people unemployed divided by the working population
or people working under labour force.

TYPES OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN INDIA

1. Disguised Unemployment: This is a type of unemployment where people employed
are more than actually needed. Disguised unemployment is generally traced in
unorganised sectors or the agricultural sectors.
2. Structural Unemployment: This unemployment arises when there is a mismatch
between the worker’s skills and availability of jobs in the market. Many people in
India do not get job matching to their skills or due to lack of required skills they do
not get jobs and because of poor education level, it becomes important to provide
them related training. 
 3. Seasonal Unemployment: That situation of unemployment when people do not
have work during certain seasons of the year such as labourers in India rarely have
occupation throughout the year.
4. Vulnerable Unemployment: People are deemed unemployed under this
unemployment. People are employed but informally i.e. without proper job
contracts and thus records of their work are never maintained. It is one of the main
types of unemployment in India.
5. Technological Unemployment: the situation when people lose their jobs due to
advancement in technologies. In 2016, the data of the World Bank predicted that the
proportion of jobs threatened by automation in India is 69% year-on-year.
6. Cyclical Unemployment: unemployment caused due to the business cycle, where
the number of unemployed heads rises during recessions and declines with the
growth of the economy. Cyclical unemployment figures in India are negligible. 
7. Frictional Unemployment: this is a situation when people are unemployed for a
short span of time while searching for a new job or switching between  jobs.
Frictional Unemployment also called Search Unemployment, is the time lag between
the jobs. Frictional unemployment is considered as voluntary unemployment
because the reason for unemployment is not a shortage of jobs, but in fact, the
workers themselves quit their jobs in search of better opportunities.

CAUSES OF UNEMPLOYMENT
The major causes of unemployment in India are as mentioned below:

1. Large population.
2. Lack of vocational skills or low educational levels of the working population.
3. Labour-intensive sectors suffering from the slowdown in private investment particularly
after demonetisation.
4. The low productivity in the agriculture sector plus the lack of alternative opportunities for
agricultural workers that makes transition among the three sectors difficult.
5. Legal complexities, Inadequate state support, low infrastructural, financial and market
linkages to small businesses making such enterprises unviable with cost and compliance
overruns.
6. Inadequate growth of infrastructure and low investments in the manufacturing sector,
hence restricting the employment potential of the secondary sector.
7. The huge workforce of the country is associated with the informal sector because of a lack of
required education or skills, and this data is not captured in employment statistics.
8. The main cause of structural unemployment is the education provided in schools and
colleges are not as per the current requirements of the industries. 
9. Regressive social norms that deter women from taking/continuing employment.

POPULATION EXPLOSION
Population explosion is also known as over population. Overpopulation is a usually
unwanted condition where an organism’s numbers surpass the carrying capacity of
its habitat. The term often refers to the relationship between the human population and
its environment, the Earth, or smaller geographical areas such as countries. Overpopulation
can outcome from an increase in births, a decline in mortality rates, an increase in
immigration, or an unsustainable biome and depletion of resources. It is likely for very
meagerly populated areas to be overpopulated if the area has a meager or non-existent
potential to maintain life.The population has been rising constantly since the end of
the Black Death, around the year 1400, although the most considerable increase has been in
the last 50 years, mainly due to medical advancements and increases in agricultural yield.

CAUSES
This unstable growth came about because death rate fell quicker than birth rate. The
availability of antibiotics, immunization, clean water, increased rate of food production
yielded tremendous improvements in new born and child ethics. A rise in normal life
expectancy has also contributed to the surge in the human numbers.

EFFECT OF POPULATION EXPLOSION

1. Reduction of natural resources, mainly fossil fuels.
2. Improved levels of air pollution, water pollution, soil contamination and noise
pollution. Once a country has industrialized and become wealthy, a mishmash of
government regulation and technological improvement causes pollution to turn
down substantially, even as the population continues to raise.
3. Deforestation and failure of ecosystems that sustain global atmospheric oxygen and
carbon dioxide equilibrium; about eight million hectares of forest are lost each year.
4. Changes in atmospheric composition and consequent global warming.
5. Insufficient fresh water for drinking as well as sewage
treatment and effluent ejection. Some countries, like Saudi Arabia, use energy-
expensive desalination to resolve the problem of water shortages.

