Mumbai: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday said decentralization of authority and distribution of production controls would help create jobs in India. He was responding to a question from the audience after delivering a speech on “Nationalism and Business Ethics" at the BSE. Bhagwat, the first RSS chief to speak at the BSE’s international convention hall, added that decentralization and delegation of authority would have to be backed up by education and skill training.

“Decentralization of authority and production controls should be tried so that jobs are created at the local level according to the local needs. At the same time, to ensure that too much of localization does not threaten national integrity and sovereignty, all industrial and trade activity should work towards making India the world leader and a superpower that practises ‘Dharma’ in each sphere of life, including trade," Bhagwat said. He said by “Dharma" he did not mean religion or a way of worship. “Dharma means the sense of righteousness, fairness, and sense of the right path to progress which follows the vision of well-being of entire humanity," he clarified.

The speech was organized by the Indian Merchants’ Chamber. Responding to the same question, Bhagwat said that at one point, much before the age of Mahabharata, India had “the most individualistic society in the world where each individual had the freedom to do what pleased him". “There are references in the Mahabharata to the existence of such a society in India. There are rich traditions that still speak of this individualistic society. Each individual was free to do what pleased him but with an enlightened sense of self-awareness and responsibility that what his freedom to do what pleased him did not affect another individual’s freedom and well-being. We have to take our society back to that state when there would be no need to regulate or control and every individual would be free to do what he wants to do and responsible for his actions," he said. The basic foundation of this society will be “Dharma", he added. “This will be the society which will establish the system of governance it wants and needs."

Responding to a question on ethics in politics, Bhagwat said “politics by itself" was not the means to establish an ethical society. “Politics is part of the society and it represents what the society stands for. The society has to be ethical," he said. He cited “politics of caste" as an example of politics with selfish interest. “We have to create a society which gives the politicians the freedom and courage to talk about politics of caste without having to pay the political cost. But it is rather difficult for politicians to not fall in this trap of caste politics because that is what the society forces him to do. Change has to start from the society itself and it will make politics ethical," he said.

Earlier in his speech, Bhagwat pointed out that India’s decline started with colonization. “Even during the Islamic rule, India was one of the top countries in terms of trade and her presence in the global economy. The decline started when the British decided to exploit India for their economic rise. The industrial revolution in England was powered by the exploitation and loot of India’s resources and wealth," he said. But he insisted that India was still the number one nation in the world. “What has happened is that the definition of what constitutes a great nation has been changed. This change in the definition has created an illusion that India does not stand anywhere today. Even some of us fall for this illusion. We have started saying hum nahin hain. But we have to start saying and believing that hum hi hain," he said.

He said India would have to back herself to regain the role of “jagadguru" and change the global paradigm. “The rest of the world does not have the power and foundation of ‘Dharma’ that India has. We have to help the world regain its balance and sense of direction," he said. Bhagwat said India’s time had come and the new generation of Indians had this self-belief and sense of responsibility to make India great again. “Once upon a time, we were afraid of the world. There is no need to be afraid now. We have to conquer this fear of the world and conduct ourselves on the global stage with self-belief and character," he said.

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