What are social issues?

A social issue is a problem that influences a considerable number of individuals within a society. A
social issue has many categories in depth as well as light. It's a common problem we see happening
in our society .It is often the consequence of factors extending beyond an individual's control, and is
the source of a conflicting opinion on the grounds of what is perceived as morally correct or
incorrect personal life or Social Life. Social issues are distinguished from economic issues; however,
some issues (such as immigration) have both social and economic aspects. There are also issues
that don't fall into either category, such as warfare.

Types of social issues

 Social Problems. Socila Problems: Conceptual understanding. ...

 Illiteracy, Poverty, Unemployment and Population Growth. ...
 Child Abuse, Child Labour and Violence against Women. ...
 Casteism, Communalism, Regionalism and Language Conflicts. ...
 Crime, Criminal, Criminology and Juvenile Delinquency. ...
 Alcoholism, Drug Abuse and Corruption.

POVERTY

“Poverty is the sum total of a multiplicity of fact others that include not just
income and calorie intake but also access to land and credit, nutrition,
health and longevity, literacy and safe drinking water, sanitation and other
infrastructural facilities.”

In India, it is estimated that about 350-400 million people are living below the
poverty line, 75 per cent of them in the rural areas. More than 30 per cent of
the population is illiterate. With women, tribal and scheduled castes
particularly affected.
The main causes of poverty are illiteracy, a population growth rate by far
exceeding the economic growth rate for the better part of the past 60 years,
protectionist policies pursued since 1947 to 1991 which prevented large
amounts of foreign investment in the country.

Poverty alleviation is expected to make better progress in the next 50 years

than in the past, as a trickle- down effect of the growing middle class.
Increasing stress on education, reservation of seats in government jobs and
the increasing empowerment of women and the economically weaker
sections of society are also expected to contribute to the alleviation of
poverty.

‘Where there is no happiness for all, there cannot be happiness for any’. This
is a fundamental truth successful nations around the world have discovered.
They have structured their societies in such a way that though there may be
inequalities in incomes and levels of enjoyment of the good things of life, the
basics of a modern life are not denied to anyone.

What are these basics? Answers vary for each country. For India, these are;
education. Health care, housing, water electricity, cooking fuel, old age
support, sanitation, and employment. Providing these for all citizens is to
both attack poverty and pave way for growth.
 Poverty
Poverty is one of the toughest problems that India is facing today. Quite
oddly, in spite of all the progress that India has made during the years, the
monster of poverty has not been eliminated. A great segment of our society
is still living below the poverty line.

The most distressing feature of our social system is that we have at present
all the more glaring contrasts and disparities in incomes and life styles.
Whereas on the one hand we have millionaires and even billionaires, on the
other hand, we have teeming millions who cannot 0$ make both ends meet.
And then with the rise in prices of essential commodities, their real incomes
are further shrinking.

Nothing is without cause. Similarly, there are definite causes for this stark
poverty. Illiteracy is one of such causes. The world has moved fast during
the last some years. But the illiterate or semi-literate people F are unable to
keep pace with the world. Hence, they cannot find a job. Even if they are
able to find one, it is not lucrative enough to enable them to earn enough for
themselves and for their family. Hence, they have to lead a marginal life.

Many parents, particularly in rural areas and those belonging to lower strata
of life are superstitious. They do not allow their children to I learn new arts
and services. They consider some arts such as singing, dancing, painting,
etc. to be immoral even if their child has a strong aptitude for it.

Many people are lethargic and they do not want to do anything. Then there
is so much corruption at all levels that they dare not take a risk in investing
in any venture. Also cut-throat competition in every field discourages new
entrants.

