India Cannot Achieve True Progress Unless Governance Improves, Says President

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the NKP Salve Memorial Lecture series and delivered the first NKP Salve Memorial Lecture on "Constitution and Governance" at a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi today (February 16, 2013).

Speaking on the occasion, the President said to achieve social justice requires not mere governance but the transformation of social ethos, a recasting of mindsets and that is the job not just of the legislature, the executive or the courts, but of each one of us. The ultimate goal of any democracy is the empowerment of the individual, irrespective of his economic, religious or social standing. This may appear to be a utopian dream for many, but the strength of a system lies in its capacity to ceaselessly work for its accomplishment.

The President said we owe ourselves to create a system in which access to politics is not limited to a privileged few but an average Indian also feels empowered enough to contribute. An egalitarian society can only be created when growth is inclusive. It is important to ensure that there is justice and equality of opportunity and the state does not create conditions in which the privileged few gain at the cost of the multitudes who suffer endemic poverty. A sustainable society can only be based on the principles of egalitarianism.

The President said India cannot achieve true progress unless the governance improves. Not one section is responsible for the ills. The society on the whole has to reset its moral compass. He also drew special attention to frequent disruptions of the functioning of legislatures and the parliament and said this trend should be corrected. He further called upon parliamentarians and legislators to spend sufficient time in discussing financial matters, the budgets, the five years plans, etc. If sufficient time was devoted, corruption could be checked in the bud.

This release issued at 1330hrs