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This paper is published in “ The Geographer, Vol.58 No.

2,pp 17-27,July 2011,


Aligarh”.

Geography as a discipline in India: Problems and Prospects

Arun K. Singh
Associate Professor (Geography)
Banaras Hindu University,Varanasi
Abstract: Human beings have been interacting with environment since the dawn of
civilisation and its spatial expression has been the focal theme of geographers. Perusal of
Sanskrit literature reveals that they are the sources of geographic description of a place
(regional) and phenomena (man-nature symbiotic relationship) which forms the base of
geography. Ancient hermits and sages were the first generation geographers of ancient India.
Even today the concept of five vital elements (land, water, fire, sky and air as Panch Bhootas)
is the essential ingredients of geographic subject matter. However, as an independent
discipline geography in India is only around hundred years old initially introduced at school
level and thereafter at the college and university level in the Ist quarter of 20th century. From
initial gene centres it diffused in different directions across the country and presently there are
around hundred universities imparting geography teaching and research. In the last 85 years ,
evolutionary process of the discipline has witnessed changes on academic and perceptual
fronts both. Currents of globalisation, economic reforms and advancement in information
technology have changed the persona of geography and made it socially more relevant. Still
there has been an intense debate among the professional and non professional geographers at
various academic platforms on the usefulness, opportunities and challenges faced by the
discipline in India. This paper tries to identify the dimension of problems at academic and
perceptual levels faced by geography and geographers in India. Scope of the study is limited
to the geography at college and university level. View expressed by contemporary
geographers at various platforms or through writings and the reports forms the
methodological base of this paper.

Introduction:

The term discipline has its root in two Latin words disciplina, which means teaching and
learning, and disciplulus, which means pupil. In the academic realm it means “to impose
order,” (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 2008, 356). Allen Repko(2008) defined a
discipline as “a particular branch of learning or body of knowledge whose defining
elements—[its] phenomena, assumptions, epistemology, concepts, theories, and methods—
distinguish it from other knowledge formations” . Geography as a discipline is the study of
the field of knowledge relating to the temporal and spatial dimensions of the processes and
pattern that shape the Earth’s surface. Implicit in it is the ways in which diverse systems
interact over time, producing particular landscapes at particular places. Man has been
interacting with environment right from the early stage of human civilisation and its spatial
expression has been the focal theme of geographers. Our ancient literature belonging to
different cults and sects give the beautiful geographic description of a place (regional) and
phenomena(man-nature symbiotic relationship) which still forms the foundation base of
geography. Malviya(1956) rightly remarks that ancient hermits and sages who had great love
for exploration and expedition could be termed as the geographers of ancient India. The spirit
of adventure of the ancient people led to the foundation of knowledge base which could
develop into the science of geography later on. Even today the concept of Panch Tatva (Five
vital elements of life support system) probably forms the content of different branches of
geography. However, geography as a systematic discipline in India is around hundred year
old. Initially it was introduced at school level in the last quarter of 19th century whereas at the
college and university level it started in the early twenties of the last century at three centres
(Panjab, Patna and Aligarh) from where diffusion took place in different directions and today
it is taught in 96 universities of this country. In the last eighty five years there has been
constant change in its content, philosophy and methodology as a consequence of changing
paradigms which has been stressed and emphasised at different fora in different forms. The
first conspicuous effort in this direction was in Aligarh Muslim University (Jan.1956) where
an international geography seminar was organised. The first session of the seminar was
focussed on problems of geography teaching. The seminar explicitly accepted a shift from
traditional to modern approach. Sircar in the same seminar very categorically spelt out three
aims which any discipline is supposed to fulfil. First, it educates the people with their
surroundings and environment. Second, it prepares man for certain specific profession. Third,
it prepares specialists in various branches of geography who would advance the geographical
knowledge by taking place in universities. Any appraisal of geography as discipline needs to
be examined in this context because ultimately it is job opportunity which attracts students
towards any subject. The UGC set up first Review Committee in Geography in 1965, with
Professor S.P. Chatterjee as Chairman. The Committee made a critical analysis of geography
syllabi taught in Indian Universities and Colleges at post-graduate and under-graduate levels,
examined the existing facilities for teaching and research and recommended introducing field
training in geography and improvement in examination system. The second Review

