NEW DELHI: In her first address to the nation after the BJP-led NDA alliance assumed office for the third time, President Droupadi Murmu called for strengthening affirmative action as an instrument of inclusion and said social justice was the government’s top priority.
The remarks came close on the heels of Supreme Court’s observations on the need to evolve a creamy layer to exclude advantaged sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes from reservation benefits something the Union Cabinet categorically ruled out last week.
Citing BR Ambedkar’s quote, “we must make our political democracy a social democracy as well”, Murmu said steady progress of political democracy in India testified to the progress made towards the consolidation of social democracy.
“The spirit of inclusion pervades every aspect of our social life. We move together as a cohesive nation with our diversity and plurality. Affirmative action must be strengthened as an instrument of inclusion. In a vast country like ours, tendencies that stoke discord based upon perceived social hierarchies have to be rejected. Social justice is a top priority of the government,” she said on the eve of the 78th Independence Day.
The Constitution has of late dominated electoral and political narratives in India with the Congress-led Opposition accusing the NDA of seeking full majority in the recent national election to “dilute SC/ST quotas”. BJP’s internal reviews have revealed the Opposition’s campaign hit home costing the NDA a simple majority in the Lok Sabha. The President’s unequivocal backing for affirmative action on Wednesday is significant in that context.
Further, at a time of continuing agitation on the Punjab-Haryana border, the President lauded farmers for their contributions to India’s rise as the fifth largest global economy “soon poised to be the third largest”.
“It is a matter of pride for all that India has become the fifth largest economy in the world, and we are also poised to become one of the top three economies soon. This has been made possible only by tireless hard work of farmers and workers… farsightedness of planners and wealth-creators, and visionary leadership,” she said, adding farmers had ensured agricultural production continued to beat expectations aiding national self-reliance.
The President, congratulating the EC for successfully conducting the world’s largest election in 2024, said, “India’s successful conduct of elections strengthens democratic forces around the world.”