The Hindu Business Line : PM sets tone for reforms — Focus to be on seven priority sectors

The seven priority sectors identified for special attention are agriculture, water, education, healthcare, employment, urban renewal and infrastructure.

"These are the pillars of the development bridge that need to be crossed to ensure higher economic growth and more equitable social and economic development," he said.

The real challenge for the Government at all levels was that of implementation of stated policies and programmes, he added.

"The Central, State and local bodies have to work in tandem for a Government to be an effective instrument of development."

While committing to deploy most modern technology to improve the lives of ordinary people, he said that the Government would improve broadband access and enable the required investment in IT infrastructure.

New deal for rural India: Speaking on the `new deal for rural India', he said: "This new deal must encompass investment in irrigation, credit deliver, availability of electricity, primary education, rural roads and modernisation of farm sector infrastructure."

The new deal for rural India includes new water policy, emphasis on increased credit and better access to farm credit.

Sticking to the programmes outlined in the National Common Minimum Programme, Dr Singh said that key progress in major infrastructure sectors such as power, roads, Railways, ports and airports would be critical to development.

The Prime Minister also said that his Government was committed to widening the space available for private enterprise and individual initiative in tune with economic reforms aimed at ending stranglehold of bureaucracy.

However, he said that Governments could not be wished away specially, in developing countries such as India where it had important role to play. "But for a Government to be able to deliver results one must reform its functioning by making officials accountable and create more transparency."

Need for holistic view: To deal with the two perennial but fundamental problems of drought and flood, he said that a concerted action was needed and urged all political leaders to take a ``national holistic view of the challenge of managing our water resources''.

According to him, there was a need to insulate the people from the impact of drought by creating local-level water security.

The Prime Minister reiterated his Government's commitment to increase public investment in irrigation and address the specific problem of each river basin in an environment-friendly manner.

"We have to take an integrated view of our country's water resources, our needs and policies and water utilisation practises,'' he said.

In this context, he emphasised increasing use of modern science and technology, dryland farming, diversification of crop pattern, micro-irrigation and quality of livestock. Improving rural connectivity and access to information would enrich the farm community, he said. ``Here, Government initiative can be multiplied by the effort of private enterprise and community action."

Regarding the `Food-for-Work' programme, he said that it would be an important part of the Government strategy to deal with the challenge of rural employment, particularly in areas suffering from prolonged drought.

He regretted that employment generation had not kept pace with the demand for jobs. Dr Singh said that his Government would address this deficiency by encouraging small and medium enterprises, agro-industries and sectors such tourism with high job potential.

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