Famous industrialist and renowned philanthropist Ratan Tata on Monday joined the intolerance debate agreeing with the country’s intellectuals by saying that the freedom to decide what one has to do was none of government’s business.
He said that this freedom was the one single thing that could make the country shine and governments should have no role in telling people what to do.
“If India is to shine now and in future, people must have the freedom to decide. While governments can be in the business of monitoring, they should have no role in telling people what to do,” Ratan Tata was quoted by the news agency PTI.
The chairman emeritus of Tata Sons made these observations while interacting with students of SRM University at nearby Kattankulathur.
“If India should shine let people have the freedom to decide,” a release quoted him as saying.
Tata said that people were yet to have access to basic health care facilities and there was social stigma on disability adding that less attention had been given to disability oriented vehicles.
“We don’t even have a ramp in many pavements to address the needs of people on wheel-chairs,” he said.
Ratan Tata’s comments on intolerance will give credence to the growing protests on this matter by India’s intellectuals, who even resorted to returning their national honours.
However, the BJP led government in Delhi and its supporters had rubbished the protests on growing intolerance under the current regime by often calling them anti-nationals.