~I am very happy to be with you at this conference in which all of you have gathered to review the implementation of the various rural development projects and programmes in the country. I commend Shri Shanta Kumarji, the Union Rural Development Minister, for this important initiative.

Rural Development is the main pillar of the Nation’s development. The reasons for this are obvious. In spite of rapid urbanization, a large section of our population still lives in villages. Secondly, rural India has lagged behind in development because of many historical factors. We believe in removing these developmental imbalances. We do not want the gap between ~India~ and ~Bharat~ to widen further.

There is yet another reason, which shows that national development is not possible without rapid rural development. The Tenth Five Year Plan, which was adopted at last month’s meeting of the National Developmental Council, has emphasized that growth demand in the Indian economy cannot raise speedily without a rapid increase in the purchasing power of the majority of our population. Without this our development would continue to be slow and it will be difficult for us to reach the goal of 8% GDP growth annually.

Even at today’s growth rate, the demand for many industrial and consumer goods has been raising significantly in rural areas. This only shows that there are many parts of rural India, and many sections of rural society, which are becoming prosperous. When this picture of prosperity covers all of rural India, and all sections of rural society, it will give a tremendous boost to the Indian economy, besides making its growth sustainable.

Many areas of rural India today exhibit impressive manifestations of development. These are in Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh, and several parts of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and other States. Here we see good roads, good houses, and a good infrastructure of schools and health-care centers. We also see manifestations of modern agriculture and agro-based small and big industries using latest advances of science and technology.

The successes of rapidly developing rural India are many. One of them is that India has become self-sufficient in food production. Indeed, we exported food grain worth Rs. 6,400 crore last year to 25 countries. Today India is number one in milk production. We are number two in rice export and number five in wheat export in the world. These examples show the limitless potential and possibilities of development in rural India. If turn these possibilities into reality, we can indeed change the destiny of India.

At the same time, the other face of rural India is also not hidden from anybody. Even today there are as many as 1,60,000 villages which are not connected with good roads. Even today 60% of rural households have no electricity. There are thousands of villages without proper facilities for primary education and primary healthcare. There are still many villages where people have to walk several kilometers to fetch water. We want to change this reality.

This is not merely our intention, it is our firm resolve. This resolve has produced many concrete initiatives in the past few years. The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana is one such unprecedented initiative under which we want to connect all the villages in our country with good, all-weather roads. This will entail an investment of Rs. 60,000 crore. Initially, some people expressed doubts and asked: ~Where is the money to implement this huge project?~ Similar doubts had also been expressed about the National Highway Development Project.

However, no one expresses such skepticism now. This is because people know that what we said was not merely a promise but is fast becoming a reality on the ground. The four corners of our country are being connected with world-class highways. As many as 2.5 lakh construction workers are engaged in this project daily. Ten thousand supervisors are working day and night. A substantial part of this project is expected to be completed before the end of this year.

Our dream is not only to build world-class highways in India, but also to create a network of good roads all over rural India. I am told that the Union Rural Development Ministry has so far sanctioned projects worth 7,000 crore rupees and that over 10,000 rural roads have already been constructed.

I assure you today that there will be no shortage of funds for the timely implementation of this project. Our goal is to complete it by 2007. I would like this goal to be met without any slippage.

Here I must express my concern over one important matter. The Centre provides funds for this project, but its implementation is the responsibility of the concerned State Governments. I am told that the project is not moving as fast as it should in several States. I would like your conference to think about this matter seriously and take necessary steps for improving implementation.

Today the attention of crores of our rural brethren is focused on this ambitious project. Therefore, I urge Shri Shanta Kumarji and his Ministry to seriously think of how to speed up its implementation. Can we take some new initiatives for accelerating it? Can we increase the involvement of the private sector? Can we apply the good lessons that we have learnt from the implementation of the National Highway Development Project? Most importantly, how can we better ensure the quality and maintenance of the roads built under this project?

Employment generation is today one of the biggest challenges before our country. In the past few years we have taken several big initiatives for creating productive employment in rural India, as is evident from the Rs. 10,000-crore Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana and the Swarna Jayanti Grameen Swarozgar Yojana. Under the Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana we are giving food grain worth Rs. 5,000 crore to State Governments. With this, a large number of ~Food for Work~ programmes can be undertaken to create durable rural assets.

I would like to know how this project is being implemented in different States. Are there any difficulties in its implementation? If there are, how can we remove them? At the same time, I expect the Union Rural Development Ministry to collect information about all the instances of good work being done under this project and to give it wide publicity.

I am told that the Swarna Jayanti Grameen Swarozgar Yojana is showing good results in many States. As many as eleven lakh self help groups have been formed. Many of these are founded and run by rural women. This programme has immense potential for making rural people self-reliant and to increase rural incomes by creating opportunities for employment and self-employment at the local level. I would like that success stories under this programme from different States be collected and given wide publicity.

