Social Problems in India Ram Ahuja

The book is most relevant for students studying sociology but is also equally material for people from all respects of life. It is useful for students who are preparing for competitive examinations and also to administrators, policy makers and planners.

All change is not necessarily progress. India has changed considerably over the last forty years and continues to change even today. But what is the direction of this change? What is its logic? Who is being benefited by it?

Violence, despite repeated declarations to curb it, continues unabated. Communalism is on the rise. Poverty and unemployment, despite the reassuring promises of successive governments—the early Congress government, the National Front government, the Janata (S) government, and once again the present Congress government—continue to increase. Atrocities against women, Harijans, and other weaker sections of society show no sign of decline.

Youth are becoming increasingly frustrated and are resorting to agitation. Politics has become criminalized. Secessionism has been curbed, but terrorism is growing more virulent and strident. Corruption has not been eliminated; it persists under different labels. Peasants, industrial workers, and government employees are in distress. Social values are rapidly deteriorating.

An increasing number of people are becoming victims of mental illness. Crime, delinquency, drug abuse, and alcoholism are on the rise. The country is thus confronted with innumerable and complex social problems.

It is time to analyze and understand the nature and magnitude of these problems. It is time that social scientists employ theoretical perspectives in their evaluation. It is also time that planners and power elites consider appropriate remedial measures to reform existing subsystems, structures, institutions, and laws in order to contain these problems. A democracy committed only to the status quo and non-planning may degenerate into a democracy of death and destruction.

This volume represents a humble attempt to examine contemporary social problems in India from a sociological perspective. Most of the chapters are based on data collected through my own empirical studies. In addition, the analysis draws upon the ideas and research of several scholars and academic professionals. It is not possible, however, to acknowledge individually every social thinker whose work has informed this study.

Ram Ahuja is a distinguished Indian sociologist best known for his extensive contributions to the study of social problems, criminology, and social deviance in India. He served as Professor of Sociology at the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, where he played an important role in the development of sociological teaching and research.

His scholarly work is characterized by a strong empirical orientation, combined with clear theoretical frameworks aimed at understanding contemporary Indian society. Ahuja’s research focuses on issues such as crime, poverty, unemployment, corruption, violence, social inequality, and youth delinquency, emphasizing the structural and institutional roots of these problems rather than purely individual explanations.

Ram Ahuja is the author of several influential and widely used textbooks, including Social Problems in India, Criminology, Indian Society, and Crime and Deviance. These works have become standard reading in undergraduate and postgraduate courses in sociology, criminology, social work, and related disciplines across India and South Asia.

Through his accessible style and systematic analysis, Ram Ahuja has made a lasting contribution to applied and policy-oriented sociology, bridging the gap between sociological theory, empirical research, and social reform.