Development of India After Independence Essay
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Development of India After Independence Essay: India’s journey after gaining independence in 1947 has been nothing short of remarkable. The nation has made significant strides in various sectors, propelling itself towards economic growth, technological advancement, and social development. India’s development journey after independence has been a saga of growth, progress, and change. The nation, once struggling with poverty and colonial legacy, embarked on a path of economic and social transformation. Over the decades, India has achieved remarkable milestones, including technological advancements, improved healthcare, and increased literacy rates. While challenges persist, India’s journey reflects its resilience, diversity, and determination to build a prosperous and inclusive future. In this article, we’ll provide sample essays of varying lengths to illustrate its progress.
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Whether you need a 100-word overview or a more detailed 500-word essay on the topic “Development of India After Independence”, we’ve got your back. Refer to the sample essays given below.
Development of India After Independence Essay 1: 100 Words
India gained independence from British rule on August 15, 1947, and since then, there has been a noteworthy development in various sectors. The country witnessed massive advancements in science and technology, education, infrastructure, and healthcare. The establishment of prestigious institutes like the Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Space Research Organisation propelled India into becoming a global hub for technological innovation. Additionally, initiatives such as the Green Revolution brought about a paradigm shift in agriculture, leading to increased food production. Despite economic and social challenges, India’s progress after independence demonstrates the immense potential and resilience of its people.
Development of India After Independence Essay 2: 250 Words
The development of India after gaining independence in 1947 has been marked by significant achievements and transformative changes. At the time of independence, India faced numerous challenges, including widespread poverty, illiteracy, and inadequate infrastructure. However, the nation embarked on a journey of progress and development that has since witnessed remarkable milestones.
One of the key pillars of India’s development has been economic growth. The country implemented economic reforms in the 1990s, liberalizing various sectors and fostering entrepreneurship. This led to a surge in economic activity, attracting foreign investments, and propelling India into the ranks of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
India’s technological advancement has been another noteworthy achievement. The country’s IT industry has gained global recognition, and India has become a hub for software services and innovation. This technological prowess has not only boosted the economy but also enhanced India’s global standing.
Furthermore, India has made strides in improving healthcare and education. Initiatives like the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan have expanded healthcare access and increased literacy rates across the country. These efforts have had a positive impact on the overall quality of life for millions of Indians.
In conclusion, India’s development journey after independence is a testament to its resilience, diversity, and commitment to progress. While challenges remain, the nation has achieved significant growth in various sectors, positioning itself as a global economic and technological powerhouse.
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Development of India After Independence Essay 3: 300 Words
India’s post-independence development has been a story of remarkable progress and transformation. After gaining independence in 1947, India faced numerous challenges, including poverty, illiteracy, and a fragile economy. However, the nation embarked on a journey of development that has witnessed significant milestones.
Economic growth has been a cornerstone of India’s progress. The nation adopted economic reforms in the 1990s, opening up its markets and attracting foreign investments. This led to robust economic expansion, making India one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. The IT and services sector, in particular, flourished, earning India a reputation as a global technology hub.
India’s technological advancements have also been a notable achievement. The country’s IT industry has grown exponentially, with Indian professionals contributing to innovation and software development on a global scale. This technological prowess has not only boosted the economy but has also strengthened India’s position in the global arena.
Improvements in healthcare and education have played a pivotal role in India’s development. Initiatives such as the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan have expanded access to healthcare and education in rural and remote areas. These efforts have resulted in increased literacy rates and improved healthcare outcomes, enhancing the quality of life for millions of Indians.
Additionally, India has made strides in infrastructure development, urbanization, and social inclusion. The nation has launched ambitious projects like “Make in India” and “Digital India,” aiming to boost manufacturing, innovation, and connectivity.
In conclusion, India’s journey of development after independence reflects its resilience, diversity, and commitment to progress. While challenges persist, the nation has made significant strides in various sectors, positioning itself as a global economic and technological powerhouse with a focus on inclusive growth and development.
Development of India After Independence Essay 4: 500 Words
India gained its independence from British rule on August 15, 1947, after a long and arduous struggle. With newfound freedom, the country faced numerous challenges, including poverty, illiteracy, and social inequality. However, over the years, India has made significant strides in its development and has emerged as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. This essay will discuss the development of India after independence in various aspects such as the economy, education, healthcare, agriculture, infrastructure, and technology.
One of the greatest achievements of post-independence India has been its economic growth. The country adopted a mixed economy model, combining elements of socialism and capitalism, and implemented several reforms to promote industrialization and foreign investment. As a result, India’s GDP has increased significantly, and poverty rates have declined.
The establishment of the Green Revolution in the 1960s revolutionized agriculture, making India self-sufficient in food production. Moreover, the liberalization policies of the 1990s opened up the economy to the global market, attracting foreign investments and boosting exports. Today, India is one of the largest economies in the world and continues to experience rapid growth.
Education has also been a priority for post-independence India. The government has implemented various initiatives to increase literacy rates and improve the quality of education. The Right to Education Act, passed in 2009, made education a fundamental right for all children between the ages of six and fourteen.
The expansion of the education system has resulted in a significant increase in literacy rates, which have more than doubled since independence. Moreover, India has established numerous prestigious educational institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of Management, which are globally recognized for their excellence in education.
Healthcare has also witnessed remarkable progress in post-independence India. The government has implemented several schemes and programs to improve access to healthcare services, particularly for marginalized communities. The introduction of the National Rural Health Mission in 2005 aimed to provide quality healthcare services in rural areas, which have historically lacked adequate medical facilities.
Additionally, the government has launched initiatives such as Ayushman Bharat, a national health protection scheme that provides health insurance to over 500 million people, further widening access to healthcare services. These efforts have resulted in improved healthcare outcomes, including a decline in infant mortality rates and an increase in life expectancy.
The development of agriculture has played a crucial role in India’s progress after independence. The Green Revolution, as mentioned earlier, helped the country achieve self-sufficiency in food production and ensure food security for its population.
The government has continued to implement various policies and schemes to support farmers, such as providing subsidies, promoting organic farming, and investing in irrigation facilities. These measures have led to increased agricultural productivity and income levels, contributing to rural development and poverty reduction.
Infrastructure development has been another focus of post-independence India. The government has invested heavily in the construction of roads, railways, airports, and ports, in both urban and rural areas. This has not only facilitated connectivity and transportation but has also attracted investments and boosted economic growth.
Additionally, initiatives like the Smart Cities Mission and the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana have aimed to improve the quality of life in urban areas by providing better housing, sanitation facilities, and utilities.
Lastly, the rapid advancements in technology have played a crucial role in India’s development after independence. The country has emerged as a global leader in the information technology and software services sector.
The establishment of technology parks and the promotion of entrepreneurship and innovation have fostered a thriving startup ecosystem. This has not only boosted economic growth but has also created employment opportunities for millions of Indians.
In conclusion, India has made significant strides in various aspects of development after gaining independence. The country has witnessed economic growth, increased access to education and healthcare, enhanced agricultural productivity, improved infrastructure, and advancements in technology. While challenges remain, such as poverty, inequality, and environmental issues, the progress made so far indicates a promising future for India’s continued development.
FAQs on Development of India After Independence Essay
How has india developed after gaining independence.
India has made significant progress in economic growth, technological advancement, healthcare, education, and infrastructure development since gaining independence in 1947.
What are the key milestones in India's development journey post-independence?
Key milestones include economic reforms, IT sector growth, improved healthcare and education, and infrastructure development.
How did economic reforms impact India's development after independence?
Economic reforms in the 1990s opened up India's markets, attracting foreign investments and propelling the nation into one of the world's fastest-growing economies.
What role did the IT industry play in India's development?
India's IT industry achieved global recognition, contributing to technological advancements and bolstering the nation's economy.
How has healthcare and education improved in India post-independence?
Initiatives like the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan have expanded access to healthcare and education, leading to increased literacy rates and improved healthcare outcomes.
What are some recent development initiatives in India?
Recent initiatives include Make in India and Digital India, which focus on boosting manufacturing, innovation, and connectivity.
What challenges does India still face in its development journey?
Challenges include poverty alleviation, infrastructure development, environmental sustainability, and addressing social inequalities.
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Essay on India After Independence
Students are often asked to write an essay on India After Independence in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.
Let’s take a look…
100 Words Essay on India After Independence
Introduction.
India, after gaining independence on August 15, 1947, has made significant strides in various fields. The journey was challenging, but the nation’s progress is commendable.
Political Developments
India’s political landscape underwent a dramatic change. It became a democratic republic with a constitution, ensuring citizens’ rights and freedoms.
Economic Growth
India’s economy has seen a significant transformation. It has moved from an agrarian economy to a global player in services and manufacturing.
Social Changes
Society has evolved with improved literacy rates, gender equality, and reduced caste discrimination. However, challenges remain.
Technological Advancements
India’s journey post-independence is a story of resilience and progress. The nation continues to strive for inclusive growth and development.
