The Republic Day message, given by Indian President Pratibha Patil, carries a special message for the people. The message assumes significance not only for being a formal and traditional message that the president delivers on the eve of every republic day to the people of the country but is also indicative can also serve as a beacon to reach the goals of construction of a new India.
Development and Progress
Expressing grave concern at the spiraling price rise, she stressed the need of another green revolution in the country to ensure availability of food grains. In fact, the painful sky rocketing prices of essential commodities, particularly of food articles, have cast its shadow on the jubilations of the republic day. That pain is being felt by the president of the Republic of India also because she represents the country. There is no gainsaying that ensuring availability of food articles, poses a huge challenge to the country. To face it, we can no longer depend on the sweet will of nature and seasons. To meet the challenge, there indeed, is the need for another green revolution as she has suggested. Clearly, until effective initiatives are made at the official level, the thought expressed by the president cannot be translated into a reality.
Maintaining that the next ten years would be very decisive for the country, the president said that every Indian would have to show complete responsibility, discipline, and wholeheartedly work with the great spirit of cooperation and with a sense of purpose. In fact, we have set our target to become a developed nation by 2020 and have also identified some goals to achieve the target. She referred to the same.
Employment Opportunities
India has come out of the global economic meltdown courageously and creditably. The international community, too, has lauded India for its endeavor. The fact remains that in spite of the worse-ever situation, employment opportunities in the IT sector have increased in India. As against it, unemployment has become rampant in the United States and hundreds of banks there continue to go bankrupt. However, in the midst of progress, many of our weaknesses, too, have come to the fore.
We have failed to reach expected local of development despite having expertise and skills. We have failed to eradicate corruption, which is eating into the vitals of the country like a malignancy. Even more tragic is that corruption that is rampant in the government administration, is fast spreading into the corporate sector as well. A survey conducted recently revealed that 83.4 percent of the management at the lower level in the corporate sector and 90.1 percent at higher level indulge in irregularities and corruption.
There is no need to explain what role the corporate sector plays in industrial and economic progress of the country. Similarly, the responsibilities devolving on the bureaucracy for this purpose are quite clear. Also, it is well known what significance the political leadership has in taking the country along the path of progress and development. If germs of corruption get embedded into these vital sectors, it would adversely affect the graph of the progress indeed. Since we have failed to achieve the desired standards of progress as yet, we need to pay greater attention to it during the next ten years and we would have to work with the dedication and sense of responsibility that the president has called for.
Line of Action
President Pratibha Patil has rightly asserted that we would have to work hard to carry India to the peak of development and progress clearly, and that task remains unfulfilled until the common man living even in far-flung areas of the country become a partner and a receiver of that progress. The fruit of development should reach the lowly of the lowliest and the poorest of the poor. She has also stressed the need of developing the standard of research. In this connection, if we take a look at Europe and the United States, it becomes clear that those countries have achieved progress by attaching greater importance to the research sector. It is one of the reasons behind the brain drain from our country while other countries are befitting. To improve the standard of our research, we would have to utilize the skills and brains of these people, and become a developed country.On the whole, the presidential address does not only set the line of action for the government, but is also a message to all sectors of human endeavors and all fields of national development. There is need to understand the message and act upon it by every citizen.
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