You shouldn’t have missed it, Mr. PM!

With already so much having been commented upon the maiden speech of ‘not-an-accidental’ PM by nearly all prominent journalists and columnists of varied viewpoints and contrasting ideologies there is only little scope left for further review of the confident articulation which many have already classified as historical. So why this article? Actually, we are ‘Pakke Bhartiya’ who never feel contended by any speech made -howsoever great it may sound- as we find something in it to dissent from. Here we didn’t find much to dissent from so we were compelled to explore what more points could be raised in such a special and path-breaking speech. And we came across the issues which were of significance but failed to find space in the archival extempore of our dear Prime Minister. Let’s take them one by one-

That corruption is nowhere in the real agenda of the present governmentis apparent by the PM’s speech where we didn’t hear the word ‘भ्रष्टाचार’ for once.

• We, the people of minimum government

Corruption is certainly one of the most clichéd terms in India’s context and who can be held responsible for this? Surely the politicians who have always deceived the people with their speeches in the doublespeak and with their multiple standards on the various issues. So is it not the responsibility of the most powerful politician of the country to make it clear what his intention and plan of approach is. That  corruption is nowhere in the real agenda of the present governmentis apparent by the Prime Minister’s speech where we didn’t hear the word ‘भ्रष्टाचार’ even for once.And this is disappointing especially when he and his government are already breaking free of the prevailing stereotypes. He talked of reforms at the micro level e.g. moral and human values, platitudes like service-not-job, and the teachings from the scriptures like individual vigilance (जाग्रयाम् वयम्). An appeal for keeping away from corrupt activities could signal at least a positive sign, if not change the behavior of the people overnight.

• Bhaiyon, Behno! Gandagi na failaiyega

This is a fact that he has talked so much about the sanitation issue in the pre-election as well as post-election speeches and also that the Ganga Clean Mission has been given very high priority with local people also being involved in this. Then what’s the problem? Perhaps Mr. PM is not directly responsible for this thing but the long tradition of falsehood and betrayals by the bunch of crook politicians has forced the people not to believe in promises and appeals. And the most suitable evidence is the following picture of post-I Day celebrations. PM talked so much of sanitation and what happened just after he finished? Wish he could anticipate it!

Also very important is manual scavenging issue as Jairam Ramesh has reviewed the speech on the sanitation front and has written that ‘given the time he devoted to sanitation in his speech, it would have only been appropriate that the Prime Minister spoke feelingly about the persistent prevalence of manual scavenging across the country’.

• He who wants to become a Bhakta must be healthy

Very closely associated with sanitation is health which- unlike sanitation- couldn’t find the words of PM. He talked about universal access to health infrastructure using broadband but that too in the context of Digital India. Also for a just healthcare system universal access is necessary but certainly not sufficient. The equitable distribution of medicines, the medicine patent issue and improvement in the services of government hospitals are important too. He could talk about IMR and child mortality being 2.5 times higher in rural areas than their urban counterparts. He could have pointed out at the major issue of malnutrition in our children with the fact that 40% of them receive less food than they should.He could have made people aware about the alarming jeopardy of non-communicable diseases like hypertension, diabetes etc. especially in North India. He could have drawn attention of his MPs- as part of the village adoption scheme- and other citizen about the miser availability of drinking water at large number of places even today. He could have borrowed the idea of sound health of all citizens from Swami Vivekananda who- as he said- “could never speak a false word”. But he missed it completely!

• The Not-so-young

Everyone knows about the demographic dividend India is likely to enjoy in near future and also about the ambitious plans of PM who emphasized on his slogan of Yuva Shakti and who is prepared to trap this Shakti by introducing new Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. So far, so good. But who would disagree that the youngsters will be only building upon the contributions of the remaining not-so-young population. They should not be treated as if they are like burden on us. PM missed the opportunity to make young India realize this.

• The Indian Musalmaan

Whether it is his dislike for alleged ‘Muslim appeasement’ of Nehru and that of Congress or the start of a new era in Indian politics when politicians will talk less and less in terms of religious disparity- we don’t know and hence wouldn’t comment upon. But just by looking at the various observations and recommendations in report submitted by Sacchar Committee on status and welfare of Muslims in India one can feel the pressing need to take serious steps. The committee had said that Muslims have very less percentage of employed population, even lesser than the SCs/STs.

Also few positive words- but not just of formality- could help the administration a lot in bringing the series of communal violence to an end which have been happening repeatedly in many parts of country, especially in Western UP. He could have been more direct in asking India to celebrate its diversity. His words like‘ye desh sirf kisi ek dharm ya samudaay ka nahin hai’ might have passed important message to religious fanatics. It could also have widened his acceptance among all communities.

• Jante Sab Hain par Maante Kitne Hain!

While this ad of KBC was being aired on the National TV for the first time I realized that the intensity of the problem was so high and so beautifully presented that even Mr. Bacchan was reduced to a secondary element. Unfortunately PM didn’t see this ad. Hence he could not utilize the opportunity to bring the contribution of North-East in nation building before the whole nation. While mentioning CWG medals he could have recognized the athletes from NE. Also it was convincingly important to add some P.S. to the National Anthem considering the fact that the great poet Tagore couldn’t fit this territory into the rhythm of the song.

• Going green, the third color of Tiranga

He talked about sanitation but made no mention of efforts needed to preserve our environmental resources. Perhaps this was- and is- not a matter of concern for someone coming from poor background. Don’t you remember this is how he came to sanitation point that he has seen what sanitation means for the poor? Anyway he could have endorsed the idea of going green at macro as well as micro level. And as the title goes he had the best opportunity in hand to redefine the third color of Tiranga. Missed the golden opportunity to break another stereotype!

• एषाभूतानांपृथिवीरसःपृथिव्याअपोरसः

This is the first shloka of the first chapter of Chāndogyopaniṣad which translates loosely as ‘the essence of all beings is the earth, the essence of the earth is water’. This could be used- the same way he used two other shloka- to link the significance of water resource with our cultural values. He should have brought it to notice of nation- specially addressing the rural population- how important it is to redeem our lost and encroached water resources and at the same time to preserve the available ones for future generations.

• An appeal to students, parents and teachers

These are attitudinal changes which percolate from top to bottom in a society. He could have appealed to parents for giving their wards freedom of choice among available options. He could have asked teachers- particularly ones teaching in government-run schools- to understand the great responsibility of nation building they have been vested with. At the same time students could have been encouraged to make constructive inroads in cutting edge technologies.

P.S: Our intention behind writing this long article has not been to show our deliberate skepticism towards the words of PM or the Government but it is only that we wanted to make note of what could be added more. It was important because he should not forget them at Lal Quila next year.

Written by Nishant Singh

The views conveyed in the article are solely of the author. The opinion section of Vox Populi provides a platform for the campus junta to voice their opinions.