Top Untold Secret : 5 Major Political Issues

In India, we are now facing a lot of major political issues. Democracy is now a very fashionable word. Every nation swears by democracy. The communist nations describe themselves as people’s democracies!  Nepal calls its system “basic democracy”. In short, it is like a hat that has lost its shape because of too many people using it.

The word ‘democracy’ has originated from the Greek word ‘demos’. ‘Demos’ means ‘people’. It is therefore the rule of the people. Abraham Lincoln has defined democracy as the ‘Government of the people, by the people and for the people.

India is now the largest democracy in the world. Democracy has some essential features. One is a two-party or multi-party system. Another is free and fair elections. Freedom of the press is yet another must’. India satisfies all these conditions. As such, technically, India is a genuine democracy.

THE MAJOR POLITICAL ISSUES

 When we go deeper, we discover some defects in our system. If elections are to be free and fair, the voters must be enlightened. Illiterate voters can easily be misguided. In India, the percentage of illiteracy is still very high. The majority of voters are also poor. This makes money an important factor in elections. Only rich people can win elections in India. Or, they must have the backing of rich people.

This has led to very strange situations. Politicians are controlled by money bags. Businessmen, smugglers, and liquor contractors control politics. Whichever party comes to power these men rule the country. The press is also controlled by them.

All popular newspapers in India are controlled by business magnates. Electoral reform is, therefore, the need of the hour. Even though we are proud of our democracy there are certain political issues that we are facing.  

CORRUPTION AS A POLITICAL ISSUE

The main political issue is that of corruption. The annual Kroll Global Fraud Report noted that India was among the highest national incidences of corruption (25%). The same study also noted that India reports the highest proportion reporting procurement fraud. India ranked 78th position among 180 countries in the Corruption Perception Index of 2019.

There are different levels of corruption in political, economic, administrative, and social, and ethical sections. The use of black money in elections, crony capitalism, and criminalization of politics are the main reason for corruption in politics. The lawmakers themselves become the lawbreakers. Corruption in politics and administrative sectors gave far-reaching consequences and repercussions. 

The certain consequences are listed below:

• Backwardness and Poverty
• Loss of Faith in Judicial System
• Loss of Natural Resources
•  Brain Drain and Loss of Talent
• Obstacles for Business
• Hindrances for Development

ILLITERACY AS A POLITICAL ISSUE

The percentage of illiteracy in India is so large. It is a severe political issue. Education is considered to be the stepping stone for any developments. But we clearly lack the achievement of 100% literacy. There are still a  lot of students, with no access to education.

They are in a very vulnerable condition of exploitation as they clearly lack the knowledge of their rights. There should be a clear decision on the part of administrators to provide education and good infrastructure to all citizens.

UNEMPLOYMENT AS A POLITICAL ISSUE

Educated unemployment is mostly the result of defective educational planning. The colleges throw out degree holders without verifying the needs of society. Besides, our system of education is not job-oriented. Hence educational reform is the precondition to the solution of this problem.

Unemployment in villages is of two types. There are those who are partially employed. The agricultural laborers belong to this class. They get work in certain seasons. At other times they are without work. There are also those who are unemployed throughout the year. Theirs is really a sad plight.

One reason for village unemployment is the neglect of cottage industries. The British rulers had started planned destruction of village industries. During the freedom struggle, Gandhiji tried to revive the cottage industries. He made the Charkha a symbol of this great enterprise. The unemployment is really a major political issue.

COVID 19 AS A POLITICAL ISSUE

India is now struggling to cope with the flood of COVID 19 cases and deaths.Covid 19 has now arised to be one of the major issue faced by India. A new record breaking amount of corona virus  cases are now being recorded. The falling shortage of oxygen cylinders,and lack of  critical care beds is intensifying these catastrophic conditions.

People are in a very pathetic condition as India is in the grip of a fierce second wave.  At present the virulence,and infectivity ratio has gone up. Last year it took more than six weeks for the cases to be doubled during the first wave  but surprisingly at present it has taken less than ten days for infections to grow twofold to the current high,which has already surpassed 2020’s peak.

Due to the lack of vaccines,the Maharashtra and Mumbai vaccine centres have closed,which worsens the condition. The increasing cases have not deterred the election campaigns and festival celebrations. We should understand that it’s just the start of an aggressive covid 19

OTHER MAJOR POLITICAL ISSUES ARE :

• Farmers protest

• Healthcare system

• Education system

• Women’s safety

• Gender inequality

We are now moving through very tough times of pandemic. There are a lot of political issues that are arising in our society. As being the citizen of India let’s think and act wisely. We should raise our voice against the various discrimination, inequalities and political issue as a sensible human.

Author:Athulya Jose