Visions Of Social Changes

Answer : The term ‘Social Change’ refers to change in the value pattern, institutional arrangement, culture and structure of social system. According to MacIver and Page ‘Social Change is the change in the social relationship’. According to Jones ‘Social Change is a term used to describe variation or modification of any aspect of social process, social pattern, social interaction and social organisation. Social change cannot be studied in isolation and change is only a link in a series of change which have occurred or likely to occur.

It is therefore essential that social change should not have occurred in its present form or on incidence of the present alone. It is connected with the past and its effects on the future. The changes are influenced by every social happening. As MacIver and Page says, ‘To understand how social change takes place and why it follows certain trends, it is necessary to investigate its relation to the three great orders the bio-physical, the cultural and technological.

The concept of social change in India has two aspects. One, the major influence from outside the country and secondly the development within. Each invasion by outsiders left its imprint on social, economic and religious aspect in the country. In most other regions, civilisation replaced those that had preceded them. But, in India old and the new persisted side by side, a kind of heterogeneity exists even today. This is due to the basic Indian attitude of accepting a variety of cultural form as natural.

In Indian society, social change may be variously interpreted. Firstly the socio-religious reform movements such as Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj, Ram Krishna Mission etc brought tremendous changes in the socio-cultural life.

Secondly, the social movement, which consists of women’s movement, peasant movement, caste movement etc., also brought changes in the structure or structural change in the Indian society. The another dimension of social change has been revealed by the various sociologists through varied approaches such as Sanskritisation-Westernisation, little and great tradition, Universalisation and Parochialisation, multiple tradition, dialectical and historical approaches etc.

Modernisation is a process that denotes a movement from a traditional or quasi-traditional order to certain desired type of technology and associated forms of social structure, value-orientations, motivations and norms. It is also an agent of social change, yet the process can be differentiated. In India, modernisation started mainly with the western contact especially through establishment of British rule, which brought about many far reaching changes in the culture and social structure of the Indian society. Not all of them, however, could be called modernising. The basic direction of this dynamism to all these process was imparted by cumulative change of innovation in science and technology. At the initial stage, the contact led to the growth of modernising sub-culture or little tradition of westernisation, especially during the 17th century in Bengal, Madras and Bombay, where a small nucleus of interpreter, trade-cum-middle men emerged who were slowly being socialised to western ways, subsequently, there also emerged a sect who emphasised assimilation of western cultural forms and western model of learning, i.e., (the Brahmo Samaj, the Prarthana Samaj etc). They also ran a crusade against obscurantism in Hindu traditions.

These movement on the one hand and the consolidation of British power towards the middle of the 19th century on the other, finally led to the institution of modernising great tradition. Its components were universalistic legal system, expansion of western form of education, urbanisation of norms and structural modernisation also took place.

For instance, the rational bureaucratic system of administration and judiciary, army and industrial bureaucracy, new classes of business elite and entrepreneur came into being. These were accompanied by emergence of political elite and a nationalist leadership by the middle of the 19th century. Growth of industrial entrepreneurship also contributed to the emergence of industrial working class and trade unions organised on corporate lines as in the west. These modernising structures have a uniform character throughout the country. Their development led to articulation of nationalist aspiration in the country which itself was a major step in growth of modernisation. After indepencence, the Panchayati Raj, planned economy, globalisation etc have added a new dimension of modernisation.

Some fo the positive changes which are associated with modernisation are: the urbanisation, economic growth and development, industrialisation etc. Industrialisation have imparted western, secular and national values along with economically elevating the status of the men. The scientific temperatament has strengthened the secularism due to which traditional mystic and dogmatic belief in religion and magic are scientifically evaluated. The caste system, the notion of purity and pollution and traditionally ascribed social status have been evaluated in terms of rationality and secularism. According to M.N. Srinivas, modernisation and westernisation have accelerated the process of Sanskritisation in India.

