The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the Nineteenth Meeting of the Governing Council of the Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP) today (September 30, 2013) at a function at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.
Speaking on the occasion, the President said that rural development has always been a priority agenda of our country. The last decade has marked a paradigm shift in approach towards improving the quality of life in the rural areas. Legislation and concrete programmes have sought to give focused attention on rural rejuvenation.
The President stated that a rural growth strategy has become necessary to make a decisive impact on poverty and to trigger a development process that combines growth with equity. Technology has to be the vehicle to bridge distances - not only in terms of geography, but also progress and development. He emphasized that judicious resource management has to be ensured even while putting people first. Land, which is increasingly becoming a scarce resource, has to be managed efficiently. Principles of community empowerment have to be adopted to increase the productivity of land, particularly rain-fed, degraded and waste lands, he added.
The President said that it is a common goal of the developing countries, more so of the Asia-Pacific region, to make rural areas a significant contributing factor to national progress. The Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific, which is active is promoting regional cooperation, has a big role to play. He said that it is his firm belief that the Centre would help in shaping the future of the countries in the Asia-Pacific region. A positive view should be taken about the expansion of this influential regional group to new frontiers. He urged open exchange of views and experiences in this Governing Council meeting. He said that he was most certain that the conclusions and decisions taken at the meeting would help us to prepare better for the challenges of tomorrow.
Dignitaries present on the occasion were Shri Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister of Rural Development, Shri Pradeep Jain, Minister of State for Rural Development and Shri Lal Chand Kataria, Minister of State for Rural Development.
This release issued at 1400 hrs