Jawaharlal Nehru rightly said that, "Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom." As India stepped out from the old to the new, it embarked on an unending quest to attain self-reliance and a better life to its suffering populace. After 68 years of independence, we can say with pride that India has progressed and reached new horizons. But this progress has to be assessed in the light of the persistent inequities, and the basic weakness of modern India that sustains them.

India is the biggest democracy in the world.. Although the country is a melting pot of different communities, religious and languages, all enjoy equal rights and share the same responsibilities. Such stability and system has served as an abject lesson for many other countries and enhanced India's stature in the world at large. India's foreign policy also has been open and clear-aiming to develop friendly relations with other countries. At international meetings and conferences, India is given a pride-of-place. . Militarily, India is one of the strongest countries in the world. Having the third largest army in the world, it has a huge arsenal of weaponry including nuclear weapons. But there is a chink in the armour in the form of our corrupt politicians who have maligned the system with their money laundering manipulations. They have ruined the social tenor of our society by trying to woo the electorate with negative propaganda. We need more pragmatic leaders like the late Abdul Kalam who only worked for the nation.

On the eve of the independence, India was a nation of starving millions. It embarked on achieving self sufficiency in food grains with the onset of Green Revolution in 1968. In order to enhance productivity, the government has initiated intensive agricultural programmes and now we have surplus buffer food stocks and also export grains to other countries. It is a matter of pride that India now occupies second position globally in wheat production.The White Revolution, the world's largest agricultural programme transformed India from a milk-deficient nation to the world's largest milk producer, surpassing the United States of America in 1998,[4] with about 17 percent of global output in 2010–11 The acceptance of modern technology did lead to a moderate increase in productivity but emphasis on employment generation was lacking resulting in male-out migration. The continued persistence of endemic hunger in rural areas is now largely the result of inadequate purchasing power from lesser opportunities for skilled employment. Though we aim for food security and sustainability, we have not been entirely successful. The farmer suicides in large numbers due to poor crop and loans rock the nation.

Before independence India was a largely agriculture-based country. Post-independence, the Indian private sector began attempts to expand. Technology has been one of the main cornerstones of India's industrial development. The city of Bangalore has become known as the 'Silicon Valley' of India. Over 250 high-tech industries have set up their including IBM, Intel and HP. These companies are part of India's growing IT sector while also being involved in software manufacturing. April 19, 1975, was a red letter day in the history of India's space programme with the launch of 'Aryabhatta'. India's first interplanetary mission to mars is a feather in its cap. "If you help, with your help, if you do not help without your help and if you oppose, inspite of you, we shall go ahead with our nuclear policy", says India to the advanced nations of the world. India is now propagating its policies and programmes of 'atoms for peace'. Unfortunately, legislation and its enforcement have not been able to keep up with the growth of new industries and their potential health risks as seen in the Bhopal Gas Tragedy in 1984. Again, industries are lax about conforming to pollution controls and the few health regulations in place and the government does not make it a priority to enforce them. . Cities sprout from towns when major industries develop resulting in overcrowding

Poverty in India is widespread with the nation estimated to have a third of the world's poor. Many of the country's poor live in the slum areas which lack basic amenities. If India is to become a truly developed country it must develop a form of social welfare scheme. Close to half our children suffer from malnutrition, much the same as 30 years agoOver the past three decades, there has been growing empowerment of women. The sex ratio has at last begun to see some improvement the life expectancy of women is now, as it should be, longer than of men. Today, the literacy rate has improved to over 75 per cent, the per capita income has crossed Rs 25,000, health care facilities are available in every part of the country, and employment opportunities are growing. The large size of young population is actually a great source which can lead the country to dizzy heights.

No doubt, we have won many battles but we have miles to go before we can make our country a super power in the global arena. Progress is not short, frenzied outbursts of effort, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.As said by Martin Luther King, " Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.