250 Words Essay on India After Independence
India, after gaining independence on August 15, 1947, embarked on a journey of nation-building. The task was not easy, considering the diverse socio-cultural fabric and the economic challenges. Nevertheless, India has achieved substantial progress in various domains.
India established itself as a democratic republic with the adoption of the constitution on January 26, 1950. The democratic structure allowed the citizens to participate actively in the nation’s governance, ensuring political stability. However, the journey was not devoid of hurdles, including political corruption, communalism, and regionalism.
Economic Progress
Post-independence, India opted for a mixed economy model. The initial years were marked by Five-Year Plans focusing on industrialization and agricultural growth. The economic liberalization in 1991 marked a significant turning point, leading to increased foreign investments, rapid industrial growth, and IT boom. However, economic disparity and poverty remain pressing issues.
India has seen a substantial transformation in its social structure. Education and awareness have led to the questioning of age-old customs and traditions, leading to social reforms. The status of women has improved significantly, with increased participation in education and workforce. However, issues like casteism and gender inequality persist.
500 Words Essay on India After Independence
The dawn of independence.
India’s tryst with destiny began on the 15th of August 1947, when it became an independent nation after two centuries of British rule. The euphoria of independence was tempered by the pain of partition that created the two nations of India and Pakistan. Despite the challenges, India embarked on a journey of nation-building, aiming to establish a democratic and secular state.
Political Evolution
The first general elections in 1952 marked the commencement of India’s democratic journey. The Indian National Congress, the party that led the freedom struggle, emerged as the dominant political force, shaping the country’s policies and development for several decades. Over time, the political landscape diversified, with the rise of regional parties reflecting the country’s complex socio-cultural fabric.
Economic Transformation
India’s social sphere has also witnessed significant transformations since independence. The Constitution of India, adopted in 1950, abolished untouchability and declared all citizens equal, regardless of their caste, creed, or gender. Over the decades, various social reform movements and legislation have aimed to eradicate social evils and promote gender equality. However, challenges like caste-based discrimination, gender violence, and economic inequality persist and require concerted efforts to overcome.
Scientific Advancements
India’s post-independence journey has also been marked by remarkable achievements in science and technology. The establishment of premier institutions like the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) has propelled India to the forefront of scientific research and technological innovation. The successful launch of the Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) in 2013 exemplified India’s scientific prowess on the global stage.
India’s Global Standing
India’s journey since independence has been a saga of resilience, growth, and transformation. Despite numerous challenges, the nation has made significant strides in various fields. However, the journey is far from over. As India continues to evolve, it must address persistent social and economic disparities to truly realize the dreams of its founding fathers. The future holds immense possibilities, and the onus is on the current generation to shape it.
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The history of economic development in india since independence, the background.
The task that the democratically elected leaders of newly independent India embarked on in the early 1950s was not for the faint of heart. It was to lift living standards of a people accounting for one-seventh of the world’s population who earned an average income that was one-fifteenth of the average American income of the time. 1 Three-fourths of the Indian people were engaged in agriculture working with primitive tools and techniques, as either destitute landless laborers, highly insecure tenants-at-will, or small-plot holders eking out subsistence living from their meager plots. The literacy rate stood at 14 percent, and the average life expectancy was thirty-two years.
How successful has the country been in fulfilling the task over sixty years later? The charts in this article, using World Bank data, show how some of the country’s development indicators have changed in the last half-century. The country has experienced an increase in per capita income—especially since the 1980s—as well as reductions in poverty and infant mortality rates. These improvements are not insignificant and mark a sharp break from the near stagnation that the country experienced during British rule. But a comparison with the later superior performance of China and South Korea, countries with a comparable level of development in the 1950s, reveals that India’s performance remains below its potential. How did that come about? This essay provides an account of India’s strategy of economic development, its achievements, shortfalls, and future challenges.
The Initial Strategy
The government in the 1950s adopted a very particular strategy of economic development: rapid industrialization by implementing centrally prepared five-year plans that involved raising a massive amount of resources and investing them in the creation of large industrial state-owned enterprises (SOEs). 2 The industries chosen were those producing basic and heavy industrial goods such as steel, chemicals, machines and tools, locomotives, and power. Industrialization was pursued because leaders believed, based in part on the beliefs of some economists, that the industrial sector offers the greatest scope of growth in production. It was not that the Indian agricultural sector offered no scope for growth. Crop yields in India were quite low compared to other countries, and the recent famine in 1943 had underscored the need to increase food production. Still, Indian leaders did not want to make agriculture the mainstay of their strategy. The preeminence of agriculture they believed was characteristic of a backward economy, and growth in agriculture eventually runs up against the problem of insufficient demand. There is only so much, after all, that people are willing to eat.
Investments in the creation of public enterprises were chosen because one goal of the government was to establish a “socialistic pattern of society,” i.e., using democratic methods to bring large swathes of the country’s productive resources under public ownership. Industries producing basic and heavy goods were chosen for investment over consumer goods because the government wanted to reduce the country’s reliance on imports of basic and heavy industrial goods in line with their belief in the goodness of national self-reliance. “To import from abroad is to be slaves of foreign countries,” the first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, once declared. 3 The production of consumer goods such as clothing, furniture, personal care products, and similar goods was left to small privately run cottage industry firms that had the added advantage of being labor-intensive and therefore a potential generator of mass employment.
Another strategy could have been to rely on private enterprise for industrial development while the government focused its resources on investments in infrastructure, public health, and education—sectors that are not served well by the private sector. Though leaders were cognizant of the dynamism of the private sector and the existence of India’s vibrant entrepreneurial class, they rejected the strategy that involved a prominent role for the private sector out of a commitment to establishing the socialistic pattern of society that they believed was morally superior. As things eventually turned out, the country came around in the 1990s to adopting this previously rejected strategy.
In order to assure the success of the government’s chosen strategy in the 1950s, complementary measures were put in place. Most industries were given significant trade protection so that their growth was not hampered by competition from more efficient foreign producers. An industrial licensing system was set up to ensure that private enterprises would not expand beyond the bounds that national planners had set for them. The system required all private firms beyond a certain small size to obtain a license whenever they wanted to expand capacity, produce new products, change their input mix, import inputs, or relocate plants. The system put the activities of the private sector under significant control of the government. Pundits and students of political economy who were not socialists derisively nicknamed this stifling system “the license Raj,” comparing this economic format of oppression to the political control of the imperialist British Raj.
Their strategy of increasing agricultural production was based on plans to reform agrarian institutions. According to the thinking of the planners, the poor performance of Indian agriculture was due to the fact that tillers did not own the land they worked, so they had little incentive to make land improvements that would increase long-term productivity. The government planned to implement legislation to redistribute land from large landlords to actual tillers and improve the terms under which tenant cultivators leased land from the landowners. The government also planned to organize small farmers into cooperative societies so that their resources could be pooled in order to buy modern tools and implements and the strength of their numbers could be used to obtain higher crop prices. In addition to increasing agricultural production, such reforms were also expected to alleviate the poverty of the huge class of peasants.
The Initial Results
Industrialization was a moderate success. The newly created public enterprises, albeit after major cost overruns and several delays, turned out steel, chemicals, and other products that were generally associated with developed countries. A British colonial official in the early twentieth century once scoffed that he would be willing to eat all the steel than the Indians would produce. 4 If alive in 1960, he would have eaten 6,300 tons of steel. 5
Still, by the late 1950s several problems resulting from the planners’ chosen strategy of economic development were coming to the fore, and such problems intensified in the 1960s and the 1970s. Many SOEs were run on political rather than economic considerations, so they produced losses that drained government resources rather than—as the planners had hoped—augmenting them. The SOEs could also not be counted on to generate mass employment due to their capital and skill rather than labor-intensive character. Several enterprises were overstaffed and faced insufficient demand for what they produced, forcing them to render idle some of their capacity. The case of the Haldia fertilizer plant is an extreme but illustrative example. The plant was set up in the 1970s and employed 1,500 people. The workers and managers showed up regularly, kept the machine facilities clean and in working condition, and often received annual bonuses and overtime. They lived in a nearby spanking-new township built specially for them, one that had excellent roads, schools, and homes. There was only one thing missing. Because of numerous problems, the plant never produced even an ounce of fertilizer. Yet the government kept Haldia’s lights on for twenty-one years. 6
One government method for financing expenditures was the creation of new money, which resulted in significant inflation.
The plans for the reform of agrarian institutions did not pan out. The push for land redistribution ran into political opposition and clashed with the requirements of due process, so as little as 5 percent of the land was actually redistributed. The creation of agricultural cooperatives also did not materialize due to difficulties of organization and lack of enthusiasm on the ground. Agricultural production barely kept pace with population growth, and the country’s food security remained precarious. The drawback of prioritizing industry over agriculture for public investments became glaringly apparent when the country experienced a food crisis in the mid-1960s, necessitating urgent large-scale imports of subsidized grain from the United States. The crisis undermined the government’s claim that its strategy of prioritizing industry over agriculture for public investment would increase national self-reliance.
