India has been a land with a number of social problems and we have had a number of social reformers who have done remarkable work for the betterment of the society. Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and many others fought against the caste system and untouchability, against the parda system which forced the women to remain confined within the four walls of the house and for the cause of widow remarriage.Today in 2009 too, we have a number of social problems which urgently need our attention.

Even after decades of independence, we still have the caste system particularly in our villages. This slows down the progress in the rural areas. For example, if a school is constructed with the help of one particular caste of people, then they refuse to allow the children of other caste people to it or, the other caste people just refuse to send their children to it. People from different castes refuse to join hands and work even if it is to uplift their own village. Thus, in such a situation it becomes very difficult to help these people. Quarrels exist even among people within the people of the same caste, which further creayes problems.

Yet another problem, which is confined mainly to the villages is child marriage. Girls and boys are married off while they are still in their teens or even earlier. The boys have not even started working and they have children which creates a lot of problems. All of us must have seen the famous television serial Balika Vadhu which portrays the truth of remote and undeveloped villages of Rajasthan. Not only in Rajasthan, child marriages are done in other parts of the country as well.

Yet another serious problem is the dowry system. According to our ancient custom girls are given clothes, jewellery, utensils ans so on which is a kind of help by which the newly married couple can start its family. However, the custom has deteriorated to the extent that the groom’s family demands gifts in cash and kind and tortures the bride in order to get then. This is nothing but a form of extortion. The young girls sometimes commit suicide because they are unable to bear the harassment and the pressure on them. Sometimes the in-laws of the girl burn her to death if their demands are not fulfilled. This is the most degraded level of humanity to which our society has sunk and which needs to be urgently reformed.

Another major social problem now-a-days is drug addiction. It began a decade ago in big cities like Bombay (now Mumbai) and Calcutta (now Kolkata) with college going students taking heroine and other such drugs. These days, much more dangerous drugs like smack and brown sugar are popular among the young drug addicts. The drug makes them dependent on it totally and leads them to borrowing, begging and even stealing to get sufficient money to buy such expensive drugs. Their studies come to a full stop and they not only become terrible burdens on their families but also virtual parasites on the society. Finally, they fall sick and die unless they are de-addicted. However, the worst part of drug addiction is that even after they are de-addicted, they tend to get addicted again unless a continious watch is kept on them.

Another serious problem similar to drug addiction is alcoholism. Alcoholism exists in all classes of the society – the rich and famous, the middle class man, the poor slum dweller and the villager. In villages and slum areas country made alcohol is consumed which is extremely harmful. In every case, alcoholism – which means alcohol taken in excess of what a man or a woman can consume causes a long list of problems. It often leads people to quarrel over petty issues for which they later feel sorry and guilty. The quarrels often lead to major fights and often stabbing and killing. Further, alcoholics often misbehave with their family members. Since they are not in control of their senses, they may abuse and beat up family menbers at the slightest provocation. Finally, they are a burden on the financial resources of the family. Often, alcoholics spend their entire earning on alcohol leaving nothing for the family, and the poor woman is left to fend for herself and her children. Something must be done for the remedy of this problem as well. Its not that the government is not doing anything, but much more needs to be done in this area.

Finally, gambling is yet another social problem which makes gamblers too a burden on the family and society. A gambler too like an alcoholic and the drug addict will no stone unturned to satisfy his ill will. As a result, not only valuavle man hours are lost which could be used for constructive purposes, but also seriously disrupts the smooth running of the wheels of the family and makes the condition of every member absolutely miserable.

Thus, these are only some of the social problems which are seriously undercutting the fabric of our nation, and suitable remedies are to be found for them. First of all the law should come to the rescue. If fact, there are various legislations on all these issues. There are legislations against caste-system, child marriage, dowry, drug addiction, alcoholism and gambling. In each case the offenders are liable to be prosecuted under the law. And yet, such offences continue for a number of reasons. Firstly, all offenders are not being punished as they use their money and cantacts to escape. Secondly, the legal process in our country takes years for the final verdict to come and those who have reported the crime or the eye witnesses are made to appear and reappear in the court so many times that they feel utterly harassed. Sometimes people withdraw their cases rather than continuing with them. Thus, legislation can only act as a deterrent but cannot eradicate the problems, its the people who can.

The real remedy lies in educating the people about the evils of these problems. For example, the caste system and child marriage can be remedied if the people are made to realise the evils of these systems. Here the social workers can make a big difference by making people understand what effects these customs have on their society.

Again, in the case of dowry system, drug addiction, alcoholism and gambling, the real remedy is to make people realise the evils of these. This can be done through newspapers, radio, television, internet, books and magazines. In educational institutions too, the students should be made aware of the evils of these, so that they should neverf feel inclined to accept these as a part of their life.

Further, in the case of drug addiction and alcoholism, the government and the non governmental organisations should come forward to make de-addiction camps easily accessible, and here the drug addicts should be well educated so that they may never readdict themselves. Here, the society should accept those who have overcome their addiction so that they feel themselves a part of the society and not misfits. This would also prevent them from going back to their bad habbits.

Thus, these are only some of the problems in our society which need to be urgently reformed. We can go on writing hundreds of pages on this topic but it is only if we all join hands and work together with single minded devotion that we can hope to get rid of these evils and make our society a happy and prosperous one.