India

India, officially the Republic of India is a capitalist country in South Asia. It became independent from the United Kingdom on 15 August 1947, but was at that time was known as the "Union of India" or the "Dominion of India", becoming the Republic of India upon the establishment of a new constitution on 26 January 1950. Prior to independence, India was a British possession. Currently, it is a fast-growing economy with a GDP growth rate of about 6.5% per year, with other factors like literacy quickly increasing as well — rising from 17% in 1951 to 74% in 2011, though challenges like pollution remain. India's poverty level has greatly alleviated since the 2010s, unlike other countries like Nigeria or the DRC which have constant poverty rates. Despite this, wealth insecurity in India and problems arising therefrom, like farmer suicides, remain. Since the 2010s, Internet access drastically increased, manifesting in the rise of Indian YouTube channels and other social media for one.

Water and Poverty

Two major and connected problems of India are the continued high levels of poverty and constant risk of drought.

Government response to water quality issues

The government had been focused on providing toilets to the 48% of the population that lacked this necessity. However, for a long time, it ignored another big factor to sanitation, being the containment and treatment of water sewage. At the moment, “93 percent of sewage finds its way to ponds, lakes, and rivers without treatment”. The lack of investment in the proper maintenance of existing underground pipes has resulted in, “fewer than half of them working effectively”. The Ministry of Urban Development in India launched the National Urban Sanitation Policy in 2008. Its goal is to develop better sanitation plans that are cost-effective and practical approaches that benefit everyone, specifically the lower-income communities. In 2010 the Indian government attempted to address the water pollution of the Ganges river by launching “a $4 billion campaign to ensure that by 2020 no untreated municipal sewage or industrial runoff enters the 1,560-mile river." However, there has been little progress as the river remains highly polluted. The Indian Government is currently investing in implementing more efficient water sewage treatment systems. It is currently a big contributor to the Consortium for Decentralized Wastewater Treatment System Dissemination Society (CDD), a “nonprofit organization that has been developing and promoting technologies for decentralized wastewater management since 2002”.

Caste system

The Hindu religion that was dominant in India since antiquity had developed social stratification in the form of castes by 400 BC. In this system, people can only marry within their social class, which is passed on to the next generation, determining for it things like occupation and from what things one is excluded from based on notions of purity and pollution. The importance of this system varied throughout history, with it currently in a gradual decline as a result of urbanization and affirmative action programs, though still manifesting in things like segregated matrimonial ads in newspapers.

The British reinvigorated this system and shaped it for convenient governance starting from the beginning of the 19th century. This was done by emphasizing and canonizing certain ancient texts while reinterpreting other ones to fit the new caste system, whose new categories were simplified for easier governance and institutionalized in the mid-to-late 19th century, with other customs of the native religions being changed as well. There was difficulty in doing so however as people's actual caste identities did not fit into the simple four-category hierarchy that was planned, with even contemporary authors doubting if such a simplified structure ever existed in India's history. Regardless, this new caste system became a defining feature of Indian society, despite it being of limited importance to most previously — worse still, these new castes were hardened and social mobility was stamped out.

Relations

Soviet Union and Russia

The Soviet Union established cordial relations with India in the 1950s, which where some of its best in the Third World. The Soviet Union supported India's sovereignty over the disputed Kashmir region as well as the Portuguese exclave of Goa. The Soviets' good relations with India had a negative impact on Sino-Soviet relations, and while the Soviets declared neutrality in Sino-Indian border conflicts, they still provided substantial economic and military assistance to India during the Khrushchev period. In 1971 the Indo-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation was signed, establishing strategic cooperation between the USSR and India as a response to Pakistan increasing its ties with China and the United States. This is all despite India tending towards a position of non-alignment during the Cold War. Russia inherited the Soviet Union's good relationship with India, with the Indo-Russian Friendship and Cooperation being signed in 1993, lasting for 20 years.

China

China–India relations were historically peaceful however degraded upon the Communist Party of China coming to power, though India was one of the first countries to end formal relations with Taiwan and recognize the People's Republic of China as the legitimate government of mainland China. The two have several border disputes which have erupted into military conflicts three times — the Sino-Indian War of 1962, the Sino-Indian war of 1967, and the 1987 Sino-Indian skirmish, with minor clashes all throughout. Geopolitical alliances such as between the USSR and India have also strained China–India relations given the Sino-Soviet split.

Leftism in India

Kerala

Kerala has had its first communist electoral victory in 1957 under the Communist Party of India (Marxist), being primarily governed by them since (today the CPI (M) leads the Left Democratic Front that includes smaller leftist groups). In that time Kerala has achieved the highest standard of living on the entire Indian subcontinent, democratically managed welfare systems, strong worker movements and unions, and a flourishing economy. The other major political alliance in Kerala is the United Democratic Front, which is centrist but tends left, winning elections occasionally.

Kerala Model

The Kerala model refers to policies that have characterized Kerala's success, being high literacy, access to healthcare, and life expectancy, while having low infant mortality and birth rates; all at levels comparable to developed countries despite having a lower per capita income. A large part of Kerala's high quality of life is due to its wealth and resource redistribution programs. The state furthermore has a high level of political activism and participation — even children are politically aware. Kerala's democratic structure also features a sizeable amount of cadres who coordinate political activities.

The Left Front of West Bengal

The Left Front is an alliance of leftist parties in the state of West Bengal, ruling it for seven consecutive terms from 1977 to 2011. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is one of the founding parties of the front as well as its dominant force.

Naxalites

"Naxalites" or "Naxals" are Maoist guerillas that operate primarily in South and East India, deriving their name from the village of Naxalbari where there was a peasant rebellion in 1967. Later that same year there was a split in the Communist Party of India (Marxist) from which the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) arose two years later, however the CPI (ML) only lasted until 1972. Naxalites claim to be the successors of the CPI (ML), spreading to rural areas in India's southern and eastern parts primarily as a militant movement, however some Naxalite groups have become legal organizations that participate in parliamentary elections. Militant groups, while often having the support of tribal communities, have been considerably worn down from the late 2000s onward due to targeted government campaigns.