The drawback of prioritizing industry over agriculture for public investments became glaringly apparent when the country experienced a food crisis in the mid-1960s, necessitating urgent large-scale imports of subsidized grain from the United States.
Under the fixed exchange rate regime that existed in the country, high inflation in the 1960s reduced the country’s exports while increasing its imports, resulting in a shortage of foreign exchange. The shortage was exacerbated by the food imports made necessary by a drought and a war with Pakistan. Foreign exchange became one of the items the government had to resort to rationing. The reverberations were felt throughout the economy. Several new factories lay idle for want of foreign exchange to import some necessary inputs, while others hoarded foreign exchange to starve their competitors or earn a premium in the black market. Holding foreign exchange without a license became an offense punishable by jail time. Ultimately, the rupee had to be devalued, which generated further disruptions in the economic lives of most people.
Meanwhile, the industrial licensing system, designed to ensure that the private sector operated according to the five-year plans, became a source of much inefficiency and corruption. The micromanagement of the private sector called for much more knowledge and technical ability than government bureaucrats possessed. The system descended into a mechanism for rewarding political supporters of the rulers, which undermined the confidence of the people in the integrity of their governmental institutions.
Perhaps the most unfortunate legacy of prioritizing industry at the expense of other alternatives for investment was that scarce public resources were diverted away from health and education. The meager resources expended on these in India stand in marked contrast to the plentiful attention paid to them in China and other Asian countries. Seventy years after independence, India has still to catch up on these fronts; one-half of its children are malnourished, one-half of women are illiterate, and twothirds of its people lack basic sanitation. As a result, a large fraction of Indians today are unable to directly take advantage of the opportunities opened up by the country’s recent tilt toward a market economy and globalization.
The Change in Strategies
In response to the food crisis of the mid-1960s, the government changed its agricultural strategy. Rather than holding out for the reform of agrarian institutions, it began to guarantee higher crop prices to farmers and utilize subsidies to promote use of modern inputs such as chemical fertilizers and high-yielding varieties of grain developed in other parts of the world. The resulting surge of production—the so-called “green revolution” of the late 1960s—made the country self-sufficient in food grains. The strategy was controversial because it increased economic disparities among the farmers. For the greatest chance of success, the government had to focus its strategy on the irrigated sections—the very parts of the country that were already doing relatively well. The uptake of subsidized inputs was also the highest among large landowners, owing to their greater education, creditworthiness, and the ability to bear the risk posed by adopting new methods. The strategy did not do much to alleviate the economic condition of the agrarian poor, other than providing the indirect benefit of living in a country with better overall food security that has not since experienced famine. Micronutrient deficiencies (not caloric) such as anemia are today a bigger problem among the poor, and the country’s health indicators lag behind those of other countries with comparable levels of income.
The strategy toward industry, however, turned more interventionist after 1965. Elaboration of all the reasons for this need not detain us here; there is a strong case that the interventionist turn was a cynical ploy by new Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for consolidating her power in response to certain political developments. The new policy stance displayed a suspicion of large firms and a preference for the small. The licensing system imposed additional restrictions on the activities of large firms, curtailing their growth. Under a policy that was one of a kind, consumer goods such as apparel, footwear, furniture, sporting goods, office supplies, leather goods, and kitchen appliances were reserved by law for production by small firms. Foreign firms were asked to dilute their ownership stake in their Indian subsidiaries and in response, multinationals such as IBM and Coca-Cola closed their operations and left the country.
To the extent that the success of the large firms was due to their superior technical or organizational capacity, the curtailment of their growth meant that such capacity remained underutilized. Delays and arbitrariness in the issuing of industrial licenses resulted in supply bottlenecks and shortages of many consumer goods. For example, in the 1970s, there was an eight-year waiting list for people wanting to buy a scooter, the preferred vehicle for middle-class Indians.
Thirty-five years after independence, India’s leadership had yet to achieve, to any significant degree, its pledge of lifting living standards.
The reservation of consumer goods for small enterprises meant that the benefits of economies of scale were forgone, resulting in the production of poor-quality and high-priced goods that foreigners shunned and domestic consumers had no choice but to accept. Meanwhile, countries such as South Korea and Taiwan were growing rich by exporting this very category of goods. It was during this time that Indians developed a craze for foreign products, the imports of which were restricted, and the term “imported” became synonymous with “high-quality.” The result of such policies was economic stagnation. The country’s per capita income grew by an average of less than 1 percent a year between 1966 and 1980, a rate that was too low to make a dent in the country’s massive poverty. Thirty-five years after independence, India’s leadership had yet to achieve, to any significant degree, its pledge of lifting living standards.
Also, years of rhetoric about creating rapid development had heightened people’s expectations for their quality of living. Economic stagnation, combined with high inflation caused by the government’s printing of massive amounts of money, bred political unrest and popular agitation, to which Indira Gandhi responded by declaring a national emergency in 1975. Taking advantage of the suspension of democratic procedures and requirements of due process brought on by the emergency, the Prime Minister attempted strict interventions that included rapid land redistribution and forced sterilization as a part of population control. The programs were poorly administered, contributed to incidents of human rights violations, failed to improve the economic situation, and caused a number of unintended consequences. For example, the government’s attempts to liquidate debts of poor farmers led to the virtual drying up of informal sources of credit and the banks were not up to the task of picking up the slack. The chaos generated by the haphazard and poorly administered interventions generated a popular backlash and tainted in many minds the whole interventionist approach to economic development.
By the 1980s, a substantial number of influential people had come around to the conclusion that the government did not have the political and administrative capacity to successfully run a controlled economy that delivered on economic growth. Gandhi, chastened by the political defeats that followed her earlier attempts to impose strict controls, acquiesced to relaxing some of them. Her Cambridge-educated son, Rajiv Gandhi, who succeeded her as Prime Minister, enacted further liberalization. Certain industries and business activities were exempted from licensing requirements. Such measures helped to cause robust industrial growth in the late 1980s.
The About Turn
When a foreign exchange shortage threatened a crisis again in 1991, the government made a clear break with past policies. By then, the intellectual consensus in favor of state-led, import-substituting development strategies had greatly weakened. The breakup of the Soviet Union had substantially discredited central planning, and the export-led success of East Asian countries had thrown into light the drawbacks of an inward-looking model of development. Also, cultural changes in India, consisting of a deemphasis of asceticism and a greater acceptance of the pursuit of material gain, had made extensive economic controls untenable. 7 At the behest of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which provided rescue during the foreign exchange crisis, but also of its own accord, the government announced major economic reforms. It dismantled the license Raj almost overnight, slashed tax rates and import duties, removed controls on prices and entry of new firms, put up several SOEs for sale, and rolled out the welcome mat for foreign investors. Rather than socialism, the guiding principles of policy now were liberalization, privatization, and globalization.
The country’s share in world trade increased from 0.4 percent on the eve of the reforms to 1.5 percent in 2006, and foreign exchange shortages, once a chronic headache for policymakers, have now been replaced by reserves upward of US $350 billion . . .
The economy responded with a surge in growth, which averaged 6.3 percent annually in the 1990s and the early 2000s, a rate double that of earlier time frames. Shortages disappeared. On the eve of the reforms, the public telecom monopoly had installed five million landlines in the entire country and there was a seven-year waiting list to get a new line. In 2004, private cellular companies were signing up new customers at the rate of five million per month. The number of people who lived below the poverty line decreased between 1993 and 2009 from 50 percent of total population to 34 percent. The exact estimates vary depending on the poverty line used, but even alternative estimates indicate a post-1991 decline of poverty that is more rapid than at any other time since independence. The country’s share in world trade increased from 0.4 percent on the eve of the reforms to 1.5 percent in 2006, and foreign exchange shortages, once a chronic headache for policymakers, have now been replaced by reserves upward of US $350 billion—prompting debates about what to do with the “excess reserves.” 8
Several significant economic challenges remain for India. The economy has polarized into a highly productive, modern, and globally integrated formal sector, employing about 10 percent of the labor force, and a low-productivity sector consisting of agriculture and urban informal activities, engaging 90 percent of the labor force. The sectors that have experienced the most growth are services and capital-intensive manufacturing. It is illustrative that IT and pharmaceuticals are the two sectors of the economy with international renown. Such industries tend to be urban and employ mainly skilled workers. Yet to come India’s way are millions of lowskill manufacturing jobs that have allowed the poor in East Asian countries to climb into the middle class. Companies are loath to set up labor-intensive manufacturing because Indian labor laws are some of the most restrictive in the world. For example, a manufacturing unit hiring more than 100 workers cannot lay off any of them without seeking government permission, which is rarely granted. 9 Liberalization of labor laws tends to run into fierce political opposition. The second reason for the dearth of manufacturing jobs is that the country’s infrastructure is relatively deficient, and so companies increasingly practicing just-in-time inventory management do not find it cost-effective to include India in their global supply chains. 10
The provision of public services in India is appallingly poor. Government schools and clinics are underfunded and inadequately supervised, and their workers display low morale and high absenteeism. Yet such public institutions are rarely held accountable for their performance. 11 The middle class has largely opted out of the system in favor of private health care, schools, and transportation so there is little political pressure from them to improve the system. Most middle-class Indians now even own a power generator to cope with everyday power cuts. The poor take the brunt of the derelict public services. Two million children die in India every year from easily preventable diseases, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and immunization rates in India are amongst the lowest in the world. Air pollution levels in urban areas pose a severe public health crisis. According to a survey by the World Health Organization (WHO), thirteen out of the twenty most polluted cities in the world are Indian. 12 The country still relies heavily on inexpensive coal to generate power and has shown very little willingness to move toward alternative energy sources.
