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11. The challenge for us as a nation is to address this duality - to ensure that whilewe keep the wheels of progress moving rapidly forward, no section of society and no partof the country is left behind; to ensure that growth generates the necessary wealth whichcan then finance the welfare of marginalized groups; to ensure that growth generatesemployment and a bright future for our youth.
12. In the past two years, it has been our endeavour to address these concerns. We havetaken many steps to expand employment opportunities and improve the quality of life inrural and urban areas.
13. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act has been enacted to provide incomesecurity for those suffering from extreme poverty. The programmes under this Act, forwhich more than 2 crore families have already registered, currently cover 200 districtsand will be expanded gradually to cover the entire country. This pathbreaking Act is themost important social safety net for our poor. I am confident that this Act will help usin eradicating poverty.
14. Bharat Nirman is another programme which will modernize our villages. As our villagesget fully electrified and get connected by roads and telephones, their economies willprosper. As they get better irrigation facilities, their agriculture will grow. Asdrinking water and housing facilities improve, their living conditions will improve. Theywill participate in the growth which is already visible in urban India. I am happy thatprogress in the first year of Bharat Nirman has been good and by 2009, I expect to seevisible results across the country.
15. These programmes are our weapons in the "War on Poverty". The most effectiveweapon against poverty is employment. And, higher economic growth is the best way togenerate employment. We must create an environment that encourages business to grow andcreate more employment, especially in the manufacturing sector. We have created aconducive environment for our industrial enterprises to flourish and the results of thisare visible. We are supporting not just large industries, but also the labour intensivesmall scale and handloom sectors through special programmes. Handlooms and textileindustries employ over 3.5 crore people. We are giving cheaper loans to this sector andhandloom cooperatives are being revitalised. I am hopeful that in the coming years, lakhsof jobs will be generated in these sectors.
My dear countrymen
16. Two years ago, speaking from the Red Fort, I promised a "New Deal for RuralIndia". There is much we have done, but I know much more needs to be done. We havekept our word and almost doubled agricultural credit in less than three years as promised.We are providing short term loans to farmers at 7%. We have waived interest on over-dueloans for debt-stressed farmers in Vidarbha and will do the same in other suicide affecteddistricts. We are trying to reach institutional credit to each and every farmer so thatthey are out of the clutches of moneylenders. For this, we are reviving the cooperativebanking system for which a Rs 13,000 crore package is being implemented. We have beenpaying special attention to horticulture, animal husbandry, cotton, sugarcane and othercrops. A National Fisheries Development Board has been set up for increasing
the livelihood of fishermen. Agricultural research is being improved and Krishi VigyanKendras will soon be functioning in every district of the country by the year end.
17. However, I admit that much still needs to be done to improve the prospects forfarmers. Especially in rain-fed areas and for dry-land agriculture. We will need to worktowards ensuring more remunerative prices for our farmers. I am aware of the acutedistress of our farmers who bear the burden of heavy debt. We have recently constituted anexpert group to look into the problem of agricultural indebtedness. I am confident that ina few months, we will take concrete measures to help our farmers overcome the burden ofcrushing debt. Most importantly, we must ensure that more people get employment inmanufacturing and services so that the disproportionate burden on agriculture in providinga livelihood to two-thirds of our population
gets reduced.
18. The results of our efforts to improve agriculture are clearly visible in some places.Farmers are getting better prices for many crops. This helps them earn a betterlivelihood. This, on the other hand hurts the common man when the prices of essential foodcommodities go up. We need to understand that if we want better prices for farmers so thatthey earn a better livelihood, the prices of what they produce and sell will have to goup! We certainly cannot grudge our farmers better incomes when incomes of other sectionsof society are rising! In order to ensure that the needy and the poor do not get adverselyaffected, our government is committed to ensuring adequate availability of essentialcommodities at affordable prices to them.
Brothers and Sisters,
19. I know that each of our families is concerned about the prices of essentialcommodities. Let me assure you that we will do whatever is required to keep prices undercheck. But I must remind you that two years ago the international price of oil was justover $30 per barrel. Today it is close to $75. Even though world oil prices have more thandoubled, we have succeeded in insulating our consumers to a great extent. Prices ofkerosene and LPG have not been raised. But there is a limit to which we can go onsubsidizing the consumption of petroleum products in the face of rising import costs. Howmuch more can the government treasury bear this burden? At some point, this will affectour ability to spend on other important development programmes. In order to keep foodprices within the reach of the common man, we have even allowed the import of someproducts to meet the shortage in our markets.
