TO THE MEMBERS OF MADHYA PRADESH LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY, BHOPAL
17-07-2006 : Bhopal
 
Missions for Madhya Pradesh's Prosperity

Photographs

I am delighted to address the Honourble Members of the Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh. When I am with you, I am reminded of the heroic deeds of the freedom fighters and nation builders of Madhya Pradesh like Pandit Ravi Shankar Shukla, Pandit Sunder Lal Sharma and many others. The members of Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh belong to an institution that gives vision to the State and evolves the legal framework, policies and programmes of the State. You oversee the financial resources and implementation of major tasks. Madhya Pradesh is the first State Government in India to change from representative democracy to a fully elaborated system of direct democracy at the village level. You have a proud history, your mission is to make the aspirations and dreams of the people of Madhya Pradesh become a reality. My greetings to all of you and to all the citizens of Madhya Pradesh in this Golden Jubilee Year of the State.

My presentation to the Legislative Assembly on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations is based on the following principles :-

(a) Method of increasing the per-capita income of the State to Rs. 50,000 from Rs. 14,000 by 2010.

(b) Improving the Human Development ranking of Madhya Pradesh from the present 12 to less than 5.

(c) Realizing the goal of total literacy before 2012 by giving highest priority to women's education, particularly the tribal population.

(d) Empower all tribal citizens with quality education, healthcare and employment potential.

(e) Progressively reducing the number of people living below the poverty line from the existing 40 percent to near zero by 2016.

Madhya Pradesh and Me

The forests of Madhya Pradesh are well known to me. During the period 1985 to 1995, I have moved from one area to another continuously for many days with my team in Madhya Pradesh. That led to the establishment of an important critical national facility in the forest region. That was the time, when I interacted with very many tribal groups. Of course, some forest areas where I had worked, are now part of Chhattisgarh.

Dear friends, I recently visited Chitrakoot in Madhya Pradesh, where I met Shri Nanaji Deshmukh, 90+ and his team belonging to the Deendayal Research Institute (DRI). The DRI is a unique institution developing and implementing a village development system, which is most suited for India. As a part of integrated rural development, villagers are engaged in water harvesting; effectively using it for cultivation of food grains, medicinal and aromatic and horticulture cultivation. They are transforming herbs into herbal products and marketing them. Apart from all these development activities, the institute is facilitating a cohesive conflict free society. As a result of this, eighty villages around Chitrakoot are almost litigation free. Villagers have unanimously decided that no dispute will find its way to court. Differences will be sorted out amicably in the village itself. The reason given by Nana Deshmukhji is that if the people fight among each other they will have no time for development. This is also true in the life of a nation in every political system. The work of the DRI has enabled the generation of employment for a large number of farmers in the Chitrakoot region. During my visit, I went to a small village called Patni where the villagers talked to me about the progress of their village and their problems. Many women said they have to send their children long distances for studying beyond the 10th Class. They requested upgradation of the school to the plus 2 level. They also felt the need for a road which would connect multiple villages. The then Chief Minister readily agreed and announced in the meeting itself, that school upgradation and the provision of roads would be implemented immediately. I am sure that would add to the happiness of many village farmers. The DRI understands that people's power is very potent. Social advancement and prosperity are possible only by injecting the spirit of self-reliance and excellence in the younger generation. Using this principle the DRI has plans to develop a hundred clusters of villages having approximately five villages each around Chitrakoot, based on the experience of 80 villages in 16 clusters. All these have been accomplished through the DRIs "samajshilpi dampati" a new concept of counseling and intervention promoted by the DRI as a well conceived societal mission.

I would like to share a few thoughts with the Honourable Members of this Legislative Assembly on the topic "Missions for Madhya Pradesh's Prosperity" with reference to the core competence of Madhya Pradesh and national vision.

Our National Mission – Challenges

Our nation is going through a major challenge of uplifting 220 million people who are below the poverty line. They need habitat, they need food, they need healthcare, and they need education and employment finally resulting in a good life. Our GDP is growing at nearly 8 percent per annum. Whereas, economists suggest that to uplift the people from below the poverty line, our economy has to grow at the rate of an additional minimum of 2 percent per annum consistently, for over a decade.

Integrated Action for Development

Our mission of transforming India into a Developed Nation is to meet the needs of one billion people. We have identified five areas where India has core competencies for integrated action: (1) Agriculture and food processing (2) Education and Healthcare (3) Infrastructure for all parts of the country such as reliable and quality electric power and surface and air transport (4) Information and Communication Technology and (5) Self-reliance in Strategic sectors. These five areas are closely inter-related and when effectively addressed, would lead to food, economic, energy and national security and lead to sustainable prosperity.

Engines for Growth

Emphasis should be on full utilization of natural and human resources of the region to meet the demands of modern society. We should also remember that about 50 percent of our population consists of young people, with aspirations for a better life. This is also true in the case of Madhya Pradesh. Value addition to agriculture, manufacturing and service sectors of the economy, building on the State's core competencies and technologies, will lead to higher incomes and employment opportunities and therefore higher growth rates. The engines for growth will be the launching of the five national missions viz. water, energy, education and skills, infrastructure and employment generation. Developed states will result in a developed India.

One of the questions that Members may ask is how can we generate funds required for all the schemes, which I would like to share. I would say that the Union Government has the Bharat Nirman Programme with an outlay of Rs. 1,74,000 crore for the period 2006-2010, the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission covering 63 cities with an investment of Rs. 17000 crores, the Employment Guarantee Scheme for 18 out of the 48 Districts of your State and increase of bank credit for agriculture to Rs. 1,75,000 crore during 2006-07.

Certain amount of fund have been allocated for the development of Madhya Pradesh. The Honourable Members of this Assembly, and the bureaucratic and the administrative system have to ensure that funds are sought in time and are fully and effectively utilized for the purpose for which they have been allocated.

