Yet over half of them live in poverty and are illiterate. Now approaching the 50th anniversay of independence from Great Britain, India remains a country both laden with culture and burdened with challenges. As a member of a voluntary, non-profit organization such as ASHA, I help build schools in remote villages in rural India. I know that there are many such efforts being made at the grass-roots level by enthusiastic volunteers. However, I think these activities are not enough given the mammoth task ahead of us.
Every little effort helps.
But the government needs all the grass-roots help it can get. My wife is a Hindu Kashmir. She is originally from Srinigar but the family is now split between Jammu and New Delhi due to the violence in their original home. My wife's family has reluctantly reached the conclusion that they will not be able to return to Srinigar to live, but they would like to at least visit at some time in the future. While we in the U.S. go to court to fight gerrymandering of districts that might favor a particular race, India reserves a certain amount of parliamentary seats for the dalits.