Role of Social Infrastructure in the Economic Development of India

Sumalya Goswami

(Sem V) B.A. LLB., Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur (C.G.)

ABSTRACT:

Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function. The term typically refers to the technical structures that support a society, such as roads, water supply, sewers, electrical grids, telecommunications, and so forth, and can be defined as "the physical components of interrelated systems providing commodities and services essential to enable, sustain, or enhance societal living conditions." Social infrastructure refers to those factors which render the human resources of a nation suitable for productive work. India is drastically different in terms of how its labor laws are regulated, how its citizens are educated, and how their health is handled. When considering a country to enter into, Staples should evaluate whether the country has an adequate social infrastructure to foster economic growth. Two major areas in the social sector which requires investment : education and health. For this purpose there is need for heavy investment in developing social infrastructure. It has been documented that the creation of educational and health infrastructure along with safe drinking water and sanitation are essential for the growth of skilled and educated manpower and this helps the process of growth by providing impetus in the social sector development.

INTRODUCTION:

Social infrastructure refers to those factors which render the human resources of a nation suitable for productive work. India is drastically different in terms of how its labor laws are regulated, how its citizens are educated, and how their health is handled. When considering a country to enter into, Staples should evaluate whether the country has an adequate social infrastructure to foster economic growth. Two major areas in the social sector which requires investment : education and health. For this purpose there is need for heavy investment in developing social infrastructure. For development of education sector there is a need for investment in lower primary, upper primary, secondary and higher secondary schools so that people can send their children to school to acquire education.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

The methodology adopted in this project work is mainly descriptive. The present project work is on the topic Role of Social Infrastructure in the Economic Development of India. Mostly the project is based on primary and secondary sources of data.

This would necessitate investment in school building and equipment, provision of teachers and other supporting staff.

Another major area is the improvement of health of the people, there is a need for creating hospitals in allopathic, homeopathy, unani and ayurvedic medicines. For expansion of medical facilities in rural areas, there is a need for having community health centres, primary health centres and sub-centres in rural areas. There is also need to train doctors, nurses, paramedical personnel to provide service to the people. This implifies the development of physical and human infrastructure.

It has been documented that the creation of educational and health infrastructure along with safe drinking water and sanitation are essential for the growth of skilled and educated manpower and this helps the process of growth by providing impetus in the social sector development.

DEVELOPEMENT OF EDUCATION IN INDIA

The constitution of India resolved to provide elementary education for everyone under article 45 which states that “ the state shall endeavour to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years.

The 86^th amendment of the constitution led to the inclusion of a new article 21-A that made free and compulsory education to all children of 6-14 years age a Fundamental Right. The Government has not so far enforced it by suitable follow-up legislation.

Besides, the government has been making several National Policy Statements on education in 1968, 1986 and 1992 emphasizing the need for eradicating illiteracy altogether, provide universal elementary education to all in the shortest possible time. Another major point of emphasis was the need to expand vocational and technical education at the secondary level. The need for improvement in quality and relevance of higher education along with expansion for the age group 17-23 years was also emphasized.

Equity in education by gender, caste and socio-economic groups, especially scheduled tribes and scheduled castes has been another article on faith. More recently, the government has reserved 27 percent seats in institutions of higher education for Other Backward Castes(OBCs) from 2007-08. This in addition to reservation of 15% seats for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and 7.5% seats for Scheduled Tribes (STs) available earlier.

Reduction in regional disparities has been another major objective of educational planning in India.

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN INDIA

The number of primary schools increased from 6.64 lakhs in 2001-02 to 7.68 lakhs in 200405. Total enrolment at primary level increased from 11.4 crores in 2001-02 to 13.1 crores in 2004-05. At the upper primary level, number of schools increased from 2.20 lakhs in 2001-02 to 2.75 lakhs in 2004-05. Total enrolment at the upper primary schools increased from 4.5 crores in 2001-02 to 5.1 crores in 2004-05.

