Challenges Facing India

As far as India is concerned, it is facing so many challenges. It has got problem of poverty, problem of illiteracy, problem of unemployment, problem of higher prices, problem of religions, problem of castes, problem of corruption, problem of Kashmir and now India is also facing problem of terrorism. And we must accept that we could not solve our problems and instead all these problems are turning complex and complicated. Actually we are not getting peace. The neighboring countries are not liking our grown and progress and therefore, we are facing challenge of terrorism from the side of our neighbor.
CHALLENGES FACING DEMOCRATIC INDIA

1 Weak infrastructure: The lack of sound and safe roadways, reliable electricity, clean water and basic sanitation are glaring issues in the majority of India. It took us more than 5 hours to drive from Delhi to Agra, a 200 km trip. The power goes out so frequently that in one company visit it was pitch black for about 4 minutes but the speaker kept talking unfazed. In addition, people hang their clean clothes to dry above and let their kids run around in heaps of trash. It will be interesting to see how India addresses this issue going forward in order to sustain growth. 2 Poverty: There is a huge disparity between high technology companies thriving in the global market and a large percentage of the population who maybe earn enough to eat. In many ways, the latter has become part of the background noise. Going forward, India will need to balance this extreme contrast: the passion and drive for innovation and progress and this growing gap between corporate environment and poor citizens. 3 Government: For almost half a decade the Indian government has stifled business. Though it has improved dramatically, the attachment to age-old processes and bureaucracy is easy to see even while shopping or trying to collect lost luggage. My two classmates had to make 3 trips to the airport and fill out stacks of paperwork just to get their two missing bags back. 4 Changing family structure: Some would argue this is more of a cultural shift than a challenge but the questions havent really begun to be asked. As more women enter the workforce and gain the means to support themselves and young professionals gain independence through opportunities in IT, questions about who is going to be responsible for the elderly and youth and how families can balance work/life will be raised. 5 Human capital management: The average age at many of the companies we visited is between 26 and 28. With a young workforce, high attrition rates (as much as 40% at one

company we visited), and a battle to retain high quality talent, Indian companies need to strategically approach human capital. 6 Population Control in India -Even more serious than the physical consequences of expected scarcities are the potential social consequences. As is already quite evident worldwide, industrial growth can, and is taking place with virtually no increase in the demand for labour. 7 Effects of population -Since most of the population growth in India is taking place amongst those who will have the least skills when entering the job market - India is likely to be inundated with either completely illiterate or poorly schooled youth and children in a stagnant or perhaps even shrinking job market 8 Unemployment - More and more children from the slums are being pushed into the job market as their parents find it impossible to feed their families. Village youth and young adults from poor and desperate villages migrate to the cities to compete with the existing pool of unskilled workers for a very limited supply of service-sector jobs. 9 Child Labour - Child Labour is a serious socio-economic problem all over the world especially in developing countries like Pakistan, India, China, and Vietnam etc. While it is difficult to get an accurate count because much child Labour is hidden or denied by those who profit from it, a conservative estimate would indicate 250 million worldwide falls into the category of child Labour. Estimates suggest that 3.61 million Pakistani children are economically active on full-time basis. 10 Dowry - India calls for a large sum of money to be paid to the groom at the time of marriage. Brides that cannot meet the husband's expectations are sometimes harassed after the wedding. 11 ILL treatment of women in India - Many families blame the untimely death of a husband to the misfortune of the woman. In extreme cases, the widow is made to wear only unattractive clothing and shave her head, although this practice is on the decline.

The time has come when government of India and the people of India must be alive to the situation and they must involve the people under a well framed scheme so that the local people could be identified and dealt with as per law.

BY: Prabhpreet Jhangra, BJMC-1st year, morning shift