Now, I would like to discuss the core competence of Madhya Pradesh.

Core competence of Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh is the second largest state in terms of area in the Indian Union. The total area of the State is 3,08,144 sq. km. The state is completely landlocked. It straddles the Narmada River, which runs East to West between the Vindhya and Satpura ranges; these ranges and the Narmada are the traditional boundary between the North and the South of India. The State is bordered on the West by Gujarat, on the Northwest by Rajasthan, on the Northeast by Uttar Pradesh, on the East by Chhattisgarh, and on the South by Maharashtra.

The importance of your State's water resource was noted by many historians. In the center of India there exists a considerable highland region with peaks and ranges. Several of the great rivers of our country have their first source in this elevated region which pour their water into the sea on either side of the peninsula - to the North the Son, to the East the Mahanadi, flowing independently to the Bay of Bengal, to the South some of the principal feeders of the Godavari, and to the West the Narmada and the Tapti taking parallel courses to the Arabian Sea. Your State is blessed with minerals like diamonds, coal, limestone, manganese, copper, dolomite, bauxite and marble. I am sure the present and anticipated exploration activities will lead to large scale extraction of mineral wealth of Madhya Pradesh.

Madhya Pradesh is endowed with rich and diverse forest resources valued at Rs. 250,000 crores. It has 10 agro-climatic regions, 9 national parks and 16 natural preserves. The State is the largest producer of soyabeans, grams, oil seeds and pulses.

Developed Madhya Pradesh leads to Developed India

What can be the mission to transform Madhya Pradesh into a developed state? Since the number of people living below the poverty line in Madhya Pradesh is about 40 percent against the present national average of 22 percent, the first mission should be focused towards development leading to higher per capita income and better quality of life. Madhya Pradesh can definitely transform itself into an economically developed model state. At this stage, let me share with you the Development Radar brought out by the Planning Commission.

The boundary of the octagon projected on the Development Radar indicates the maximum achievements of various indicators of development. The smaller octagon represents the national average. While we appreciate your achievements in providing safe drinking water for half of your people, you need to achieve much higher results in the area of pucca houses, literacy, formal education, life expectancy, particularly infant mortality rate, per capita expenditure and poverty alleviation. The Honourable Members need to realize that Madhya Pradesh has the potential to achieve all these aspects by using the natural resources and youth power available in the State and deciding to work in synchronization for the development of the State as the prime mission of the Legislative Assembly.

Missions for Madhya Pradesh

Let us study what are the missions which Madhya Pradesh can undertake based on the core competence of the State. The following are some of the important missions suggested for Madhya Pradesh’s prosperity :-

1. Horticulture Mission

While studying the horticultural programme of Madhya Pradesh, I found that 18 out of 48 districts have been brought under the present national horticultural mission. The rate at which horticulture is being introduced is of the order of 15,000 to 20,000 hectares per year. I notice that land availability for horticulture in Madhya Pradesh is around 20 lakh hectares.

Potential for Horticulture: Considering the potential of horticulture in Madhya Pradesh, it is suggested to enhance the scope of the present mission to bring at least 10 lakh hectares under horticulture and floriculture within the next ten years. This will need coordinated planning towards identification and preparation of land, creation of water bodies, preparation of nurseries with adequate seedlings, tying up with research and academic institutions for constantly increasing productivity, preparation for use of bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides, post-harvest activities such as cold storage plants, packaging, and preservation leading to marketing. Presently, the Government is providing a subsidy of around Rs. 11,000 per hectare for the plantation and the other 50 percent is required to be mobilized by the farmer. The integrated funding mechanism may be streamlined enabling the farmer to get hassle free loan for his project.

Integrating Horticulture with Food Processing: While the mission encourages farmers to go for horticulture and enhance their income there is a need to integrate production activity with fruit and vegetable processing which will provide larger value addition to the product and also prevent distress sale by the farmer when faced with large quantity of fruits and vegetables produce. These food processing units can be created as a co-operative venture of farmers in different districts so that the benefits of value addition will largely reach the farmer in addition to providing additional employment opportunities. The average employment potential for a hectare of land for horticulture is around four to five persons. In addition processing may provide additional employment to one to two persons per hectare.

Food Processing as part of PURA: The potential of the horticultural mission can hence be further enhanced by locating fruit and vegetable processing units at a nodal center involving a cluster of villages where fruits and vegetables are grown. These clusters can be provided with physical connectivity, electronic connectivity and knowledge connectivity as envisaged for a full-fledged PURA (Providing Urban amenities in Rural Areas) which will facilitate vibrant knowledge based economic activity in the cluster with potential for employment generation. The average value of produce depending upon the type of product chosen such as papaya, banana, mango, orange, aonla, coriander and garlic and chilly will be around Rs. 80,000 per hectare. The same product once processed will have a value over Rs. 4 lakh. Hence, I would recommend that the scope of the mission may be enhanced to include food processing to become part of the mission and with a target of bringing one lakh hectare per annum under horticulture products covering all 48 districts of the State. When we bring one lakh hectares under the horticulture mission per year it will lead to a revenue of Rs. 4,000 crore including food processing and marketing and it will generate employment for 6 lakh people per year.

Outcome of the Project in ten years: When the entire 10 lakh hectares are brought under horticulture the mission in 10 years will be able to provide employment to six million people with an annual revenue of over Rs. 40,000 crore. As a part of the mission, it will be useful to establish links with food processing research laboratories and horticultural research laboratories which could eventually pave the way for the creation of full-fledged laboratories in Madhya Pradesh. The corporate sector which has created the “farm to fork” project in Punjab can also participate in this mission. The State Government can provide a helping hand by simplification of procedures, waiving of taxes and fees, speedy availability of existing government or Panchayat land on attractive terms. With all the above concerted steps, Madhya Pradesh could evolve as the horticultural hub of the country.

