DEVELOPED INDIA: VISION AND ACTIONS

Mere pyare Bharatvasiyon, mera namaskar.

On the eve of the 54th Republic Day of India I greet all the billion people of our country living in India and abroad. I also greet the members of the armed forces and paramilitary forces who guard our frontiers on the land, the sea and  the air. 

Meeting the People 

During the past six months I visited 17 states. I had the opportunity to 
interact with a very large cross section of people, majority of them were young. I  also had occasion to visit a large number of rural and drought affected areas and  I could share the concerns, grief and also aspirations of the people living there. I  also met a number of leaders, spiritual personalities, artistes, craftspeople,  grass-root innovators and social workers among others. I am happy to share with you that I have already met and interacted with more than a hundred thousand children. I was asking myself what I gained  out of these interactions. In spite of flood, drought, drinking water scarcity,  poverty and societal instability in few places, everywhere I could see the unabated 
enthusiasm of the young for learning. Learning should bring out the spirit of  creativity in the young minds. Creativity gives knowledge. Knowledge is indeed an  asset for the nation. I recall a question raised by a Nagaland student when I  visited Tuensang, “Mr. President, I want to live in an India which is prosperous,  happy and safe. Tell us how we will be guided to such an India? How can I contribute for achieving this?” Such questions from young minds made me  feel proud as an Indian as they are thinking about their future and that of the 
country, where they are living now and where they will work in the future. They are ready to contribute their mite in the journey of transformation of our country  to a ‘developed’ nation. It is, therefore, essential to evolve action-plans to  guide, motivate and effectively utilize the power of the younger generation to  progress in all our endeavors. 

PROGRESS

Science and Technology

On my recent visits to research laboratories, I could see our young scientists ceaselessly working in bio-technology and other emerging fields of bio-medical  engineering to unearth the mysteries of human creation and the characteristics  embedded in the DNA structure for providing better healthcare to humanity.  That filled my mind with hope and re-assurance that such research will ensure  that we will be part of the human endeavor to provide quality health care,  diagnosis and treatment.

Our space missions have demonstrated the high calibre scientific and 
technological inputs in transforming research to applications resulting in benefit to our country. My felicitations to our space scientists and their partner institutions  and industries for achieving a series of successful launches and orbiting satellites  for various applications. I am sure our scientists and technicians will march ahead  in delivering higher pay load in the orbit for the given take-off weight with cost 
effective solutions for applications like solar energy exploitation.

Our defence scientists have proved themselves again by realizing powerful systems for strategic applications. Also we have force-multiplied our defence  systems with electronic warfare capabilities, radars, under water sensors and  weapons. Our nuclear scientists are currently constructing eight nuclear power  reactors, the highest number of units that are being constructed anywhere in the 
world this year. Sea water desalination plant at Kalpakkam has also commenced operation. 

Natural resources and human resources are our core competencies. 
Particularly, the rich bio-diversity is the wealth of our nation. Herbal research has to lead from molecule to drug. Integrated efforts on mission mode have to be  further strengthened by academia, R&D labs and industries so that cost effective  medicines are available to the people and the export potential is also increased.  Trained cadre of human resource has to be created for reinforcing employment  potential and thereby spurring economic growth. In this context, I am happy to  know that a major mission has been launched for cultivation of bamboo and  increasing products made from bamboo.

I was recently in Kolkata interacting with 9000 children at the Netaji Indoor Stadium. One boy suffering from visual impairment asked me, “Sir, what kind of  education facilities are provided in the Knowledge Society, for visually handicapped  children like me?” There are many like him. Let me share one thought with you.  I had met many physically and mentally challenged children at Rashtrapati Bhavan 
and also during my visits to various States. My belief all along was reconfirmed that these children like all others have an equal urge to pursue their studies and 
work. We have to provide solutions to their problems with the aid of Information 
Technology, by developing audio books, talking websites, voice assistive 
interfaces and other devices. Public buildings and educational institutions need to 
provide friendly facilities that offer easy access and reach. 

Recently, I had an occasion to meet a group of people from International AIDS 
Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) along with several Indian teams who are working on the 
development of HIV/AIDS vaccine. This programme is very vital for the nation for 
preventing HIV cases in future. This challenge needs an accelerated and time 
bound action.

