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India Since Independence

structure

(1) Opening    —    The vision of a democratic, civil libertarian and secular India.

(2) Body    —    Colonialism left India divided and underdeveloped.

    —    The building and sustenance of a democratic and civil libertarian policy.

    —    Developed a strong centre.

    —    Independent Foreign Policy.

    —    Weakness of the Indian Polity.    

    —    Deterioration of political parties.

    —    Land reforms, agriculture, industries, machines.

    —    Self-sufficiency in so-many fields.

    —    Science and technology.

    —    Failure in the economic realm

(3) Closing    —    Plenty of ground to have faith in a brighter future for our people.

Seventy years back, when India became free after nearly two centuries of colonial domination, the Indian, people set out to realise the vision that had inspired generations of freedom fighters. This was the vision of a democratic, civil libertarian and secular India built on the foundations of an independent and self-reliant modern economy, a just and egalitarian society and an independent foreign policy.

Before we take a look of different areas of our endeavour, let us take a hurried look at the nature of India's colonial experience. Colonialism left India divided and underdeveloped. India was fully integrated into the world capitalist economy in a subordinate, colonial position which was symbolised by the extreme poverty of the Indian people. There was a decline of 24 per cent in the per capital availability of foodgrains in the 30 years between 1911 and 1941. The average age of an Indian in 1947 was 32 years. Million of Indians died of starvation whenever a major drought occurred. Diseases like cholera, small pox and malaria devastated the land. And nearly 5 per cent of India's national income was transferred unilaterally to Britain.

By the very nature of things, the wresting of political power from the colonical state was an event, the accomplishing of economic and cultural independence and development had to be a prolonged process. Moreover, while the ideological basis for economic and cultural independence was laid by the movement for freedom, its realization in concrete terms would require hard and continuous efforts.

First of all, it is clear that the post-colonical 

ndian state has been politically independent and not under the direct or indirect domination or influence of one or more imperialist countries, Indian polity has been based on parliamentary democracy, adult franchise, a full range of civil liberties, an independent judicial system and competing political parties and groups including factions within the ruling party. The building and sustenance of a democratic and civil libertarian polity is a major achievement of independent India. We have already sustained this polity for 53 years this is an achievement which is unequalled by any 19th century European nation-state except Britain.

Though a federation, India has developed a strong centre. This too has enhanced India's capacity to withstand foreign pressure. Desegregate state power would have made it easier for foreign interests to establish holds in one part of the country or the other.

Political democracy has also meant that the regime functions within a reformist socio-economic framework. Though not radically restructuring the internal socio-economic orders, the Indian state has undertaken many measures of reform which have affected almost every section of society. The extent of reform in different periods has, of course, depended on the type and degree of popular mobilization behind them.

One of India's greatest achievement has been the capacity to follow an independent foreign policy of non-alignment and peace and internationals in favour of anti-colonial national liberation movements and equitable economic relations between nations have won India the regard of people all over the world. India's foreign policy has stood the test of time, served our national interest in the political and economic field and imparted a certain stability to Indian polity.

The basic weakness of the Indian polity has been at the level of people's participation in the democratic process. This participation though real, has been often confined to elections or occasional popular movements. We have failed to create structures and institutions through which the common masses can make their voice heard in an effective and continuous manner. Moreover, corruption and money power continuously prevent the democratic processes and institutions.

A very sad and negative development has been the gradual deterioration of political parties, which are after all a basic pillar of a democratic political order.

Even so, while these negative features may be taken as warning signals, they need not take away from pride in our massive achievement we are one of the freest political societies in the world today. Moreover, the vast majority of Indians have learnt to value democracy and civil liberties and their right to vote.

Despite the partition of India in 1947, Indians set out to build a compact nation around the principle of unity in diversity. The path has not been very easy. Every few years disruptive and divisive forces emerge and grow and threaten the process of national making and nation-building. But, through trial and error, the Indian people have succeeded in controlling and rebuffing these forces. Still, there is no doubt that communalism, casteism and regionalism have posed and continue to pose a constant threat to the nation.

