President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Addresses the Indian Science Congress

President, Dr. A. P.J. Abdul Kalam today called for time bound establishment of one hundred Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) cluster and its components by educational institutions or colleges by January 2007 with an investment of Rs. 500 crores. Addressing 93rd Indian Science Congress in Hyderabad today, he said, there is a need for strong focus on the local users for selection of projects, during the implementation and for assessment of final success. He said three operational PURA models namely Periyar PURA, Chitrakoot PURA, Loni PURA established and run by private initiative may be studied by the Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology and the scientific community and spread the concept of these PURA with industrial and academy participation in large scale.

He urged the scientists to mount an intensive time bound research programmes in areas like Second Green Revolution, seed cotton productivity, waster treatment, hill agriculture, floriculture and horticulture, flowering of bamboo, productivity increase in rice and meat and solar power plants to speedup sustainable Rural Development through Science and Technology.

Dr. Kalam said the ongoing Science Congress is very important since it is discussing the core issue of national development-Rural Development. In this context, he said integrated mission is the need of the hour and connectivities are the central theme for both PURA as well as Bharat Nirman Programme and National rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. He said institution like Indian Science Congress can become an integrating agency for the multiple schemes and give a scientific, technological and management leadership to the programme.

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam later interacted with farmers from five states namely Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra , Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Rajasthan through video conferencing. He also had an interactive with 700 school children from all over the country who are currently in Hyderabad to attend the Children Science Congress.

Source : Ministry of Science & Technology
Date : January 05, 2006