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Committee, appointed in 1986 under the chairmanship of Prof. G.S. Gosal with an objective
to modernise and restructure the curriculum in the light of further developments in the
knowledge and the need of the time, made certain recommendations like introducing semester
system of teaching and credit system of evaluation and home assignments, list of books and
journals to be consulted, list of equipments for geography labs and introduction of ‘refresher’
courses for the teachers to upgrade and update their knowledge for effective teaching of new
course-contents. In 1999, the U.G.C. appointed a panel of experts which examined the course-
contents of thirty universities; reviewed the academic and infrastructure facilities and
upgraded and reframed the courses as per requirement of the time.
Problems of Geography in teaching, training and research
As title of this paper reads ‘Geography as a discipline in India: Problems and Prospects’
two pertinent questions arise as ‘whose problem’ and ‘problem in what context?’ Whether
problem of geography as a discipline or problem of geographer as practitioner of geography.
To me it appears that geography and geographer cannot be seen separately and problem of
one will have its repercussions on the other. So in this paper an effort is made to identify the
problems faced by geography as a discipline and problems of geographers at perceptual levels
and to highlight probable prospects in terms of avenues and opportunities. The academic
status of geography and its role in national construction and international understanding are
interdependent. Academic excellence will prepare for a more meaningful and concrete role in
economic and social development and active participation in the solution of problem of
natural and global concern will strengthen academic base and enhance our credibility as a
discipline. Shafi(1983) remarks there is a great need of creating an awareness and
consciousness among people in general and planners and administrators in particular about
the scope and subject matter of geography and what role geographers can play in society
building. But the greatest weakness (sometimes claimed as the greatest strength) is that
geography is not exclusively involved with a single view of the society at par but is concerned
with the problems involved in complex interrelations and with the human consequences as
well as the physical facts involved in practical and real world problems. The scope of
geography is a source of strength in two ways. Firstly in training the students to identify the
elements and analyse them rationally in both empirical and conceptual terms and secondly
develop the competence concerned with handling the geographical problems of the
contemporary world by means of literacy, graphicacy and numeracy.
In the last five decades the teaching of geography as a discipline has witnessed massive
change in its contents, methodology and philosophy and there is a shift from descriptive to
analytical approach, qualitative to quantitative method and from conventional cartographic to

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computer aided cartography, remote sensing and GIS techniques. Misra(1983) has a mixed
feeling about the state of geography in India. He states geography in India started with strong
physical base and most of the then geographers were from geology or physics background.
But with a shift from physical base to economic base the Indian geography started facing the
problem of marginalisation of physical geography. Consequently Indian geographers failed to
contribute substantially in understanding and solving the environmental problems in sixties.
The curriculum is heavily tilted towards human geography and the concept of economic,
social, cultural and psychological man figures prominently in the conceptual framework of
human geography. An understanding of the totality of nature is necessary for developing good
analysis and synthesis in geography. The concept of eco-system and eco-development and
the unity of the system of interdependencies through the mechanism of interactions between
social man and non-human nature and the growing realisation that the man must learn to live
in harmony with nature, calls for a new perspective and a new understanding of the complex
and dynamic environment in the name of integrated physical geography needs to be evolved
which would take into account the environment and the spatial element of it. If such a step is
not taken up the physical geography may cease to be an integrated part of geographical
studies (Dayal-1994). Geography in India is one of the rare examples of an established
discipline in which little attention is paid to the teaching of disciplinary structure i.e.
philosophical and methodological base. Usually and more conventionally a paper on
geographical thought is taken up at PG level (rarely at UG level) which starts with
contribution of two classical German geographers (Humboldt and Ritter) and hardly have we
gone beyond the so called quantitative revolution. The history and evolution of Indian
Geographical thought till the end of 20th century has remained absent and unexplored.
Geography is a field science and ‘it is learnt by foot”, was a popular expression of Professor
VLS Prakasa Rao in the classroom, implying the importance and relevance of field work in
geography (Nagia-2001). Fieldwork has always been complementary to instrumental surveys
or class room input. Hence its purpose should be making familiar with the areas which have
been taught in class room. Before going for such fieldwork, homework at the level of teacher
and students are required regarding what will be the theme, how to enquire/ investigate and
document and how to present them in report. But the way field work is carried out lose its
academic temperament and has turned into sightseeing programme. Mukerji’s statement in
this context is worth mentioning “Indian geography is suffering from malnutrition created by
the lack of field work. It is marginal, weak and sometimes non-existent”.

