Abstract: India has now been independent for 75 years. It is a moment to be remembered while also serving as a reminder of all those, both known and unknown, who gave their lives in the long fight to liberate India from colonial domination. Is being a nation with its own constitution sufficient? Are we truly emancipated and living in total freedom? These are the main issues we need to dwell on. Do our women feel safe from exploitation today, 76 years later, as we stand here? Are our citizens secure? Do they have the choice to choose the career they want to pursue? Do we no longer experience caste prejudice or racial tensions in our nation? Do we not have corruption? Aside from our fundamental issues like unemployment and poverty, are we at least free? If the answer is no, we must reconsider our conception of our independence and freedom.
Lingering challenges: Long way to go
The pain of partition, which forced population displacement on both sides, brought independence to India along with its panoply of ethnicities and traditions. Many Muslim families from areas other than those that immigrated to Pakistan made the decision to choose the nationality of the new religious state and to go there, and many Hindu families from both East and West Pakistan were uprooted and fled as destitute refugees to India.
This movement of people was not tranquil. There was a great deal of violence, looting, rape, and ruthless execution of unarmed civilians. Following the establishment of Bangladesh, a number of Muslim families that moved from Bihar and other neighboring states to the Eastern part of Pakistan experienced a similar level of marginalisation and prejudice.
The constitution of independent India, together with the almost endless possibilities it offers for India as a democracy, is one of the most impressive and deep achievements of that country. Not only does it seek to uphold social, economic, and political justice; liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith, and worship; equality of status and opportunity; but it also seeks to foster fraternity among all of them in order to uphold the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the country. The Green Revolution that followed the reforms helped provide the groundwork for self-sufficiency in food grain production. The most recent major famine in India occurred in the 1960s. The odd famine deaths that are occasionally recorded are less a result of a lack of food in the nation than they are of inept distribution and other mishaps.
India is distinguished by linguistic, geographic, religious, caste, and tribal diversity. They have been accommodated as best as feasible by the Indian constitution. As a result, the state worked to remedy the problems that stemmed from them. Subnational desire has been one of these problems. During the colonial era, these ambitions were apparent, leading to the establishment of states like Assam, Bihar, and Odisha that emerged from the Bengal Presidency. Since then, they have only increased. India, after independence accommodated burgeoning subnational ambitions by restructuring and establishing new states to meet these needs.
However, the ambitions of the most marginalized subnational groups, such the tribes of mainland India, were disregarded. In a similar vein, accommodations have been made to protect the identity and interests of religious minorities. All of these contributed to boosting the nation's integrity and unity. The attempt to destroy these characteristics and ethos, as has been done today, is likely to have terrible long-term effects for the nation.
The inability to read and write a basic message in any language is what The United Nations defines as illiteracy. Illiterates are those having such an incapacity. This impossibility leaves a huge void in their lives. Many of us consider attending schools, universities, and obtaining an education to be relatively typical activities, and we often fail to acknowledge the luxury that each of us has. In certain areas of India, where this problem is still widespread, children do not even receive the most basic schooling. The country's cornerstones have got worse as a result. A nation's hex is illiteracy.
One of the most egregious blemishes on independent India continues to be the implementation of harsh laws like sedition, AFSPA, UAPA, and NSA at the national level, in addition to Acts of a similar sort at the state level. The number of individuals covered by such Acts has sharply increased, and many have been detained in penitentiary without being given a chance to justify themselves. The state and its citizens appear to be at war.
An individual is deemed to be unemployed when he or she is unable to find job that meets their qualifications or abilities. India has a humongous population, and a major issue is unemployment, which has even exacerbated after the advent of COVID 19 pandemic. Unemployment is a tough row to hoe. The vast population and advanced technology are typically cited as the two main causes of unemployment. Apart from these two, unemployment has grown to be a major issue due to a lack of natural resources, overdependence on agriculture, collapsed cottage businesses, and a lack of skill-based education. The 2011 Census indicates a 21.9% poverty rate. This highlights India's rising unemployment issue.
Another social ill in India's public life is corruption. Now, corruption permeates every level of society.
Crime is a result of political corruption. In addition, it feeds official mismanagement and serves as a catalyst for corruption in open deceit. Corruption is a place where things like tax evasion, unlawful stockpiling, smuggling, economic offences, fraud, and violations of international trade are tolerated.
Either personally opposing corruption or just accepting it will not help to eradicate it. Only by strong personal dedication, moral principles, and public ethics can it be eradicated. Selfishness is a normal human propensity, and the need to find personal crises frequently results in corruption.
The amount of people that a nation can sustain depends heavily, if not totally, on its available natural resources, the production techniques used, and the effectiveness of the work force, which impacts labour productivity. By today's standards, India's population looks to be rapidly growing.
This overpopulation is a sign of overpopulation in and of itself. Because of the fast rising population density, this problem is getting abysmal every day. Recent UN WPP report too suggests that India would bypass China’s population by 2023.
The biggest predicament India has faced since gaining independence is poverty. Even before independence, it was there. Both social and economic issues are associated with this issue. Many of India's Asian neighbors have transitioned to industrial economies in less than a generation, prompting the charitably used term creaky to describe the country's economic strategy. India's per capita income does not even stand out among its close neighbors. It continues to be one of the middle-income nations that are home to more than half of the world's impoverished. Shocks like demonetization and the pandemic have slowed down progress in reducing poverty. Leaving them aside, villages have seen a quicker decline in the frequency of severe poverty than cities.
India's current task is to safeguard the fundamental principles and framework of its constitution. The independence of institutions, particularly constitutional bodies, as well as the professionalism of the upper echelons of the bureaucracy and their adherence to the constitution, have all been repeatedly undermined. There is an urgent need to regain the trust and confidence of the public in institutions, as well as in the justice and impartiality of the government. Additionally, the successes are evaporating and failures are piling and increasing. The concerns of the laboring masses, even those on the periphery of society, have been marginalized. These problems have had a significant impact on living quality in terms of the economy, education, and health. Reorienting policies based on equality is urgently needed, not just in the economic, political, and social spheres, but also in the ecological and environmental ones.