This Article has been written by Ms. Shamyana Parveen, a 5th Year B.A.LL.B. Student of Bikash Bharati Law College, Kolkata.

Abstract:

India’s rapid economic growth and urbanization have transformed the traditional family structure. As people migrate to cities for better opportunities, they often face new challenges in adjusting to modern lifestyles, which can strain marriages. Economic pressures, job stress, and the lack of work-life balance can lead to conflicts between spouses.

Introduction:

In recent years, India has witnessed a significant and steep rise in divorce cases, reflecting a notable shift in societal attitudes and cultural norms. Traditionally, India has been known for its strong emphasis on family values and the sanctity of marriage. However, several factors have contributed to the changing dynamics, leading to an increase in divorce rates across the country.

The marriage is a sacrament for every Hindu. According to the Manu the only way to end the marriage or the relationship of husband and wife is the death of the one spouse. It is a process by which two people understand to each other and make their relationship official and permanent until the death. In the Hindu marriage, the wife is not merely a Grihpatni but also dharampatni and sadhaharmini and both husband and wife have spirituals duties. But success or failure of marriage also depends upon the relationship of husband and wife.

Conflict is found in every relationship. According to the Arthashastra, the marriage can end if dissolvent by mutual consent and should be unapproved marriage. The concept of divorce was not aware to everyone in ancient times, the people considered marriage as a sacred concept. The provision related to the concept of divorce was given by the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. There are 1.36 million people in India are divorced. The more divorce cases are comes from the urban area. It means the people are aware from their rights. The causes of increasing divorce rate are domestic violence, effect of western culture, physical and mental abuse and so on. In Hindu marriage act, divorce has basic grounds on which the Hindu couples can seek to the remedy of divorce. There are many factors that contribute to satisfying marriage such as love, trust, sharing, respect, commitment, time, attention, willingness, partnership and many. Due to many conflicts the divorce rate are increasing.

What is Urbanization?

Urbanization is the process of increasing the population and economic activity in urban areas, such as cities and towns. Urbanization can have various impacts on family relationships, including divorce cases. 

The passing of joint family system 

Since time immemorial the joint family has been one of the salient features of the Indian society. But the twentieth century brought enormous changes in the family system. Changes in the traditional family system have been so enormous that it is steadily on the wane from the urban scene. There is absolutely no chance of reversal of this trend. In villages the size of joint family has been substantially reduced or is found in its fragmented form. Some have split into several nuclear families, while others have taken the form of extended or stem families. Extended family is in fact a transitory phase between joint and nuclear family system. The available data suggest that the joint family is on its way out in rural areas too. The joint family or extended family in rural areas is surviving in its skeleton or nominal form as a kinship group. The adults have migrated to cities either to pursue higher education or to secure more lucrative jobs or to 

eke out their living outside their traditional callings, ensuing from the availability of better opportunities elsewhere as well as the rising pressure of population on the limited land base. Many of the urban households are really offshoots of rural extended or joint families. A joint family in the native village is the fountainhead of nuclear families in towns. These days in most cases two brothers tend to form two independent households even within the same city owing to the rising spirit of individualism, regardless of similarity in occupation, even when the ancestral property is not formally partitioned at their native place. The nuclear family, same as elsewhere, is now the characteristic feature of the Indian society. There is every reason to believe that proportion of households headed by younger persons is likely to constitute a larger proportion than this in urban areas where the proportion of extended family, not to speak of joint family, is much smaller than that of rural areas. The emergence of financially independent, career-oriented men and women, who are confident of taking their own decisions and crave to have a sense of individual achievement, has greatly contributed to the disintegration of joint family. Disintegration of joint family has led to closer bonds between spouses, but the reverse is also true in certain cases. For many, nuclear family is a safer matrimonial home to a woman. In bygone days people generally lived in joint families, yet familial discord never escalated into extreme physical violence or death, as we so often come across such instances in our day-to-day life and also know through national dailies, both electronic and print media..       

Here are some of the possible effects of urbanization on Hindu divorce cases:

Urbanization can increase the exposure of people to different cultures, values, and lifestyles, which may challenge the traditional norms and expectations of marriage and family. Some people may choose to live together without getting married, or to marry outside their caste, religion, or community. These choices may lead to conflicts or dissatisfaction within the family, and may result in divorce.

Urbanization can also create more opportunities for women to pursue education, employment, and personal development, which may enhance their self-esteem and autonomy. Women may demand more rights and respect from their husbands, such as property rights, financial security, and freedom of choice. They may also seek divorce if they face domestic violence, abuse, or neglect from their husbands.