CHILD ABUSE AND CHILD LABOUR

Child labour and exploitation are the result of many factors, including poverty, social norms
condoning them, lack of decent work opportunities for adults and adolescents, migration and
emergencies. These factors are not only the cause but also a consequence of social inequities
reinforced by discrimination. The continuing persistence of child labour and exploitation poses
a threat to national economies and has severe negative short and long-term consequences
for children such as denial of education and undermining physical and mental health. Child
trafficking is also linked to child labour and it always results in child abuse. Trafficked
children face all forms of abuse-physical, mental, sexual and emotional. Trafficked children
are subjected to prostitution, forced into marriage or illegally adopted; they provide cheap
or unpaid labour, are forced to work as house servants or beggars and may be recruited into
armed groups. Trafficking exposes children to violence, sexual abuse and HIV infection. Child
labour and other forms of exploitation are preventable through integrated approaches that
strengthen child protection systems as well as simultaneously addressing poverty and
inequity, improve access to and quality of education and mobilize public support for
respecting children’s rights. Teachers and others in the education system can be frontline
supporters to protect children and can alert other stakeholders such as social workers to
situations where children display signs of distress or indicate they work long hours. Getting
children out of work and into school also requires broader changes in public policy to
empower families to choose education over exploitative labour.

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Violence occurs in about 35 per cent of women globally in their lifetime. In a study done in
India, on about 10000 women, 26 per cent reported having experienced physical violence
from spouses during their lifetime. The prevalence could be as high as 45 per cent as
indicated by data from Uttar Pradesh. Latest figures from the National Crime Records
Bureau show that a crime was recorded against women every three minutes. Every hour, at
least two women are sexually assaulted and every six hours, a young married woman is
beaten to death, burnt or driven to suicide. It is appalling to learn that 28.4 per cent of
pregnant women suffer domestic violence. As a result of violence, women suffer social
isolation, unemployment, income loss, poor self-care and fail to provide childcare, which is a
grave concern. United Nations defines ‘violence against women’ as “any act of gender-based
violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering
to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty,
whether occurring in public or in private life” The role of health professionals in providing
care for the survivors can be better understood and addressed from the perspective of the
WHO. Intimate partner violence with sexual violence is associated with high risk of
pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV infection. Hence, there is a need to
sensitize the doctors who will be able to immediately initiate prophylaxis for pregnancy,
STDs and post-HIV exposure in survivors. Other symptoms which need to be addressed,
include wounds, lacerations, cuts, bruises, contusions, menstrual disorders, vaginal
discharge, dizziness, severe sexual dysfunction, and memory loss. Violence leads to mental
disorders such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety disorders, self-
harm and sleep disorders. Chronic violence of increased severity is associated with severe
depressive disorders.

ILLITERACY
Literacy is defined as the ability to read and write. It is an evolving concept which not only
entails the grasping abilities of printed text but also the abilities to adapt visual entities and
technological awareness as well. It happens to be a multi-dimensional concept which keeps
on adding new parameters to it with respect to the developments that are taking place in a
globalized world. According to the UNESCO, “Literacy is the ability to identify, understand,
interpret, create, communicate and compute using printed and written materials associated
with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to
achieve their goals to develop their knowledge and potential and to participate fully in their
community and wider society”.

