Following are the highlights of President A P J Abdul Kalam's address to both houses of the Parliament today: 1. The government is open to external assistance and advice to rebuild and reconstruct economies and ecologies of coastal regions destroyed by tsunami. 2. A central legislation on disaster management will soon be introduced in the Parliament to create a National Disaster Management Authority. 3. After setting up a commission for welfare of socially and economically backward sections among religious and linguistic minorities, the government will prepare a white paper on the status of minority communities in India. It will recast the 15-point programme for the welfare of minorities to incorporate programme specific interventions. 4. The government will try to settle the issue of land rights of tribals. It will also take legal action to ban manual scavenging. 5. The government is committed to reining inflation rate and hold the price line to protect the real income of poor. 6. The government's core commitments under the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) are seven priority areas of agriculture, education, employment, healthcare, infrastructure urban renewal and water. 7. The government committed to giving a 'New Deal to Rural India' involving reversing declining rural investment, hiking credit flow, enhancing pubic investment in irrigation and wasteland development, creating single market for agri-produce, promoting rural electrification and rural roads. 8. Among several measures to increase credit flow to agriculture, a special package to double it in next three years and to provide credit-related relief to farmers was announced last year. The Farm Income Insurance Scheme has been extended to kharif crop.9. A National Horticulture Mission is proposed to be launched in the budget. 10. To ensure equitable use of scarce water resources, political leaders urged to take a national and holistic view to manage water resources. The government proposes to promote water conservation and harvesting through a people's movement. It also proposes to launch a new scheme to promote micro irrigation in rain-deficient areas and examining the feasibility of creating a Northeast Valley Authority. 11. Panchayati Raj institutions to be actively involved in rural development plans. A rural electrification strategy has been drawn up to create a rural electricity distribution backbone and village electricity infrastructure. 12. National Employment Guarantee Bill to provide 100 days of employment to one person in every poor household to be gradually extended to cover all rural areas. 13. The government to give priority to both access and excellence in education. Development of basic science and trchnology to receive highest priority. 14. A National Rural Health Mission, based on district- based planning and managenemt model of healthcare delivery with the involvement of panchayat institutions, proposed. 15. Urgent need to increase public-private investment in power, roads, railways, ports, inland waterways, civil aviation and housing.16. Country requires $150 billion worth of investment in infrastructure sector. It proposes to grant more autonomy to National Highways Authority of India and set up appropriate mechanism for improving rail, road connectivity in the North East. 17. The government plans to increase teledensity from a lowly 8.4% now to 20% by 2008.18. Highest priority to be given to developing strategies to enhance capabilities to harness alternative sources of energy for long-term requirements. 19. High priority to be given to acceleration of industrial development at home. Steps to be taken to encourage reforms in textiles sector, besides modernisation of khadi and handloom. 20. The government to set up appropriate institutional and regulatory mechanism for welfare of labour in informal sector. 21. Multi-faceted approach to deal with terrorism and naxal violence, with equal attention to the development dimension and human rights concern. POTA repealed to put in place a legal regime to deal with various facets of terrorism. 22. The government willing to talk to any militant group provided they abjure violence, whether in the North East or in Jammu and Kashmir. 23. It is firmly committed to ensure communal harmony. 24. In defence, a number of projects for induction of various equipment and weapon systems are in progress. A department of ex-servicemens' welfare created in the ministry.