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Training may be understood as a planned process aiming towards knowledge input, skill
development and change in attitude for the sake of better performance. Training in geography
in India is neither rigorous nor systematic because of several reasons like high teacher-student
ratio which hinders the skill development process, poor infrastructure and less commitment of
the teachers and students both leading to further downgrading of teacher. Teaching is the only
profession in India in which there is no formal training at the entry point. In such case, a
newly appointed teacher going for delivering lecture is not at all concerned with the entry
behaviour and talks about what he has learnt or prepared on the topic. If at all any type of
such training is required, it is for career advancement and comes in the form of orientation or
refresher courses. But there is no specific module for such courses, hardly any attention is
paid to the skill development aspect and it remains only knowledge input. Indian Institute of
Remote Sensing, Dehra Dun organises eight weeks training programme on Remote Sensing
and GIS for the teaching faculty of universities and colleges with a view to make them aware
about the new technology. Similarly some training programmes are organised by NATMO,
Kolkata on payment basis which focuses on map making with the help of Remote Sensing
GIS technology. It is high time that the National Association of Geographers, India and the
University Grants Commission should come up with common eight weeks module for
induction course at the entry level and the components of the module should have components
like introduction to geography as field of study, its evolution as a discipline and its place in
the arena of natural sciences and social sciences; teaching techniques and research
methodology specific to geographic data collection and analysis using different cartographic
non cartographic techniques; thematic study focussing on selected branches of geography and
contemporary issues and its geographic implications and expressions.

Research is the process of enquiry and discovery. Present status and future prospect of any
discipline can be assessed on the basis of quality of research papers published in journals and
books. Misra(1983) expresses his concerns on the nature and quality of research being carried
out in major Indian universities and list out the responsible factors. Gill (2003) is satisfied
with the quantity of research being undertaken in in different universities but is worried about
the quality of research as they face a series of theoretical, conceptual and methodological
shortcomings. There has been a growing tendency to apply foreign models to the Indian
setting whose context is unique and as such the methodology and constructs have to be
validated in an Indian frame of reference so that the interpretation would carry a sense of
realism and relevance for planning and policy. Another problem related to the research is the
rampant use of sophisticated advanced statistical techniques without understanding the

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philosophy, spirit, purpose and rationale of such techniques. One important shortcoming of
geographical research is “our tendency to pursue the subject without engaging ourselves on
questions regarding its spirit and purpose” (Dikshit-1991).Geographic studies conducted in
such a vacuum are bound to fall short of their research objectives. The reason for such type of
research is the availability of data which act as inspiration in this regard and helps in
publishing research papers or books (Mukerji-1991).Another general shortcoming in doctoral
research is repetition of more or less the same research theme under different titles. This is
more commonly seen in the studies related to urban morphology, demarcation of umland,
land use pattern, distributional pattern of population taking case study of any spatial unit
(block,tehsil,district). Even the thesis writing pattern remains similar starting with location,
geology and relief of the area under study followed by socio-cultural aspects and ends with
some policy recommendations. There are repetitions of contents in terms of data shown in
table, carto/graphically represented and finally described in words. Commitment of researcher
has also made a negative impact on the overall research status. If researchers are interested in
some other careers like banking services, administrative services or any other services and
they are there just because they are getting some financial assistance from any source, then
the research would be their last priority which is reflected in their attitude at every step of
research process starting from selection of topic to synopsis writing, data collection, writing
thesis and its evaluation culminating in appointment of experts and examiners of their own
choice irrespective of the title/area of the work. At the research front we can simply say that
goals are still blurred, lacking in direction and practical pragmatism, some may even venture
to say that the soul is missing.
Problem of Isolation, Invasion and Identity
Britishers used geographic tools to measure, collect, organise and document the geographical
facts of India. Survey of India was set up in 1767 with an objective of preparing maps and
providing greater details of the geography of the area. Seeking precision in locating and
measuring the land, the surveyors imported instruments like plane table (1793), prismatic
compass (1815) and theodolite (1819) from their homeland but no Indians were either trained
or involved in this large venture. In the same vein many other departments with an objective
of apprising the country’s resource potential were set up but geography’s education and
training never got required attention in spite of the fact that knowledge and understanding of
local geography is essential ingredient for any such endeavour. It took around 75 years to set
up a department of geography since the first geography came into existence in India in spite
of its applied value, presence in European universities and establishment of Indian
universities. Such delay speaks about the step motherly treatment right from the very

