Strengthen farm sector to fight economic inequality: Kalam

The President A P J Abdul Kalam on Monday said the major challenge faced by India today in the path of development "is to fight societal and economic impoverishment and inequality" of people who are below the poverty line or on the threshold of poverty line.

To achieve this, he said, India must strengthen its agriculture and food processing, provide reliable and quality electric power, make available effective surface transport and infrastructure for all parts of the country. He added that education and healthcare, information technology and strategic sectors should be given more impetus. He was speaking after inaugurating the Bangalore International Centre (BIC) on Monday.

He added that greater emphasis should be laid on the full utilisation of natural and human resources of the nation keeping in mind that about 50 per cent of our population consists of the young aspiring for better living. "Value addition to agriculture and manufacturing and service sectors will lead to high income employment potential," Kalam said.

He said that the engines of growth will be accelerated by launching five national mission for water, energy, education and skills, infrastructure and employment generation. This will help in achieving the 10 per cent GDP growth per annum from the present seven per cent. He added that attention needs to be paid to proper water management, one of the core areas of infrastructure development and in this recycling of water is of paramount importance.

Inaugurating the Bangalore International Centre (BIC), a cultural and multi activity hub in Bangalore, modelled in lines with India International Centre and India Habitat Centre, which will be developed as a hub of cultural and intellectual activity in the city, he said, "energy management percolates to the lowest strata of society and is not confined to just the high levels."

He added that the BIC, should create an environment for productive debate on all "crucial and pressing issues facing the common man and the nation."

Housed in the TERI complex, the BIC was conceptualised viewing the success of the IIC and IHC in New Delhi. TERI?s innovative complex in Bangalore is a model of energy efficiency and environmentally conscious design. The members of the centre can use it for music concerts, seminars, creative workshops, film screenings, training programmes and media events.

R K Pachauri, director-general of the energy and resources institute (TERI) and vice president of BIC, assured that BIC would not only focus on crucial issues but also come out with an action plan to tackle it.

Dr Arcot Ramachandran, President of BIC also spoke.