By IANS,
New Delhi : Former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam said Monday “tolerance is the foundation stone of sustainable development” that will bring prosperity to all sections in the country.
Delivering the third annual National Commission for Minorities Lecture here, Kalam said an “inclusive and happy society can be built only on the principles of sustainable development”.
He said the quality and reach of education should be upgraded to achieve development and inclusive growth. The rurual-urban divide in education and other sectors should be bridged as 70 percent of India’s population still lives in villages, he pointed out.
Kalam said that the societal disparties in education and employment should be reduced to ensure equitable development. “An evaluation of inclusive growth achieved through our development programmes so far should be undertaken by the authorities,” he suggested.
Kalam also wanted all villages to be connected through roads and bridges, as well as with electronic means like the Internet and telephones.
He said for the “evolution of enlightened citizenship” in the country, religion must rise to the levels of spirituality, education must be modernised and value-based and poverty should be eradicated. He recalled his childhood days, when he had a class-mate from a different releigion as his best friend.
The former president suggested that the National Commission for Minorities should co-ordinate its efforts for the welfare of the minorities with the ministry of minority affairs and the Prime Minister’s Office.
The commission’s website should have links to the other two offices for redressing the compalints of the minorities, he said.