Open Forum

New Delhi, 27 August 2008

Responsible Citizenship

NEED FOR NATIONAL REGENERATION

By Eduardo Faleiro

Former Union Minister is currently the Commissioner for NRI Affairs,

Govt of Goa

We have just celebrated our Independence Day.  The freedom struggle was not just for political freedom nor was it merely to dislodge the foreign rulers and install our own.  It was also for social and economic change and for a life of peace and dignity to all citizens. 

The colonial rule destroyed the Indian economy and greatly impoverished the people. An estimate by the Cambridge historian Angus Wilson reveals that in 1700, India’s share of the world income was 22.6% comparable to the entire income of Europe  which was then at  23.3%. By 1952 however, India’s share fell to 2.3% of the world income. 

By all accounts, India was a prosperous nation at the onset of Western colonialism.  The French traveller Jacques Tavernier in his ‘Travels in India’ has this to say of the country in the 17th Century. “Even in the smallest  villages,  rice,  flour, butter, milk,  beans  and  other  vegetables,  sugar  and sweetmeats  can  be  procured  in  abundance”. 

All this changed during British rule, as per Government reports of the time. Over 70-80% of Indians were living at subsistence levels, two-thirds were under-nourished and in Bengal alone the number of under-nourished was nearly four-fifths. Our literacy rate too was a mere 11%. True, at present, the literacy rate is 66% but this is quite low.

Importantly, the Union as well as the State Governments must streamline their machinery with a sense of urgency and redouble efforts if we are to attain the Millennium Development Goals of universal literacy by the year 2015. Especially against the backdrop that the country is at present the second fastest growing major economy in the world. Our GDP growth rate was 9% in the financial year 2007-2008.

Besides, the 21st Century will reportedly be the Asian Century just as the 20th was the American and the 19th the European Century. By 2035, China is expected to be the second largest economy followed by India at the third place in the world. Towards that end, the country is contributing to the Asian resurgence.

The Government is striving towards South-Asia as a zone of peace and prosperity in cooperation with all our neighbours. Our “Look East” policy will strengthen cooperation with other Asian countries.  India  and  5 ASEAN countries have signed  an agreement on  ‘Partnership for Peace, Progress  and Shared  Prosperity” to create a Free Trade Area by 2011 and  by  2016 New Delhi hopes to enlarge this pact with the  remaining  ASEAN countries. India is now an ASEAN Summit partner, along with China, Japan and South Korea.

We are moving towards an Asian trading block which will rival the European Union. For that New Delhi and Beijing must shed their historical rivalries and advance towards mutual collaboration. Such collaboration will greatly benefit both the countries. For instance, India has an advantage in computer software and China in hardware. If both countries join hands, both will be able to launch the “Asian century of Information Technology”.

Whilst  the  people  of  India can justifiably face the future with  confidence  and optimism,  yet  there  is  much  to  be  achieved and the task of  national regeneration is yet to be fully accomplished.

The  framework  for  responsible  citizenship  and  national  regeneration has been laid  down  in  the  Indian  Constitution in three parts.  Part III of the Constitution deals with Fundamental Rights, Part IV with the Directive Principles of State Policy and Part IVA with the Fundamental Duties. The Fundamental Rights are basic human  rights  which  the  State  recognizes  and  provides  for  their  enforcement. We are all equally human, the world is one family and all human rights are for all.

The nature and extent of the State responsibility for the protection of human rights in India was indicated by the National Human Rights Commission in the case of the Gujarat riots of 2002. It said “It is the primary and inescapable responsibility of the State to protect the right of life, liberty, equality and dignity of all those who constitute it. It is also the responsibility of the State to ensure that such rights are not violated either through overt acts or through abetment or negligence.

“It is a clear and emerging principle of human rights jurisprudence that the State is responsible not only for the acts of its own agents but also for the acts of non-State players acting within its jurisdiction. The State is, in addition, responsible for any inaction that may cause or facilitate the violation of human rights.”

The Directives Principles of State Policy are guidelines to be kept in mind by the Government whilst framing laws and policies. Some of these principles are the promotion of the Panchayati Raj system, free and compulsory education to all children below the age of 14 years, adoption of a Uniform Civil Code and provision of adequate means of livelihood to all.

The Fundamental Duties are moral obligations of all citizens and are specifically intended to promote responsible citizenship and national unity and harmony. We often harp on our rights but neglect and may even be unaware of our duties.

Mahatma Gandhi summed it up: “I learnt from my illiterate but wise mother that all rights to be deserved and preserved come from duty well done.”  Einstein articulated the same thought: “Every day, on hundred occasions, I remind myself that my mental and physical life depends on the toil of other persons, living or dead. So I must try to repay whatever I have received and am receiving”.

The Constitution lists ten Fundamental Duties. Each has a distinct role and importance in our polity. One of the Fundamental Duties is “to provide harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood among all the people in India, transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities”.

When fanaticism and bigotry stalk the land, the importance of this duty cannot be overstated. At present, the Fundamental Duties are not enforceable in a court of law. A former Attorney General of India, Soli Sorabjee, suggests that the Supreme Court might "by innovative interpretation make certain duties partly justiceable by infusing them into some Directive Principles and gradually incorporating them in the Fundamental Rights”.

What is needed is a citizenry conscious of their rights and of their duties. The Union and State Governments should work together with voluntary organisations to promote awareness of our rights as well as of our responsibilities and to sensitize the citizens to the values enshrined in our Constitutional framework. 

(This article is based on a speech by Mr. Eduardo Faleiro at the Dharma Bharati Foundation, Mumbai.)  The Justice Verma Committee on Fundamental Duties of Citizens rightly observed that “the desired enforceability can be better achieved by providing not merely legal sanctions but also combining it with social sanctions to facilitate the performance of the task through exemplar, role models… The real task, therefore, is to devise methods which are a combination of these aspects so as to ensure a ready acceptance of the programme by the general citizenry and the youth, in particular. . The importance of fundamental duties must be emphasized at all stages of education. This is essential for preparing the younger generations for assuming their role as responsible citizens." the Committee asserted.---INFA

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)