Housing is yet another priority for us in rural development. It also has huge employment potential. Today housing construction, both in urban and rural areas, has picked up unprecedented speed. However, we need to further accelerate its pace. Our goal is to ensure ~Shelter for All~ by 2010. I am happy that your conference will review the progress for rural housing programmes.

Scarcity of water is assuming serious proportions all over the country. This problem is not confined to India alone, it has become a global challenge. This year drought made the situation more difficult for us. All of you know the concrete initiatives that the Centre has taken to provide relief to kisans and other people in drought-hit States. In spite of 14 States coming under the spell of drought this year, we have not allowed the prices of essential commodities to rise.

Soon summer will set in. The Centre and the States should work together to take necessary steps to effectively deal with the situation likely to emerge in summer months. In particular, I would urge all concerned to ensure that adequate provision for fodder and drinking water for cattle is made.

Last month, we launched an important scheme to deal with the problem of drinking water. I was especially pleased that I could directly speak to villagers in many States through video-conferencing. I must admit that I too was enthused by the enthusiasm of the villagers.

This programme is unique in two respects. The beneficiary villagers are required to contribute 10% of the project cost. I am told that people in thousands of villages have already started collecting their contributions to benefit from this scheme. This shows that our people are prepared to bear a part of the cost of the various governmental schemes and programmes. This establishes a sense of ownership among them and helps in proper implementation.

I am pleased with yet another aspect of Swajaldhara scheme. The Union Rural Development Ministry has made Panchayat Raj Institutions responsible for its implementation. This is a new trend under which the Centre is providing Panchayats the necessary resources as well as giving them the responsibility of implementation.

I congratulate Shri Shanta Kumarji for bringing yet another new scheme called ‘Yajana Haryali’ just one month after the launch of Swajaldhara. India is facing a severe water problem not because we do not have adequate sources of water; nor because we receive less rainfall. Lord Indra has been very kind to us. The problem lies in our inability to conserve all the rainwater. It lies in our failure to take good care of our traditional sources of water.

We now have to reverse this trend. We have to start a big drive for the revival, renovation and maintenance of all the available sources of water. We have to make necessary policy changes for the rapid expansion of use of techniques like drip irrigation. There is a lot of wastage of water in our canals. It also leads to soil degradation. This has to be stopped.

In short, we have to save every drop of water. We have to make water conservation into a People’s Movement

Under watershed management, our villages can take up many small works to conserve water for drinking, irrigation, fisheries and afforestation. This will not only add ~Haryali~ to the rural landscape, but also create new employment opportunities for the rural poor. I am happy to know that this programme also is going to be implemented by Panchayat Raj Institutions with people’s contribution and participation.

As you are aware we have recently set up a Task Force to prepare a blueprint for linking our rivers. I would like to emphasize that there is no contradiction between this mega project and the thousands of small and micro water conservation projects envisaged under the new scheme. Indeed, the two are complementary to each other.

The Centre and State Government have to work together to make our Panchayati Raj Institutions stronger. For this purpose, the late Shri Rajiv Gandhi introduced the historic 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution ten years ago. However, thereafter, necessary steps were not taken to devolve financial and administrative powers to PRIs.

Last year, I attended a national conference of the Adhyakshas of PRIs in which the delegates unanimously passed a resolution demanding a new Constitutional amendment for effective empowerment of PRIs. If all the political parties agree, the Centre is prepared to take a constructive step in this direction. Even the 10th Plan document has stressed that the responsibility of running rural schools and rural health centres be transferred to PRIs. I hope that your conference will consider this matter seriously.

I would like to place special emphasis on one more matter. It is the need to conduct a comprehensive and regular review of the implementation of all our rural development programmes, be they run by the Centre or State Governments. We have to learn appropriate lessons from our successes as well as failures in this context.

As far as failures are concerned, it is obvious that the reasons lie less in the shortage of funds and more in the flaws in implementation. And as far as success is concerned, it is equally obvious that people’s participation and the involvement of non-governmental organizations have always proved helpful in effective implementation. There are thousands of voluntary organizations in our country that are willing to work closely with the government and thus make their contribution to rural development. We have to ensure increased participation of such organizations.

One last point. Regular monitoring is critical for the evaluation and timely implementation of all our programmes. However, it is often seen that those who are engaged in implementing rural development programmes are also given the task of monitoring them. This is not right. It does not give us a true picture of what is happening on the ground. I would like your Conference to discuss this matter and think of remedial measures.

With these words, I am pleased to inaugurate this important conference and extend my best wishes for its success.~