Some Social Problems

Social Problems are interlinked:

It may remarked that social problems have interlinks. They are seen having roots in a number of social disciplines at a time. Social problems cannot be treated and considered in isolation of economic, political, sociological ones. One thus is required to look in social problems in a broader perspective. It is appropriate to discuss these problems in a casual manner so as to establish their linkages.

Some of the social problems are:
Illiteracy:

Literacy is a basic learning tool towards basic education. It means equipping the people with the skills to learn, protect and empower themselves in a society and effectively contribute to decision-making at various levels. In an illiterate society, the aforesaid traits remain unmet. What to talk of decision-making, illiterate cannot understand their socio-economic environments. They know nothing of national/international problems. The illiterate are thus steeped into ignorance, having no knowledge of their environments.

Illiteracy breeds superstitions among the illiterate. The illiterate cannot take a rational view of things. They develop various kinds of superstitions, which largely shape their thinking and behavior. They run after charms to cure disease without seeking medical aid. The religious orthodox element exploits the ignorance of the illiterate much to its advantage. Superstitions make people unconscious of the importance of human effort, which is needed to deal with complex problems of life. Superstitions are characteristics of a traditional society. When a society undergoes socio-economic transition, superstitions tend to be dissolved gradually with the passage of time.

Relation between poverty and health:

Health coverage suffers from inadequate and deficiencies namely unhealthy environment, insufficient resources, ignorance, lack of awareness and inaccessibility to health services. Improving health requires addressing poverty, illiteracy, lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and limited access to health care. Diseases show a close relationship between health and poverty. Most pre-mature deaths among the poor segments of society and vulnerable groups are on account of poverty-related communicable diseases such as childhood illness and malnutrition. This poses a threat to poverty-reduction and high growth.

There is high population growth, leading low life expectancy, high infant mortality rate and child mortality under 5 etc. This is due to the shortage of health care personnel, uneven distribution of health care personnel, uneven distribution of health facilities in country, lack of medicines, regional disparities in the health care services and scarcity and administrative health care capabilities.

Population Growth:

Increasing population in a poor country creates many economic problems. Only a small segment of the population is economically productive. It is capable of earning money to add something to GDP in a country. Rapid growths of population thus increase the dependency ratio in a developing country.

Rapidly growing population creates the demand for social services, like education, health, housing which cannot be provided owing to the lack of economic resources. Improved transport facilities are to be provided owing to the people and it necessitates the import of heavy buses, wagons case, etc. A poor country suffers from the scarcity of foreign exchange. Hence it becomes a problem for the government to cater to the transport needs of the growing population. Apart from that housing facilities, particularly to the lower strata of population can’t be provided by the state.  The result often leads to the appearance of slums on the available state land. It becomes at a later stage a problem to seek evacuation of the land occupied by the extreme poverty-ridden groups. Population thus is a major social problem. Population growth must be reduced through a number of ways like population welfare program and economic development.

Poverty:

Poverty is the mother of many social, economic problems in poor countries. Poverty has many dimensions. The poor have very low incomes which prevent them from having an access to the basic needs like education, health, clean drinking water and proper sanitation. Lack of access to these facilities keeps them in a perpetual state of under nourishment. It tells upon their capabilities and limits the opportunities for them to secure employment. The income level of most of the person in poor countries is insufficient to meet the food and non-food requirements. The poverty needs to be reduced.

Lack of inequality between the rural and urban areas in terms of socio- economic opportunities:

There is migration from rural to urban areas in developing countries. The migration is due to a lack of balance in the provision of services between urban and rural area.Urban areas are economically developed which offer better improved social services to people.

All the technical colleges, professional colleges, hospitals equipped with the modern health facilities are located in big cities. Cities being the industrial centers provide employment to rural labor, which migrates to cities in search of employment. That increases the population pressure in cities. It often leads to the construction of slums in cities at certain areas, where even minimum sanitation facilities are not available to the dwellers. Life decays in slums. The remedy to the problem lies in increasing pace of industrial development in rural areas.

Social demonstration:

Social demonstration is another evil which tempts people of average means to copy the consumption living pattern of the rich elite class. The people with low incomes thus are encouraged to supplement their resources illegal ways to maintain a higher standard. Corruption, bribery and sense of competition spread lowering down standards of morality. Consumption is increased and savings are not available for investment. Many problems arise due to the operation of the social demonstration effect in a developing country.

Dowry System:

Dowry is another social problem in society, which appears to have assumed alarming proportions. The daughters of the poor, howsoever talented and educated, remain unmarried because their parents cannot give fat dowry on demand. Suitable matches often end in smoke because of the incompetence of the poor parents to comply with demands of dowry. The rat race of wealth thus has demoralized the society. The rich celebrate the marriages of their sons/daughters in a grand luxurious style and set a precedent for the average to follow it. It can be concluded that social arrangements should be made where all human beings must be able to live in complete harmony.