2. Agriculture and Related Missions

Agriculture is the core competence of Madhya Pradesh. It has very good soil. Madhya Pradesh is basically rich in water resources barring a few pockets. It would be possible to irrigate around 75 percent of the present net sown area. The State should strive to double the irrigated area in the next few years in partnership with the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD). I am happy that the State Government has signed a tripartite MoU for development of one of the first of the 30 river linkage projects conceptualized by the National Water Development Authority which will provide irrigation facilities for an estimated 81,000 hectares. Using the scientific method of farming involving soil characterization, matching the right seed to soil, seeding in the right time, fertilizer and pesticide selection, water management, pre-and-post harvesting methodology, productivity of the land can be considerably increased. Our efforts should be to adopt an integrated methodology of enhancing agricultural output in all 48 districts of the State.

Strategies for Improving Production: The aim should be to increase average production of cereals from the present 12.2 million tonnes to 20 million tonnes and pulses from 3.3 million tonnes to 5 million tonnes within the next four years. In order to achieve this target, the factors which needs to be addressed are: State wide implementation of water harvesting measures, reducing water-logging wherever it is, improvement in infrastructure particularly good motorable roads, assured availability of power to the farmer – through solar power; storage systems in large metric tonnes capacities; food processing plants; input and output quality assurance centers for seeds and food grains; matching the seed to the soil; and marketing centers. Moving up the value chain in agriculture through food processing is essential in Madhya Pradesh to increase the contribution of the agriculture work force to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This will result in increasing the earning capacity of nearly 15 million farm workers of Madhya Pradesh by nearly Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 15,000 per hectare depending upon the chosen crop. A partnership is essential with the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), the International Rice Research Institute, Manila, the Central Food Technology Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore and agricultural universities.

Soyabean Mission: Madhya Pradesh is the largest producer of soyabeans in the country. Approximately, 5 million hectares are under soyabean production spread in 44 districts. Our study indicates that average productivity of soyabean in the State is around 1000 kg. per hectare as against international productivity of around 3000 kg. per hectare. The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) water shed team in partnership with ICAR institutions and NGOs have worked in the State and found that the average productivity of soyabean in Madhya Pradesh can definitely be increased to at least 2000 kg. per hectare. This enhancement can be achieved through a mission mode programme involving R & D agencies, agricultural universities, industry, farmers and the government. The actions needed to be taken by the mission are :-

(a) In many areas of Madhya Pradesh it has been found that the soil is deficient in micro nutrients such as zinc, boron and sulphur. There is a need to map this deficiency in different areas and bridge the gap through balanced fertilization demonstrated on large farms. ICRISAT could provide technical assistance and NABARD could provide financial support. Private companies who are processing soyabean can also participate in this venture.

(b) Providing improved quality soyabean seed varieties to farmers in time for sowing.

(c) Reducing rainy season fallows through knowledge campaigns and demonstration to farmers and building their confidence.

(d) Promoting appropriate land and water management practices for alleviating water logging and simultaneously harvesting water for subsequent supplemental irrigation. This has to be done through demonstration in the region for convergence and an integrated approach for enhancing productivity.

(e) Capacity building among stakeholders through training, skill development and online problem solving and knowledge sharing through village knowledge centres linked to Kisan Call Centres and PURA nodal centres.

(f) Arranging efficient processing of soyabean as soya oil, and soya protein which can result in a value addition of 4 to 5 times.

(g) Rationalizing the import duty structure for soyabean oil similar to other oils for making it remunerative for farmers.

Management and Results: This mission can be managed through the best practices followed in the co-operative model available for milk products in Gujarat and sugarcane and sugar products in Maharashtra. There is a potential to increase the total production of soyabean from the existing 5 million tonnes to over 10 million tonnes. In financial terms it will enhance the revenue of farmers from the existing Rs.4,500 crores per annum to Rs.9,000 crores. This revenue increase will be available to 5 million families owning 5 million hectares of land. Farmers' revenue will be further increased through the commissioning of a “Chain-Soyabean” mission run by large number of soyabean co-operatives supported by the Madhya Pradesh Government. Krishak Mitra the selected progressive farmer of over 55,000 villages of Madhya Pradesh can definitely play an important role in motivating other farmers in their villages to work towards this goal.

Dairy Development: Madhya Pradesh has a successful model of dairy development through the Madhya Pradesh Dairy Co-operative Society which has been established on the Anand pattern. Presently, the society is procuring milk to the extent of 4.5 lakh liters per day. Over the last three decades the dairy programme has expanded to 44 districts of the State. The total members benefiting from this scheme is just 4.5 lakh. Dairy has a great potential in Madhya Pradesh. We should attempt to improve the dairy development programme by inducting high quality cattle followed by artificial insemination and vaccination programmes. The aim should be to spread the programme to all the districts and also to increase the participation of an additional 5.5 lakh people over the next three years. This action will enable the provision of additional productive self-employment to over five and half lakh families in rural areas of the State over the next three to four years. As already discussed, the Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation (BAIF) has been working on a programme of livestock development for promotion of dairy husbandry in Jhabua district. This type of programme can be extended to other districts so that the milk yield in the State as a whole is increased substantially so that per capita availability of milk is gradually increased from the present 233 grams per day to at least 500 grams per day within the next five years. This is essential to increase the nutrition content of the people especially mothers and the children for reducing the infant mortality rate and maternal mortality rate.

3. Education and Entrepreneurship

According to the 2001 Census, the literacy rate in Madhya Pradesh was 63.7 percent with female literacy being only 50.3 percent. This situation needs urgent remedial action. Firstly, there is a need to bring down dropouts from elementary and secondary schools which is of the order of 35percent and 36 percent respectively.

