Does our legislature reflect emerging India, asks Prez

New Delhi: Triggering a fresh debate in the context of the brutal gangrape in Delhi and youth protests that followed, President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday raised a question whether the country's legislature reflects emerging India or does it need radical reforms.

Asking whether corruption has overtaken morality in life, he said elected representatives must win back people's confidence and the anxiety and the restlessness of the youth has to be channelised towards change with speed, dignity and order.

In his first address to the nation on the eve of the 64th Republic Day, Mukherjee referred to the "grave tragedy" of the brutal rape and murder of a woman in the capital that has shattered complacency.

"The brutal rape and murder of a young woman, a woman who was symbol of all that new India strives to be, has left our hearts empty and our minds in turmoil. We lost more than a valuable life; we lost a dream. If today young Indians feel outraged, can we blame our youth?," he asked.

The President said there is a law of the land but there is also a higher law. The sanctity of a woman is a directive principle of that larger edifice called Indian civilisation.

"When we brutalise a woman, we wound the soul of our nation."

"It is time for the nation to reset its moral compass.

Nothing should be allowed to spur cynicism, as cynicism is blind to morality. We must look deep into our conscience and find out where we have faltered.

"The solutions to problems have to be found through discussion and conciliation of views. People must believe that governance is an instrument for good and for that, we must ensure good governance," he said.

Apparently referring to the protests by youth in the Capital and elsewhere in the wake of the gangrape, Mukherjee said country was on the cusp of another generational change.

"The youth of India spread across villages and towns, are in the vanguard of change. The future belongs to them. They are today troubled by a range of existential doubts.

The youth doubt whether system offers due reward for merit and whether the powerful lost their Dharma in pursuit of greed.

"Does our legislature reflect emerging India or does it need radical reforms? These doubts have to be set at rest. Elected representatives must win back the confidence of the people. The anxiety and restlessness of the youth should be channelised towards change with speed, dignity and order," he said.

The President said the young cannot dream on an empty stomach. They must have jobs capable of serving their own as well as the nation's ambitions.

"But we must ensure that the fruits of economic growth do not become the monopoly of the privileged at the peak of a pyramid. The primary purpose of wealth creation must be to drive out the evil of hunger, deprivation and marginal subsistence from the base of our expanding population," he said.

Noting that last year has been a testing time, the President said as the country moved ahead on the path of economic reforms it must remain alive to the persisting problems of market dependent economies.

"Many rich nations are now trapped by a culture of entitlement without social obligations; we must avoid this trap. The results of our policies should be seen in our villages, farms and factories, schools and hospitals," he said.