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ystwiththepast:TheHindu educat ional , medi cal ) t hat her al ded

edi
tori
alon75y earsofIndi
a’s progr ess, and t he unl eashi ng of
independence knowl edge and communi cat ion sect ors
thatt ied I ndi a benef iciallyt ot hewor l
d
Thev al
uesenvi
sagedbyt
hebui
l
dersof
i
ndependentI
ndi
aneedtobei
mbibedfor economy .Ther ehav eal sobeenmi sst eps
sust
ainedpr
ogr
ess andf aili
ngs— t hei nabi l
ityt o er adi cate
August15,
2022 ext remepov ertyandmar ginal isationev en
thought hesedi dcomedowndr amat i
cal ly
Sev ent y -
fivey ear sago, ont hi
sday ,Indi a’s
since1947,t hest r
ai nsi ni mpl ement i
ng
fi
rstPr i
me Mi nister Pandi tJawahar l
al
the const it
utional or der and v alues,
Nehr umadet heser emar ksi nhi sst ir
ring
bur geoni ng communal maj orit
ar iani sm,
speech on I ndi a at taining f reedom at
whi chwasdeci dedl yr ej ect edbybot ht he
mi dni ght:“ Theachi ev ementwecel ebr at e
freedom f ighter saswel last hef ramer sof
today i s but a st ep,an openi ng of
theConst ituti
on,t hei ncompl etenat ureof
oppor tuni t
y,t ot hegr eat ert ri
umphsand
decent ralisat i
on of power , and r ising
achi ev ement st hatawai tus.Ar ewebr av e
economi ci nequal ity.Today ,ont heone
enough and wi seenough t o gr asp t his
hand,I ndi a st ands t al las one oft he
oppor tuni t
yandacceptt hechal lengeof
wor ld’s emer gi ng economi es wi th an
thef utur e?”Thesewor dsr i
ngt rueev en
adv ant ageous demogr aphi c di vidend,a
today j ust as when I ndependence
vibrant democr acy t hat ensur es
unshackl ed I ndi af rom Br iti
sh r ul e— a
ent husi ast icpar t
icipat ioni nel ect ions,a
mi l
est onet hat ,i n somecases,i nspi red
diver sepol i
ty,andadi v ersifiedeconomy .
the bi rth of ot her new nat i
on- states
Buti tal sof aceshumongouschal lenges.
acr osst hewor l
d,f reedf rom t hey okeof
It
speopl el ivei namor echaot icwor l
d
coloni alism.I ndependentI ndiaembar ked
wher e cooper ation and l iberal t r ade
upon a new j ourney ,i mbued wi tht he
relat i
onshav et akenabeat ingandwher e
vision of i tsf reedom f i
ght ers and a
climat echangei sachal lenge.Al so,t he
mi ssionsetoncour sebyt hemember sof
emer gence and consol idat i
on of a
theConst i
tuentAssembl ywhowor kedon
domi nantpol iticalf or ce t hatseeks t o
i
tsuni quel iber aldemocr at icConst i
t uti
on.
cent ralise power and homogeni se t he
Ther ehav ebeensi gni fi
cantachi ev ement s
i
deaofI ndi ahast hreat enedt ounr av elt he
— aconst i
tut i
onalschemeguar ant eeing
const i
tut ionalst r
uct ureofr ecogni tionof
ri
ght st hati ncl udedf reedom ofspeech,
diver sityandi nclusi onast hemeansf or
reli
gi on and a secul ar st ate,
ov erall pr ogress. Economi c pr ogr ess
i
mpl ement at ion of uni versal adul t
throughi ncl usiv egr owt h—apr ocesst hat
franchi sei nper i
odicel ect ions,at hr i
ving
wasaccel er atedf oll
owi ngcompr ehensi ve
l
egi slat ure,est abl i
shment sal l
owi ngf ora
refor ms i nt he ear ly 1990s and t he
formalsepar at ion ofpower s,a quasi -
i
nst itution of a r i
ght s- based appr oach
feder al uni on of St at es t hat wer e
towar dswel far ei nt hemi d-2000s— has
reor gani sed on a l ingui stic basi s,t he
slowed down i nt he l ast f ew y ear s.
