Union Home Minister Amit Shah reflected on the essentiality of developing the rural areas without which India can never be self-reliant. The home minister also recalled the words of Mahatma Gandhi who had said that the “soul of India resides in its villages.”
If India is to become prosperous, comfortable and self-reliant, then the village has to be made prosperous, comfortable and self-reliant and this was started in 2014 by PM Narendra Modi, who placed a new vision for rural development before the nation and the world, Shah said while addressing the 41st Annual Convocation of the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) on the third day of his Gujarat visit on Sunday.
Emphasising that without accelerating rural development, making rural development a contributor to country’s economy, the home minister said that the village cannot become a contributor to the national economy. 70 per cent of the country’s talent, which resides in the villages, will be deprived of the benefits of economic development.
He further expressed that connecting the 70 per cent of the rural population with the task of speeding up the economy, India’s goal of being a $5 trillion economy will be fulfilled within 5 years.
The home minister also highlighted those 100 districts of the country that have been identified in which development has been lagging for regional development.
Meanwhile, Chief Economic Advisor Anantha V. Nageswaran on Wednesday said that India will be a $20 trillion economy with a per capita income of about $15,000 by 2040 if the country’s GDP keeps doubling every seven years.
The CEA underlined that “India is forecasted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to cross $5 trillion by 2026-27 and if GDP of the country doubles every 7 years, we will be $20 trillion GDP by 2040 with the per capita income close to $15,000”.
