Turning Points (7 page)
3) In scenario three, Party A will say, we will ensure that all our border conflicts between neighbouring countries are resolved within a period of ten years. Party B will say, we will resolve all the border conflicts and create a harmonious relationship among the neighbouring countries within a period of five years. Party C might say that because of its initiatives, border trade will become borderless. Commerce brings prosperity and prosperity brings peace.
When the opportunity is given by the people to a particular party to implement its development plans and these become a reality with the support of all the members, the country and the people will be blessed by the noble act of the parliamentarians. Democracy provides an opportunity to everyone to prove to himself or herself how better he or she can perform in realizing the vision of the nation.
The need to wipe out poverty totally, the need to provide opportunities for all our people in a fiercely competitive and knowledge-based world and the need to provide security to the people and nation in the complex world of today, these multiple needs would lead to the necessity of our graduating from the ‘political’ politics that we know to developmental politics.
There are many national issues which have to be pursued by Parliament beyond party ideologies. These include the
march towards becoming a developed nation, providing safe water, uninterrupted electricity, health care and shelter to every citizen of the country, the plans for communication and computer penetration, and national security. The consensus arrived at through discussion and debate towards these goals through the parliamentary process will certainly lead India towards the path of reaching developed status quickly. Hence, Parliament has to spend its energy in a healthy competitive spirit to help move the nation ahead.
The parliamentarians’ role, therefore, assumes tremendous significance and it is essential that each MP lives up to the aspirations and ideals for which he or she has been elected.
Yet, as I told parliamentarians, there are some bare truths which we all know but refuse to acknowledge. I have no hesitation in talking to you about them, I said, because I am part of you; I am as much part of Parliament as you all are, and I am as much concerned about the success of our parliamentary system as you all are. Our polling processes have been, of late, under severe strain. Let us be honest to ourselves. The arithmetical compulsions of incremental numbers and the alleged tradability of certain legislative seats, won perhaps through means allegedly dubious and undemocratic, have many a time created doubts in our democratic system in the public mind. When politics degrades itself to political adventurism the nation would be on the calamitous road to inevitable disaster and ruination. Let us not risk it. It is time all of us did some introspection and lived up to the expectations that were enshrined so diligently and optimistically by the founding fathers in our Constitution, so that India sustained itself and grew as a mature, healthy, vibrant, democratic nation.
People are yearning for a lifestyle change by preserving the cultural heritage, values and ethos of the Indian civilization. Parliament can bring the smiles on their faces, by enacting appropriate policies, laws and facilitating societal transformation. We have been working with policies and procedures which are mostly based on mistrust. As a result, motivation and empowerment are dampened and suppressed, whereas the Indian people have shown enormous achievement when provided an environment of trust and working space.
Parliament needs to mount a mission to identify and scrap the complex old laws and administrative procedures which are hindering a growth-oriented economy. This will give scope and a hope to a large section of the people who are honest to flower and flourish. India must move to a trust-based system and only the members of this great Parliament can bring about this change, I urged them.
In order to succeed in our mission, the five key areas where India has a core competence for integrated action are: 1) Agriculture and food processing; 2) Education and health care; 3) Infrastructure: Reliable and quality electric power, good roads, and other infrastructure for all parts of the country; 4) Information and communication technology and; 5) Self-reliance in critical technologies.
These five areas are closely inter-related and if developed in a coordinated way, will lead to food, economic and national security. One of the major missions within these five areas is the development of infrastructure for bringing rural prosperity through Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) by creating three connectivities, namely
physical, electronic, and knowledge, leading to economic connectivity. The number of PURA clusters for the whole country is estimated to be 7,000.
While we are happy that our economy is in an ascending phase and our GDP has been growing at as high as 9 per cent per annum, it is evident that the economic growth is not fully reflected in the quality of life of a large number of people, particularly in rural areas and even in urban areas. Hence, we have evolved what is called a National Prosperity Index (NPI), which is a summation of (a) annual growth rate of GDP; (b) improvement in quality of life of the people, particularly those living below the poverty line; and (c) the adoption of a value system derived from our civilizational heritage in every walk of life which is unique to India. That is NPI=a+b+c. Particularly, ‘b’ is a function of availability of housing, good water, nutrition, proper sanitation, quality education, quality health care and employment potential, and ‘c’ is a function of promoting the joint family system, creation of a spirit of working together, leading a righteous way of life, removing social inequities, and above all promoting a conflict-free, harmonious society. This will be indicated by peace in families and communities, reduction in corruption index, reduction in court cases, elimination of violence against children and women, and the absence of communal tensions. There should be progressive reduction in the number of people living below the poverty line leading to this number becoming near zero by 2020. All our efforts at improving the national economic performance should be guided by the National Prosperity Index of the nation at any point of time.
How shall we realize this vision? What are the immediate steps that we need to take to realize this vision?
My interaction with many of you and my understanding of the various central and state programmes, the initiatives of private and non-governmental organizations as well as the overwhelming desire of citizens to participate in national development gives me the confidence that our society is ready to work for these missions. May I suggest that you all work together to evolve two major initiatives:
1) To formulate an Energy Independence Bill: A three-dimensional approach towards energy which helps maintain a clean environment.
