Indian Social Problems

Social issues in India

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The failure to do so caused the birth of a social issue. There are a variety of methods people use to combat social issues. Some people vote for leaders in a democracy to advance their ideals. Outside the political process, people donate or share their time, money, energy, or other resources. This often takes the form of volunteering.

Nonprofit organizations are often formed for the sole purpose of solving a social issue. Community organizing involves gathering people together for a common purpose. A distinct but related meaning of the term "social issue" used particularly in the United States refers to topics of national political interest, over which the public is deeply divided and which are the subject of intense partisan advocacy, debate, and voting. Examples include same-sex marriage and abortion. In this case "social issue" does not necessarily refer to an ill to be solved, but rather to a topic to be discussed.

Personal issues are those that individuals deal with themselves and within a small range of their peers and relationships. The line between a personal issue and a public issue may be subjective and depends on how groups are defined. However, when a large enough sector of society is affected by an issue, it becomes a social issue. Returning to the unemployment issue, while one person losing their job is a personal and not a social issue, firing 13 million people is likely to generate a variety of social issues.

A valence issue is a social problem that people uniformly interpret the same way. An example of a valence issue would be child abuse, which is condemned across several societies to a large enough degree that some social scientists might speak of them as though they are universal, for the sake of illustration.

By contrast, a position issue is a social problem in which the popular opinion among society is divided. An example of a position issue is abortion , which has not generated a widespread consensus from the public, in some countries. Unemployment rates vary by region, gender , educational attainment, and ethnic group.

In most countries including the developed countries , many people are poor and depend on welfare. In in Germany , one in six children depended on welfare. That is up from only one in seventy-five in So-called "problem neighbourhoods" exist in many countries. These neighbourhoods tend to have a high drop-out rate from secondary school, and children growing up in these neighbourhoods have a low probability of going to college compared to children who grow up in other neighbourhoods.

Abuse of alcohol and drugs is common in these neighbourhoods. Often these neighbourhoods were founded out of best intentions. Widespread health conditions often characterized as epidemics or pandemics are of concern to society as a whole. They can harm quality of life and the ability of people to contribute to society and to work, and most problematically result in death. Infectious diseases are often public health concerns because they can spread quickly and easily, affecting large numbers of members.

The World Health Organization has an acute interest in combatting infectious disease outbreaks by minimizing their geographic and numerical spread and treating the affected.

Social problems

Other conditions for which there is not yet a cure or even effective treatment, such as dementia , can be viewed as public health concerns in the long run. Throughout the life course, there are social problems associated with different ages. One such social problem is age discrimination. An example of age discrimination is when a particular person is not allowed to do something or is treated differently based on age. Social inequality is "the state or quality of being unequal". A past example of inequality as a social problem is slavery in the United States.

Africans brought to America were often enslaved and mistreated, and did not share the same rights as the white population of America for example, they were not allowed to vote. A number of civil rights movements have attempted to, and often succeeded at, advancing equality and extending rights to previously marginalized groups.

These include the women's rights movement beginning around the s , the civil rights movement in the United States for African-American equality beginning around the s and the LGBT rights movement beginning around the s.

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Education is arguably the most important factor in a person's success in society. As a result, social problems can be raised by the unequal distribution of funding between public schools, such as that seen in the United States. Public schools that do not receive high standardized test scores are not being funded sufficiently to actually reach the maximum level of education their students should be receiving.

Social problems in the workplace include occupational stress , theft , sexual harassment , wage inequality , gender inequality , racial inequality , health care disparities , and many more. Environmental racism exists when a particular place or town is subject to problematic environmental practices due to the racial and class components of that space. In general, the place or town is representative of lower income and minority groups. Often, there is more pollution, factories, dumping, etc. The abortion debate is the ongoing controversy surrounding the moral, legal, and religious status of induced abortion.

For many people, abortion is essentially a moral issue, concerning the commencement of human personhood , the rights of the fetus , and a woman's rights over her own body.

Major Problems in India

The debate has become a political and legal issue in some countries with anti-abortion campaigners seeking to enact, maintain and expand anti-abortion laws , while abortion rights campaigners seeking the repeal or easing of such laws while expanding access to abortion. Abortion laws vary considerably between jurisdictions, ranging from outright prohibition of the procedure to public funding of abortion. Availability of safe abortion also varies across the world.