Traffic problems in a big city

First and big problem in big cities:
Life in a big city now-a-days has become very difficult and complicated. A big city offers us many social, economic and political problems which make our life very hard and tough. The first problem which we come across in big city is uncontrolled growth of population. This has generated the traffic problem. The traffic in a big city has gone beyond proportion. The traffic jams in big cities are a daily occurrence.

Traffic jam is responsible for delaying of work:
Traffic jams make the march of life slow and unsteady. Men and women going to their place of work are at once halted. They do not reach their office in time. The children are delayed to reach the school. The patient did not get medical aid in time. They have to stop on the way. Sometimes, the traffic is jammed for hours together. The small babies in laps of their mother cry for milk, but they do not get it.

Effect of traffic jams on health:
The traffic jams also leave psychological effect on our mind. The passengers delayed due to traffic jams feel frustrated and angry. They blow out their horns out of frustration. The sense of loss continuously hangs heavy on their head. The delayed performance of work or duty may bring them untold misery or loss.
Traffic jams in the modern age reflect an ugly mark on the beautiful face of the city. They are negation of progress. In this age of science and technology, such jams cannot be favour by anybody. They are a denial to the cultural growth of a city.

Reasons for traffic jam:
Let us find the reasons for the creation of traffic jams in a big city.

Increase in population:
The first reason for the creation of traffic jams is the unchecked growth of population. The population in a big city is increasing very rapidly. People from the village come to settle in cities. Villages do not offer them the facilities and comforts of daily life. They come to the big cities in search of jobs and modern facilities of life. This thing has increased the bulk of traffic on the roads.

Roads are narrow and uneven:
Secondly, the roads of the cities are narrow and uneven. They are not in a good position. They cannot withstand the pressure of traffic. As a result of the traffic jams, the flow of traffic is halted.

Traffic is put under heavy control when a V.I.P comes:
Thirdly, the traffic is controlled and put under heavy control when a V.I.P comes to the city. The road is fully banned for the flow of traffic from where the V.I.P has to pass. Another route is re-directed for traffic. The heavy flow of traffic creates jams.
Slow vehicles:
Fourthly, the slow vehicles marching ahead of the motorcars sometime put up resistance in the smooth flow of traffic.

Is World Peace A Dream Or Reality

The world peace is at stake:
The world today is in the grip of fear and uncertainly. The world peace is at stake. The nations of the world have failed to secure and stabilize peace. Every nation cries for peace, but is unable to secure it. There are many factors which are responsible for the destruction of peace in the world.

The victories of peace are greater than those of war. It is only victories of peace that rise mankind in the scale of civilization and make the world a better and happier place to live in. A period of war is a period of unrest, chaos and confusion. Art and culture, trade and commerce can flourish only in times of peace. The progress of mankind from barbarism to civilization is a record of achievements made during peaceful epochs. During war times, the hands of the clock of civilization are put back. War is the name of wholesale destruction.

Reasons for destruction of peace:

Peace is a glorious thing. It has never been established in the world for the reasons below.

The first thing which ruins the world peace is war. The world is always threatened by one war or the other. The modern war is name of destruction and disease. Can we abolish war? We cannot abolish war unless the purpose which is served by war is fulfilled by other means.

Firstly:

The first cause of war is nationalism. Nationalism means an excessive loyality to the nation and an excess patriotism. The urge to dominate other nations is the main cause which engineers war. The big power wants to conquer and bring small and weak courtiers under their control. Nationalism becomes a most dangerous thing when it takes the form of economic exploitation. Every strong and powerful country needs poor courtiers for foreign investments. The weak countries are threatened to play a secondary role if they do not admit the superiority of big powers.

The arm industry in the world fuels the flame of war. The arm industry is controlled and managed by such powerful countries like America, Russia, China, England and France. They incite the poor nations to build up their military force and raise their ammunition above the other nations. These powerful countries engineer wars and battles, among the poor countries and find a comfortable market for their weapons. 

The very existence of armies is a great cause of war. 

We have seen that wars are responsible for the destruction of world peace. We cannot end wars. However duration of peace can be increased by adopting following measures.

In the first place, there must be created among the people of the world the temper of peace . In spite serious differences, nation should approach their problems with tolerance and difference should be settled through discussions.

Secondly:

Secondly, Intensive efforts must be made all over the world for the formation of general will to peace. Every thing that encourages mutual distrust should be suppressed. Tolerance should be inculcated.

Thirdly:

The nations , must give weight to the teachings of their holy saints and religious thinkers and men of God. They have always given the message of love, peace and happiness. But unfortunately, the nation of the world has ignored their advice.

Fourthly:

The only super power America must leave the principal of “might is right”. It should exercise justice, tolerance and fairness in setting the disputes of different countries.

