Chapter 18
Democracy and Equality
on 15 August 1947 India became an independent country and
ended the foreign domination of nearly 200 years. There was an urgent need to frame our own
constitution (a document that strengthened our newly won freedom. Lays down the
framework, political structures and the powers and duties of the government)
Hence, a Constitution was framed for free India. The Preamble, an introduction to the Indian
Constitution, starts with the words: KUCHEN CONSTITUTION OF INDI We the people
of India, having solemnly teroved to constitute India into a Sovereign
Socialist Secular Democratic Repoblic and to secure to all its citizens
social.cconomic and political Liberty of
thought, opresion, belief faith and worship Equality of status and of
opportunity and to promote among them all.
Fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and
integrity of the Nation in our Constituent Assembly this twentysixth day of
November 1919 do Hereby Adopt Fract and Give to Ounces this Comitiration 149
struggling for equality.
Let us see what this means by reading the two stories given next. Sheikho - The Rag - Picker Sheikho is a 10 -
year - old boy. He picks up rags from
the garbage every morning from four to eight, when half the population of the
city is still sleeping. After that he
works at his father's cycle repair shop till late in the evening. He wants to go to school, laugh and play like
other children but he is always working Sheikho's parents have also been
granted the right to vote, but they do not enjoy the equality of working
conditions. Hence, they are unable to
fulfill the basic necessities of their family.
ie, food, shelter and clothing Paro - The Flower Seller Now, let us know
about Paro who sells flowers at traffic signals from morning till night. The flower shop owner gives her one rupee for
each small bouquet that she sells at rupees ten. She endangers her life as she runs between
vehicles and persuades people to buy flowers.
Paro's parents were forced to leave their village after the well,
belonging to the so - called lower castes, dried. They were not allowed to take water from the
well that belonged to the so called upper castes, Aren't Paro's parents also
the citizens of India where the Constitution has prohibited discrimination on
the basis of religion, caste, gender or place of birth? But sadly, discrimination on the basis of
caste continues to exist, in spite of education and awareness, especially in
rural areas. Another threat to equality
is posed by discrimination on the basis of community. Some religious places ban the entry of people
belonging to other communities and castes.
Certain communities look down upon others and do not give them jobs or
houses on rent. 152
ght to Equality in two ways The Government of India has
implemented the provisions of the Constitution given under the a) Many laws
have been made to protect the Right to Equality. For example, equal opportunities in
assistance. For example, SCS / STs and
OBCs. b) Government has launched many
programs and schemes for those communities that need the programmes of the
government will be meaningful only if they have the support of the people. For example, numerous schemes encouraged
people to guarantee for them in our Constitution. Education and jobs send their children
elementary schools, as free and compulsory education has been but many children
could not benefit from it until a supporting scheme of mid-day meal was started
on the request of the teachers. I
inspired many parents to send their children to school as cooked and nutritious
mid-day meal scheme mid-day meal was provided.
As a result, the enrolment in schools has increased. After independence, there was an urgent need
for the government to do something special and concrete to liberate the weaker
sections from oppression and backwardness.
The forced isolation of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes,
imposed by the caste system, had to end.
Thus reservation was provided for them to ensure their proportionate
share in all walks of life so that they could live a life of respect and
dignity. Later on, along with the
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and other Backward Classes were also
provided the benefits of reservation.
The reservation was to exist for a limited period but as its provisions
have still not reached the major portion of population, it is still
continuing. Do you know? In the beginning, caste system (varna system)
was only a classification of vocation (occupation) based on duty. But later, it came to be based upon one's
birth in a particular caste. Then the
castes got divided into sub - castes, which forced thousands of people to live
a life of misery S 5 153
Let us look at the
case of Rahul, who qualified for IIT because of Mr. Anand Kumar, who helps poor children with his
Super 30 in Bihar News Report NDTV published a letter from Rahul to his Sir,
Anand Kumar. Here is an excerpt from the
some Dear Anand Sir Thank you. My life
will be different because of you, My father is a poor farmer in Jharkhand's
Hazaribagh area My father goes to Kolkata to work as a labourer. You provided coaching, lodging and food for a
year to prepare me for IIT. I will build
a hospital and school in my village. I
am lucky to have you, Sir. I owe
everything to you! We feel happy, when
we hear about cases like this. the duty
and moral responsibility of each and every Indian to ensure that all Sheikhos
and Paros are able to fulfill their dreams of going to school to make a better
life for themselves. Their families
should be able to fulfill the basic needs of life - food shelter and
clothing. Our government has adopted
various measures like loans, self - employment schemes, low budger housing on
instalments, free legal advice, widow pension, etc. , to provide education, employment and
housing to all. Literacy programmes,
like Operation Black Board, Universal Elementary Education and Adult Education,
have gained popularity. Along with
mid-day meals, the schools are providing free uniforms and books, stipends,
scholarships, medical check ups, etc.
Girl students and children from weaker sections have a reserved quota,
not only in government schools but also in private schools. Special steps have been taken for tribal and
rural children to include them in developmental programmes. We must make sure that Indian democracy goes
in the right direction and provides equality to all, where all citizens are
aware, enlightened and educated. Let us
all make India a successful democracy!
Keywords community: people living together sharing common
interests. Democracy, a kind of system
where people have supreme power. They
rule through their representatives opposition: all parties other than the party
/ parties in power. representative a
person elected / chosen to act or speak on behalf of the people for a fixed
period. Scheduled Caste / Scheduled
Tribes: disadvantaged groups enlisted in Article 341 of the Indian Constitution
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