Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's remarks on 90th Birth Anniversary of Shri Bhiku Ram Jain

I deem it an honour to associate myself with the celebrations of the 90th birth anniversary of Shri Bhiku Ram Jain. I join all of you in paying tribute to a great son of India. Shri Bhiku Ramji represents the unique ethos and heritage of our freedom struggle. His life embodies the extraordinary simplicity and values that characterized the generation of freedom fighters. He joined the struggle for independence under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. As a devout, deeply religious and genuinely secular person, he has worked hard to promote communal amity and harmony in Delhi.

I have had the privilege of knowing Bhiku Ramji while teaching in Delhi School of Economics. He actively associated himself with Delhi University and some of its prominent colleges and was deeply committed to the cause of education and research.

His association with the Delhi Legislative Assembly and the variety of portfolios he handled proved his ability as an administrator and a public-spirited person.

Shri Bhiku Ramji's role as a representative of the people in the Lok Sabha is inspiring and educative. He worked for the cause of good governance, clean environment and a corruption free administration. I recall that while participating in the discussion on the Finance Bill in 1983 he underlined the role of our cumbersome tax laws in the rising incidence of corruption and believed these were making Indian enterprise uncompetitive. He was in favour of the simplification of the taxation regime and saw this as an important instrument of battling corruption. This influenced my thinking at the time and as finance minister I was able to take steps to reform our taxation system. His observation in the early 1980s that more control bred black money and corruption has now come to be accepted as common place.

The social and environmental concerns of Jain Sahab was amply demonstrated on the floor of the Lok Sabha when he, as early as 1981, raised the issue of the colossal economic waste and damage to our environment and health caused by fireworks on the occasion of festivals. Possibly his was one of the earliest initiatives in Parliament to sensitise the Government and the people to the health hazard of pollution caused by fire-works.

It is an honour to participate in the 90th birth anniversary celebration of such a remarkable personality. I wish him good health, happiness, fulfillment and many more years of service to the nation.

Thank you.