January 25, 2018: President Ram Nath Kovind exhorted a civic-minded nation is built by civic-minded neighbourhoods where one can disagree with another viewpoint or even with a historical context – without mocking fellow citizen’s dignity and personal space.
In an apparent reference to recent protests on different issues including on movie Padmaavat, he said the civic-minded people respect the next- door person’s space, privacy and rights and do not inconvenience their neighbours – while celebrating a festival or while resorting to a protest or on any other occasion.
The President said this shows fraternity in action. In his address to the nation on the eve of Republic Day, Mr. Kovind called for elimination of the the curse of poverty in the shortest possible time saying Indian Republic cannot rest and cannot be satisfied without meeting the basic needs and essential dignity of its less well-off brothers and sisters.
He said those from a less privileged socio-economic background, from the weaker communities and from families that still live at the edge of poverty and it t is our sacred obligation to eliminate poverty as it is non-negotiable for the Republic.
Mr. Kovind stressed the need to further improve the lives of hardworking farmers who like mothers, toil to feed more than a billion people.
He asked for continuous modernization and strengthen country’s strategic manufacturing sector so as to provide the valiant personnel of our Armed Forces, and our police and paramilitary forces, the equipment that they need.
He emphasized the need to move ahead rapidly on the Sustainable Development Goals, that commit us to eliminating poverty and hunger, to universal access to quality education and health-care, and to giving our daughters equal opportunity in every field.
The President said, Indian Republic will turn 70 in coming two years and it will also celebrate the 75 th anniversary of Independence in 2022. He said, these are special occasions and people must strive to build the edifice of a better India, a country where each and every citizen will be able to realise his or her full potential.
Talking about the girl education, Mr. Kovind said, a happy and equal-opportunity nation is built by happy and equal-opportunity families, where girls have the same rights and the same access to education and health-care as boys.
He said the governments can bring in policies and laws to ensure justice to women – but these policies and laws can only be made effective by families and communities that must hear the voices of our daughters.
Saying to reform, upgrade and enlarge education system and to make it relevant to 21 st century realities of the digital economy, genomics, robotics and automation, the President said the country has made strides in spreading literacy and now it must expand the frontiers of education and of knowledge.
He added that many programmes and initiatives have been launched to equip youth with the education and skills to compete in a globalized world and sizeable resources have been set aside for these programmes. The President said, the schooling system in the country has to encourage children to think and to tinker, not just to memorise and reproduce.
He said India has made strides in tackling hunger, but the challenge of malnutrition and of bringing the right micronutrients to the plate of every child is still there.
This is important for both physical and cognitive development of our children – and for the future of our country.
He said the highest stage of India’s nation building project is to contribute to building a better world – a composite and cohesive world, a world at peace with itself and at peace with nature. This is the ideal of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – of the World being One Family.
The President said, it is an ideal that may sound impractical in today’s times of tensions and of terrorism. But it is an ideal that has inspired India for thousands of years – and that ideal can be felt in the very texture of our constitutional values.
The President said, the principles of compassion, of assisting those in need, of building capacities of our neighbours, or even of those further away, underpin our society. These are the very principles that we bring to the international community.
The President said, Independence had come after a great struggle in which millions had participated, they gave their all and many gave their lives inspired by father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi.
He said the men and women who took us to freedom could have rested on the gaining of Independence and could have let down their guard, and remained satisfied with political freedom. But they did not rest.
Instead, they re-doubled their efforts. They immersed themselves in the process of writing a Constitution. They saw the Constitution not just as a basic law for a new nation, but as a scripture for social transformation.
At the end, President Kovind said, the promise of a developed India beckons us. This is the new stage of our nation building project on which we have embarked.
He added that this is the Republic that young people need to take forward and enhance – in keeping with their vision, their ambition and their ideals.(AIR News)
