New Delhi, Aug 14: In her Independence Day eve address to the nation, President Droupadi Murmu said on Wednesday that social justice is a top priority of the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which has taken a number of unprecedented initiatives for the welfare of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and other marginalised sections of the society.

“The Pradhan Mantri Samajik Utthan evam Rozgar Adharit Jankalyan, i.e., PM-SURAJ, aims to provide direct financial assistance to the people from the marginalised communities. The Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan or PM-JANMAN has taken the form of a mass campaign for critical interventions to improve the socio-economic conditions of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)," she said.

“The National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem or the NAMASTE scheme will ensure that no sanitation worker manually engages in the hazardous task of sewer and septic tank cleaning,” the President said.

Stating that political democracy cannot last without social democracy, the President said, “We must remember the words of B.R. Ambedkar who had rightly said, and I quote, ‘We must make our political democracy a social democracy as well. Political democracy cannot last unless there lies at the base of it social democracy.' The steady progress of political democracy testifies to the progress made towards the consolidation of social democracy."

She also said the spirit of inclusion pervades every aspect of our social life.

“We move together as a cohesive nation with our diversity and plurality. Affirmative action must be strengthened as an instrument of inclusion. I firmly believe that in a vast country like ours, tendencies that stoke discord based upon perceived social hierarchies have to be rejected,” the President said.

She added that the term ‘justice’, taken in the broadest possible sense, includes a variety of social factors.

“I would like to stress two of them in particular -- gender justice and climate justice,” she said.

The President also said that in Indian society, women are considered not only equal, but even more than equal. However, they have also suffered from traditional prejudices, she added.

“I am glad to note that the government has given equal importance to women’s welfare and empowerment. The Budget allocation for this purpose has more than tripled in the last decade. Their participation in the labour force has increased,” the President said.

She added that the most heartening development on this front has been the significant improvement in sex ratio at birth.

“A variety of special government schemes have also been designed keeping the women at the centre. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam is aimed at ensuring real empowerment of women,” President Murmu said.

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