PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS TO THE NATION
ON THE EVE OF INDEPENDENCE DAY
"WHAT
SHOULD WE BE REMEMBERED FOR?"
Following is
the text of the President, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s address to
the nation on the occasion of Independence Day, 2003 here today:
My dear Citizens of India,
On the eve of
the 57th Independence Day, I extend to you my best
wishes for your happiness and prosperity. My salutations to all
of you at home and abroad. Let us on this occasion remember with
gratitude, the selfless service rendered by the personnel of the
armed forces and also those of the para-military forces, who guard
our frontiers on the land, at sea and in the air.
Let me dedicate
this Independence Day broadcast to those great souls who pioneered
the Independence Movement. We remember them with reverence and
gratitude, not for their religious, political, language, caste
and creed affiliations, but for the ninety year saga of sacrifices
to realise the singular and noble vision of heralding an Independent
India.
What should we
be remembered for?
Let us for a moment
pause to reflect what it is that for which we would like to be
remembered for by future generations. Will we be remembered for
how many churches our generation has added, will we be remembered
for how many mosques our generation has added, will we be remembered
for how many temples our generation has added or will we be remembered
for how many gurudwaras our generation has added? No, not at all.
We will be remembered only if we give to our younger generation
a prosperous and safe India, resulting out of economic prosperity
coupled with our civilisational heritage.
At this point
of time I would like to share with you an experience which I had
at Raj Bhavan, Srinagar during my recent visit to the three regions
of Jammu and Kashmir. A number of children from different schools
of the city and the neighbourhood interacted with me and sang
with me the National Anthem. At the end of our interaction, three
students approached me and introduced themselves. One was a Hindu
girl, the second a Muslim boy, and the third a Sikh boy. They
asked me - "Mr. President, please tell us now, when will
we become prosperous, free from poverty and from the fear of terrorist
attacks? Allow us to go on a mission to penetrate the minds of
the extremists and bring about unity of minds." These children
represent the 300 million strong youth of the nation. The questions
of the students engulfed me, resulting in a poetic verse:
"Oh Almighty, create thoughts
and actions in the minds of the people of my nation, so that they
live united.
Light the minds of the religious
leaders of my country to evolve a bridge among religions with
compassion and love.
Embed the thought ‘Nation is bigger
than the individual or party’ in the minds of the leaders.
May God, bless my people to work
hard and transform the country into a prosperous nation in a decade."
Aspirations of
the people
In one year’s
time I visited 23 States and three Union Territories. I interacted
with various cross sections of people and had an exclusive dialogue
with Members of Parliament and Legislators of certain States and
also presented the Developed India Plan to the Joint Session of
Parliament in February 2003.
The dialogue with
the people, and written responses from many citizens gave me an
insight into the aspirations of the people to get into the action
of transforming India into a developed nation, in less than two
decades. Whether it was a remote village in Kerala, or a far away
rural set-up in Nagaland or Uri in Jammu and Kashmir, the area
close to the Line of Control, I would like to emphatically state
that the feelings and aspirations for a prosperous India are the
same.
Our Strengths
For India to become
a developed nation, we must give thrust to the Nation’s core competencies.
The GDP has to grow annually by 8 to 10 percent with consistency
over years instead of the current 5 percent. This year, it is
reassuring that our economy in three sectors – agriculture, manufacturing
and services is in the ascent phase. If we put in united efforts
to keep up the momentum we can reach an 8 percent growth rate
in about a year. We should ensure that the benefits of this growth
should reach the economically weaker sections of society.
We should reinforce
our gains in the agriculture, power, Information and Communication
Technology, industrial and education sectors, space, nuclear,
and defence technologies, chemical, pharmaceutical and infrastructural
industries, oil exploration and refining, and more importantly
in critical technologies.
When we are consolidating
our strengths, we should develop increased safety consciousness
to prevent loss of valuable human and material resources in road,
rail, air, power, industrial and other accidents. The relief mechanisms
have to reach accident sites at the right time.
The core competencies,
resources and safety consciousness should be the basis on which
the country can embark on a national mission for transformation.
