SOCIALISM
In simple terms socialism is a set of political and economic
theories. They are based on the belief that (i) everyone has an equal right to
the share of a country’s wealth and (ii) the government should own and control
the main industries.
It advocates that the means of production and distribution
and exchange should be owned and regulated by the community as a whole.
There is not much difference between Communism and
Socialism, and also Marxism and Socialism. In fact, socialism is the middle stage
between the overthrow of capitalism and realisation of communism.
Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) introduced
Communism and thus also socialism.
In essence, India is also a socialist country. The Preamble
to the Constitution of India says that India became a Sovereign Socialist
Secular Democratic Republic from 26th November 1949 and it decided
to secure to all citizens:
JUSTICE , social, economic and political; LIBERTY of thought,
expression, belief, faith and worship; EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;
and to promote among them all FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual
and the unity and integrity of the Nation.
Thus Indian Constitution ensures Social Justice which stands
for: (a) removal of economic inequalities; (b) provision of decent standard of
living to the working people; and (c) protection of the interest of the weaker
sections of society.
To provide social justice, the Government has many special
schemes for scheduled and backward classes; under privileged people,
economically weaker sections of society, etc; by way of many quotas and
financial aids and concessions.
However, India has a mixed economy. It has both public and private sectors. But
there is more and more trend towards privatisation which stands for capitalism
with checks. Even railways are being handed over to the private sector. We
already have public and private players in industry, business, banking
insurance, education, electronic media, health, transport, tourism, etc.
The growth of
Socialist Thought and Movement in India has a long and varied history. There
came up and disappeared a big bunch of socialist parties. Some are still alive
but with hardly and prominent presence.
Among important socialist leaders, one can name Acharya Narendra Dev and Ram Manohar Lohia.
There is one strong objection to India’s mixed economy and
that it is it creates unnecessary competition and confrontation between the
two. The standards of performance of the two are not equal. Some public sectors
appear to be inefficient and run into loss, while private sectors provide
better service and make a lot of profit for themselves.
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