New Delhi, January 25
President A P J Abdul Kalam today advised courage for launching a national movement of development to make India prosperous with a ‘visible global presence in strategic sectors’ even before 2020, the deadline set under Vision 2020 for becoming a developed nation.
“A national movement of development is essential to achieve a robust and sustainable economic growth that would ensure a peaceful, secure, happy and prosperous society,” the President said in possibly his last customary address, before his retirement later this year, to the nation on the eve of the Republic day.
While talking of the developmental goals, Dr Kalam referred to tragic killings in Nithari saying that “recent incidences of crime against children have shocked the whole nation and left deep scars in all of us.”
“Eradication of cruelty towards children should be the mission of every Indian since they are our future,” he stressed.
Dwelling on the theme of national development, Dr Kalam said: “In this movement, every citizen, every constituent of our democracy has to participate.”
In his half-an-hour address, under the topic “What can I give to my nation?,” the President unveiled a long list of contributions that the people could make to provide further momentum to the all-round progress the country was witnessing and make the movement a great success.
Besides advocating the national movement, Dr Kalam exhorted - in the form of a poem which he said was his message - the people to have ‘courage’ to think different, invent, discover the impossible, share knowledge, combat problems and, above all, to succeed.
“As a youth of my nation, I will work and work with courage to achieve success in all my missions,” were the words of his 12-line poem that also marked the conclusion of his address on the eve of the 58th Republic Day.
Courage was a very important trait for all sections of society in overcoming challenges that normally came in the way of a nation that was marching towards its missions, Dr Kalam explained.
Explaining prosperity, Dr Kalam said poverty must almost vanish and literacy must be nearly 100 per cent, while the Human Development Index (HDI) of India must be less than 50, against the present 127, and every Indian would have either a good university degree or quality training with globally-competitive employable vocational skill.
Listing the other parameters of the “Ambience in 2020” outlined in the presidential address were putting in place a transparent e-governance system for government-to-government (G2G) and government-to-citizens (G2C) transactions, a national ID card scheme, an over 75 per cent tele-density and a reliable, uninterrupted quality electric power supply to all villages.
