On
20th July 2015, the students of the Dynamics of Indian society paper
from I MA Applied Sociology held a panel discussion on “The growth and issues
of the Indian middle class.” The panel discussion was organized under the
supervision of Dr. Sheila Mathew, Professor, department of sociology, which was
moderated by Ashween Lama, Mitchelle D'Souza, and Roshni Mondal. The class was
divided into three groups. The panelists from the first group initiated the
panel by defining middle class and gradually moved to discussing the rise of
the middle class from the British period to the post LPG period of contemporary
India. Along with discussing the rise of the middle class, they also pointed
out the disassociation of caste in India, the influence of Nehruvian and
Gandhian ideology on the middle class in particular and the Indian Society in
general.
The
second set of panelists continued the panel with intensive discussions about
the various problems faced by the middle class. They highlighted the various
psychological, political, social and economic issues faced by the middle class.
The panelists also emphasized on issues related to education and lack of skills
among the middle class.
The
third group of panelists discussed the impact of the middle class on the
society and their various contributions to the society. They spoke about the
effects of the middle class on the economy, politics, and the social organization. The panelists pointed out that in a
patriarchal society like India, the amount of gender disparities in the IT
sector is less compared to the other sectors such as banking and finance. This
gender blindness of the IT sector led to the comprehension that IT is a good
job for women. The panelists also highlighted the political behavior of the
middle class and the changing social lives of the middle class.
In
conclusion, it was observed that all the panelists pointed out the importance
of the middle class as the driver of economic, political and social change of
the society.
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