Wealth From Cities Can Bridge Rich And Poor Disconnect: Rahul

By AMITABH SHUKLA

AMETHI - Speaking at the first convocation of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Information Technology, Amethi campus, a part of IIFT, Allahabad, the Congress leader said, “there are two India’s; one that is connected... rich and moving fast, the other is poor India... where 60 to 70 percent of the people live”.

He said the rich India was growing at a rate of nine percent and even during global economic recession, the rate of growth was seven percent.

“The connected India is growing fast. The cities are generating enough money. The gap can be filled. This is a mission which you all have to do,” the Amethi MP said, amid applause from over 200 fresh graduates.

Rahul said he had two roles to play, one was that of a politician where he has to see the “bigger picture” and the other was that of a human being where he has to be “sensitive” to certain values.

Remarking on the country’s growth in the last 60 years, the leader said, India has achieved a lot during this period.

“There were no roads, electricity and health care 60 years ago. The villages were not well connected. We have been able to bridge that through roads, health care and IT,” he said.

“The job we have in the next 20-30 years is to make the unconnected India into a connected India,” he said, adding that this could be brought about in multiple ways by making roads, using IT, improving healthcare and enhancing development.

Rahul said if this is achieved in the coming years then the major part of the country would look like cities in terms of development indices and parameters. (PTI)

(August 27, 2009)

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