Target 3 Billion

Abdul Kalam A P J

Description

With 750 million people living in villages, India has the largest rural population in the world. Based on his Indian experience, Dr Kalam recommends a sustainable and inclusive development system called PURA Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas to uplift the rural masses not by subsidies but through entrepreneurship with community participation. To make his case, Dr Kalam cites the examples of individuals and institutions, in India and from across the world, who, with an entrepreneurial spirit and a burning desire to make a difference, have successfully generated and tapped into the potential of the rural masses. Fabio Luiz de Oliveira Rosa changed the face of the rural district of Palmares, Brazil, by acquiring for the farmers access to electricity and water, which effect combined with better agricultural methods led to an increase in prosperity and stemmed the migration to the cities The 123-strong Magar clan owned Magarpatta, a 430-acre plot on the outskirts of Pune, Maharashtra. In the 1990s, they organized and set up the Magarpatta city which is now home to over 35,000 residents and a working population of 65,000, and boasts of an IT park.

Sujets

• Sociologie, société et politique
• Sustainability
• Types of rural communities
• India

Informations

• Publié par: Penguin Books Ltd
• Date de parution: 01 novembre 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9788184755800
• Langue: English

Extrait

A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM & SRIJAN PAL SINGH
Target 3 Billion
PURA: Innovative Solutions towards Sustainable Development
PENGUIN BOOKS
Contents
About the Author
Preface: Empowering 3 Billion
Introduction: The Elixir of Rural Experience from a Nation of Diversity
1. The Other Half of Mankind
2. Sustaining the Growth Trajectory
3. Sustainable Development Systems and PURA
4. Agriculture and PURA
5. Effecting a Social Transformation
6. Eco-friendly Sustainable Development
7. A Community-driven Sustainable Development System
8. Enterprise Creation Leading to Empowerment
9. Realizing a PURA
10. PURA Corporation
11. The Face of Twenty-First-Century Development
Notes
Bibliography
Copyright Page
PENGUIN BOOKS
TARGET 3 BILLION
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (1931-2015) was one of India s most distinguished scientists. He was responsible for the development of India s first satellite launch vehicle, the SLV-3, and the development and operationalization of strategic missiles. As chairman of the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council, he pioneered India Vision 2020, a road map for transforming India into an economically developed nation by 2020, focusing on PURA (Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) as a development system for countrywide implementation.
Kalam held various positions in the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Defence Research and Development Organisation and became principal scientific adviser to the Government of India, holding the rank of a cabinet minister.
The President of India between 2002 and 2007, Kalam was awarded honorary doctorates from thirty-eight universities and the country s three highest civilian honours-Padma Bhushan (1981), Padma Vibhushan (1990) and Bharat Ratna (1997).
Kalam authored fifteen books on a variety of topics that have been translated into many languages across the world. His most significant works are Wings of Fire, India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium, Target 3 Billion and Beyond 2020: A Vision for Tomorrow s India .
Preface Empowering 3 Billion
The fundamental ingredient in the evolution of happy, peaceful and prosperous nations and societies is laying the foundation for sustainable development. As global society-particularly in developing and emerging nations-stands at its defining moment in history, the needs of our times consist of prosperity with inclusion, development with equity and industrialization with environmental concern. Large-scale divides between the rural and the urban areas of the world-which are manifested in the income levels and the quality of human amenities-are not only a loss of opportunity, but also a matter of concern as regards the sustenance of prosperity and peace.
Overcoming the prejudices of prosperity and fundamental human living standards is a significant national challenge as well as an international responsibility. Today, in the underdeveloped, the developing and some parts of the developed nations of the world, more than 3 billion people live in villages, often in a condition of underutilization of talent and resources, and of deprivation. We shall address here the opportunities that elude this half of the human population. These 3 billion entities of humanity are important from the point of view of global policy-making, national governance and the corporate sector. In an increasingly democratic world, they will hold the key to global government and also present an immense and growing market and a sourcing centre for industries around the world. Moreover, it is now widely believed that the world population will reach 7 billion within the year, and thus the need for ensuring the prosperity and peace of humanity will now be a task that will require sustainable models of growth with added focus on employment generation.
This book is based on the first-hand experience of the authors and bears testimony to the evolution and implementation of a sustainable development system in various regions that enjoy diversity in input conditions and strategies. This book will integrate the challenges and opportunities of the present human civilization and demonstrate how to meticulously evolve a sustainable development system of PURA (Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) by harnessing the potential of the rural masses of the world.
