India: Political, Social and Cultural Overview - Research Paper Example

India: Political, Social and Cultural Overview India is one of the most densely populate nations around the world today with over .2 billion citizens. Every Indian above 1 years of age is eligible for participation in any election as a voter and for this reason the nation is biggest democracy around the globe. India is based on a parliamentary system of government comprising of the president and two houses i.e. Rajya Sabha & Lok Sabha. India’s parliament is the ultimate law making arm of government the national constitution is the guiding document when it comes to matters civil rights. In this paper I will be illuminating on the political, social and cultural situation in India. India being the biggest democracy and second most populated nation on earth rose in the 1990s to become a major world power. It boasts of a very strong military, influential cultural systems and a strong economy the growing at very fast pace. It is currently armed with nuclear power having performed nuclear tests in the 70s and 90s in violation of world opinion. But even with all these capabilities, a wealth of resources and a highly skilled workforce, India has continued to struggle with huge problems on the social, economic and environmental fronts (BBC, 2015). As the second most populous country on earth, India has many languages different cultures and very many religions making it a highly diverse one. The diversity is reflected in country’s federal political system in which the central government shares power with 28 states. But for a very long the country has had to live with communal, caste and regional tensions that threaten even its democracy and cultural systems. In the year 1984 for instance, the country’s then Prime Minister was shot dead by her own Sikh gourds. This followed her order for the flushing out of Sikh militia from Golden Temple. The country was to be faced again with widespread violence in 1992 following a conflict between Hinds and Muslims sparked by the action by extremist Hindus to demolish Babri mosque. On the economic front, India began as a socialist state as was the dream of its first premier, Nehru Jawaharal. Through this dream India was able to create a very vast public infrastructure but most of would later become a national burden. Change slowly began in the 190s with the country starting to warm and open itself up to the rest of the world. This move would encourage and actually spur economic reforms which favoured foreign direct investment. Today India is being courted by some of the world’s major economies and political powers such as China which was once fierce political foe. It has a very promising middle class has tremendously invested in crucial fields like information technology. Its workforce is enormous and highly skilled making it a preferential choice for multinational corporations that seek to outsource labor (Bradsher, 2015). However, India’s progress economically is held back widespread corruption that has entrenched in all levels of politics and society. Corruption in India can only be termed endemic. Many Indians especially in rural areas have remained to be highly impoverished thanks to the caste system that assigns people to a social hierarchy depending on their social and economic status. This system has negatively influenced progress in India. In order to empower every person and allow equal access to opportunities in education, work and others, the kind of discrimination brought about by the caste system has been declared illegal. Many other measures are being introduced by the government to encouraged economic and social mobility among the most disadvantaged of the population. As major economies such as China slow down, Brazil struggles with price issues; Russia faces sanctions from the west and weak revenues from oil threatening economic recession. At this turbulent time when leading developing markets are in turmoil, India’s has remained salient and is the only hope for global growth going forward. This is evident in the strong stock market as well as the surging rupee and the moves by many multinational to expand their operations in India or even launch new ventures. Economic growth in the past few months matched that of China. Hope is even renewed by the new leader, Narendra Modi’s policies which are friendly to businesses and growth. Factories for instance do not need any more to close down on a yearly basis just to pave way for government inspectors while rules on foreign investments have been significantly relaxed and on the way are comprehensive reforms of the tax system. With the renewed optimism especially by foreign direct investors, business growth has be catalysed in most cities across the country e.g. Tiruppur which is a hub for yarn and textile industries. Many manufacturing firms in Tiruppur have expanded in terms of capacity by double or even triple digits yet they are large factories. However, this new gained momentum will be tested by whether the country under the lairdship of Modi will be able to push more far reaching reforms especially to address the endemic corruption and poverty that have persistently plagued the economy. It should be considered that Modi lacks the political support necessary for overhauling and quickly legislating reforms. He therefore is relying on temporary measures to bring about change. In part, India’s fortunes are fuelled by favourable economic winds yet these are the same winds, hitting economies like Venezuela, Russia and others adversely. It for instance depends on oil imports and thus of halving of the price for crude oil globally is a tangible to its economy. Transportation costs and inflation rates have gone down and so is the expenditure by government on fuel subsidies with the resultant curb on the epidemic national budgetary deficits. India is actually reaping from troubles that other emerging new markets are facing; China’s business laws, its problems with neighbours and surge in blue-collar wages are some of the factors that have made firms to look India. GM has already relocated its Asia Head Office to Singapore from Shanghai as it continues to expand in India. On a visit to New Delhi in January, US President Barrack Obama underscored persistent regulatory restrictions in India as making hard for one to business but at the same time lauded Modi’s reform agenda noting that they will definitely eliminate some of the barriers that business have to overcome. Challenges to business in India are many; its ranked number 142 out of 189 as hardest country to carry out business. Legal issues surrounding land especially can significantly affect even the most needed projects. Boeing, Nokia and Foxconn are just some of the companies that have suffered significantly from India’s bureaucracies when it comes to land issues. While the current premier may be known for reforms that are business friendly, his main challenge is political support; he lacks numbers especially in the upper house to push the agenda. Works Cited. 1. BBC. India Profile. BBC News, March 2015. Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-12557384 2. Jim Yardley and Vikas Bajaj. Billionaires’ Rise Aids India, and the Favour is Returned. The New York Times, 2011. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/world/asia/27tycoon.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 3. Keith Bradsher. As Rivals Falter, India’s Economy is Surging Ahead. The New York Times, 2015. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/18/business/as-rivals-falter-indias-economy-is-surging-ahead.html?src=me&_r=0 4. Vishnu Varma. At the Month-Mark, Modi Reflects. The New York Times, 2014. Available at: http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/27/at-the-month-mark-modi-reflects/?module=BlogPost-ReadMore&version=Blog%20Main&action=Click&contentCollection=World&pgtype=Blogs®ion=Body&_r=0#more-77016 Read More