The Hindu : Front Page : Puducherry aims at 100% literacy

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Wednesday, Mar 26, 2008
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Puducherry aims at 100% literacy

Special Correspondent

New hi-tech scheme on precision farming planned: Lt. Governor

— Photo: T. Singaravelou

CUSTOMARY ADDRESS: Lieutenant Governor Bhopinder Singh addressing the Puducherry Assembly on Tuesday. Speaker R.Radhakrishnan is in the picture.

PUDUCHERRY: Lieutenant Governor Bhopinder Singh on Tuesday said the Puducherry government proposed to reduce the gender group literacy rate to zero per cent, infant mortality rate to 0.05 per 1,000 live births and to achieve 100 per cent literacy by the end of the 11th Five Year Plan.

As the dropout at the elementary school level was already zero in Puducherry, “it will be our endeavour to achieve zero dropout rate at the secondary level,” he said.

In his address to the Assembly, Mr. Singh also stressed the need for the government to observe financial discipline to win the confidence of investors in the government securities, particularly against the backdrop of Puducherry having its own Public Account which had facilitated the Union Territory to raise funds through market borrowing at competitive rate for funding the plan schemes.

The Planning Commission had approved a Plan size of Rs.10, 787 crore for the 11th Five Year Plan for the Union Territory, of which 55 per cent would be spent for the social services sector, Mr.Singh said, adding that though the primary sector contributed only around 4.6 per cent of the GDP, the government was committed to giving maximum attention to agriculture to increase the earnings of the farmers.

The government had been adopting a two-pronged strategy to encourage cultivation of less water consuming crops and to employ water conservation technologies, owing to declining land availability and depleting water resources. Steps were also taken to transform agriculture into agri-business through infusion of new technologies and by availing assistance from the financial institutions, he said.

“We propose to implement a new hi-tech scheme on precision farming in collaboration with the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University to enable the farmers to maximise their yield of horticulture crops with minimum use of water for irrigation and other farm inputs,” he added. In a bid to augment groundwater level, six check-dams were being constructed across the rivers flowing in the Union Territory and it was proposed to undertake construction of 16 check-dams in a phased manner.

Though cattle population in the Union Territory had declined during the last two decades, the government would take steps to increase milk products through innovative schemes by providing subsidy to livestock owners and better veterinary services, he said.

Mr.Singh also referred to the move to implement the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme from April 1 and the setting up of the Regional Rural Bank which would have 25 branches over three years.

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