The modernisation of Indian tradition, culture and customs has been manifested in many forms in the society. Firstly, at the social level, rationalisation of traditional education through modern ethos, curriculum, technical and professional education, emergence of public school and English language etc. are greatly modern. At the economic level, India is emerging as big sources of capital and market.India is playing praiseworthy role in the economic globalisation. Industrialisation and rapidly increasing urbanisation are the other facets of modernisation in India. At the Political level, the rational democratic polity, Panchayati Raj, Secularism, unity in diversity etc. are the indicators of modern values. The bureaucratic organisation has been rationally framed. The information technology revolution and mass media impart modern values among the masses. The scientific discoveries and invention such as development in nuclear and space science, biodiversity and biotechnology etc. are the consequences of rationality and new thinking. The urban pollution, crimes, drug addiction, alcoholism, nudity and vulgarity in films are the negative aspect of modernisation which are contrary to the rich cultural heritage of India. At present, Indian society is passing through socio-economic restructuring backed by modern values.

Answer : Studies conducted in the 1970s and Shardamma and Parvathamma (1968), Rajagopalan and Singh (1968), Chitri (1970), Ahmad (1974) on the social origins of undergraduate women students and students in medical, technological, management and other professional courses demonstrated that they are predominantly drawn from the higher status families characterized by high educational, occupational income backgrounds. This was further confirmed by the all India field study of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (Gore, Desai Chitris, 1970).

Jayavaman in a study conducted in 1977 of the students in higher and professional courses found that nearly 60% of the fathers & 17% of the mothers of the sample of 344 have attained “high” educational level and nearly 25% more of the fathers and 52% more of the mothers had medium educational level. The fathers of an overwhelming majority of the sample students were in high status occupations.

The mean family income is also high. Caste also continued to be a significant factor influencing admissions to urban higher and professional education. It is true that most Brahmin caste groups had found their way into the reasons of higher and professional education. But much of the development in higher education among the non-Brahmin caste groups is mainly restricted to the dominant ones among them. The representation of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and other backward caste groups in institutions of higher education has to be increased by concerted efforts and lowering the minimum educational requirements.

There seems a long way to go before education becomes a source of social mobility for the depressed groups. As far as women are concerned, in spite of rapid expansion of education among them, they are still at a disadvantageous position compared to men.

It is true that to some extent the lower caste people are better educated and better employed today than they were about five decades ago. But they are still not in a position to claim the relative advantage what the upper stratum people have held.

Occupational inbreeding is another form of status retention that prevents social mobility from being achieved through education. While access to higher education is selective, the selectivity seems to be more pronounced with regard to the prestigious professional courses like medicine, technology, management, etc. In medical education a pronounced tendency for occupational inbreeding was observed.

The existence of private sector in education contrary to popular beliefs and expectations tends to contribute towards such a trend. Thus, in spite of the contribution that the private sector has made to the cause of education, it tends to perpetuate inequalities.

Modern education, thus while being a means of mobility for the individual, has not proved much of an agency for social mobility, Gross inequalities in opportunity for education at the higher levels in urban areas has resulted in rigidifying stratification and fostering inegalitarian tendencies.

With the persistence of illiteracy, the lower level of education especially in the several areas is in full of strain and contradictions.

Efforts have however been constantly made to search for ways to make education the catalyst of change and the major break through is the New Education Policy.

Answer : To denote the social mobility and positional change among the Coorgs of Mysore, Late M.N. Srinivas first used the term ‘Brahmanization’ and later replaced if by Sanskritisation. There are two levels of meaning associated with Sanskritisation-(1) historical specific and (2) contextual specific. In historical specific sense Sanskritisation refers to those processes in Indian history which led to change in the status of various castes, its leadership or its cultural pattern in different periods of history.

It is indicative of endogenous sources of change in the broad historical spectrum of India. In contextual specific sense, however, Sanskritisation denotes contemporaneous process of cultural limitation of upper castes by lower castes or sub-castes, in different parts in India. Srinivas wrote, Sanskritisation means not only the adoption of new cutom and habit but also exposure to new ideas and values which have found frequent expression in the vast body of Sanskritic literature, sacred as well as secular.

