NO POLITICS IN NATION BUILDING, PLEASE!

                                                         - MILA K  SINHA

Next few days would be extremely important and defining for the country. As such, it is pertinent to remember the former prime minister of India and the leader of Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan fame, Lal Bahadur Shastri at this crucial juncture to know his perception on major issues – Governance, Development, National Integration - concerning country's wellbeing. This will help the architects of next Govt. at the Centre in finalising the right agenda and formulating the effective action plan for next sixty months.

Governance :

"...The basic idea of governance, as I see it, is to hold the society together so that it can develop and march towards certain goals. The task of the Government is to facilitate this evolution, this progress. It must provide proper conditions and a proper climate for this purpose. While governing, the administrator must, therefore, keep certain trends in view. He should be aware of the policies which he has to implement and of the methods which are open to him for their implementation. He should know what the Government wants and at the same time be attuned to the needs of the people..."

Development:

"...The economic issues are most vital for us and it is of the highest importance that we should fight our biggest enemies – Poverty, unemployment... Whether it is agriculture or industrial development, or for that matter, development in other fields, the basic fact remains – that it would serve the largest number of our people...."

National Integration:

"...In this vast country of ours, people profess different religions, speak different languages, dress differently and observe different customs; but we are one nation; the history of our struggle for independence and our faith in our future development are our common bonds....Among the major tasks before us none is of greater importance for our strength and stability than the task of building up the unity and solidarity of our people. Our country has often stood as a solid rock in the face of common danger and there is a deep underlying unity which runs like a golden thread through all our seeming diversity...."

The election results are only few hours away but the fact remains that whichever party or coalition forms the next Government at the center, it must take all possible steps to enlist the support and cooperation of all political parties and every citizen  towards fulfilling its bounden duty to make this largest democracy of the world a place where everybody must have Food, Clothing, Shelter, Education, Health, Employment to name only the basic necessities of life. 

Lastly, a small word of caution: No Politics in Nation Building, Please! We have had enough of it in last 66 years since 1947.

                Will meet again with Open Mind. All The Best. 

# Published in Patna Daily. com