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beginning and is still continuing in one form or the other sometimes from within and
sometimes from outside the discipline. Consequently the discipline is encountered with the
problems of identity, isolation and invasion. The issue of identity and space of geography is
related to the degree to which it helps the society in resolving its problem and the position
held by its practitioners in intellectual circles, govt. set up and policy and planning bodies.
The image of geography as a social science/humanities or natural science seems to be an
endless story. Many Indian geographers like Kapur, Dutt and Prasad have shown their
concerns about the image and identity of Indian geography. Singh(2009) call it as a holistic
discipline and the legacy of inter-disciplinarity of geography needs to be advocated and
asserted. But sometimes the dogma of holistic discipline makes us the jack of all trade with no
mastery. Being as one of the most preferred subjects in the most prestigious civil services
examinations geography is termed as ‘Aaloo’ which can be mixed (opted) with any other
vegetable (subject) remarks one of the successful candidates with Engineering Background.
Once I asked one of the UG students how geography will help him in getting
employment/livelihood. His instantaneous response was ‘it will help me in becoming
Ameen/lekhpal(a cutting-edge level functionary of revenue department in the state govt.)
where I will use the surveying instruments in preparing village level cadastral map’. I asked
the same question to a trainee Deputy Collector with geography background during PRA
session. He responded that it would help him in making resource appraisal, preparing micro
plans and in developing resource inventory. These responses are the reflections of image in
the mind of people in general. Mukerji(1991) through his writing ‘what ails Indian
geography’ has raised the voice with grief, frustration and self introspection that Indian
geography must search its own identity, space and root lying in the creativity of geographers.
Another problem faced by Indian geography is the isolation which comes out of its
historicity. From the very beginning, modern geography as a field of scientific learning has
occupied a strange status between natural and social sciences. The root of the problems lay in
the fact that under the prevailing concept of science in 18th century Europe, it was believed
that any field of scientific study can either be man centred or nature centred but not both.
Geography being focussed on man’s relationship with nature in an area and was represented
as a cross breed discipline belonged neither to one nor to other (Dikshit 2001).This resulted
into the complete isolation from the mainstream intellectual discourse. Another reason for
academic isolation is that geography could not become a universalising discipline in the
manner of other physical or biological sciences because it lacked a well defined subject matter
of its own. Similarly it also failed to develop as a social science since there was no focused
attempt to mould the discipline in the direction, so that the space was treated independent of

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time and social organisation in which it was rooted. Other factor which has led to the isolation
of discipline was its close interlink with the concept of environmental determinism in the late
19th and early 20th century and with the rejection of environmentalism and physical-external
explanations of social processes and formation of human consciousness, human geography
was thrown out of the bathwater of environmental determinism. Another source of
disciplinary isolation was that through a faulty interpretation of Kant’s scheme of the division
of knowledge, geography had favoured a goal of investigation independent of the goal of
other sciences, so that “In our search of thirdly faulty interpretation of Kant’s scheme of the
division of knowledge has also contributed towards academic isolation of geography.
Controversies of a philosophical and methodological character are dialectical in nature and
may lead to progress. But too much of controversies might shake the very foundation of the
subject and results in waste of talent in a futile discourse, creating more heat than light in the
process. It is in this context that the great controversies that raged in geography
(determinism vs. Possibilism, nomothetic vs. Idiographic, physical vs. Human, theoretical vs.
Empirical, micro vs. Macro,regional vs. Systematic etc. Need to be examined in the Indian
context (Reddy 1982).The concept of eco-system and eco-development and the unity of the
system of interdependencies through the mechanism of interactions between social man and
non-human nature and the growing realisation that the man must learn to live in harmony with
nature, calls for a new perspective and a new understanding of the complex and dynamic
environment in the name of integrated physical geography needs to be evolved which would
take into account the environment and the spatial element of it. If such a step is not taken up
the physical geography may cease to be an integrated part of geographical studies (Dayal-
1994). As pointed out by Mukerji(1991)fizzling physical geography is unquestionably one of
the greatest ailments Indian geography is suffering which and will lead to the final collapse
of geography in India. Because of this negligence our traditional domain i.e. physical
environment (the study of earth surface as abode of man: Hartshorne-1959) has been invaded
by environmental scientists, botanists, zoologists, geologists and ecologists.

