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ADDRESS OF THE-THEN HON'BLE PRESIDENT OF INDIA,
DR. A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM ON IMPORTANT OCCASIONS |
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ADDRESS AT THE INAUGURATION OF INDIA DEVELOPMENT MARKETPLACE-2007, NEW DELHI
28-05-2007 : New Delhi |
Recently, I visited Raniganj village cluster in Pratapgarh district in Uttar Pradesh. There, BAIF (Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation) has been implementing an integrated rural development programme. As a part of this programme, a revolution has been created in growing Amla orchard in the land affected by salinity. Amla is known to he a home fruit and has medicinal value including vitamin C. Amla has become an essential component of the food, drug, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry. BAIF has trained 300 local farmers in cultivating Amla orchards in Raniganj. BAIF has supplied grafted plants of superior variety which need very little water and care. Farmers have also been assisted in setting up irrigation facilities using shallow tube wells and soil amendments to reduce saline content. The amla plants have started yielding from fourth year and yield of fresh fruit has increased from 100 kg, in the fifth year, to 200 kg per year to 200 kg per year after the seventh year. The part of the fresh amla produce from the high yield variety plants, is sold in the local market. The remaining amla is being processed for conversion as morabba, barfi, laddu, chutney, pickles, juice and powder by the Raniganj citizens. The processing is expected to increase to 300 quintals in 2007-08. The growing of amla and processing has resulted in increasing the revenue of the farmers in the village substantially. Simultaneously, the farmers have been trained in dairy development which has resulted in increasing the yearly income of the family by Rs. 32,000 using crossbred cows innovative methods to increase production, value addition through food processing, packaging and marketing has empowered the local farmers of Raniganj and made a significant change in their lifestyle.
This has increased the per-capita income, improved the health conditions of the farmers and the children are getting good education resulting in reduced dropout.
I have shared these experiences only to emphasize the need for World Bank to have a database on development needs of a particular region through state machinery and also private agencies. This database may assist World Bank to decide the choice of area of work for meeting the development agenda of a particular rural area. |
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Address to the Nation by The then President of India, Dr.A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on the eve of
57th Republic Day, January 25, 2006 |
| One Billion People: One Vision |
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| Progressive Momentum towards National Missions |
| "I have seen and experienced the functioning of four operational PURA's (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) namely Periyar PURA at Vallam. Tamilnadu. Loni PURA in Maharashtra. Chitrakoot PURA in Madhya Pradesh and Byrraju PURA in Bhimavaram. Andhra Pradesh. BAIF (Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation) has brought a new dimension in rural and tribal development, through empowering the rural people with know-how, technology and networks; for water conservation, dairy development, fruit orchard and animal husbandry". |
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Inauguration of the National Summit of Rural NGOs of India,
April 25, 2005, New Delhi |
| Employment Generation is the Foundation for Rural Development: These two examples demonstrate how the Periyar PURA and BAIF can bring prosperity to a village or a group of villages through concerted action to meet the needs of the village community. These are independent examples of "PURA in action". |
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Conferment of the Bharatiya Samman Awards 2005
to Prominent NRIS/PIOS,
Mumbai, January 9, 2005 |
| Your Prosperity is our Happiness: The Periyar PURA and the BAIF model are indeed the two good examples of how PURA can be established by the initiative of the great leaders having passion for rural development. I am sure the rich knowledge and experience gathered by the Diaspora will definitely be beneficial in creating PURA complexes in many regions in the country based on the typical examples of Periyar PURA and BAIF model. |
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Inauguration of the Symposium on Governance in Development Issues,
Challenges and Strategies at Irma,
Anand, December 14, 2004 |
| Integrated Development and Leadership: I have recently visited some tribal villages in South Gujarat. There I have witnessed a typical PURA for Tribal Rehabilitation and Semi-Arid Regions which has succeeded through the efforts of BAIF in collaboration with the state government. |
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Inauguration of Symposium on Uncommon Opportunities: A Roadmap
for Employment, Food & Global Security
November 20, 2004, New Delhi |
| Dynamics of Rural Development: A typical PURA for Tribal Rehabilitation & Semi-Arid Regions (BAIF): Food security and self-employment with good income is crucial in tribal and semi-arid regions. I would like to share with you an integrated village cluster development model. In these regions every summer the tribal people migrate to nearby towns. BAIF has introduced a model in two villages with people's co-operation and the participation of state authorities. If such actions are multiplied in a reasonably synchronized manner, then locally generated wealth will increase and create new economic opportunities, thus creating greater income and prosperity levels. |
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Members of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly,
Hyderabad, July 14, 2004 |
| Andhra's Prosperity: an Action Plan: I would like to share with you an integrated village cluster development programme which I experienced during my visit with Dr. Narayan G Hegde, an IIM graduate who is an expert in farming and Dairying in two village clusters of south Gujarat - Chonda and Lachakadi, with a population of 5000. Andhra Pradesh will have similar experiences. When I visited, these villages, there was a connecting road and water ponds. The tribal population, with radiant smiles on their faces, was harvesting crops, packaging and carrying milk to different supply points. I happened to see the economic growth and prosperity of the tribal people, which has been facilitated by BAIF with people's participation. We can certainly learn from the experience of BAIF's development models implemented in Maharastra, Gujarat and Rajasthan. The critical inputs needed for such community development programmes are: |
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Motivation of the community members |
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Empowerment of the women through Self Help Groups |
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Need based interventions |
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Introduction of appropriate technologies |
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Development of essential infrastructure |
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Creation of transparent systems |
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| These successful models are in operation for more than a decade. I suggest some farmers representatives and people's representatives could visit these areas and interact with the farmers to assess the applicability of these models for implementation in your region. |
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Inauguration of India Country-Level Development Marketplace,
June 21, 2004, New Delhi |
| Dynamics of Village development: BAIF has organised a tribal rehabilitation programme for sustainable livelihood which has benefited over 50,000 tribal families in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Rajasthan. As the orchard is able to give them substantial income, they have stopped migrating to the cities. These tribals who have established fruit orchards on their degraded lands have not only come out of poverty, but also protected the neighbouring forest area and demonstrated how poverty eradication can be linked with eco-system improvement. Today, this programme has emerged as a unique tribal development model in the country. BAIF is also engaged in livestock development for promoting animal husbandry on a massive scale covering over 20,000 villages in 9 States. Over the last 35 years, they have helped over 7-8 lakh families to come out of poverty. This is the result of use of appropriate technologies and ambient management methods. |
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| The then president Kalam Visits German Sponsored Adivasi Project |
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