Social, Cultural and Economic Impact of Globalization in India

Socialization of people for improving business and financial activities across the globe can be referred as globalization. It is not a new phenomena as people kept searching new places and avenues to increase their business activities as evident by explorations of Vasco degama, Columbus and East India Company. Bitter experiences from East India Companies & British rule makes Indian little bit cautious for adventures of globalization. This has been the root cause for delay in liberalization in India. In literary terms, globalization has been defined in several ways as evident from definitions reproduced below. In the initial sense of the term, globalization refers to the spread of new forms of non-territorial social activity (Ruggie, 1993; Scholte, 2000). To make term more clear,Globalization has been defined as the process of rapid integration of countries and happening through greater foreign trade and foreign investment.

In essence, it refers to increased possibilities for action between and among people in situations irrespective of geographical considerations as per the definition of social theorists. Developed countries have been trying to pursue developing countries to liberalize the trade and allow more flexibilities in business policies to provide equal opportunities to multinational firms in their domestic market. International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank helped them in this endeavour. Liberalization began to hold its foot on barren lands of developing countries like India by means of reduction in excise duties on electronic goods in a fixed time frame. Indian government did the same and liberalized the trade and investment due to the pressure from World Trade Organization. Import duties were cut down phase-wise to allow MNC’s operate in India on equality basis.

As a result globalization has brought to India new technologies, new products and also the economic opportunities. Despite bureaucracy, lack of infrastructure, and an ambiguous policy framework that adversely impact MNCs operating in India, MNCs are looking at India in a big way, and are making huge investments to set up R&D centers in the country. India has made a lead over other growing economies for IT, business processing, and R&D investments. There has been both positive and negative impact of globalization on social and cultural values in India.There is no denying of the fact that globalization has brought cheers to people’s life by opening new vistas of employment. It has also made inroads in the cultural heritage of this country. The web article “the impact of globalization on social and cultural values in India”describes it at length.

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Changes in social and cultural life:
· Access to television grew from 10% of the urban population (1991) to 75% of the urban population (1999). · Cable television and foreign movies became widely available for the first time and have acted as a catalyst in bulldozing the cultural boundaries. · All these technologies have changed perceptions and dreams of ordinary people. · Unmarried boys and girls are sharing same apartment and staying away from their parents. · Indian youths leaving education in mid-way and joining MNC’s · There has been a increase in theviolence, particularly against women. · Scientific and technological innovations have made life quite comfortable, fast and enjoyable. · More availability of cheap and filthy material (CD’s or DVD’s of Hollywood movies, porn movies, sex toys, foreign channels like MTV) in the name of liberalization.

· In India, land-line or basic phone was a prestige symbol few years back but now you find people riding bicycle with a mobile in hand, talking or listening music or even clicking cameras of their phones targeting pretty girls or ladies. · Society has become more open compared to its earlier conservative look due to exposure to other cultures through DTH or cable network. · This has contributed to dating, celebration of friendship days/valentine day, and resulted to rising number of call girls and make them more prone to sexually transmitted diseases . · People are less worried for government jobs as MNC’s and private or public sector are offering more lucrative jobs. · Extension of internet facilities even to rural areas.

· In place of old cinema halls, multiplex theatres are coming up. · Old restaurants are now replaced by Mc. Donald. Fast food and Chinese dishes have replaced juice corners and Parathas. · More inflow of money has aggravated deep rooted problem of corruption? · More scandals and scams compared tp pre-globalization era. · Girls being blackmailed by their ex-boy friends using MMS · Ban on TV channels for showing sex and violence violating all norms · Girls being raped in moving vehicles

· There is deterioration in social values as evident from less respect for ladies, older people Expree your views:
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Notwithstanding what has been listed above, globalization has definitely brought positive changes and been helpful in improving living conditions of people. Improvement in financial status and livelihood of people can be understood by the following figures and facts: Personal Finance:

· Entry of the private sector banks has completely transformed the functioning of public sector banks · Opening up of mutual funds; thirty five players; 15 joint ventures · Commencement of the depository that helped common men to become the retail investors · Deregulation of insurance industry; Nineteen players; 14 joint ventures in life insurance sector · Fall in interest rates; smaller monthly installments made life more simple to Indian customer · ATM’s (Automated Teller Machines) made bank transactions more easier to common men than few years back · Online trading, online purchanse of various finance products and online banking have helped common men to participate in investment process. Job Sector:

· Salaries are now more attractive than in the nineties.Average annual IT salary has increased from Rs 1.6 lakh in 1998 to Rs 5.5 lakh in 2008 · Students get selected by the companies through campus recruitment an year before the date of completion of their technical education. · Large salary hikes than offered few years ago. · More emphasis on performance and not on number of years in the job · More flexibilties in timings and work from home arrangements are becoming common · In the last ten years, annual revenue of software industries has grown by 350%. · Around 1.16 crore people are employed in BPO sector compared to only few lakh in the year 1998 · Office automation has helped improving effeciency of employees · More and more recruitments are being made using job portals. Earlier ads were placed in the newspapers. Banking sector:

· Number of ATMs has increased from 500 in 1998 to 32300 in 2008; 1st ATM was installed by HSBC in 1987 · Copmputerization of banks has helped speed up the bank transactions · Net banking is used by 32% of saving bank account holders in 2008 compared to 1% in 1998. Likewise mobile banking was offered by 6% banks in 1998 that is now being offered by 90% banks in 2008 · 1st debit card and 1st credit card were issued by Citibank in 1998 and 1990, respectively. Tax reforms:

· Tax reforms have given common men more freedom to invest money and more purchasing power than ever before · Tax concessions on interest of houising loan, and easy availability of house loans have helped common men to own a dream house. However, increase in interest rates recently has made life difficult for salaried people. Housing loan accounts have increased from 4 lakh in 1998 to 45 lakh in 2008. Some common indicators of change:

· Now most of the households have more than one color TV sets · Number of people travelling by air or AC class in trains have increased tremendously · There are 42 million internet users in India in the year 2008 compared to 1.4 m users in 1998. · The number of mobile phone users has grown to 246 million in 2008 from 1.0 million users in 1998 · There has been a great increase in sales of passenger cars. The sale has increased by 96% in the last ten years · Monthly pocket money of 10-17 years old has risen by 500% from Rs 300 in the year 1998

REFERENCES:
1. Ruggie, John Gerard (1993), “Territoriality and Beyond: Problematizing Modernity in International Relations,” International Organization 47; 139-74. 2.Scholte, Jan Aart (2000), Globalization: A Critical Introduction (New York: St. Martin’s). 3. Stanford Encyclopedia.2002. Globalizationhttp: at http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/globalization/

Acknowledgement: Most of the figures (Statistics) presented in this article have been gathered from the 10th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL ISSUE of OUTLOOK Money published on July 30, 2008.