A number of social issues have taken prominence in the history of the United States. Many have waxed or waned over time as conditions and values have changed. The term "social issue" has a broad meaning in the United States, as it refers not only to ills to be solved but to any topic of widespread debate, involving deeply-held values and beliefs.

Forms of Social Issues in India

The Library of Congress has established an index of social causes in the United States. Social issues take a particularly high-profile when a new president is elected. Elections are often impacted by several social issues, and many social issues would be discussed during the debate, such as Abortion rights , LGBT rights and gun control issues. In the United States, the federal prison system has been unable to keep up with the steady increase of inmates over the past few years, causing major overcrowding.

In the year , the overcrowding level was 41 percent above "rated capacity" and was the highest level since The federal prison not only has overcrowding, but also has been the center of controversy in the U. S regarding the conditions in which the prisoners are treated. Hate crimes are a social problem in the United States because they directly marginalize and target specific groups of people or specific communities based on their identities. Hate crimes can be committed as the result of hate-motivated behavior, prejudice, and intolerance due to sexual orientation, gender expression, biological sex, ethnicity, race, religion, disability, or any other identity.

The majority of victims and perpetrators are teenagers and young adults, the population that exists within educational institutions. Hate crimes can result in physical or sexual assaults or harassment, verbal harassment, robbery, or even in death. The food industry has been criticized for promoting childhood obesity and ill-health by specifically targeting the child demographic in the marketing of unhealthy food products.

The food products marketed often are deemed unhealthy due to their high calorie, high fat, and high sugar contents. In , the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies IOM released a report requested by Congress that evaluated the influence and nature of food and beverage marketing practices on American children and adolescents. According to Christian and the PHA website, the obesity epidemic in children and adolescents in the U. The article suggests unhealthy eating choices are due to an increase of sedentary activity e. In the view of some opponents, if governments took action to prevent the marketing of unhealthy food products, they would seriously reduce the prevalence of obesity and its serious health consequences, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

As part of the IOM food marketing report, 10 recommendations were made to both the public and private sectors. One of the recommendations was that the government partner with the private sector to "create a long-term, multifaceted, and financially sustained social marketing program to support parents, caregivers, and families to promote a healthful diet. Obesity is a prevalent social problem in today's society, with rates steadily increasing.

According to the Weight Control Information Network, since the early s, the prevalence of obesity among adults more than doubled, increasing from Hunger is a fairly obvious social Issue. Many people around the globe, especially in countries such as Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Zambia, experience malnutrition and undernourishment.

Mass media may use propaganda as a means to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view, or to maintain the viewer's attention. Who owns a media outlet often determines things such as the types of social problems that that outlet presents, how long that outlet airs those problems, and how dramatically that outlet presents those problems.

The American media is often biased towards one or the other end of the political spectrum ; that is, many media outlets have been accused either of being too conservative or of being too liberal. Drugs are at times the cause of social problems. Drugs such as cocaine and opiates are addictive for some users. A minority of users of such drugs may commit crimes in order to obtain more drugs. In some individuals, drugs such as methamphetamine have been known to contribute to violent behavior, which would be considered a social problem.

Drunk driving is on the rise and is the number two cause of accidental deaths; it is a cause of around 17, deaths each year. All but 9 states in USA have adopted the Administrative License Revocation where if you are caught drinking and driving and found guilty you will lose your license for a full year.

This is a step that is being taken in order to try to avoid the occurrence of this social problem.

Legal marijuana is debatable topic. Marijuana can be used in the medical domain, and there is no accurate fact that shows marijuana kills. However, people believe marijuana is a gateway to other drugs, injures lungs, and inhibits function. Some states are also legalizing it for both medical and recreational purposes, such as Colorado, California, and Oregon.

India is ranked 76 out of a countries in Transparency International 's Corruption Perceptions Index , but its score has improved consistently from 2. In India , corruption takes the form of bribes , tax evasion , exchange controls , embezzlement , etc. A study done by Transparency International [ unreliable source? The TI India study estimates the monetary value of petty corruption in 11 basic services provided by the government, like education, healthcare, judiciary, police, etc.

