“The trouble is Indians aren’t used to being prosperous. We are more comfortable dealing with poverty. After all, poverty is the staple here, and has been for many centuries.” -Shobhaa Dé
More than 60 years after the endless sacrifice and struggle that bought India its freedom, the highly populous South Asian nation continues classified as a developing country. This resource rich country, which was once the most productive land in all of Asia, is now lagging behind countries like China, Japan, Singapore and many others in all forms of production from Food to Consumer Products and leads them in all the wrong lists like corruption and poverty. India is high on human resource and can in no way be regarded a poor country. So why hasn’t India developed yet? Here are the 10 things that have stopped India from development.
10. Poor Sanitation
Health is important to every human being and to maintain good health, proper sanitation is required. But in India there are countless slums, where living conditions are pathetic. What is saddening to see is that in India, cricket stadiums have better drains than roads. The amount of garbage is more outside the bins than in them. This garbage clogs the drains and when it rains, the water floods the roads and then afterwards remains stagnant. This becomes a breeding ground for insects and soon the epicentre of an epidemic. The sewage pipes are made of substandard parts and often break and overflow on to the road. If an average Indian is going to get sick every other Tuesday then how can this country develop? India’s cultural beauty and charming heritage is marred by the poor sanitation maintained by the municipality because the environment is what creates a lasting impression on foreigners and citizens alike.
9. Insufficient facilities
A public facility is the building block of a good city. From public toilets to condom vending machines, almost all essential facilities in India are either missing or badly maintained. A government hospital may offer cheap services but the quality of treatment is generally proportional to the amount of money one is willing to pay. A country can develop if its citizens use the public facilities like hospitals, transportation, etc. because that will allow the government to make money. But when these facilities are below par, the public will like to opt for private sector services that give the better quality thus decreasing the government’s revenue. In this case the citizens cannot be blamed because everyone wants better and will obviously use the better services, whether they are provided by the government or not.
8. Poverty
A report by The World Bank in 2010 has revealed that 32.7% of the Indian population lives below the International poverty line (less than $1.25 a day). Also 8 Indian states have more poor people than the 26 poorest countries of Africa put together which amounts to more than 410 Million people. When 400 Million of the 1.27 Billion people in India live with Rs.60/day, how can one expect India to be one of the developed countries in the world? Countless children are left malnourished due to poverty and many die at an early age. Poverty is the root cause of illiteracy. Every parent wants to send their child to school, but when the struggle is between food and education, food always wins and so the child invariably ends up doing odd jobs to make money. Child labour is a horrible crime and poverty is the root cause for this too.
7. Unemployment
74% of India’s population is literate. Out of that only 43% are college graduates. And every 9 people in a 100 don’t have a job. Those numbers are very bad for a developing country that is this big. Unemployment is a virus and attacks the development of a country. But this is probably the only thing on this list that is not entirely the government’s or the people’s fault. The flawed education system and the society are to blame for this. Competition is so high that if a student doesn’t secure more than 95%, his future is doomed. Everything is about marks and not about talent or knowledge. Society looks down upon students who get 75% or 80%. How can these students clear interviews, when they are being told everyday that they are simply not good enough.
6. Corruption
One of the main things that stop India from developing is Corruption. Corruption is everywhere. Government servants who work for personal gain and not for the good of the country are corrupt. Due to some of these people the entire government is disgraced. Citizens don’t have faith in their own government. A man who is doing his job properly is criticized by others because he is being a goody two shoes. In many countries people take bribes to not do their job or to do something extra, like a prison guard may take bribes to leave a gate open or to ignore a crime. But here in India people take bribes even to do their work. Corruption has a seed in every government department and in many private sector services as well.
5. Inefficient Law Enforcement
The police department in India is one of the best in the world. Yet we find that hundreds of people commit serious crimes every day and thousands flout the traffic rules. The crime rate in India is soaring especially in its capital, Delhi. The reason for this is that no one is scared to commit these crimes. If someone rapes a girl, punishment of some sort is all but guaranteed but no one looks at the small crimes. If someone skips a signal or gets into an accident, they can simply bribe the traffic policeman to get away. The word law has very little meaning in India. People litter without a worry because they know no one is going to punish them for it. If they know there is a punishment for every wrong thing they do, however big or small, they will think twice before they do it. That is the only way to enforce the law. Did you know there is a law in the IPC for littering?
4. Disunity among citizens
India is an extremely diverse country. It is filled with different castes and religions. There was once a time when all these people lived together harmoniously. There was a time when people of all religions and castes joined hands to win us our freedom, no matter how much the British tried to separate. India could proudly say they had unity in diversity. But now a country that can forget religions for a simple cricket match cannot do it in their daily lives. Though many leaders have tried a lot to unite these castes and religions, few leaders use the enmity between them to their advantage and in the process simply widen the gap. There is no way India can develop without the unity between its citizens.
3. Mediocre Judicial System
More than 320 Million cases are pending in the High courts and Subordinate courts in India as of 2012. Crime rate has increased three fold in this time and the main cause for that is the mediocre judicial system that takes close to three months to pass a judgement on a simple theft case. It is true that instant justice is not possible but if every case is going to take so long that the plaintiff is going to die and his son or daughter is taking over and a man cannot even get justice in his lifetime, then that means the courts are simply pathetic. The government of India promised fast track courts for the Delhi rape case. It’s been 6 months and yet we haven’t seen a single improvement in that trial. If this is the speed of the fast track court, then one can imagine the speed of the normal courts in India. The alarming increase in the number of murders and rapes in India can be blamed completely on the courts who have successfully removed the fear of punishment from the people.
2. Tax Evasion
Tax Evasion is the reason why the government’s revenue is pitiable. How can India develop if the government has no money to spend on anything? As earning citizens of India, it is everyone’s duty to pay their taxes properly. Most people deny completely that they have evaded their taxes. The why is a country with a population of 1.27 Billion still on the outset, a poor one? Why is so much black money holed up in Swiss Bank accounts? Director Shankar’s Sivaji shed light on the effects of Black Money and what good can come of paying taxes for Indian citizens. The reason why there is a high unemployment rate in such a big country is because everyone wants a private sector job as government jobs don’t pay high. The reason for this is that the government doesn’t have enough revenue to pay its employees handsomely. Taxes are the main sources of revenue of the Government.
1. Hypocritical Citizens
The main reason why India has not developed yet is its citizens. Everyone is happy to sit back on their chair, read a newspaper and grumble about how their country is going to the dogs. But no one is ready to do something about it. Only 60% of the eligible people even vote, and yet everyone is ready to criticize the government. People say that politicians are spoiling the country, but not one of them is ready to enter politics themselves. Everyone is ready to ridicule the police department for bad law enforcement and yet citizens continue to ignore traffic rules. People complain about public servants who take bribes and yet they are ready to pay the bribe to get the work done. Many people, especially NRIs, call India a dirty country that has litter and sewage everywhere, and yet almost all of them throw rubbish around whenever they come to India. The government is not the only one responsible for everything that is wrong with India. The people of India have equal share in its pathetic state.
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