Vision to Mission
We need to evolve
and develop specific integrated missions sector-wise to take the
country forward on the path to self-sustaining development. These
missions will provide the thrust for the realisation of a developed
India in a time bound manner. They will also provide large-scale
employment opportunities for the youth, through the creation of
various types of industries and enhancement of national infrastructure.
I would like to discuss five specific missions.
Networking of
Rivers
The first mission
on the Networking of Rivers is under active consideration of my
Government and from the task team evolving the plan of action,
we must move on to a mission mode programme including an ecological
enhancement plan for executing the project. This mission will
eliminate the periodical problem of droughts and floods experienced
in a number of river basin States and provide both water and power
security. In addition the nation has to embark on water harvesting
and desalination of seawater as national missions.
Quality Power
Availability of quality
uninterrupted power should be ensured at an affordable price,
which is a key to economic growth. This is our second mission.
The existing capacity of about one lakh Megawatts would need tripling
by the year 2020. To achieve it, apart from hydel, thermal and
nuclear power systems, we need to give thrust to sustainable energy
resources like bio-mass, wind and solar farms of 800 to 1000 Megawatts
capacity and to efficient transmission and distribution.
Providing Urban
amenities in Rural Areas (PURA)
Providing urban
facilities to rural areas is another important mission about which
I have talked to you earlier. In the long-term interest, it is
necessary for us to make living in villages an attractive proposition
for our people by reinforcing the rural habitat and providing
modern economic linkages. To achieve this, an economically viable
cluster of villages have to be created through a mission mode
programme into physical, electronic, and knowledge connectivities,
leading to self-sustained economic prosperity for groups of villages.
It is essential that PURA has to become a business proposition
to be run by small scale industrialists, entrepreneurs, and societal
establishments.
Information and
Communication Technology (ICT)
The mission of
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and related services
is one of the wealth generators for the nation. We should aspire
to increase business volume by 15 to 20 times in a ten year duration.
The benefit of ICT must reach all parts of the country through
tele-medicine, tele-education and e-governance. We have to embark
on creating ICT infrastructure and developing knowledge products
to promote selective self-reliance in the ICT sector, thus achieving
a competitive edge globally.
Tourism
The vast civilisational
heritage of the country, from the Himalayas to Kanyakumari, Jammu
and Kasmir, Central India, the North Eastern States, Bihar, the
Western States, the large coastal line, the Andaman and Nicobar
Islands and Lakshadweep Islands have a lot to attract tourists.
After my visit to almost all the regions of the country, I have
realised that the tourism industry has a tremendous potential
for wealth generation and should operate as our fifth mission
with higher targets. To succeed in this mission, infrastructural
requirements are very essential and are to be improved. Thrust
is required to be given for inland water navigation, hotels, communications
and tourist promotion. If we promote sustainable tourism, it will
become India’s core competence.
These mission areas
need action and will provide a multiplier effect and give the
necessary momentum to all sectors of the economy.
Enriching village
life
During my visit to
rural areas in certain States, I realised that the hard earned
money of rural people, instead of being deployed for education
of children and environmental improvements including their habitat,
was being wasted in undesirable practices like alcoholism and
other addictions. In certain States, I realised that the ratio
between males and females was not proportionate. This prompted
me to evolve a declaration in consultation with the rural population
for administering it to village citizens. They participated in
it with enthusiasm. The oath for enriching village life is as
follows:
- Children are our precious wealth.
- We will give equal importance
to male and female children in providing education and rights
for growth of our society.
- Earnings come out of hard work.
We will not waste it in gambling and liquor. We will become
role models for our children.
- We need to tell our children
about the importance of education as learning gives knowledge
and knowledge makes children succeed.
- We need to jointly protect our
forests and prevent pollution.
- We will plant at least five
trees or saplings.
It is essential that
reputed leaders and social workers while visiting rural areas
can administer this oath in a similar way. Social workers, women
self-help groups and non-governmental organisations have to take-up
this task as a mission. For India to develop we need vibrant villages.
Challenges
Divisive
forces use terrorism as a tool in the name of ethnic groupism,
religious fundamentalism and sometimes political ambitions as
a rationale for terrorism, leading to conflicts among nations.
