Matribhumi Samachar English
This third anniversary, third conclave of Sansad TV is a significant milestone. Like all institutions that were started by the Honourable Prime Minister, this one too is blossoming and on an incremental trajectory. As indicated by Rajit, the Honourable Prime Minister thought it fit and rightly so.
There was no occasion to have two TVs, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, because the Indian Constitution defines Parliament as one. So that step was taken, which was in conformity with constitutionalism.
As Chairman of the Governing Council and as a regular avid viewer of Sansad TV, I can assure you, what you get there is authentic information, knowledge, free and fair exchange of thoughts.
On every occasion I have indicated to Rajit, wherever he may be, how we can make a difference. I’m happy to note that execution has been much beyond my expectations.
I am particularly grateful to Shri Om Birla ji. He has guided us, he has inspired us, he has motivated us to go the way we are going. Every fortnight, two of us sit together to find ways and means that Sansad TV reflects the mood of the nation, a nation that is home to one-sixth of humanity and with a population of 1.4 billion, the most populous, the oldest civilization on the planet.
India proudly and rightly is the mother of democracy, the largest functional democracy on the planet and the only democracy in the world that is constitutionally structured at all levels, the village, the municipality, the state and the centre. No other country has that kind of a system as we have and therefore, the media assumes great relevance.
But Sansad TV is different. Sansad TV is not in the business of carrying news as is traditionally done. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t carry news, it does. But it is not in the right place.
We are breaking the story. It is exclusive to us. We are doing it with the loss of time.
We are the first. We are not in that race. This was a conscious decision taken when I became chairman.
And in the process, CEO of Sansad TV, Rajit Punhani, got in touch with similar global broadcasters be it the United Nations, United States or other countries. And I can congratulate him particularly because Mauritius thought it fit to get guidance from our Sansad TV. And the CEO with his team had the occasion to go to Mauritius and assist them.
We are having a plan which will be executed in the next few weeks, not months, where we will be conducive to all world wishes of Bharat in the country and outside. Because our programmes will reflect the ground reality. Our programmes will indicate the depth of our civilisation.
Our programmes will reveal to the world what Bharat is today. The world needs to know where was Bharat in 2014, where was Bharat in 2000, where was Bharat in 1990 when I was a minister and a member of parliament.
We are alive to the situation that in every period there has been progress and people have shown devotion. But somehow or the other, on a global horizon, our progress left must be desired. There was a time when global institutions, the World Bank, the IMF, they used to be in punishing mode for Bharat.
They were advising us. And look at the accolades we are getting now from these very institutions. That indicates that this land is a favourite destination of investment and opportunity.
Look at the appreciation the world holds for us in digitisation. But are we, as a media house, serious about it? Are we proud of our accomplishments? I would say we need to revisit our thoughts. Development is not the agenda of our news.
Development is not on the radar. Can you ever imagine more than 500 million people getting banking inclusion? Where they had no audacity or hope to enter into a bank branch. And that doesn’t stop there.
They are beneficiaries, giving the nation a rare status of being in the world 50% consumer of direct transfers. That is our Bharat. The world has to know about it. The world has to know about it from an authentic platform. Sansad TV is one.
Where would you imagine a staggering challenge, a country then of 130 crore people? An idea occurs on 15th August 2014, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, we are now in the second decade of it, but 120 million toilets in households, look at the gas connections, I am ignoring these things, go to other areas which matter to the world at large, technology, we are amongst nations in single digit that are doing it.
Green hydrogen mission, Sansad TV, carried a programme and I got inputs from several countries, from my friends, they could never imagine this is happening in India, that by 2030 you will have 8 lakh crore investment and 6 lakh jobs, unimaginable, people are not aware of the opportunity basket, how young boys and girls are in queue, in coaching centres, in silos, in search of only government jobs, think for yourself, it was not for government jobs that international monetary fund said India is a global destination of investment and opportunity, opportunity lies everywhere, and that is why I compliment the CEO for having brought on the screen ISRO chairman, you cannot imagine what kind of opportunities are there, the world needs to know, our own people need to know, and we need to take pride in it.
Let it be sea, let it be land, let it be sky, let it be space. Our progress is phenomenal, exponential, unprecedented. We have every reason to be proud of it.
In this ecosystem, where everyone has the opportunity to flex muscles, expect potential, realise talent, fructify dreams. We have narratives that turn Nelson’s eye to these positive developments. They look at only the glass as empty, though it may be 95% full.
They will make a great issue disproportionately. 5% is missing. To be very honest, Bharat lives in villages. I wish the media would realise it. The destiny of Bharat is controlled by people whose aspirations are being met because they have affordable housing. They have connectivity in the village. They have light in the home. And they look for a roof of solar power. That is not being covered at all.
