Thiruvananthapuram: Former president A P J
Abdul Kalam on Thursday asked students to work towards establishing
a societal grid comprising the sectors of knowledge, health,
e-governance and rural development for accelerating economic
growth of the country.
Inaugurating 'Conscientia-2010,' the science and
technology festival of students at the Indian Institute of
Space Science and Technology here, Kalam said the 700 million
people in 600,000 villages in the country should be
electronically connected to achieve development.
"We need to provide villagers with knowledge connectivity
that would bring economic connectivity enabling them to have
better earning capacity," he said.
Kalam wanted students to have an aim in life before 20
years of age, acquire knowledge and continuously work hard
towards the aim with perseverance to defeat problems in the
way to succeed. "You should decide on what you will be
remembered for," he said.
Kalam unveiled his vision of the country's profile by the
year 2020 in which rural-urban divide should be reduced. The
nation should progress towards equitable distribution of
energy and water and focus on agriculture, food processing,
IT, communication technology and healthcare in the next ten
years, he said.
Kalam said agriculture, industry and service sectors
should work together in symphony and education should be mae
available to all meritorious candidates without societal or
economic discrimination.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, March 04, 2010, 22:27