The setting for me on this day could not have been more soothing and wholesome. Entry into the Chanakya Auditorium reminds me of the great, legendary figure who knew how to handle things and more importantly, when I occupied the central seat here, I was reminded of my position as Chairman, Rajya Sabha. 

When I sit in the chair, on my right is the government, on the left is the opposition. On my right here is Shri G. S. Rajeswaran, Director General of Defence Estates (DGDE) and fortunately for me, on my left is Shri Niten Chandra, Secretary, Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare. Constructive, directional, motivational, always helpful.

I carry this message to the Upper House of Parliament today, where we begin debate on the Constitution. As we enter the last quarter of the century of adoption of India's Constitution, on 26th November 1949. 

Therefore, I am indeed indebted to all of you for having ensured my day begins with hope and optimism and certainly, why not?  Now, we are in a nation that is full of hope and possibility. A nation that can never be called a nation with potential, it's a nation that is on the rise, the rise is unstoppable. The rise has been seen in every facet of governance. Be it sea, land, sky or space. 

It is my privilege to address you and this is also an occasion for me to accolade the transformative impact Indian Defence State Service is having. 

Your guardianship of approximately 18 lakh acres of defence land forms the bedrock of India's strategic defence infrastructure and sustainable development. 

Imagine, 18 lakh acres. I am son of a farmer. I know, many countries in the world may not have that kind of acreage and therefore, to take care of it, to take care of an estate, its identity and its security are vital. Identity in the shape of rights, updating of those rights, not only for oneself, but also for others, and for the regulator. I must appreciate you have done amazingly remarkable job in updating the land records. Amazing!

More often than not, disputes arise because there is no proper defining of rights as regards area or ownership. You have remarkably overcome it. 

I congratulate you. I also congratulate you for the reason that you have kept pace with technological advancement and updating it from that perspective as well but friends, these estates must evolve beyond conventional assets which they used to be earlier. These have to develop into self-sustaining ecosystems and enhance military readiness, community welfare, nutritional security.

You are far ahead but you have to move so fast that the second has to catch up with you. There can be no greater occasion to convert this area into wellness centres. I have no doubt this will be done. 

In our path towards Viksit Bharat at 2047, precision land management coupled with productive utilization stands paramount and I therefore, would appeal to you, optimal utilization of your land bank. An optimal utilization has to be thought provoking. It has to be holistic, it has to be innovative.

You can exemplify to the entire nation what herbal gardens are, what medicinal plants are, because your estates are located in every part of this country that is home to one sixth of humanity-largest, oldest, vibrant democracy in the world.

One of the challenges which is existential that we are facing is climate change. Prime Minister of the country had to come forward and give a clarion call ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ that has turned into Jan Andolan but the steps you will take, the innovative steps, by collaborating with agencies like Indian Council of Agriculture Research and the kind, I am sure we will set global benchmarks. 

The second aspect I seek to advert is, It was said in the Bible, love thy neighbour for a good reason. People ask us, Gandhiji did, speak the truth because most don't. Be non-violent because we tend to be violent. Love thy neighbour because we have normal disputes. I am talking of neighbours within our country.

Because Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji rightly reflected. We can't choose our neighbours, we have to live with them. Bharat Ratna, Prime Minister of this country, a great poet, he was speaking out of his soul. But in this case, you have neighbours. You have also people claiming right of passage through your estates. Issues will end up in courts also, and now it is here that your primary focus has to be on a structured mechanism that by dialogue we bring about resolution.

In this context that I accoladed the gentleman sitting on my left. Like your estate, his team is also spread out in the entire country. A valuable human resource, an ex-serviceman, is a spinal strength to the society. 

I would appeal, as I did in 1990 when I became a union minister after being elected to parliament in 1989, I went to the establishment of ex-servicemen and I appealed that this human resource that gets into public life after giving best years to the defence services still has many decades of productivity.  Therefore, in the overall rise of the nation, they can be vigilant people to take note of everything but, Rajeswaranji, in your context, you can reach out to them with respect to innovations you are doing. You can reach out to them so that some issues of passage or otherwise are amicably resolved. 

I know litigation is unavoidable because we have a tribe of lawyers in this country. I belong to that it long back but like disease, where more than the cure, we should take care of prevention and precaution. For dispute also, we should ensure it is settled without outside intervention, and that can happen when you evolve a structured mechanism.

While I appreciate all you are doing, there are issues that have serious commercial dimensions, because some of your estates are located in deep urban centres, and therefore, those who seek to bring about development across the road need your permission. Without going into details, there has to be a larger focus on transparency and accountability and the greatest hallmarks of transparency and accountability are uniformity and expedition. 

I would therefore call upon Rajeshwaranji and his team, that whenever there are issues of development which are beyond your estate and need your sanction, that must be structured, that must be arithmetic. 

No one should have doubt if there is an element of discrimination, even imperceptible, then for an organisation like this. It is serious. 

Development, nationalism, security, welfare of the people at large, affirmative governance schemes have to be viewed only from one prism, and that is from prism of our preamble of our constitution. If it fits into that, we need to appreciate it. Who else will take pride in the nation if not us?

But what an irony on occasions when a small category of people choose otherwise and I would say out of ignorance, but one thing is for sure, our trajectory is incremental. And if I go by Chandrayaan 3 success, we can see it may be vertical also.

Therefore, it is a day of deep reflection for you, to brainstorm, to have a charter.

• One, how best to utilise the land at your disposal. Its utilisation must be productive. It must, as a matter of fact, provide a self-sustaining mechanism that the defence forces are no longer required to get things from outside, the ones which you can produce. You have to secure mobility from one part of the country to the other, so that you cater to the needs. 

• Second, you must set a very high benchmark of research, and you can get assistance from the governmental agencies and the agencies for sure would come forward. If required, I would catalyse it

Let us think ahead of the times. Quite often people talk about agriculture, productivity, going up in other areas in the world. They're making most of it. You can be role model for the farmer, for the organic, for the natural. You can also get into a situation which you are already there — fruits, vegetables, dairy products. And all these things give you an opportunity to involve, Ex-servicemen also, and therefore, it has to be nerve center of an economic activity, much beyond your conventional job.

I have no doubt you will bestow attention to these issues.

I do not wish to say more about it because this is one service for which I have only one word.

You are doing very well, you are doing excellently. As a nation, we are proud of you and you will lead by example. You will be a beacon to many also in the farm sector, in the research sector, in the science sector and why the science sector? 

Sir, your medicinal plants can do wonders and therefore, this is an opportunity available to this department. If it gets into the groove, that groove, the results will be phenomenal, exponential, for the betterment of humanity. 

Thank you so much for the opportunity.

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JK/RC/SM

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