Long term vision, not short term gains, should be the goal of governments, both at the Centre and in the States, said former bureaucrat Y.V. Anuradha.
She was speaking at a meeting on ‘Challenges Confronting Indian Democracy’ by Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) organised at Visakhapatnam Public Library on Thursday evening.
She said that the spirit of democracy must be understood by the people of India and it was the responsibility of the leaders and administrators to enable the people to acquire and protect democratic values such as freedom, equality and justice. She cited instances from her experience as an administrator.
Former Chief Engineer of Irrigation in combined Andhra Pradesh U.N. Raju called for total overhaul of the political system and reform in every sector for rapid development of the country. He emphasised the importance of promoting rational and scientific thinking among all citizens.
Presiding over the meeting, CPS president A. Prasanna Kumar recalled how Indian democracy survived many a crisis such as the two successions in 1964 and 1966 when the Prime Ministers Jawahar Lal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri suddenly passed away and how India contributed to the political lexicon – the concept of consensus in leadership elections and crucial decisions like the economic reforms.
He said that the biggest challenge facing India today was providing employment opportunities for the younger generation, whose rising aspirations for career development should not lead to frustration.
Secretary D.S. Varma welcomed the gathering and D.V. Surya Rao proposed a vote of thanks.
