Follow positive aspects of West, don’t blindly ape, says former CEC

Mysuru:“Western education per se is not bad but the way it is being implemented in India is bad and the way we are aping Western culture can put anybody to shame,” said former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) T.S. Krishna Murthy. He was delivering the Foundation Day Lecture at Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Institute of Management Development (SDM-IMD) in city yesterday.

“Instead of adopting positive features of Western education and culture, we are blindly following whatever is negative. India is a sea of opportunities and those who say India has no future are oblivious of facts,” he said and added that hero worship must be discouraged at any cost. India has enormous opportunities for people in all walks of life, he said.

“Over the past two or three decades, governance has lost direction in India and the country became a victim of Macaulay trap. When India became independent, it was thought that the nation would become a superpower by 20 or 30 years. But, even after 70 years, we are plagued by illiteracy, corruption and poverty,” he regretted.

“We have only succeeded in having democracy as a structure not in substance. Our Constitution is perhaps the most elaborate in the world. It is lauded as one of the best. However, when it comes to progress, we match only some African nations. We are yet to catch up with developed European and American nations,” he opined.

Raising some fundamental questions, the former CEC asked: As a nation, are we making an impact on the international community? Are we managing our nation properly? Why there is widespread profiteering? Why should a rich politician pose to be humble?

On the resistance to implementation of Goods and Service Tax (GST), he said, “GST will unify the nation. Before independence, there were nearly 500 provinces, each of which claimed to be different. Even now, many States resist people from other States. Now, GST will play a vital role in unifying people,” he said.   SDM-IMD Director Dr. N.R. Parasuraman and Deputy Director Dr. H. Gayathri were present.