Turning Points (4 page)
The accident resulted in two important events. One was the seeding and birth of my book
Ignited Minds
, with the aim of inspiring the youth with the spirit of I can do it, and the second was my travelling from Ranchi to Quilon to meet Amma – Mata Amritanandamayee – to get myself spiritually recharged.
Ignited Minds
, as it happened, was published just before I became president. The title became a favourite phrase of the news media and occurred quite a few times in the news reports of my taking up the presidency. The book became a phenomenal success and continues to be a perennial seller. Amma is a saintly soul immersed in social welfare, specially education and health care, and helping orphans and destitutes. I was accompanied on this visit by
two friends, and I shared with them that I had decided to resign as PSA and had sent a letter to the PM. Then I met Amma without any tension. I discussed with Amma my vision of India 2020 and value-based education.
This was in November 2001, after about two years as PSA. In my letter I said I would like to return to my academic pursuits. Of course, the reason was deeper, as I felt that programmes like PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) and the management of India 2020 – which I was handling – were not getting the needed priority. Where was the problem arising? As far as possible I would like to implement every goal or activity as a project with well-defined timelines, funding and responsibility. Such an environment is difficult to achieve in the overall government system when the mission objective has to be accomplished by multiple ministries and departments with their own goals and programmes. In agriculture, for example, if one sets the goal of increasing production by, say, 4 per cent every year, it would need the support of the ministries of water resources, power, fertilizers, chemicals, rural development, panchayati raj, railways (for transporting the fertilizer), and so on, and there is no clear-cut, common goal for all the contributing agencies. Secondly, the PSA’s is a coordinating, advisory role with a wide sweep but no direct authority, which can be a disadvantage for mission accomplishment. This led me to take up the assignment at Anna University as professor of technology for societal transformation. This was the sixth turning point in my life.
During the last three months of my tenure as president, a question was being asked about my candidature for a second term. I had already made up my mind to go back to
teaching and promoting the India 2020 vision. Suddenly, in the run-up to July, the Congress ruling party suggested some likely candidates. The opposition felt differently, the nation was buzzing with political activity and a stream of leaders from different parties came to see me, suggesting that I contest again. I received several requests from the public and eminent personalities and from the youth of the nation, both personally as well as through emails, to accept a second term. Just before the close of nominations, a team of political leaders met me and said that they would get the support of all the parties, including the ruling party, if I agreed to stand for the elections.
I told them that if most parties agreed, I would consider the possibility. The leaders came back to me and said that the ruling party did not agree to my candidature, but they insisted that I should stand for the election as they were confident of my success. Without any hesitation, I told them that if that were so, I would not stand for the election since I believed that Rashtrapati Bhavan should not be drawn into party politics. Reluctantly, the leaders agreed. A press release was issued that I would not be a candidate for the presidential elections. I took a conscious decision to go back to a career in academics and research and continue to work with passion for transforming India into an economically developed nation by the year 2020.
I have always believed that cowards never make history, history is created by people with courage and wisdom. Courage is individual, wisdom comes with experience.
Empowerment comes from within
Nobody else can give it, except the Almighty.
T
he presidency was a challenge for me. It became a platform to launch India 2020, which I believe can only be achieved by the participation of all citizens including elected representatives all the way up to Parliament, administrators, artists and writers, and the youth of the country. The best way to convince others of the relevance of this mission is through face-to-face discussion, which
will also help in the assimilation of others’ views and thinking.
The presidency provided me with this opportunity. I could communicate directly with people across the social spectrum, particularly the youth and the political leaders, regarding the importance of having a vision for the nation that should be translated into action.
This gave my role as president an additional purpose. In respect of the constitutional role, the president has to ensure that the every action of the government and the legislatures is in line with the spirit of the Indian Constitution. Every action that the government takes is in the name of the president of India. The Bills and ordinances passed by Parliament and the government come to the president for assent and he has to ensure that these instruments are for the larger benefit of society. He also has to see that they do not set a precedent for taking an action that is biased. I will not dwell at length on the established principles and practices of the institution of president. However, besides those set by the Constitution, tradition and precedent, I felt that the role offers much more than merely that of the titular head of government.
There is scope for action on many fronts, whether it is on the development front as a catalyst for achievement by communicating with different sections of the society; politically, as he has to personally assess the strength of the party or alliance in power, so that they do not take decisions when they do not have adequate numbers; providing sagacious advice to governors and learning about the functioning of their states; and as supreme commander of the
armed forces inspire them to exemplary performance.
In addition, as head of state he is the focus of people’s attention. My purpose was to make Rashtrapati Bhavan much more accessible to the people and use it for reaching out to them. It was my way of making them feel a part of the growth and prosperity of the nation and give them a stake in its governance. Thus, from being president I went to being part of people’s lives, and the institution became a much more interactive one.