This is particularly true of communalism today. Despite the partition of India, the Indian people and the national leaders did not accept the validity of communal ideology and enshrined secularism in the Indian Constitution and insisted that religion must be divorced from politics, that the state must be separated from all religions and religion must be treated as a private matter of the individual. Moreover, despite many ideological and political weaknesses, the predominant sectors of political life in India have remained committed to secularism.

Independent India set out to overcome its colonical under-development on the basis of modern industry and technology and scientific agriculture. India was to develop as an integral part of world economy but it was no longer to be subordinated to foreign economic interests or to the economies of the advanced capitalist countries. These objectives could be achieved, it was felt by the founding father of the republic, only on the basis of planning and massive reliance on the public sector. Simultaneously with economic development, planning was to be geared to the gradual elimination of poverty and the promotion of equity and social justice.

India has great deal of achievement in the realization of these objectives. It has avoided the neo-colonial trap and developed an independent economy whose structure and growth are autonomously determined and are no longer subjected to the needs and diktats of another society and economy.

Immediately, after independence, during the 1950s, a massive programme of land reforms abolishing zamindars and other intermediaries was undertaken, leading to the virtual disappearance of landlordism, though it still prevails in several pockets in the country, especially in Bihar. Today, agriculture is characterised by the existence of a vast number of petty peasant proprietors and agricultural labourers topped by a large stroke of rich peasants and a smaller number of capitalist farmers.

Despite its many structural weaknesses, Indian agriculture has succeeded in reversing the negative production trend of pre-independence years. Agricultural production has increased at an annual rate of growth of 2.54 per cent from 1950 to 1984 and nearly 3.5 per cent from 1985 to 1989. Thus India has become self-sufficient in foodgrains and agricultural raw materials, though oil seeds and pulses have remained weak points. GDP from Agriculture in India averaged 4052.74 INR billion from 2011 until 2018.

In the colonial period, the industrial base of the Indian economy was very weak. Moreover, the emphasis was on labour intensive low-technology produces. There was near-complete absence of capital goods and machine industries and total dependence on imports of machine tools and machinery. Since independence, Indian industry has grown physically as well as undergone basic structural transformation. The contribution of the industrial sector towards national income is rising continuously. Its share was 16.1 p.c. in GDP in 1950-51 to more than 26 per cent now. Another important feature of Indian economy is that nearly all the basic industrial, transport, power, commercial and financial sectors of the economy are under Indian control— whether public sector or private sector. India is also largely self-sufficient in defence production.

India possesses a large though not sufficient trained scientific, and technical manpower. The number of its engineering graduates has gone up since 1950.  However, India continued to lag far behind in the field of science and technology and is still basically dependent for advanced technology on the outside world.

Our main failure in the economic realm lies basically in income distribution or sharing of the material production is involved. Our society is grossly unequal, unjust, and inequitable in terms of per cent of our population, who live below the poverty line brings shame to every sensitive Indian. The urban slums are a standing of the inhuman character of our society. Our environment is deteriorating daily even in the villages. We have failed to build a work culture which could sustain a modern industrial and agricultural economy.

There is, of course, some progress even in terms of economic welfare. Sheer starvation is rare today. Epidemics like small pox and plague hav e been eliminated and cholera and malaria controlled.  Drought and famine no longer take millions of lives. Death rate has been halved and the average age is now nearly 70 years. 

But gross inequality is still the norm. The cost of development has been borne by the poor while most of the benefits  have been garnered by the middle and upper classes in urban areas and the rich peasants and capitalist farmers in the rural areas. Majority do not have a proper water supply.

In the social sphere too, we have a certain achievement to our credit. Building on the work of the freedom struggle, our Constitution abolished discrimination on grounds of caste, sex or religion. While we have failed to provide minimum education to our people- over 40 per cent Indians are still illiterate, women and suppressed castes have made significant gains in access to those limited educational opportunities. Unfortunately, our society is still caste-ridden and caste oppression and discrimination alround. The dalits or persons belonging to suppressed castes have been learning to stand up and fight back. All in all, the record of the seventy years of independence provides us with plenty of ground to have faith in a brighter future for our people. It also beckons us to fight hard against the prevailing poverty, inequality and social oppressions.