Other States - Bihar   

President has a vision for Bihar

K.Balchand

Backs 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament

A DAY TO REMEMBER: The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, receiving a memento from Chief Justice of Patna High Court J.N. Bhatt during the inauguration of mobile legal aid and lok adalat, at Patna High Court on Friday. Photo: Ranjeet Kumar

PATNA: Playing the role of a saviour, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on Friday came out with a vision 2015 for the development of Bihar and underlined the need for 10 per cent growth at the national level to uplift people above the poverty line.

On a whirlwind tour of the State which also took to Darbhanga, Dr. Kalam talked about the well being of children, smile on the face of the youth, just share for women and a responsive judicial system as he went about attending five functions including two convocation ceremonies.

Addressing the Patna University convocation ceremony, Dr. Kalam noted that the very fact that 38 out of the 58 gold medal recipients were girls means that their demand for 33 per cent reservation in Parliament "is possible".

He hinted at the possibility of the upgrading the Patna University, the seventh oldest university in the country, as a Central University in the near future without actually saying it in so many words. "There are 20 Central Universities in the country. We may need for one more. I don't know which one it will be."

In his vision for Bihar, Dr. Kalam prescribed that crime and corruption does not pay, but only fragmented society and rendered the economy directionless. Stressing that the situation could be retrieved with a bright future, the President called for a collective will to set objectives which aim at peoples' welfare.

Dr. Kalam who is expected to visit the State in March said that the nation would join the State in the noble task. The Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has sought his help in removing the backwardness of the State and help develop it.

At the L.N. Mithila University, Dr. Kalam talked of the need to register a consistent 10 per cent growth rate over the next decade if the country intended to uplift the 260 million people living below the poverty line. He was confident that the five sectors identified would together impart the necessary impetus to the economy to achieve the mission.

Inaugurating the second mobile legal aid and Lok Adalat in country, Dr. Kalam was all praise for the Patna High Court Chief Justice J.N. Bhatt for pioneering the system in Gujarat. But he underlined the need for reviving the judicial system at the panchayat level with a human touch, without the influence of political parties and the related biases against individuals and families.

Inaugurating the 50-bed Paediatric Oncology Department at the Mahavir Cancer Sansthan, the President stressed upon "a mind to serve the needy". He hoped that the Sansthan would send a team of doctors to villages and screen the children for detection of cancer.

Emphasising that cancer among children was curable, Dr. Kalam, however, said that the success rate depended upon the nutritional level. He prescribed that nutritional support should be made part of the therapy in the rural areas.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

President has a vision for Bihar
Nitish Govt. on the job to make roads as smooth as dream girl's cheeks

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu