The former Union Minister and MP, Jairam Ramesh, said here on Saturday that affirmative action was imperative for inclusive growth and the challenge before the country was to not only achieve a high growth rate but ensure that it was inclusive and empowered the people.
Speaking after inaugurating the Devaraj Urs Centre for Developmental Studies at MYRA School of Business here, Mr. Ramesh said India had evolved and institutionalised a hierarchical system over 3,000 years in which those considered “low caste” were subjugated and exploited.
He said India was the only country where people are “excluded” at birth based on the caste hierarchy, an individual inherited and had perfected the concept of untouchability.
While a growth of 8 per cent may be achievable and the GST Bill can be passed, it does not address the issue of social exclusion, he said.
Even the Unique Identification Number (UID) cannot override untouchability, caste, language, religion and region, said Mr. Ramesh, who reiterated that the challenge was to ensure 8 per cent growth which was inclusive and empowered all sections of society. Underlining the importance of education, Mr. Ramesh said it was an important tool to engineer change and empower people, provided it was accessible to all and hence the need and importance of affirmative action, he said.
Though the country had witnessed political empowerment and the excluded groups were enjoying power, it failed to take roots in other spheres. Political power was being wielded by leaders in big States such as Bihar, U.P., and Karnataka and was unthinkable a few decades ago, but is the a norm in the present times, he said. “Mayawati may be the norm today, but was inconceivable 50 years ago,” he said.
The late D. Devaraj Urs came in for praise for initiating land reforms and using it as a social engineering tool and though considered radical in the 70s, it was peacefully implemented, according to Mr. Ramesh. He used political power for a larger social cause and changed the very face of the State, he said. The scholarship instituted in his name should highlight his contribution and shed light on the present realities, said Mr. Ramesh
He advised the students to study in depth the issues related to exclusion as it would make them aware of the ground reality in a profession considered as being elitist in nature and approach.
Senior faculty members of MYRA, students and others were present.
