Kalam’s ten-point scheme to make India developed nation

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam on Thursday proposed a ten-point programme to make India a developed nation by year 2020. Even as he continued to be the subject of talk all over the nation due to the Continental Airlines controversy, he said at a function that eradication of poverty and development of small scale industries were vital for achieving this objective. Kalam said he was yet to receive an apology from the airline company for frisking him.

Delivering the Krishna Menon Memorial Lecture on Evolution of Enlightened Society on the occasion of the release of Wandering in Many Worlds, the autobiography of jurist VR Krishna Iyer here, Kalam said, “India should concentrate on its core competent areas – agriculture and agro-processing, education and health, IT, infrastructure development and to become self-reliant in critical areas – to become a developed nation before 2020.”

On the missions to fulfill for India to become a developed nation, Kalam said these included reducing the urban-rural divide, equitable distribution of wealth, agriculture and industry working together, education to all, poverty eradication, better healthcare and transparent Government machinery.

Stressing that peace was imperative for development, he said different parts of the world were affected by terrorism and low-intensity warfare which were detrimental for development. “’There are tensions in various parts of the world due to paucity of resources, inequitable growth, depletion of resources and man is also fighting against environment degradation, disease and terrorism,” he said. Research should be a thrust area and developments in science and technology should be used to fight environmental degradation, he emphasized.

On the global recession, Kalam said the Indian economy was less affected as the nation’s banking system was more conservative and people believed in savings. He said the caution applied in implementing liberalization was also a reason for India’s ability to withstand the worldwide downturn.

Kalam praised Justice Iyer saying that he showed the way to have a compassionate heart and his speeches were replete with messages of freedom, equality, fraternity and humanity.’ Justice Iyer was a guiding light for those in the judiciary and were committed to social justice, he added. Kerala High Court Chief Justice SR Bannurmath was also present on the occasion.

Earlier, Kalam told newsmen that he was yet to receive an apology from Continental Airlines for frisking him at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in April this year. “I have not yet received it. Whatever I had to say, I have already said it,” said the former President.

The statement came a day after Continental Airlines issued a public apology for subjecting Kalam to a security frisking at the airport prior to his boarding a US-bound flight of Continental Airlines on April 21. Terming the incident as a case of misunderstanding, the airlines tendered an apology after the Government had filed an FIR against it for breaching Indian aviation rules.

Asked if he considered the frisking an insult, he said, “The incident is true. That this incident took place is true. I have no more comments,” adding that the issue had already been discussed in Parliament.