Speech by her Excellency the President of India, Shrimati Pratibha Devisingh Patil, at the valedictory centenary lecture in memory of Babu Jagjivan Ram
“I am honoured
to deliver the Valedictory Centenary Lecture organized in the memory of Babu
Jagjivan Ram. The commemoration of hundred years of
the birth of Babuji, as he was popularly known, is a
fitting tribute to one of the great national leaders of our country.
Babu
Jagjivan Ram made enormous contributions to India's
freedom struggle and later to nation building in the post-independence period.
As a national leader and a parliamentarian, he had a powerful presence and played
a significant role, spread over almost five decades, in shaping India's
political and constitutional development as also in bringing about social change.
His dedication to work, his belief in human dignity and his philosophy of - malice
towards none and charity to all - made him an exceptional human being.
His
life is a lesson on how one can succeed and contribute positively to society and
to the country despite difficult circumstances, constraints and challenges. Born
in 1908 to an extremely under-privileged family, he lost his father at a tender
age. The responsibility of bringing up young Jagjivan
Ram was left to his mother who was instrumental in ensuring that Babu
Jagjivan Ram continued and completed his education. It was
education that empowered Babu Jagjivan
Ram and gave him the capacity to serve the nation and society. Today also, it
is education that is the foundation and the very basic requirement for improving
the lives of people and empowering the socially disadvantaged groups. Government,
society and families have a duty to ensure that children receive education. Like
Vasanti Devi, Jagjivan
Ram's mother, who ensured that despite social and economic hardships her child
got education, I call on all mothers and fathers to ensure that their children,
both boys and girls, go to school.
Providing
access to primary education to all is our firm commitment and obligation. We have
to make special efforts for children coming from under-privileged backgrounds.
There are many young bright boys and girls who have various hidden skills, talents
and a passion to do things that can be of help to society. However, their potential
must be recognised and can be channelised
for the purpose of nation building. Societal leaders in various fields should
come forward and take such students under their wings, so that just like in the
life of Babu Jagjivan Ram, nascent talent
and the optimism and idealism of youth can go on to find its full potential. In
this context, it is important that education schemes for the weaker and disadvantaged
sections of society, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are implemented and
properly monitored. In addition, children coming from these backgrounds should
be provided with facilities that would help in bringing them at par with the rest
of society. Hostel facilities, nutritional support and extra coaching classes
are some of the areas that require our attention. I am informed that the Babu
Jagjivan Ram Chhatrawas Yojna
has been launched this year for the construction of hostels. This scheme is a
fitting tribute to Babuji who throughout his life championed
the cause of education. It is also fitting that his daughter Smt. Meira Kumar, Union Minister
of Social Justice and Empowerment will be responsible for implementing this scheme.
I am sure that the goal of an enlightened India
and the vision of her father would be a strong motivation for implementing this
scheme effectively.
The standards set by Babu
Jagjivan Ram and his ideals are an important legacy for the
nation. All those who came in contact with him appreciated his intellectual capacities,
his clarity of thought and his organizational skills. Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya was so impressed by the young Jagjivan
Ram that when he met him in 1925 in Arrah, he invited
Babu Jagjivan Ram to study
at the Banaras
Hindu University.
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose
took notice of him at Kolkata when in 1928 he organized
a Mazdoor Rally in which approximately 50,000 people
participated. Similarly, Gandhiji appreciated his work
in relief camps set up after an earthquake in Bihar in
1934.
In 1937, he was elected to the Bihar Legislative
Assembly as a candidate of the Depressed Class League. To form the government,
the British sought his support by offering him a large sum of money and a ministerial
berth but Babuji chose to go with the freedom fighters
and rejected the offer of the British. Leaders of India's
freedom movement were impressed by this act of patriotism and Gandhiji said that Jagjivan Ram
had emerged as pure as gold in the test of fire. Subsequent years saw greater
political participation of Babuji in the fight for India's
independence and for social reforms. Babu Jagjivan Ram participated in the Satyagragha
and Quit India Movements and was imprisoned twice. Indians were ready to sacrifice
their careers, comforts, profession, wealth and lives for the freedom of India,
across the length and breadth of the country. The same spirit of sacrifice, acts
of patriotism and integrity of character shown by freedom fighters like Babuji should guide us as we work to create a modern India.
Babu Jagjivan
Ram, as one of the founding fathers of the Constitution and as an important leader
of the Constituent Assembly had highlighted the need for the inclusion of social
equality and social justice as one of the ideals enshrined in our Constitution.
Promoting people's welfare in general and the upliftment
of the oppressed in particular became his passion in life. Social justice must
accompany our quest for growth. India
has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies of the world. We hope to continue
to grow as a nation and as an economy. At the same time, we have a constitutional
and a moral duty to bring the weaker and the marginalized sections into the growth
trajectory. A growth process that bridges the divide between the haves and have-nots,
between rural and urban areas, between regions and communities and between genders
is the inclusive agenda that we should pursue.
Babu
Jagjivan Ram held many portfolios as a Minister in free
India. In the
Ministries, sectors and issues that he tackled, he worked hard to bring improvement.
As the first Labour Minister of India
from 1947 to 1952 he introduced policies and laws for labour
welfare and contributed much to the productive potential of the country. As Minister
of Communications from 1952 to 1956, he decided that telephone exchanges should
be opened in all district towns and public call offices in all sub-divisional
towns. Such a foresighted step enhanced the communication network to a great extent.
As Food and Agriculture Minister, Babu
Jagjivan Ram pulled the country out of a severe drought,
heralded the Green Revolution and for the first time made India
self-sufficient in food. Babuji helped reshape agricultural
priorities and revamp the agricultural research management system in a manner
that there was synergy between scientists' expertise and farmers' experience.
We now need a Second Green Revolution that will enhance our agricultural productivity
and make India
an agrarian superpower. I would urge all policy makers, scientists and farmers
to work towards this objective.
Gandhiji
had said, "I shall work for an India in which the poorest shall feel that
it is their country, in whose making they have an effective voice; an India in
which there will be no high class and low class of people; an India in which all
communities shall live in harmony."
Babuji
lived his life to achieve just such an ideal. He died in July 1986. His passing
away brought to an end an era representing perhaps the most important phase of
the country's transition from pre-independence to independence and on to a vibrant
democratic society. His legacy will live on and continue to inspire new generations
in social and political activities and in the continuous search for a better society.
And with this I pay my tributes to Babu
Jagjivan Ram”.
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AD/HS/MK
(Release ID :37247)