Despite numerous highs since Independence, many challenges remain

Hans India

3 days ago

Independence from the colonial British tyrannical rule was still two years in the future when I was born. I was a seven-month pregnancy born premature baby, and there was little hope of my survival in the beginning. There were neither antibiotics nor incubators at that time and even penicillin was rarely in use.
But, thanks to the tender care of my mother and her brother, Dr. Gandhi, my maternal uncle and father-in-law to be, a resident in the Madras Medical College at that time, I became a near normal healthy baby by the age of three months. Gandhiji had come to Chennai at that time to lay the foundation stone for Andhra Mahila Sabha, a great welfare institution meant for children, women, and the challenged, and the brainchild of Dr. Durgabai Deshmukh, one of the greatest women India has produced in the previous century.
She and my mother, Manikyamba, fondly called Papayamma by friends and family, took me to Gandhiji and requested him to bless me. Thus Mohandas became my name, subsequently changed to Mohan, as I am known today.
I have, therefore, no claims to have been a part of the freedom movement. Dr. Gandhi and his father, however, were known for their participation in it.
Those were the peak of the freedom movement and Durgabai was just one of the many fiercely patriotic fighters in Gandhi's vast nationwide army. Their valiant efforts soon bore fruit and India became independent from the imperialistic rule.
At the stroke of midnight of 14 August 1947, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, stood in Parliament and made his famous speech beginning with the words,
'Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny …', and ended up by asking the people of India, the historic question, '….Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future'?
And now, in retrospect, when one looks back over one's shoulder, the question arises, did we prove equal to Nehru's expectations; Or Hamlet's remark in Shakespeare's 'Hamlet', 'Ay, there's the rub!'
Having become a republic in 1950, India has just celebrated 75 years as an independent nation, a celebration marked with nationwide jubilation and named 'Azadi Ka Amritkal Mahotsav'. This marks for a good time to take stock of the accomplishments and disappointments, the successes and failures, and the state of the balance sheet.
On the credit side, the accomplishment with the best claim to a place in it will be the manner in which the country obtained its independence, through a movement informed by the unprecedented spirit of 'Ahimsa', a spirit embraced by the Mahatma, the likes of which have never been seen in the annals of world history from the war of independence in the United States to the recent bifurcation of Sudan.
Literally overnight, at the stroke of midnight on 14 August 1947, many scourges that dogged the Indian psyche, as the practice of Sati, untouchability, the system of zamindaris were banished.
And several farsighted and forward-looking reforms came to be, including universal franchise, and work began to frame a Constitution for the new Republic. Another significant development was the achievement of food security, thanks to the historic efforts of those heroes of the childhood of the nascent Republic, such as M.S. Swaminathan, Norman Borlaug, M.V. Rao and Verghese Kurien. Their contributions led to multicoloured revolutions in the agriculture sector, green, white, blue, and yellow to usher in an era of food security.
A country barely recovering from the nightmarish memories of a ravaging famine soon became not merely self- reliant, but also acquired the ability to export agricultural goods.
Yet another important development was the establishment of constitutional and statutory institutions, such as the Supreme Court of India, the Election Commission of India and the Union Public Service Commission, which acquitted themselves admirably and brought laurels to the nation from the nooks and corners of the world.
What further enhances one's pride is the eminence accomplished by the sons and daughters of India in different spheres; from working for world peace, by Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, and Mother Teresa, through literature, by Bhanu Mushtaq and Deepa Bhashti (recently awarded the Booker Prize), culture through the international popularity of matinee idols Raj Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan, sports, through the spectacular accomplishments of Sachin Tendulkar in cricket and Koneru Hampi in chess, to scientific research thanks to the path-breaking discoveries of CV Raman and Hargobind Singh Khurana and adventure through the achievements of pioneering mountaineer Tenzing Norgay, and Rakesh Sharma and Kalpana Chawla, in space exploration.
The second watershed in the history of modern India was the advent of the forces of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation. The manner in which the country rode that wave, and emerged, not only unscathed, but refreshed and buoyant, won the admiration of the whole world. In fact, The then Chairman of the Federal Bank of USA, went to the extent of saying that had Dr. Y. Venugopal Reddy, then Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, been in his place, the international financial meltdown might not have occurred at all!
That, however, is only one side of the coin.
When one flips the coin, what one sees is a bleak and disappointing picture.
India remains home to nearly half of the population living below the poverty line, in countries belonging to the South Asia and Pacific region, which, in turn, represents half of the total number of poor people in the world. Access to good quality education health/medical services remains a distant dream. Children are sold as commodities in our metropolitan cities, women are killed in the name of honour in some parts of the country and farmers continue to commit suicide on account of economic distress. Income and wealth inequalities have reached totally unacceptable levels, despite over 75 years of determined effort, rapid growth and sustainable development, the recently concluded Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations notwithstanding. And, on the external front, the attachment to the so-called policy of non-alignment has left the country friendless, both in the neighbourhood and outside.
This is not the time, therefore, either to rest on one's oars, to let one's hair down, or put one's feet up with satisfaction or contentment. Nor, on the other hand, is there any cause for despair.
While much has been achieved, a good deal remains to be done. The residual agenda, however, is certainly not beyond the ability of the country, and its people. With a gigantic task beckoning the people, everyone will have a role to play, whether politician, civil servant, doctor, engineer, lawyer, architect, businessman, industrialist, scientist, academician or NGO or community-based organization.
A light hearted snippet to end this piece: In the 1960s, tribals in Srikakulam district were given bullocks as part of the activities undertaken by the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) of the district. The assistance extended by the government was in the nature of a subsidy covering 25 per cent of the cost of the bullocks and the rest of the money came partly by way of margin money from the ITDA and the rest as a medium term loan from a commercial bank. The Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, who was visiting various parts of the country, to check the pace and quality of the implementation of various welfare programmes, asked his vehicle to be stopped by the roadside in a village and enquired of a farmer how the bullocks were faring. The innocent farmer beamed and said, 'Very tasty sir, thank you!'
As a wise guy said, upon hearing the story, a remarkable case of a long-term loan being used for short-term purposes, instead of, as usual, the other way around!
(The writer was formerly
Chief Secretary,
Government of
Andhra Pradesh)