Kapur(2004) holds view that Geography in India is a legitimate social science yet it is
sidetracked and ignored. She raises several questions like Is it that other social sciences have a
blurred perception of geography? Is it the absence of geographers from social science
institutes? Or is it that geographers could not establish their credentials as social scientists?
Reacting to the views of Kapur, Dutt states that instead of asking such questions from others
it is high time to introspect ourselves academically by asking few pertinent questions like Is
Indian geography indeed a social science. If the question is yes then why universities like

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Sagar, Banaras, Chennai and many others include geography in the faculty of science and take
pride of claiming a pseudo science status. Is it a 'relevant' social science capable of solving
real world socio-cultural problem? Are Indian geographers being able to communicate and
convince about their contribution in shaping the society. Finally how our works are different
from others. Kapur gives some examples of the discipline's exclusion from stock-taking of
social sciences in India. Dutt states “I too have suffered from such gross omissions. Even in
job advertisements, for example, if a 'social scientist' is required for teaching 'research
methodology', then geography is almost never explicitly mentioned whilst it is quite the
reverse in the case of other disciplines such as political science or history.” This view further
gets stamped if we take the courses offered and the faculty lists of the two institutes (IIFM,
Bhopal and IIRS Dehradun). IIFM, Bhopal is a premiere institution engaged in teaching,
training, research and consultancy on forest resource management and its various facets
relevant to the socio-economic development. It has a large multi-disciplinary faculty in
its nine specialised areas (Community and Extension Management, Ecosystem and
Environmental Management, Environment and Developmental Economics, Financial
Management, Human Resource Management, Information Technology and Quantitative
Techniques, Marketing Management, Sociology and Community Development and Technical
Forestry). There are as many as 35 faculty members in the institute but no geographical input;
no geographer. Similar is the case with IIRS Dehradun where training programmes and
specialized courses are offered in six fields out of which at least three ( Geosciences, Human
and Urban Settlement Analysis and Cartography and Remote Sensing) have close interface
with different branches of geography with no geographers on its faculty list in 2009 June.
Another example of exclusion could be cited from Barkatullah University, Bhopal, where
“Department of Regional Planning and Economic Growth” was set up in early seventies with
an objective that co-ordination of economists and geographers will bring a fruitful result for
the welfare of society. But practically it turned into Economics department with limited scope
for geographers that too at M.Phil and Ph.D level. Ironically no geographer has been
appointed in this department since 1984. Apathy at policy level has led to exclusion of
geography as a discipline from almost all the newly established central universities in India at
the name of regional development and environmental studies an example of invasion in
geographic field.

Prospect

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Prospect of any discipline is linked to the opportunities and avenues available in job market.
Geographers can play vital role in planning process by their active participation in the
preparation of various kinds of specialised maps of physical, natural and human resources. He
can assist in preparation of national and regional resource inventory which are basic input for
planning. Thirdly he can provide a regional framework for planning based on his
understanding of the various resources and their spatial dimensions. To get geography
establish more widely, to make geography more attractive and to make geography useful for
others, the researches took lead towards inter- disciplinary frame and the result was
impressive and appreciative (Raza 1979). In the early seventies opening of CSRD and the
convergence of geography, economics and demography for the cause of regional development
made the subject interdisciplinary in approach and socially relevant. Similarly intake of
geographers in other professional institutes like IIPS,TISS,IIT Kharagpur, SPA,CEPT and
many other similar institutes have widened the horizon of geography and brought it at par
with economists, sociologists, planners and engineers. However unfortunately the
involvement and contribution of Indian geographers in planning and development sector has
never been appraised or evaluated objectively. Similarly the role and contribution of
geographers in bureaucracy also needs to be assessed in the context like how geography
background has helped them in performing the task and solving the real world problem.

