Inclusion is necessary for saving country from disintegration: Muchkund Dubey
Anwarul Hoda / PATNA
Former vice president of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari has said that inclusiveness of all sections of the society by way of sharing the fruits of development was not an option but a necessity for the country.
Ansari, who chaired the 1st Syed Shahabuddin Memorial Lecture, delivered by ex-foreign secretary Muchkund Dubey, on the topic, “How Inclusive is India’s Development?” on Saturday here said: “inclusiveness is no longer an option but a necessity. There is a need to think on the issue, at all levels, to achieve inclusiveness in the society.”
He termed late Shahabuddin, a bureaucrat-turned politician, as an exceptionally “honest and outspoken” man, who was born with a rebellious streak. But he went on to use the rebel within him to the advantage of the Indian Foreign Service and the nation, he said.
———-1st Syed Shahabuddin memorial lecture——–
On politics of Bihar former VP said: “Bihar is unique in the sense that it is home to ‘baagi’ (rebels) and ‘premi’ (enthusiast). But, often it turns out that such personalities change their roles to pursue their passion.”
In his lecture Former foreign secretary Muchkund Dubey was forthright in stating, “corporate-led growth, initiated by UPA and passionately pursued by NDA, is not going to deliver an inclusive society.”
Dubey said that the strategy for achieving inclusive development, as against the concept of GDP and per capita-based inclusive growth, should aim at bringing about a basic change in social structure to usher in improvement in the lives of SC, ST, OBC, minorities and women.
Inclusion, he said, was necessary not only for accelerating the growth rate and sustaining it but also for saving the country from disintegration. “If I have the liberty to add, I will make it two plus two, with the addition of the promise for setting up a commission for execution of a five-year plan for the removal of ‘initial handicaps’, based on caste, creed and income, for those losing out in the growing rich-poor divide,” he said, pointing, “strengthening the panchayati raj institutions would the last point.”
He also debunked the talks of India beating China, fuelled on false patriotism, saying, “one needs to be realistic in acknowledging China’s position on social indicators, achievement in poverty alleviation, tackling inequality, its past year-on-year growth rate of 10 for the last 25 years, the size of its economy—the gap of which cannot be overcome by the .2% growth advantage.”
Earlier, former minister and eldest daughter of Late Syed Shahabuddin Parveen Amanullah introduced the topic, while Iqbal Ahmad, who conducted the programme, recalled how Shahabuddin, as the editor of Muslim India magazine, had outlined what needs to be done for the uplift of Muslims some two decades before Sacchar Committee came out with a similar recommendation.