Happy 72nd Independence Day

The entire nation turned into celebration mode to mark 72^nd Independence Day of our great nation. It is tricolors all around with patriotic songs creating vibes of respect for our martyrs. Schools and colleges have been organizing varied programs to mark this national festival. School going kids are at sky high, doesn’t matter what he/she understand of Independence.

Looking back at the progress path of the nation post independence, we gather host of reasons to rejoice and celebrate. We have made remarkable progress in all the fields, be it economy, Science & Technology, Defense, Literature and sports, to say a few. At one hand we fondly recall and pay tributes to the martyrs on the other hand we feel proud of ours being the world’s largest democratic country.

Look at any field which defines the progress of a nation we have reached a milestone. We are food sufficient nation and need not import food grain to feed ourselves, we have joined world class club in space technology, our forex reserves is all time high, our economy is world’s sixth largest economy. In sports we have world champion cricket team. Our roads are flooded with expensive cars including imported ones like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche and Audi. Our spending habits are increasingly getting boomed. Road network has gradually included almost all villages and there is extensive network of highways and expressways making transportation smooth and fast. Our leaders are globally known for their extraordinary talent and capability and world’s IT is virtually commanded by Indian professionals. We have talent pool to rule the world of professionalism.

Despite all these achievements, we have something to worry about which we couldn’t achieve even after 71 years of independence. The inequality which persists even today is increasingly strengthening the concept of India and Bharat. While India caught bullet train and achieved the progress fast, Bharat is still struggling to make even the minimum stride. What needs to ponder on, is two news coming from the same city within a short span of time very recently. A news that kids of a parents died of hunger whereas the CM of the same state spent lakhs of rupees as five star hotel bill just to attend a oath taking ceremony of a CM of other state. This gap between rich and poor has been gradually widening and it is still wide apart.

Even today from the Red Fort our PM reiterated his commitment to provide housing to all by 2022. It is the area which raises the alarm that even after 71 years of independence we have failed to provide shelter to all. There are number of poor families spending nights on the footpaths or under the flyovers. They don’t have access to basic amenities like drinking water, minimum healthcare and nutritious food. People are committing suicide getting trapped in the labyrinth of poverty. In a nation where we have number of billionaires, these people deserve at least these basic amenities and that is the reason we are called a nation of poor and a nation of Sapera.

Another area which deserves better attention is healthcare facilities for masses. Though we have been adding state of the art hospitals in different parts of the country, the medical facilities are still a nightmare for common people. Number of doctors per 1000 people in our country is among the worlds lowest. We don’t have even 1 doctor per 1000 population. Gradually increasing medical treatment cost has caused an extreme amount of worry for even middle class families forget the poor.

Ours is the world’s largest democracy and we must feel proud of it but does it really mean for the people. We understand that it is of the people and by the people but yet it to be for the people. During election campaign political leaders roam through villages and people gather to see as if someone from another planet has descended on the earth. They don’t rush to see the leader but to see the luxury cars on which they travel. And that is happening because the governance is not yet “for the people”. We need to think. It means someone else is getting extra slice of resources meant for someone else. It undermines the promises of right to equality.

We are proud of being independent but yet a larger section of the society needs independence in true sense. We will celebrate true Independence Day when we will be able to minimize this gap, if not fully filled in.