People are used as war tools. Within the next two decades, we
will encounter a totally new situation of acute shortages of water,
energy and minerals. No single nation will be able to handle this
situation by itself. Humanity will require mega-missions for harnessing
solar energy, drinking water from seawater through the desalination
process and bringing minerals from other planets. In such a situation,
the present reasons for conflict will become insignificant and
unwarranted. I call upon the neighbouring countries to see this
perspective and have a bigger vision. India has definitely taken
a significant peace initiative with all its neighbours. The recent
visit of our Prime Minister to China definitely paves the way
for resolving certain outstanding issues.
The recent terrorist
attack in Jammu and Kashmir through a suicide bombing, resulting
in a number of casualties, of both service and civilian personnel,
is a cause for serious concern. No religion has mandated killing
others as a requirement for its sustenance or promotion. These
cowardly acts borne out of utter frustration deserve severe condemnation
and actions for preventing recurrence of such events.
Tasks before us
I am convinced that
the developed India 2020 vision transforming into a mission is
a national challenge and requires nationwide participation. While
my Government is committed for such missions, every citizen of
India should ask in what way he or she can contribute to these
missions directly or indirectly. It is difficult to spell out
all specific possibilities of tangible contribution by our citizens.
I would like to mention a few here, as examples:
Educationists should
build the capacities of the spirit of inquiry, creativity, entrepreneurial
and moral leadership among students and become their role model.
Today, professional education is becoming a commercial venture.
It is not affordable for even middle class people, what to talk
of people below the poverty line. State governments, universities
and the managements of educational institutions should review
and streamline the admission process and bring down the cost of
education without sacrificing quality. Education is enlightenment;
it is not trade.
In the health sector,
the major challenge is to develop an Anti-HIV/AIDS vaccine to
prevent the further spread of this disease. Another humane issue
is to ensure that HIV affected children are not discriminated
in schools and hospitals. It is essential that voluntary organisations
and religious leaders of localities provide a humane touch to
these members of society, by removing fear from the minds of the
people. Can we dream and act for a HIV free India?
The farming community
needs to increase its productivity through the mission of the
Second Green Revolution, using technological advances. Dry land
cultivation also needs a thrust. Large-scale industries have to
increase their productivity and quality so that their market share
can be increased for economic growth and the GDP. They should
aim to become multinational companies and global leaders.
The judiciary is
a prime pillar in our democratic set-up and should be able to
administer natural justice with speed and nobility.
The media has to
become a partner and positive critic in national development and
celebrate individual successes and collective efforts of rural
India.
Governmental tasks
The Government, with
the support of R&D labs, can provide technological upgradation
to small-scale industries and remove procedural and systemic bottlenecks
in executing missions. Actions emanating from the Government in
all its public dealings should become fully transparent through
e-governance.
Parliamentarians
and Legislators belonging to each constituency should become mission
facilitators for their constituency and also resolve inter and
intra – constituency conflicts. I am reminded of a Tamil epic,
which provides the code of conduct for people in high and responsible
positions:
It means, people
who are in high and responsible positions, if they go against
righteousness, righteousness itself will get transformed into
a destroyer. Whoever deviates from righteousness, whether they
are an individual or States, are responsible for their own actions.
If a country is to
be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly
feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference.
They are the father, the mother and the teacher. Let us join together
and launch this movement from the home and the school to eradicate
corruption.
Conclusion
We are a large country,
we are also blessed with natural resources and a highly motivated
young human resource. We have to prioritise our thoughts on national
development and make all other issues as "non-issues".
This will ensure focus and thrust for the development process.
And it will prevent dissipation of energy and resources on non-productive
issues.
I appeal to political
leaders, religious leaders, opinion makers, media personnel and
all Indian citizens to place a moratorium on all issues which
are impediments to the development of the nation, from now and
pledge ourselves to make the missions of Developed India a reality.
This will be the
greatest legacy that we can proudly leave behind for our next
generation. Let us sacrifice our today so that our children can
have a better tomorrow. I pray to the Almighty to provide us the
wisdom, knowledge, physical resources and ability to work hard
to succeed in our missions. Allow me again, my dear citizens to
wish you a very purposeful and happy Independence Day tomorrow.
Jai Hind."
