Book of Integration Council New - Ministry of Home Affairs

The policy of liberalisation and the imperialism-driven globalisation have
opened up the economy to the marauding forays of multi-national corporations.
The bureaucray, the education system, the media, and the realm of culture are
now subject to the unbridled penetration of foreign capital. No wonder regional
imbalance has grown and national integration has stood to suffer.
The absence of nationwide implementation of redistributive land reforms
and a lack of economic development have contributed to the plight of caste
groups and has intensified caste divisions which is being utilised by the vested
interests. Without political, social, and economic equality, the castes especially
the scheduled castes and the dalits have fallen prey to the forces of casteism.
We need to recall that even communalisation has its roots in the economic
and social backwardness. Mere reservations, necessary as they are, cannot prevent
such a phenomenon from taking place without economic empowerment in
particular. Because of what can be called the class-caste correspondence, those
at the bottom of the economic structure are also thus at the bottom of the social
structure.
The imposition of neoliberal economic policy, lack of public investment in
agriculture, and the increasing debt burden of the peasantry have all contributed
to the plight of the downtrodden. The factors have come together to accentuate
regional imbalance and worsen the caste and identity divisions.
We have conducted a wide campaign on restructuring of the centre-state
relationship a matter of crucial importance. As a result the H S Sarkaria
Commission was set up by Mrs Indira Gandhi. Its recommendations were not
fully satisfactory. Nevertheless, its views with regard to certain financial
relations have not been implemented.
To take but two of many examples, the credit-deposit ratio is weighed
heavily against the states, and the tax share of the states have been reduced to
less than 30% from the stipulated 50%. The centre-state relationships have been
used as a political weapon depriving some states, and working to the advantage
of others. Subversive forces and the forces of status quo have taken full advantage
of the situation, weakening national integration as a whole.
The various reports on minority communities and their plights have been
gathering dust. We must fight the communal menace through political will and
administrative courage and commitment to secular values. There is widespread
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