Given the current policies and state of governance in India, it is hard to see an obvious path into the middle class for the multitudes still remaining in poverty. Global demand for low-wage, low-skill labor to sew T-shirts or assemble TVs is not what it used to be, because production is now becoming increasingly mechanized and some of it is being “reshored” back to the rich countries. For several hundred million poor people in delicate health and with little education, the country will have to find a way to overcome the technical, institutional, and economic barriers to developing the capabilities necessary for functioning in a twenty-first-century economy. It is not a task for the faint-hearted.
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1. The figure is calculated from the estimated per capita income of the two countries. See The Madisson-Project (2013) database at http://tinyurl.com/pvqeuay.
2. Francine Frankel provides a detailed study of how such a strategy came to be chosen is in India’s Political Economy: 1947-2004 , 2nd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005).
3. Arvind Panagariya, India: An Emerging Giant (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), 25.
4. Wolfgang Messner, Working with India (Berlin: Springer Publishing, 2009), 49.
5. The tonnage statistic comes from the Handbook of World Steel Statistics (1978), published by the International Iron and Steel Institute.
6. This and many other cases of economic dysfunctions of the era are recounted by a former CEO and public intellectual, Gurcharan Das, in his memoirs, India Unbound: From Independence to Information Age (New Delhi: Penguin Books India, 2000).
7. For an elaboration, see Nimish Adhia, “The Role of Ideological Change in India’s Economic Liberalization,” The Journal of Socio-Economics 44, issue C (2013): 103– 111.
8. Panagariya provides a detailed academic reference on Indian economic policies and their effects in India: An Emerging Giant .
9. Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya give a fuller account of Indian labor laws in India’s Tryst with Destiny (New York: Harper Collins, 2012).
10. Robyn Meredith well describes the twenty-first-century multinational supply chains in chapter 5 of her book, “The Disassembly Line,” in The Elephant and the Dragon (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2007).
11. Good accounts of the lives of India’s poor and the causes of the dysfunction in the country’s public services are given by Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen in An Uncertain Glory: India and its Contradictions (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013), and Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee in Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty (New York: PublicAffairs, 2011).
12. “Thirteen of the Twenty Most Polluted Cities in the World Are Indian,” Quartz India , last modified December 7, 2014, http://tinyurl.com/nyekwwk .
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Essay on “India after Independence” Complete Essay for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.
India after Independence
Essay No. 01
There is no doubt that India has made tremendous progress after Independence.
At the time of Independence, most of the Indian people led a miserable life. They lived in huts, slums and shanties. They had no facilities and comforts of life. There was widespread illiteracy and child mortality was high. There was shortage of food grains and famines were common and many people died of starvation.
After independence, the whole scenario has changed. Still a vast majority of people lives in villages. But now the lot of villages has greatly changed. Most of the villages are electrified. They are connected to big cities with pucka roads. The farmers get bumper crops, thanks to the new agricultural and irrigational methods and the fair use of new seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, etc.
There has been a revolution in the medical science. Child mortality has greatly been reduced and life-span has been greatly increased. Nov, there are cures even for those diseases which were previously thought to be incurable such as T.B, cholera, heart trouble, etc.
New education, new machines, skills and courses have made India prosperous and an economic power to be reckoned with in the international arena.
Democracy has taken firm roots in India and a number of elections, by and large free and fair, have been held here over the years.
Heavy industry such as steel, cement, etc. which is so vital for infrastructure has been started on a large-scale.
Means of information and communication and entertainment have been revolutionized and India has become a giant in the fields of information technology and telecommunications.
India has also become a nuclear and space power and envisions to become a developed country by 2020. India has shown her military power a number of times by inflicting crushing defeats on Pakistan in 1948, 1965, 1971 and 1999.
In spite of this, there have been certain setbacks and certain intractable problems. The burgeoning population has nullified much of the progress. Rich-poor disparity in incomes is abnormal. Still there are some acute problems such as poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, corruption, female foieticide , etc. Let us hope all these will be solved sooner rather than later.
( 370 Words )
Essay No. 02
Fifty Years of Indian Independence
August 15, 1997 marked India completing its 50th Year of Independence. This is not a long time in the life of a nation, but it has been long enough to see the dramatic changes in all areas. In 1947, we threw out the British after a unique freedom struggle which gave the world the philosophy of non-violence. Over the years, there have been many things to be proud of, but perhaps as many things to feel let down.
When our independence was in its infancy, it had to face many hard and complex problems. The country was partitioned and millions of people were uprooted. Our Government had to rehabilitate them. At the same time, Pakistan unleased tribals to attack Kashmir, which had acceded to and become a part of India. Razakaars in Hyderabad rebelled against our Government. Other Maharajas tried to form independent States. But, thank God, all these difficulties were overcome with the help of our great leaders like Sardar Patel.
The first goal achieved by free India was to consolidate the various units of the country and to absorb six hundred and odd princely States. This unified the country and its people.
On January 26, 1950, India was declared a ‘Republic’ after adopting a new Constitution. It guaranteed to secure for all its citizens justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. It declared Hindi as the National Language and 18 others as recognised regional languages. It also declared India a secular state and there is no discrimination against any person on grounds of religion, race, caste or creed.
General elections, based on universal adult franchise, have been held thirteen times during the last five decades. As a result of the elections held in 1989, National Front Government came to power at the Centre and in many States. However, in 1991, Congress again captured the power at Centre by virtue of its being the largest single party. But in 1996, the United Front again came to power with the help of Congress. In 1999, BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) came to power at the Centre. The fact in this process lies in the peaceful transfer of power every time which indeed symbolises the true democratic character of polity.
During these years, we have successfully completed eight Five-Year Plans. These have imparted a measure of strength and stability to our economy. Per capita income has been increased from Rs. 466 in 1950-51 to Rs. 9,377 in 1996-97. Both agricultural and industrial productions have increased considerably. The production of food grains increased from 52.2 million tones in 1951-52 to 199.32 million tons in 1996-97.
Encouraged by the success of eight Plans, India has now launched the Ninth Five-Year Plan. The Plan, which covers the period 1997-2002, envisages a total outlay of Rs. 8,59,200 crore. The Plan aims at the growth rate of 6.5 per cent per annum for the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It assumes the Incremental Capital Output Ratio (ICOR) of 4.3, saving rate of 26.1 per cent, Current Account Deficit of 2.1 per cent. This growth is to be achieved by 3.9 per cent growth in agriculture, 8.2 per cent in industry and 11.8 per cent in exports.
On Economic front, the Liberalised Economic Policy was introduced in 1991. At that time Indian economy was undergoing a serious crisis. Industry and agriculture were stagnant; the financial sector was in doldrums; a huge fiscal deficit was mounting with a massive foreign debt, eating into a major chunk of our resources. The masses had been facing a double-digit rate of inflation. The new policy aimed at the dismantling of controls over the economy with the state yielding to market economy. As a result of new liberalised policy, growth rate during the Eighth Plan was 6.8 per cent. Foreign exchange reserves increased to $ 29.435 billion in Sept. 1997 and rate of inflation fell to all-time lower of about 4 per cent in 1997.
On scientific front, India since Independence has continued to march ahead, pursuing a programme of using modern science and technology for national development. At present, we spend about 0.83 per cent of our GNP on S & T development. We have made laudable achievements in water management, healthcare system, and nuclear power capacity. The space programme has envisaged and achieved the objectives of space-based services in areas of communications, meteorology, resource survey and management and development of Satellite Launch Vehicles (SLV and PSLV) and associated ground system, the GRAM SAT and Remote Sensing Satellites (IRS Series) are testimony to the Indian excellence and endeavours.
However, the impact of scientific and technological endeavour is more obvious in some areas than others. Industrial advancement, noteworthy achievements in space applications, defence, advance materials and nuclear research do not quite mitigate the misery of a large sections of our population having to exist in unsanitary conditions, without safe drinking water, with little or no medical facilities to help them overcome health hazards. A large number of our villages are steeped in poverty, still unlit, lacking in schools and easy means of communication.
On the diplomatic front, India has obdurately maintained its commitment since Independence, to genuine disarmament, and has continued its work for attaining on a time-bound basis, a nuclear weapon-free world. India has never accepted discriminating regimes like NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) and is always happy to participate in non-discriminatory and fair global treaties like the chemical weapons convention. India feels committed to non-alignment but recognises that certain ennui has developed about it in several of old faithful member-states, and apathy in certain others. India is now experiencing a difficult phase in its relations with the West as they strive to effect fundamental economic, social, and political changes within our own societies. In the broad areas relating to India’s foreign policy, defence and strategic concerns, there is little, if any, disagreement, or difference of perception between and amongst our political parties, regions or states.