The regions with long term terrorist activities today are Jammu and Kashmir , Central India Naxalism and Seven Sister States independence and autonomy movements. In the past, the Punjab insurgency led to militant activities in the Indian state of Punjab as well as the national capital Delhi Delhi serial blasts, anti-Sikh riots.

A growing number of Germans are poor and depend on welfare. That is up from only one in 75 in In fact every society of the world has their social issues unique to their society. So does Indian society. Indian society is very rooted in religious beliefs; there are people of different religious beliefs such as Hindus, Muslims, Jains, Sikhs, Parsis etc. These all adds to the socio-cultural varieties of the country.

Almost all forms of social issues and problems find their origin in the religious and cultural practices of the people of India. These social problems are developed in a long period of times and are still continuing in one form or other. Furthermore, India has witnessed several wars of large proportions; several foreign invaders attacked India in its long history among whom few made this country as their own and tried to force their socio-religious practices which also deteriorated social conditions; the long period of British rule crippled the country and had thrown it into backwardness.

Poverty is a condition in which a household is not able to fulfill its basic needs for survival i. Poverty is a widespread condition in India. Since Independence, poverty is a prevalent concern. It is the twenty-first century and poverty still is a persistent menace in the country. India happens to be country wherein the disparities between the haves and the have-notes are extremely wide. It needs to be taken into account that although the economy has shown some visible signs of progress in the last two decades, this progress been uneven across various sectors or areas.

Some sections of the society like the Dalits are not even included in the poverty list maintained by the concerned authorities assigned by the government. The element which further complicates and deteriorates the situation is the government subsidies system which has leakages in the distribution system. They never reach the households. Illiteracy is a condition which becomes a blot on the development of nation.

India possesses the largest illiterate population. Illiteracy in India is a problem which has complex dimensions attached to it. Illiteracy in India is more or less concerned with different forms of disparities that exist in the country. There are gender imbalances, income imbalances, state imbalances, caste imbalances, technological barriers which shape the literacy rates that exist in the country. The Indian government though has launched several schemes to combat the menace of illiteracy but due to the poor conditions of sanitation and expensive private education and defective mid-day meal schemes, illiteracy still prevails.

Not only the government, but every literate person needs to accept the eradication of illiteracy as a personal goal. Each and every contribution by a literate person can make a contribution to eradicate the menace. According to the United Nations report, India has the second highest number of child marriages. Marriage is considered to be a sacred union between two mature and consenting individuals who are ready to accept each other and share responsibilities for a lifetime.

With respect to this context, child marriages happen to be an unsound institution. Child marriage mars the innocence of childhood. The Indian Constitution provides for prohibitions against child marriage through various laws and enactments. The first law that was designed was the Child Marriage Restraint Act of which extended to the whole of India except Jammu and Kashmir. This act defines the ages of an adult male and female. Also, sex with minors is a criminal offence under Section of the Indian Penal Code. Proper media sensitization is required for a major change to take place.

While on one hand, it is stated that child marriage will still take nearly fifty years to be eradicated, genuine efforts, strict enforcements of the legal provisions and change the scenarios to a great extent. Starvation is a condition characterized by the deficiency in calorie energy intake and is a serious form of malnutrition which ultimately leads to death if not taken care about. Historically, starvation has been constant across various human cultures apart from India.

Starvation can take place in a country due to many reasons like war, famine, the disparities between the rich and the poor and so on. Malnutrition conditions like kwashiorkor and marasmus can also develop into serious causes of starvation. Generally, the conditions of kwashiorkor and marasmus arise when people are taking diets which are not rich in nutrients proteins, vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats and fiber.

In the context of India, it becomes needless to say that the food distribution system is flawed. The Supreme Court has issued orders over the past decades directing the government to take measures like mid-day meal schemes and the provision of health care schemes for pregnant and lactating women. But, this bill also is not without its cons. Clear mechanisms with respect to the identification of beneficiaries have not been defined.

The indicators of the poor need to be made specific. They are vague in description. Child labour typically means the employment of children in any work with or without payment.

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