Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's speech at the Convocation of Tata Institute of Social Sciences

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Members of the Faculty and dear students,

I thank you for the honour done to me by inviting me to your Convocation, more so, in your 70th year. I pay tribute to the memory of the founders of what was then called Sir Dorabji Tata Graduate School of Social Work. Yours is a pioneering institution in India. It is also an institution conceived with the highest principles of modern education in mind - to pursue excellence in teaching and training and, at the same time, to make your students concerned and responsible citizens of society.

I share the values embedded in your Mission statement and the Guiding Principles and Objectives of your institution. These are core values for the caring society that our founding fathers sought to create.

I am therefore happy to learn that your Institute has contributed to both policy planning and the development of action strategies in vital areas of social development. The focus you give to sustainable rural and urban development, to education, health, communal harmony, human rights and industrial relations harmonises with the thinking underlying the National Common Minimum Programme of our Government. I am particularly pleased that your institution has retained a consistent focus on the empowerment and welfare of disadvantaged and marginalised sections of society, including women, children, dalits, tribals and the working class.

I compliment all those who have worked hard to build this great institution and have contributed to its professional reputation. I must pay tribute to the vision of the House of Tatas, especially the Late J R D Tata, for their commitment to education and research in our country. Institutions established by the Tata Group - such as the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, and the Tata Memorial Centre for Cancer Research and Treatment, Mumbai - are among the premier national centers of research and teaching that make us proud. I invite all our business leaders to follow this example and invest in the long-term development of human resources, just as they invest in making their firms more globally competitive.

Ladies and Gentlemen and dear students,

A convocation is an extremely important day in the life of a student. You stand today at a new threshold in your life. Here, in this great institution, you have imbibed the values and skills needed to deal with the world outside. Some of you may have trained to enter the organized sector of our economy, while others may aim to work with non-governmental organizations. These may be two very different worlds. But I do believe they are united by their commitment to improve the lives and livelihoods of our people.

I urge you, my fellow citizens, to remain committed to the values espoused by your institution. Whatever walk of life you may pursue, you will find that a commitment to excellence, to justice and fair play, to hard work and team spirit will stand you in good stead.

I also sincerely believe that we must strike a fair balance between doing good and doing well, between ensuring equity and pursuing excellence. To focus on one and lose sight of the other cannot serve the interests of either the organization for which you work or society at large.

Our Government would like to see that each of our institutions of education and welfare function within these parameters - be they schools and colleges, or be they hospitals or municipal and panchayat organizations. The men and women working in these organizations must have a sense of compassion to care for their clientele, and the ability to ensure that they do their job well.

Our Government has focussed on measures to create a comprehensive policy framework for social security and social welfare. But creating the right policy framework is only the first step. Even finding funds is only a small second step. The truly important step is the third one, which is to find people who can implement these programmes with sincerity, honesty, integrity and, above all, a deep and abiding commitment to the people. I hope institutions like yours can send forth into society motivated and hard working young men and women who can improve the human resources element of our programmes.

Improving the quality of manpower in government programmes is a major challenge facing us today. An equally important challenge is to improve the quality of management of the non-government sector. India is a vibrant democracy that is home to the largest number of NGOs and voluntary organizations anywhere in the world. These groups add meaning to our democracy and energize civil society. However, as their size and scope increases, they also need professional managers. Moreover, they also need people who can take a long-term and a holistic view of development.

Such a holistic perspective is important because interest groups, by definition, espouse sectional causes. Therefore, it is important that in doing so, interest groups must also learn to take a wider view of the imperatives of development and the working of democratic institutions. It is important to remember that in a parliamentary democracy, the institutions of the State are also part of civil society. A democracy gives space to civil society groups to make representations on behalf of sections of people. But these articulations of public interest must be balanced with the views of other segments of society including those of the elected representatives of the people. A mature and liberal democracy must know how to balance these alternative voices of the people.

Civil society does not stand apart from society, the State and its institutions, namely, the executive, judiciary and the legislature. Each of these institutions is a part and parcel of civil society and in turn reflects it. Each one of us has a multiple personality as a citizen of a democratic society. We are citizens, we are officials, we are employees or employers, we are members of our community, of religious organizations and so on. Our multiple identities give us multiple rights and duties and this we must recognize and respect in each other.

With all their faults and foibles our democratic institutions have stood us in good stead. They are the warp and woof of our nationhood. After sixty years and several generations, these institutions of governance have come to stay. But they are in need of constant repair, constant rejuvenation, constant revitalization, constant modernization, constant humanization. It is the people who man these institutions who have the responsibility to respond. Institutions like yours must be pro-active in training and motivating the men and women who manage, administer and work for these institutions of our democracy.

By `institutions of democracy' I am not referring only to our Parliament and legislatures, our courts and our ministries. I am referring to our educational system, our health care system, our public services and spaces. The management of each of these, and good governance in each of these, is vital to the re-affirmation of people's faith in democracy.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

An efficient health care system, a pro-active public health system, good schools and public libraries give meaning to our life. These give meaning to our democracy. They make our democratic system come alive. To improve their functioning we have to strengthen the quality of governance of our local and district administration, of our panchayat raj institutions, of government departments. Active civil society groups can help by directly intervening and providing these services. But it is also the responsibility of Government to do its job. I hope young men and women like you will come forward and improve the quality of governance in these vital sectors.

I would also like our social science researchers to come forward with practical ideas on improving governance at the grassroots levels. I invite thinking citizens and students to find ways in which we can ensure social security and address livelihood issues in rural and urban areas. Social scientists must pay greater attention to the problems of the unorganized and informal sectors as well as the challenges facing the organized sector. We must find practical and consensual means of overcoming the hurdles to development so that our nation can realize its destiny.

Friends,

I hope you will reflect on these ideas as you go forth from these portals as informed and empowered citizens of our great democracy. I wish you well and I wish the Tata Institute of Social Sciences well. May your path be blessed.

Thank you