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India to bridge global divide : PM

	August 20, 2007

In a speech from Red Fort on Independence Day, Prime Min¬ister Manmohan Singh skirted the nuclear deal with the United States and laid emphasis on issues concerning the common man and his government’s development agenda. He reeled out welfare schemes, existing and already announced, while stating that public spending on health and education has more than doubled. He also emphasised the schemes for agriculture, perhaps in view of the criticism that the UPA policies have widened the gap between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’.



Defending his government’s commitment to ‘inclusive’ po¬licies, Dr. Manmohan Singh placed the country’s high growth rate in the context of a booming economy providing more resources for poverty removal programmes and social security measures like Pension and Insurance for Workers in the unorganised sector. He said the high growth is essential for generating resources for tackling poverty and for providing better education and health care.



While the Prime Minister did not refer to major foreign policy issues, a significant remark was that India will work as a bridge to end global divides. He said, “We have emerged as a bridge between the many extremes of the world. Our composite culture is living proof of the possibility of confluence of civilizations. India will always be a nation bridging many global divides.”



Observers say this was an answer to critics who have accused Dr. Manmohan Singh of taking India into the US strategic embrace.



Dr. Manmohan Singh asserted that, “we have built up firm foundations of an open society and an open economy”, and reaf¬firmed the quest for a caring, sharing and inclusive society.”



Stressing the unity in diversity theme, the Prime Minister said, “those who profess hatred and extremism, those who spread the virus of communalism and those who believe in violence and terrorism, have no place in our society.” He said there should be no doubt in anybody’s mind that the Government is firm in its resolve to fight all forms of extremism and terrorism.





President, PM call for fighting corruption



In the function organised in the Central Hall of Parliament to mark the 60th anniversary of Independence, both President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cautioned the people about the grave challenge corruption posed to the demo¬cratic system in the country.



“Corruption today poses a grave challenge to our system and it is time the nation begins to determinedly combat this menace,” said President Pratibha Patil. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

described corruption. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described corruption as “cancer” and underlined the need to root out the menace.



“For all the benefits of development to reach the poor, it is essential that the delivery systems of the government at all levels are more efficient and purged of corruption,” he told the special gathering of parliamentarians. “The cancer of corruption must be extinguished if democracy and development have to have a real meaning for our people,” he added.



Patil spoke on the need for ‘inclusive growth’ and favoured making education one of the primary focus areas as it was the key to a prosperous and successful India, which has a crucial role to play in the world order.



Vice President Hamid Ansari said, “The reasons for rejoicing are evident as India’s progress is evident. Doubts about our capabilities have given way to certitude. We are a nation of consequence in the comity of nations.



“A more distressing trend is the balkanisation of the mind. The challenge is to promote Indianness.”



In her broadcast to the nation on the eve of Independence Day, President Pratibha Patil said that “we have to ensure equi¬table growth for all,” and invited countrymen to “look ahead to the glorious path of infinite possibilities that await India with open arms.”



She said, “we must ensure that we do not let this unprece¬dented moment in time go unutilised for the dream of a strong, robust and prosperous India.”



Pratibha Patil revealed a preference for a secular, demo¬cratic and inclusive India. “Inherent respect for pluralism has been the golden thread which has run through our millennia-old civilisation,” she said.







Indians proud of country, but not satisfied with governance



Surveys conducted by several newspapers and other organisa¬tions on the occasion of the country’s 61st Independence Day, have brought out various aspects of the people’s perspective of the problems faced by them. A survey conducted by AC Nielsen and published in The Times of India, says that Indians are proud of their country, but far from satisfied with the quality of governance. The online poll reveals that an overwhelming 89 per cent would opt to be reborn Indian if they had such a choice. They are happy with the progress in the last 60 years in areas like business, science and technology.



But they are clearly unhappy with the politicians, the quality of politics in the country and the lack of governance as manifest in the country’s poor record in poverty eradication, law and order, social equality and infrastructure. Respondents pointed out that India has made the least progress in these areas.



Another survey conducted by the Indian Express-Dawn News-CNN-IBN-CSDS-AC Nielsen, says that among the urban Indian, sup¬porters of the Indo-US nuclear deal outnumbered the opponents. The poll, the first ever simultaneous Indo-Pak attempt to gauge public opinion, says that the people of the two countries are trying to share a present despite a divided past. They are struggling to find common symbols outside the contested political terrain, trying to invent roots for themselves in a possible future. While not quite free of the burden of history, they are learning to build a difficult relationship.