Kama, Dharma, Pap, Maya and Moksh are examples of some of the most Sanskritic theological idea and when people become Sankritised, these words occur frequently in their talk. Srinivas has integrated the concept of Sanskritization with power and domination. He writes ‘the mediation of various model of Sanskritisation through the local dominant caste stress the importance of the latter in the process of cultural transmission. Thus, if the locally dominant caste is Brahmin or Lingayat, it will tend to transmit a Brahmanical model.

Answer : According to Ruskin, "education consists in making people polite what they ought to be." The ideals and patterns of politeness differ from society to society. An individual is trained in these through education. Education teaches man the use of the various capacities, abilities, intelligence, etc., bestowed upon him by nature.

Both formal and informal education helps the individual to evolve a critical attitude which helps him to analyse everything presented to him. If he finds any faults in it, he exercises his mind to find some ways of removing the faults. In this manner education has been the basis of all social welfare programmers. When English education was introduced in India, it brought along with it the western tendencies of individualism, rationalism etc. As a consequence all educated people is the country were impelled to re-examine ancient-Indian traditions and institutions. This led to the development of such institutions as the Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj, Prarthana Samaj, Theosophical society. Each one aimed at social welfare. And the inspiration for each of these institutions come from highly educated individuals. Education thus leads to continuous analysis of the various constituents of society, its institutions, modes of social control, etc., and inspires efforts to make improvements where they are needed. In addition to it, there are various constitutional provision that represents education as a tool of social justice. The Directive principles of state Policy declare, 'the state shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people and in particular the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.' This Directives Principle is given effect in Art. 15(4) which provides 'Nothing in this Article 15 or art. 29(2) shall prevent the state from making any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or the SC and ST.'

These formal-legal measures of the reservation policy in the different spheres of opportunity-structures of life are considered as one of the most important types of institutionalized mechanisms for the downtrodden scheduled castes and scheduled Tribes. Education enables a man to adopt a profession, a vocation, a job.

Education is an important indicator of social justice. It is because of fact that the government operate various policies to enhance the position of depressed sections of the society. The state government operate post-metric scholarship for all eligible candidates; out to these a few are reserved for scheduled caste candidates. Earmarking a specific number of seats at the institutions imparting professional and technical education the Union Government has been trying to raise the SC candidates to a higher level in the fields of medicine, engineering and science. Hostels play an important role in encouraging SCs & STs candidates to pursue their studies because of specific grants made available for boys and girls.

There are various development safeguards to ensure that the S.T. come on a par with other groups of citizens. It is provided in the constitution that there shall be a special officer for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The government of India has laid foundations for the uninhibited March of the tribals towards equality, upward mobility. The constitution has a number of provisions to attains these goals.

In fact, education has been playing a very crucial role for social justice but it is true that human beings are not equal in ability and proficiency and though it would be illogical and not ideal to thinks of a society which may give equal status and rewards to all its members, yet providing equal opportunities to all people for achieving their goals and aspirations is necessary. Here we are not talking of economic inequalities among people but of what Beteille has called inequalities in conditions of existence. We are thus talking neither of inequalities based on nature (i.e. differences in age, health, bodily strength, or qualities of mind) nor those based on types of societies like, tribal, agrarian, and industrial) but inequality in terms of qualities and performances, or the factor which enable a person to achieve status and power.

The effort of a society which seeks to equaliase opportunity, therefore, largely takes the form of providing services which compensate for the in equality in economic background through socialisead community services and through provision of educational facilities. There are, of course, obvious difficulties in the way of providing such facilities adequately and universally. It is almost impossible for a society like India to provide free education to all those desirous of benefiting by it, except at selected stages, say at primary level and to those who are needy and meritorious. This already gives rise to one type of inequality in opportunities. While the children of the needy can have education only if they are meritorious, the children of the well-do-to-do can go to schools so long as they can pay for it. M.S. Gore has conducted a study in eight states on the social background of students (age, sex, caste, father's occupation, father's education, etc.) studying at various levels-high schools, college and professional colleges. This study presented two possible propositions: 1) education is a priority with those in the white-collar group, and children in this groups use educational facilities more than other groups; and 2) educations is differentially available to those who do not belong to white collar group.

