Development of Geography in India and Problems

This paper examines the present status of geography in India and problems based on trends in modern history, geography education and research. Geography has developed remarkably in higher education since the country won independence from Great Britain. Large numbers of universities and colleges have been established since the 1960s, and departments of geography have also opened rapidly with a spatial bias towards the North India Region. In 1992, 66 university departments in the country taught geography and undertook research. Human geography receives more emphasis than physical geography. In the former, agricultural geography and urban geography were the most active fields of the research. Regional planning has also occupied the interests of geographers under the country’s planned economy. In recent years, the technologies using computers such as GIS and remote sensing have been introduced into the discipline, and have driven development in geography departments. However, various problems are pointed out in the present status of geography. There are questions about innovation in geographical theory, methodology and education.