Emphasising that the poor “cannot and will not wait for another generation” for betterment in their lives, President Pranab Mukherjee said that the focus of government’s policies needs to move from alleviation of poverty to elimination, which has a time-defined objective.
In an address to the nation on the eve of the country’s 68th Independence Day, the president also said that though India’s economy has been subdued at below 5 percent in the last two years, he could “sense renewed vigour and optimism in the air”.
In his speech, his first under the Narendra Modi government, President Mukherjee stressed on a sound educational system, which he said must also inculcate “the core civilizational values of love for motherland; compassion for all; tolerance for pluralism; respect for women” and other values.
The president said the “decisive challenge of our times is to end the curse of poverty.
The focus of our policies now has to move from alleviation of poverty to elimination of poverty. The difference is not mere semantics: alleviation is a process; elimination is a time-defined objective”.
He remarked that while in the past six decades the ratio of poverty had declined from over 60 percent to less than 30 percent, “even then, nearly one-third of our population still lives below the poverty line.
"Poverty is not a mere statistic. Poverty has a face, which becomes unbearable when it scars the visage of a child. The poor cannot, and will not, wait for yet another generation to see the very essentials of life - food, shelter, education and employment - being denied to them.
Touching on the nation’s economy, the president said in the past decade India’s economy grew at an average rate of 7.6 percent per year.
"By the end of the 12th Five Year Plan, we would have achieved a literacy rate of 80 percent. But would we be able to say that we have provided quality education and skills to our children to be good citizens and successful professionals?” he asked.
Describing India as a “beacon of democracy”, President said people must defend its “secular fabric with vigour” and those who believe in the “poison drip of inflammatory provocation” don’t understand the “country’s values” or “its present political impulses”.
“Though an ancient civilization, India is a modern nation with modern dreams. Intolerance and violence is a betrayal of the letter and spirit of democracy,” he said.
Mukherjee also spoke about taking up the challenges of governance by “reforming the policies, practices and systems of governance so that the enormous aspirations of our people can be fulfilled with vision, commitment, integrity, speed and administrative capability.
“Stagnant minds create immobile systems which become roadblocks to growth. India demands creative thinking in governance that enables fast-track development and ensures social harmony. The nation has to be placed above partisan impulses. The people come first,” he said.
The president stressed that good governance was “critically dependent on rule of law, participatory decision-making, transparency, responsiveness, accountability, equity and inclusiveness".