Primary Education: Our aim is to develop human resources with a value system and entrepreneurial skills. There is an urgent need to arrest the tendency of school dropouts and the generation of happy enlightened citizens. Some of the NGOs dealing with education should train children during their formative years between three and five years in good habits, etiquette, hygiene, creative learning and character building through a harmonious educational atmosphere. Madhya Pradesh should apply this technique of pre-education training in all the districts of the State. This is definitely a societal mission. I have seen this type of training being provided by Dr. M.R. Raju in Andhra Pradesh which has reduced drop out rates.

Secondary Education: Another model for secondary education which I would like to suggest is the incorporation of accelerated learning through computers which has been used in many government schools in Karnataka in partnership with the Azim Premji Foundation. In this model reduction in dropouts is being realized through active participation of parents, teachers and a social organization in the region. This technique can be adopted in all the districts of your State, so that drop outs at middle and secondary school level does not take place. Madhya Pradesh may consider special training programmes for teachers so that they can impart employable skills among children. These programmes can be carried out both as direct contact programmes and as virtual learning programmes to enable availability of teachers in the class without difficulty. To remove adult illiteracy, a mission has to be taken by all children in higher classes namely 9th, 10th and colleges to teach at least five persons every year who cannot read and write. Such a multi-pronged strategy will enable Madhya Pradesh to achieve at least 75 percent literacy by 2010 particularly among women and cent percent literacy by 2015. The State Government may consider introduction of mobile schools particularly in tribal areas for reducing dropouts in addition to other interventions such as providing seasonal hostels for students.

Institutions of Advanced Learning in Madhya Pradesh: The Madhya Pradesh Government can consider selecting five engineering colleges among the sixty-nine engineering colleges, two medical colleges among the eight and two universities teaching arts, science and commerce and develop them as centers of excellence. The budgetary requirement can be shared between the State Central Governments. This approach will provide a benchmark for other colleges and institutions in the State leading to qualitative improvement in higher education as a whole. In addition, all Universities and their affiliated colleges in Madhya Pradesh must progressively get themselves ISO certified. Similar to higher education, centers of skill excellence can be created through the upgradation of five polytechnics and ten Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs). The Madhya Pradesh Government may also consider the establishment of a few private sector advanced institutions at four or five key locations to provide healthy competition for promoting excellence in education.

Entrepreneurship: Academic institutions in Madhya Pradesh generate about 4.5 lakh graduates per year and 10th class and 10+2 students will be around 10 lakh. Over 14.5 lakh youth will seek employment either within Madhya Pradesh, outside the state or abroad. The school and university syllabi have to be integrated with entrepreneurship courses in Madhya Pradesh. At the end of the course students should get a certificate or a diploma. This will enable students qualified in Madhya Pradesh schools and colleges, to have the confidence that they can start small enterprises in agriculture, manufacturing or service sectors based on the core competence of a particular region. Banks have to be entrepreneur friendly and should give them venture capital and support these young entrepreneurs and their creative ideas.

Venture Capital Enterprises: Venture capital institutions are willing to participate in the development of the state by developing small enterprises that can generate large scale employment potential. You can invite the Chief Executive of some of the venture capital institutions for working out an investment strategy for creating innovative enterprises in your State and also popularizing the venture capital approach in the State's development planning. Institution of this system will change the situation in Madhya Pradesh by generating employment providers rather than employment seekers.

4. Global Human Resource

As Members are aware, there is a need for quality human resource in the country in all sectors of the economy namely agriculture, manufacturing and services. Since there is a mismatch between availability and the requirement of human resource, cost of hiring is going up, which is not sustainable in the long run. We have to face this challenge and the higher education system and the technical skill education system have to gear up to generate manpower with employable skills in quantity and quality at all levels. The education system has to be relevant to present day manpower needs and be sensitive to global changes that are taking place in every sector of the economy.

At present India has five hundred and forty million youth under the age of 25 which will continuously grow till 2050. In Madhya Pradesh alone, we will have around 32 million youth. Keeping this resource in mind, universities and educational systems in Madhya Pradesh should create two cadres: (1) a global cadre of skilled youth with specific knowledge of special skills and (2) another global cadre of youth with higher education to take up research and leadership roles. These two cadres will be required not only for powering all sectors of our economy but also to be a reservoir of knowledge for the rest of the world.

Universities, colleges and training institutions will have to work towards increasing the through put of the higher education system from the existing 6 percent to 20percent by 2015, 30 percent by 2020 and 50 percent by 2040. Youth who are not covered by the higher education system should all have world class skill sets with quality workmanship in areas such as construction, carpentry, electrical systems, repair of mechanical systems, fashion design, para-legal, para-medical, accountancy, sales and marketing, software and hardware maintenance and service, software quality assurance, craftsmanship and tourism. No youth from Madhya Pradesh should be without either a world class higher education or without world class skill sets. This is a mission that must be undertaken by universities and colleges in the State. This will enable provision of productive and high value employment to the 14.5 lakh youth who are coming out of schools and colleges every year. At the Government level all efforts should be made to remove shackles in the growth of educational institutions by giving greater autonomy and removing controls.

IT Employment: As per the recent NASSCOM - McKinsey Report 2005, India has the largest talent supply for offshore IT and BPO. The IT and BPO industry will be creating over 9 million jobs by 2010 exceeding the planned employment creation across all special programmes of the State and Central Governments. It will also create 6.5 million indirect and induced jobs to support offshore IT and BPO industries in 2010. This will include employment in several sectors such as construction, retail and transport. Power plus scenario, nominal cost of living as compared to other cities, eco-friendly environment, small commuting distances, peaceful atmosphere, reduced cost of land for projects, the cities of Madhya Pradesh being located at the center of the country gives the State an upper edge over other destinations for attracting IT industries. The State Government has earmarked large tracts of land near airports for establishing software technology parks in Indore, Gwalior and Bhopal. The State Government can have an investors meet in Bhopal and present the advantages which an IT company can get in Madhya Pradesh such as exemption in taxation, single window clearance, exemption from obtaining prior approval for setting up captive power plants by IT companies, greater transparency in government transactions, and economies of operation. This approach should enable your State to capture at least five lakhs direct jobs and another five lakh indirect jobs by creating capacities and skills among educated youth through specially organized programmes in collaboration with NASSCOM, CII, IT companies and other social organizations in a mission mode. A well thought out collaborative scheme is required for capacity building with national and international partnerships.