The remedy lies in a house to house survey. Seats in services should be

reserved for economically weaker persons. Those who want to set up a small
scale industry or start a business should be given liberal loans at low
interests. Really indigent and helpless persons, particularly the senior
citizens, the disabled and the widows should be given pensions and grants
and subsidies
 THE DOWRY SYSTEM
OR
THE CURSE OF DOWRY

‘Dowry’ according to the dictionary, means the property which a woman

brings to her husband at the time of her marriage. Originally, it must have
meant property represented by the voluntary gifts given to the girl by her
parents, relatives and friends out of love and affection, at the time of her
marriage. May be these gifts were given to the girl in order to enable her
to set up a new home out of a sense of social responsibility. The system of
dowry must be as old as the institution of marriage itself. It must also have
been a universal practice. Every father wants to give some presents to his
daughter when she is leaving his home for good and starting life
afresh. There is nothing unusual, bad abnormal about it.

But as time passed, the system degenerated into an evil

custom. It came to be looked upon as an evil and a curse. The dowry
became an all- important and a primary factor in marriage. It became
necessary for the parents of the girl to give a good dowry to her whether
they could afford it or not. Worse still, the married life of a girl came to
depend upon dowry. Marriage became impossible in the absence of a
handsome dowry. Several girls, whose parents could not afford a good
dowry, had to commit suicide as their greedy in-laws made their lives
miserable. Newspapers are full of reports carrying harrowing tales of
brides being burnt to death or driven to hang themselves because of
constant nagging by their in laws. Some of the step-daughters of fortune
choose the hangman’s noose while others consume poison or jump down
the multi-storeyed buildings to deliver themselves from the clutches of the
inhuman dowry seekers.
 It is really tragic that in the progressive world of today, the evil of
dowry continues to exist in all its horrid forms. Many homes are broken
and several families are driven to ruin only because they are too poor to
afford a rich dowry. Previously, in the selection of a bribe, her family
background, education and her intrinsic worth used to be the primary
consideration. Now, dowry is the first and the only consideration in a
majority of the matrimonial alliances. As a result, dowry, which was at one
time a token of love and affection, has become a cause of oppression and
exploitation of the worst order.

Some parents have to incur heavy debts for giving dowry. At

times, they remain under debt for the whole of their life. Sometimes, the
girl’s parents fill to raise the necessary funds for marriage. They are
compelled to commit suicide in disgust and despair. No wonder, therefore,
that the birth of a daughter is looked upon as a bolt from the blue.

In the recent past, the Government of India and many states

have taken some anti-dowry steps. In some states, dowry has been made
a cognizable offence. But legal steps are not enough. We have to create a
social climate which does not favour giving and taking of dowry. Dowry
seekers must be singled out and condemned. The Government should
implement the anti-dowry bill strictly in the right spirit Nobody, however
highly placed, should be allowed to violate the law. Expenses at the
marriage celebrations should be cut down. Needy married couples should
be given loans and grants to help them set up their homes. They can be
asked to refund these loans in easy installments. Voluntary social service
organizations and religious heads should encourage dowryless marriages
in large numbers. Girls should come forward to raise a banner of revolt
against the dowry seekers. They should refuse to marry such boys as
expect a dowry.

There is another dimension to the anti-dowry act promulgated by

the government. This law is being exploited by some girls or their parents
to blackmail the boys or their families after marriage. On threat of charge of
prosecution for asking for dowry, husbands are being forced to shell out
huge sums of money to get a divorce. This practice must be looked into
and steps should be taken to see that no family is unnecessarily harassed
or exploited. Divorce should be made easier to obtain. Boys and girls
should both be given equal rights in the matter of obtaining a divorce.
 In order to root out the evil of dowry from the society, we shall
have to build up a strong public opinion against it. Boys and girls in
schools and colleges should be made to take a pledge that they would
neither seek nor give dowry. They should be educated through films,
television plays and talks, slides camps, lectures and radio talks. Such
boys as refuse to accept dowry in their marriages should be honoured in
public. If we succeed in removing the evil of dowry, it will be really a
praiseworthy achievement.

Essay No. 02

Dowry System

The dowry system is an age old system and a peculiar phenomenon of the
Indian society. It is, as today, a curse to the society.

