Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has assured the Indian diaspora that the country's economy is heading for good times and there is no reason to despair about its present or future. Inaugurating the the 12th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in New Delhi today, Dr. Singh said that India's economy has done well over the past decade and in the nine years since 2004 it averaged a healthy growth rate of 7.9 percent per annum. He said that there has been a slow down in the recent past and the country will probably end this year with five percent growth.
The Prime Minister said that government has taken a very wide range of decisions to accelerate the implementation of mega infrastructure projects, reform tax administration, improve fiscal management, liberalize foreign direct investments in recent months. He said, the country's communication networks have expanded exponentially during the past ten years and much of rural India will be connected by broadband in the near future.
Regarding education, Dr. Singh said that it has been radically reformed with Central Universities having gone from 17 to 44 and the IITs and IIMs doubling in number and at the primary level, nearly every child in India is going to school today. He said government has added over 17000 kilometers of highways and more than two lakh kilometers of new roads in rural areas and its power generation capacity is also expanding rapidly.
Describing country's accelerated economic development as socially more inclusive, he said inclusive development has always been the guiding principle of Government and it has pursued it with great vigour and purpose in recent years.
Dr. Singh said regardless of the outcome of the next elections, India will once again demonstrate to the world the strength of its democracy and institutions. He said that it is especially encouraging to see country's youth from all walks of life not only articulate their expectations and aspirations, but take actively to politics to shape their future. He said key priorities of his government are to provide open, transparent, accountable and clean government and it has taken many steps in this direction. These include the Right to Information, the Lokpal legislation, the Government Procurement Bill, changes in the systems for the allocation of natural resources and empowering our law enforcement and audit agencies. He said that after the UPA government came to power, it established the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs and launched Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojana for diaspora. He added the government will continue to support and assist them and promote their links with India in every possible way.
Dr. Singh also said that the Indian expatriate community’s contribution to the country has been invaluable in several spheres of economy and society and this year, New Delhi welcomes particularly the younger generation among them. The Prime Minister said that India is prepared to assume international role and responsibilities that the world expects from it.
He also expressed confidence that the association between India and its over twenty-two million roving ambassadors in the expatriate Indian community will continue to deepen and prosper in the years to come.