5. Healthcare Mission

Madhya Pradesh has 268 Community Health Centers (CHCs), 1153 Primary Health Centers (PHCs) and 8835 Sub Health Centers. It is important that we make the PHCs fully functional so that inhabitants of rural areas can benefit. These PHC’s, District hospitals can be equipped with mobile clinics, which can reach remote areas. I would like to share an experience. Doctors definitely have to be at the PHCs at least for three years or a contract can be given to private corporate hospitals to run CHCs, PHCs etc.

Uttaranchal Mobile Clinic: On 19th October 2002, I participated in the launching of a Mobile Clinic and Research Centre in Uttaranchal. This effort was piloted by the Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), the Government of Uttaranchal, the Birla Institute of Scientific Research and many other agencies. After 44 months of its operation, I have found that this mobile clinic has been used in six districts of Uttaranchal and has treated more than 50,000 patients have been treated during this period. Among those treated, 48 percent belong to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category. Users are mainly from remote hill regions. The clinic has provided 10,000 ultra sound, 6,000 X-rays, 2000 ECGs and nearly 20,000 lab tests. The mobile clinic has documented the disease profile of patients in the region (six districts) which falls into the following categories: acute peptic ulcer, anemia, anti-natal, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, hyper tension, pelvic inflammation, renal calculi, upper respiratory tract infection and worm infection. This type of analysis has been possible because of a computerized system of clinic management introduced right in the beginning. Also, the mobile clinic has been used in regions which are normally inaccessible and where organized medical facility is not available. This, I consider as the best form of reaching healthcare to the neediest people.

This is a low cost solution with committed healthcare personnel and institutions. Each district of Madhya Pradesh can have at least one mobile unit to begin with. The clinical data provided by this model will be applicable for many areas. Mobile clinics will also provide research input for certain diseases prevalent in certain areas such as pulmonary edema and sickle cell. I understand that there are already eleven mobile clinics in the State. The Government of Madhya Pradesh can consider providing one mobile diagnostic-cum-treatment centre in the remaining 37 districts of the state. This will become an important step towards reaching healthcare to the people located in remote parts of the State. These mobile hospitals can also participate in the immunization and control programme against polio, tuberculosis, small pox, malaria and leprosy. In addition Madhya Pradesh can make use of tele-medicine connectivity being extensively used by institutions like Apollo, Narayana Hridayalaya, CARE Hospital and other corporate hospitals for treating remote patients in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for satellite connectivity. I understand that a tele-medicine node is presently functional at Gwalior. This should be extended to all district hospitals in the State.

There is a need to create specialty and super specialty hospitals near Tier-2 cities and district head quarters as public-private partnerships. These hospitals can be connected to block level hospitals and mobile diagnostic units through tele-medicine connectivities for making state-of-the-art medical advice available particularly to people living in rural areas. There is also a need to improve infrastructural facilities in existing medical colleges particularly in the area of cardio thoracic surgery, neuro surgery, pediatrics and cancer treatment.

Yeshasvini scheme: I suggest a unique insurance model for Madhya Pradesh, where health care will be available within a short distance for each citizen. For providing comprehensive quality healthcare, we suggest citizens make a contribution of about Rs.5/- per month per head and a matching Government contribution of about Rs.5/-, which will lead to a Consolidated Health Fund of Rs.720 crores per annum for the people of Madhya Pradesh. The Government contribution will be only Rs.360 crores which will be Rs.120 crores more than the expenditure for medical and public health incurred during 2005-06. I would also recommend Madhya Pradesh to invite corporate hospitals to set up super specialty hospitals supported by tele-medicine and mobile clinics so that, they can not only provide quality healthcare but also promote world class medical tourism in places like Pachmarhi. The State Government can consider providing suitable incentives to corporate hospitals for creating hospitals in different districts and becoming a partner in running the healthcare scheme of the State for providing cost effective quality healthcare to all the citizens of the State.

6. Water management

Madhya Pradesh has nine major rivers, namely Mahi, Narmada, Tapti, Chambal, Betwa, Sone, Wainganga, Ken and Pench, which originate in Madhya Pradesh and flow down to six bordering States, the estimated annual runoff from these water sheds is over 80,000 million cubic meter, of which at least 50,000 million cubic meter can be harnessed for irrigation if some of these river basins are intelligently connected. This will also contain the severity of floods in some of these rivers during the monsoon months. Suggested action for realizing effective water management of the state would be the following :-

(a) Recover all the water bodies from encroachments using satellite maps.

(b) All village ponds be immediately de-silted along with clearance of inlet and outlet.

(c) Create additional water bodies in higher areas and fallow lands. This will enable retention of water without being drained off to lower level villages of the State and also enable farming operations to continue.

(d) Raise the protection wall for wells slightly above the normal flood water level so that the debris does not fill the wells during floods and drinking water is available immediately after the floods.

(e) Create additional check dams so that water can be retained in drought prone regions of Madhya Pradesh.

(f) To protect cities create channelization, embankment and diversion channels up-streams. Satellite data provided by ISRO may be utilized for planning and implementing the overall water management system of the State. It is essential that affected people of Narmada project are rehabilitated on a priority basis in mission mode.