Dowry is the name given to all that, the parents of a girl give to her when she
gets married. At the face of it, the system seems quite appropriate, healthy
and logical, for in this simple way, the parents of the girl help her in setting a
new home. So far, so good and, originally also the purpose of dowry was
very justified and understandable.

Let us now analyze how and why this system took birth at all? In the earlier
times of Indian society, the daughter had no share in the father’s property
so, by way of dowry the girl would get at least some portion of her share.
Besides this, in those days, the girls were not educated so, this dowry could
serve the girl as a back up support system in case of any emergency after
her marriage. Seeing this as the ground reality and the reason for the system
for having taken birth, no right thinking people would call the system wrong
or unjustified. However, with the passage of time this same fine system has
taken the ugly shape of begging for dowry, bargaining for dowry, auctioning
the boy to the highest bidder and finally suicides. This is because, taking
advantage of the system, the parents of the boys, have Started demanding
dowry. This was never done in the original shape of the system. The girl’s
parents would give whatever they could and, there would be NO – yes, No
demands from the boy’s side. Besides demanding items of dowry, now
parents of the boy’s family keep items of the dowry for their own use. This
was also not in the original system for, whatever was given was for the girl
only- and never for the boy’s family. These two additions in the original
system have converted the blessing for the girl into a curse for her. The
parents who cannot afford to meet the demands of the boy’s family are forced
either into taking loans that they can never return, or use unfair means of
corruption to make money to meet the demanded expenses In turn, this has
led to even committing suicides by the girls murders of girls by the in-laws.
At times even before the marriage, the girl is led to kill herself to save her
parents from the trauma of collecting money for her marriage.

Thus, we see that, a system that was at one time very wise and discreet,
has taken an ugly shape just because of the deed of men and women in
today’s world. This system of dowry has become a slur on the Indian society.
Besides being a shame, in today’s scenario, the system as it was even in the
initial stages of its existence, has become quite irrelevant. This is because,
both the reasons for its birth are now not in vogue. These days, girls are
usually educated and can earn a livelihood if need arises, and, they now also
have a share, an equal share as the brothers have in the father’s property.
That means the necessity of the girl having an amount to reach out in the
days of crisis or emergency does not hold good any more. So, when the very
basis of the system does not exist, the system should be scrapped
altogether. This is because; the system instead of bringing solace, only
generates greed and even crime in several cases

My view is that, the system as it exists should be put to an end and all those
who indulge in it should be punished severely.
‘Dowry’ according to the dictionary, means the property which a woman
brings to her husband at the time of her marriage. Originally, it must have
meant property represented by the voluntary gifts given to the girl by her
parents, relatives and friends out of love and affection, at the time of her
marriage. May be these gifts were given to the girl in order to enable her
to set up a new home out of a sense of social responsibility. The system of
dowry must be as old as the institution of marriage itself. It must also have
been a universal practice. Every father wants to give some presents to his
daughter when she is leaving his home for good and starting life
afresh. There is nothing unusual, bad abnormal about it.

But as time passed, the system degenerated into an evil

custom. It came to be looked upon as an evil and a curse. The dowry
became an all- important and a primary factor in marriage. It became
necessary for the parents of the girl to give a good dowry to her whether
they could afford it or not. Worse still, the married life of a girl came to
depend upon dowry. Marriage became impossible in the absence of a
handsome dowry. Several girls, whose parents could not afford a good
dowry, had to commit suicide as their greedy in-laws made their lives
miserable. Newspapers are full of reports carrying harrowing tales of
brides being burnt to death or driven to hang themselves because of
constant nagging by their in laws. Some of the step-daughters of fortune
choose the hangman’s noose while others consume poison or jump down
the multi-storeyed buildings to deliver themselves from the clutches of the
inhuman dowry seekers.