Brothers and sisters,
20. While employment and agriculture are of immediate concern to all, our long termconcern is for the future of our children. They need to be healthy, well educated, withhope for the future. We launched the National Rural Health Mission to provide betterhealth care in rural areas. Under this programme, almost 2 lakh women have been kept ashealth assistants (ASHAs) at the village level; 4 lakh more women will be in place soon.Through them, we will wage a war against malnutrition of children, against malaria,tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and other diseases. These diseases put a heavy financial burden onour people. In Vidarbha, I was pained to meet families of farmers who had committedsuicide because they could not repay the loans they had
taken to meet the cost of health care of their loved ones. We will take every possiblestep to help people overcome the burden of poverty and disease.
21. The expanded Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan will ensure that all our children go to school.Under the universal Mid-day Meal Programme, almost 12 crore children are getting anutritious meal at school. Through these two programmes, we will ensure that all ourchildren complete basic schooling. I request every citizen to ensure that every child ofschool-going age is enrolled in a school. We will pay particular attention to theempowerment through education of children belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribesand Minorities. We will provide all possible assistance for the all round growth ofchildren suffering from disabilities or with special needs. We also will care for thosewho suffer from disabilities so that they can lead a dignified life in society.
22. All the initiatives that we have taken to push forward rural development and ensurefarmers' welfare can be implemented only with the active participation of our panchayats.For this to happen, our State Governments have to empower our panchayats. We have to paymore attention to the quality of local administration – in our villages anddistricts, in our towns and cities. We need to rid our municipalities of the cancer ofcorruption. State governments have a major role to play in this.
Brothers and sisters,
23. Cities and towns are centers of growth and generators of employment opportunities. Ourcities need to have a new look for which they need massive investment and renewal. Theyneed basic amenities like sanitation, drinking water and proper housing for the poor. Theyneed public transport, parks and playgrounds. We need cities in which the working poor canlive with self-respect and dignity; cities in which children and women feel safe andsecure. In order to ensure that our cities have better infrastructure and that they havebetter living conditions, we launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.This programme and other similar ones have started showing results. Work has begun onMetro systems in Bangalore and Mumbai. I see a glorious decade of city development aheadof us.
24. The challenge before Government is to implement these programmes. We have to improvethe way governments function and deliver public services. How do we do this? How do weensure that higher financial outlays translate into better outcomes? I sincerely hope thatthe Right to Information Act enacted by our Government will empower our people who will beable to use their rights to make government more accountable. We have to work hard toeliminate corruption in the delivery of public services, in fact eliminate it from allwalks of life. We will work to put in place a system that rewards honesty, probity andefficiency.
Brothers and sisters
25. India has contributed extensively to human knowledge. Today, we are at the dawn of anew millennium which many call the knowledge economy. In this world, knowledge willdetermine our progress and the place we occupy in the world. We must continue to be at theforefront of new research and new thinking, especially in science and technology. We mustbuild top-class institutions. We have begun work on three new Indian Institutes ofScience, Education and Research in Kolkata, Pune and Punjab. We have also begun work on 19medical institutions of the same standard as AIIMS. We will need to ensure far
greater availability of educational opportunities at the higher education level so that wehave not just a literate youth but a
skilled youth, with skills which can fetch them gainful employment. As our economy boomsand as our industry grows, I hear a pressing complaint about an imminent shortage ofskilled employees. As a country endowed with huge human resources, we cannot let this be aconstraint. We are planning to launch a Mission on Vocational Education so that the skilldeficit in our economy is addressed.
26. As we expand educational opportunities, we must ensure that these opportunities areaccessible to all marginalized and weaker sections of our society. Our government iscommitted to providing reservation in educational institutions for students from sociallybackward sections of society. We will do so, while at the same time expanding educationalopportunities for all youth. This is our solemn commitment. In this manner, we willrecognize and reward individual merit and hard work while working for an inclusivesociety.
27. While we are moving fast to develop every region of our country, we have to take painsto see that this does not adversely affect those who are displaced. Nor should it affectour environment. Nor should any region of the country get left behind. Our government willsoon put in place a comprehensive Rehabilitation Policy so that displacement does not leadto impoverishment and those who lose their land benefit from subsequent economicdevelopment. We have also taken special measures to save our wildlife, including thetiger. We are taking concrete steps to develop backward regions through the BackwardRegions Grant Fund and will be spending Rs 5000 crores annually in 250 districts.
