Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that democratic institutions, despite their faults, have stood the country in good stead but are in need of constant repair and rejuvenation.
"Our democratic institutions are warps of our nationhood... After 60 years and several generations, these institutions of governance have come to stay but they are in need of constant repair, rejuvenation, revitalisation, modernisation and humanisation," Dr Singh said in his convocation address at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Mumbai on Saturday.
"Non-governmental organisations and voluntary organisations add meanings to democracy and energise civil society, but they need people who can take a long term view of development," he said, adding, "Such a holistic perspective is important because interest groups espouse sectional causes."
The prime minister said, "It is imperative that wealth creation must be done through honest means and we have to make sure that the process of wealth creation does not neglect poor, marginalised and neglected sections of the society."
Dr Singh also conferred honorary Doctor of Literature degrees on noted social activist Baba Amte and industrialist Ratan Tata. While Amte's son Vikas accepted the degree on his father's behalf, Tata received the honour in person.
The prime minister described Amte and Tata as 'the two most illustrious sons of India.'