Republic of India: Parameters of Success
India is going to celebrate 73rd Republic Day this year on 26th January. This is a day of great significance for each and every citizen of our nation. We have various reasons to celebrate this day as we have achieved lots of success during these 73 years. However, Republic Day is a defining moment in the history of the nation as on this day India adopted its constitution and completely freed itself from the control of colonial rule. The constitution of India became a universal document for every Indian and since then it has been very effectively guiding us on the path of democracy.
Historicity of the day
During the World War I lakhs of Indian troops had fought under British command in different parts of Asia, Africa and Europe in the hope that after the war British government will start taking social and political steps to improve their condition which might lead in the direction of self- rule. After the war instead of self-rule, the British imposed the Rowlatt Act and those who opposed it were detained without trial. In the horrific incident of Jallianwala Bagh in April 1919 many hundreds were killed and thousands were injured. Due to all this Mahatma Gandhi started the famous Non-Cooperation Movement. Further Congress in its Lahore session in 1929 under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru adopted the program of Purna Swaraj and decided to observe the complete Independence day on 26 January 1930. Although, independence came only in 1947 but the people of India got an opportunity to observe the complete independence in 1930 itself. After the independence when our constitution was created by the Constituent Assembly, it was fully implemented on 26 January 1950 only in spite of the fact that it was already approved and signed by its makers in November 1949. From 15th August 1947 to the full implementation of the constitution India was a constitutional monarchy, with King George VI and Governor Generals such as Lord Mountbatten and C Rajagopalachari. In between these years Jawaharlal Nehru was the head of the government and the Constituent Assembly was busy in making the constitution of India.
Points to celebrate
After the independence critics thought that India would not survive due to division of society into caste and communal segments, economic crises and lack of formal democratic traditions. But all these speculations proved to be wrong and India is successfully marching on the road of a matured democracy. Today, India is known as the largest democracy in the world and most effective power in South Asia with a fully independent foreign policy and ability to deal with any power of the world. India is a strong contender for a future permanent member of the Security Council. In spite of a long colonial past India has been very successful in establishing well developed democratic institutions in past 72 years with a large number of standard educational institutions in Science, Commerce, Humanities, Information technology and Medical Science etc.
In 1960s India started showing its interest in Space Science and it formed the Indian National Committee for Space Research. Subsequently, The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was set up. India launched its first satellite Aryabhata on 19th April 1975 which was the beginning of its ambitious project in the direction of space programs. Some of the important experiments in this field of space science which were carried in the last century were Bhaskara I in 1979, development of launch of SLV-3 in 1981 and Indo Soviet manned space mission in 1984. Later similar developments also took place in the past 20 years. It includes launch of GSLV in 2001, INSAT-3C in 2002, PSLV-C5 in 2003. After that India gradually became a known space power. It successfully launched satellites and in 2008 it planted its flag on the lunar surface. Similarly India launched its mission to Mars in 2013 which reached the planet’s orbit on September 2014.
Seeing the colonial past of India, It has been a battle for successive governments to achieve the present stage of development and growth in various fields. It has been a consistent struggle for India since the beginning. Right from the early days after independence, there have been many external and internal efforts to destabilize India but Indian governments, political parties and common people have jointly countered such forces and all such designs against India have proven to be failures.
India has a well maintained defence system to save the country from any external invasion and internal disturbances. She has been aggressively enhancing her ability to deter any attack in any part of the country by the enemy. We have developed various warships, Light Combat helicopters, light Combat Aircraft and tested all of them successfully. INS Kolkata, INS Sumitra, INS Sindhukriti, INS Vikramaditya, Air to Air missile system, induction of world’s fastest cruise missile BrahMos in Indian defence system are some of the examples which clearly indicate the story of the emergence of the might of India.
The Indian road network has become one of the largest in the world. Governmental efforts have led to the expansion of the network of state highways and major district roads. In the education sector elementary education has become a fundamental right for children in the age group of 6–14 years. Today we have large literate population in our country which was insignificant at the time of independence.
In the area of healthcare India has achieved a lot. There has been a significant increase in life expectancy of Indian people. We have made our country a polio-free society, mortality in children has rapidly come down and we are well on our way to eradicate TB. The government of India has launched Ayushman Bharat Scheme that is going to cover about 40% of our population.
After 1990s India started economic reforms which also proved to be quite helpful in launching the policy of liberalization and privatization. Today we find India with increased FDI, better information technology and a developed domestic consumption. There has been a significant development in different arenas of our country and service sector has remarkably increased. According to a report the service sector accounted for around 54% of Indian GDP in 2018 and it has been consistently growing.
India has developed its indigenous nuclear capacity which is very helpful in its massive infrastructural development. Its Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has been actively engaged in the field of potential research due to which the country is capable of meeting any challenge posed by the enemy. Our scientists and engineers have been working very sincerely to make India capable of eliminating any undesirable threat.
Various governments of India have launched different schemes from time to time with specific objectives aimed at benefiting the poor and vulnerable sections of the society. Many individuals are obtaining training and employment opportunities due to such schemes. In the constitution of India, article 41 of Directive Principles asks the state to make effective provisions for securing the right to work, education and public assistance in case of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement.
Parameters of Left
Indian society and politics has generally been divided into so called left and right. There was time when the left forces had a major role to play in Indian politics. They had many famous leaders who were sharp and bright in their thought and action. Now they have become insignificant but they have their own approaches to judge the nature of development. Again, left forces have many segments and they have become almost negligible particularly in the aftermath of the collapse of communism in Soviet Union and East European countries. However, still their leaders have certain people who listen to them. These leaders have always been talking against the policies of the government either it is the Congress or any coalition force or BJP in power at the center. These forces judge the growth and development based on the old paradigms and wish to carry forward the same policies which were suitable in pre liberalization period. They got the chance to come to power in Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura for so many years in the past and sometimes their leaders became ministers even in the central government. Today they are nowhere a significant force in the country. They are either criticizing the government or surviving in politics in the hope of gaining some electoral benefits for their existence. There are some other political forces in the so called broader left and democratic bloc who think of themselves as socialist but they are indulged in pure caste politics. In fact they need to rethink and adopt political thinking and approach more suitable to the contemporary society.
Policies of the so called Right
Forces of right in Indian politics seem to be in a well placed position. They have mostly been supporters of the ruling sections. In the contemporary world where communist and Marxist-socialist ideologies have been badly humiliated and defeated by the common people themselves, the right wing forces in some countries are in a position to dictate the terms and conditions of political practices. These forces are closely associating themselves with majoritarian thinking. On economic front the right forces are guided by market forces but on social and cultural front they are following the nationalist ideology. Therefore, in the perception of growth and development also their approach can be influenced by nationalist ideologies which sometime become contradictory. Particularly in this age of globalization such policy cannot function smoothly. We need to understand the logic of market along with the welfare of the vast masses. Religion and faith after all, are a matter of personal belief and practice. They are very important for the people for their spiritual satisfaction and peace in their life but the basic character of Indian constitution needs to be maintained.
Conclusion
On the occasion of the Republic Day we must be guided by the policy of need of the society and development of all. Here, the slogan given by our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is very relevant. We all should be united and focused on the development of our nation without any narrow interests. India is the largest democracy in the world with a vast and diverse people belonging to different religions and linguistic identities which requires unity of the people for progress and prosperity.