However, during the last five decades our failures have been much more than our achievements. Our greatest failure is in the eradication of corruption, which is a bigger threat than even external aggression. It is a fact that India has been listed as the seventh most corrupt country in the world. Corruption has grown because the culprits, especially those in high offices, have discovered that the arm of the law is never long enough to rope them.
If there is one gaping hole in our roster of achievements, 50 years after Independence, it is the number of citizens who continue to be ground down by poverty. By Planning Commission’s own reckoning, nearly 30 per cent of Indians live below poverty line. Poverty not only affects its victims but also acts as a fetter on the overall development and progress of society. It limits the size of the domestic market and hampers economy’s growth prospects in much the same way as deficiencies in physical infrastructure do.
As far as education is concerned, in India about 105 million children in the 6-10 age-group do not go to school. Despite various pronouncements by all the governments and various programmes attempted for this purpose one cannot deny that the situation is grim. India has the dubious record of having half the illiterates of the world by the end of the 20th century. We have failed to implement what has already been laid down in the Constitution. What we need is to ensure our major social and economic changes. The causes of illiteracy are not going to leave us. If a substantial section of population is illiterate, it is because we have continued the colonial system more or less unchanged. Though, some additional inputs have been made and some marginal progress has taken place, yet it will not solve the problem. What we need today is a mass movement, a mass awareness against this malady to better the record apart from some Herculean efforts on the part of the Government.
Child Labour assumes the character of a social problem as it hinders, arrests or distorts the national growth process and prevents the child from attaining manhood. The estimates of working children in India vary from 50 million to a number much higher. The various reasons for the child labour in the country are cited such as poverty, wage structure, employment, illiteracy and so on. To abolish or eliminate this menace from our Indian society, integrated efforts are required. For this attitudinal change and sensitisation of employers, health and welfare personnel’s efforts to encourage small family norms are called for. Also, we will have to improve the economic condition of the adult workers.
An explosive situation is developing on the employment front in the wake of massive backlog in the creation of new jobs. Official figures concede that the country has entered the Ninth Five-Year Plan with a backlog of 7 million jobs that should have been created during the last five years.
Presently we have crossed the one hundred-crore mark of population, which is about three times that of USA and thus acquired the dubious distinction of being the second most populous country in the world. Compared to natural human resources of the country, India is definitely over-populated. Over-population is also due to increase of birth rate. Our annual growth is about 2.11 per cent. Closely related with population is poverty. So long an effective control is not exercised on the population increase, the nation will not get rid of poverty. According to UN projections, India’s population certainly neutralises much of the fruits of development.
At present, India has taken upon itself one of the biggest challenges of modern times, namely, economic independence through peaceful and non-violent methods. The aim set is to conquer hunger and unemployment by the process of bold liberalisation of economic policy. The success of democracy in India depends upon the successful working of new economic policy and removal of poverty.
( 1645 Words )
Essay No. 03
Indian Villages after Independence
India is a country of villages. Nearly five lakh villages exist in India. While only about 28 per cent of the population lives in the cities. 72 per cent of the population lives in the villages. The villages thus occupy a place of great importance in the country. They are the base of India’s development in every sphere of life.
There were many problems in the villages before Independence. The Government was quite aware of the backwardness of the people in the villages. The people in the villages were poor, backward, ignorant and superstitious. Their methods of agricultural operations were primitive. There were no schools, hospitals, banks, etc., for the facilities of the villagers. There were no proper roads, electricity and tube wells. As a matter of fact their life was a hell. The conditions in the villages were so bad that there could not be any social and cultural development of the people. But now the Government is seized of this problem and had drawn many plans and projects to help them and improve the conditions of the rural community.
Since the dawn of Independence, the conditions in the Indian villages are changing very fast. These have changed the face of the Indian villages. There are several types of changes taking place in the whole of the country.
To improve the conditions of Indian villages, our Government has implemented the scheme of Community Development Programme, which was introduced in 1952. These programmes have manifold activities. The activities have made a tremendous change in the socio-economic set up of our villages. There are various changes brought about in our villages. These changes cover all aspects of the community life.
The greatest problem in our villages was that of illiteracy. Due to illiteracy the poor farmers were the victims of superstitions and were also exploited by the money-lenders. The Government has opened night schools for the adults and primary schools for boys and girls. Now every village has its own primary school. High schools and Inter colleges are established at every twenty kilometer of distance. The result is that they are now educated, illiteracy and ignorance are thus fast disappearing.
Another change brought about in the villages is in the field of agricultural methodology. Till recently, most of the farmers were using the old methods of ploughing in their fields, or sowing seed and harvesting. However, the farmers are now using new techniques. They plough their fields with tractors, and irrigate their fields with water from tube-wells. For harvesting also, they use new machines. Now they have switched over to mechanised farming with the help of electricity. Electricity has now illuminated their huts. With the abolition of zamindari, the person who ploughs the fields, is now the real owner of the land. Cooperative societies and banks are the substitute for the money-lenders. These societies and banks lend the money on lower rate of interest and the farmers are now free from the cruel clutches of the money-lenders.
A great change has taken place in the political and social life of the villagers also. Before Independence, they had no say in the affairs of the village. Now Gram Sabha, Gram Panchayat and Panchayati Adalat are there. They are their own bodies manned by their own representatives. Due to the functioning of these bodies, the villagers have now begun to understand their rights and duties. They now take more interest in politics, the transformation being complete with even the ills of politics infesting the village elections. Another great change which occurred in village community is that the outlook towards social problems has become broad. They are now no more superstitious. Litigation has been reduced. There is less thought for untouchability and other social evils. They are now not particular about purdah system. Joint family system is crumbling down here also. Bonded labour has been freed and the recovery of loans given by money-lenders has been waived off. They are not slaves now, but free.
More and more facilities are being given to the villagers in the field of cottage industry. To promote the village industries loans are given to them liberally by the rural banks. The poor farmers can now start their own village industries or such cottage industries as basket-making, the mustard and rape-seed oil, soap and rope-making, poultry, fisheries, piggeries and many other industries to improve their economic conditions.
There are changes in others fields also. Roads are constructed by the villagers. Now every village is linked by roads to other parts of the country. Similarly, sanitary conditions have been improved. Hospitals and government dispensaries have been established to remove the illness and diseases which usually become a curse on community.
In brief, the fact is that the development of villages is in a transitional stage. The villages are changing very rapidly and the main structure of the rural society is in the process of change. The economic programme of the Government has proved a boon to them and thereby an attempt is being made by the Government to convert every village into a heaven provided the village community cooperates with it sincerely.
( 856 Words )
Essay No. 04
Political slogans often overrun reality. When Rajiv Gandhi coined the slogan “Mera Bharat Mahan” (My India is great), people appreciated the sentiment, but very few actually believed in it. Then came along the BJP with its new slogan “India shining” riding tall over the feeling of economic optimism which was backed by the plentiful rains in 2003 and the success of the Indian IT boom. Although the BJP failed miserably at the polls, the truth was and is that India continues to shine on. Sixty years after independence, India has emerged from the shadow of colonialism to position itself as the world’s biggest and rowdiest democracy matching its political freedoms with financial ones, unleashing a surge of growth and wealth creation that is altering the lives of its millions.
Twenty years ago the world equated India with snake charmers, elephants, half—naked fakirs, the rope trick, the holy cow, crowds and pollution. Now it is just as famous for its educated person power, its Bollywood movie stars, literary giants and its steel magnates among other things. Poverty remains, but there is renewed hope. There is a palpable feeling of excitement and promise everywhere. The new slogan is “Mera Bharat Jawan” (My India is young). It is incredible that despite India’s, ‘current’ third world status, she has guarded herself from dictators, military rule, civil war or foreign invasion and she continues to shine as the world’s largest democracy. It is no small achievement that India is now considered amongthe top ten industrial world powers, reflective of the country’s self-sufficiency. It is a matter of great pride that Indians have made it to the Forbes list of richest men in the world. The private health care infrastructure in India is comparable to any of the developed countries in the world. This has led to a boom in medical tourism with patients the world over arriving in India for medical treatments. Yet the challenges faced by young India in healthcare and medicine are many and enormous. Although, the infant mortality rate has been cut down by half the female infanticide rates still loom large. Although increasing numbers of children are receiving vaccination, many Indian infantsstill succumb to malnutrition. Infrastructure strains hard to keep up with the economic boom while corruption, discrimination, religious violence, child labour and female dowry deaths still prevail. Severe disparity is shown by its various states. While states like Kerala, boast of 100 % literacy and health indicators similar to those of developed countries, other states like Bihar and Madhya Pradesh show appalling statistics. One third of the married women and 45% of children under the age ten have nutrition deficiency problems. However, despite this, it remains that India’s massive shift in global perception is not a mere illusion.
