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With the Independence of the country, the
darkest days were left behind. The biggest achievement of
our freedom struggle was the Indian Constitution. The
light of the new age started percolating to towns and
villages.The central government was now legally bound to
protect the life and honour of the hitherto mercilessly
exploited segments of Indian society: SCs and STs. Though
the harsh realities didn’t change overnight at the
village level yet a beginning had been made in the right
direction. However large tracts of land were still in the
direct possession of the upper caste landlords. Despite
being in power for more than forty years, the Congress
party fed the masses only on false promises and never
carried out land reforms in the country. As a natural
consequence of this gross negligence, the social
relations did not undergo any fundamental change in the
rural areas. Dalits and people belonging to backward
castes continued facing the insults and humiliations at
the hands of the local landlords even after Independence.
The emergence of the middle class peasantry stirred the
OBCs politically and they became conscious of their own
importance as a very powerful social segment. In the
present day India, most of the people are leading just a
hand-to-mouth existence. They don’t have enough to
eat and wear. Their children study in government schools
which lack even basic facilities like potable water and
adequate blackboards. Millions of villages still plunge
into darkness after the sun sets. The link-roads are not
properly laid out and the village folks have to live and
die in squalor and disease. The other small but
significant social layer is that of the rich and powerful
living in big cities and towns. In the recent years, this social group has
emerged as a supporter of the reactionary right wing
forces and hasty liberalisation of our economy. The
capitalists are amassing huge amounts of wealth by
exploiting the poor and the weak. The elites seem to have
"hijacked" our democracy.
Poverty and unemployment
are the fundamental problems of the people. In the late
70s the Janata Party government at the Centre promised to
remove poverty and unemployment within ten years. Even
after two decades, these problems still exist. A handful
of capitalists have prospered at the cost of a majority
of people.
Although the economy is
growing this is not at all a pro-poor growth. The shining
cars, costly computers, beautiful coloured T.V. sets are
not what the masses need. The basic needs of the people
are food, shelter and clothing. Millions of tonnes of
foodgrain is rotting away in FCI (Food Corporation of
India) godowns but poor people have to buy it at very
high rates from the market. The PDS (Public Distribution
System) lies paralysed because of the apathy of the
officers.
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