Family in India: Problems and policies

Abstract

During the last 100 years, enormous changes have taken place in the Indian family system. Changes in the traditional family system have been so enormous that the joint family system, which was once the characteristic feature of the Indian society, is steadily on the wane from the urban scene. In rural areas it is surviving in its nominal form as a kinship group only. Now the nuclear family has become the characteristic feature of the Indian society. Changes in the family system have given rise to various new problems and intensified some of the old ones. The state has always been sensitive to the problems of family. It is apparent from a variety of legislations enacted, amended, and implemented by the Government of India as well as the state government as and when necessitated. In particular, the Government of India has taken several useful legislative measures relating to widow remarriage, women's right to property, practice of child marriage, child labor, succession, adoption and maintenance, dowry, family court, dissolution of marriage affecting different communities, and most recently domestic violence, which have impacted the Indian family system in more ways than one. But the formulation of a single national policy, considering the large size and heterogeneity of a society like that of India, is really a difficult task. Barriers to the creation of a comprehensive national policy in India are intricate parts of Indian ethos and ideology. It is also true that the state does not have enough political will to do so for some political expediency.