When I look around, the face is changing, rural talent showing explosively in various positions, including in government assignments and civil services. We have someone in the U.S. floating a narrative, IITs and IIMs, only the upper class is admitted. I have no doubt in using an expression, they are in fool’s paradise.
They have forgotten India has changed. The privileged pedigree in this country is not there now. Everyone is accountable to the rule of law.
The big change is for the nation. The big change is for ordinary people. The big change is for our youth because privileged pedigree means you are above law. You are immune from law. You may do whatever culpable act, it will not be labelled as culpable.
We are out of that. Which country can claim such transparent, accountable governance that is driven by technology? In a country like Bharat, more than 100 million farmers get direct digital transactions, direct amounts in their banks, thrice a year. I don’t see much in the government doing it. I am proud that as a farmer’s son, that a farmer receives it. He is well equipped. That change you have to show to the world.
We have to be a little bold in the media. We have to address issues not with individuals on the radar. How can we have an individual centric approach?
Someone talking: yes our leader is being maligned. Let us look at our Institutions. Can we have accolades for one who is maligning in and outside the country. Our sacred Institutions, running down our growth. Can we overlook it? I, for one, will never do injustice to young boys and girls.
We cannot have a wrong picture of Bharat painted outside in particular. Every Indian, every Bharatiya who goes outside this country is an ambassador of this nation. He has to have nothing in his heart except 100% commitment for the nation, nationalism.
We cannot fraternise with those who have sinister designs against us, whose positioning is established as being inimical to Bharat. They are aspiring perniciously to offer existential challenges to Bharat. Media has to take the lead.
I would expect Sansad TV to have free and frank discussion.
There has to be space always for the other point of view.
There may be occasions, the others’ point of view is the right point of view but we must debate, deliberate and discuss that point of view.
Sansad TV showcases Parliament to the people. It is a platform of disseminative information from Parliament, and Parliament-there is no free fall of information.
We have assured, anything said in the parliament has to be sanctimonious and if a person does make a statement he/she will have to authenticate. That has been rigorously enforced.
Media is rightly the fourth pillar of democracy. The most populous democracy, the oldest democracy, the mother of democracy, the most vibrant democracy wants the media to be in pace with the development.
We have become chronic critics, we have developed an indigestible mechanism that yes this is being done in this regime. Therefore it has to be criticised.
Criticism and criticism but criticism as a part of policy is antithetical to democratic values. There are issues in the country, I am alive to them. The Institutions in the country have to operate within their area- The judiciary, the executive, the legislature.
I quite often say, We Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha cannot script judgements of the Supreme Court, it is their job.
Similarly, no agency other than Parliament can script laws. That is our domain, executive governance is the job of the government, executive governance is exclusive to the government because the government is accountable.
The government first is responsible to the legislature. If the government tips in performing executive duties, there is a sense of accountability and then after five years or earlier, the people of the country also take a call on how they have performed in the executive domain.
Executive power is controlled by someone else, the very thought of it is unsettling to me. How can the executive power of the executive be taken over by someone.
There can be no justifiable premise for it. Each institution has to act within its domain, optimally perform, keeping one thing in view the nation at large. The Constitution has given limitations, It has defined the role of every Institution. If one institution steps into the role of another institution at least order will suffer.
When we find perceptionally, people discussing that yes, executive actions are being performed beyond the executive, there needs to be a healthy debate, a debate amongst parliamentarians on television channels, by the academia, by the professors, so that as a nation we come out stronger. I firmly believe, and that is the ground reality, that all institutions in our country are robust. Our institutions are working with checks and balances, our institutions have earned laurels.
But if one institution from a platform makes a declaration about another, that jurisprudentially is improper, it threatens the entire system. I have no difficulty in asserting before you, jurisprudentially, institutional jurisdiction is defined by the constitution, and constitution alone. And therefore, jurisprudentially and jurisdictionally, there will be tipping, if one institution gets into the domain of the other, even if overstepping is subtle, and perceptionally may be justifiable, that’s a short-lived mechanism, for a short-lived mechanism, again we cannot sacrifice what is fundamental or spinal.
I therefore, as Sansad TV, to the platform, for a point of view, for the other point of view, for in-depth analysis, an analysis that outclasses, in format and content, any other similar institution in the world.
The price we are paying in this country for lack of commitment to economic nationalism. Imagine the available imports we are having. Imports of the kind like diyas, kites, furniture, furnishings, whatnot, even clothes.
We are doing three big damages. One, our precious foreign exchange is going out. That is avoidable. We are snatching work from our people. They could make those diyas, those candles, that furniture, those trousers, those shirts, jackets. So we save foreign exchange.
We are blunting entrepreneurship. There should be a healthy debate. A debate will be an eye-opener.
