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Journalism of Courage
If August 15 is occasion to be mindful of a sense of united purpose, amid the fragmentation and forgetfulness that inevitably overtakes our daily lives, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh struck some apt notes at the Red Fort. He said the world is waiting to congratulate India8217;s success in making this moment its own. The battles against illiteracy, poverty and disease can finally be won, and that8217;s no distant dream. There are no external constraints on the endeavour to build a New India for its 8216;8216;aam aadmi8217;8217;. Bharat Nirman can now only be corrupted by our own failures to seize this available moment. The prime minister had a slogan 8212; 8216;8216;rozgar badhao8217;8217;. He emphasised the exhilarating plurality of the idea of India. And reiterated India8217;s commitment to peace with its neighbours. For the rest, the prime minister8217;s speech was a painstaking run-down of the UPA8217;s over-stated priorities.
It is true that all such speeches are a balancing act between platitude and possibility. But if the prime minister is to be held to higher standards 8212; standards he outlined for himself when he said last year on the same occasion that he had no promises to make, but only promises to keep 8212; then his independence day speech is a reminder of all that remains to be done. The sincerity of the UPA8217;s repetitive invocation of the 8216;8216;aam aadmi8217;8217; must be judged, a year down the line, not by the number of noble allocations the government has announced, but by the changes it has introduced in the institutional framework that mediates their delivery. It must be assessed not by outlays, but by outcomes. The real test of the government8217;s commitment to the reform agenda lies closer than the UPA has appeared to realise thus far 8212; in the political will to undertake reform of government itself.
