President’s address takes govt view on grim realities

When India became a republic on January 26, 1950, its citizens resolved to be guided by a Constitution they had themselves created, and it is this living document which lays down the fundamental principles of public life, and the basic direction for elected governments to follow.

The Rashtrapati — the head of the Indian State — on this day takes a broad-sweep view of how the government has performed. The President’s customary address to fellow citizens on the eve of Republic Day is, therefore, in the nature of an audit of the country’s tryst with our constitutional principles and guidelines. Performing his role as the First Citizen, President Ramnath Kovind should be lauded for at least “reaffirming the commitment to liberty, fraternity and equality” across the whole society on the eve of 70th Republic Day.

This is much needed considering that the country has gone through a very difficult phase. Our farm sector is in economic and social turmoil on account of the government’s ill-considered policies. Elsewhere in the system, unemployment has led to distress among the younger of our citizens and, as Mr Kovind reminded us, Indians born in the 21st century will have the chance to vote for the first time for Parliament. Business confidence is low, industry is sluggish, India’s budgetary educational and health spending is among the lowest in the world. Social tensions are high.

The President’s address appears to have papered over these realities of life. It speaks of India being “at the doorstep of eliminating extreme poverty for the first time in memory”. Such an observation is apt to surprise many.

There was considerable routine incantation of governmental view of things, rather than the harsh realities that ordinary citizens encounter. There were, for instance, lines about “gender equality” being the best indicator of social change. This is praiseworthy except that Kerala, whose state government sought to implement the Sabrimala judgment of the Supreme Court, was lambasted by the Prime Minister for discounting tradition.

There is also not much left to be said for the place of gender equality in real life when official data suggests that the overwhelming bulk —  as high as 59 per cent — of official funds of the “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” (Protecting and Teaching our Daughters) was spent on publicity rather than on addressing the problem.

In light of the grim conditions that have prevailed in the country in recent times, President Kovind sought to bring to our attention the existence of an “Indian model” whose key features are “diversity, democracy and development”. There is, of course, bewildering social diversity in India, but democracy and development are not uniquely the features of India. In the long run, we are likely to be better off if we doubled down to ensure fair play for our diversity, rather than confine ourselves to literalness found in official material.