Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday expressed concern over politicisation of every crime and over every action of an elected government being seen from a political angle.
Speaking in a NITI Aayog meeting in a videoconference, Patnaik said, “It’s high time the country gets out of this election mode and allows elected Governments to function. National parties had promised women’s reservation both in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. History will not forgive us if we renege on this commitment.
He said elections are an essential feature of a democracy. However, the hallmark of a mature democracy is that once elected, Governments are meant to work for people beyond party lines. He said, “It’s high time that we as a country have serious introspection on whether we are able to do the same. Every crime is being politicised; every action of an elected Government is being seen from a political angle.
This kind of an atmosphere is one of the biggest threats to the pace of development and peace in the country.” He said, “If the country has to really move forward, regions which are neglected and populations that are vulnerable have to be taken along. Committed and targeted action is needed for that. NITI Aayog has a major role to play in this.”
Pointing out that lakhs of our young people appear for national-level examinations like UPSC, NEET, JEE every year, Patnaik urged that a critical look is needed to re-evaluate the patterns for these prestigious and highly sought-after tests.
“Should not we have exams that focus on equality and attracting merit as opposed to exam patterns that are heavily dependent on highly-paid coaching classes,” posed he, adding that this would truly eliminate merit in the long run and deny justice to lakhs of children who live in rural areas and don’t have physical or economic access to coaching classes. Patnaik urged the NITI Aayog to look into this very serious issue or else in a few years’ there would be serious distortions.
The NITI Aayog should develop a repository of innovations drawn from the country and across the world and help replicate it, said he.
Many critical issues are being raised in the NITI Aayog deliberations and excellent suggestions are also being made. It would be appropriate for NITI Aayog to share an action taken report to everyone concerned, said he. A number of proposals of different States relating to inclusion of tribal communities in the ST list have been pending from 1978 onwards, pointed out Patnaik, explaining that many of them are subsets on phonetic variations of the names of existing ST communities and it is unjust to keep these pending for years without a decision.
On the proposed women’s reservation Bill, he said the national parties had promised it both in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.
History would not forgive the parties if they now renege on this commitment. “History will remember us on what our response has been on critical issues affecting our people and the country raising above political considerations,” he observed.