The Hindu Business Line : President hopes NIRD will help build support in rural development

Hyderabad, Dec. 31 The President, Ms Pratibha Devisingh Patil, expressed hope that the National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) will augment its training infrastructure for extending capacity building support in various aspects of integrated rural development.

Delivering the Golden Jubilee Lecture at the Institute here on Tuesday, she said models for sustainable growth could be developed and shared with the representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions, especially women.

“All help should be given to the Self Help Groups in the country and NIRD could assist them in channelising their efforts in the direction of productive enterprises and support them in capacity building,” she said.

The President also hoped that the one-year Post Graduate Diploma Programme in Rural Development Management will create a large pool of programme delivery managers whose induction is vital to the success of rural development.

The programme, started by the institute from this year, aims to develop committed and competent cadre of rural development management professionals in the country.

She said there should be optimum utilisation of land and efforts must be made to improve its quality and restore soil health.

“Farmers can be made aware and encouraged to adopt improved agricultural practices to enhance productivity. Implements and methodologies should be such so as to reduce the drudgery and hard labour of farming operations so that we can achieve agricultural growth,” Ms Patil said.

Ms Patil urged various institutions to provide creative answers to the challenges faced by rural communities and convert them into opportunities for the development of rural India.

“An important assignment will be to make technologies available for developing rural communities. Knowledge kiosks should be set up at the panchayat level for wider dissemination of information about useful technologies.

Benefits of information communication technology must reach the villages, including remote and far-flung areas and be available to the rural population,” the President said.

She added that technological interventions that are gender sensitive and link the weaker sections of society to the national mainstream are the need of the hour.

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