The Hindu : National : States not paying due attention to raising literacy: Manmohan

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Wednesday, Nov 16, 2005

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States not paying due attention to raising literacy: Manmohan

Diplomatic Correspondent

"There is a correlation between literacy and development that we cannot ignore" "We also need to understand that the biggest constraint to realising a better future is poor infrastructure. This we are committed to reversing"

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said the real responsibility for change in agriculture, health, education or urban development vested with the State governments.

The country's education system was moribund in many ways. "It is not meeting the needs of today, not to talk of tomorrow. There is a correlation between literacy and development that we can ignore at our peril," he said speaking on the theme of building a better future at a conference organised by Hindustan Times here.

No modern economy had less than 80 per cent literacy. The State governments were not paying the attention they must pay to raise literacy levels meaningfully. There were serious issues of access, curriculum and management of educational institutions, which deserved far greater attention.

"We also need to understand that the biggest constraint to realising a better future is poor infrastructure. This we are committed to reversing. We need far better roads, railways, airports and ports so that they can oil our wheels of progress." There was need to put a check on wasteful subsidies while targeting these to the genuinely needy and disadvantaged. "Citizens must be convinced about paying at least a modicum of user charges for the use of public utilities — for preventing wasteful usage and generating resources for investment in better services."

Dr. Singh said the dualism in India's society and economy could no longer be ignored. "There is an India that wants to move forward even faster. There is an India that is unable to catch up. The challenge before any government in this vast and diverse land is to allow those who can and wish to run to do so, even as we help those who are unable to do so. No government can ignore either challenge."

Roadblocks to enterprise

Pointing out that bureaucratic mindsets and corruption continued to act as roadblocks to enterprise and progress, he expressed the hope that the new Right to Information Act would lead to greater transparency and better governance.

Equity, social justice

"If we do not pay any attention to the questions of equity and social justice and allow only market forces and individual enterprise to thrive, we will be pursuing a socially and politically unsustainable path of development.

"If we focus attention only on the government redistributing incomes and providing employment, while suffocating enterprise and creativity, we will be pursuing an economically and fiscally unsustainable path. Hence the need to `walk on two legs' — of equity and efficiency," Dr. Singh said.

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