INTRODUCTION
Punjab always remained circulated from challenges. Once the peace was restored in Punjab, many challenges came forward such as gender inequality, drugs abuse and farmer suicide. All the challenges made it difficult for people to live dignified lives. Below is discussed the three major problems, their causes and effects on Punjab.
GENDER DISCRIMINATION
CAUSES :-
- PATRIARCHAL SOCIETY :- From ages the patriarchy is seen as a big challenge in front of gender equality. The male dominance in society made it difficult for women to outshine themselves. They were given no right to inherit the property of their parents. Education for females is also seen as a great challenge which created the discrimination and exploitation of women.
- DOWRY :- It is not only the problem of Punjab but of the whole nation. Marriage of a girl led her father into financial debt. It was necessary to make the groom's entry to be royal and serve the guest as best as they could. If the bride's family were not able to pay dowry she was killed by her in-laws.
- FEMALE INFANTICIDE :- birth of Girl was seen as disappointment in family. They were killed during birth as they were seen as a burden on the family. They were killed by different methods of which the most common was to hire midwives who feed milk laced with the sap of poisonous plants to infants or to give paddy to infants to slit her throat.
- PURDAH SYSTEM :- Mostly the women of higher classes used a piece of cloth to cover their face in front of every man if she faced any men without PURDAH was seen as immodest.
EFFORTS TO MODERNISE WOMEN IN PUNJAB
Sikh Gurus made great contributions to uplift the position of Women in the society. Guru Nanak felt that women should be given honourable positions in society. Guru gave a unique position to women and invited them to join Sangat. Apart from sikh Guru the various social reformers also step forward in contributing to the upliftment of women's position in society. Arya Samaj, Dev Samaj, Chief Khalsa Diwan, Khatri Sabha, Ahmadiyya Movement Worked towards improvement of women's status.
CAUSES OF THE DRUG ABUSE IN PUNJAB :-
- PEER PRESSURE :- The most common cause of youth is peer pressure. Due to peer pressure youths at a very young age Start to consume alcohol and drugs.
- LACK OF EDUCATION :- Comparatively to other states Punjab lags behind in terms of education. Youths are no longer interested in farming but they have no other jobs to do.
- NARCO TERRORISM :- Narco terrorism is one of the major causes for DRUG abuse in Punjab. These groups are spread across the borders and deliberately try to influence the youth for DRUG addiction.
- GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION :- Punjab forms the border of India and it is very easy to transfer drugs. It is even surrounded by the states where drugs are being produced.
PREVENTION OF DRUG ABUSE
Various efforts by the government have been made to reduce the drug addiction among youth. Different National acts were passed such as The Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 to prohibit DRUG consumption.
CAUSES OF FARMERS SUICEDE IN PUNJAB :-
- INDEBTEDNESS :- It is one of the major reasons due to which farmers died. The heavy indebtedness of farmers and not being able to pay due to crop failure or poor market price of their production, cause them to take such steps in life.
- CROP FAILURE :- Another big cause is the crop failure due to natural calamities or bb using low quality of seeds.
- EXPLOITATION BY MONEY LENDERS :- Money lenders charge very high interest rates on the loans which they give to farmers. For everyday expenses farmers are dependent on cooperative agents who exploit them to the roots.
- SHOW OF STATUS :- India is a country of show where people tend to show their status more than actual conditions. The waste of money on every function excessively is done for symbolising their status which made them left with poor financial conditions.
PREVENTION FOR FARMERS SUICIDE
Some suggestions can be put forward in order to stop the farmers from committing suicide. They should be provided with reliable credit sources so that they do not have to depend upon informal methods to get loans. And there must be some alternative sources of income for farmers. And government must provide compensation to the family whose farmers committed suicides.
CONCLUSION
From above discussion it can be concluded that Punjab is still suffering from various challenges. These challenges are making it difficult for the state to progress further. Government must take some accurate steps to stop the drug abuse, gender discrimination and farmers suicide to create a peaceful environment. While people must themselves be aware and keep moving ahead to come out of such challenges.
BOOK REFERENCE ( CLICK TO BUY )
The Sikhs of the Punjab (The New Cambridge History of India)