Ambience in the Nation by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Ambience in the Nation 2007 :

In the Indian history, our nation has come across a situation, all at a time, an ascending economic trajectory, continuously rising foreign exchange reserves, increasing domestic investment with investors’ confidence rising steadily, global successes of Indian managerial and entrepreneurial talents, global recognition of the technological competence, energy of 540 million youth, umbilical connectivities of more than 25 million people of Indian origin in various parts of the planet and the interest shown by many developed countries to invest in our engineers and scientists through setting up of new R & D centers in India. The distinction between the public and the private sectors and the illusory primacy of one over the other is vanishing. Also, there is a trend that many young people are opting for creating new enterprises instead of being mere employees.

Providing leadership for the one billion people with multi-cultural, multi-language and multi-religious background is indeed the core competence of our nation. Our technological competence and value systems with civilizational heritage are highly respected by the world community. Also, Foreign Institutional Investors find investing in India attractive as the returns are high and assured. Indian industrialists are also investing abroad and opening new business ventures. Our Gross Domestic Product which stands at seven hundred and twenty nine billion US dollars is poised to grow at 10% annually which along with various other concurrent actions, will enhance the welfare of the farmers, workers, professionals and unleash the creativity of the entrepreneurs, business persons, scientists, engineers and all other constituents of the society.

Today due to the open sky policy and competitiveness the air travel has become affordable by the growing middle class. Railways have introduced many improvements and people can book tickets through internet. The revolution in travel has not only connected people but also boosted tourism and economy. Tele-density in the country has gone up to 18%. Mobile telephones are reaching the common man and serving their needs. One India plan has made calling across the country easy and affordable. Our ICT sector is exporting more than twenty four billion US dollars and the Indian Pharma industry is ranked 4th in the world and exports nearly four billion US dollars of products. Our forty four billion US dollars automobile industry is growing at the rate of 17% per annum. Our total export in the last 8 months has crossed eighty billion US dollars.

Our aerospace and aeronautical achievements are commendable. Six remote sensing satellites of various resolutions and spectral bands are providing valuable services in monitoring and management of natural resources. These have been further complemented with CARTOSAT-II launched on 10th January 2007 by PSLV-C7 along with Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE) and two other foreign satellites. SRE after performing micro gravity experiments in orbit, has since been successfully recovered in Indian waters, leading to another technological milestone. Today, we have nine geo-stationary satellites in orbit including an exclusive EDUSAT for education. The country has successfully used the advances in space technology and telecommunication towards creating the tele-education as well as tele-medicine networks and village resource centres.

SAKSHAT: One Stop Education Portal has been launched by the Government to serve the quality education needs of the 11th and 12th class students spread in any part of the country. Broadband has reached up to the block level in all the Districts. Students from abroad are coming to India for academic programmes, training and internship and many foreign institutions have started collaborating with Indian universities and academic institutions. India experience has resulted in providing the Pan African e-Network connecting the 53 countries. The country has operationalized two strategic missile systems. A state-of-the-art super sonic cruise missile system has also entered into commercial production with an international partner.

The number of people living below poverty line has come down to 22% and our literacy rate will soon touch 75%. Our unemployment is around 9% of the employable population of 400 million people. The Central Government has launched a comprehensive rural development programme called Bharat Nirman Programme, Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission and Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme with substantial outlays for bringing the fruits of development equitably to all sections of the society irrespective of where they reside.

Implementation of PURA programmes has been undertaken by number of state governments and private institutions in the country resulting in a number of operational PURAs. Central Government is planning to introduce two PURA Clusters in each district across the country as a first phase. People from all walks of life can be guiding forces and they can be partners in executing national development programmes and ushering in a good way of life. The State Governments have also launched a number of missions including rural and infrastructure development activities towards realizing the goals of Vision 2020.

Against this backdrop, I would like to discuss with you the ambience in 2020 for which we as a nation have to work.

Ambience in 2020 :

If we perform in an integrated way with development politics as the focus, in mission mode with transparency, I visualize even before the year 2020, a prosperous India is possible. We expect the people below poverty line to come to near zero and our literacy must be nearly 100%. Human Development Index of India will be less than 50 against the present 127. Every Indian will have either a good university degree or quality training with globally competitive employable vocational skill. E-governance would be in position for all Government to Government (G2G) and Government to Citizens (G2C) transactions making the governance system transparent with National ID card in position.

Tele-density will reach over 75%. All our villages will have reliable, uninterrupted quality electric power supply. The interlinking of the rivers and water bodies and use of technology for water collection, water recycling and water management will result in equitable distribution of water for drinking, irrigation, industry, navigation and as natural beauty. There will be no shortage of water in any part of the country nor there will be disasters due to floods, water logging etc. India would have realized energy security and will be working towards energy independence. Good sanitation facilities will be available at homes in every part of India and for all Indians and tourists. We will be using more of renewable energy such as solar energy, wind power, bio-mass, mini and micro Hydel and thorium based nuclear reactors, adding less to the pollution.

Through responsive and innovative venture systems and entrepreneurial training both in schools and colleges, we will have more enterprises leading to large number of employment generators rather than employment seekers. A pro-active healthcare system delivered through innovative schemes will provide quality healthcare access at an affordable cost to all the people of the country including those living in remote areas. Everyone will have an opportunity to take up and complete courses of choice in higher education. I am sure you will all see prosperity in the country, which will replace scarcity and control.

In addition to the above economic, social and human development, India will also have a visible global presence in strategic sectors and will contribute to world peace. All our technological and economical advances while enhancing our prosperity would embed our value system derived from our civilizational heritage. This unique combination will make our growth robust and sustainable and will lead to a peaceful, secure, happy and prosperous society.

To achieve these goals, a national movement of development is essential. In this movement, every citizen, every constituent of our democracy has to participate. What can be the profile of people’s participation in this development movement? The citizens participation can be in many important areas like Reaching the unreached, Feedback on service to the people, Human Resource Development, Entrepreneurship, Role of Home makers, Environment development, Youth participation in political system with the focus on developed India.