|
Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has called for rural development through Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) mechanism as it will lead to minimum cost and minimum time in execution of the rural development missions. The Ministry of Rural Development can facilitate the preparation of business plans for each of the PURAs through Government, Non-Government and Corporate Agencies, he added. He was inaugurating a three-day National Summit of Rural NGOs of India here today. Dr. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Minister of Rural Development, Smt. Suryakanta Patil, Minister of State for Rural Development, Shri A. Narendra, Minister of State for Rural Development, Shri M. Shankar, Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development and representatives of NGOs from all over the country were also present on the occasion.
The President in his inaugural address outlined goal oriented 12 suggestions for the Ministry of Rural Development and its governing agencies and also their partners like NGOs for the integrated rural development of the country. Observing that the name NGO does not sound well, the President suggested that these could be called as “Societal Transformers” or any other suitable name. He also advocated fixed tenure of five years to all the functionaries of the empowered management systems as this would bring a system of accountability among the functionaries, leading to the realization of prosperous rural clusters in a time bound manner. Earlier in his address, the President emphasized on creation of village knowledge centers as with computers and connectivity, awareness and opportunities would expand the benefits of e-governance, tele-communication, e-commerce and e-judiciary initiatives to the villages. Extending the scope further, he suggested that a human intermediary in the form of a Village Information Officer would act as the extended eyes and ears of the villagers to the world of knowledge.
Dr. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh called for a professional, competitive and participatory business chamber like apex body for the NGOs of the country to not only interact but also carry forward the development pace faster and much sooner than the targets fixed in the Five Year Plans. Rural Employment remains an important goal for the Ministry of Rural Development and the Minister informed the gathering that CAPART has been asked to provide training for 10 lakh people for self-employment in a time bound manner, he added. Rural connectivity, water and sanitation should be preferred and focused goal for NGOs to achieve, he further added. Smt. Suryakanta Patil appreciated the selfless work of the NGOs of all over the country. Shri M. Shankar while welcoming the participants stated that development should be a matter of right and not be a system of patronage.
RJ:AKS:ls
|
