Globalization (impacts on Indian society)

Definition:

Globalisation is an inevitable phenomenon in human history which brings the world closer through the exchange of goods and products, services, information, knowledge and culture.

Globalisation has its own pros as well as cons. But it has affected more number of populations than the benefits it has given to fraction of the society all over the world. As per the critics the birth of Globalisation did happen to check for new markets for the finished goods and services of the developed rich countries.

Over the last two decades, overseas development assistance from the rich to poor countries has totalled $50-80 billion per year. In the same period, every year, $500-800 billion of illegal funds have been sent from the poor to rich countries. That is, for every one dollar of aid money over the table, the West gets back $10 under the table and, for good measure, lectures the rest on corruption.

The rapid growth of global markets has not seen the parallel development of social and economic institutions to ensure balanced, inclusive and sustainable growth.

Positive impacts of Globalisation:

1.      Global village: The world became the global village where the people in various parts of the world exchangethe ideas, knowledge, goods and services, information, culture.

2.      Technology has been and is continuously spreading across the urban centers and in some extent to rural parts of India as well.

3.      Indian Business:

a.       Just-in-time and other more efficient techniques of inventory control

b.      Improvement in corporate governance practices

c.       Customer relationship management practices.

d.      Inflow of foreign funds

e.       Healthy competition with foreign products

f.       A growing market for high quality and low price product

g.      High growth rate is showing economic prosperity in India

4.      Generation of more employment opportunities

5.      Indian economy growth:globalization and liberalization has been resulted in fiscal consolidation, growth in foreign exchange reserve, increased foreign investment and to a considerable extent, control of inflation.

Negative Impacts of Globalisation:

Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.

-          Edward Albee (American ecologist)

1.      Income inequalities:There is a growing divergence in income levels between countries and peoples, with widening inequality among and within nations. Assets and incomes are more concentrated. Wage shares have fallen. Profit shares have risen. 

2.      Unsustainable Development:Sustainable development is defined as development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Under this definition development is not just limited to economic growth but is made to encompass environmental protection, and an equitable distribution of wealth and resources with the goal of improving and raising the standards and quality of living for everyone. The development practices followed the world over during the Globalisation era marked by a high level of market competitiveness often seemed to follow unsustainable development practices.

3.      GlobalizedCrime:Globalisationhas also let loose the forces of “uncivil society” and accelerated the transnational flows of terrorism, human and drug trafficking, organized crime, piracy, and pandemic diseases like HIV-AIDS, bird-flu etc.

4.      National-level progress in India has gone hand in hand with an ever greater gap between the prosperity of urban, middle-class Indians and the squalor still seen in many of its 600,000 villages where most Indians live. Uprooted from ancestral lands and unable to adapt to the demands of a modern economy, aboriginal populations (Adivasis) often see revolutionary redemption as the only way out of their predicament.

5.      Technology has failed to percolate to villages in absence of electricity and other communication infrastructure. Few people know about the internet. Mobile connections are increasing in rural areas but at slower pace. New advancement of technology has not much influence in rural areas.

6.      Agriculture: Globalization has few detrimental effects as government is always willing to import food grains, sugar etc. whenever there is a price increase of these commodities. On the other hand, subsidies are declining so cost of production is increasing. Even farms producing fertilizers have to suffer due to imports. There are also threats like introduction of GM crops, herbicide resistant crops etc. Also the farmers are influenced by politicians and corporate world to migrate from food crops to cash crops and thus the farmers are pushed into the volatility of global cash crop markets. This sometimes results into suicides of Indian farmers across the country.

7.      Indian Business:

a.       Unequal distribution of wealth disparity in income

b.      Rapid privatization government driven public sector units are on sale

c.       Uneven growth in respect of different sectors

d.      Extreme mechanization is reducing demand for manual labours

e.       Both employee and consumer exploitation are on rise by private sector

8.      Informal sector:As much as it has led to the creation of jobs for many individuals, globalization is also contributing to the suffering of people within the informal sector. It is important to note that the informal sector is deliberately not included in the labor legislation. For instance, informal workers are not subject to the 1948 Factories Act which covers the general working conditions, working hours, safety and health, prohibition of child labor, basic amenities among other things (Stone 1996)

9.      Environmental damage:Globalisation has tremendously affected upon the environment due to very rapid development of industries. The rivers in the country are polluted due to the disposal of industrial sewage into them, deforestation at rapid pace due to want of setting up the new industries by compromising the environmental norms. Global warming is one of the results of Globalization.

10.  Giant shift from food crops to cash crops: Tens of millions of formerly food crop sustenance Indian farmers have been locked into the volatility of global prices in agricultural commodities especially cash crop prices

11.  Poverty: There is always a surplus of food available with Indian government but still half of the world’s poor present in India. This is because of the exclusion of downtrodden from the growth and hence they don't have the purchasing power to buy the grains.

Measures to manage the challenges of Globalisation:

1.      The transfer of state functions to supranational forms of regional governance could enhance the capacity of individual states to combat uncivil society. The sharing of expertise, institutions, policy tools, personnel and other resources can go a long way in stemming the tide of unwanted activities.

2.      Human trafficking is among the darkest sides of Globalisation, turning human beings into commodities bought and sold in the international marketplace. Women and children are among the most exposed to it. NGOs from all continents attempt to cope with this nefarious activity and report on those involved in it.

3.      Balance between openness and regulation requires keeping a watchful eye on trans-border crimes that thrive in the interstices of the national and the international

4.      The growth should always be an inclusive growth so that the fruits of Globalisation should be cherished by all classes of the society.

5.      The development should be sustainable not on papers and in summits but in implementation so that the developments of contemporary world should not harm the future generation.

6.      Government should focus on the Directive Principles of State Policy (DSPS) so that the trickle-down theory of Globalisation will be justified.

Name: SharadDurgawad