Total enrolment at the elementary level (class I-VII) increased from 15.87 crores in 2001-02 to 18.2 crores in 2004-05 i.e. an addition by 2.33 crores.

However higher dropout rates among weaker sections of our society, lower teacher attendance and lack of adequate facilities in schools in the form of rooms, blackboards and other educational aids, virtual absence of separate toilet for girls and lack of environment to retain children in studies have all contributed to failure on universalizing elementary education.

The constitution of india was amended in 2002 to make elementary education a justiciable fundamental right. However 7.1 million children out of school by 2004-05 and over 50% dropping out at the elementary level, is a reflection of our gross failure and is a matter of serious concern.

To reduce dropout rates, several governments have decided to provide free uniforms, free text books and stationary to students coming from below poverty line families. Besides this, provision of free transport in state roads also helps to improve attendance in schools, more especially for rural children since these measures help to reduce the private costs of education for the parents, they help to increase attendance as also retention rates in schools. The government thinks of providing special incentives for girl children so that parents shed their apathy towards education of girls

HIGHER EDUCATION IN INDIA

At the time of independence, there were only 20 universities with around 500 colleges and an enrolment of only one lakh in higher and technical education. The higher education system has grown into one of the largest in the world with 378 universities, 18064 colleges, 4.92 lakh teachers and 1.40 crore students in 2007. The higher education institutions include 23 central universities, 216 state universities, 110 deemed universities and 30 institutions of national importance and 5 other institutions established through state legislations. During the tenth plan the number of AICTE approved degree engineering/technology institutions had raised from 1057 to 1522 and the annual intake from 2.96 lakhs to 5.83 lakhs. However the aggregate number of technical institutions by the end of the tenth plan was 4512 with an intake capacity of 7.83 lakhs.

The Eleventh Plan intends to achieve the objective of inclusiveness in higher education through the following:

· Reduction of regional imbalances

· Support to institutions located in border, hilly remote and small towns and educationally backward areas.

· Support to SCs, STs, OBCs and minorities,physically handicapped and girl students with special scholarships/fellowships, hostel facilities, remedial coaching and other measures.

· Setting up of an “equal opportunity office” in all universities to bring all schemes relating to these groups under one umbrella for effective implementation.

At the school level, National institute of Open Schooling provides opportunities for continuing education to those who missed completing school education. 14 lakh students are enrolled at the secondary and higher secondary level through open and distance learning. At the higher education level, Indira Gandhi National Open University(IGNOU) co-ordinates distance learning.

DEVELOPEMENT OF HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE

Since independence India has built a huge health infrastructure in the form of primary, secondary and tertiary health care institutions like primary health care centers, community health centers, hospitals in public, private and voluntary sectors. For producing skilled human resources, a number of medical and paramedical institutions were set up.

six decades of hard work has resulted in considerable achievements in improving health standards in terms of life expectancy, infant and maternal mortality rates. Small pox and plagues have been eliminated and several other diseases like malaria, tuberculosis and diarrhea have been contained to a large extent.

Overall Health Status of India’s Population

· Although India has achieved significant improvement in various health indicators like life expectancy, infant and maternal mortality rate, yet countries in similar stage of development as China, Indonesia and Sri Lanka performed much better. During 2002-04, 20% of Indian population was malnourished and 47.9% of its children under age 5 yrs suffered from malnutrition.

· 42.6 million persons lived in slums in urban areas, accounting for 15% of urban population. Lack of sanitation and poor quality of drinking water leads to high incidence of diseases among slum dwellers.

· Although India has developed a huge infrastructure of 1.45 lakh sub-centres, 22670 primary health centres and 3910 community health centres, yet due to shortage of staff and in adequate diagonostic equipment, rural population has to approach towns and city hospitals for treatment.

