Accra, Ghana, January 26, 2019//-Indians and Ghanaians on Sunday (today) converged at the Residence of the India High Commissioner in Accra to mark the 70th Republic Day anniversary of India, with reaffirm commitment to liberty, fraternity and equality across their society and among all people.
Addressing a large Indian community in Ghana, the Indian High Commissioner to Ghana, Birender Singh Yadav, who hoisted the Flag of India and later read a speech on behalf of the President of India, H.E Ramnath Kovind added that, “this is an occasion to celebrate India and the spirit of being Indian.
He continued: “The values that shaped Indian independence and that continue to shape our Republic – the values inculcated in our democracy and our Constitution – are also the values that uphold the supremacy of the people of India”.
This year, the people of India – each one of us – have another responsibility: of voting in the general election and electing the 17th Lok Sabha”.
The ideas and idealism of our democracy will come into full force. Once more, as we do every five years, voters will deliver their verdict and write their destiny, President Kovind said.
“This year’s election will be the first when voters born in the 21st century will contribute to electing a new Lok Sabha.
An election is not just a political exercise. An election is a collective call to wisdom and a collective call to action”.
It represents a renewal and a recommitment to the goals and hopes of a shared and egalitarian society. It represents the diverse and yet singular urges of the people and the Republic of India.
“This makes the very act of voting a sacred act. Please perform this act. Who the voter chooses to vote for is up to him or her, I would only request all eligible voters to go out and vote.Our country is at a key juncture. In some respects this is as critical and formative a period as the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Decisions and actions of today will shape the India of the remainder of the 21st century. As such, this is not just a once-in-a-generation moment – it is a once-in-a-century moment”.
President Kovind reminded that this election is only a milestone in the journey towards fulfilling the aspirations of their people and building a developed India.
India is at the doorstep of eliminating extreme poverty for the first time in memory, according to him.
The President was quick added that a programme of universal and equitable healthcare had begun to be rolled out.
“Affordable medicines and medical devices and implants are becoming a reality for more and more sections of our people. A greater number of Indians than ever previously have access to proper housing, with modern sanitation and electricity”.
Connectivity
Connectivity – in the form of ports and inland waterways, upgraded railways and new metro services, national highways and rural roads, cost-effective air services to the interiors of India, and of course the surge in mobile phones and data access – is bringing us together as never before. India has been united and integrated – now it is being networked.
“Leapfrogging technologies and leapfrogging enlightenment are empowering our farmers and equipping our soldiers.
They are enabling our traditionally deprived fellow citizens and educating our daughters and our sons.
They are exciting the entrepreneurial energies and the infectious start-up culture that has made our younger generation and our India the focus of world attention and admiration”.
Economy
“In area after area, commodity after commodity, we have converted difficulty into availability. We have done this step-by-step and year-by-year. And yet whether in food grains or LPG cylinders, telephone connections or even the ability to get a passport, change is apparent and change is visible.
In many cases, technology has been a force multiplier. And in all cases, inclusiveness has been a moral multiplier”.
No conception of India’s development can be complete without a salute to our spirit of inclusiveness – of access and opportunity for all; of an expansion and an embrace of those whom we consider our own”.
African Eye Report