Another importante fact related to it is that the disadvantaged people, i.e. SCs, STs, OBCs, Women, and religions minorities, in our society have been terribly exploited because of their illiteracy. Some studies have been conducted on descriptions of inequality in education as evidenced in regional, rural-urban, sex, and caste disparities and imbalances in enrolment and retention at school or college and the consequences of disparities. All these studies have pointed out the impact of education on the status and the identity of the disadvantaged people. Studies on SCs and STs have indicated that so long these people remains educationally backward, they have to be provided protective discrimination in the form of economic support or reserved admissions to institutions of higher education. Despite of various programmers and policies to attain social justice among weaker sections of society, Victor D. Souza traced the pattern of disparity between the education by the SCs and of others in Punjab and pointed out how that structure of caste system, caste behaviour, economic factors and the form and operation of welfare programmers influence the pattern. M.L. Jha studied tribal education and disparities. V.P. Shah pointed out-relationship between education and untouchability in Gujrat. Sachihidanand Sinha has described the situation of SC students of colleges in Uttar Pradesh. All these studies throw light on education as an instrument of mixed response of equality and inequality for weaker sections of the society. However, we do not deny the fact that education as a tool for social justice, social change, development and modernization. It also functions as an instrument of equality.

Answer : It is recognisaed that communication and education are an important factor in development and change. It is assumed that transmission of new ideas through the mass media can create a favourable environment for social change. Besides bringing about change in attitude and values, communication is also expected to import knowledge of new skills and techniques. Communication helps to enlarge the mental horizons of people. It can be used to raise the levels of aspirations.

Mass media provide information to people regarding day-to-day events and occurrences. This involves everything ranging from the weather condition to the local, national and international event such as politics, wars, and natural disasters. In large cities and towns where people are more separated from each other, the media keep them informed about what are going around them.

The mass media play a vital role in education, besides healthy entertainment. All major communication media-print, electronic and audio-visuals have developed in the country.

Despite a high rate of illiteracy, the importance of print media cannot be ignored. Now, newspapers are popular not only in urban areas. They have become popular even among the literate section of the village population. One copy of a newspaper is read by dozens of people in a tea or coffee shop. In reality, the newspaper has become a true mass medium. Similarly, television is also becoming a common source of entertainment and transmission of current information. As a matter of fact the increasing importance of mass media has brought about some kind of revolution in life of the people.

However, effects of mass communication have been diverse. The media-exposure has accelerated the process of change. People now know more about new things and places. Several new elements are added to their own culture. Even day-to-day life and practices come under the influence of practices other than their own. To put it little differently, various forms of the media have led to a cultural change. The expansion of modern means of communication has also given rise to new cultural challenges. People have realised the significance of their own cultural identity. They have revived interests in their cultural symbols and objects. The traditional group activities are reinforced with the help of modern means of communication. This process has integrated folk cultural institutions with the emerging cultural tradition. Sociologists call it ’cultural resilience’ of the Indian people. This strength has led to a kind of cultural integration between the value systems of tradition and modernity.

Education and Social Change

Education emerges out of the needs of society. An individual member passes away in course of time, but society continues to exist and new members are added to it by birth. Every society tries to stay together as a unit and develops a way of life. The group members have to train children to carry on the customs, knowledge and skills of the group to preserve and perpetuate their way of life. This function is performed by education. Education also trains people to develop new ideas and adjust to a changing environment.

Parent and family play an informal role in education. A more formal part comes from education provided by social groups and community agencies. School conducts the most formal education. School has become a social necessity for providing special learning. It makes possible the accumulation and transmission of knowledge on a large scale which were impossible before. Education, thus, performs several social functions. Starting from the socialising role in a family, its tasks cover areas like, economic organisation, social stratification and political ideas.

