On Wednesday, Vice President of India, Jagdeep Dhankhar delivered the second Dr Rajendra Prasad Memorial Lecture at the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) in Delhi. During his address, the Vice President shared that India’s values, integrity, and institutions are being attacked by some outsiders who don’t want to see India emerging as a global power.
“An intense assault on India’s values, integrity, and its institutions is emanating from a well-maintained incubator out to defame us. An ecosystem is being shaped and nurtured to combat India’s emergence as Global power,” he said adding that a few billionaires and intellectuals of Inda have “fallen prey to the pernicious designs” of some institutions located abroad by funding them.
“I have a wise regard for our industrialists, they are contributing to the growth of the nation. But even the best of minds, sometimes need to be cautioned. Some of India’s Billionaires and intellectuals, unmindful of consequence, have fallen prey to such pernicious designs by funding these institutions,” he was quoted as saying.
VP Dhankhar further indicated that industrialists should think about donating money to the IITs and IIMs instead of supporting foreign organisations that, in his words, “attack the legitimacy of India as a nation-state and its Constitution.”
“Their benevolence can be more fruitful if they make financial contributions to our institutions of excellence IITs and IIMs rather than going outside. There is a need to reflect seriously on it. I firmly believe as an individual whatever CSR fund is, it must be utilised within the country,” he added.
The Vice President also affirmed that the ‘Best Collaboration’ has to be within the country by our own people. “This is not in an accusatory sense but merely caution because their intent is certainly not against India,” he noted.
VP Dhankhar said that he is aware of one Indian billionaire who gave Rs 200 crore to an institute in the US, while also adding that the government of India had in 2008 extended assistance of Rs 20 crore to another institution.
Notably, author Rajiv Malhotra made a similar assertion in his book ‘Snakes in the Ganga’. During an exclusive interview to OpIndia, Malhotra said that a few people and institutions in India are contributing to the country’s destruction. “If this continues in practice, our neighboring countries will take over India and we’ll get recolonized. People from elsewhere will come and rule over the country. And the vacuum of power is always filled by people who are irresponsible and selfish,” he said.
Meanwhile, during his address, VP Dhankhar reaffirmed his objections to the Supreme Court’s use of the fundamental structure theory to invalidate the constitutional amendment that created the National Judicial Appointments Act (NJAC).
“The basis of any basic structure has to be the supremacy of Parliament in law-making… which means the supremacy of people,” he asserted, saying that there was an urgent need for the legislature, executive, and judiciary to scrupulously adhere to their respective domains,” he said.
He also stated that the next 25 years are going to be crucial for the country, particularly because of the last nine years. He said that the government has built a foundation and taken positive steps over the previous nine years so that in 2047, when the nation will be celebrating the centennial of its independence, India will be at the top.
Further, VP Dhankhar mentioned that in the upcoming years, emerging technologies like digital platforms, artificial intelligence, big data science, and the internet of things will be a crucial component of public administration to satisfy the demands of an ‘Atma Nirbhar’ economy as we become the centre of the global value chain, to promote a new entrepreneurial culture, and to assist innovative start-ups.
