Analyse the social effects and problems of urbanization in Indian society.

Social effects of urbanization in Indian society :-

• Family structure is changing from the joint family form to the nuclear family form & small joint family system. Kinship relations are weakening and the bonds of community are getting disrupted.
• ‘Egalitarian family’ system is replacing ‘Husband-dominated’ family type as wife is being involved in the decision making process.
• According to I.P.Desai, in spite of strains between the younger and older generations, the attachment of the children to their families is never weakened. Sylvia Vatuk maintains that ‘family jointness‘ is still upheld, though the no. of nuclear families is on the rise.
• Fusion of sub-castes and castes is happening in urban areas because of inter-sub-caste and inter caste marriages, democratic politics, jobs etc.
• Caste panchayats are very weak in urban India. But caste identity is being revived in urban areas because of vote bank politics, in the name of protecting the interests and rights of the caste members.
• Rules of commensality, untouchability are almost doesn’t exist in urban areas.
• Social and economic status of women has increased as they started doing blue as well as white collar jobs. Thereby women in urban areas enjoy independence and greater freedom comparatively.
• Education in girls is greater in urban areas. But urban women are having more vulnerabilities like safety at workplace etc.
• Surrounding villages of urban areas face problems such as housing, cultural impact etc. They’ll have impact on political, cultural and economic activities.
• Rao analyses urban politics and identified four problem areas – (a) Formal political structure, (b) Informal political organizations such as pressure groups, (c) small town politics like factions and ethnic groups, (d) violence resulting from strikes, regional armies, political conflicts etc.
• Unemployment and slum areas contribute to political instability, which in turn leads to violence.

Problems of urbanization :-

• Housing and slums :- Urbanization causes rapid increase in population, which increases the cost of housing. So, the poor cannot afford the housing in urban areas leading to the creation of slums. And these slums are becoming the breeding ground for diseases, demoralization, pollution etc. as they are not having adequate living conditions.
• Over Crowding :- Over crowding results in spreading of diseases in fast pace, encourages deviant behavior, creates conditions for riots, alcoholism, apathy, indifference and even mental illnesses.
• Water supply, Drainage and sanitation :- Some areas are not at all having water supply, where as some areas are having it, but not round the clock. This results in the creation of vacuum in the water pipelines, which often absorbs pollutants through the leaking joints.
• Transportation and traffic :- Over crowding resulted in increase in number of vehicles, so are the traffic problems. And this causes air pollution and the long hours of travel.
• Power shortage :- Over crowding, increase in the use of electronic gadgets, industrialization etc. caused a lot of stress on the power supply. Hence power crisis became a common phenomenon.
• Pollution :- Industrialization is one of the major causes of air as well as water pollution in the urban areas. According to UNICEF, lakhs of urban children are dying from measles, diarrhea etc because of the water contamination and poor sanitary conditions.

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