CAUSES
Illiteracy in India is a problem which has complex dimensions attached to it. Illiteracy in India is more
or less concerned with different forms of disparities that exist in the country. There are gender
imbalances, income imbalances, state imbalances, caste imbalances, technological barriers which
shape the literacy rates that exist in the country. India possesses the largest illiterate population.
Literacy rates stood at 82.14 percent for men in 2011 and 65.46 percent for women. This low female
literacy is also responsible for the dependency of women on men for activities which requires them
to read and write. Thus, this all leads to the formation of a vicious circle. Again, it is no new concept
that the rich households will have better access to educational facilities as compared to the poor
households. Poor households due to the lack of skills and knowledge involve themselves with
unskilled labour in order to save bread for the family, thus, this reduces the focus from achieving
education as the main focus deviates to earning income so as to be able to survive in the society.
States that spend more on education seem to have a higher literacy rates as to the states which do
not invest heavily on education.

EFFECTS
The biggest effect of illiteracy in India is poverty, as per our study. Poverty also happens to
be the single biggest cause of illiteracy in India and a precursor to all other effects. The
inability to attain basic nutritious and potable water are the more popularly quoted effects
of poverty in India, but the king of the hill when it comes to effects that can fracture an
individual remains illiteracy. After all, it is one of those things that actually lets people pick
themselves up and out of poverty, even if they have to do it by the way of their bootstraps.
The thing about illiteracy in India and its effects is that they all compound together to form a
burden that is passed on from generation to generation and if history is any indication, it is
one that has been increasing with each generational shift and with each year added to the
calendar.

TERRORISM
Definitions of terrorism exist, most take into account what are widely regarded as the three
defining features of terrorism: (a) the use of violence; (b) the goal of making people afraid;
and (c) the desire for political, social, economic, and/or cultural change. A popular definition
by political scientist Ted Robert Gurr (1989, p. 201) captures these features: “The use of
unexpected violence to intimidate or coerce people in the pursuit of political or social
objectives.”

TYPES OF TERRORISM
1. Vigilante terrorism is committed by private citizens against other private citizens.
Sometimes the motivation is racial, ethnic, religious, or other hatred, and sometimes
the motivation is to resist social change. The violence of racist groups like the Ku Klux
Klan was vigilante terrorism, as was the violence used by white Europeans against
 Native Americans from the 1600s through the 1800s. What we now call “hate crime”
is a contemporary example of vigilante terrorism.
2. Insurgent terrorism is committed by private citizens against their own government
or against businesses and institutions seen as representing the “establishment.”
3. Transnational terrorism is committed by the citizens of one nation against targets in
another nation. This is the type that has most concerned Americans at least since
9/11, yet 9/11 was not the first time Americans had been killed by international
terrorism.
4. State terrorism involves violence by a government that is meant to frighten its own
citizens and thereby stifle their dissent. State terrorism may involve mass murder,
assassinations, and torture.

IMPACT
The major impact of terrorism is apparent from its definition, which emphasizes public fear
and intimidation.
 Another significant impact of terrorism is the response to it. As mentioned earlier, the 9/11
attacks led the United States to develop an immense national security network that defies
description and expense, as well as the Patriot Act and other measures that some say
threaten civil liberties; to start the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; and to spend more than $3
trillion in just one decade on homeland security and the war against terrorism.

