Expressing apprehensions over the ‘romantic view’ being projected regarding ‘Vision 2020’, Mangalore University Political Science Department Chairman Dr P L Dharma said the Vision 2020 document is a dangerously proposed alternative for Indian Constitution.
He was addressing the students of Social Work as part of a seminar on “Vision 2020”, organised by Shree Devi Institute of Social Work in the City on Wednesday.
Initiating a different view regarding the much talked about ‘dream’, Dr Dharma said Indians are going to be the victims of Vision 2020, where the noble values of Indian Constitution that represents the real vision of our nation builders, will have no place at all.
“Unless the miseries of large number of students who still depend on poor facilities in government schools, thousands of fishermen, farmers, beedi workers and other laymen who struggle for their survival are addressed, the glossy picture towards vision 2020 is meaningless,” he observed.
The ‘vision’ document mere reflects the mind of elitism. The idea of middle class is being injected into the younger minds without having a single thought towards its implications. Indian society is going to be a world of consumerism, he noted.
Dr Dharma said the present idea regarding ‘Vision 2020’ will make Indians non-political beings, which will obviously be dangerous to democracy.
 Human rights or even fundamental rights will be replaced by consumer rights. There will be a complete political transformation, he added.
Former Opposition leader of Mangalore City Corporation Shankar Bhat, who inaugurated the seminar, stressed on the need for all round development of the country rather than a rapid growth in mere technological fields.
Citing a local example, Mr Bhat said, “The important question is not Mangalore getting a Special Economic Zone but how far it will be able to fulfil the requirements of the native people too.”
SDM Law College Principal Dr B K Ravindra said equal emphasis should be given to potential risks and bottlenecks in achieving progress, and the possible solutions for them.
Shree Devi Education Trust Chairman A Sadanand Shetty, who presided over the function, stressed on the need for a balanced development by bridging the urban-rural divide.
Shree Devi Institute of Social Work Principal Dr Suresh Kumar was present on the occasion.