One of the first things I did at Rashtrapati Bhavan was to initiate e-governance. There were computers in use but I felt that the process needed to be taken much further. We implemented a system whereby all the files, documents, and letters which arrived at the President’s Secretariat would first get digitized and bar coded. The paper files would then be archived. From then on the file moved only electronically to various officers, directors, secretaries to the government, and to the president, according to the importance of the file.
My dream was to have a system whereby Rashtrapati Bhavan was connected to the Prime Minister’s Office, governors’ offices and ministries over a secured messaging network with digital signature thus enabling G2G e-governance operations. We had tested the system and it was ready for implementation. One day I hope my dream comes true. When we implemented e-governance across nine sections of the President’s Secretariat, we checked if it had helped effectiveness. Normally, when the petitions from the citizens reached the Public-1 Section, for twenty petitions to get a decision, it used to take seven days, but after the
implementation of e-governance it took only five hours to clear forty petitions. I hope one can see such systems in many more state and central government offices.
One of the important events in the early days of my presidency was inviting members of Parliament from the states and union territories for a series of breakfast meetings at Rashtrapati Bhavan, so that I could get first-hand knowledge about the status of development there. These meetings were held during a period of about three months in 2003 – from 11 March to 6 May. They made a lasting impression on my mind.
The objective of each of these meetings was well laid out and my team and I spent several weeks preparing for them. We conducted research on the competencies and development requirements of each state. The required information was collected from the Planning Commission, government departments – both central and state – national and international assessments of the state and other relevant documents.
The data was analysed and put in a presentable form using graphics and multimedia. At the meetings, PowerPoint presentations were made to the MPs with an emphasis on three areas: 1) the vision for a developed India; 2) the heritage of the particular states or union territory; and 3) their core competencies. The objective was to stress the point that to achieve the development of the nation, it was vital to achieve the development of each of these areas.
Hence a fourth aspect was also prepared – selected development indicators for each of them. And what an enrichment I got by way of preparation and by the contributions of the members of Parliament, who hailed from all parties. Meeting them helped me to understand the richness of the diverse parts of the country.
The first meeting was of parliamentarians from Bihar. I was encouraged by the enthusiasm of the members for the content of the presentation, which covered the national development profile in relation to that of Bihar, the state’s core competencies and how to take the state to a developed status. The parliamentarians felt that the meeting was too short. While we increased the breakfast meeting time from 60 to 90 minutes, we had the pleasant experience that even after the meeting concluded, and after all the question-and-answer sessions, many members continued to show an interest in the presentation about their state. The meetings were put on record in a document as well.
Personally, I relished every moment of these meetings. They were a real education for me on the needs of each region. The preparations were complemented by field-level inputs from the MPs. Many of the members also told me that such comprehensive preparation was useful for them. As a matter of fact, these details and discussions continued to be a major communication bond between the MPs and myself throughout my presidency and beyond. Even now, when I meet them, development becomes a basis for conversation and discussion.
The evolution of India 2020 with inputs from many experts led me to focus on different aspects of societal
transformation. The details of the states as discussed in the breakfast meetings gave me further assurance on the path to be followed for progress. The MPs gave me many useful ideas. I spoke at least nine times on the 2020 India vision in Parliament and addressed twelve state assemblies on the path to prosperity for a particular state. The type of questions and suggestions I received at the breakfast meetings paved the way to incorporate possible requirements for the state’s development such as waterways, employment generation, activating public health centres, improving the connectivity of rural areas and enriching the education system in my database. This database, consisting of what I had presented to the MPs, became a reference tool to illustrate how India 2020 can be achieved when I addressed the national and state chambers of commerce and industry, management associations and technical institutions. Later, as a logical process, the ten pillars of development were evolved as a part of the vision. Today I address professionals, business leaders and researchers on how they can contribute with innovative ideas to achieve these ten pillars.
These are as follows:
1) A nation where the rural and urban divide has reduced to a thin line.
2) A nation where there is equitable distribution and adequate access to energy and quality water.
3) A nation where agriculture, industry and the service sector work together in symphony.
4) A nation where education with value system is not denied to any meritorious candidates because of societal or economic discrimination.
5) A nation which is the best destination for the most talented scholars, scientists, and investors.
6) A nation where the best of health care is available to all.
7) A nation where the governance is responsive, transparent and corruption free.
8) A nation where poverty has been totally eradicated, illiteracy removed and crimes against women and children are absent and none in the society feels alienated.
9) A nation that is prosperous, healthy, secure, peaceful and happy and follows a sustainable growth path.
10) A nation that is one of the best places to live in and is proud of its leadership.
The breakfast meetings also brought out how the leaders of the country could discuss development in a non-partisan manner. Rashtrapati Bhavan is indeed the only place where party differences disappear and the nation was seen as an integrated whole by every member of Parliament.
Apart from my meetings with MPs in Rashtrapati Bhavan, I had the opportunity to address the two Houses more than ten times.