‘Every Citizen a Problem & a Question’: Gadkari Quotes Nehru

Gadkari, quoting Nehru, said Indians should work on being solutions for the country, not problems.

Union Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari. 

(Photo: IANS)

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday, 25 December, expressed his fondness for former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s iconic speeches and even quoted one of them, whose message was that no Indian should feel that s/he is a ‘problem’ for the country.

Addressing a gathering at the 31st endowment lecture of Intelligence Bureau, Gadkari, quoting Nehru said:

“India is not a nation, it is a population. <i>Iss desh ka har vyakti desh ke liye prashn hai, samasya hai.</i>” (Every citizen of this country is a solution and a problem in himself/herself) <i>Unke yeh bhashn mujhe bahut pasand hain. Toh main itna toh kar sakta hun ki main desh ke saamne samasya nahi rahunga. </i>(I really liked this quote of his. So, the least I can do, is not to pose a problem for this country.)

Nitin Gadkari, as reported by <i>ANI </i>

Adding to this, he said half of the problems in the country wouldn’t happen if its citizens didn’t create it in the first place.

Gadkari also spoke about the importance of tolerance in the ruling of the country and also stressed that India’s greatest strength is “unity in diversity” – something that another former prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, stressed in his own speeches, The Economic Times reported.

The Minister also made a passing reference to the recent Assembly elections, saying that the mere win of elections by “incumbent” parties doesn’t mean anything, unless a socio-economic transformation takes place, without which, “progress of country and society won’t happen”, the report added.

Gadkari also spoke about the importance of human resource management, transparency by the ruling authorities, accompanied by good decision-making and execution.

(With inputs from ANI and The Economic Times)