PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS TO THE NATION ON THE EVE OF INDIA’S 68TH INDEPENDENCE DAY
Thursday, 14 August 2014
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Fellow citizens:
On the eve of 67thanniversary of our Independence, I
extend warm greetings to you and to all Indians around the world. I
convey my special greetings to members of our armed forces, paramilitary
forces and internal security forces. I also congratulate
all our sportspersons, who have participated and won laurels in the
recently-concluded Commonwealth Games held at Glasgow.
Friends:
1. Freedom is a celebration; independence is a challenge. In the 68thyear
of freedom, we have reaffirmed
the power of our individual and collective liberties by electing
through a remarkably peaceful electoral process, a stable government
with a clear majority for a single party, after three decades. The
increase in voter turnout to 66 per cent from the last
election’s 58 per cent shows the vitality of our democracy. This
achievement has given us an opportunity to take up the challenge of
governance by reforming the policies, practices and systems of
governance so that the enormous aspirations of our people can
be fulfilled with vision, commitment, integrity, speed and
administrative capability.
2. Stagnant minds create
immobile systems which become roadblocks to growth. India demands
creative thinking in governance that enables fast-track development and
ensures social harmony. The nation has to be placed
above partisan impulses. The people come first.
Friends:
3. In a democracy, good
governance is exercise of power for efficient and effective management
of our economic and social resources for the well-being of the people.
This power has to be exercised within the framework
of the Constitution through the institutions of state. With the passage
of time and changes in the eco-system, distortions do appear making
some institutions dysfunctional. When one institution does not function
in the manner expected of it, phenomenon of
overreach sets in. While some new institutions might become necessary,
the real solution lies in re-inventing and restoring the existing ones
to serve the purpose of effective government.
4. Good governance is
critically dependent on rule of law, participatory decision-making,
transparency, responsiveness, accountability, equity and inclusiveness.
It calls for wider involvement of the civil society
in the political process. It calls for deeper engagement of the youth
with the institutions of democracy. It calls for quick dispensation of
justice to the people. It calls for ethical and responsible behaviour
from the media.
5. A country of our size,
heterogeneity and complexity calls for culture-specific governance
models. It calls for cooperation in the exercise of power and assumption
of responsibility, by all stakeholders. It calls
for constructive partnership between the state and the citizen. It
calls for taking a responsive administration to the door step of every
hut and habitation in the land.
Fellow Citizens:
6. The decisive challenge
of our times is to end the curse of poverty. The focus of our policies
now has to move from alleviation of poverty to elimination of poverty.
The difference is not mere semantics: alleviation
is a process; elimination is a time-defined objective. In last six
decades, the poverty ratio has declined from over 60 per cent to less
than 30 per cent. Even then, nearly one-third of our population still
lives below the poverty line. Poverty is not a mere
statistic. Poverty has a face, which becomes unbearable when it scars
the visage of a child. The poor cannot, and will not, wait for yet
another generation to see the very essentials of life - food, shelter,
education and employment - being denied to them.
The benefits from economic development must percolate down to the
poorest of the poor.
7. In the last decade,
our economy grew at an average rate of 7.6 per cent per year. Though the
growth rate was subdued at below 5 per cent during the last two years, I
sense renewed vigour and optimism in the
air. Signs of revival are visible. Our external sector has
strengthened. Fiscal consolidation measures are beginning to show
results. Notwithstanding occasional spurts, inflation has started
moderating. However, food prices still remain a matter of serious
concern. Record food grains production last year helped agriculture
sector to grow at a healthy 4.7 per cent. Employment has increased by an
average of about 4 per cent per year in the last decade. Manufacturing
sector is on the rebound. The stage is now set
for our economy to move on a high growth trajectory of 7 to 8 per cent,
which is essential to ensure the availability of adequate resources for equitable development.
