Effects of globalization on Indian society Essay

In simple terms globalization Is the process of growing interconnectedness between various parts of the world. It is a process through which diverse world is unified into a single society. Globalization touches almost all spheres of human life; social, economic, political, cultural, environmental. Economic impact: Positive Impact: 1. Trade with other countries tremendously increased. Exports and imports boomed due to opening up of trade markets. 2. Global food chain / restaurants 3. Liberalization of Indian markets for foreign players. This has increased the inflow of men, money, material, labour, technology etc from foreign countries to India. 4. Markets expanded. Many of the Indian industries have global markets and India serves as a market for many foreign companies 5. Globalization is responsible for the growth of many industries in India and especially software industry. 6. Growth of MNC’s 7. Globalization has given nations greater access to global markets, technology, financial resources and quality services and skilled human resources. 8. Improvement in and greater access to quality goods and services and an exponential increase in the volume of trade. 9. Access to global capital resources via the stock market and international debt depending on the economic potential of nations and their markets. 10. Access to technologies depending on the nations responsiveness to respect to protection of IPR and the responsible usage of technologies. 11. Access to the world markets to the skilled human resources from nations with inherent intellectual and technical capabilities (the outsourcing of IT, Pharma, BPO and KPO work). 12. Increase in exports of goods and services in which nations have their respective competencies. 13. Increased the purchasing capability of the nation through the creation of a sizeable middle class which is hungry for quality goods and services while there coexists a large poor class whose time is yet to come. 14. Shifting of labour force from agricultural sector to industrial sector and thus reducing disguised employment in agricultural sector 15. High quality and low cost products  flooded Indian markets increasing consumers’ choices. 16. Growth of organized retail chain. 17. Just few years back in India land phone was a prestige symbol but now mobiles can be seen in the hands of many rich and poor people. 18. In agricultural sector new varieties of farm equipment, new agricultural practices, applications of biotechnology like drought resistant, pest resistant varieties etc are indirectly due to globalization. 19. Indian companies adopting international standards in the areas of accounting, inventory management, Human resource, marketing, customer relationship management practices etc. 20. Increase in flow of investments from developed countries to developing countries, which can be used for economic reconstruction. 21. India gained highly from the LPG model as its GDP increased to 9.7% in 2007-2008. 22. The free flow of Information both general and commercial. Negative impact: 1. Rich poor divide increased due to unequal distribution of wealth 2. Ethical responsibility of business diminished 3. Tribes are unable to integrate in the era of globalization and they are facing many problems due to industrial expansion like land alienation, loss of livelihood, displacement etc 4. High growth but problem of unemployment 5. Price hike and inflation of every daily usable commodities 6. Native traditional industries in India got badly affected as they are unable to compete with foreign players. 7. Government driven public sector units are in sale due to increased privatization 8. Growth in different sectors became uneven. 9. More inflow of money has aggravated the problem of corruption. Cultural impact: 1. Language: Positive impact: a. Many people in India became bilingual or multilingual than before. b. Prominence of English as a language increased and importance of many regional languages decreased. Negative impact: a. Some languages got extinct. b. Traditional knowledge that is expressed in the languages that are becoming extinct is getting unutilized. Many patents are filed internationally which is already mentioned in our traditional literature. 2. Music, dance, entertainment: Positive impact: a. Many foreign musical instruments flooded Indian market. b. Foreign movies became widely available in Indian markets. c. Indian classical music has gained worldwide recognition d. Fusing western music with Indian traditional music is encouraged among musicians. e. Many foreigners are learning Indian dance forms like Bharatanatyam while many Indians are getting attracted to foreign dance forms like salsa, hip-hop etc. Negative impact: a. The penetration of global pop music has marginalized the traditional Indian music. b. There is an increase in tendency of playing western songs and pop music during marriage functions, birthday celebrations, engagements etc. c. Folk and tribal music is nearly extinct. Government is taking steps to preserve it. d. One can see in India that inhibitions have been diluted because of the advent of media and the medium of entertainment. This has also naturally had some affect on the old cultural values with the focus now being on consumerism and success. 