What improvements are needed to make India a better country?

Start by stop calling our country the biggest democracy on the planet. We are not. What we have is pseudo-democracy. The people have no real right in decision making. I know many readers will down vote (I don't care) or start lecturing on "voting" stats. I am well aware and well-read on voting stats and am also aware of the real picture. The chosen ones behave as the ruler of the land even though constitutionally they are just the workers, the facilitators. For everything else we have the dalit/minority card. Last but not the least, please end the autocracy. We are tired of one dynasty ruling the country. Atleast, the countries with kings/queens openly admit, they are ruled by one family. Unless you understand the actual problem, the root cause, you can't bring an improvement, a change. Identifying the real cause should be the first step.

The recipe to make India a better country. Start with yourself Stop littering Stop jumping traffic signals Stop discriminating on religion, caste and color Take interest in politics. (Participate, if possible) Stop encouraging corruption. No more bribing to sarkari babus. Live honestly Stop tolerating BS from police and other gov officials. It doesn't mean you have to fight with them but you have the right to practice your fundamental rights. Learn your fundamental rights Learn to fight for your rights Have the courage to fight for your rights Stop thinking India as a useless country and feel proud of the first earthly civilization. Learn the ancient history of India. Respect women Stop drinking alcohol Educate other's about their rights and it's importance. Also make them do all the ethical things and request them to stop breaking the law. (Start with your relatives and friends) Repeat Steps 1 to 16. and Indian will be a better nation beyond any of our imagination.

From my point of view people should stop criticizing on religions and their castes they waste half of their time in discussing the topic which makes no sense we are living in 21st century. at all.People in the politics are so narrow minded people their views are so old believes, they take too long to take any decision,for example the rape cases in India,why can't government take any strict action against the rapists.And the most important from my opinion education system should be improved especially the state board education in India which is the worst.

1. Population needs to be controlled. If not through a stringent law, at the least through penalties. Societies with higher birth rates should be targeted to bring in awareness. 2. The Police force should be given more power and should be monitored to avoid misuse of the same. Attempts should also be made to avoid the stigma associated with going to Police. 3. Right to demand Government Services - Any body should have the right to demand and in cases of delay, should have the right to escalate it to a body with sufficient rights to investigate the matter. Government employees should be made accountable to such reported ill-service. This would reduce corruption by a large scale. 4. The Government should be inclusive of all of its culture / languages and not just a single one - and yes I am pointing to Hindi's promotion as a national language. IMO, a central government policy which acknowledges the other states also in its working will go a long way in integrating the different regions of the country. Will reduce regionalism and people of different states will really feel as if they are part of India and not just their state. 5. Rivers may be nationalized. This may prevent inter state issues on water sharing. But I myself am not sure about this policy. It has its own pros and cons and it could either may result as a blessing or as a headache of its own. 6. Oh yeah ! Stop talking about past pride. No "Ram Rajya", nothing about how Mahabharata and Ramayana really happened, how we had been technologically so savvy at 5000 BCE -  nothing of that sort. Frankly it is embarrassing and promotes nothing but fundamentalist nonsense which ends up being used by Political parties. Just shut up about religion when it comes to politics. 7. Invest genuinely in Sports. Not just Cricket! Promote and sponsor any and all athletic activities \ sports from school level itself. It is fair and it will cause less embarrassment during Olympics. 8. Promote a way in which Caste system can be eliminated. Perhaps a voluntary scheme and appropriate reservation for those who are willing to erase their caste identity from the records themselves.  Also the current reservation should be a combination of caste / economic status not just caste. The above are all from the system's POV. As a society, well I do not believe defining a standard will help it and we can't enforce it also as we do with the government. It has to be / will be shaped on its own preferably for the better. In my view the government and the media shaping up will help in the society also walking in the right path. That's it for the time being.

I believe we need to stop discussing things on what they should have done, how things should have worked and start taking initiative and let all know how better we can do in whatever small field we have access to.

Start collaborating, have a better outlook (consult/observe people around you), don't give in to banal fads, stop copying, think better, be confident, be original, invest more in education and fundamental/metaphysical development of younger minds, speak better, read more, participate in more discussions, think about what are you doing with your life and what stops you from becoming a better man. Think about how could you benefit from answers written to this question on Quora, rather than reading, asking, appreciating the language or up-voting them (includes me). Spreading awareness is good, but what is better is doing something about it, than just knowing the bitter truth. Giving advice, writing answers is good, but what is better, is an arduous life that gives a sense of self-satisfaction. Reacting and criticizing is good, but what is better is giving an opinion to seek a way out. Here's a quote that you could use: "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." - Eleanor Roosevelt Cheers. PS: The thing about such questions is, not everyone is in a similar state of mind, while reading this. You can't be serious all the time. While I'm writing this, I'm in sync with what motivated you to think about this. Gaining insights is cool. But its the mob mentality, i.e., people get over it after a good sleep, a good weather, a good mood, a good news. The key point is to retain what you believe in (even if the motivational factor is ephemeral), and use that to make a better 'you'.

The most important improvement we can bring forth is that in ourselves. It is rightly said that charity begins at home,  in this context it means bringing about a change in ourselves before changing our surroundings. So when we talk about removing corruption, we ourselves have to take the first step, stop corrupting others and avoid underhand means of working When we talk about  a clean country, we ourselves have to stop littering the streets,stop dumping in the rivers, on the road and elsewhere. When we talk about changing the mindset and removing the narrow mindedness of the people, we ourselves have to show the path and not just keep blabbering When 120 crore people do this, we won't have to look upto a few to improve our country the improvement will come on its own! this is difficult but not impossible. Be the face of the change you need to see. have the guts to do what others feel is impossible to do.

Motivation. Yes, Motivation is what we needed. It's better to have 125/10 crore motivated enthusiastic persons than 125+ crore persons(Japaneses vs India). Motivate people so that they feel like love for there country and don't go abroad. We are still at "satymav jayte" when world is moved to "work is worship". We hadn't still learnt to speak truth. We need to instill love for the country which last forever. Ignite that sparks which last forever. Everyone from smallest farmer or laborer to highest corporate executives do their job with equal enthusiasm and believe that this is what my country needs, whatever i do my country is going to be beneficiary and so will i.

The basic thing that decide the growth of a country is their education system.In india ,the education system is like a handicapped person, who is not sufficient to do any work properly .We need to improve our education system, and when i say education system i mean the whole eeducation system.We need new history books which can tell exact about our history. Means which not only gives the information about the war that has been conducted by our kings, but also gives the information about the good characters of our king.For example, For rani laxmi bai what we know is she fight against the east india company. Except this we don't know anything , lIke what kind of charecter she have , etc etc.