India has achieved a lot in the sixty yearspost-independence however; a lot still needs to be done. Population was and remains one of our largest concerns. It also remains the number one reason why our infrastructure is compromised, why corruption is rampant and why our children die due to malnutrition. The emphasis has to be on education of the populace and sincere efforts need to be made towards providing better health care services in the public sector. Nevertheless, six decades after her independence, the world’s eyes are focused on India and it is only a matter of time before we evolve from a developing country into a developed country.
( 571 Words )
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- 75 Years of Independence: The Changing Landscape of India
75 Years of Independence: The Changing Landscape of India Blogs Home
- 14 Aug 2022
There is an old saying that India is a new country but an ancient civilization, and this civilization has seen tremendous changes throughout its history.
From being an education hub of the world in ancient times to becoming the IT hub of the world today, the Indian landscape has come a long way. Taking 15 th August 1947 as our frame of reference, we find that there are several fields like Science and Technology, economy, and human development where India has shown remarkable progress. However, some fields like health and education still seem to be taken care of. Let us look at these aspects of Indian development individually.
The Landscape of Science and Technology
When the Britishers left India, they left behind a broken, needy, underdeveloped, and economically unstable country. After independence, India prioritized scientific research in its first five-year plan. It paved the way for prestigious scientific institutes like IITs and IISC. After just three years of independence, the Indian Institute of Technology has established in 1950. These institutions promoted research in India with the aid of foreign institutions. From launching its first satellite Aryabhatta in 1975 to being the first country to reach the orbit of Mars, India has taken confident strides in the field of space research technology, thanks to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). We can proudly state that India is standing at par with countries like USA and China, same goes with the field of biotechnology also where India is producing vaccines for the entire world. The success of UPI is also a case study for the world with 9.36 billion transactions worth Rs. 10.2 trillion in Q1 of 2022 only.
Economic Landscape
India faced several issues following its independence, including illiteracy, corruption, poverty, gender discrimination, untouchability, regionalism, and communalism. Numerous issues have acted as major roadblocks to India's economic development. When India declared its independence in 1947, its GDP was mere 2.7 lakh crore accounting for 3% of the world GDP. In 1965, the Green Revolution was started in India by M. S. Swaminathan, the father of the Green Revolution. During the Green Revolution, there was a significant increase in the crop area planted with high-yielding wheat and rice types. From 1978–1979, the Green Revolution led to a record grain output of 131 million tonnes. India was then recognized as one of the top agricultural producers in the world. With the construction of linked facilities like factories and hydroelectric power plants, a large number of jobs for industrial workers were also generated in addition to agricultural workers.
Today India is the 5 th largest economy in the world with 147 lakh crore GDP, accounting for 8% of global GDP. In recent years, India has seen a whopping rise of 15,400% in the number of startups, which rose from 471 in 2016 to 72,993 as of June 2022. This phenomenal rise in startups has also produced millions of new jobs in the country.
Infrastructure
The India of today is different from India at the time of freedom. In the 75 years of independence, Indian Infrastructure has improved drastically. The overall length of the Indian road network has grown from 0.399 million km in 1951 to 4.70 million km as of 2015, which makes it the third largest roadway network in the world. Additionally, India's national highway system now spans 1, 37, 625 kilometres in 2021, up from 24,000 km (1947–1969).
After over 70 years of independence, India has risen to become Asia's third-largest electricity generator. It increased its ability to produce energy from 1,362 MW in 1947 to 3, 95, 600 MW. In India, the total amount of power produced increased from 301 billion units in 1992–1993 to 400990.23 MW in 2022. The Indian government has succeeded in lighting up all 18,452 villages by April 28, 2018, as opposed to just 3061 in 1950, when it comes to rural electrification.
The Landscape of Human Development
In 1947 India had a population of 340 million with a literacy rate of just 12%, today it has a population of nearly 1.4 billion and a literacy rate of 74.04%. The average life expectancy has also risen from 32 years to 70 years in 2022.
The Landscape of Education and Health
In 1947, India had a population of 340 million with a literacy rate of just 12%, today it has a population of nearly 1.4 billion and a literacy rate of 74.04%. The average life expectancy has also risen from 32 years to 70 years in 2022. Though India has shown remarkable progress In terms of literacy rate, the quality of higher education is still a cause of major concern. There is not a single Indian University or Institute in the top 100 QS World University Ranking. With the largest youth population in the world, India can achieve wonders if its youth get equipped with proper skills and education. The health, sector is also worrisome. The doctor-to-patient ratio is merely 0.7 doctors per 1000 people as compared to the WHO average of 2.5 doctors per 1000 people. A recent study shows that 65% of medical expenses in India are paid out of pocket by patients and the reason is that they are left with no alternative but to access private healthcare because of poor facilities in public hospitals.
The Political Landscape
Jawaharlal Nehru was appointed as India's first prime minister in 1947, following the end of British rule. He promoted a socialist-economic system for India, including five-year plans and the nationalization of large sectors of the economy like mining, steel, aviation, and other heavy industries. Village common areas were taken, and a massive public works and industrialization drive led to the building of important dams, roads, irrigation canals, thermal and hydroelectric power plants, and many other things. India's population surpassed 500 million in the early 1970s, but the “Green Revolution” significantly increased agricultural productivity, which helped to end the country's long-standing food problem.
From 1991 to 1996, India's economy grew quickly as a result of the policies implemented by the late Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao and his Finance Minister at the time, Dr Manmohan Singh. Poverty had decreased to about 22%, while unemployment has been continuously reducing. Growth in the gross domestic product exceeded 7%.
India's first female Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, held office from 1966 until 1977 for three consecutive terms before serving a fourth term (1980–84). India elected Pratibha Patil as its first female president in 2007.
India's economy has expanded significantly in the twenty-first century. Under the Prime ministership of Narendra Modi (BJP), many significant changes have taken place like the scraping of Section 370, strengthening the Defence systems, creating a startup-friendly environment and much more. To expand infrastructure and manufacturing, the Modi administration launched several programs and campaigns, including “Make in India”, “Digital India”, and the “Swachh Bharat project.”
The Legal Landscape
Before independence, the Privy Council was the highest appellate authority in India. This Council was abolished as the first action following independence. The abolition of the Privy Council Jurisdiction Act was passed by the Indian Constituent Assembly in 1949 to eliminate the Privy Council's authority over appeals from India and to make provisions for outstanding appeals. It was B. R. Ambedkar's sharp legal intellect to draft a constitution for the newly sovereign country. In all executive, legislative, and judicial matters in the nation, the Constitution of India serves as the supreme law. The Indian legal system has developed into a key component of the largest democracy in the world and a pivotal front in the fight to protect constitutional rights for all citizens. Since it was first adopted in 1950, the Indian Constitution has had 105 modifications as of October 2021. The Indian Constitution is divided into 22 parts with 395 articles. Later, through various changes, further articles were added and amendments were made. According to the online repository maintained by the Legislative Department of the Ministry of Law and Justice of India as of July 2022, there are around 839 Central laws. The Indian legal system has a promising and forward-thinking future, and in the twenty-first century, young, first-generation lawyers are entering the field after graduating from the best law schools.
The Landscape of the Defence Sector
The Indian military ranked 4 of 142 out of the countries considered for the annual GFP review. From being defeated by the Chinese army in 1962 to becoming one of the largest defence systems in the world, India has surely learnt from its past errors. One of the reasons the Indian defence system has been able to attain its present reputation is the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) which was established in 1958. Since its founding, it has created many significant programs and critical technologies, including missile systems, small and big armaments, artillery systems, electronic warfare (EW) systems, tanks, and armoured vehicles. India began working on nuclear energy in the late 1950s and had indigenous nuclear power stations by the 1970s. India had also begun developing nuclear weapons and producing fissile material concurrently, which allowed for the purportedly harmless nuclear explosion in Pokhran in 1971. The Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP), under the direction of APJ Abdul Kalam and with the support of the Ordnance Factories, was established in 1983. In 1989, the longer-range Agni was independently designed and tested. Later, India and Russia collaborated to design and produce the Brahmos supersonic cruise missile. India currently leads several other nations in the production of defences. India is one of about a dozen nations that have built and produced their fighter jets, helicopters, submarines, missiles, and aircraft carriers.
Analyzing the different landscapes of India we find that we have come a long way in our journey but still, there is a lot to be done if we want to make India a ‘super power’. A lot will depend on our people’s willingness to change, ensuring the equal participation of women in the workforce, including marginalized communities in our economic growth, and last but not least is having a liberal and progressive and unbiased mindset.
As we are celebrating “Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”, the completion of 75 years of independence can be taken as a new opportunity to build an India of our aspirations and make positive contributions to the changing landscape of India.
