SECULAR COUNTRY

India has always been a secular country, with all religions equally respected. Secularism is enshrined in the Constitution of India and was envisaged by the founding fathers like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and freedom fighters like Maulana Abdul Ghulam Azad and Dr. Zakir Hussein, who later served as the President of India from 1967-1969.

India should heed the advice of the first Prime Minister Pandit Nehru when he declared the Bhakra Nangal Dam as a “Temple of Modern India”, in 1954. He had proclaimed that the temples of Modern India should be steel plants, power plants, dams, factories, etc., to generate scientific and technological progress.

India should prioritise managing the rapidly spreading pandemic. In the first seven days of August, India has had more Covid-19 cases, at 3,28,903, than the US with 3,26,111 and Brazil with 2,51,264. So, India needs to be on a high alert. The Covid-19 pandemic has led to shutering of factories. Unemployment has ranged between 23 per cent to 11 per cent. The salaries of urban workers have been reduced or stopped. There is limited cash with people in the smaller towns and villages.

Another huge challenge confronting India will be to build pipelines or channels of distribution for the vaccine when it arrives. India has 1.3 billion citizens living in about 4,000 towns and 664,369 villages. About 65.53 per cent of the population lives in villages. We have to establish delivery mechanisms to distribute the vaccine, even in villages having a population of less than 500. Arranging for an adequate number of trained health workers to administer the vaccine is also a task.

The Covid-19 virus does not differentiate between religions. This is the time to unite and fight the virus. It is provident for India to focus on fighting the pandemic and improving the lives of the poor through economic development. Rajendra Aneja

Mumbai, India