In fact, education not only influences social change, but also acts as an agent of social change. Education engages itself in a much more positive action and can perform the function of an initiator of change. It inculcates in the younger generation whatever change are desirable for rebuilding a society. Moreover, it cultivates necessary intellectual and emotional readiness to deal with challenges of change.

Education is an important instrument of modernisation. Modern values in social, economic and political spheres have to be instilled in the minds of people to achieve the goal of modernisation. Values such as equality, liberty, scientific temper, humanism and ideas against blind faith pave the way of modernisation. This task can be effectively performed by educations.

Several sociologists like A.R. Desia, S.C. Dube, M.S. Gore, N. Jayaram, K. Ahmad, and A.B. Shah etc., have focused upon the issue of education as an instrument for social reconstruction, social change and modernisation. Ahmad has said that although formal education can play a vital role in 'ideational' change through transformation of knowledge, attitudes and values of the people, its effectiveness in bringing about structural change in society is extremely limited. This is be cause of the linkages between the existing practices and procedures in education and vested interests of the status quoits. Some empirical studies have been conducted in India on the relationship between education and modernization. One such study was conducted by the NCERT in Delhi (in the early 1960s) covering eight states. These studies described the extent to which the attitudes, aspirations and outlook of school and college students and teachers in the country have 'modernised'. Yogendra Singh conducted a study into the implications of attitudes and values of teachers in Rajasthan University, to modernisation. This study measured the levels of aspiration, commitment, morale and authoritarianism among university teachers with a view to understanding how the role structures and value systems of teacher affects their role as agents of modernisation. He found significant relationships between the two and thus held that teachers values influence the modernisation of students.

Hence, education is a conservative force in the sense that it transmits old cultures including knowledge, tradition and values to the next generation. But at the same time, it is a liberalizing force also as one of its primary objectives is to develop critical understanding of the objective reality.

Answer : One of the important characteristic features of India society has been the existence of multi-culture. Multi-culture simply refers to the co-existence of different value systems, pattern of living, different belief system, knowledge, art and morals in the society. There are some essential ethos which must be equally regarded by all the members of society. These ethos consist of the values of secularism, toleration, non-interference, democratic sentiments, rationality mutual cooperation, non-ethnic attitudes etc. We are claiming that our society is following all these characteristics and hence we have ‘unity in diversity’. But all these things or features are merely ideological in nature. In practice, the dominance of Hinduism or Hindu culture have, several times, resulted in communal riots in India. The attitudes of superiority and inferiority or ethnicity is most dangerous to the multi cultural society. Therefore, to strenghthen multi-culturalism, the first step is to peceive the thing as it is and eliminate all the prejudice and ethnic behaviour. The values of secularism should be in the heart and mind of the people and should be practiced in actual behaviour pattern.

The caste system in India acts as a barrier in the development of multi-cultural values. The Shudra or untouchable are opposing the mainstream Hindu culture which is largely dominated by Brahmin. Thus, the elimination of the rigidity of the caste may be conducive for the growth of multi-culturalism.

The sub-cultural traditions of India have its own importance. The sub-cultural values must be regarded mutually and by the state also. Any attack on sub-cultural tradition may result in conflict and disorganisation in the whole society. Secondly, regionalism may not be easily eliminated but it should be correlated with each other with the mainstream culture of India. The importance of higher education and modernisation are of worth importance in the promotion of multi-cultural values.

