Former President APJ Abdul Kalam on Friday called for "effective policy alignments" in favour of rural sector to create new markets and generate employment. He said scientists should work in rural technologies to transform the rural sector, which can lead to growth and help boost the economy.
Former President APJ Abdul Kalam on Friday called for "effective policy alignments" in favour of rural sector to create new markets and generate employment. He said scientists should work in rural technologies to transform the rural sector, which can lead to growth and help boost the economy.
The 'Missile Man' said there needs to be necessary policy alignments to suit the condition so that the sector gets a boost.
"Small and medium size industries need more attention. We should enterprise so that they give higher level of contribution to the GDP in the economy. "For this we need effective policy alignments to suit the condition. All the scientists and technologists should work in appropriate region, specifically the rural technologies, to transform Indian rural sector," Kalam said.
He was delivering a lecture on 'Evolution of a Nation with prosperity and value system'.
Kalam said that 70% of people live in rural areas and it was essential to provide them adequate access to energy and quality water. "New markets could be created by rural potentials, which could lead to rise in the employment," he said.
"I foresee possibilities of creating new markets through rural potentials and employment, giving rise to interesting possibility of public private and international partnerships," the former President said. Emphasising on energy independence, Kalam said the country must reduce its dependence on fossil fuel and look for new sources of energy, especially solar.
He also pointed that the trade deficits were undermining the growth of the economy and said a sizable chunk of the import was due to import of crude oil.
"We need to set up 100% energy independence by 2020 and see that economy is not burdened by weight of our reality demands. "India's trade deficit is because of excess of import over exports. 87 per cent of the import bill was due to import of crude oil. We need freedom from fossil fuel and undertake a mission in solar, nuclear and bio-fuel. We need to set up 100% energy independence," Kalam said.
Kalam added that the domestic factors of the Indian economy were strong, which is why the Global Financial Crisis that hit the west, did not affect our the country in a big way.
"While having discussions with different experts, we realised that the Indian economy was less affected due to the World Financial Crisis. The Indian banking system has always been conservative, which has prevented the crisis and the saving habits of Indians saved the country," Kalam said.
Responding to a question on skill development, Kalam said 25% of syllabus should be dropped at the school and college level, so by the time the student comes out, he acquires employability. Pointing out his interaction with ISRO scientists, with whom he worked for over 20 years while, Kalam narrated an incident when a comet was passing closely to the Mars Orbiter Mission.
"Comet 2013 was passing near the planet Mars. So, to protect the spacecraft, ISRO scientists manoeuvred the mission in such a way that the spacecraft was behind planet Mars when the comet appeared (on the scene). Great scientist uses his or inventions to counter such challenges," he said.
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