'Empowerment Of Women Crucial For Social Development'

My Fellow Citizens,

On the eve of the 52nd anniversary of our Republic I havegreat pleasure to extend my greetings and good wishes to the men, women andchildren of India. I send my special greetings to those who work on the farmsand in the factories producing the wealth of the nation, and in the schools,colleges and universities training the youth of the country, and in thescientific laboratories and technological institutions building up thefundamental brainwork of the nation. Especially I greet the valiant members ofour armed forces and para military organizations who stand vigil at the remoteand inhospitable borders of our vast land ever ready to make the supremesacrifice for defending the independence, unity and integrity of the motherland.Let us on this occasion remember and pay our homage to those security men of ourParliament, who by their vigilance, courage and timely action at the cost oftheir lives averted the terrorist attack to destroy our Parliament, the templeof Indian democracy and the symbol of our sovereignty. It is perhaps not acoincidence the assault on our Parliament took place on December 13th which isthe anniversary of the day in 1946 when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru moved in theConstituent Assembly the Objectives Resolution declaring the resolve of India tobecome an independent sovereign Republic and outlining the democratic, secularand social fundamentals of the Constitution we were proposing to give toourselves. And it is significant that it is the extra-ordinary courage andheroism of the ordinary security personnel at the Parliament House that savedthe seat of our democracy against the dastardly terrorist attack. While werejoice in the success of our security personnel, let us remember that oursafety and security is dependent on our common people like them, and it is fortheir interests and welfare that we should work from our imposing Parliament andGovernment buildings.

My fellow citizens, it has been acknowledged that thegreatest achievement of India since Independence has been the building up ofdemocracy and a stable system of Government for this vast country. But what hasnot been fully realized by the world and even by ourselves is the magnitude ofthis achievement in a population of one billion people, belonging to almost allthe religions of the world and with diversities of every kind that isimaginable. It was not by force and compulsion, by blood and iron, that thisachievement has been brought about, but by peaceful means, by tolerance andwilling acceptance of differences and diversities. It is the product of theancient philosophy and culture of India which taught us that humanity is one andthe whole world is a single nest. But we know that this old philosophy had beenbattered by the vicissitudes of history and that for long periods our countryhad fallen into the depths of thraldom, indignity, ignorance and superstition.The renaissance of India in the modern period through non-violent struggle underthe leadership of Mahatma Gandhi was an event of historic importance. To-day itis proper for us to remember with gratitude not only those great minds whofashioned our ancient thought and civilization, but also those in the modernperiod who revived those traditions and made them the stuff of our modernprogress. While we draw inspiration from both, we have to draw lessons for thepresent and the future, from those who had analysed the causes of our declineand degradation.

Swami Vivekananda had declared that the chief cause ofIndia's ruin has been the monopolising of the whole education and intelligenceof the land among a handful of men. He added that "We have to give back tothe nation its lost individuality and raise the masses. The Hindus, theMohommedans, the Christians, all have trampled them under foot". My fellowcitizens, in spite of many shortcomings and failures, we have achieved much inthe education and the improvement of the condition of the masses sinceIndependence. The life expectancy of our people has doubled from 27 years at thetime of Independence to 62 years now. Literacy rose from 15% in 1947 to 65% in2001. We see to-day a real decline in illiteracy in absolute numbers, and thegap between male and female literacy has been reduced. But still India has thelargest number of illiterates in any country in the world. Therefore we welcomethe Bill now before Parliament for the provision of education for all childrenbetween the age of 6 to 14 as a great step forward. This is still a partialmeasure. There is the need for extending the facility of free and compulsoryeducation to the entire age group upto 18 years so that illiteracy is banishedfrom the land. Let us commit ourselves to-day as a nation to find ways and meansto realize this cherished dream. All the Governments of the world includingIndia pledged last year at Dakar to prepare a National Plan together with civicorganisations by 2002 which would ensure education for all by the year 2015.This is not impossible if only we work whole-heartedly to reach this end.