As far as the importance of dominance of a single culture in the multi-cultural society is concerned, it may be argued that any form of dominance may largely lead to conflict and rivalry. Dominance at the cultural level implies the promotion or prevalence of ethnic attitude which is harmful to the multi-cultural values. Here, the cultural-relativism type of attitude is required. It refers to judging a particular cultural or sub-cultural values in its own context. On the other hand, it may also be assumed that, in India, Hindu way of life or values are most dominating because it constitutes about eighty percent of the total population. The Muslims constitute about twelve percent of the population. Therefore, domination seems natural. This domination may be functional to some extent if the dominated group may regard the cultural heritage values of the non-dominated group. The domination of culture may be judged in the context of univeralistic value-pattern of the society. Both, the little tradition and great tradition have their own importance. Mackim Marriot has argued about Parochialisation and Universalisation. The former implies the filtering down of the elements of great tradition to the little tradition level while the latter implies the spread of the element of little tradition at the great tradition level. These exchange of quality of values and beliefs may be functional to both the culture which will be healthy for the growth of multi-cultural values.

On the basis of above discussion, it may be concluded that attitudinal change is required to promote the multi-culturalism in India. The adoption of the Universalistic value pattern will be conducive for it. The ideology of secularism must be manifested in sentiments and actual behaviour pattern. The attitude of domination of a particularistic values pattern may definitely result in the hinderance of universalistic values pattern or multi-culturarism. Not the ethnic attitude but the cultural relativism type of attitude may be conducive for the development of multi culturalism.

Answer : It is only through the contract with the west that the process of modernization has been initiated into the Indian society. Y. Singh has termed the change resulting due to contact with the west as heterogenetic process of change. The western impact may be traced in the field of education, polity, economy, religion and overall society. The modern secular and scientific education was firstly initiated by the western India. The modern democratic political system, secular values, industrialisation and market economy of the modern day have been given by Britishers. In the early phase, the western impact was confined only to a section of urban middle class elite who came into direct contact with the British. However by the second half of the 19th century, the western influence spread further as various professions emerged. These professions included lawyer, teaching, journalism etc. Later on, the process of modernization became more dispersed. The main agencies which are responsible for this spread of modernization were: (i) Universalistic legal system (ii) spread of modern education (iii) urbanisation and industrialization (iv) increased network of communicatoin (v) future growth of the rationalistic awareness and the politicization of society. Western influence can also be seen at the grass-root level. It consists of change in dress, food habit, vocabulary, modes of travel and other types of materialistic culture. However, an element of cultural lag is to be witnessed in the grass-root level of westernization. The consequence of western contact can also be observed at the structural level in the form of emergence of new structure and the transformation of existing once.

Answer : In India, modernisation started mainly with the western contact especially through establishment of British rule, which brought about many far reaching changes in the culture and social structure of the Indian society. Not all of them, however, could be called modernising. The basic direction of this dynamism to all these process was imparted by cumulative change of innovation in science and technology.

At the initial stage, the contact led to the growth of modernising sub-culture or little tradition of westernisation, especially during the 17th century in Bengal, Madras and Bombay, where a small nucleus of interpreter, trade-cum-middle men emerged who were slowly being socialised to western ways, subsequently, there also emerged a sect who emphasised assimilation of western cultural forms and western model of learning, i.e., (the Brahmo Samaj, the Prarthana Samaj etc). They also ran a crusade against obscurantism in Hindu traditions. These movement on the one hand and the consolidation of British power towards the middle of the 19th century on the other, finally led to the institution of modernising great tradition. Its components were universalistic legal system, expansion of western form of education, urbanisation of norms and structural modernisation also took place. For instance, the rational bureaucratic system of administration and judiciary, army and industrial bureaucracy, new classes of business elite and entrepreneur came into being. These were accompanied by emergence of political elite and a nationalist leadership by the middle of the 19th century. Growth of industrial entrepreneurship also contributed to the emergence of industrial working class and trade unions organised on corporate lines as in the west. These modernising structures have a uniform character throughout the country. Their development led to articulation of nationalist aspiration in the country which itself was a major step in growth of modernisation. After indepencence, the Panchayati Raj, planned economy, globalisation etc have added a new dimension of modernisation.

