From Our Special Correspondent

Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Nov 28: While praising India’s growth story and emergence from darkness that engulfed it, former President Pranab Kumar Mukherjee called for concerted action to remove the ‘aberrations’ that were harming its blooming image as one of the world’s leading economic power.

Addressing the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the St Joseph’s Institute of Management (SJIM) in Bengaluru on Tuesday night, he said he felt “Pained and anguished’’ while watching television or reading newspaper headlines about the atrocities committed against innocent people.

Earlier, he unveiled a commemorative plaque to mark the Golden Jubilee celebrations of SJIM, which was originally started to offer diploma courses in the St Joseph’s College of Business Administration. SJIM moved to its present larger and state-of-the-art campus off MG Road in the city in 2017 and was ranked among top 100 Indian business schools in the NIRF ranking system.

“We live in a land of great civilization that preached `Vasudaiva Kutumbakam’ or the world is a family,’’ Mukherjee said emphasising the need for ``preserving, nurturing and celebrating India’s diversity.’’
“Diversity is at the heart of the world’s largest functioning parliamentary democracy that India is,’’ he said pointing out that the country’s 1.3 billion population practiced the world’s seven important religions and spoke 122 major languages with 1600 dialects and yet proudly swearing by one flag and Constitution.

India had come out of the darkness in its early years when it had to import food grains to feed its millions as the country’s food grains production was barely 45 million tonnes at the time of Independence. Now with 285 million tonnes of food grains production, India is able to export and no longer needs to go foreign countries or International Monetary Fund for funds.

“We have overcome our foreign dependence for funds and are able to selectively provide monetary assistance to other countries. India has now become the 7th most industrialized nation with 1.84 trillion dollars worth production and is the 6th nuclear power, space club member and third military power,’’ he said.

The country celebrated the Constitution Day on November 24 to mark the adoption of the Constitution, which was initially vehemently criticized by former British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden when it was adopted and praised by him later as the ``Magna Carta’’ on citizens rights, as the Constitution guaranteed equal rights, freedom and opportunities to all citizens.

Mukherjee strongly criticized the growing tendency among the ruling class in most countries towards protectionism and said it affected the nature of world trade though it might provide marginal benefits to the country concerned.
“I had the privilege of being a signatory to the Word Trade Organisation (WTO) agreements and documents on behalf of the Indian government. All the signatory countries had pledged to create necessary environment to facilitate free trade and access among nations and the gradual dismantling of various trade barriers,’’ the former President said and pointed out that the countries practicing protectionism were reneging on the pledge. Unfortunately, the barriers still continue and growing and seriously affecting the world trade outcome, he said.

The former President said 545 Lok Sabha members and 245 Rajya Sabha members, including nominated members, and 4,227 MLAs in 30 states were not sufficient to tackle the problems facing the country and to support and strengthen the democratic structure if all the citizens did not wholeheartedly cooperate and pitch in with their own efforts.

“It is the responsibility of the younger generation, especially students in professional educational institutions and those getting specialized education in management to realize and fulfill their social responsibility to improve the conditions of the vast majority of the people, particularly the marginalized. We have inculcate the culture to work for the country to find solutions and it will make the task of the administrators and policy makers to discharge their duties and responsibilities easier,’’ he said.

Mukherjee said that he did not believe in larger financial outlays will be enough to solve the country’s problems and that the larger outcome and results were more important. The management students and other professionals must come out with solutions to guide the industry and the political leaders to devise suitable investment and development strategies if the socio-economic needs of the people were to be suitably addressed, he said.

Archbishop of Bangalore Dr Peter Machado, in his presidential address, lauded the visionary and missionary zeal and approach of the Jesuits in preparing the leaders of the future by working from the grassroots brick by brick.

Excellence as well as ethical and evolving principles guided the work of the Jesuits, he said appealing to the students live their lives by setting higher standards for themselves and not someone else’s lives according to their dictates for the larger good of society and humanity.

Karnataka’s Cooperation Minister Bandeppa Kashempur, deputized for Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, and warmly appreciated the contributions of the Jesuits in the education sector to all sections of society to meet its diverse needs. "Being compassionate and sensitive to the needs of the people to bring light in their dark and difficult existence is the challenge for the younger generation,’’ he said.

Archbishop Emeritus Dr Bernard Moras suggested that the Society of Jesus must take up the challenge of establishing an institution for training and education in civil service to prepare future leaders to serve the state and the country.

Prof Rajeev Gowda, MP and an alumnus, in his address said admitting him in the St Joseph’s educational institutions for his college education was the best gift that his parents gave him. "Ethical conduct and social responsibility are values to be cherished and practiced by all,’’ he said.

Congress MLA N A Harris was the guest of honour. Fr Dr Brian Pereira, Vice President of Bangalore Jesuit Educational Society, Fr Dr Stanislaus D’Souza, Provincial of Society of Jesus, and Fr Dr Manoj D’Souza, Director of the SJIM, spoke.