Noise Pollution

Introduction:

Noise pollution has become a serious problem, particularly in industrial urban areas. It is getting tense day by day as more industries, especially cottage ones are being set up even in residential area. The urban areas are highly vulnerable to the disorder of noise.

Increase in noise pollution day by day:

One sees roads in big cities paraded by buses, wagons, rickshaws, especially in the morning and evening hours. There are long rows of vehicles running on both sides of roads. The vehicles emit diesel burnt smoke, followed by high-pitched horns. The passing of vehicles produce a typical noise which is of harsh nature. Silencers of certain vehicles are damaged which apart from emitting smoke, produce a great noise. This process is repeated day and night particularly in big cities, much to the annoyance of commuters and general public.

Excessive number of automations are main cause of noise pollution:

Buses, wagons and rickshaws create a lot of motorized noise. Noise is a form of pollution which has gripped especially the urban cities and towns. Mostly the public transport drivers are illiterate. They blow horns without sense and reason. Rather they play with blowing horns regardless to disturbance they create for others. Vehicles are throwing out smoke; followed by high-pitched horns are seldom challand. This does not happened in developed countries, where laws are enforced very strictly.

Noise pollution due to industries:

Industrial areas located near the human dwellings are also a source of noise pollution. The working of factories creates a sort of jarring noise, which the people living near industrial areas, have to bear willy-nilly. Industries need to be spread out over vast areas, located far-off from human habitats. Special areas need to be planned for industrial purposes. Industrialization is imperative and a must promote rapid economic growth in a poor country. Noise is a consequence of industrialization, which cannot be postponed.

Nosie pollution due to music and loud speakers:

Another grave problem of noise pollution that exists in society is the undue use of loud-speakers and loud play of music. It speaks volume how society lacks civility. The excessive uses of loud speakers turn out to be a great nuisance for the people. Hymns, Psalms are sung at high-pitched frequency on loud speakers. That disturbs the peace of people living in different localities.

The music fans must have sense of enjoying music. They must avoid enjoying music at the cost of sick, disturbed and busy people. Some heart patients need complete rest who get upset when high-pitched hymns are sung on loud speakers. Students need calm and peace to concentrate on their studies.

Noise pollution effects on human:

The recurrence of noise is the legacy of soft states where law does not have a complete hold over societies. The noise pollution adversely affects nervous system of people. It also affects adversely human ears. It breeds sleeplessness, peevishness and deafness. There is a need to restore sanity in the use of loud-speakers. Noise pollution should be discouraged under all conditions. What, however, is needed: environmental planning and its enforcement strictly.  

Student's Unrest

Introduction:

Students of our time do not feel satisfied. We see that they are restless. They go on strikes on one pretext or the other. The problem of the students unrest is found in all developing countries. One country is no exception to it. The students strikes have assumed an alarming situation. We find that students have a long list of demands every day. They want to get them fulfilled. If their demands are not fulfilled, they go on strikes. Some of their demand s is real and genuine. However, most of them are ill founded.

The student strikes are the result of deep seated reasons. Nobody can favour them.In these strikes, the study work is suspended. They students collect and form a procession. They come out side the boundary of their institutions. They raise slogans. They abuse the policeman and throw stones at them. The public property is looted and the buses are burnt. The traffic is blocked. . In this way, they take the law in their own hands and cause trouble to the public. These strikes end into serious clashes. They are often charged by police. Sometime even precious lives are lost. These strikes have become a problem with every government.

Causes of students unrest:

Let us study the causes of the student unrest.

There are many reasons for student unrest:

Firstly:

Firstly, the student unrest is linked with our social and economic conditions. Social and economic values are rapidly changing. Unemployment, inflation the loss of moral and spiritual values are results of capitalism. These forces produce in our young men a sort of frustration. An educated person does not get a job after completion of his education. This is something to which he does reconcile. He has his own ambitions and desires to fulfill. When his ambitions and desires are not fulfilled, he becomes restless. This frustration travels to colleges and universities. The students are greatly influenced by it. They give an expression to this frustration by going on strike.

Secondly:

Secondly, students have to study very difficult and lengthy courses. They are not related to life. The students do not find interest in their books. They do not attend to their classes because they consider it a burden on their mind. They stay away from their classes and try to give themselves relief by going on strikes.

Thirdly:

Thirdly, some of their problems are quite real and need our attention. The transportation problem is at top. In the recent years, this problem has given birth to great unrest among students. The government cannot provide them sufficient number of buses. They have a few buses at their disposal. However the students have been given concession in the bus fare. This concession has not been properly utilized.

Fourthly:

Fourthly, the colleges and universities suffer from lack facilities in the field of sports and education. There is shortage of teachers, playgrounds, libraries and laboratories. These factors are responsible for the indiscipline among the students.