India

Our presence in India

Good Shepherd Mission in India

The sisters of the Good Shepherd have been present in India since 1854. They have a membership of approximately 200 sisters and they are in six states: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. They also have a small community in Pokhara, Nepal.

The Sisters offer a variety of diverse services in all these six states such as schools, hospitals, residences for women and children, and pastoral work. The sisters have been in the forefront in addressing, protecting and promoting the rights of the child, the rights of women, the battle against human trafficking. They focus on the importance of education on all levels and especially for children and girls. They have programs for needy families, the empowerment of all women, especially the Dalits.  The needs of these groups are addressed through education, counselling, psychological support, and legal aid. The sisters are in the big cities like Bangalore, Munbai, Chennai, Mysore to name a few but also in areas like Amaravathi Mandal in Guntur District, District of Nagapattinam, Nagur, and Sandanapalaya. The Sisters’ programs also offer economic and social support, in particular to the victims of the 2004 Tsunami, who often belong to the lowest castes. 

Country Background 

From a low-income country with mass poverty at the time of Independence in 1947, India has now turned into a powerful country. Among its many successful achievements, India has become the third largest economy in Asia behind Japan and China, the world's 12th largest economy - with total GDP in 2008 of $1.21 trillion (CIA, 2008) and has halved absolute poverty. Nowadays, more than 50 million Indians form a growing middle class and it is predicted that the middle class will grow ten-fold by 2025 (US department of State). During the four past years, India’s economic growth rate was above 9%, -among the highest growth rated in the world- except the year 2009 in which its economy should grow at 7% or less since it was affected by the financial crisis (World Bank). This success is partly due to India’s global leading position in information technology, business process outsourcing, telecommunications, and pharmaceuticals; India’s largest trading partners being the United States and China. Thus, India has made an amazing step towards development. Many states have now either almost reached universal primary enrollment or have already achieved it. 

However, there still remain relevant issues related to the size of the second largest population of the world: 1,166 billion according to the CIA World Factbook, July 2009.

25% of the people in India still live below the poverty line (CIA, 2007). This figure has severe consequences such as malnutrition: 47% of children under 5 are underweight (WFP) and 70% are anemic (World Bank). As for literacy, 34.8% of the people over 15 are illiterate.(Human development report 2006). Sustainable development is also a relevant topic: in order to limit the side effects of climate change, India has to adopt a long-term vision while coping with its large population needs. Neglecting this issue, India will experience within a few years, serious scarcity of water, energy and all natural resources, without mentioning devastation of ecologic equilibrium. 

The people in India have a profound sense of the structure of their society with its caste system. The “untouchables” or Dalits remain the worst victims of the system. This is very apparent in the rural areas. Even if the laws in India make discrimination based on caste illegal, things are totally different in practice. The government is attempting to address this through affirmative action and urbanization has, to a degree, lessened this inequality, however, there is a long way to go. 

Other major problems in India are the extent of human trafficking: girls, women and children are trafficked inside and outside the country impacting the very high incidence of sexual exploitation and forced labour. According to UNICEF India has the highest incidence of child labourers, under the age of 14, in the world. 

Health:

There are 2.4 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the country which makes India the fourth highest country in the world affected by this disease (CIA, 2007). Preventable diseases are still far from being controlled in India, 2 million children die each year because they lack the necessary vaccinations. Most child deaths in India are from measles (UNICEF). 

Women’s situation:

Girls remain the most vulnerable population in India. They are seen as the lowest in this society. They are victimized in many ways: they are more at risk of malnutrition, they have a higher incidence of illiteracy than boys - for every 100 men who are literate only 70 women are (Human development report 2006). Additionally, 40% of women sex workers enter into prostitution before the age of 18 (source UNICEF).