Happy Independence Day

15th August is a memorable day for India. As India celebrates her 72nd Independence Day ( 71st Anniversary) today, my hearty best wishes to Indians the world over. Yes, Indians are truly spread far and wide, in every part of the globe.

Even as we look at the future with confidence and optimism, it is time to look back at the progress we have made as a nation in these 71 years. Though politicians from different parties would hog the credit for any progress and run down other parties, a reality check will show that every Prime Minister of India, irrespective of party affiliations has contributed his/her mite and has had some achievements to talk about. Let us not discuss their shortcomings/failures all the time.When will we have the maturity to understand and appreciate this? We are talking about Prime Ministers here and not Presidents because the latter occupies a position, which is more ceremonial in nature.

Take a look at the Prime Ministers who had a long tenure in office.

Jawaharlal Nehru was a tall leader and had the advantage of being the first prime minister of a fledgling nation. He was cast in the socialist mold and his primary achievement was setting of a road-map for the nation- be it caste-based reservation, abolition of large land-holdings, setting up of heavy industries like steel & coal, in short industrialization to replace imports gradually. On the foreign policy front, India became a member of the Commonwealth, was at the forefront of the Non-Aligned Movement and strove to strike a balance between the US of A and the Soviet Union. Established IIMs, IITs, NDA & AIIMS.

Short in stature was Lal Bahadur Shastri & short was his tenure as Prime Minister but was a memorable one, given his bold stance and victory in the Indo-Pakistan war in 1965. The slogan ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ was put into practice too. He ushered in the Green Revolution for agriculture & White Revolution for milk production.

Indira Gandhi had the crushing victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war & creation of Bangladesh to show in her scorecard. Riding the slogan ‘Garibi Hatao’, she ensured nationalisation of banks, heavy industries & insurance companies which were necessary at that point in time. Even as she fought uprisings in Mizoram & Nagaland as also militancy in Punjab, she had a hand in annexing Sikkim and making it a part of India. Equal pay for equal work was irrespective of gender was Indira’s contribution as also was the first successful nuclear detonation in Pokhran in 1974.

Rajiv Gandhi ushered in the science and technology revolution especially in the area of telecommunication. Attempted to reduce Licence raj and brought down import duties on computers,airline, defence and telecommunication equipment — the first signs of opening up of the Indian economy.

P.V.Narasimha Rao can be credited with opening up of the Indian economy in a big way ushering in foreign investment both in the equity markets and as direct investment. Computer-based trading at NSE was started during his regime. Even as he warmed up to Iran & ASEAN, he increased investment in India’s nuclear programme and enhanced defence spending.

Atal Behari Vajpayee continued the process of opening up of the economy and encouraged investments from the private sector as also from abroad. Emphasis was on infrastructure projects with special focus on road-building under the Golden Quadrilateral theme. The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana was introduced to take up road construction in villages. Kargil War was fought and won during his tenure which also successful nuclear tests carried out at Pokhran.

Manmohan Singh continued the liberalisation policy as also work on the Golden Quadrilateral. India’s highest GDP growth was achieved during his tenure in 2007. He can be credited with introduction of the RTI Act, National Rural Employment Guarantee Act & the National Rural Health Mission.

Narendra Modi is work in progress. Building India’s image abroad to attract more foreign investment has been a major thrust area.Surgical strikes across the border to destroy terrorist camps, introduction of GST, sudden demonetisation are some of the contributions of the incumbent government under Modi.

Fact is that, politicians across party lines have indeed contributed to the development of the nation. Why do we, including the media pick up only the failures or shortcomings of each regime ( according to own political affiliations) and make a big hue and cry?

Independence does not mean ‘independent of one another ‘ but ‘in dependence’ of one another. Political parties and the media should act constructively and not oppose every move of another political party, merely for the sake of opposing. Encomiums will be in order too.