Fellow Citizens:
8. Economy is the material part of development. Education is the essential part of it.A
sound education system is the bedrock of an enlightened society. It is
the bounden duty of our educational
institutions to provide quality education and inculcate the core
civilizational values of love for motherland; compassion for all;
tolerance for pluralism; respect for women; performance of duty; honesty
in life; self-restraint in conduct, responsibility in
action and discipline in young minds. By the end of the Twelfth Five
Year Plan, we would have achieved a literacy rate of eighty per cent.
But would we be able to say that we have provided quality education and
skills to our children to be good citizens and
successful professionals?
Fellow Citizens:
9. Our thoughts are influenced by our environment. "Yadrishi Bhavana Yasya; Siddhir Bhavati Tadrishi”. It means, "Whatever are one’s thoughts, so will be the outcomes”. Clean
environment breeds clean thoughts. Cleanliness is a mark of self-respect.
Ancient travellers like Megasthenes in the 4th Century BC, Fa Hien in the 5thCentury AD and Hiuen Tsang in the 7thCentury AD, when they came to India, have written about the efficient
administrative systems, with planned settlements and good urban infrastructure.What
has gone wrong with us now? Why can’t we keep our environment free of
filth? The Prime Minister's call to honour the memory of Mahatma Gandhi
on his
150th birth anniversary, by making India a clean country by
2019 is commendable, but it can be achieved only if each Indian converts
this into a national mission. Every road, every path, every office,
every home, every hut, every river, every stream,
every particle in the air around us can be kept clean, if we but cared
just a little. We must nurture nature, so that nature continues to
nurture us.
My fellow citizens:
10. Though an ancient
civilization, India is a modern nation with modern dreams. Intolerance
and violence is a betrayal of the letter and spirit of democracy. Those
who believe in the poison drip of inflammatory
provocation do not understand India's values or even its
present political impulses. Indians know that progress, economic or
social, is difficult without peace. This may be the appropriate moment
to recall the great Shivaji's letter to Aurangzeb when the latter
imposed jizya. Shivaji told the emperor that Shah Jehan, Jehangir and
Akbar could also have levied this tax "but they did not give place to
bigotry in their hearts, as they considered all men, high and low,
created by God to be examples of the nature of diverse
creeds and temperaments". This 17th century epistle of
Shivaji carries a message, which is universal. It must become a living
testament that guides our behaviour today.
11. We can least afford
to forget this message at a time when an increasingly turbulent
international environment has sparked off rising dangers in our region
and beyond, some clearly visible, and some crawling
out of the debris of unprecedented turmoil. Across parts of Asia and
Africa, attempts are being made by radical militias to redraw the maps
of nations to create a geography for theocratic ideology. India will feel
the heat of blow back, particularly as it represents
the values that reject extremism in all its manifestations. India is a
beacon of democracy, equilibrium, inter-and-intra faith harmony. We must
defend our secular fabric with vigour. Our security and foreign
policies must combine the steel of strength with
the velvet of diplomacy even as we persuade the like-minded as well as
the hesitant to recognise the substantial dangers that breed within
indifference.
Fellow Citizens:
12. Our Constitution is a consequence of our democratic culture, which reflects our ancient values.It
pains me to note that this great national asset is becoming increasingly
vulnerable
to rash excess. Our right to freedom continues to flourish, and may
that always be the case, but what about our duty to the people? I
sometimes wonder: has our democracy become too noisy? Have we lost the
art of contemplation and calm thinking? Is it not the
time to restore the grandeur and glory of our institutions that have
sustained and nourished our beautiful democracy? Should not Parliament
again become the great hall of sombre thought and well-debated
legislation? Should not our courts of law become temples
of justice? This calls for collective action by all the stakeholders.
13. A nation is very young at 68. India has the will, energy, intellect, values and unity to claim the 21stcentury. The vision to win the battle of freedom from poverty is set; the journey will seem formidable
only to those without conviction. As an old saying goes, "Sidhir Bhavati Karmaja”, which means, "success is born of action”.
14. Now is the time for action!
Jai Hind.
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