We cannot create a developed India if there are glaring inequalities based on caste, creed, religion and sex: VP Naidu

New Delhi, November 18: We cannot create a developed India if there are glaring inequalities based on caste, creed, religion and sex. This was said by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu while addressing the gathering after releasing the Book “Social Exclusion and Justice in India”, authored by P.S. Krishnan in New Delhi on Friday. 

Venkaiah Naidu, on this occasion also said that over the last seven decades, the author has been a relentless champion of social justice for deprived social classes and has delved deep into roots of discrimination in Indian society.

He further said that the book is a testimony to his grasp and in-depth knowledge of the issues of the deprived social classes, the Dalits, the Adivasis and the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes, and practical and effective ways of resolving them, based on his long experience in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and in the country as a whole.

The Vice President also noted that the author has traced the dialogues between the founding fathers of our Constitution, especially Gandhiji and Dr. Ambedkar, and traced the confluence of diverse thoughts of these two great men in the final version of India’s Constitution.

“Dr. Ambedkar joining the first Cabinet of independent India as Minister of Law and thereafter as the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constituent Assembly were, as the author points out, decisive steps that forged a national convergence on social justice and inclusion,” he added.

The Vice President also noted that the book is not only a piece of analytical research and synthesis but also a book which provides practical insights into how the Constitutional provisions have been translated into legislation and other programmatic interventions. “Only through the empowerment of the Dalits and Adivasis and also the More, Most and Extremely Backward castes of the SEdBCs our nation can progress optimally,” he added.

Naidu said that we have taken the solemn resolve to deepen our democracy by caring for those who have been left out of the democratic process and SabkaSath, SabkaVikas has become our national goal. He further said that Antyodaya is taken as the non-negotiable approach. However, we have unpleasant realities to confront and that is the biggest challenge before us today, he added.

The Vice President, in the end, also said that we knew what we should do but are not doing it and we are not getting our act together. He further said that all of us to take note of this “action deficit”. There should be a national debate on sub-categorization of Social groups to reach the un-reached, he added.