ABSTRACT
Education should aim at producing young men and women of knowledge, character and cultural values so that they are prepared to face life and become responsible citizens. Literacy is essential to survival and development in modern society, but India's educational development record since independence is deplorable. The Indian government has, however, belatedly realized the importance of literacy and education in development and taken legislative measures, launched several schemes and poured huge sums of money. Secondary education suffers from the same ills as primary education. Higher education is fragmented and scattered and is offered in thousands of institutions called affiliated colleges, which are small sized with no infrastructure and have poor-quality and inadequate teachers. The chapter also talks about medical and health services. The government's indifference coupled with poor governance is the main reason for poor health services. For becoming a healthy nation, the government should step in to provide primary and secondary health services to the general population.