Growth and proper nourishment of children remain at the rootof human resources development and the progress of the society and the nation.With the largest number of children in the world India has a large reservoir ofhuman wealth. The future of India will depend on the development of this humanwealth. It indeed depends on the health and welfare of our children. It isencouraging that we have made some success in the welfare and development ofchildren. India has the largest Integrated Child Development programme in theworld for extending nutrition, health and educational facilities to the childrenof our country .We have adopted the Pulse Polio Programme that now covers theentire country. Mass immunization programme has achieved remarkable results. Ifall these programmes together with children's education are implemented we canlook forward to a bright future for our children and our country. A poet hassaid the cry of a child by the roadside mars the harmony of the universe.

My fellow citizens, one of the clearest indicators of thedevelopment of a society is the position and status women enjoy in that society.Even though women's rights are recognized as human rights and they areconsidered as best of human resources and central actors for development, theirstanding in our society is deplorable. You all know how Mahatma Gandhi hadmobilized ordinary women in large numbers for the cause of our country'sindependence. 70,000 of them participated in the Salt Satyagraha. He includedwomen's upliftment in his Constructive Programme as an important point not onlyfor their elevation but also for positive social change and attainment ofindependence. We have observed the year 2001 as the year of women's empowerment.Several important measures have been taken to elevate women from their presentstatus. It is uplifting to see the ordinary and poor women activelyparticipating in movements and campaigns, for constructive action such as theright to information, river revival programmes and rain water harvesting andwatershed management schemes. Election of almost one million women to PanchayatRaj institutions and their activities in such bodies have brought about astrategic shift in many of our developmental activities at the grass rootslevel. While women's movement is gaining momentum and gathering pace andreaching one milestone after another, the ill treatment and atrocities on womenare recurring in regular and brutal manner. No day passes without reading andwatching such gory incidents in print and electronic media.

Dowry system is not only responsible for snuffing out livesof our women at a very young age but is also primarily responsible for thegrowing incidence of female foeticide in the country .Incidences of rape,domestic violence, sexual harassment at work places and trafficking of womenhave increased many folds. Half the number of women killed in India are killedin their bedrooms. Rise in cases of sexual harassment by 40%, dowry deaths by15.2% and smuggling of girls by 87.2% in 1998 are indicative of theirtraumatised existence. No place is safe for them, not even their mother's wombs.They are put to death even before they are born. The experience of Draupadi inthe court of the Kauravas has become symbolic of the ill treatment of women inour country .If I may quote from one of the poems of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee,

"In every panchayat Draupadi is robbed of her honour"

She is to-day not only dishonoured in Panchayats but also inthe city transport buses, in the city streets and even in her own homes. It ishigh time that we got rid of this inequality and indignity to women in ourcountry . The success of women movements at the grass-root level in India showsthat it is possible for us to do so.

The problem of women in India is symbolic of the problem ofinequalities and injustices in our society in general. Even to-day it is amazingthat we have not become an inclusive society in spite of the political triumphof our democracy. The discrimination being suffered by women, the scheduledcastes and scheduled tribes is a crying denial of the democracy that isenshrined in our Constitution. Recently a conference was held in Bhopal of Dalitand tribal intellectuals and activists. They issued a Declaration called theBhopal Declaration charting out a new course for Dalits and the tribal peoplefor the 21st century. After calling for the implementation of the policiesenshrined in our Constitution for their development, the Declaration emphasizesthe importance, in this present era of privatization, of providing forrepresentation for these deprived classes, not only in Government and publicinstitutions but in private corporations and enterprizes which benefit fromGovernment funds and facilities. Indeed in the present economic system and ofthe future, it is necessary for the private sector to adopt social policies thatare progressive and more egalitarian for these deprived classes to be upliftedfrom their state of deprivation and inequality and given the rights of citizensand civilized human beings. This is not to ask the private enterprise acceptSocialism, but to do something like what the Diversity Bill and the affirmativeaction that a capitalist country like the United States of America has adoptedand is implementing.

My fellow citizens, I have talked to you about these socialquestions because if our great democracy is to remain great and relevant to theproblems of the masses, we will have to pay heed to these crying socio- economicissues. With such attention to the problems affecting the masses of our people,our country will be strong and powerful to pursue the policy of peace andco-existence that we have followed in the world, especially with regard to ourneighbours in the sub-continent and in Asia. And that will be our democraticanswer to the evil phenomenon of terrorism that we in India and the world ingeneral are facing to-day. Alongside we will have to build up the economicstrength and the defensive capacity of our country to its fullest potential.Once again I wish you all a happy Republic Day.

Jai Hind