Poverty, infra, education, jobs are key challenges for India: Tharoor
18/August/2020
Poverty, education, jobs and infrastructure are key challenges India has to address while maintaining its pluralistic character as it approaches 75 years of independence, said Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in an interview. Tharoor, who represents the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency, said so far India had made “enormous progress" in some areas but has “recently been in a disappointing regression". “For some time now, the world has been troubled by an India that is seen as increasingly bigoted and intolerant… that has no appeal to the world outside." On Saturday, India marked its 74th Independence Day with Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the masses from the Red Fort. The celebrations were muted this year on the back of the novel coronavirus claiming 50,000 lives, and infecting more than 2.5 million. Outlining his vision for a “New India" for the next 75 years, Tharoor said the country will be “thriving, if we do the right things and do the things right". The first challenge, he said was that India needed to address poverty and beef up its infrastructure. “We have to deal with the hardware of development—the ports, the roads, the airports, all the infrastructural progress we need to make—and the software of development, the human capital, the need for the ordinary person in India to be able to have a couple of square meals a day, to be able to send his or her children to a decent school, and to aspire to work a job that will give them opportunities to transform themselves. We have to tackle and end corruption. But, at the same time, it is imperative that this journey takes place in an open and inclusive society, in a rich and diverse and plural civilization." He was critical of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government on issues such as the Citizenship Amendment Act, which promises to speed up the process of citizenship for Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and Buddhists from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and the National Register of Citizens aimed at weeding out illegal settlers in India. However, Tharoor seemed to back the government on dealing with China against the backdrop of the ongoing tensions in Ladakh. “India cannot afford to take China’s latest aggression lying down, not least because we have a strong interest in proving to would-be aggressors—not least Pakistan—that we are no pushover," he said. “We have to stand up to the bully, but do so without pushing it over the edge into open conflict. I see merit in us continuing to engage China bilaterally and multilaterally, while trying to constrain, rather than contain, its assertiveness." China’s belligerence against its neighbours hands India the opportunity to “be a beacon of democratic and economic hope in Southeast Asia and offer a new leadership in the vacuum created by the alienation that Chinese belligerence has provoked in most of its neighbours", he added. “Our neighbours can look to India as a model to be inspired by, including for the success with which we have maintained our democratic heritage, despite the strain and stress of time," Tharoor said.
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Poverty, education, jobs and infrastructure are key challenges India has to address while maintaining its pluralistic character as it approaches 75 years of independence, said Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in an interview. Tharoor, who represents the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency, said so far India had made “enormous progress" in some areas but has “recently been in a disappointing regression". “For some time now, the world has been troubled by an India that is seen as increasingly bigoted and intolerant… that has no appeal to the world outside." On Saturday, India marked its 74th Independence Day with Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the masses from the Red Fort. The celebrations were muted this year on the back of the novel coronavirus claiming 50,000 lives, and infecting more than 2.5 million. Outlining his vision for a “New India" for the next 75 years, Tharoor said the country will be “thriving, if we do the right things and do the things right". The first challenge, he said was that India needed to address poverty and beef up its infrastructure. “We have to deal with the hardware of development—the ports, the roads, the airports, all the infrastructural progress we need to make—and the software of development, the human capital, the need for the ordinary person in India to be able to have a couple of square meals a day, to be able to send his or her children to a decent school, and to aspire to work a job that will give them opportunities to transform themselves. We have to tackle and end corruption. But, at the same time, it is imperative that this journey takes place in an open and inclusive society, in a rich and diverse and plural civilization." He was critical of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government on issues such as the Citizenship Amendment Act, which promises to speed up the process of citizenship for Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and Buddhists from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and the National Register of Citizens aimed at weeding out illegal settlers in India. However, Tharoor seemed to back the government on dealing with China against the backdrop of the ongoing tensions in Ladakh. “India cannot afford to take China’s latest aggression lying down, not least because we have a strong interest in proving to would-be aggressors—not least Pakistan—that we are no pushover," he said. “We have to stand up to the bully, but do so without pushing it over the edge into open conflict. I see merit in us continuing to engage China bilaterally and multilaterally, while trying to constrain, rather than contain, its assertiveness." China’s belligerence against its neighbours hands India the opportunity to “be a beacon of democratic and economic hope in Southeast Asia and offer a new leadership in the vacuum created by the alienation that Chinese belligerence has provoked in most of its neighbours", he added. “Our neighbours can look to India as a model to be inspired by, including for the success with which we have maintained our democratic heritage, despite the strain and stress of time," Tharoor said.
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