We shall use the Indian experience as a showcase and refer to existing examples to show how, in a limited time period, societal transformation has been achieved through the implementation of PURA systems. It is noteworthy that the PURA model for development is now being implemented across India by the Central and the state governments, along with many private and educational sector initiatives. PURA is also spreading to other regions of the world with plans of customized implementation in parts of the United States and Africa.
The book will expatiate on how PURA is an amalgamation of technology, people, traditions, skills and entrepreneurial spirit aimed at achieving sustainable development that is financially viable, socially equitable and eco-friendly. The book closely interlinks and connects a theoretical understanding of rural development with living examples from around the world which are practical implementations of the concept. We shall also discuss how a variety of stakeholders-the government, the private sector and the community-can closely work towards a socio-economic development based on empowerment rather than endowment.
In the later chapters, the book proposes the evolution of a stepwise, enterprise-driven model of PURA in the form of the PURA Corporation-a concept which sees human development as an investment, and which is now gathering momentum with the youth. Finally, the book takes PURA on to the international front and describes how nations around the world can empower their people by using the sustainable development model.
The book is not merely an explanation of the sustainable development system of PURA. It is also an assessment of the challenges and the opportunities presented by the rural sector-especially in India-and a guide for any potential entrepreneur from across the world to venture into the vast and largely untapped domain of villages.
Finally, we believe that the implementation of a sustainable development system will be complete only when prosperity comes with peace. Man discovered fire about 1.6 million years ago, which changed the course of human existence on this planet. A new fire needs to be discovered for achieving the twenty-first-century mission of peace with prosperity. The famous French philosopher, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said, Some day, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire. This is the twenty-first-century fire we need to discover-the fire of love for the other being.
Introduction The Elixir of Rural Experience from a Nation of Diversity
Throughout my professional career of about six decades, working in a spectrum of organizations and in varying capacities, I had an opportunity to traverse throughout the nation, across its length and breadth. Even during the presidential years, from 2002 to 2007, I made it a point to visit, interact with and learn from many rural areas. India s heart resides in its villages, and just like a doctor whose work begins with the diagnosis of the heartbeat, the planning and execution of any policy for the nation of a billion, has to begin with the learning derived from its 600,000 villages.
I recall my visit to the far eastern Indian state of Nagaland in October 2002, amidst the fading eastern end of the mighty Himalayas. The state of Nagaland is small in size but very rich in its biodiversity and culture. Comprising a population of about 2.5 million, largely tribal, the state has many different dialects and cultures unique to each of the tribes present. One of the places I visited there was Tuensang. Tuensang is the largest district of Nagaland and a strategically important area as it forms the border of India with Mynamar. While I was there, I participated in the tribal council meeting of the nearby areas. The tribal leaders of Nagaland are very special people who are not only the political representatives of their people but also the custodians of their unique culture. They came in their traditional colourful and vibrant attire, each well prepared for the meeting with a set of papers with their handwritten agendas. I was told that they generally prefer to sit under the shade of some large tree in the open, but because of my presence, they decided to conduct the meeting in a closed room. They greeted me and then each other and then professionally took their pre-allocated seats around a circle. Then the discussions began with utmost seriousness. The agenda for that day was about how the tribal council initiatives have augmented the productivity of vegetables and fruits in the local areas. Someone raised a point, I am happy to announce that the production, for the first time, now exceeds the demand by a large margin! Everyone applauded. I, too, was happy to know the brilliant performance of the villages. But then a young leader got up and said, Respected members! While it is good news that the productivity and quality have both gone up, the question is, now with this asset, how do we build an economically viable model for prosperity? Someone from a corner was struck by an idea. She said, We need to find out which markets we can export to. I have a small team that can study the demand patterns of the nearby villages and urban areas; we should explore these options. Everyone agreed with her. Then a senior tribal started speaking as others listened with respect and interest. He said, Mr President and my fellow council members, we have one major hurdle to this, which is the non-availability of roads between villages