INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

Society and Business

An essay weaving together all the themes in the readings of the

course Society and Business

Abhishek Kumar
PGP/23/431
Section - H
At a time when India stands as the fifth-largest economy in the world (as on 1 st March 2020) and is
making continuous strides in several fields such as telecommunication, transportation, IT, and
renewable energy, the present situation is contrastingly worrisome. The citizens are living in fear of
uncertainty, which is not conducive to any democracy. If recent affairs are anything to go by, we can
say that there is an urgent need for introspection, and a plethora of problems related to society,
which are bound to have negative consequences for the citizens, are required to be addressed. The
course "Society and Business" has helped me in understanding the social problems that plague the
nation to this day and how to solve those issues.

To deal with the issues mentioned earlier, development and social justice must be ensured within
the framework of democracy. Information on various aspects of society and the economy must
hence be made available to the government. Social science research is, therefore, crucial for India,
to maintain social harmony, peace, and pace of development despite the pre-existing complexities
arising from diversities in class, caste, ethnicities, religions, and governance. Social sciences study
significant issues from various perspectives.

After independence, with the migration of a significant chunk of the affluent and educated Muslim
population to Pakistan, the majority Muslim population that chose to stay in India had to deal with
the suspicion that the majority Hindu population of India harbored for Muslims. Even though the
Indian constitution guaranteed equal rights and opportunities for all Indian citizens irrespective of
religion, the ground reality was very different. Muslims were at the receiving end of Hindu orthodoxy
and hegemony. There was less representation of Muslims in the field of politics, administration, and
legislature, which further slowed the pace of their economic and social development.

Even to this date, it wouldn't be wrong to state that in contemporary India, the co-existence of
religions had been a norm, but secularism is far less evident. So much so that some people may even
say that secularism has become virtually absent. The religious identities are still intact in the social
fabric of India, and political and state patronage to religious organizations is not a hidden fact. This
has led to the exploitation of Muslims as a vote bank.

Similar to Muslims, the Untouchables were also exploited by the upper caste Hindus, which lead to
their dismal social and economic development. Untouchables were also victims of State violence,
low representation in politics, administration, and legislature, and they were also exploited as vote
banks by political parties. However, they enjoyed the benefits of reservation in multiple domains
such as government jobs, education, legislative assemblies, etc. provided by the constitution (Article
330, 332, 15(4), 29(B) & 335). Over the years, the reservation policy had a positive impact on the
numbers of Dalits in parliament, legislative assemblies, schools, and educational institutes run by the
state and central government. But in spite of safeguards provided by the constitution and the
reservation policy set in place by the government, only a small section of elite class Dalits have
benefited. Critics even went on to say that reservation policy has increased social division and
corruption. They justify the abolition of reservation on the grounds of the inefficacy of the earlier
mentioned policies in making Dalits genuinely independent and not dependent on reservation for
their development.

On the front of entrepreneurship, the people belonging to the category of SC and ST are significantly
underrepresented in the field of entrepreneurship. Even in the unorganized sector, most of the
menial jobs are undertaken by Dalits, and they receive meager wages. But strikingly, changes in
three areas strengthen the case of India moving towards a casteless society. In the field of
commensality, people hardly think of castes when having a meal at a community event. Food
transactions have become more flexible. Rule of marriages such as hypergamy and endogamy have
lost their importance over the years. Earlier castes used to be the significant parameter based on
which marriages took place. It has been replaced with occupation, economic status, and education.
The age of marriage has also risen as a result of increasing levels of education of women and them
being more independent than before to make decisions.

As another segment that faced the torment exerted by the Indian society is women. There has been
a continuous transformation in the social and economic well being of women in comparison to the
earlier periods. With constitutional provisions in place that ensure equality in every sphere, it may
appear that everything has already been done for women. But still, there is a social tumult in the air.
It is not the legal or constitutional shortcomings but the mindset of both men and women that are
the decisive factors in India's social problems. Traditional attitudes and rigid customs or just willful
denials of human rights still beset the masses of women.

The class divide has also been increasing in modern-day India. The poor section of the society is
increasingly getting poorer, while the more affluent sections are getting rich day by day. This class
divide can be easily observed when we consider the agrarian classes as an example. The agrarian
class structure has four categories – well-to-do farmers, small peasants, poor peasants, and the
landless. The well-to-do farmers constitute merely a tenth of the rural households, yet they possess
more land, agricultural machines, and livestock than the other classes. The poor farmers that
constitute the landless class hardly own property, and they work for other affluent farmers. To
bridge the disproportionate land distribution, we need substantial land reforms.

Post-independence, India is moving towards having the world's largest middle-class population. This
situation will lead to an increase in average incomes and a fall in levels of absolute poverty. History
tells us that civilizations with such low levels of absolute poverty have vigorously accumulated
capital, be it physical or human. In addition to being the motor of consumption and domestic
demand, on the social front, middle classes are believed to support democracy, and their active
participation in the political process can influence economic development with inclusive growth.

In my opinion, to address the aforementioned social problems, the most potent tool based on the
discussions held in class is education. Ensuring education for everyone, irrespective of class, gender,
religion, and caste, could help us in dealing with most of the problems stated earlier in the most
efficient manner. What we learn at school largely determines how a person would turn out to be in
the future. Education not only helps in molding an individual in terms of character, but it also helps a
person to be empathetic towards the issues that the downtrodden face daily. This will help people to
make decisions and act towards elevating their social and economic status and, in turn, help the
society to become more conducive towards the persecuted classes.