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Kalam formulates his vision of a developed India

"Today our country is facing challenges such as cross-border terrorism, certain internal conflicts and unemployment. To face these challenges, there must be a vision to ensure focussed action of one billion citizens of this great country with varied capabilities," Kalam said soon after taking oath as the country's 11th President in the Central Hall of Parliament.

One hundred specially invited schoolchildren, outgoing President K R Narayanan, Vice-President Krishan Kant and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee were among those present on the occasion.

The 71-year-old missile technologist said such a vision was none other than that of transforming India into a developed nation. "Can Government alone achieve this vision? Now, we need a movement in the country. This is the time to ignite the minds of the people for this movement.

"We will work for it. We cannot emerge as a developed nation if we do not learn to transact with speed," he said.

Emphasizing his unflinching commitment to the principle of secularism, Kalam said this was the cornerstone of "our nationhood and the key feature of our civilizational strength".

He said that over the last one year, he had met a number of spiritual leaders of all religions. They had all echoed one message - that the unity of minds and hearts of our people will happen and we will see the golden age of our country very soon.

"I would like to endeavour to work for bringing about [this] unity of minds among the divergent traditions of our country," he said.

The President said the vision of a developed nation needs to be achieved with parliamentary democracy, which is the "core of our governance system".

Observing that the basic structure of the Constitution has stood the test of time, Kalam said he was confident that it would "continue to be responsive to the demands of the changing situations".

He said the first and foremost task is to respect and uphold constitutional processes "in the best interests of our people and our nation, without fear or favour and with fairness and firmness".

Laying special emphasis on national security, Kalam said, "Along with speedy development aimed at elimination of poverty and unemployment, national security has to be recognised by every Indian as a national priority."

He continued, "Indeed, making India strong and self-reliant -- economically, socially and militarily -- is our foremost duty to our motherland and to ourselves and to our future generations."

Outlining his vision, he said the medium of transformation to develop India was empowerment at various levels with knowledge, including empowerment of women and teachers.

Noting that India was a Union of States based on the framework of co-operative federalism, Kalam said that within this there was a need to develop competitive strengths for the states so that they could excel at the national and global levels.

He said competitiveness helped in ensuring economic and managerial efficiency and to be creative in meeting new challenges. "These are essential to survive and prosper in the fast-changing world of today. In addition, in order to strengthen democratic processes and institution, we should all truly strive for substantive decentralisation," he stressed.

The President said he had so far interacted with more than 50,000 schoolchildren over the last one year. "If youth have to sing the song of India, India should become a developed country which is free from poverty, illiteracy and unemployment and is buoyant with economic prosperity, national security and internal harmony."

To create this transformation, "we all have to resolve ourselves to work and sweat for national development," he said.

In his five-page speech, Kalam thanked the MPs and MLAs of the country for electing him and termed as "really overwhelming" the endorsement he had received from common people across the country.

He quoted Thirukkural, composed 2,000 years ago, which says the important elements that constitute a nation are being disease-free, wealthy, highly productive, having harmonious living and strong in defence.

"All our efforts should be focussed towards building these five elements at various levels in a coherent and an integrated manner. I am convinced that our nation with a strong, vibrant and billion-plus population can contribute to realize these elements," he said.

Observing that India could not emerge as a developed nation if the people did not learn to transact with speed, he recalled a line from 15th century saint-poet Kabir: 'Kaal karay so aaj kar, aaj karay so ab' (do today what you plan to do tomorrow, do now what you plan to do today).

PTI

The 11th President of India: Complete Coverage

The Presidency: A Special Series

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