Chennai:
Former president Abdul Kalam’s rockets may have won India the 1971 War
but the ‘Missile Man’ was more keen on ensuring peace and prosperity
in the neighbouring strife-torn nation by advocating the concept of
Providing Urban Amenities to Rural Areas (PURA).
M S Swaminathan, the architect of Green Revolution who shares an
association of nearly 30 years with Kalam, said that when Pakistan
President General Musharraf met Kalam in 2005, he advocated the
concept of PURA as he wanted to bridge the rural-urban divide in that
country too.
Interestingly, the scientist is also working towards realising the
dream of PURA by spending most of the Rs 18 crore funds under Member
of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme in creating basic
infrastructure like drinking water, schools, electricity etc.
The vision of Kalam was that if the villages developed the country
will also develop and he wanted both India and Pakistan to implement
PURA, said Swaminathan. He also said the concept was PURA was sown by
Mahatma Gandhi.
Paying tributes to the former president, he gave out the account of
and said most of them were spent in creating basic amenities in rural
areas.
“We remember Kalam for his concept to bridge the rural-urban divide.
The projects taken under the MPLADS is mostly spent on rural areas to
help provide the backward area with basic infrastructure,” Swaminathan
said.
He also highlighted that north-east was a special area of interest for
Kalam as he wanted the need for more attention to be paid to the
region.
Earlier, hailing India for bringing in the food security legislation,
Swaminathan said that that it makes access to food a legal right not a
political patronage but at the same time expressed concern over the
rise in farmers suicides.
The agriculture scientist also highlighted how accountability is going
out of dictionary under the MPLADS scheme.
Talking about the 74 projects implemented under MPLADS, Swaminathan
said that most of the fund was spent on education sector, building
community centres in rural areas, village development and libraries.
He also stressed that through these funds, much can be done, as it is
flexible funding rather than waiting for allocation under 11th or 12th
plan. The idea is to fill an important gap in the need of the people,
he said.
Earlier, Dr C Rangarajan, former governor, Reserve Bank of India said
the schemes and initiatives like these, with small sums of money, can
be an “instrument for changing the rural scenario.”
He also stressed on the need to increase agricultural production. He
said the average size of land holding has come down and there is a
need to make smaller land holdings more efficient
Former president Abdul Kalam’s rockets may have won India the 1971 War
but the ‘Missile Man’ was more keen on ensuring peace and prosperity
in the neighbouring strife-torn nation by advocating the concept of
Providing Urban Amenities to Rural Areas (PURA).
M S Swaminathan, the architect of Green Revolution who shares an
association of nearly 30 years with Kalam, said that when Pakistan
President General Musharraf met Kalam in 2005, he advocated the
concept of PURA as he wanted to bridge the rural-urban divide in that
country too.
Interestingly, the scientist is also working towards realising the
dream of PURA by spending most of the Rs 18 crore funds under Member
of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme in creating basic
infrastructure like drinking water, schools, electricity etc.
The vision of Kalam was that if the villages developed the country
will also develop and he wanted both India and Pakistan to implement
PURA, said Swaminathan. He also said the concept was PURA was sown by
Mahatma Gandhi.
Paying tributes to the former president, he gave out the account of
and said most of them were spent in creating basic amenities in rural
areas.
“We remember Kalam for his concept to bridge the rural-urban divide.
The projects taken under the MPLADS is mostly spent on rural areas to
help provide the backward area with basic infrastructure,” Swaminathan
said.
He also highlighted that north-east was a special area of interest for
Kalam as he wanted the need for more attention to be paid to the
region.
Earlier, hailing India for bringing in the food security legislation,
Swaminathan said that that it makes access to food a legal right not a
political patronage but at the same time expressed concern over the
rise in farmers suicides.
The agriculture scientist also highlighted how accountability is going
out of dictionary under the MPLADS scheme.
Talking about the 74 projects implemented under MPLADS, Swaminathan
said that most of the fund was spent on education sector, building
community centres in rural areas, village development and libraries.
He also stressed that through these funds, much can be done, as it is
flexible funding rather than waiting for allocation under 11th or 12th
plan. The idea is to fill an important gap in the need of the people,
he said.
Earlier, Dr C Rangarajan, former governor, Reserve Bank of India said
the schemes and initiatives like these, with small sums of money, can
be an “instrument for changing the rural scenario.”
He also stressed on the need to increase agricultural production. He
said the average size of land holding has come down and there is a
need to make smaller land holdings more efficient
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