7. Infrastructure Development

Physical Connectivity: Madhya Pradesh has a network of approximately 72,500 km of road network which includes 4600 km of national highways. The all India density of roads is 24.5 km per 100 sq. km., whereas Madhya Pradesh has only 19.8 km. per 100 sq km. So far, 10600 villages having a population of 1000 people have been connected through all weather roads and 3400 villages having population of over 1000 are yet to be connected. However, Madhya Pradesh has over 55000 villages. That means we have to ensure good road connectivity for the remaining 41000 villages. While planning connectivity for these villages, a PURA Cluster approach may be adopted. This could be taken up as a part of the Bharat Nirman programme. I understand that the Madhya Pradesh PWD and MP Rural Road Development Authority are taking up provision of a good road network on priority. The aim of these two departments should be to bring road density progressively to 30 km. per 100 Sq. Km. in the 11th plan period, either through Government or as a public-private partnership venture.

This will definitely provide the needed mobility for economic development of the rural sector in Madhya Pradesh. A good road network will be a win-win proposition for all, especially for your State as it is placed geographically at the centre of our country. Long distance road transport has to perforce pass through Madhya Pradesh. As a result good roads will increase traffic and provide a source of income for the rural people through spin-offs such as income generated for the people through highway eating places and rest rooms. For the nation, it would mean increased and cheaper commerce because of accessibility to other parts of the country through Madhya Pradesh.

Establishment of PURA for Rural prosperity: When a state's growth is driven by fast changing technologies, one must be cautious about ensuring the participation of every citizen and region of the State with out causing any technology or digital or economic divide. One of the solutions for ensuring the homogenous and integrated development is PURA.

Madhya Pradesh has around 55,000 villages spread over 48 Districts and is totally landlocked. Over 48 million people live in rural areas of your State. Hence I would recommend the creation of approximately four hundred plain PURAs for the entire State.

Essential Connectivities of PURA: The integrated methods, which will bring prosperity to rural India are - physical connectivity of village clusters having populations of around one lakh, through quality roads and transport; electronic connectivity through tele-communication with high bandwidth fiber optic cables reaching rural areas from urban cities and through internet kiosks; knowledge connectivity through education, vocational training for farmers, artisans and crafts persons and entrepreneurship programmes. These three connectivities would lead to economic connectivity through starting of enterprises with the help of banks, micro credits and marketing of products.

After initial short-term employment during construction etc., we may have to plan for initiating actions for providing regular employment opportunities for 10,000 people. If the industrial parks are marketed well, they can generate employment opportunities in service and the support sector for about 30000 people. We need to promote entrepreneurship in rural areas. Each PURA should be supported by one or more food processing enterprises and artisanal enterprises, power loom, handloom enterprises, handicrafts and sericulture enterprises. Indo-Japanese Collaborative Experience: As an example, I would like to mention the handicraft promotion work taking place at Chhindwara and Seoni in Madhya Pradesh, as a State Government, Central Government and JETRO of Japan collaborative venture. Here the development of interior life style articles is taking place with the intervention of JETRO technical experts. After prototypes are made, the product is being sent to Japan for presentation in exhibitions for getting a feedback. The feedback is used to further improve the product for making it acceptable for sale in the international market. A similar model has been followed between Thailand and Japan which has resulted in the development of 26 products being produced in 26 villages with an annual turn-over of Rs. 300 crores.

What is needed is application of technology for quantity, quality and variety production of these products for servicing in the national and international markets with management stewardship. The Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, Khadi and Village Industry Commission can work with Rural Development Commissioners for selecting and promoting products in the national and international markets. Each village cluster depending upon the region will cost between Rs.80-100 crores. The convergence of funding for PURA will come from the Bharat Nirman Programme and other rural development programmes of the Central and State government schemes for bringing sustainable rural development.

Power: I am happy to see that infrastructure development in the state is taking place on a massive scale. Presently, Madhya Pradesh has approximately 6000 MWs installed capacity including power available from central sources. The State Government has plans to bridge the gap of 2000 MW, between demand and generation capacity, which has had an adverse effect on industry, agriculture and civic life. By 2008 Madhya Pradesh will have a generating capacity of over 10,000 MWs and will become a power surplus State. I understand that the State Government is in the process of carrying out electricity reforms which will enable reduction of large scale transmission and distribution losses. This is a welcome move. Over the last three years the power sector performance has seen major improvement in Gujarat both financially and operationally. There have been no power cuts or load shedding. There has been no increase in tariff in spite of rising input costs. The sector which was incurring a loss of nearly Rs. 1900 crores in 2003-04 is showing a profit of Rs. 200 crores now in 2005-06. I am sure Madhya Pradesh can definitely emulate this model. The emphasis should be on quality power with zero interruption to all users including rural citizens.

I understand that out of the 55,000 villages in Madhya Pradesh only 1,713 villages located in remote areas are yet to be electrified. There is an urgent need to electrify these villages using renewable energy sources on a priority basis in collaboration with the Union Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources. Also, Madhya Pradesh must think of solar energy, wind energy, bio-mass energy and generation of energy through municipal waste in some of the large towns. These interventions will ensure that the State will be surplus in energy at all times, since part of the energy for the State is coming from hydel sources which has a low load factor during non-monsoon months.

8. Tourist destination of the world

Madhya Pradesh with a its large bio-diversity, rich heritage, legendary pilgrimmage centres, scenic beauty and unparallel wild life should be an important destination for tourists. Out of 382 tourist sites 18 major centres attract a large number of tourists. However, it is important to make travel, stay and the ambience of the tourist enjoyable. Madhya Pradesh has high potential for international tourism. It is time to work out a strategy through which new tourist circuits of interest are evolved in Madhya Pradesh, and are made tourist friendly in all respects, so that they can attract many of them. In that process there will be considerable income generation for the people of the State at the grass roots levels. How do we achieve this?