3. Food and Dress: Positive impact: a. Many dresses of foreign brands are available in Indian local markets. Dressing style, costumes, etc of Indians changed due to globalization b. Male and female dresses distinction is getting blurred. c. Food and dress habits are internationalized d. Pizzas, burgers, Chinese foods, and other western foods have become quite popular. e. Fusion of Indo western clothing is the latest trend. Ex: wearing western jeans and Indian pyjama or kurtha. f. A distinct change in life-styles with rapid adaptation to worldwide trends Negative impact: a. Our traditional food and dress habits are getting changed generation after generation b. Due to intake of western and fast foods there is a threat of non communicable diseases like obesity, hyper tension, cardio vascular diseases etc. 4. Religion: Positive impact: a. India is birth place of different religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism etc. Due to globalization new religions like Christianity entered India and have multi dimensional impact on the culture of India. Negative impact: a. Conversions to Christianity increased by the financial and institutional support of western players. 5. Festivals: Positive impact: a. Western festivals like valantines day, friendship day etc are spreading across India. Negative impact: a. Importance of our traditional native festivals getting decreased. b. Sacred component in our religious festivals is getting decreased and there is increase of secular component in the form of social gatherings during festivals. 6. There is increase in interaction between people of different countries leading to admixture of cultures. 7. Nations have built greater awareness of themselves and the other countries and cultures of the world. India is not an exception Social impact: 1. Marriage: Positive impact: a. Love marriages increased and thus parents preference for children wishes increased. b. Inter religious and inter caste marriages increased and thus caste rigidities and inequalities getting reduced. Negative impact: a. Divorce rate increased b. Marriage changed from religious sacrament to civil contract. c. Unmarried boys and girls are sharing same apartment and staying away from their parents. Thus without marriage live-in relationships are happening in India 2. Family: Positive impact: a. Previously all the members of the family did the same type of work but after globalization the same family has adapted different types of work depending upon availability and their economic benefits. b. As husband and wife are employed in most of the cases the child care is taken by day care centers or crà ¨ches. c. Family controls on children are getting weekend and children wishes are seldom ignored d. Social gatherings are getting increased than religious gatherings. Negative impact: a. Nuclear families increased at the expense of joint families b. Family ceased to be a unit of production. c. The voice and decision of elders in the family matters decreased. 3. Education: Positive impact: a. Foreign universities tie up with Indian universities increased. b. Literacy rate increased c. Scientific and technological innovations have made life comfortable, pleasant and enjoyable. d. Extension of internet facilities to rural areas and thus increasing awareness in rural youth. e. Increased access to better and qualitative education. f. The choices for the children increased as there are many streams in education to pursue. g. Extensive use of information communication technology. Negative impact: a. Education became commercialized b. Pressure on children increased by parents, teachers, peers to get succeed in education which is essential to compete in this globalized world c. Education is measured in the number of degrees a person holds rather than the useful knowledge he gained. 4. Society: Positive impact: a. People shifting from unorganized sector to organized sector b. Distinction between polluting and non polluting castes getting weakened. c. Social taboos are getting weakened d. Caste based occupations are getting converted to merit based occupations. Negative impact: a. Rural, urban divide increased b. Migration of people from rural areas to urban areas due to urbanization c. Due to extreme mechanization demand for manual labour is decreasing day by day. This leads to increase in unemployment Political impact: Positive impact: a. Awareness about the right to vote increased b. Opinion forming in many political issues increased with the help of ICT. c. International obligations creating pressures on domestic political system. d. India say in international matters increased e. Financial support from international organizations to India became possible due to globalization Negative impact: a. Politico-bureaucracy-industrial nexus increased which is affecting badly the common man b. Criminalization of politics and politicization of criminals increased c. Organized crime with political support increased Environmental impact: Positive impact: a. Awareness and concern about environmental problems increased b. Technology and financial support from international organizations to combat climate change Negative impact: a. Excessive emission of green house gases which leads to climate change and global warming b. Land degradation due to excessive use of chemical fertilizers c. Degradation of ozone layer due to release of ozone depleting substances like chloro floro carbons (CFCs) d. Excessive mining and deforestation caused displacement of millions of people without proper rehabilitation and resettlement provisions. References: 1. www.daldrup.org/University 2. www.cpim.org/content/globalisation-impact-indian-society‎ 3. http://www.academia.edu/964379/GLOBALISATION_AND_ITS_POSITIVE_IMPACT_ON_INDIAN_AGRICULTURE V.V.N Pavan Kumar