It is really tragic that in the progressive world of today, the evil of

dowry continues to exist in all its horrid forms. Many homes are broken
and several families are driven to ruin only because they are too poor to
afford a rich dowry. Previously, in the selection of a bribe, her family
background, education and her intrinsic worth used to be the primary
consideration. Now, dowry is the first and the only consideration in a
majority of the matrimonial alliances. As a result, dowry, which was at one
time a token of love and affection, has become a cause of oppression and
exploitation of the worst order.
 Some parents have to incur heavy debts for giving dowry. At
times, they remain under debt for the whole of their life. Sometimes, the
girl’s parents fill to raise the necessary funds for marriage. They are
compelled to commit suicide in disgust and despair. No wonder, therefore,
that the birth of a daughter is looked upon as a bolt from the blue.

In the recent past, the Government of India and many states

have taken some anti-dowry steps. In some states, dowry has been made
a cognizable offence. But legal steps are not enough. We have to create a
social climate which does not favour giving and taking of dowry. Dowry
seekers must be singled out and condemned. The Government should
implement the anti-dowry bill strictly in the right spirit Nobody, however
highly placed, should be allowed to violate the law. Expenses at the
marriage celebrations should be cut down. Needy married couples should
be given loans and grants to help them set up their homes. They can be
asked to refund these loans in easy installments. Voluntary social service
organizations and religious heads should encourage dowryless marriages
in large numbers. Girls should come forward to raise a banner of revolt
against the dowry seekers. They should refuse to marry such boys as
expect a dowry.

There is another dimension to the anti-dowry act promulgated by

the government. This law is being exploited by some girls or their parents
to blackmail the boys or their families after marriage. On threat of charge of
prosecution for asking for dowry, husbands are being forced to shell out
huge sums of money to get a divorce. This practice must be looked into
and steps should be taken to see that no family is unnecessarily harassed
or exploited. Divorce should be made easier to obtain. Boys and girls
should both be given equal rights in the matter of obtaining a divorce.

In order to root out the evil of dowry from the society, we shall
have to build up a strong public opinion against it. Boys and girls in
schools and colleges should be made to take a pledge that they would
neither seek nor give dowry. They should be educated through films,
television plays and talks, slides camps, lectures and radio talks. Such
boys as refuse to accept dowry in their marriages should be honoured in
public. If we succeed in removing the evil of dowry, it will be really a
praiseworthy achievement.
‘Dowry’ according to the dictionary, means the property which a woman
brings to her husband at the time of her marriage. Originally, it must have
meant property represented by the voluntary gifts given to the girl by her
parents, relatives and friends out of love and affection, at the time of her
marriage. May be these gifts were given to the girl in order to enable her
to set up a new home out of a sense of social responsibility. The system of
dowry must be as old as the institution of marriage itself. It must also have
been a universal practice. Every father wants to give some presents to his
daughter when she is leaving his home for good and starting life
afresh. There is nothing unusual, bad abnormal about it.

But as time passed, the system degenerated into an evil

custom. It came to be looked upon as an evil and a curse. The dowry
became an all- important and a primary factor in marriage. It became
necessary for the parents of the girl to give a good dowry to her whether
they could afford it or not. Worse still, the married life of a girl came to
depend upon dowry. Marriage became impossible in the absence of a
handsome dowry. Several girls, whose parents could not afford a good
dowry, had to commit suicide as their greedy in-laws made their lives
miserable. Newspapers are full of reports carrying harrowing tales of
brides being burnt to death or driven to hang themselves because of
constant nagging by their in laws. Some of the step-daughters of fortune
choose the hangman’s noose while others consume poison or jump down
the multi-storeyed buildings to deliver themselves from the clutches of the
inhuman dowry seekers.

It is really tragic that in the progressive world of today, the evil of

dowry continues to exist in all its horrid forms. Many homes are broken
and several families are driven to ruin only because they are too poor to
afford a rich dowry. Previously, in the selection of a bribe, her family
background, education and her intrinsic worth used to be the primary
consideration. Now, dowry is the first and the only consideration in a
majority of the matrimonial alliances. As a result, dowry, which was at one
time a token of love and affection, has become a cause of oppression and
exploitation of the worst order.