If you will be able to tell the people at large that because of these avoidable imports, we have lost, I’m just giving an empirical figure, around 100 billion US dollars every year. In the process, we also empower countries that may not be well-inclined towards us. Second, how can this country be so genius with everyone being involved in activity? Export raw materials.
Have a debate. Free debate. Let people say, why should we export only iron ore without value addition? Why should we not engage in massive value additions? All I’m urging is, media is a great catalyst for development. Because by and large, people believe in the nation. Why by and large, nearly all accept a small category?
We take it routinely, someone in the country or outside criticises our nation. I am tired. It hurts my mind and heart both when I see that someone whom I know, I belong to his fraternity, has the distinction like him to be a Union Minister, a man who has a great reputation, could set a narrative afloat. What happened in Bangladesh can happen here. It’s alarmingly worrisome. It’s not my criticism. It is an expression of my own conscious guilt that one of us could do it. Yes, we did have a dark period.
I asked the CEO to focus on Constitution Day.
Constitution Day was started and marked by two significant dates. The declaration was made in Mumbai that there will be Constitution Day and the declaration was made on the birthday of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar. That declaration was made.
Gazette notification was equally important. I want young people to note these two dates. The man who gave us the Constitution, on his day, the Prime Minister in Mumbai, while inaugurating one of his memorials, said there will be Constitution Day in India, a first beginning. But the gadget notification was on another date. That was the birthday of the person who enacted the emergency.
Youngsters need to know, you have not lived through that era, that this country, when it was in the 18th or 19th year of independence, liberties capsized, institutions collapsed, even the Supreme Court did not come to the aid.
Have it. Second, Samvidhan Hatya Diwas, we need to project it massively every year. Our people have to be sensitised. We cannot forget those who got freedom to us by laying down their lives when we attended on 15th August 1947.
Similarly, we cannot forget those souls who suffered such kind of things, the indignation.
You will be surprised, young boys and girls in particular. In the 60s, parts of our rocket were being taken on a bicycle. And our rocket was launched from another pad, in another country.
That was a time when Pakistan launched from its own pad. And now we are launching satellites from the US, UK, Singapore. And for youngsters, this economy has avenues for you.
All I am saying is, I can keep on going and going. And someone would think, I am promoting the government. Remember, we have to promote governments, we don’t promote political parties.
The difference has to be understood. Anyone in the country, if he or she finds that a good development activity is taking place, why not appreciate it? It is not appreciating an individual. And we therefore need to develop our culture. For development, we will be bipartisan. Development should never be viewed from a prism that is political. Because political prism blinds you. It makes you look at your political welfare.
We are too quick youngsters to quote foreign philosophers. Look at our philosophers. एक कहावत है, गली में छोरा और गांव में ढिंढोरा।
We have to be alive to our knowledge, equity, and our worth.
I would not say more. All I would say is your hands are full. We have given you too many irons. Am I right? They are on fire.
You have to fire the imagination of the people of India because Sansad TV stands for a mission and Sansad TV promotes public interest, come what may. If something needs to be done by way of improvement, Sansad TV must unhesitatingly highlight because we can engage in audits on behalf of the public of every development, developmental activity.
At the same time, you can neutralise any narrative which is pernicious and baseless. It should be a platform. It is an emerging one of high quality and distinctive output debate. Authentic information dissemination platform, we are unique because we have access to this unlike others.
We get from Parliament what is authentic. There is accountability. If information imparted on the platform of Parliament is wrong, he or she suffers serious consequences including loss of membership. We have that. Inform and educate, that’s fundamental. Easier said than done.
Because democratic values are getting nosedived before our nose. We are not taking due attention to that and simply we have to motivate people for public order.
We need to ensure that all voices are heard. All voices are important. A voice can not be determined with the strength of its demographic power. A voice, a lone voice may be a sane voice. A chorus may be in the wrong direction and a lone voice may be a sane voice. Let us make it a platform
And I therefore would conclude that while Sansad TV will be an inspiration for the entire nation, it should be the main choice of our youth. They must look up to Sansad TV to enhance their knowledge in every field. They must continue firmly the enormous expansion in the opportunity basket they have. The opportunities they have, and that they can know once they come to know how the opportunity is translating into ground reality, I’ll conclude by saying Mudra scheme. More than 45% of women are getting advantage of it. They are getting advantage of it by employing themselves and employing someone else also.
I wish Sansad TV in its third year, completion now, a great success. This is the very best. Challenges are ahead, headwinds you will face, terrain will be difficult, people will have air pockets for you, some of them may be overcritical, unjustifiably critical, and they may use the easy route, you are a government organ.
We are not, and those who say, may continue doing so, because they are not looking at the radar with proper vision.