Our people have started seeing the benefits of Information and 
Communication Technologies. Reaching the target of nearly 10 billion dollars in exporting software development has increased the opportunity for our  youngsters. The economic slow down in the West and events like September 11,  have not affected our industry drastically. India has also responded  well to the wireless revolution and today we see the cell phone penetration on a  steady increase – a sign of good economic growth. The convergence of ICT,  nano technology and biological sciences is in the horizon. India is even  better placed to exploit this revolution than any other nation. 

Elections

India, as the largest democratic country can really be proud of the conduct of  free and fair elections in Jammu & Kashmir and Gujarat. I compliment the  exemplary performance of the Election Commission and the Central and State  Government machineries. The media, the political parties and independent  groups have also contributed to this process in spite of the passions of competitive politics. The people of Jammu and Kashmir have to be particularly congratulated for the immense courage they showed in upholding the  democratic traditions in spite of cross border terrorism. People of our country  have shown to the world that democratic traditions are deep rooted in our  civilization and that is our strength. In fact all of us on this day should pledge 
ourselves to build upon this unique heritage.

Parliament and Vision of Developed India 

It was indeed a tribute to our democratic parliamentary system that it 
has done exceptionally well in the 11th session of the 13th Lok Sabha. During that session, both Houses of the Parliament passed 42 Bills and I have accorded  assent to 40 Bills that were sent to me so far. The Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2002 passed by the Parliament, which makes free and  compulsory education for children between the age group of 6 to 14 years as a  fundamental right is particularly praiseworthy. I trust this tradition will continue  and all our Members of Parliament will continue to excel themselves for the cause 
of national development. Our Prime Minister, in his Independence Day address on 15th August 2002, announced that India would become a ‘developed’ nation by 2020. The National Development Council has since approved the 10th Five Year  Plan with economic growth rate of 8%. It is equally gratifying that a task team  has been formed by the Government for networking of rivers to transfer water  from our surplus basins to areas of deficit. Considerable care, I am sure, will be  taken about the environment and people related issues. I am also sure that our Parliament, which is celebrating its Golden Jubilee, will discuss and evolve action plans for our vision of transforming India  into a ‘developed’ nation by 2020.

Knowledge Society 

During the last century, the world underwent a change from  agriculture society, where manual labour was the critical factor, to industrial  society where the management of technology, capital and labour provided the  competitive advantage. Then the information era was born, where connectivity  and software products drove a part of the economy of a few nations including our  country. In the 21st century, a new society is emerging where knowledge is the  primary production resource instead of capital and labour. Efficient utilisation of 
this existing knowledge can create comprehensive wealth for the nations and also improve the quality of life - in the form of better health, education, infrastructure  and other social indicators. Ability to create and maintain the knowledge  infrastructure, develop knowledge workers and enhance their productivity  through creation, growth and exploitation of new knowledge will be the key  factors in deciding the prosperity of this Knowledge Society. Whether a nation  has arrived at the state of knowledge society is judged by the way the country  effectively deals with knowledge creation and knowledge deployment in all sectors  like IT, Industries, Agriculture, Health Care etc., 

Second Green Revolution

It is the right time for India to embark upon the Second Green  Revolution which will enable it to increase its productivity in the agricultural sector. The production of cereals needs to increase from the present 200 million  tonnes to over 300 million tonnes by 2020 in view of population growth. But the  requirement of land for the increasing population as well as for greater  afforestation and environmental preservation activities would demand that the  present 170 million hectares of arable land will have to be brought down to 100 
million hectares by 2020. All our agricultural scientists and technologists have to  work for doubling the productivity of the available land with lesser area being  available for cultivation. The type of technologies needed would be in the areas of  biotechnology, proper training to the farmers, additional modern equipments for  preservation and storage etc. The second green revolution is indeed graduating  from grain production to food processing and marketing as visualised by the late  Shri. C.Subramaniam. While doing so, utmost care should be taken for various  environmental and people related aspects leading to sustainable development.

