Question

Discuss in groups of four.

Laws are never respected not enforced in India.

Answer 1

India, the biggest democracy in the world, is condemned for its easy attitude towards laws. Laws are constituted but never respected nor enforced in our country. For instance, the Indian Constitution mentions that casteism, untouchability and bonded labour shall be abolished; however, these evils flourish barefacedly even today.

The author points out that Article 48A of the Indian Constitution propounds that “the State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country”. However, little is done in favour of this. What we see is a near “catastrophic depletion” of forests over the last four decades. Forests are disappearing over the decades at the rate of 3.7 million acres a year. Areas that are officially designated as forest land, in reality, are treeless. The actual loss of forests is eight times the rate pointed by the government statistics.