Social, economic freedom for all is need of the hour

Siddaramaiah, Leader of Opposition in State Assembly and former chief minister, is considered one of the prominent politicians in the country and a champion of backward classes. He is among the few politicians capable of taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on various issues.

He launched the Ahinda movement for the welfare of the minorities, backward classes and Dalits and also took a 312-km padayatra from Bengaluru to Ballary protesting against the mining mafia.

Talking to IANS, Siddaramaiah shared his ideas for change on the occasion of the country's 75th Independence Day.

"What we all know is that India gained Independence from the British on August 15, 1947, but what we have to realise is that more than 99 per cent of Indians are yet to understand the true meaning of freedom. The fight against the British was also a fight against oppression, feudalism, slavery, the drain of wealth and other social injustices. With Independence, we Indians gained political independence but not social and economic freedom. Psychologist Abraham Maslow, in his theory of the hierarchy of needs, has argued that a person realises self-actualisation only when all his needs are realised. I feel this is possible only with social and economic independence," he said.

"I was always conscious about the need for these dimensions of independence during my tenure as the chief minister of Karnataka and previous stints as Finance Minister. Hence it was always my priority to provide basic needs for the people which will enable them to unlock their potential to achieve the greatest things in their lives and in turn enabling the growth story for India.

"Anna Bhagya, Ksheera Bhagya, mid-day meal, Matrupoorna, Indira Canteen, 15 lakh houses under Vasathi Yojana, pure drinking water units and other multi village drinking water projects were all intended to ensure easy access to basic needs. With initiatives like Aarogya bhagya, Vidya Siri, Dialysis centres, free education to girls, residential schools, scholarships to students, etc have assured security in the lives of millions. It is these basic and social security needs that will enable a person to pursue his higher orders of needs and finally realise self-actualisation, which is according to me, social and economic independence," he underlined.

He noted that the responsibility of the government does not end at just initiating something but there is something more to it, creating a level playing field.

"I believe in the idea of 3As � Availability, Accessibility and Affordability. The government through its orders can ensure availability and affordability, but society should work collectively to address the issues of accessibility. Accessibility issues emerge due to social inefficiencies, biases, prejudice, untouchability, etc. Governments can nudge people to eliminate these inefficiencies but society should work towards this," Siddaramaiah underlined.

"Political independence has enabled us Indians to frame our own political ideology and it should be the tool to realise social and economic freedom, but unfortunately the acts of few (individuals, groups, political parties, corporates) with certain privileges are inconsistent with the idea of political independence, and are still furthering social division with inefficiencies of pre-independent era still being continued.

"The Big Idea is nothing but to consciously take the advantage of political independence to achieve social and economic freedom for all," he stressed.