My experiences: when I visited Dubai, I met the Ruler of Dubai. He told me that Dubai is planning to increase tourist arrivals by five folds. Once this decision was taken, I found, that the aviation minister was planning for a new airport and also new types of aircraft needed for attracting tourists. The surface transport minister was planning a number of additional road lanes required on highways. The works ministry was planning the increase in hotel accommodations so that tourists could get bookings without being disappointed. The health ministry had a road map for waste management and a plan for providing additional clean water. This was the type of integrated response that I found in the whole government to fulfill the national objective. We have to take the message coming out of this experience and plan for multiple requirements simultaneously for promoting tourism in our country.

Tourist circuits: Can we embark on such a mission in Madhya Pradesh with an innovative public-private partnership? This will need a change of thinking, mindset and action by the Union Ministry of Tourism, and the Madhya Pradesh Government with the active collaboration of private enterprises. A tourism development mission can be achieved only through multi-nodal ministry participation with the single aim of making tourists have an enjoyable and safe stay. There is a need for urgent development of tourist circuits: Gwalior-Orchha, Khajuraho, Sanchi-Bhopal-Bhojpur-Bhimbetka-Pachmarhi and Gwalior-Shivpuri-Chanderi. In addition, there is a need to develop Amarkantak, Maheshwar, Omkareshwar, Burhanpur and Indore. A tourist circuit covering heritage places in Madhya Pradesh has to be covered with air connectivity with 50 seater aircrafts to enable foreign and national tourists to get maximum coverage in minimum time. There is a need to convert Bhopal Airport as an International Airport to enable foreign tourists to come here directly. There is also a need to upgrade many roads linking tourist destinations with four-lane roads to facilitate faster road journey. In addition, we have to train people to convert tourism into income generation such as providing special skills in conversational foreign languages at nominal cost by the State through NGOs. Many airlines are operating in the country now. The Madhya Pradesh Government can initiate discussions and attract one or two airlines to use their services in the prescribed circuit. In addition, perhaps some domestic commercial airlines could be attracted to make Bhopal Airport the hub of their operations, once it is upgraded to the level of an international airport, thus reducing operational costs as Bhopal is geographically well placed. This would also perhaps take the pressure off the other current hubs such as Delhi and Mumbai.

Growth in Tourism: These actions will enhance the arrival of foreign tourists from the existing 1 lakh to over a million and also domestic tourists from 7 million to over 30 million. Each tourist, particularly the foreign tourist will create a minimum of two to three jobs in the transportation sector, hospitality sector and other services. Vocational training institutes have to create youth capacity, so that they can provide accurate information and value added people friendly tourism services for national and international tourists. These vocational training institutes can also create a pool of manpower particularly for courteous taxi drivers, tourist guides and catering service providers who would be able to render safe world class services that are dependable and reminiscent of Indian hospitality and heritage. Tourism is a multi-organizational mission which means Madhya Pradesh Government has to initiate an empowered tourism mission. Tourism has the potential to convert unorganized service sectors such as tourist transportation and catering to professional organized levels and lift the living standards of the persons employed in these sectors.

Public-private partnership: Treat investments in tourism as a seed money for the development of Tourists Circuits in this region, but what is needed is a mission mode operation involving public-private partnership providing total services to the tourist in an integrated way with multiple ministry coordination on the lines followed by the Maldives.

9. Exclusive Economic Zones

A method is required to be found for how investment can be attracted in the State for the faster development in all the three sectors of the economy. How can it be done? May I share a few suggestions with you? The Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly may consider forming six Exclusive Economic Zones. The suggested sites and products of these economic zones would be:-

Indore - Pharmaceutical, textile, IT and auto components

Pithampur - Apparel Park, jewellary Park and Herbal Park

Bhopal - Life science products

Jabalpur - Apparel Park and Stone Park

Rewa - Herbal Park

Sagar - Granite Park

In order to build infrastructure and attract investment in these zones, the Madhya Pradesh Government may consider the following actions.

(a) Fast single window clearance for attracting investment. (A multi-ministry organization)

(b) Invite Madhya Pradesh origin industrialists and entrepreneurs who are within the country and abroad for a meeting leading to the decision of taking up the task of building and operating the Exclusive Economic zone in all three sectors of the economy.

C) To provide land, power, water, physical and electronic connectivity to the identified zones.

(d) Members of the Madhya Pradesh legislative assembly irrespective of party affiliations will give an assurance for enacting proactive policies for ensuring uninterrupted work culture in these Economic Zones.

(e) Employees have to be partners in these enterprises.

The State Legislature can invite prospective entrepreneurs to invest in these Exclusive Eonomic Zones. The aim of the economic zone should be to qualify the skill sets of the workforce to standards prescribed by the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council. The institutions must converge, and the zone will have design, development, production and marketing capability. One of the zones may be allotted for the development of a science city. Each economic zone can lead to a turnover of Rs. 10,000 crores per annum.

10. e-Governance for Madhya Pradesh

Good governance is being recognized as an important goal by many countries across the world. Madhya Pradesh has taken up specific initiatives for transparent government. Freedom of information is being redefined and supported by detailed guidelines. The internet revolution has proved to be a powerful tool for good governance initiatives. An important dimension of the internet potential is the possibility of providing services any time anywhere. Along with this there is a conscious effort to put the citizen at the center of the focus of governance. Citizens are being perceived as customers and clients. E-governance has to be citizen friendly. Delivery of services to citizens is considered as a primary function of government. Particularly in a democratic nation of a billion people like India, e-Governance should enable seamless access to information and seamless flow of information across the State and Central Governments in our federal setup.

In summary, I visualize e-Governance as:

"A transparent smart e-governance with seamless access, secure and authentic flow of information crossing the inter-departmental barrier and providing a fair and unbiased service to the citizen."

Madhya Pradesh needs an e-Governance based accelerated management system to administer finance and monitor and interface with Central and world institutions. I would like to propose a system which should encompass seamless G2G, G2C and G2B connectivity.

