"I join Advani ji in congratulating Sardar Charanjit Singh Atwal for having taken this initiative to convene this very very important Conference. Let me begin on a personal note. I would not have been what I am today and could not have done what I have been able to do in my life but for the light of education that my family lit for me. As a young adult, I had no other asset or advantage other than the benefit of a good education. That benefit I got both because of my family's commitment to my education and because of the various public scholarships that our State provided for students. I was able to earn as my education progressed.

My own experience is a testimony to the role that education can play in our people's empowerment. Education enhances human capabilities. This, in turn, empowers us both socially and economically. That is why our Government has taken several initiatives to increase public investment in education, attract more private investment and to offer scholarships at all levels of education to the needy and the deserving. But I do recognize that what has been done is not enough. More needs to be done and new pathways have to be found to realise education as a fundamental human right of all our children.

The world in which we now live and the new world that is now emerging, is a world in which knowledge will be the key to social and economic development, political power and strategic capability. The very fact that there is no developed, industrial economy with a literacy rate below 80%, testifies to the central role of education in processes of social and economic development. It is no longer access to land, or even capital, that differentiates the haves from the have-nots. The key differentiator today is access to modern education. Access to quality vocational education, access to modern science and technology and access to advanced skills and capabilities. These are crucial determinants of social mobility. I sincerely believe that the route to the social and economic empowerment of all disadvantaged groups - be they dalits or tribals; be they women or minorities - is through education.

That is why our successive Governments have placed special emphasis on education. The Scheduled Castes constitute close to 16% of our population. While they suffer from many handicaps, the lack of access to education has been one of the foremost barriers to their sustained progress. The lower educational achievement among them is in turn, closely associated with the denial of a right to education in the past.

It was in recognition of this centrality of education in empowering SCs and STs, as Advani ji mentioned, that Article 46 of our Constitution specifically states that the States shall promote with special care, the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Based on this provision in the Constitution, a number of policy initiatives have been taken by the Central and State governments. Their efficacy, their effectiveness, there are question marks and I am therefore hopeful that your Conference will remove the various instrumentalities which we have used to empower the disadvantaged sections through education and how in years to come we can greatly improve upon past techniques and methods of empowerment through education.

I do believe that at an international conference like yours, there is much that we can learn from the experience of other countries in improving access to education for the marginalized sections of society. However, I also believe that there is much that other countries can learn from our experience in this regard. Of course, our experience is regionally differentiated. Advani ji mentioned and that is the fact that some of our States and Union Territories have a better record in empowering Dalits, Minorities, tribals and other disadvantaged groups, than others. Indeed, there is much therefore that we can learn from each other.

Our initiatives in the school sector include Pre-matric scholarships, tuition concessions, mid-day meals, free uniforms, free supply of books and stationery items, free or subsidized hostel accommodation and remedial coaching. But we must assess with strict objectivity the effectiveness of these instrumentalities. In higher education, facilities offered include reservation in institutions of higher learning, post-matriculate scholarships, overseas scholarships and fellowships for M.Phil and Ph.D students, remedial coaching, coaching centers, hostels and other facilities. The introduction of the Rajiv Gandhi Fellowship for Doctoral students two years ago is a recent initiative which will I hope promote higher education among Dalits and STs.

As a result of these efforts, there has been improvement in the educational level of Dalits. But what has been achieved is not enough. Of course, this progress is reflected in improved literacy rates and increased enrolment. There has been a five-fold increase in the literacy rate of Scheduled Castes from 10% in 1961 to 55% in 2001. Literacy among SC girls has increased from a dismally low level of 3% in 1961 to 42% in 2001. There is a discernable improvement in the Gross Enrolment Ratio as well as at the primary and upper primary levels. In fact, enrolment of SCs at the Upper Primary stage is now fairly close to that of other groups. But, as I said, we cannot be satisfied with the status-quo. We must improve and improve upon very significantly over the past performance.

The enrolment ratio in higher education, viz, colleges and universities, has also increased from less than 1 % in the early 1950's to about 6% in 2005. Our Government is committed to a rapid improvement in this rate. The policy of reservations in public educational institutions has helped in improving enrolment in higher education. This has further facilitated entry into jobs for Dalits. This has been an important source of social mobility, and such mobility has had a wider impact on the development process and we must persist with this effort.

The Report of the Sachar Committee has brought out very clearly the fact that the Muslim community, among the various minority groups in our country, has also lagged behind in the field of education. It shows inequity in access to education at all levels, particularly in higher education. However, there are sharp and important regional differences. States like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have a much better track record in empowering through education. Educational deprivation among Minorities differs from State to State. Hence we need State-specific strategies and interventions.

At the national level, our Government has come forward with a new 15-Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities, in which improving access to education is a key element. We have doubled the corpus of the Maulana Azad Education Foundation last year and propose to enhance it further. The Foundation should now be able to assist many more NGOs in establishing and expanding schools and improving facilities in these schools.

There are many districts, blocks and towns with a large representation of minorities that are economically and educationally backward. We will devise focused plans for bringing these backward areas at par with the rest of the country. Such public support for social and economic infrastructure development, with a special focus on empowerment of Dalits, Tribals and Minorities can contribute significantly to overall social and economic development.

While recognizing these positive trends, we must remain fully aware of the fact that we have a long road to travel in ensuring full social justice to SCs and STs. The emphasis in improving access so far has been on expanding the public education system. But quality of education in the public school system is not satisfactory and leaves much to be desired. There is a perception that the quality gap between public schools and private schools may have widened significantly over the past few decades. I therefore believe that greater effort is required to bridge this quality gap and Sardar Charanjit Singh ji also referred to this severe gap. This is necessary if good education is not to become a preserve only of the privileged classes. A high quality public schooling system is, in the final analysis, the only guarantor of equality of opportunity to all citizens, irrespective of their social or economic conditions. Improving the public school system requires greater attention to teacher training and attending to the unique problems of what I described as the first generation learners, children coming from families with no background of education. Greater attention needs to be paid to improving the teaching of science and mathematics in schools as numeracy skills and scientific knowledge are the key to success in the new knowledge economy which is now on the horizon. I must also draw attention to the fact that we need a much focused strategy for the girl child. SC and ST girls have lagged behind boys and we need therefore a much more sharply focused strategy for the education of Dalit and Scheduled Tribe and minority girl children.

Educational empowerment has to go hand in hand with economic empowerment. Indeed, the former enables the latter. Ensuring equitable access to economic opportunities to the deprived sections of society is a firm commitment of our Government. We are committed to providing equal opportunity to all in securing access to credit and to employment opportunities. We are committed to upgrading the technical skills of Dalits and Minorities so that they do enjoy the benefits of the large pool of jobs being created across the country.

I am sure that the distinguished participants at this very important Conference will have new ideas on how we can be more effective than we have been thus far in meeting our shared goals of achieving social and economic empowerment of all sections of our society. I look forward to your recommendations with great interest. I assure you of our firm commitment to implementing the most effective policies for the empowerment of Dalits, Tribals, Minorities, other backward classes and women and if there are ideas about the problems faced by poor children from other sections of the community, they should also be taken on board. This is our solemn commitment in this 60th year of our Independence."