Urbanization can also affect the social structure and dynamics of families in India. The traditional joint family system has given way to nuclear families in cities and towns; and more women are going to work or setting up their own businesses. Many urban women no longer have to depend on their spouses for financial security; men are sharing household chores; and gender equations are slowly changing.. These changes may reduce the interdependence and loyalty between spouses; increase the chances of infidelity or separation; and make divorce more acceptable or inevitable.

Impact of urbanization and social change in India: 

Urbanization is a structural process of change which is associated with the movement or migration of people from rural to urban areas. It is generally related to industrialization but it is not always the result of industrialization. It results due to the concentration of large-scale and small-scale industrial and commercial, financial and administrative set up in the cities, technological development in transport and communication, cultural and recreational activities. 

Since, the process of urbanization is in excess of the process of industrialization in India, what we often find is over urbanization. Here, a peculiar phenomenon can be observed in urban areas. There is industrial growth without a significant shift of population from agriculture to industry and of growth of urban population without a significant rise in the ratio of the urban to the total population while in terms of ratio; there may not be a great shift from rural to urban activity. But there is still a large migration of population from rural areas to urban areas.

 As a result we find that urban areas, towns and cities are choked and there is lack of adequate infrastructure and amenities to cope up with this large influx of population in most cities in India. 

As mentioned in unit 25 Urbanization, urbanization implies a cultural and social psychological process whereby people acquire material and non-material culture, including behavioral patterns, forms of organization, and ideas that originated in, or are distinctive of the city. Although the flow of cultural influences is in both directions, i.e. from rural to urban and urban to rural, but there is no doubt that the cultural influences created by the city on non urban people are probably more pervasive than the influences exerted by the rural. The India of urbanization may be better understood when interpreted as aspects of diffusion and acculturation. Urbanization may be manifest either as intra- society or inter-society diffusion, i.e. urban culture may spread to various parts of same society or it may have cross-cultural or national boundaries and spread to other societies. It involves both borrowing and lending. On the other side of the diffusion coin is acculturation, the process whereby individuals acquire the material possessions, behavioral patterns, social organizations bodies of knowledge, and meanings of groups where culture differs in certain respects from their own. 

It is, thus clear that urbanization process is an important force of social change. In India this process besides reflecting economic growth, political change, change in values and attitudes, has also revealed elements of continuity between rural and urban social structures. Pocock (1960) categorically maintains that villages and cities in India are part of the same civilization and as such cannot be separately understood. Therefore any discussion of urban social structure in India is in terms of its basic social institutions, such as the family, marriage, kinship and caste. All these four aspects are closely related with each other in both rural, as well as, urban social structure. It is often assumed by sociologists studying the urban society in India that the process of urbanization leads to the breakdown of the joint family, increase of nuclear family, slackens the caste and kinship ties and role of religion. These assumptions have been critiqued by several sociologists who tried to understand the urban social structure in India. Gandhi, Raj (1983: 5) believes that ‘any discussion on problems of change in connection with urban sociology in India, ought not to make one feel that the sociologist of urban India should necessarily be the sociologist of social change.

Thus it is important that any discussion on the social institutions of marriage, family and kinship in urban India is understood within the theoretical framework of wider social change both from within, as well, as without, taking place in society in India.   

Impact on Parenting:

Urbanization affects parenting practices due to factors such as smaller living spaces, limited access to natural environments, and the prevalence of dual-income households. Urban parents face challenges in balancing work and family responsibilities, often relying on external support systems such as daycare centres and schools. The urban environment also exposes children to diverse cultural influences, leading to the adoption of new values and social norms.

Urbanization presents unique challenges for parenting practices. Limited living spaces in urban areas often restrict children’s access to natural environments and open spaces. Additionally, the prevalence of dual-income households can create time constraints for parents, making it necessary to rely on external support systems such as daycare centres and schools.

For instance, in urban centres like Tokyo, where living spaces are compact, parents often utilize communal parks and organized extracurricular activities to compensate for limited access to nature. Urban parents also face the challenge of navigating the influence of diverse cultural values and norms on their children as they interact with a more cosmopolitan population.

Conclusion:

In the end I want to conclude that divorce in India is emerging as a major problem of concern because of the urbanization. Divorce is a problem with solution and not all problems should end in divorce. Couples should co- operate and adjust to solve problems.

Reference:

• This article originally written by Adv. J.S. Rohilla published on LinkedIn website. The link for the same is herein https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-steep-rise-divorce-cases-india-advocate-j-s-rohilla.

• https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/6b7d5599-4ec4-4174-950b-d2e9b53a3752/content.
• https://lawbhoomi.com/causes-of-increasing-divorce-rate-in-india/#:~:text=The%20more%20divorce%20cases%20are,mental%20abuse%20and%20so%20on.