STATE: The Second Mother

If a mother teaches her child to take his first steps, the state ensures the road beneath his feet is steady.

- FAIZAN NABI

Just as a mother sacrifices her sleep for her child’s well-being, the state builds hospitals, provides education, and safeguards his future. The state is the second mother, always giving, always protecting.

The first time a child opens his eyes, it is his mother who holds him close, feeds him, and protects him from the unknown. She nurtures him, teaches him to walk, helps him speak his first words, and shields him from the cold world outside. But as he grows, steps out of his home, and begins to understand the vastness of life, he comes under the care of another mother — his state. If a mother teaches a child to walk, the state ensures the road beneath him is smooth and safe. If a mother ensures he sleeps peacefully, the state safeguards his nights with security and law. In every stage of life, in visible and invisible ways, the state becomes the second mother, silently shaping his destiny.

In the bustling streets of Srinagar, a young boy clutches his father’s hand as they walk towards a government hospital. He is running a fever, and his worried father prays for a doctor's help. The moment they step inside, they are greeted not by the cold demand of money, but by the warmth of free medical care under the Ayushman Bharat scheme. In that moment, the state embraces the child as its own, ensuring that health remains a right, not a privilege. Just as a mother sacrifices her sleep for her child’s well-being, the state builds hospitals, deploys doctors, and provides medicine so that no child suffers in silence. In Kashmir, where winters are harsh and terrains unforgiving, mobile health units now reach remote villages, ensuring that even those in the farthest corners receive care. The construction of AIIMS Awantipora, alongside district hospitals in Kupwara and Anantnag, is proof of a state that tirelessly works to heal its people.