Aarifa Nadeem
https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/opinion/how-we-have-done-since-gaining-freedom-from-our-colonial-masters-seven-decades-ago
https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/news/story/qs-world-university-rankings-2023-top-10-universities-globally-and-top-10-in-india-1960806-2022-06-10
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/5-reasons-why-indias-healthcare-system-is-struggling/article34665535.ece
https://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/economic-survey-high-out-of-pocket-expenses-for-health-can-lead-to-poverty/article33699314.ece
https://www.mapsofindia.com/my-india/technology/development-in-india-after-independence#:~:text=Infrastructure%20Development,%2C37%2C625%20km%20(2021) .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_India_(1947%E2%80%93present)#: ~:text=India%20became%20a%20sovereign%20democratic,the%2042nd%20Constitution %20Amendment%201976.
http://www.barcouncilofindia.org/about/about-the-legal-profession/history-of-the-legal-profession/
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Essay on India After 75 Years of Independence
Essay on India After 75 Years of Independence: India, a country rich in culture, diversity, and history, has come a long way since gaining independence 75 years ago. In this essay, we will explore the progress and challenges faced by India in the decades following independence. From economic growth to social development, we will analyze the achievements and setbacks that have shaped the nation into what it is today. Join us as we reflect on India’s journey after 75 years of independence.
Table of Contents
India After 75 Years of Independence Essay Writing Tips
1. Introduction: Start your essay by briefly discussing the significance of India’s 75 years of independence and how far the country has come since gaining freedom from British rule in 1947.
2. Economic Growth: Discuss India’s economic progress over the past 75 years, highlighting key milestones such as the Green Revolution, economic liberalization in the 1990s, and the country’s emergence as a major global economic player.
3. Technological Advancements: Talk about India’s advancements in technology and innovation, including the rise of the IT industry, the success of Indian startups, and the country’s growing influence in the global tech sector.
4. Social Progress: Address the social changes that have taken place in India over the past 75 years, such as improvements in healthcare, education, and gender equality. Discuss challenges that still remain, such as poverty, caste discrimination, and access to basic services.
5. Political Developments: Analyze India’s political landscape post-independence, including the evolution of the country’s democratic institutions, the rise of regional political parties, and the challenges of governance in a diverse and complex society.
6. Cultural Diversity: Highlight India’s rich cultural heritage and diversity, discussing how it has been preserved and celebrated over the past 75 years. Talk about the importance of cultural exchange and dialogue in fostering national unity and harmony.
7. Environmental Concerns: Address the environmental challenges facing India, such as air and water pollution, deforestation, and climate change. Discuss efforts to promote sustainability and conservation in the country.
8. Global Standing: Examine India’s role on the world stage, including its relationships with other countries, participation in international organizations, and contributions to global issues such as peacekeeping, climate change, and economic development.
9. Future Prospects: Conclude your essay by reflecting on India’s future prospects and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Discuss the importance of continued progress and development to ensure a prosperous and inclusive future for all Indians.
10. Conclusion: Summarize the key points of your essay and reiterate the significance of India’s 75 years of independence in shaping the country’s past, present, and future. Emphasize the need for unity, progress, and resilience as India continues its journey towards a brighter tomorrow.
Essay on India After 75 Years of Independence in 10 Lines – Examples
1. India has emerged as a global superpower, with a strong economy and technological advancements. 2. The country has achieved significant progress in areas such as healthcare, education, and infrastructure. 3. India is a leader in renewable energy and has made great strides in addressing climate change. 4. The caste system has been largely eradicated, leading to greater social equality and harmony. 5. Women have achieved equal rights and opportunities in all sectors of society. 6. India is a beacon of democracy and has set an example for other nations in terms of governance and transparency. 7. The country has become a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship, attracting talent from around the world. 8. India has strengthened its relationships with other countries, playing a key role in global affairs. 9. The arts and culture of India have flourished, showcasing the country’s rich heritage and diversity. 10. Overall, India has transformed into a modern, progressive nation that continues to strive for excellence and inclusivity.
Sample Essay on India After 75 Years of Independence in 100-180 Words
India after 75 years of independence has made significant progress in various fields. The country has emerged as a global economic powerhouse, with a booming IT sector, a strong manufacturing base, and a rapidly growing consumer market. The standard of living has improved for many, with poverty rates declining and access to education and healthcare increasing.
However, challenges such as income inequality, corruption, and environmental degradation still persist. The country continues to grapple with issues such as religious and caste-based discrimination, gender inequality, and political instability.
Despite these challenges, India has shown resilience and determination in overcoming obstacles and moving forward. The country has a young and dynamic population that is driving innovation and entrepreneurship, and there is a sense of optimism and hope for the future.
As India looks towards the next 75 years, it must focus on sustainable development, social inclusion, and good governance to ensure a prosperous and equitable future for all its citizens.
Short Essay on India After 75 Years of Independence in 200-500 Words
India has come a long way since gaining independence from British colonial rule 75 years ago. The country has made significant progress in various fields, including economy, technology, education, and healthcare. The journey has not been without challenges, but India has shown resilience and determination to overcome obstacles and achieve growth and development.
One of the most notable changes in India after 75 years of independence is the economic transformation. The country has emerged as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, with a burgeoning middle class and a thriving business environment. The government has implemented various economic reforms to attract foreign investment, promote entrepreneurship, and create job opportunities for its growing population. As a result, India has witnessed a significant reduction in poverty levels and an improvement in living standards for many of its citizens.
Technological advancements have also played a crucial role in shaping India’s future. The country has become a global hub for information technology and software development, with cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad earning the nickname “Silicon Valley of India.” The widespread adoption of digital technologies has transformed various sectors, including banking, healthcare, education, and agriculture. India has also made significant strides in space exploration, with successful missions to Mars and the moon, showcasing its technological prowess on the global stage.
Education has been another area of focus for India in the post-independence era. The government has made efforts to improve access to quality education for all its citizens, with initiatives like the Right to Education Act and the establishment of new schools and colleges across the country. As a result, India has seen a significant increase in literacy rates and educational attainment levels, empowering its youth to compete in the global economy.
Healthcare has also seen significant improvements in India after 75 years of independence. The government has launched various healthcare schemes and initiatives to provide affordable and accessible healthcare services to its citizens. The country has made progress in reducing maternal and child mortality rates, controlling the spread of infectious diseases, and improving healthcare infrastructure in rural areas. However, challenges like inadequate healthcare funding, shortage of healthcare professionals, and unequal access to healthcare services still persist and need to be addressed.
In conclusion, India has made remarkable progress in various fields after 75 years of independence. The country has emerged as a global economic powerhouse, a technological innovator, and a hub for education and healthcare. While there have been challenges along the way, India has shown resilience and determination to overcome obstacles and achieve growth and development. As the country continues on its path of progress, it is essential to address remaining challenges and work towards building a more inclusive and sustainable future for all its citizens.
Essay on India After 75 Years of Independence in 1000-1500 Words
India After 75 Years of Independence
India, a land of diverse cultures, languages, and traditions, has come a long way since gaining independence from British rule in 1947. As we celebrate 75 years of freedom, it is important to reflect on the progress made by the country and envision the future that lies ahead.
In the seven and a half decades since independence, India has made significant strides in various fields. The country has witnessed rapid economic growth, technological advancements, and social development. The Green Revolution in the 1960s transformed India from a food-deficient nation to a self-sufficient one, ensuring food security for its growing population. The liberalization of the economy in the 1990s opened up new opportunities for entrepreneurship and foreign investment, leading to a surge in economic growth and development.
India has also made significant progress in the field of science and technology. The country has established itself as a global leader in information technology and space research, with organizations like ISRO and companies like Infosys and TCS making a mark on the world stage. The Mars Orbiter Mission in 2014 and the Chandrayaan missions have showcased India’s capabilities in space exploration and research.
In the field of education, India has made significant strides in improving literacy rates and access to quality education. The Right to Education Act passed in 2009 made education a fundamental right for all children in the country, ensuring that every child has access to free and compulsory education. The establishment of prestigious institutions like the IITs and IIMs has helped in producing a skilled workforce that is competitive on a global scale.
India has also made progress in improving healthcare and reducing poverty. The National Health Mission launched in 2013 has focused on improving healthcare infrastructure and providing affordable healthcare services to all sections of society. The implementation of schemes like Ayushman Bharat has ensured that no one is left behind when it comes to accessing healthcare services. The poverty rate in the country has also declined significantly over the years, thanks to various poverty alleviation programs and schemes.
Despite these achievements, India still faces numerous challenges that need to be addressed in the coming years. One of the biggest challenges facing the country is the issue of inequality. The gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen, with a large section of the population still living in poverty. Addressing this issue will require a concerted effort from the government and civil society to ensure that the benefits of development reach all sections of society.
Another challenge facing India is the issue of environmental degradation and climate change. Rapid industrialization and urbanization have taken a toll on the environment, leading to pollution, deforestation, and loss of biodiversity. Climate change poses a serious threat to the country, with rising temperatures and erratic weather patterns affecting agriculture and livelihoods. India needs to adopt sustainable development practices and invest in renewable energy sources to mitigate the impact of climate change.
In addition to these challenges, India also needs to focus on improving governance and reducing corruption. The country ranks low on various global indices when it comes to transparency and accountability in governance. Strengthening institutions, promoting transparency, and empowering citizens to hold their leaders accountable will be crucial in ensuring good governance and inclusive development.
