DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM IN INDIA, The Rise and Fall of Socialism

Socialism is a political, social, and economic philosophy encompassing a range of economic and social systems characterized by social ownership of the means of production and workers' self-management of enterprises. Under socialism, democracy will be based on the economic, educational, and social empowerment of all people. Under socialism, the right to dissent, the freedom of expression, and the plurality of opinion will flourish with the aim of strengthening socialism under proletarian statehood.

    

 Socialism in India is a political movement founded early in the 20th century, as a part of the broader Indian independence movement against the colonial British Raj. Socialism shaped the principal economic and social policies of the Indian government after independence until the early 1990s when India moved towards a more market-based economy.

 

With the 42’nd Amendment of the Constitution of India enacted in 1976, the Preamble to the Constitution asserted that India is a secular nation. Officially, secularism has always inspired modern India. In practice, unlike Western notions of secularism, India's secularism does not separate religion and state. The Indian Constitution has allowed extensive interference of the state in religious affairs.

     The socialist system was first introduced in the USSR. Under this system the Government holds the ownership of the sources of production as well as in all the economic activities. In this system the production is owned by the people collectively through their government. There are no private landlords and factory owners. All business is conducted by the State and all profits go to the state treasury.

     The socialist political movement includes a set of political philosophies that originated in the revolutionary movements of the mid-to-late 18th century and out of concern for the social problems that were associated with capitalism. By the late 19th century, after the work of Karl Marx and his collaborator Friedrich Engels, socialism had come to signify opposition to capitalism and advocacy for a post-capitalist system based on some form of social ownership of the means of production.

     

Small socialist revolutionary groups arose in India in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. The Communist Party of India was established in 1921, but socialism as an ideology gained a nationwide appeal after it was endorsed by nationalist leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose. 

     After India's independence in 1947, the Indian government under prime ministers Nehru and Indira Gandhi oversaw land reform and the nationalization of major industries and the banking sector.

Merits of Socialism:

The important characteristics of socialism are as follows:

 

# Social Ownership on the Means of Production:

   In a socialist economy, the means of production are not with the capitalists. The state holds the ownership of the means of production and they are utilized for the benefit of the society. The state takes steps to uplift the standard of living of the people.

# Central Planning:

   A socialist economy is centrally planned which functions under the direction of a central planning authority. It lays down the various objectives and targets to be achieved during the plan period. Central economic planning means “the making of major economic decisions—what and how much is to be produced, how, when and where it is to be produced, and to whom it is to be allocated—by the conscious decision of a determinate authority

# Role of the State:

   The role of the state will be more comprehensive and it influences every field of public life. The state accumulates the sources of production. It determines the fields of different business and executes them according to priorities.

# Economic and Social Quality:

   The socialist economy makes an equal distribution of income and opportunities without consideration of family, caste, and rights of property.

# Goal of Social Welfare:

   The object of economic activity is not limited to profits but mainly oriented to Social welfare. The State produces according to the consumption needs of the citizens.

# Freedom of Consumption and Production:

   The consumers have freedom of choice to select from. In addition to this, the production is made according to the needs and wants of people. The workers have the freedom to change the enterprise for betterment. 

 

# Labour as Trustees and Employee:

   The role of workers is like a trustee and employee. They are given participation in management. All their ideas, suggestions and views are incorporated in the management decision.

Demerits of Socialism:

A socialist economy has also certain disadvantages:

# Loss of Consumers’ Sovereignty:

There is a loss of consumers’ sovereignty in a socialist economy. Consumers do not have the freedom to buy whatever commodities they want. They can consume only those commodities which are available in department stores. Often the quantities which they can buy are fixed by the state.

# No Freedom of Occupation:

There is also no freedom of occupation in such a society. Every person is provided a job by the state. But he cannot leave or change it. Even the place of work is allotted by the state. All occupational movements are sanctioned by the state.

# Misallocation of Resources:

Under socialism, there is an arbitrary allocation of resources. The central planning authority often commits mistakes in resource allocation because the entire work is done on a trial and error basis.

# Bureaucratic:

A socialist economy is said to be a bureaucratic economy. It is operated like a machine. So it does not provide the necessary initiative to the people to work hard. People work due to the fear of higher authorities and not for any personal gain or self-interest.

     There is no doubt that a socialist economy is better than a capitalist economy because of its overwhelming merits. But it is disliked for the loss of political, economic, and personal freedoms.

      India's most socialist leaders themselves have seldom lived lives of poverty and austerity. They might quote Mahatma Gandhi but live like the rich everywhere, putting on simple clothes mainly for the camera. Their efforts to return to socialism appear motivated to preserve their own elite status at the top of the socialist hierarchy, not any real concern for the poor who they never succeeded in raising during their decades of the rule anyway.

    India, please realize that the great socialist experiment went bust globally long ago and need not be repeated again in India - or another generation will be lost and the global economy may leave India behind.

Shailendra