No nation achieves greatness without moral integrity,says Vice-President

Ansari,while delivering the lecture on Private ethics and public morality,stressed on the role of Dr Tewari in strengthening the academic framework and improving the administrative structures in the university. He focused on private ethics and public morality that underpinned the philosophy of India’s nationhood.

“In the recent years,our public domain has witnessed a debate on crisis of governance in the country. This,too,is reflected in the report of the second administrative reforms commission that begins with a candid acknowledgment that governance is the weak link in our quest for prosperity and equity. It defines integrity as much more than financial honesty and addresses the dual facets of institutional and individual corruption,” said Ansari.

Citing other observations of the report,he said anti-corruption interventions made so far are seen to be ineffectual and there is wide spread public cynicism about them. Corruption has been aggravated by three factors — propensity to exercise power arbitrarily,enormous asymmetry of power in society and policies that unintentionally put the citizen at the mercy of the senate. In a vast majority of cases of bribery,the citizen is a victim of extortion and is compelled to pay a bribe in order to get a service to which one is entitled.

Ansari quoted Gandhi’s “seven social sins”,Amartya Sen’s social realisation and Kautilya,who asserted that “a king who flouts the teachings of dharmashastras and the arthashastra,ruins the kingdom by his own injustice”. He concluded his speech by identifying five elements of public morality,namely the spirit of optimism,the courage of conviction,the pursuit and dispensation of impartial justice,upholding the rule of law and a sense of empathy and compassion for the suffering humanity.

Vice-Chancellor R C Sobti presented the mementos to the guests of honour and thanked all guests for making the event a great success.

Extending a hearty welcome to the dignitaries,Prof Sobti briefly narrated the Gandhian framework of values such as Swaraj,Satyagrah and Sarvodaya,which inform major achievements and policies of the Panjab University. The measures,such as five per cent reservation of seats for full freeship for poor students,free education for specially-abled students,no fee hike for students in all courses,payments of 30 per cent arrears to Panjab University employees despite financial crunch,prudent financial management of university resources,creation of nearly 500 positions in the university for employment and so have a distinct Gandhian flavour,he said.

A film on the Panjab University’s “Quest for excellence: from 1880’s to the present day” was also screened. MP Tewari emphasised that Dr V N Tewari stood for indivisibility of Punjabi Ethics and he consecrated it with his own sacrifice. He said the Indian civilisation’s ideals of Sarva dharma samabhav (Equal respect for all religions) and Vasudhaiva kutumbkam (All world is one family) were embraced by Tewari as a writer and a Parliamentarian in a real sense. Tewari also highlighted the urgent need to re-contextualise India’s ancient value system against the backdrop of globalisation and constant erosion of moral values.

Shivraj Patil also paid homage to Dr Tewari by saying that through his poetics and politics,he stood for removal of all kinds of injustices for establishment of a just society,a just nation and a just world.