DRUG ABUSE AND DRUG ADDICTION

Abuse of alcohol and drugs is a worldwide problem. In countries of the South Asian region
including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, the drugs commonly abused are
heroin, cannabis, opium, and pharmaceutical preparations. Abuse of alcohol and tobacco in
combinations with other drugs also is seen in these countries. Abuse of drugs not only poses
a threat to the individual’s health but consequently gives rise to socioeconomic problems.
Alcohol and drug abuse cause stress in a family and drain national resources. This paper is
based on available research data and the author’s research work in the field. The paper
discusses social consequences of drug abuse in the South Asian region, covering social issues
with respect to family, society, gender, young people, work, crime, violence, and cost. The
discussion has implications for developing treatment and prevention strategies. Studies
show that drug abuse leads to poverty and family breakdown.
Reports show a substantial percentage of women drug addicts are divorced, separated, and
widowed (India and Sri Lanka). Women abusers are more marginalized from society than
men and suffer greatly when a member of the family abuses drugs. Treatment facilities for
women are limited, stigmatizing, and not suited to their needs. A survey also revealed that
36 percent of addicts manifested unwanted behavior and that more than 80 percent of
addicts indulged in domestic violence.
Abuse of drugs below age 7 has been reported as well as initiation of alcohol and tobacco as
early as age 7–10 and of heroin and cannabis at age 18–20. Evidence also supports the
association of drugs and crime. Crimes include drug peddling, petty crimes, and road
accidents committed under the influence of alcohol.
A survey in India reported that two-fifths of addicts came in conflict with the law. Drug
addiction had an impact on work; almost three-fourths of addicts were unable to work, and
students could not attend to their studies. Drug addiction was the reason for change of job
in nearly half of workers changing jobs. As regards the employers’ response, three-fourths
sympathized and advised; jobs of 11 percent of abusers were terminated; and 8 percent of
employers accepted the drug abuse habit of the employee. The societal cost of drug abuse
is enormous and multifaceted. Young people seem to find great solace in the fact that adults
often use drugs to cope with stress and other life factors. One cannot deny that many
countries today are drug-oriented societies, but the implications of drug use are not
necessarily the same for the adult as they are for the adolescent. The adult has already
acquired some sense of identity and purpose in life. He or she has come to grips with the
problems of love and sex, has some degree of economic and social skill, and has
been integrated or at least assimilated into some dominant social order. Whereas the adult
may turn to drugs and alcohol for many of the same reasons as the adolescent, drug use
does not necessarily prevent the adult from remaining productive, discharging obligations,
maintaining emotional and occupational ties, acknowledging the rights and authority of
others, accepting restrictions, and planning for the future.
The adolescent, in contrast, is apt to become ethnocentric and egocentric with drug usage.
The individual withdraws within a narrow drug culture and within himself or herself. Drug
usage for many adolescents represents a neglect of responsibilities at a time when more
important developmental experiences are required. The opiates are unrivalled in their ability
to relieve pain. Opium is the dried milky exudate obtained from the unripe seed pods of
the opium poppy plant (Papaver somniferum), which grows naturally throughout most of
Turkey. Of the 20 or more alkaloids found in opium, only a few are pharmacologically active.
The important constituents of opium are morphine (10 percent), papaverine (1
percent), codeine (0.5 percent), and thebaine (0.2 percent). (Papaverine is pharmacologically
distinct from the narcotic agents and is essentially devoid of effects on the central nervous
system.) About 1804 a young German apothecary’s assistant named F.W.A. Sertürner
isolated crystalline morphine as the active analgesic principle of opium. Codeine is
considerably less potent (one-sixth) and is obtained from morphine. Diacetylmorphine—
or heroin—was developed from morphine by the Bayer Company of Germany in 1898 and is
5 to 10 times as potent as morphine itself. Opiates are not medically ideal. Tolerance is
developed quite rapidly and completely in the more important members of the group,
morphine and heroin, and they are highly addictive. In addition, they produce respiratory
depression and frequently cause nausea and emesis. As a result, there has been constant
search for synthetic substitutes: meperidine (Demerol), first synthesized in Germany in 1939,
is a significant addition to the group of analgesics, being one-tenth as potent as
morphine; alphaprodine (Nisentil) is one-fifth as potent as morphine but is rapid-acting;
methadone, synthesized in Germany during World War II These synthetics exhibit a more
favourable tolerance factor than the more potent of the opiates, but in being addictive they
fall short of an ideal analgesic.

CONCLUSION
The essay points out the definition of social problems in India. It also points out the five
major social problems such as poverty, unemployment, population explosion, child abuse,
child labour and various other social problems. Out of the five poverty is the most prevalent
problem. The government of India has come up with many programmes to control such
problems that hinder the development of the country.

REFERENCES
Social problems in India – RAM AHUJA

SUBMITTED TO :-
MISS DURGA
CHRIST COLLEGE, IRINJALAKUDA
THRISSUR

SUBMITTED BY :-
K GAYATHRI VENUGOPAL MENON
3rd DC PSYCHOLOGY, 778
CHRIST COLLEGE, IRINJALAKUDA