2) Vision 2020: Adopt a resolution that India will be transformed into a safe, prosperous, happy and economically developed nation before the year 2020 using National Prosperity Index (NPI) as a measure.
You will agree with me on the importance of making these Bills a reality in a time-bound manner.
These are issues that I consider so important that I address them at some length later in the book as well.
I had a unique experience in Rashtrapati Bhavan. Whenever I asked for any data or information about a particular state or institution from a ministry or department of the government, the Planning Commission or the state government itself, accurate and latest information flowed
from the concerned agency without the need for sending any reminder from the President’s Secretariat. This access to information was immensely useful to me for preparing my addresses to the nation, Parliament and assemblies of different states, public and private sector establishments and universities. It was an enormously useful facility that was not earlier used in the same way.
Another core competence we had built in Rashtrapati Bhavan was a virtual conference and virtual meeting facility which enabled us to have brainstorming sessions with experts from different organizations located in distant areas. During my tenure in Rashtrapati Bhavan, I had addressed twelve state assemblies and presented the missions for the prosperity of the states. The data collection, analysis, synthesis, expert inputs, brainstorming sessions leading to the preparation of missions for prosperity usually took over fifteen days to a month. Virtual conferences for this preparation were normally conducted from the Rashtrapati Bhavan multimedia facility from 8 p.m. to midnight, when the experts were generally available for consultation. The states which were covered are: Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Sikkim and Puducherry.
The criteria for selecting the missions for prosperity of the state started with the study of its socio-economic profile such as per capita income, literacy level, population below poverty line, unemployment level, infant mortality level rate, maternal mortality rate and the core competency of the state in the agriculture, industry and services sectors. For example, the missions identified for Bihar were 1)
agriculture and value addition to farm produce; 2) education and entrepreneurship; 3) human resources; 4) Nalanda International University; 5) health care mission; 6) flood water management; 7) tourism; 8) infrastructure; 9) exclusive economic zone; and 10) e-governance. Ten missions were evolved to enable Bihar to increase the per capita income from Rs 6,300 (2005-06) to Rs 35,000 by 2010 and also to create an investment friendly climate leading to large-scale employment avenues for the 10 million unemployed/underemployed as on 31 December 2005. Bihar should aim at realizing the goal of 100 per cent literacy and employment by the year 2015. The government has taken up many schemes and I am happy to find that Bihar is the fastest growing state in the country today. Also, the number of people going out of the state to find work has considerably reduced which clearly brings out that large-scale value-added employment generation has taken place in Bihar.
There was good participation from the legislators. The presentations led to the initiation of many action-oriented programmes in the states. After the address to the assembly, I also addressed the vice chancellors of the universities of the state, and the chambers of commerce on the same theme.
In Kerala,
Malayala Manorama
translated the mission for Kerala’s prosperity into Malayalam, conducted district-level workshops and sought the opinion of experts on the methods by which the missions can be implemented with success and the recommendations were sent to the legislative assembly. In other states too there was good coverage by the media and I received a lot of feedback from state organizations.
Connecting its one billion people by a common thread of culture and values is my dream. Our great epics remind us of our glorious past and contain the hope for a beautiful future.
May I be a protector for those without one,
A guide for all travellers on the way;
May I be a bridge, a boat and a ship
For all who wish to cross (the water)
—Acharya Shantideva,
an 8th century Buddhist Master
I
have always been fascinated by the way minds come together to accomplish progress. It is not an easy process, which is why difference of views is often cited as a reason
for shortfall in achievement. In the process of rocket and missile development, which involved a lot of teamwork, I began to closely observe the thinking processes of people and learn from them. The collaborative process of formulating the India 2020 vision further intensified this habit. As president and after I have been fortunate to have the benefit of ideas, opinions and criticisms of people with experience and the not-so-experienced. All shades of opinion and queries add to the enrichment of knowledge leading to human progress. I intend to narrate a few incidents that personally influenced me as a sample of thousands of interactions.
On gifts
I have mentioned this episode often so I will give it briefly. My father, Janab Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen, taught me a great lesson when I was a young boy. It was just after India won Independence in 1947. Panchayat elections were held on Rameswaram Island and my father was elected president of the village council. He was elected not because he belonged to a particular religion or caste or because of his economic status. He was elected only on the basis of his nobility of mind and for being a good human being.
On the day my father was elected as president, a man came to our home. I was still a schoolboy and was reading aloud my lessons when I heard a knock at the door. In those days in Rameswaram, we never locked the doors. A man entered and asked me where my father was. I told him that father had gone for the evening namaz. He then said that he
had brought something for my father and asked if he could leave it for him. I told him he could leave the item on the cot and I continued with my studies.
When my father returned, he saw a silver plate with gifts on the cot. He asked me who had given them and I told him that someone had come by and left them for him. He opened the gifts and found expensive clothes, a few silver cups, some fruits and some sweets. He was upset and angry at the sight of the gifts. I was the youngest child and my father really loved me and I also loved him a lot. That was the first time I saw him so angry and also the first time I received a good beating from him. I was frightened and started weeping. Later, my father explained his reaction and advised me never to receive any gift without his permission. He quoted a Hadith which says, ‘When the Almighty appoints a person to a position, He takes care of his provision. If a person takes anything beyond that, it is an illegal gain.’