Some parents have to incur heavy debts for giving dowry. At

times, they remain under debt for the whole of their life. Sometimes, the
girl’s parents fill to raise the necessary funds for marriage. They are
compelled to commit suicide in disgust and despair. No wonder, therefore,
that the birth of a daughter is looked upon as a bolt from the blue.

In the recent past, the Government of India and many states

have taken some anti-dowry steps. In some states, dowry has been made
a cognizable offence. But legal steps are not enough. We have to create a
social climate which does not favour giving and taking of dowry. Dowry
seekers must be singled out and condemned. The Government should
implement the anti-dowry bill strictly in the right spirit Nobody, however
highly placed, should be allowed to violate the law. Expenses at the
marriage celebrations should be cut down. Needy married couples should
be given loans and grants to help them set up their homes. They can be
asked to refund these loans in easy installments. Voluntary social service
organizations and religious heads should encourage dowryless marriages
in large numbers. Girls should come forward to raise a banner of revolt
against the dowry seekers. They should refuse to marry such boys as
expect a dowry.

There is another dimension to the anti-dowry act promulgated by

the government. This law is being exploited by some girls or their parents
to blackmail the boys or their families after marriage. On threat of charge of
prosecution for asking for dowry, husbands are being forced to shell out
huge sums of money to get a divorce. This practice must be looked into
and steps should be taken to see that no family is unnecessarily harassed
or exploited. Divorce should be made easier to obtain. Boys and girls
should both be given equal rights in the matter of obtaining a divorce.

In order to root out the evil of dowry from the society, we shall
have to build up a strong public opinion against it. Boys and girls in
schools and colleges should be made to take a pledge that they would
neither seek nor give dowry. They should be educated through films,
television plays and talks, slides camps, lectures and radio talks. Such
boys as refuse to accept dowry in their marriages should be honoured in
public. If we succeed in removing the evil of dowry, it will be really a
praiseworthy achievement.

Essay No. 02
.

CHILD LABOUR

There is no social security for children belonging to the poor and weaker
sections of the society. They are subject to various types of abuse and
exploitation. Their parents cannot afford to send them to schools or allow
them to play. They are forced to work in mills, factories, houses, fields ad
farms, in establishments and for long hours in trying and unhealthy
conditions. They work as labourers in match, knitwers, silk, carpet, sports-
goods, constructions, fireworks, in industries, etc. They are engaged as bid
rollers, brick kiln workers and other domestic helps against their wishes and
abilities. Between 70-90 million children in India are employed in various
sectors of industry and labour. The present Child Labour Act covers only
the 15 per cent of the employed children and the rest comprising 85 per
cent working in unorganized sector have been ignored. There is no social
awareness, no social accountability. And in spite of the promulgation of
Child Labour Act ten years back, no case has been ever registered labour
is being exploited openly and bluntly in India and other Asian countries in
industries and other sectors. There is no effective forum to protect their
rights and expose their exploitation.

Obviously, the international code of conduct on minimum labour

standards is not being implemented in the developing countries. In
Pakistan Iqbal Massih, a very young person, was shot dead because of
championed the cause of the children and campaigned against child
labour. Every human being under 18 years of age unless, under the law
applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier, is a child. According to
the convention of the Rights of the child of 1990, every child has the right to
an adequate standard of living and social security. He r she has the right to
education, with states making primary education compulsory and free.
Children have the right to protection from economic exploitation, with a
minimum age for admission to employment. They are entitled to protection
from involvement in the illicit production, trafficking and use of narcotic
drugs, protection from sexual exploitation and abuse. But these rights are
only on paper and the reality is very shocking. They have no opportunity for
going to school and develop their potentials. It is estimated that half of the
population of children in India is outside schools. Without provisions of
universal, free and compulsory education, elimination of child labour is
almost impossible. The emancipator value of education, specially primary
education, is very significant as can be seen in the case of Kerala.
Movements campaigning against child labour should direct their attention to
the urgent need of free, compulsory and universal education for children.
They should pressurize the Centre and State Governments to implement
the scheme of universal, free and compulsory primary education at the
earliest.