As India looks towards the future, it is important to set ambitious goals and work towards achieving them. The vision of a developed and prosperous India, where every citizen has access to education, healthcare, and livelihood opportunities, should guide the country’s policies and programs. Investing in human capital, promoting innovation and entrepreneurship, and fostering a culture of inclusivity and diversity will be key to realizing this vision.
In conclusion, India has made significant progress in the 75 years since independence, but there is still a long way to go. As the country celebrates this milestone, it is important to reflect on the achievements and challenges that lie ahead. By addressing issues of inequality, environmental degradation, governance, and corruption, India can build a brighter future for its citizens and continue on the path of progress and development. Let us work together towards realizing the dream of a strong, united, and prosperous India for the next 75 years and beyond. Jai Hind!
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Development in India After Independence
Many think that India’s growth story since the 1947 was good. But several experts often opinion that the country’s development for the past six decades has been average. Despite the announcement of Five-Year Plans which focused on many sectors in order to speed up the pace of development, the result hasn’t been on expected lines. And, the country is taking its own time to climb up with the economic and social world.
Service Sector Growth
Telecom and software development had most of the growth in the nation’s services sector. A trend that started some twenty years back is now well in its prime. Several multinational companies continue to outsource their telecom and IT services to the country. In terms of employment, the services sector employs 24 % of the Indian workforce and this process of development started back in the 1980s. In the 1960s, the sector employed just 4.5% of the working population. According to the experts, the services sector accounted for 63% of Indian GDP (2008-09) and the numbers continues to grow.
Agriculture Sector Growth
Since Independence the growth in agriculture has been somewhat steady. The growth of the sector was about 1 percent per annum up to 1950’s. During the post-Independence era, the growth rate bumped about 2.6 percent per annum. Rapid expansion of farming lands and introduction of high-yielding varieties of crops were the major factors contributing to the growth in agricultural production. One of the significant effects of the growth was that it could well manage to end dependency on import of food grains. Despite the unpredictability of the monsoon, the sector has progressed both in terms of yield and structural changes. Other factors contributed to the growth include, good investment in research, land reforms, expansion of scope for lending facilities, and improvement in rural infrastructure. Besides, the country has also grown strong in the agri-biotech sector. A report from a leading financial institution had revealed that the agri-biotech sector has been growing at 30 percent since the last few years.
Infrastructure Development
Allocation of huge funds and availability of electricity had triggered large scale expansion of infrastructure. The Indian road network has become one of the largest in the world with the total road length increasing from 0.399 million km in 1951 to 4.24 million km in 2014 (July 2014). Moreover, the total length of the country’s national highways has increased from 24,000 km (1947-69) to 92,851 km (2014). Governmental efforts have led to the expansion of the network of State highways and major district roads, which in turn has directly contributed to industrial growth. After almost seven decades, India has bagged the third place in the list of largest producers of electricity in Asia. It has increased its electricity generation capacity from 1,362 MW in 1947 to 1,13,506 MW in 2004. When it comes to rural electrification, the Indian government has managed to bring lights to 5,93,732 (2013) villages as compared to 3061 in 1950.
Education sector
India has somewhat managed to bring its education system at par with the global standard in some cases. A number of initiatives have been implemented to eradicate illiteracy. The number of schools witnessed a dramatic increase after 1950’s. The government had declared elementary education, a fundamental right for children in the age group of 6-14 years by passing the 86th amendment to the Constitution in 2002. At independence, India’s literacy rate was a paltry 12.2 % which increased to 74.04% in 2011. The Government launched a big initiative under the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan programme in 2001 to ensure education for the children from 6 to 14 years.
Health care sector
Increase in life-expectancy is considered one of the major achievements in health care in India. For example, life expectancy was around 37 years in 1951, it almost doubled to 65 years by 2011. Besides, Infant Mortality (IM) has also declined with death rate coming down to half of what it was during the 1940-50s. Moreover, similar developments were noticed in maternal mortality rate also. After a long-drawn struggle, India has finally been declared a polio-free country. Malnutrition in children under five years came down to 44% in 2005-06 from 67% in 1980. The number of tuberculosis cases also got reduced to 185 per lakh people in 2009. Moreover, the cases of HIV-infected people are also witnessing a declining trend. Government had also increased public health spending which is about 6- 6.5 % of the GDP.
Scientific achievements
India has reached new heights in rocket science and space technologies. Ever since, the launch of its first satellite Aryabhatta in 1975. India has emerged as a growing power that has successfully launched several foreign satellites. Its first mission to Mars was launched in November 2013 which successfully reached the planet’s orbit on 24 September 2014. Besides, space technology, India is also aggressively pursuing both nuclear and missile programmes. BrahMos Missile (with the help of Russia) inducted into the defence system is the world's fastest cruise missile. After more than six decades of independence, India has reached the level of being self-dependent in the field of space and missile technology.
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Challenges of Nation-Building: India’s Post-Independence Journey
Emerging from the shadows of colonialism in 1947 , India’s path was fraught with challenges yet ready to take on those challenges with immense potential. This era marked the nation’s evolution through the challenges of state-building, socio-economic development, and defining its global stance.
Jawahar Lal Nehru delivered his famous ‘Tryst with Destiny’ speech at midnight on 14-15 August 1947, when India gained independence. India was born in very difficult circumstances.
- Yet the turmoil that accompanied independence did not make our leaders lose sight of the multiple challenges that faced the new nation.
- From Poverty to Prosperity : From partition-induced turmoil to the aspirations of a nascent democracy, India embarked on a journey of unity, democracy, and development creating an interesting yet challenging tale woven with socio-political shifts, economic reforms, and cultural rejuvenation.
- This unity had to reflect the aspirations of people across the different regions and deal with the disparities that existed among regions and different sections of people.
Challenges for the New Nation
Three of the most important challenges of nation-building that India faced were:
- Partition Trauma: Freedom came with partition, which resulted in large-scale violence and displacement and challenged the very idea of a secular India.
- I ntegration of Princely States: Overcoming the resistance of nearly 500 Princely States and integrating them into the Indian Union was a humongous task.
- Redrawal of Internal Boundaries: Political Geography of the country needed to be drawn afresh to meet the aspirations of the people who spoke different languages.
- Accommodating Diversity: The challenge was to shape a nation that was united , yet accommodative of the linguistic, cultural, regional, and sub-national diversities in our society.
- Establishing & Maintaining Unity: For a land as continental in size and diversity as India, where people spoke different languages and followed various cultures and religions, it was imperative that unity was forged for all.
- However, it is known that a democratic constitution is necessary but not sufficient for establishing a democracy.
- Political System: India adopted representative democracy based on the parliamentary form of government.
- The Constitution laid down the principle of equality and special protection to socially disadvantaged groups and religious and cultural communities.
- The real challenge was to evolve effective policies for economic development and eradication of poverty.
India’s journey post-independence embodies resilience and adaptation in the face of monumental challenges. From establishing democracy to fostering unity amidst diversity, India’s evolution is a testament to its commitment to progress and inclusivity.
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Conclusion. India’s post-independence development is a testament to its resilience and adaptability. However, challenges like poverty, corruption, and inadequate public healthcare persist. As India continues to evolve, addressing these issues is crucial for sustainable development. 500 Words Essay on Development of India after Independence ...
In conclusion, India has made significant strides in various aspects of development after gaining independence. The country has witnessed economic growth, increased access to education and healthcare, enhanced agricultural productivity, improved infrastructure, and advancements in technology.
Conclusion. India’s journey since independence has been a saga of resilience, growth, and transformation. Despite numerous challenges, the nation has made significant strides in various fields. However, the journey is far from over.
By the 1980s, a substantial number of influential people had come around to the conclusion that the government did not have the political and administrative capacity to successfully run a controlled economy that delivered on economic growth.
Sixty years after independence, India has emerged from the shadow of colonialism to position itself as the world’s biggest and rowdiest democracy matching its political freedoms with financial ones, unleashing a surge of growth and wealth creation that is altering the lives of its millions.
India faced several issues following its independence, including illiteracy, corruption, poverty, gender discrimination, untouchability, regionalism, and communalism. Numerous issues have acted as major roadblocks to India's economic development.
Conclusion: Summarize the key points of your essay and reiterate the significance of India’s 75 years of independence in shaping the country’s past, present, and future. Emphasize the need for unity, progress, and resilience as India continues its journey towards a brighter tomorrow.
While India found itself independent from the British, it was still to find independence from social, economic and political problems that had started to become a rock in the way of its growth. The problems that India faced right after independence can be divided into three phases: Phase 1: 1947-1967. Phase 2: 1967-1977.
Development in India After Independence. Many think that India’s growth story since the 1947 was good. But several experts often opinion that the country’s development for the past six decades has been average.
Conclusion. India’s journey post-independence embodies resilience and adaptation in the face of monumental challenges. From establishing democracy to fostering unity amidst diversity, India’s evolution is a testament to its commitment to progress and inclusivity.