Some fo the positive changes which are associated with modernisation are: the urbanisation, economic growth and development, industrialisation etc. Industrialisation have imparted western, secular and national values along with economically elevating the status of the men. The scientific temperatament has strengthened the secularism due to which traditional mystic and dogmatic belief in religion and magic are scientifically evaluated. The caste system, the notion of purity and pollution and traditionally ascribed social status have been evaluated in terms of rationality and secularism. According to M.N. Srinivas, modernisation and westernisation have accelerated the process of Sanskritisation in India.

The negative aspects of modernisation are: The breakdown of the traditional cultural values, joint family, alienation in the capitalist society, etc. The traditional values and modern values sometimes clash which result in inter-generation gap, youth unrest, conflict and disorganisation in the social system. The increasig control of the men over the nature are resulting in pollution and ecological imbalances. In the social system, due to weak collective conscience, the social solidarity and integration are low. The extreme individualism and specialisation have lowered the nature of sociability and informal life of the men. But, in spite of all these, modernisation has relatively more positive changes than the negative.

Answer : The term “Social mobility” refers to the amount of movement from one stratum to another. Sociologists have identified two main forms of the social mobility. The first is intra-generational mobility which refers to social mobility within a single generation. It in measured by comparing the occupational status of an individual at two or more points of time. The second type is inter-generational mobility which refers to social mobility between generations. It is measured by comparing the occupational status of sons with that of their fathers.

The education and social mobility are mutually correlated terms. Education has been a means of social mobility, even in the past, though to a limited extent. Those individuals of the other castes who become ‘rishis’ munis’ through intensive study of Vedas and other sacred scripture gained high status. Further, some of the lower castes by learning, accounting, record-keeping etc. gained higher status through better occupation.

As against the traditional occupation, modern education has opened many new avenues for mobility. It will be fruitful to analyse modern education as a means of social mobility against the background of general changes that have come out in society in the wake of western education.

The advent of British rule in India brought numerous changes in the society. Industrialisation brought new occupations, specialised division of labour and mass production. Western values of equality and freedom have penetrated into the Indian value system. Society has become achievement based, personal efficiency rather than birth has become the criterion for job allocation. Competition, rationality and individualism have become the slogan of our society. New types of social stratification based on industrial classes has emerged. Occupation, income and education have become the criteria for status. Against this background, the modern education is based on the principle of equality. It is open to all classes, all religions and women. Further it is based on merit and achievement. One of the major change that the system of new education introduced was a gradual disassociation of occupation from castes. Occupation of traditional caste system were rated to some extent, in terms of ritual purity and pollution. They are today rated, to a great extent in terms of incomes they generate. The new scale of value, at least in theory, emphasizes dignity of human labour and economic criterion. Although in practice, choice of occupation is not entirely free from caste considerations. Thus vegetarian Jats may not send their children for training in poultry, but may get them trained in dairy farming.

The modern education also helps castes and individuals to raise their status in caste hierarchy. For examples, Ahirs who were traditionally milk sellers and small peasant in some regions got themselves educated in English, entered various professions such as medicine, engineering, teaching, police and military and thus bettered their economic positions. They claimed the status of Yaduvanshi Kshatriya (Yadavas) in status through westernization which helped them claim a higher status in traditional caste hierarchy.

The western education has also made possible the upward mobility of individuals and groups in the framework of westernization, where membership of caste is not a decisive factors. Individuals get their children educated in public school and convents, follow modern occupations which are more remunerative and adopt western style of life. Whereas English education is one of the means of achieving upward mobility inside the framework of caste system, it is important to note that the two mechanism of social mobility-sanskritization and westernization are not unrelated. Westernization gave them a chance to move up in modern status system having an occupational base. But they do not recognize their obligation towards their caste men who have a low level of education and economic status. Thus education is plying crucial role in social mobility in modern society. In the process of sanskritization, education is playing remarkable roles. It is one of the examples of positional change of the community.

