Gurgaon, September 20 – The Haryana Governor Prof Kaptan Singh Solanki today emphasized on the need to generate ‘ national consciousness’ among every Indian and said that when every citizen of the country will have conviction towards the country that the country belongs to him or her then there will be no confrontation at any level.
Prof Solanki was addressing the participants of a seminar organized in Haryana Institute of Public Administration (HIPA) today. The seminar was organized on the topic- ‘Centre- State Relations’ by Haryana Regional Branch of Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA). He said that the subject of seminar is very important, on which speech was not required; rather there should be brainstorming discussion on it. He reminded the audience that when last Viceroy Lord Mountbatten left India in 1947, there were 565 provinces and territories which were united by how Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel into one nation. Now, there are only 29 states and their relations were come up for discussion. Again a national consciousness like that of Sardar Patel was needed, he asserted.
He said that both conviction and attitude are important for development on a nation. A man is adjudged good or bad by his attitude. Referring to Independence Day speech of Prime Minister, he said that the problem before our country is that number of people is large but what is their attitude towards the country. Everybody thinks what he or she has to do with the nation, what is his or her share in the country. Prof Solanki said that everybody has a share in development of the country and if everyone think of contributing in it, nobody can stop India from progressing.
He advised the bureaucrats’ to take the nation in right direction by discharging their responsibilities honestly and do not let happen any wrong, even if you have to loose your job because you are for the country. You are permanent in governance while politicians are temporary, don’t know where they will be after 5 years. You should not succumb to pressures. Prof Solanki said that now he has come into their category because he also has to discharge his duties according to the constitution.
Former Editor in Chief of The Tribune Hari Jai Singh said that Centre- State relations are strained mainly on account of financial and political factors. The Centre should treat all the states at equal footing. He said that he is not advocating dilution of central authority but a strong Centre has to be based on mutual trust and confidence between the Centre and State Units. A strong Centre is a geopolitical necessity in India. At the same time, he felt that the Centre should adopt multi dimensional approach and one particular model would not be sufficient for the whole country with states having diverse requirements. He felt that notwithstanding innumerable odds, the Indian Union will certainly maintain its unity.
Prof from MDI Nadan Dhamija, IIPA Haryana Branch Chairman M C Gupta, Vice Chairman G Prasanna Kumar, Director General of HIPA R S Dalal also deliberated in the semina