The Prime Minister has said that the economy is slowly gaining momentum and the growth rate is expected to be a little over 7 per cent during the current financial year. Speaking at the 92nd annual conference of the Indian Economic Association (IEA) at Bhubaneswar, Dr Manmohan Singh said the average growth rate has been 8.5 per cent since the Congres-led Government assumed office at the centre in 2004. He said the growth momentum was interrupted by a global economic meltdown last year and the growth rate came down to 6.7 per cent in the last fiscal. Dr. Singh said sustained economic growth is essential to fight poverty and improve standard of living of the people.<br/>The Prime Minister said the country needs to create more jobs at a rate faster than the growth of labour force. He said greater attention should be given to education, health care and rural development, focussing particularly on the needs of the poor. Special attention is also required to increase agricultural productivity, helping small firms in mobilising resources and reducing the scope for corruption.<br/>Citing climate change as a difficult challenge before everyone, the Prime Minister said an optimal solution to it would be if the world finds ways to reach a mutually satisfactory collective action.<br/>Later, the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of National Institute of Science Education and Research in Jatni, 25 kms from Bhuvaneshwar. He stressed on the need for more public- private partnership in Research and Development to improve quality of education in the country. Dr. Singh said the current expenditure on science and technology is one per cent of the GDP. However, the private sector investment is only 0.25 per cent. The Prime Minister said government is committed to ensure operational autonomy to make various institutions under department of Atomic Energy as world class institutions.