Nobody should have an objection to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s exhortation to chief ministers at the governing council meeting of the Niti Aayog on Saturday that states must play an active role in making India a developed nation by 2047 and achieving a zero poverty target but what remains in doubt is whether or not the Union government he leads is willing to hold up its end of the bargain.
India, the most populous nation on earth, has been Independent for the last 77 years but about 60 per cent of its population is dependent on free rations provided by the government for daily survival. The unemployment rate is quite high; and some studies say it is at its highest point in recent history. These are the basics on which we have to plan the path to be a developed nation although we may have travelled a lot when it comes to various other indices of human development starting from very dismal starting points.
But it would be a futile exercise to decide on the goals if India does not also evolve a consensus on the path on which it would travel and reach them. It had laid out one such path when it put down it in black and white the Constitution. That was an article of our faith in democracy and had two underlying principles — federalism and secularism. Only a nation which is very confident of its diverse character can make an opening statement as Article 1 of the Constitution which states that India, that is Bharat, shall be a union of states. The attempt during the most part of the life of the Indian republic has been to build on that diversity, and it played a role in whatever achievement we have made so far.
The experience under the incumbent Prime Minister and his political ideology for the last 10 years has not been all that promising when it comes to the commitment to these basic constitutional values and principles. An independent analyst would find it hard to come up with an observation that the institutions of democracy have flourished in these years or that federalism has strengthened or secularism has found its soul. Mr Modi as Prime Minister for the third consecutive term must now engage the various stakeholders of our polity to build a consensus on how the Constitution and its values will guide India in its bid to achieve its set goals.
But while the ruling dispensation proceeds under its own ideas of right and wrong, the Opposition appears to be a mode of denial. It has indeed secured itself a larger role to play while deciding the national agenda since the last Lok Sabha elections but its members mostly absent themselves in democratic fora. The meeting of the Niti Aayog general council was one such forum where the Opposition chief ministers could have made themselves heard. They could have put forth their points regarding how a government that pontificates about cooperative federalism does not walk the talk.
Democracy is all about constructive engagement of diverse opinions. The ruling front and the Opposition owe it to the people who placed them in their respective roles to play their parts in a manner that benefits the republic. Its time both sides realise this fact and act in accordance.
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