building of i nstitutions ( indust rial
,
Meanwhi le,t her ei s an exacer bat ion of
i
nter-Statedispari
ti
es,withsouthernand thel ackofdi versified empl oy mentand
west er
nI ndiadeli
veri
ngbetteroutcomes i
ncr eased l abour pr oduct i
v i
ty i n
i
n educat i
on, heal th car e and compar i
son t o ot hercount riessuch as
thoroughgoing economi c growt h than Chi naorSout hKor eai saf ai l
ing.Ast he
other r egi
ons,an i ssue that requi
res wor ldt ransi tst owar dsa new i ndust rial
carefuldeli
berat
ioninthenearfuture. revol ut i
oni nitsr elianceont echnol ogi es
such as 5G,t he I nt er net of Thi ngs,
Thesuccessesandf ail
ur esoft heear li
er
artificiali nt ell
igence,r obot i
cs,andgr een
gener ati
ons i n post -
independent I ndi a
technol ogi es,I ndi a mustembar k upon
hav e pr ovided t he nat ion wi th t he
buildi ngsi gni f
icantcapabi liti
esi nt hesei n
pat hway st o addr ess t he chal lengesof
awayt hatdoesnotj ustr esul ti naf ew
thef ut ure.Forone, i
tiscl eart hatnei thera
cor por at ionsgai ningbutwhi chal l
owsf or
stat i
stnora mar ket -
onl y emphasi s on
mor e gainf ul empl oy ment and
dev elopmentand gr owt hi si deal .I ndi a
diver sificat ionoft heeconomy .Inext ernal
mustcont i
nue pol icies,f ramed i nt he
relations,whi leI ndi a mustcont inue t o
1990s, of al lowi ng ent repr eneur ial
skilful l
y nav igat e t he cont r
adi ct i
ons
ener gies t o f lourish whi ler elying on
emer gi ngi nt hei nter nat ionalor derwi th
compr ehensi ve wel fare wi th a r ight s
anemphasi soni tsi nt er est s,itshoul dnot
appr oach, whi chwasgi veni mpet usi nt he
disav ow t he t i
me- test ed adher ence t o
l
at e2000s, tohel put i
li
sei tsdemogr aphi c
values— ofnon- i
nt erf erence,bui l
dingan
pot ent i
al. I n t he ear ly y ears of
equani mouswor ldor derandst rivingf or
Independence,manymoder ni nst itutions
peace— t hatal lowedi tt oemer geasa
ofhi ghereducat i
on,i ndust ryandheal th
l
eaderoft henon- al i
gnedwor ld.Indi ahas
car e wer e bui ltand endur ed butI ndi a
comeal ongwaysi nce1947i nf indi ngi ts
mi ssedoutonast rongf ocusonpr i
mar y
foot ingamongt hecomi tyofnat ions,but
heal th-car e and educat ion,a weakness
ther est il
lneedsal otmor edi st ancet obe
thathasl edt otheper sist enceofpov er ty
travel led i nf ulfil
ling t he pr omi se t hat
andsoci almar ginalisati
onont hebasi sof
Pandi tNehr u spoke of ,on t he ev e of
cast e. A bot tom- up appr oach t o
Independence. I ndi a’ s I ndependence
dev elopment t hat shoul d f ocus on
gener at i
onwascl eart hatf reedom f rom
building capabi li
ti
es of t he ci tizenr y
Br i
tish r ule was meani ngl ess wi thouta
throughbot haf firmat iveact i
onsandst ate
const itutional or der t hat gov erns a
responsi veness woul d l ead t o bet ter
democr aticsy stem pr edi cat edonsoci al
release of pr oduct ive f orces i n t he
j
ust ice,equal i
tyanduni tyi ndi versityas
economy . St ates get ti
ng mor e f i
scal
thesewer et hepr omi sest hatgai nedt hem
l
at i
tude and l ocalgov er nment s bei ng
thei nt ellect ualbal lastandt hesuppor tof
empower ed t oi mpl ementpr ogr ammes
the peopl e t o ov er come col onial i
sm.
coul d go a l ong wayi n achi ev i
ng t hi s.
India’ spr ogr essi nt he21stcent urywoul d
Whi le, si nce t he r efor ms i n 1991,
depend upon t he r e- i
gni t
ion of t hese
i
nt erdependence i n a gl obal i
sed wor l
d
values.
all
owedf ort heexpor tsect orst of l
our ish,