By IANS
New Delhi : Following are the highlights of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s address on India’s 60th Independence Day from the ramparts of the Red Fort here Wednesday:
– India is on the move – poverty eradication is now a feasible goal
– Time for a revolution in modern education
– Widening access to education a key goal
– Farmers welfare core of all concerns; need to bridge rural-urban divide
– Industrialization most effective means to create new employment opportunities
– India’s approach to global problems based on the idea that the whole world is one family
– India’s composite culture and pluralism make it bridge between global divides
– Massive increase in public spending on education, health care, agriculture and rural development
– To promote social security in unorganised sector
– Old age pension scheme for senior citizens above 65 and below poverty line
– New health insurance scheme for poor
– Revolution in modern education
– 6,000 new good quality government funded schools to come up
– Secondary education to be made universal
– Centre to help states set up colleges in 370 districts
– To raise gross enrolment ratio in schools
– 30 new central universities to be set up
– Mission on vocational education and skill development
– 1,600 new industrial training institutes and polytechnics
– 10,000 new vocational schools
– 50,000 new skill development centres
– 100,000 students to get vocational training
– National rural employment guarantee programme for entire country
– Special programme on investment in agriculture
– New thrust to industrialization and planned urbanization
– National campaign for cleanliness