Hyderabad, August 15: Centralisation of power is responsibole for the country’s failure to eradicate poverty even after six decades of Independence, Lok Satta Party president Jayaprakash Narayan opined today.
Addressing party workers after unfurling the National Flag at the party headquarters, Dr Narayan said in a centralized system the growth opportunities were open only to the rich and power eluded over 80 per cent of the population.
”Unless people are made partners in governance through decentralization of power and every child is enabled to have quality education and health care, poverty wOULD continue to persist,” he said.
He regretted that although the country had enormous natural and human resources, the rulers over successive years had miserably failed in utilizing them because of their skewed priorities. The country had merely witnessed a change of rulers ”from the white to the brown” without any momentous change in the administrative system. Corruption among officials and politicians had become widespread, he alleged.
Total decentralisation of administration with devolution of powers, responsibilities and
resources on elected peoples committees in both urban and rural areas, provision of quality education and health care at government cost to every citizen and institutional mechanisms to eradicate corruption should be the governments priorities, he said. He said the country was be proud of the fact that it had remained united and preserved freedom. But the people should be on eternal guard against forces, which are out to tear the country apart in the name of religion, caste, region and language.
—–Agencies