Accelerate Development:
Aspiration of the youth THE QUESTION of little Anukriti studying at Sri Sathya Sai Jagriti Vidya Mandir School, in Darwa village in Haryana, rings in my mind. She had come to the Rashtrapati Bhavan during children’s visit on May 22, 2006. Anukriti asked me “Why cannot India become a developed nation before the year 2020?” This question reflects how the desire to live in a developed India has entered into the minds of the youth. The aspirations of the 540 million young to live in a prosperous, safe and proud India should be the guiding factor in whatever profession we contribute.

EMPOWER VILLAGES
I recall my visit to Nagaland on 26th October, 2002. It was a unique experience for me at Khuzama village to meet tribal village council members and discuss with them the village progress and the dream of village citizens. I was very happy to see the empowered village council functioning with financial powers and taking decisions. I saw a prosperous village with fruits and vegetables production. However, there is a need for providing physical connectivity through quality roads for enabling faster movement of products from villages to the market. That meeting gave me a powerful message about the transformation which can take place to the 600,000 villages of India, if all the villages are empowered to deal with their development and are well connected among themselves and with the urban societies.

Mobilising rural core competence for competitiveness
I would like to talk about the initiative of the Periyar Maniammai College of Technology for Women, Vallam, Tanjore of Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) complex involving 65 villages with a population of 300,000. This includes provision of three connectivities • physical, electronic and knowledge — leading to economic connectivity. Periyar PURA has health care centres, primary to post graduate level education and vocational training centres. This has resulted in large scale employment generation and creation of a number of entrepreneurs with the active support of 1,000 self-help groups. Two hundred acres of waste land has been developed into a cultivable land. The villagers are busy in cultivation, planting Jatropha, herbal and medicinal plants, power generation using bio-mass, food-processing and above all running marketing centres. It provides a sustainable economic development model for the whole region.

Seed to Food: Backbone for agricultural growth
Six thousand farmers from different States and Union Territories who visited Rashtrapati Bhavan evinced keen interest in the Mughal Gardens, the Herbal Gardens, the Spiritual Garden, the Musical Garden, the Bio-diesel garden and Nutrition Garden and interact with the Horticultural specialists. We have to double agricultural production with reduced land, reduced water resources and reduced manpower and improve the economic conditions of the nation through the principle of “Seed to Food” since agriculture is the backbone of the nation. We should empower the farmers to protect and nurture the fertile land for a second green revolution. Meeting the scientists and the farmers has given me the confidence that the nation is poised to increase the agricultural GDP growth by at least four per cent per annum through the partnership of farmers and agricultural scientists and industries particularly for value addition.

Overcome the impact of disaster through partnership
I had the opportunity to experience the indomitable spirit of the people and children of Jammu and Kashmir even as they were just recovering from the devastating earthquake in 2005. I visited Urusa village on 26th November 2005 which has been adopted by theWesternAir Command, Air Force for providing relief and medical aid to the residents of that area. I appreciate the courage of the people of Urusa in defeating their problems. They have actually become the master of the problem rather than allowing problems to become their master.

Courage in combating calamities
In 2005, I met the Tribal Council Leaders, students and children of Chuckchucha village during my visit to Car Nicobar Islands. While various reconstruction and rehabilitation activities were in progress, during the discussions with the members of tribal council, I realised the unique trait among the Car- Nicobar islanders. Even though there were many human losses due to the Tsunami of December 26, 2004, the tribal islanders had taken possession of affected victims as their children and there is nothing like an orphanage in Car- Nicobar Islands.

Defending the nation:
Our pride I visited KUMAR in Siachen Glacier located at 17,000 feet altitude held by the Indian Army, had a memorable underwater journey in INS Sindhurakshak and flew in a Sukhoi-30 fighter experiencing 2.5g. In these three experiences, I personally felt proud of our ever vigilant soldiers, sailors and air warriors performing their tasks beyond the call of their duty even in the most adverse circumstances natural and man made. Our defence forces are in a beautiful mission. When the nation sleeps during the night, they are awake to guard us and remain vigilant to counter any threat. Similarly, I had opportunities to interact with members of our para-military forces, central and state police personnel including internal security forces who are making immense contribution in augmenting the safety and security of our citizens under difficult conditions.

Youth movement for Developed India 2020
Recently, in Hyderabad, I met a group of citizens who are putting into practice the motto of transforming of our youth into enlightened citizens. I learnt about the transformation which has taken place among the students of Medak district. The impact of the training on the students is visible in terms of self-discipline, love for their parents and teachers, shedding of stage fear and recognition of their duties towards the nation. This gives me an assurance that the youth of our country are on the right path through this mission- oriented programme. I was touched by the variety of Indian panorama, emotional content of the tune, cultural diversity and unity of minds in this vast land of ours. I have cited these examples just to give a glimpse of the richness of our tradition and effort being taken by different agencies to preserve it. Even while pursuing our economic growth, we need to do a lot to preserve the rich and diverse treasures of our culture and civilisation. It is our duty for our future generations. This has to be done in a much larger scale through countrywide participation of multiple institutions. Our country is blessed with natural resources, has shown considerable progress in the last 60 years, and above all we have hard working people particularly the power of the 540 million youth of the country. Every sector of our country has given me the confidence that India can become a developed nation well before 2020.

Let us resolve to continue to work for realising the missions of a developed India 2020 with the following distinctive profile:

• A nation where the rural and urban divide has reduced to a thin line.
• A nation where there is an equitable distribution and adequate access to energy and quality water.
• A nation where agriculture, industry and service sector work together in symphony.
• Anation where education with value system is not denied to any meritorious candidates because of societal or economic discrimination.
• Anation which is the best destination for the most talented scholars, scientists, and investors.
• A nation where the best of health care is available to all.
• A nation where governance is responsive, transparent and corruption free.
• A nation where poverty has been totally eradicated, illiteracy removed and crimes against women and children are absent and none in society feels alienated.
• Anation that is prosperous, healthy, secure, peaceful and happy and continues with a sustainable growth path.
• Anation that is one of the best places to live in and is proud of its leadership.