Now a days am reading India:Development and participation by Dr.Amartya Sen and thats how i got a glimpse of what actually freedom is and how broad a term it is.
What it is?
The term in general means the freedom to do what one want with obvious restrictions placed on individuals freedom to respect other individuals freedom. So, its obvious that freedom can not be absolute for it will lead to clash of freedom of individuals.
Our consititution has recognised this important aspect of human life by placing special emphasis on it by guranteeing Right to Freedom of expression,association, movement and profession with certain restrictions under article 19 of part3.
Apart from the generally perceived idea of freedom as freedom as a mean, Dr Sen argues that freedom is an end in itself. The very thing which makes human life meaningful. It is state`s prime duty to ensure freedom of different kinds, as we shall discuss further, irrespective of whether it leads to higher productivity or not..i.e human welfare is the goal not human resource, as many present trends suggest.
Pandit Nehru stated national goal in now famous Tryst with destiny speech at stroke of midnight on the day we attained freedom : eliminating "poverty, ignorence" and ensuring "health and equality of opportunity" to all citizens of India.
A person`s freedom of choosing his way of life is certainly constrained by his health and his education. Even a person with equally good health and level of education as other will find it difficult to compete with someone who is placed favourably in terms of getting opportunity. The point will become more clear if we think of two people with same calibre but one born in higher strata of social order than other.
A persons freedom to choose worthy representative to represent him in parliament or state legislature depends on his ability to understand what is good for him and his community and also his access to information about contesting candidates.
So freedom can not be seen in narrow perspective.
Are we free?
The point to note is that here we does not mean only we few lucky ones who, with comparatively less struggle, got access to many opportunities but we represents we Indians as a whole.
Few stats: literacy rate is 74% (let alone male-female, rural-urban disparity), about 50% of us deficate in open (mind you! all blames can not be put on culture..as the present trend is), representation of SC/ST in social affairs and jobs is still far from satisfactory after years of much discussed reservation policy...so where does these stats leads us to?
Certainly we have, as a nation, long way to go to ensure freedom to ourselves.
Few big hurdles on the way are: 1)Social stratification..mostly cast based 2)Economic disparity: uneven distribution of wealth 3)Concentration of Political power.
First two are the measure cause of third one. With elections getting converted into money and power game, its virtually impossible for anybody but affluent people with muscle power to win one.
Measures being taken and suggestions
Its not that we lack number of schemes to promote inclusive growth which is vital to ensure freedom to individuals. Schemes like TPDS (targeted public distribution scheme), SSA (sarva Siksha Abhiyan), rural elctrification scheme, RSBY(rastriya sawastya bima yojna),MGNREGA etc are schemes which if well implemented can go a long way in ensuring freedom to our fellow Indians. Microfinancing and priority lending commitments of banks can also help resurrect agriculture and related small scale industries in rural areas which in turn will give economic freedom to many.
We should focus more on community based schemes like SHGs (self help groups) then just providing subsidy on each and everything. Ones community will realise whats important, its collective will can do what government subsidies has failed to do till now.
Housing is one aspect which if made available has potential to change whole dynamics and so is land.
A big chunk of our population are landless which came open in recent Gwalior to Delhi march of landless people from all over India. Its needless to think that a landless and homeless people can have similar opportunity as enjoyed by others.
Another important aspect of freedom which recently got government attention, though a lot need to be done, is access to quality information. Lack of information is the major handicap while making any decision.Government is planning to launch dedicated website for providing informations related to public but this all will be effective if only our internet penetration, now crawling at 10%, will be enhanced drastically.
Impartial and timely justice delivery system is vital to ensure ones freedom, else it always is at the mercy of powerful. National Judicial reforms, which is underway, can prove to be game changer but judicial accountability must be well balanced by judicial freedom to protect the very institution trusted to protect people from tyranny of few.
Though a lot need to be done, we can take proud of the fact that our literacy rate is steadily improving, gender gap getting narrowed, recent elections showing people voting on issues rather than narrow cast and religious parameters. All its require is honest effort by those in power and all citizens, trustworthy research by intellectuals and more important resultant loud and clear message that we are all serious about ensuring freedom to all.
Future is bright, if cloud of ignorance gets whisked away by combined national effort!!
(abt 750 words in 40 min: planning and writing included)
You may check the book here:
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