Answer : The idea of imparting education to women emerged in the British period. Earlier it was almost universally held that since women had not to earn the livelihood there was no need of education for them. After the Bhakti movement, the Christian missionaries took interest in the education for girls. A girl school was started for the first time in Bombay in 1824. Lord Dalhausie also declared that no single change in the habit of the people is likely to lead to more important and beneficial consequences than the introduction of education for their family and children. The Hunter Commission too emphasised the need for female education in 1882. The Culcutta, Mumbai and Madras universities did not permit admission to girl upto 1875. It was only after 1882 that girl were allowed to go for higher education. Since then there has been a continuous progress in the extent of education among females. The literacy percentage among females in India increased from 0.6% in 1901 to 2.93 in 1931, 7.30 per cent in 1941, 12.95 in 1961, 18.69 per cent in 1971, 24.88 per cent in 1981 and 39.42 per cent in 1991 and 54.16 percent in 2001. The number of literate women in the rural areas is much lower than in the urban areas. In 1981, as against 17.99 per cent in the rural areas, there were 47.65 per cent literate women in the urban areas. Further in 1979-80, of 78.9 million students studying in the primary classes, only 38.45 per cent were girls; of the 18.7 million students in the middle classes, 32.90 per cent were girls, of the 7.51 million students studying in high school, 29.24 per cent were girls; and of the 1.19 million students studying in XI and XII classes, 32.25 per cent were girls. This shows that broadly speaking, at the school level, the ratio of boys to girls is 3 : 1. The per centage of girl undertaking higher education and those receiving professional education (medicine, engineering, law, teaching etc.) is extremely low.

While out of every 100 girls in school, sixty two study at the primary level, the twelve at the high school level, twenty six study at middle level, it may be said that though the numbers are a marked increase in the number of females students at every level from 1941 onwards.

Thus the literacy rate among the women is rapidly increasing. The modern technical and professional education among women are making them independent, economically. In the urban area, the women are more prone to get these type of education because of facilitation. But in the village a large number of women are deprived of even the primary right to education. Due to education, the urban women enjoy more autonomy and higher status wihin the family and society than their rural counterparts.

In the modern Indian society the educated women are holding the elite post in bureaucracy, educational institutions and politics. They are efficient computer professionals, army, nurses, doctors, school teachers etc. They are working in the multinational companies. The working wife and husband provide good eduation to their children. The economic problem of family is equally shared by both.

Except education, social legislation, women’s movement and women’s association are playing crucial roles in the elevation of status of women in the socioeties. The social legislations like, Sati-Abolition Act (1829), the Hindu Widow Remarriage Act (1856), Indian divorce Act (1829), Special Marriage Act (1854), Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (1956), the Dowry Prohibition Act (1961) etc have facilitated women with the due socio-economic incentives of which they had been deprived. The formation of women’s associations like National Commission for Women (NCW), Self-Employed Women Association (SEWA), All India Democratic Women Association (AIDWA), Dahej Virodhi Chetna Manch (DVCM), Mahila Dakshata Sangh (MDS) etc. have further safeguarded the interest of the women. The reservation of seats in the parliament and Panchayati Raj has boosted up the political status of the women. In spite of all these, the status of women is not satisfactory, especially in the rural areas. The main reason of it is illiteracy among them.

Answer : The modernisation of Indian tradition, culture and customs has been manifested in many forms in the society. Firstly, at the social level, rationalisation of traditional education through modern ethos, curriculum, technical and professional education, emergence of public school and English language etc. are greatly modern. At the economic level, India is emerging as big sources of capital and market. India is playing praiseworthy role in the economic globalisation. Industrialisation and rapidly increasing urbanisation are the other facets of modernisation in India. At the Political level, the rational democratic polity, Panchayati Raj, Secularism, unity in diversity etc. are the indicators of modern values. The bureaucratic organisation has been rationally framed. The information technology revolution and mass media impart modern values among the masses. The scientific discoveries and invention such as development in nuclear and space science, biodiversity and biotechnology etc. are the consequences of rationality and new thinking. The urban pollution, crimes, drug addiction, alcoholism, nudity and vulgarity in films are the negative aspect of modernisation which are contrary to the rich cultural heritage of India. At present, Indian society is passing through socio-economic restructuring backed by modern values.