Now, let me share with you my personal experience in setting up and operating a typical e-Governance Portal established at Rashtrapati Bhavan. We have built an e-Governance system to study all correspondence, letters and petitions on a day to day basis, analyze, prioritize, verify and determine action requirements to be taken by Rashtrapati Bhavan and other agencies in the government and relevant institutions both public and private. We have now established almost a paperless, dynamic and secured workflow messaging system for file movements within the department and inter-departmental communications. We have established within Rashtrapati Bhavan facilities for G2G and G2C connectivity and are in the process of establishing high bandwidth broadband VPN connectivity with Central and State Governments and other relevant institutions for seamless flow of information within the existing systems and procedures of governmental functioning. This will soon become a part of the e-Governance GRID. We will be very happy to share this experience and customize a system needed for the introduction of a comprehensive system for Madhya Pradesh's e-Governance (G2G and G2C).

11. Tribal development

Presently around 23 percent of the total population of the country resides in Madhya Pradesh. Tribal welfare is a priority sector for the State Government. Besides, better health and the education facility in tribal areas the State Government is promoting cultivation of medicinal plants and processing of agricultural produce. Special health scheme have been formulated for free transportation and medical facilities for delivery in hospitals. Special provision also exists for recruitment in government service. There is a need to preserve and nurture tribal culture. Since the tribal population in general moves from place to place looking for new avenues for income generation, I would suggest the creation of mobile health services, mobile schools and mobile vocational training centres. I have already described a comprehensive mobile health facility which can be replicated in this region. For mobile schools and vocational training we require to transport teachers, teaching aids such as blackboards, books, notebooks, computers and mobile shelters which can be used for conducting classes. The idea should be to make education and healthcare reach tribal citizens, wherever they are. This approach will ensure training of tribal citizens in the skills required for pursuing revenue generating schemes. Now I would like to discuss a model tribal development taking place in Jhabua District.

Model Tribal Development: I have studied tribal development work being undertaken by (BAIF) in Jhabua and Hoshangabad districts. There they have undertaken livestock development, watershed development, handicraft production, fruit and vegetable processing and women empowerment. This has substantially enhanced the earning potential of the tribal population and improved their quality of life. Here the emphasis is on livelihood development. It has to be enlarged to provide quality education and health care. That will lead to a sustainable development model. I am sure there may be many more models of this type in Madhya Pradesh. We can identify and definitely replicate a holistic model in different districts for enhancing the quality of life of the tribal people of Madhya Pradesh.

The eleven missions suggested for Madhya Pradesh can be discussed in this Legislative Assembly for transforming Madhya Pradesh into a developed state before 2015. Each of the missions that I have mentioned today has the potential of making Madhya Pradesh economically prosperous with tremendous effort coming from the political system, the administration and the collective leadership of your State and the Center. The outcome of the mission will be:-

Horticulture Mission: Generate employment for over six million youth and an annual revenue of Rs. 40,000 crore by 2016.

Agricultural Mission: Increase output of cereals and pulses from 15.5 million tonnes to 25 million tonnes in four years. Increase soyabean revenue from Rs.4500 crores to Rs.9000 crores resulting in doubling of income for 5 million families. Increase percapita availability of milk from 233 grams to 500 grams in five years.

Education and Entrepreneurship: Realize 100 percent literacy by 2012 and provide full employment to all 1.5 million youth passing out from schools and colleges every year. Creation of Centres of Excellence in engineering, science, arts and medicine.

Global Human Resource Cadre: All youth will either have quality higher education or world class special skills. Madhya Pradesh can capture five lakh direct employment and five lakh indirect employment in the IT sector by 2010.

Healthcare Mission: Eradicate Malaria, TB and Leprosy in all districts by 2012. Reduce the Infant Mortality Rate to 50 per 1000 and the Maternal Mortality Rate to less than 5 per 1000. Reach quality healthcare to all citizens including to tribal areas and enhance life expectancy.

Water Management: Harness additional 50,000 cubic meter of water for irrigation. Create additional storage capacity through water harvesting leading to a drought free Madhya Pradesh by 2012. Infrastructure Development: Increase road density to 30 kms per 100 sq. km., plan for 400 plain PURAs, create the "one village one product" model to generate revenue of Rs.10 crores per village.

e-Governance for Madhya Pradesh: Create a transparent citizens friendly, investment friendly atmosphere leading to a prosperous and a happy State.

Tourism Destination of the World: Increase international tourism from 1 lakh to one million and domestic tourism from 7 million to 30 million creating nearly 3 million jobs in the next five years.

Exclusive Economic Zone: Creation of six Exclusive Economic Zones to enable balanced economic growth of the State. Each economic zone can lead to a turnover of Rs. 10,000 crores per annum.

Tribal Development: Provide quality education, quality healthcare and productive employment opportunities to over 14 million tribal citizens of the State.

Dear Honourable Members, I have put forth in front of you, 11 missions for the prosperity of Madhya Pradesh. You may ask questions, give suggestions, I would like to respond. I will be very happy to correspond with you on Madhya Pradesh related development. Let me finally give a suggestion for your consideration. All of you might like to ask yourself a question? "What will I be remembered for?" If each one of you asks yourself "What will I be remembered for?" What can be your response? The response of course, as you are nurtured in the cradle of Madhya Pradesh, definitely your heart and mind will say I will work in my lifetime, to be a partner in making Madhya Pradesh "an economically prosperous, happy and safe State". I believe that the 11 missions, which I have described today can be the foundation for the mission of Madhya Pradesh's prosperity leading to the creation of Madhya Pradesh as a great State.

My best wishes to all the Honourable Members of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly and the people of Madhya Pradesh success in their mission of transforming their State into a developed State by 2016.

May God bless you.