India

G

Transport

At independence in 1947, India had one of the best-developed transport networks of any colony—particularly its railway system, which had been established during British rule. Since then it has built on this base, increasing the length of roads and establishing a comprehensive internal air transport network. However, the country’s broad network of state-owned railway lines continues to carry the bulk of goods traffic. The total length of operated railway track was 63,465 km (39,435 mi) in 2005 of which 17 per cent was electrified. Three different gauges (widths) of track are in use. There were more than 3.9 million km (2.4 million mi) of roads of which about half were surfaced. In 1995 there were an estimated 3.8 million cars in India; in 1996 there was a ratio of approximately 6 cars for every 1,000 people. The major Indian ports, including Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, and Vishakhapatnam, are reached by cargo carriers and passenger liners operating to all parts of the world. The civil aviation network was nationalized in 1953, with Air India operating the long-haul international routes and Indian Airlines domestic and regional routes. Since 1991 some domestic routes have been opened to the private sector. The networks and volume of traffic is expanding rapidly and air routes now connect not only the major cities and towns but also remote areas in the Himalaya and north-east India. There are an estimated 290 airports in India.

H

Communications

Despite the poverty of much of the population, limiting the development of the communication system, India’s telephone network has expanded significantly in recent years, gaining from the liberalization of the economy. By 2000 there were some 19 million telephone lines registered with the state-owned Telecommunications Department and in 2003 more than 17 million mobile telephones were in use. The state-owned All India Radio broadcasts to about 116 million radio sets. Programmes are broadcast in 24 principal languages and many dialects. Television serves some 79 million receivers, many of them owned communally. Since the late 1980s the state-owned terrestrial service has been augmented by a variety of satellite services, which have exposed many ordinary Indians to television programmes from the West for the first time. The printed media is still very important. In the mid-1990s there were more than 33,612 newspapers and periodicals with a total circulation of more than 67.6 million. The 3,740 daily newspapers had a combined circulation in excess of 18.8 million. The press is free and often very critical of the government and politicians. The Hindu, The Times of India, and the Indian Express are among the influential English-language dailies.

I

Health and Welfare

Since independence, the government has paid particular attention to India’s endemic health problems. But despite vigorous efforts in areas of preventive medicine, sanitation, and nutrition, health conditions remain marginal among the poor—although epidemics of cholera, dysentery, and elephantiasis are no longer common. Much of the population, however, continues to suffer from malnutrition. Progress has been made in combating malaria and plague and in controlling tuberculosis. Overall life expectancy at birth was about 68.6 years in 2007, compared with 32 years in 1941. The infant mortality rate declined from 151 to 91 per 1,000 live births between 1965 and 1989. In 2007 the infant mortality rate was 35 deaths per 1,000 live births.

In 1993 some 410,875 doctors were practising in government hospitals and private clinics, providing an approximate ratio of one doctor for every 1,951 people. The country was served by over 642,100 hospital beds, in approximately 15,000 hospitals. Much of the rural population lacks ready access to professional services. In 2001, 1.8 per cent of government expenditure was spent on health care.

Social-welfare programmes have been particularly in evidence in such areas as family-planning, various kinds of emergency relief, and care for the Dalits, who are protected by law but still subject to much harassment. Workers’ compensation is provided by law.

V

Government

The Republic of India is governed according to the provisions of a constitution adopted in 1949 and amended frequently since. It incorporates various features of the constitutional systems of the United Kingdom, the United States, and other Western democracies.

By the terms of the constitution, India is a sovereign democratic republic within the Commonwealth of Nations. The government is federal in its structure and India is a union of states and centrally administered union territories. There are 28 states, 6 union territories, and the National Capital Territory of Delhi.

A

Executive and Legislature

The chief executive and head of state of India is the president. The role of president in government is largely nominal and ceremonial, however, for actual executive power resides in a council of ministers responsible to the parliament, which is composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States or upper house) and the Lok Sabha (House of the People or lower house). The president is elected for a five-year term by an electoral college consisting of the elected members of the national and state legislatures and is eligible for successive terms. Balloting in the electoral college is a highly complicated process. The council of ministers, or Cabinet, is headed by a prime minister, who is formally appointed by the president. Each of its members is the head of an administrative department of the central government. In most important respects, the Indian Cabinet system is identical to that of the United Kingdom.

The constitution vests national legislative power in India in a bicameral parliament consisting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. The Lok Sabha consists of up to 550 members directly elected by universal adult suffrage (545 in 2004), and up to two members who may be appointed by the president to represent the Anglo-Indian community. So-called scheduled castes and scheduled tribes are specifically allocated 79 and 41 seats respectively in the Lok Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha normally serve for five years, the statutory limit for the duration of the house. However, the house may be dissolved upon defeat of major legislation proposed by the executive branch of the government. The Rajya Sabha has up to 250 members (245 in 2001). All are elected by the elected members of the state legislative assemblies except for 12 who are appointed by the president. The Rajya Sabha is a permanent body; the terms of one third of the members of the council expire biennially.