· In recent years, as against public hospitals, private hospitals are growing at a faster rate and in 2004-05, about 58% cases for treatment approached private hospitals in rural areas, and the figure of urban areas was higher at 62%. Despite high cost in private hospitals about 3 times as compared with public hospitals, people prefer private hospitals.

· National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and National Urban Health Mission are the two major initiatives to help the poor in the availability of health facilities.

· In secondary and tertiary health care, both public and private sector are involved, but the system is overloaded due to shortage of primary health care facilities in rural areas especially.

· Household expenditure on health is 6.1% of total household expenditure in urban areas and 4.9% in urban areas. Out of this, the share of expenditure on drugs is 77% in rural areas and 69% in urban areas. The poor are the worst affected because they are frequently affected by diseases and are at least able to purchase and utilize the health services and the drugs. There is a need to set up mechanisms so that at least essential drugs are made available at affordable prices.

· Eleventh Plan enthusiastically recommends public-private partnerships, but experience shows that private sector which operates with an eye on profits, cannot redress the concerns of the poor, except such experiments where private sector is motivated by charitable and social purposes.

· There is a need to extend health insurance for workers in the unorganized sector so that the weakest section of the kabour force are provided assured benefits in the form of insurance cover and thus can be saved from falling into poverty trap, because periods of prolonged illness result in fall of incomes but rapid rise of expenditure.

· Combined expenditure of centre and state government declined from 1.01% of GDP in to 0.99% in 2003-04. However it has improved to 1.13% in 2006-07. There is a need to raise it further to 2.3% during the eleventh plan so that it can serve the ends of social justice in a more effective manner.

· There is a need to provide clean drinking water and sanitation especially in slums and backward and rural regions so that they donot carry water-borne diseases. India’s record on sanitation is very poor since only 33% India’s population has access to improved sanitation

Environment

Environmental degradation is widespread and resource scarcities are growing, helping to further impoverish India's rural population. The growing demand for power, fueled largely by high-ash coal, contributes to air pollution and chronic respiratory diseases in India. Inadequate access to clean water and sanitation adds to the incidence of other communicable illnesses. India's use of energy is expected to grow at least 520 % over the next 50 years. Without cleaner technology or more effective environmental policies, emissions of air pollutants may increase by the same amount. Over the same period, the region's industrial growth and its production of chemicals, metals, and paper-the main source of toxic emissions-are expected to increase 980 %. Without improved industrial processes and better enforcement, toxic emissions and health threats may grow by a similar amount (USAID, 2003).

Staples is an “environmentally responsible” company, working to preserve and recycle resources whenever possible (Staples, 2003). The company is committed to increasing knowledge of environmental issues related to their products. Staples would need to ensure that they are entering into an environment which will allow them to continue their energy-conservation practices.

CONCLUSION:

Although, the emergence of an increasingly prosperous middle class in India may one day create substantial new markets for U.S. goods and services, now is not the time for Staples to invest in the country. There are many unknown variables and differences in social infrastructure. Education doesn’t appear to be a hindrance. Although the country has a high illiteracy rate, there is a still a decent level of skilled and educated workers. India has the labor productivity to be a viable location; however, there are many possible barriers including the differences in labor laws and existing child labor practices. Though there are significant improvements in the social infrastructure of the country in the areas of health and education still these areas need improvisation as a large number of masses are deprived of education and proper health conditions. A large no. of masses are are below the poverty line and the government must make proper implementation of its schemes and procedures to uplift the social infrastructure which will contribute to the overall economic development of the country as a whole.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

BOOKS REFERRED

Ruddar Datt, Indian Economy,62th edition 2010

WEBSITES REFERRED

1. http://www.adb.org/

2. http://www.slideshare.net/

3. http://www.chillibreeze.com/

4. http://www.indiahousing.com/

5. http://www.sixsmart.com/

6. www.wakeupcall.org

Received on 31.10.2012

Modified on 10.11.2012

Accepted on 19.11.2012