Making every region and every religion a stakeholder in future

As India turns 58, we can take pride in how we have embraced and preserved our democratic values but at the same time also be aware that we can’t afford to abuse our liberty and freedom. We have become self-sufficient and self-reliant in many areas but we need to match global standards if we are to take on a leadership role.

We have flourishing metros and millions in our middle class but we need to bridge the rich-poor, urban-rural divide. We have more mobile phones than landline connections but there are millions that are yet to make their first phone call. We are one of the world’s oldest civilizations with one of the world’s youngest populations. We have 20 official languages and yet a third of the country cannot read or write.

Six Indian ladies have won Miss Universe/Miss World titles in the last 10 years and yet female infanticide is endemic. We consume a fifth of the world’s total gold output and our share of world trade is less than 1 per cent. However, India can leapfrog to fast becoming a developed nation. That is possible because we have the workforce, we have the technology, we have the potential, we have a fantastic knowledge base and a talent pool, and most importantly, we have the spirit.

I also believe that when we talk of growth, development, prosperity and progress that we take every single Indian along with us. Make every section of our society, every region and every religion a stakeholder in our collective future. Empowerment has to be both economic and social.

We still have in our country people who live in constant fear of almost everything; the need is to be able to break the shackles around our fellow citizens. In a new India, we ought to have a more tolerant society. A social set up that respects every race, culture, religion and community. We cannot afford to deviate from the path of secularism and pluralism. Not because it’s stated in our Constitution or because our elders have mandated it, but because it is the need of the nation.

No country can have economic progress if there is social unrest and communal tensions. We cannot have sustained growth if we are plagued with communal rioting. Religious or racial superiority has to take a backseat to economic prosperity. And this can be achieved only if we accept social equality and religious harmony as imperatives for our nation building.

The political leadership of a country, to a large extent, is responsible for which direction a country is headed. India is almost as passionate about politics as it is about cricket!

And as much as we may deny it, the fact is that politics and politicians find themselves as topics of discussion in the sitting rooms of our cities, at tea stalls of our towns, and on the verandahs of our villages. Therefore, as politicians, we have a great responsibility to discharge and our endeavour ought to be in making the system more transparent, more accountable and more delivery-oriented.