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Today's News | News of Jan 12, 2007
GDP Must Grow 10 percent : Kalam

New Delhi, Jan 12
India must achieve an annual GDP growth rate of 10 percent for a decade to alleviate poverty, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam said Friday.

"If we have to uplift the 220 million people living below poverty level, the overall GDP growth rate has to be increased to 10 percent and then maintained for a decade," Kalam said while addressing an inter-ministerial summit of the Afro-Asian Rural Development Organisation (AARDO) here.

To achieve the objective, the country should have 7,000 PURA ((providing urban amenities in rural areas) programs, encompassing over 600,000 villages, he said.

Based on the terrain and climatic conditions, there could be four types of PURA in India - plain terrain, hill, coastal and desert PURA, the president added.

The population in plain terrain and coastal region PURA is likely to be 20,000-100,000 in a cluster of 20 to 30 villages whereas the hill or desert PURA might have a population of 7,500-15,000 people in a cluster of 30 to 50 villages or hamlets.

"The theme of PURA, apart from concentrating on reinforcing agriculture, will emphasize on agro-processing, development of rural craftsmanship, dairy, fishing and silk production, so that non-farm revenue for the rural sector is enhanced," he said.

"Initially, the rural development ministry is planning to create two PURA clusters in each of the 600 districts of India with seed funding," Kalam said.

He added that PURA was also a good business proposition and could attract public-private participation for providing value added services.

"Already states like Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Kerala have taken up PURA as a programme for implementation in government initiatives. Also, certain private initiatives have established working PURAs in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh," Kalam said.  

IANS  News of Jan 12, 2007

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