In world history we witness the emergence of middle class in Europe with the induction of Industrial revolution.
Industrial revolution changed the mode of production form hand made products to machine made products, before industrial revolution there was dominance of feudal lords, but industrial revolution promoted trade and commerce which led to the emergence of Middle Class. It was comprising of Industrialists, Businessmen, Professionals like doctors, lawyers etc.
They were educated and wanted a social structure based on merit rather than birth. They were influenced by the liberal values which were talking about liberty, equality and justice.
The industrialists were part of Middle Class, but with growth of trade and commerce, they reaped the huge profit and came to known as Capitalist.
EMERGENCE OF MIDDLE CLASS IN INDIA
In India Middle Class, was the product of English Education System brought by British in 1835. The Middle Class of India were well educated and well aware of the western values such as Democracy, Liberty and equality. They were mainly Government Servants in British India, Lawyers, Doctors, Small Traders and teachers etc.
They played most important role in Indian Nationalism by awaking the consciousness of Indians. Their role was most important in Indian Freedom Struggle. In fact most of our freedom fighters belonged to this group.
NEW MIDDLE CLASS IN INDIA
NMC in India is the product of Economic Reforms-1991, According to National Council of Applied Economic Research, NMC is the group of people who are educated and whose family income is between 2 lakh to 10 lakh per year.
According to Financial Express, current population of NMC in India is 25% i.e. around 350 Million and it would become 41% i.e. around 583 Million by 2025.
They have adequate access to education and healthcare, like European Middle Class they also believe in merit based society rather than birth based. Thus, they continuously support democracy and rule of law.
CAUSES/FACTORS OF EMERGENCE OF NEW MIDDLE CLASS IN INDIA
1.Economic Reforms of 1991:- Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization resulted into inflow of Foreign Direct Investment and Foreign Institutional Investment which led to the growth of employment and New Middle Class Emerged Consequently. The FDI in before 1991 was negligible, in first year of reforms it increased to 74 Million $, however up to March 2016, it increased up to 371 Billion $ and in 2015 India received record FDI of 63 Billion $ even surpassing China. Similarly, FII in 1992 was just 4.2 Million $, but in 1994 it became 2.43 Billion $.
2.OBC Reservation:- on August 7, 1990, the then prime minister V.P. Singh made a historic decision that changed Indian politics and way of ensuring social justice. The then government decided to implement the recommendations of the Mandal Commission, and open up reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in government jobs.
He announced that OBCS would get 27% reservation in jobs in central government services and public sector units. This was perhaps the world largest affirmative action programme.
OBC group consist of the largest population in India, the reservation helped them to take jobs in government sectors and later in educational institutions which led to the emergence of NMC.
3.Growth in Tertiary Sector:- Economic Reforms also led to the growth of tertiary sector also known as service sector, like private banks, restaurants, telecommunication etc, which provided the employment opportunity to people, their income become between 2 lakh to 10 lakh per year and they became the part of New Middle Class.
4.Better Education :- Due to government initiative and economic reforms after 1991, the quality of education improved in India, which lead to the skilled workers as well as professionals, their income is quite high around 5-6 lakh per year and they became the part of NMC.
5.New opportunities outside India:- Through economic reforms India accepted globalization, which means merger of Indian market with international market. This change produced a lot of working opportunity, people got employment in middle east, Europe and in America, which resulted into the growth of New Middle Class.
CHARACTERISTICS /FEATURES OF NEW MIDDLE CLASS IN INDIA
1. New Middle Class is not a uniform social group, it has hierarchy within the class, as it has families with yearly income between 2 lakh and 10 lakh. Thus it can be further divided into Upper New Middle Class, Lower New Middle Class and so on. diverse
2. They have large contribution in the GDP of India, they are around 350 Million in population and contribute around 50% of GDP. In 1991 GDP of India was around 6 lakh crore, has became 3 Trillion $ by constant rise in New Middle Class.
3. New Middle Class has brought Labour Specialization in India, each member of this group try to acquire a unique skill which could be in interest of his family as well as society, doctors, lawyers, engineers are few among the specialized workers.
4. New Middle class in well educated and development is their first priority, thus they vote in election on the basis of relevant agenda rather than on the basis of caste or religion.
5. New Middle class has better living standard with access to education, health, electricity etc.
6. They are attracted to western values, their clothing, food habits and other cultural aspects are deeply influence by west, the presence of Dominos, KFC and McD is substantiating this fact.
POLITICAL IMOACT OF NEW MIDDLE CLASS
1. Sound Voting:- Irrespective of their identity of caste, class and religion, they have similar aspiration and consequently they vote on the issues of development, health, education, infrastructure and basic necessities. They are also known as fluctuating voters whose voting preferences keep changing according to the party agenda.
2. Liberal Democracy:- Limited government is the uniqueness of liberal democracy i.e. check on the powers of executives, but it is not possible with ignorant masses who are illiterate, however NMC is well educated they are well aware of their rights and thus put check on the government, in this way they lead to the realization of Liberal democracy.
3. Realization of Federalism:- It is the division of power between the levels of government i.e. State and Central level, before the regional aspirations are needs were subdued in the elections, due to unawareness people were confused they voted for central party even in State Elections, however with the rise of New Middle Class, the trend has been changed, this group is educated and can easily differentiate between State and Central Elections, in this way they helped in the realization of Federalism, Recent Elections in States like Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand people voted for different parties but on contrary in Lok Sabha Elections they voted for BJP.
4. Political Participation:- New Middle Class play an active role in Indian Democracy in this way they the political participation has been increased. They know the value and power which lie in each and every vote, thus they exercise their voting rights and elections are often considered as festivals.
5. Tolerant Democracy:- New Middle Class is well educated and has liberal values they acknowledge the rights of each and every group of society. They believe in Multiculturalism and Pluralism, thus they promote tolerant democracy.
6. Check on Public Policies:- New Middle Class can easily assess of each public policy as they are enlightened masses who are well educated, which lead to political discussions and result in to deliberative democracy.
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