Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen today said there was a need for a Constitution Bench to deliberate on the Supreme Court's upholding of Haryana government's decision to make literacy a criterion to contest Panchayat elections.
"We have to distinguish between what our objectives are and what is the state of the country... That does not mean that everybody should be literate and that everybody should have a toilet in their homes and until that happens, we deny the people their privileges," Sen said.
Speaking at a discussion on his latest book 'The Country of First Boys', a collection of essays, the noted economist said that the matter was in need of hearing by a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court.
"We don't have to deprive the people who are already deprived and take away what is their privilege," he said.
Sen opposed the case for death penalty as it did not act as a deterrent because it is not effective and has not reduced instances of crime, as seen all over the world.
Talking about the great dangers of nuclear energy, the India born economist said it cannot be a solution in the long run.
He mentioned the meltdown of the nuclear plant in Fukishima in Japan and added that if such an incident would have happened in India, it would have had disastrous consequences.