Social groups, voluntary organisations and reform societies should

create a public awareness against child labour ad making the masses
demand free primary education. The [problem of child labour is directly
linked with the problem of poverty. Unless there is significant improvement
in the quality of life and living standards, the elimination of child labour will
remain a pipe-dream. Poor families cannot afford to let their children not to
work. It is a very disturbing situation. Children are the agents of
transformation. Play, education and good health are children are denied
these facilities and they are made to work instead Social boycott of goods
produced with child labour can be one of the effective weapons to fights
against this social evil.

Promotion of child-rights presupposes economic well-being of the

people. Removal of children from employment means loss of jobs which
may drive vulnerable children into more dangerous and degrading jobs.
Thus, the problem is not so simple as it sometimes appears to be.
Therefore, all its dimensions and implications should be taken into thorough
consideration and only then remedial measures taken. Children should be
rescued, their rights promoted and their voice heard. But this cannot be
done effectively unless there is economic freedom and industrial growth.
Child labour was a common thing a few decades ago in the nations that
today are developed and advanced. During the Industrial Revolution of 18-
19th centuries child labour was a common thing in Europe. Small children
were often stolen and abducted and forced to become chimney sweeps.
They eradicated the evils as soon as they grew rich and industrially
powerful. For India also elimination of child labour is ultimately linked with
economic development and growth in industrial and agricultural sectors. In
India over 36 per cent people suffer from the poverty. In human
development India ranks 138 among 175 developing countries. In human
poverty index (HPI) based on the percentage of people dying before the
age of 40, adult illiteracy and percentage of people without access to
potable water, health services and underweight children under five, India
stands 47th among 78 developing nations. The percentage of people living
below poverty line has increased from 36 per cent in 1990-91 to 43 per
cent in 1992 in rural areas.

To Eradicate poverty and the resultant child labour, India needs to

invest on a massive scale in education adult employment and
industrialization. It is imperative that there is free, compulsory and universal
primary education in the country by the turn of the century. Till appalling
poverty persists and social insecurity prevails, child labour cannot be
checked, let alone its eradiction. In May 1997, to mark the 50th year of
Indian Independence, the Union Government decided to make elementary
education to children in the 6-14 age group a fundamental right. The
Constitution is proposed to be amended for the purpose. This is a step in
right direction in respect of elimination of child labour. But it is to be seen
when and how this scheme is implemented. The government’s ad hocism
and tokenism sometimes make people sceptic about its policies and
programmes and their timely implementation. The scheme of Universal
Education in the country has still miles to go. The problem is compounded
by the high incidence of dropouts from school system. And one of the main
reasons is Child labour. Children are required to work in fields and farms,
on shops and in factories to eke out a living.

The liberalisation of Indian economy will also go a long way in

alleviating poverty by creating more job opportunities for the adults and
thus the child labour will automatically get reduced. If poverty is reduced
significantly, the problem of child labour may take care of itself.
Liberalization creates opportunities at the bottom as well as near the top
levels of the society. The recent World Bank report has said that since the
process of liberalisation in India began a few years ago, the wages of
landless rural workers have improved remarkably. The reforms in India
started in 1991 and hold the promise of considerable improvements in the
living standards of the country’s 300 million poor, the report avers.

International organisations want to help India to solve the problem

but their attempt to connect it to trade is undesirable. The problem cannot
be solved overnight but concrete steps should be taken immediately. The
provision of the present Child labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act
should also be suitably amended to bring about a cognizable offence. The
penalty in such cases should be made more stringent and deterrent;
burden of proof of age of the child should been the employer and the
names of the defaulting establishments should be furnished to law-courts
and law-enforcement authorities. The Common Minimum Programme of
the UF Government announced in June 1996 has referred to step to be
taken to total elimination of child labour in all industries, in all occupations
and in all forms. But there is often found a big gap between good intentions
and their timely implementation. Even the survival of the UF Government is
often in doubt.