Conclusion
We have analysed in this paper, various socio-economic forces at work and the implications for the traditionally powerless classes. The country has made much economic progress but the social sector has been neglected. Some relief measures like reservations were introduced before liberalisation but not the type of investment in the social sector required for all the classes to gain access to the benefits of economic progress, thus turn development into a tool of social change. As a result of these policies, the middle class has grown but poverty too has increased. Liberalisation has resulted in the economic forces taking greater control of the natural, financial and technical resources and further depriving the powerless classes of their access to their livelihood. Integral to is the growth of criminalisation and communalism that are influencing life in the country.
It is in this context that we have to look at our mission in the new millennium. If it is true that Christ came to give the “good news to the poor” and “set the downtrodden free” can a Christian be silent amid growing injustice? What contribution can we as a group make to a solution of this immense problem? While reflecting on this mission, one cannot forget that seven out of the eight countries in the Group of 8 (G-8) that take most decisions concerning the world economy, claim to be Christians. What does the prophetic mission of the Christian and the universal Church mean in this context? Should the Indian Church not be challenging its counterparts in the rich countries to question the approach of their governments and people since their lifestyle and the policies in their support are intensifying poverty in countries like India? Within the country itself, can Christians continue to accept a consumerist society that further impoverishes the already powerless? That is a challenge of the millennium. We cannot ignore it if we believe in Him who died that we may have life. This situation of injustice is social death that is waiting for new life.