ADDRESS BY SHRI K.R. NARAYANAN, VICE PRESIDENT OF INDIA, AT THE 15TH ALL INDIA PUBLIC RELATIONS CONFERENCE
NOVEMBER 15, 1992
We are passing through momentous times. The. dramatic transformation of the international scene with. the disintegration of the Soviet Communist empire has given birth to what has come to be known as the new world. order. This has ended long years of super-power. confrontation, eased global tensions and averted the. imminent threat of a major conflagration. On the other. hand, it has unleashed certain dark forces in the. erstwhile Soviet bloc as is evident from the rise in. crime and violence and the ethnic conflicts there.
The beneficial effects of the change are seen in. the working of the United Nations, which has been turned. from an arena of East-West conflict into one of mutual. cooperation. For the first time the members of the. Security Council have acted in concert as was envisioned. by the founding fathers of the United Nations. But here. again the fact that the sole surviving super power can. pressurise the other members into steps that suit its. narrow national interests or its leaders' personal ego is not without its dangers.
There is obvious need for checks and balances so. that the United Nations is able to protect and preserve. the interests of the vast majority of its peace loving. members and does not allow itself to be coerced or. intimidated by any one member. The imperative of. democratising the United Nations and its various key organs, notably the Security Council, can hardly be overemphasized. India surely has a legitimate claim to a. seat in the Council. So also Germany and Japan.
India could hardly have remained unaffected by. the changes in the international environment. The. Government of India in July'91 announced a package of. far-reaching economic reforms with the aim of securing. close integration of the Indian economy with the global. economy. In one swift move the government demolished the. elaborate permit raj system built up over the years. The system inhibited economic development and created vast. avenues for corruption.
The Government's package aims at industrial. liberalisation and fiscal consolidation. The hope is. that the liberal regime would encourage entrepreneurship. and attract large scale domestic and foreign investment. in industry. Without increasing production and. productivity, earning enough export incomes to pay for. our imports and enlarging the scope of public participation, we cannot achieve our cherished goal to. build the India of our dreams.
Gandhiji's vision of India is embodied in the. following words. He said: "I shall work for an India in. which the poorest shall feel that it is their country, in. whose making they have an effective voice, an India in. which there shall be no high class and low class of. people, an India in which all communities shall live in perfect harmony".
The Government's economic reforms are just a step. in that direction. However, a word of caution is. necessary at this stage. This is that a change in. people's thanking is absolutely essential for proper and. effective implementation of the reforms. The mind-set of. the bureaucracy in particular has to change substantially. There is already talk of a slowing down. of the reforms. This must not be allowed to happen. The. bureaucrats at the middle and lower levels in particular. have to be made to fall in line with the Government's. philosophy.
The creation of a new information order in which. information flows freely is no less important Democracies can function best when people are posted with. all the relevant and necessary information. The 'opening. up' cannot be confined to one sector; it has to be. adopted as a general philosophy.
The new information order would certainly facilitate the task of communication. This is the age of. communication. With technological advances -- communication has acquired a new dimension. It is no. longer possible for governments to close their frontiers to the invasion from the sky. Satellites are not. respected of national frontiers. They have further. shrunk the shrinking world.
Since controlling the contents of satellite programmes or blocking them altogether is not feasible, governments can minimise the danger of their spreading disinformation by a free and balanced flow of information. to their people. The more scanty the information the. greater the danger of gossip, speculation, conjecture.
As our age-old motto says, let truth prevail. Public relations men and women, as professional. communicators, can play a useful role here. Public. relations, in a broad sense of the term, is a means of. enlarging the frontiers of human interest and consciousness. PR professionals are well suited for the. role of creating greater awareness among their various. publics.
I talked about Gandhian dream of harmony. I am. glad to know that your Conference Chairman in his speech. put the creation of harmony in society as the principal. objective of the PR professionals. It is only in a. spirit of harmony and understanding that nations should. speak to one another. It is only through harmony and. understanding that world peace can be made to endure.
Thank you.
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