Alvin Toffler’s concept of global village seems to become reality with weak trade barriers,
efficient telecommunication linkages, greater scientific and cultural exchange and rapid
communication system. At this stage competency levels required of all disciplines have to be
quite high. Under such changed scenario geography has to be qualitatively more different,
scientifically sharper and fully equipped with modern tools and techniques, with the ability to
compete effectively with other social sciences. In view of the processes of liberalization,
privatization and globalization, professional value of geography has been increasing day by
day and in the last two decades, professionally trained geographers are finding ample
opportunities and job avenues in areas like digital cartography, remote sensing and
geographic information systems etc. Anu Kapur (2004) has mentioned geographers’ role in
planning, census operations, map-making etc. C. D. Deshpande (1991) has advocated for
consultancy as a viable profession for professional geographers.

In India, with numerous additions to its techniques and research methods the “tree of
geographical knowledge” has grown both at the core and the margins. Elaborating it
Sundaram (1998) in his NAGI presidential address stated “As I look back at the nearly half a

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century of professional career, which I may characterise as less narrowly geographical and
more interdisciplinary, I find that it roughly coincides with the rise of, what may be called as
the “modern geography”, with the discipline breaking its traditional shackles and becoming
more quantitative, applied, inter-disciplinary in character with numerous additions to its
techniques and research methods.” While discussing on the issue challenges to be met by
geographers he raises certain questions like what types of geographers do we foresee for the
future? What attributes and qualities do we expect in them? While answering these questions
he dreams that young geographers should develop those skills which will make them reality-
oriented, environment-sensitive, globally-adaptive, and professionally-innovative and vision
driven qualities which will render them capable of pro actively responding to the increased
uncertainties of our time. The dream seen by Sundaram seems to be highly ambitious
requiring infrastructure and human resources. This may be because of his own five decades
professional background in various capacities. But the essence could be highlighted as what
precise contribution as geographers we are supposed to make which other specialists cannot
do and which is socially relevant. Once we are able to answer this question satisfactorily, we
will be successful member of interdisciplinary team working for the cause of society.
Enactment of the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments talk about revitalisation of local
democratic institutions like Panchayats and urban local bodies and the process of
development is to be initiated by these institutions. Further these local level institutions are
entrusted with the responsibility of preparation of micro level area plans for economic
development and social justice, implementation of development schemes, constitution of a
District Planning Committee to consolidate the plans prepared by these bodies and finally
prepare development plan for the district as a whole. Geography has traditionally been
identified with “Area Studies” and geographers with their skill and ability to identify
problems, identify community needs, identify various types of resources and
integrate/interrelate those phenomena in space, should be able to contribute significantly to
some aspects of planning at all the three area levels (village, block and district).Further these
two amendment acts call for integrated rural-urban plans for district as a whole. In this
context, the analysis of rural-urban linkages and interactions, studies on population carrying
capacity and food security, application of remote sensing in resource appraisal and problem
identification and GIS in preparing holistic plan will be quite relevant. In this way geography
can richly contribute towards the issue of sustainable development by applying the geographic
knowledge base.

Conclusion

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Man has been interacting with environment right from the very beginning and its spatial
expression has been the focal theme of geographers. Ancient hermits and sages had been
considered as the geographers of ancient India. The spirit of adventure of the ancient people
led to the foundation of knowledge base which could develop into the science of geography.
Five vital elements of life support system form the content of geography. However,
geography as a discipline in India is only around hundred year old with physical geography
forming the base. There has been constant change in its content, philosophy and methodology
as a consequence of changing paradigms. At the teaching front because of shifting focus from
physical base to economic base geographers in India failed to contribute in understanding and
solving the environmental problems. It is also weak in the teaching of disciplinary structure
i.e. philosophical and methodological base. Another problem which has ailed Indian
geography is lack of field work. At the training front there is an absence of induction course at
the entry level so there is lack of skill development accordingly it has been suggested with
proposed components. Orientation and Refresher courses needs to be module oriented. At the
research front problems have been discussed and highlighted by several scholars like
Mukerji, Dikshit, Misra and Gill and the focus is on lack of originality leading to
repetitiveness of the topic , contents and methodology, lack of clarity of the problem and
objective and dependence on secondary data. As a result of all these problems at the academic
front the discipline is facing the problem of isolation, invasion and identity ultimately
culminating into exclusion at the name of interdisciplinary from the mainstream. However,
geographers like Dayal and Sundaram is very hopeful about the future prospects of geography
in India and have listed out opportunities available in various fields which is to be encashed
by the young professionally trained geographers and academicians in the field.

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