Knowledge Powered PURA (Providing Urban  amenities in Rural Areas)

More than two thirds of our billion population live in the rural parts of India. The vision of transformation to a ‘developed’ India can only be realized if we  launch a mega mission for empowering the rural people. My visits to the rural  parts of India have confirmed that the problem of rural India depends on the extent of connectivity available there. The connectivity that I refer to,  would include four components. Physical connectivity by providing roads in rural  areas, electronic connectivity by providing reliable communication network and  knowledge connectivity by establishing more professional institutions and  vocational training centers. Schools with best infrastructure and teachers who  love teaching, primary health centres, silos for storage of products and markets  for promoting cottage industries and business, employment opportunities for  artisans are some of the elements of PURA. All this connectivity needs to be  done in an integrated way so that economic connectivity will emerge leading to 
self actuating people and economy. Such Model of establishing a circular  connectivity among the rural village complexes will accelerate rural development  process by empowerment. I am sure that removal of poverty will call for Providing Urban amenities in Rural Areas (PURA). The model envisaged is a  habitat design that would improve the quality of life in rural places and make  special suggestions to remove urban congestion also. Instead of village  population coming to urban area, the reverse phenomenon has to take place.  The PURA has to be a business proposition economically viable and managed by entrepreneurs and local people and small scale industrialists, as it  involves education, health, power generation, transport and management.  Government’s support should be in the form of empowering such management  agencies, providing initial economic support and finding the right type of  management structure and leaders to manage and maintain. 

Towards IT Enabled Administration 

What type of scenario will be there in India in the coming decades? As 
we are crossing the information society and leading to knowledge society,  irrespective of rural or urban area, distance will be shortened using information  technology. In such a situation an electronic connectivity should emerge between  the various State and Central Government Departments for fully committed  transparent administration. A networked database with real time updated data 
exchange will ensure speedy service to the people under one roof for all their  government/non-government service requirement. Transparency will have to  emerge in governance.  Wherever I have been, I have seen that people definitely want to live  in a prosperous India. In the rural area when I visited primary schools, they  wanted high schools, when I visited High Schools they wanted Colleges, when I 
visited Colleges they wanted Professional Colleges. The right type of higher education has become an essentiality from both the students’ and parents’  points of view. However, scarcity of good teachers is visible everywhere. Good  teaching and interactive teaching are possible through tele-education and inspired  teachers. Healthcare facilities for rural and remote villages can be provided by  Mobile Clinics. This is one example of extending the available limited facilities to more and more rural people. Both the centre and the state governments should  encourage such mobile diagnostic and treatment clinics in rural areas on priority. 


Conclusion

Dear citizens, I would like to conclude with a mission  statement: India can become a developed nation only if everyone  contributes to the best of his or her ability and capacity. The mission is: In  transforming India into a developed nation by 2020, what can be the role of every 
citizen in addition to the governmental initiatives of launching programs for the vision of developed India. I have already explained that there has to be integrated  development programmes with empowered management structure. In addition, I  would like to suggest various missions for our people. For example, the student  community can take up the task, during holidays to make a certain number of  people literate in their area where their schools or houses are situated. Only a 
burning candle can light another. Teachers and parents can assist them in this  task. The Government and R&D labs can provide technological upgradation to  our small-scale industries so that production can be increased and be  competitive. The youth would need to aspire for entrepreneurship rather than  conventional employment. Large-scale industries have to increase their  contribution to economic growth, particularly growth of GDP. Here, industries can 
concentrate on maximum output and cost effective products, so that demand will increase. They can aim at becoming multinational companies, for e.g. in the areas  of sugar and agricultural products, power, cement, manufacturing and knowledge  products institutions. The farming community, with advanced water conservation and management methods, has to increase their productivity. The  Information Technology and knowledge workers have got a tremendous 
responsibility to contribute in the areas of tele-medicine, tele-education and  e-governance for rural areas apart from their business role. In this vision period,  the whole Government agency has to build a name for itself, by fast decision  making and transparent administration. Media should become a partner and  promoter critic in national development. This type of dynamic environment with  motivation will indeed be a great foundation for our vision of transforming India  into a ‘developed’ nation by 2020. 

May God bless you.