We can't afford to ignore dualism
in society: PM
HindustanTimes.com
New Delhi, November 15, 2005
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday warned that South Asia could
"miss the bus" of becoming one of the major global economies
in the 21st century" if it failed to show the resolve and maturity
to grasp the opportunity at hand.
Kicking off the 2005 Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, the Prime
Minister urged South Asian nations to walk with India towards a
brighter future.
Stating that India and its neighbours have a shared destiny, he
said, "Our prosperity will be their prosperity and their progress
will be our progress."
Expressing concern over the "internal constraints" which
are hindering development, Singh said, "the world wants India
to succeed and there are no longer any binding external constraints
on India. We have to overcome internal constraints and work hard
to realise our destiny."
Pledging full support to the growth of private enterprise as part
of national development which he described as a challenge before
the country, Singh stressed upon need to give rural India a "better
deal".
No region of the country could claim quality of life in its rural
areas, he observed candidly adding that "the physical and social
infrastructure of rural India has to catch up with urban India."
The Prime Minister also admitted bureaucratic "roadblocks"
to growth of private enterprise, but said he was committed to break
those "shackles" to allow their growth.
Singh said India can no longer afford to ignore the "dualism
in the society" wherein the urban areas surge ahead on the
path to progress while the rural India lags behind.
"There is an India which wants to move stronger while there
is another which is trying hard to catch on with it. No government
can ignore either challenge," he said.
The Prime Minister pointed while there was need for more investment,
there was a limit to which governments could generate. "The
real responsibility for change lies with the state governments,"
he noticed.
He also called for a check on wasteful subsidies and said the citizens
must be convinced to pay some sort of "user charges" to
fill this gap.
Infrastructural facilities in cities are not being able to cope
with the burgeoning population growth in the country, he said adding
that "we need to create new cities to a cater to a much bigger
urban population," he said.
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