New Delhi: The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that the country has to ensure ‘social democracy’ along with ‘political democracy’ to bring the fruits of democratic functioning to those who have been left out of our country’s development story. He was addressing the National Seminar on Whither India, in Kozhikode, Kerala today. The Minister for Local Administration, Kerala, Shri K.T. Jaleel and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.
The Vice President said that everyone must live up to the ideals not only of our ancient past but also to the ideas and the framework given to us by the Constitution makers. He further said that Gandhi ji had said that cleanliness is much more important than political freedom. He was probably referring to cleanliness in a metaphorical manner in addition to the literal manner of maintaining clean surroundings, he added.
The Vice President said that focus is needed on many “blots” on our social fabric which Gandhi ji had talked about including untouchability, corruption, communalism, casteism, religious fanatism and mindless terrorism. He further said that one needs to honestly introspect and take necessary steps to strengthen democracy both ‘political’ and ‘social’. He further said that we must ‘walk the talk’ by effectively implementing the policies we enact. Inaction, apathy and lip sympathy will not take our country forward, he added.
The Vice President said that public systems which are responsive to the emerging needs of the people must be put in place. Ideals and ideas must get translated into programmes of action, he added.
Following is the text of Vice President’s address:
“I am happy to be with all of you for the inauguration of the national seminar on whither India in connection with the commemoration of 40 years of Shri P.S. Sreedharan Pillai’s professional career as an advocate as also the completion of his 100th literary work.
I have known advocate P.S.Sreedharan Pillai for a very long time. He is a highly accomplished person. He is a person with extraordinary legal acumen. He is also a prolific writer who has written 100 books on various topics ranging from poetry to socio-political issues. He is also a veteran political leader and a social worker.
I am glad that this programme is organized by citizen forum of Calicut which includes leaders of all major political parties and members of socio cultural organizations. It is also good that the Citizens Forum of Kozhikode is organising Seminars on “Whither Indian Economy” and “Whither Indian Judiciary” to celebrate his achievements.
The topic of today’s seminar is “Whither India?” The questions you are going to discuss are what kind of an India we inherited, what was the vision of our Constitution makers and what kind of India we are collectively building.
We have a long illustrious heritage spanning more than a million years. We as a nation are very young but as a civilisation we are very old. The essence of Indianness has been defined by Will Durant in the following words:
“India will teach us the tolerance and gentleness of mature mind, understanding spirit and a unifying, pacifying love for all human being”.
These are timeless values that give Indian vision a unique universal appeal. Our concept of the whole world as one family (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam), our ability to welcome good ideas from around the world (Aano Bhadrah Kratavo Yantu Vishwathah) and the ability to work together (Saha veeryam Kara va vahai) have been the underlying philosophical underpinnings.
This world view got a new expression during our freedom struggle when Gandhiji used non-violence as the principal strategy for overthrowing colonial rulers.
If one has to summarize the world view of the Constitution makers one has to turn to the Preamble. The values of celebrating diversity, respect for individuals and different sections of the population and the resolve to ensure social, economic and political justice, liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship, equity of status and opportunity and promotion of fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual form the corner stone of our democratic, republic which took shape 70 years ago.
The Preamble of the Constitution of India provides the moral compass for our country’s governance structure.
The legislature, the executive and the judiciary have necessarily been turning to the Preamble for guidance. The actions of the three wings of our polity are judged by the extent to which they deepen the roots of our democratic framework.
We take pride in the fact that ours is the largest democracy in the world. We can be legitimately proud of the fact that barring a few aberrations like the dark days of the emergency we have consistently strengthened the system of democratic governance we have chosen to adopt. Each of our institutions namely legislature, executive and the judiciary have been functioning quite effectively even though there have been moments of elation as well as frustration.
We can be proud of the fact that we had adopted Universal Suffrage right from the time we became independent and have been electing public representatives through a fairly credible election process.
Our parliamentarians and the state legislatures have been enacting laws in response to various public issues and concerns of the people of our country.
We have enough legal safeguards to ensure social justice and the protection of minority groups.
We have one of the best civil services in the world, a strong civil society and the presence of a free, vibrant media.
While all these make us feel proud as Indians and we continue to make progress on many fronts, we also recognize that innumerable challenges which have not been fully met. We are also faced with a number of emerging challenges in the context of the fast changing geo-political developments across the world.
We still have the largest illiterate population in the world, a sizeable section of the population lives below poverty line, hunger and mal-nutrition continue to be widely prevalent. Cleanliness, sanitation, lack of clean drinking water still continues to be problematic. The public healthcare and education systems need considerable strengthening. Atrocities on women, discrimination, intolerance continue to be the sore points in our contemporary society.
Clearly, these are unfinished agendas which we need to address.
The good news is that in the last few years, the economy has improved and India has become of the fastest growing economies in the world as can be clearly seen from the reports of World Bank, IMF and other bodies. What we need to do now is to ensure that this phenomenal growth translates into better quality of life for all citizens.
In a way what we should try to do is to deepen the roots of our democracy by ensuring effective performance of the existing institutions and also continuously reform them to improve service delivery.
As envisaged by Gandhiji and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, we have to ensure ‘social democracy’ along with ‘political democracy’ which would bring the fruits of democratic functioning to those who have been left out of our country’s development story.
We need to focus on the many “blots” on our social fabric which Gandhiji had talked about including untouchability, corruption, communalism, casteism, religious fanatism and mindless terrorism.
Gandhiji had said that cleanliness is much more important than political freedom. He was probably referring to cleanliness in a metaphorical manner in addition to the literal manner of maintaining clean surroundings. Today we need to live upto the ideals not only of our ancient past but also to the ideas and the framework given to us by the Constitution makers.
I would suggest that we need to honestly introspect and take whatever steps we can individually and collectively take to strengthen democracy both ‘political’ and ‘social’. We must ‘walk the talk’ by effectively implementing the policies we enact. Inaction, apathy and lip sympathy will not take our country forward. Solid work competently and confidently done with attention to outcomes is the need of the hour. We need to have public systems which are responsive to the emerging needs of the people. Ideals and ideas must get translated into programmes of action.
Lord Sri Krishna in Bhagvad Gita had two important messages for all of us. He told Arjuna “Niyatam Kuru Karma Twam” (Do you duty) and “Yogah Karnasu Kaushalam” (Doing your duty well is yoga). We must hitch our country’s development wagon to the stars and be ambitious. We must settle for nothing less that the best in our governance and ensure the ‘Swarajya’ we inherited is transformed into ‘Su-rajya’ contributing to the well being of every citizen in our country.
We must move our country forward on the strength of the positive thoughts from the past but with the wisdom to anticipate future trends in the world. We have to create our future now.
I am glad all of you belonging to different political parties and different ideologies and beliefs have come together today. This is the kind of confluence we need in India. A confluence of minds and hearts that our Vedic seers talked about millions of years ago when they said “Samaani Hridayani Va, Samaanam Astu Vo Mano” (May our intentions and aspirations be alike, so that a common objective unifies us all).
I hope eminent leaders assembled here as well as all enlightened citizens attending this seminar especially my young friends will avoid the “dreary desert sands of dead habit” that Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore warned us about.
The current Indian context is full of infinite opportunities. It is an aspirational India with a transformational vision. The next few decades can potentially be India’s decades. It is my fervent hope that with strong political will and competent administrative skill we have in our country, we should see an India that has internalised the Constitutional values.
I am happy to share with you a few thoughts on this pleasant occasion and compliment Shri Sreedharan Pillai on his contribution to the country over the last many years.
