Sixty years ago the voice of the people of India found its true and free expression in these hallowed premises. In the early hours of that historic day Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru asked the people of free India to march forward “with faith and confidence in this great adventure” of building a secular, democratic and modern India.

Inspired by the unique personality of a great soul, Mahatma Gandhi, our freedom fighters gave us a Constitution of which we are all truly proud. As Babasaheb Ambedkar said in the last session of the Constituent Assembly, our Constitution has given us not just a political democracy, but also a social democracy, guaranteeing equality of all and empowerment of the weak and the marginalized.

Every citizen of this great Republic has cherished our hard won freedom because it is only as a secular democracy committed to social justice that we have been able to empower the poorest of the poor in this ancient land of ours.

The building of a free, democratic India has been one of the greatest adventures of humankind this past century. In these sixty years we have done much and we have achieved much. Yet, we have some distance to travel before we can say that we have fulfilled Gandhiji’s dream of wiping the last tear of the poorest of the poor. This remains our sacred duty as representatives of our people.

Today, when we look back and look around I believe we can say with some sense of satisfaction that India is on the move. There is a new dynamism in our people. A new sense of confidence in their capabilities. A new sense of hope in their collective future. They recognize we have a long road ahead in our tryst with destiny; and more to be done to redeem our pledge in full measure.

However, the people of India also know that they can do it. This new sense of confidence, this new outburst of energy of our people, has to be harnessed and channelised in the right direction for India to regain its due place in the comity of modern Nations.

As I have often said, the world today wants India to do well. The world community wishes us well. Our external situation is benign and favourable. Our challenges are at home. There is no other institution more powerful than the Parliament of India in addressing these challenges we face at home.

On this day solemn day, as we mark the 60th anniversary of our Independence, I urge every Member of Parliament, every legislator, every member of every panchayat and municipality to resolve to translate our hard won freedom into true freedom for all. Let us resolve to create an environment in which the creativity and enterprise of our people can find its full and free expression. Let us resolve not to pursue divisive agendas, not to weaken our nation and society by dividing our people on narrow caste, communal, linguistic and regional lines. Unity in diversity are the wall and roof of the fabric of our nationhood.

Mahatma Gandhi used to say that the service of India is nothing more than the service of the millions who suffer. Every elected representative must remember this motto every day. I would like to see an India of greater equality, an India less argumentative and more cooperative, an India that works hard with a sense of purpose and devotion.

It should be our common and collective endeavour to ensure that every one of our citizens is educated and skilled so that every one is gainfully employed. Equality of opportunity in securing education is the best and the most durable means of social empowerment and social justice. Every child, irrespective of caste, creed, religion or region, must have reasonable assurance of access to modern education and acquisition of requisite skills.

From times immemorial India has been at the forefront of the evolution of human knowledge. We need to promote a scientific outlook, inculcate a scientific temper and foster a more enlightened and modern outlook in our people. We should once again regain that position as a modern, knowledge-based culture where science and technology are used to overcome age-old problems of mass poverty, ignorance and disease. Our agriculture is urgently in need of a second green revolution. We need to forge ahead with labour intensive industrialization and the development of a knowledge-based economy. We ought to be mindful of the welfare of all people and specially of our ecological inheritance, our environment and our natural wealth and resources.

For all the benefits of development to reach the poor it is essential that the delivery systems of the Government, at all levels, are more efficient and purged of corruption. The cancer of corruption must be extinguished if democracy and development have to have a real meaning for our people.

This Parliament has a very important role to play for attaining the national goals of development and progress. The representatives of our people have to ensure that all the institutions of our Republic - the legislature, the judiciary and the executive - are all responsive, accountable, transparent and honest in their functioning. This much we owe to our people and to all those who sacrificed their lives to give us our precious freedom sixty years ago.

 

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