August 15, 2012

India from Midnight to 2012

India has come a long way since independence. The country marked its 65 years of Independence on August 15, 2012. In these 65 years, India has grown up into a vast economy. Saying, that we are fully developed would be a false statement because India is still a developing country.

Since Independence, the economy of India has improved especially in agriculture, private and public sector, education and in technology. In 1950, India wasn’t having enough food to feed 400 million people and often looked desperate for aid from other countries. But presently India is a good surplus nation and feeding over billions of people. After independence, considering India’s growing population, the government had undertaken several steps to increase food production like the Green Revolution where the nation saw a huge increase in wheat production during 1970. The most outstanding achievement of Indian agriculture since independence is the phenomenal growth of foodgrain output

A progress in education has also been seen since independence. India’s improved education system has often been cited as one of the main contributors to the economic rise of India. Much of the progress especially in Higher education and Scientific research has been credited to various public institutions. The government had opened night schools for the adults and primary schools for boys and girls in rural India. Now every village has its own primary school.

The result is that they are now educated, and with their education, illiteracy and ignorance would be fast disappearing. Technical education in India has also developed greatly after independence.  India has witnessed a huge boom in IT sectors as well as in BPO/KPO sector, which are both knowledgeable and skill incentive sectors. The education among women have also seen progress in both rural and urban areas of India. As a result of private and government efforts, education among women has seen a distinct progress. Several programs such as Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme (KGBVS) and National Program for Education of Girls at Elementary Level schemes were initiated by the government for the uplift of women in rural areas. Women in India now participate in activities such as sports, education, politics, media and have been given an equal status along with men, which were not prevalent in pre-independence era.

India has seen a tremendous growth in healthcare in both rural and urban sector. Rural India contains 68 percent of India’s total population with half of it living below poverty line, struggling for better and easy access to health care and services. The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was launched in April 2005 by the Government of India to provide effective health care to the rural people. Due to better healthcare facilities provided by the government, there was a decline in infant mortality rates. Sanitary conditions have also been improved. Hospitals and government dispensaries have been established to remove the illness and diseases from the community.

When India became independent, very few industries existed in the country like textiles and sugar. Heavy- industries were more or less non-existent. Industries like iron and steel, cement which are essential for the development of other industries hardly existed. When the government had initiated the Five Year Plan, great changes took place in the development of industries.

A nation’s infrastructure development plays a significant role in its economic growth. Since independence, there has been a tremendous growth in infrastructure. After 64 years of development efforts, India is presently one of the world’s fastest growing economies. In the last few years, India has emerged as a global economic power, the leading outsourcing destination and a favorite of international investors. India had made a huge investment in infrastructure to build rails and roads. India is now well connected by roads, rail and air. The National Highways Authorities of India have been responsible for the development, maintenance and management of highways in India. Now every village is linked by roads to other parts of the country. The rate of new highway construction across India had accelerated in recent years. The government of India had considered road network as critical to the country’s development and for security needs of the country.     

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