Monday, May 23 2005 13:48 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bagru (Rajasthan): Declaring that eradication of poverty was the primary goal of his Government, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today (May 23, 2005) said economic reforms needed to be accelerated and strengthened to achieve this goal.

Singh said he was confident that during the next four to five years, India would attain its rightful place in the world and would have the best infrastructure.

He was addressing a public meeting in Bagru, about 27 km from Jaipur, after dedicating to the nation the 90 km-long six-lane Jaipur-Kishengarh Expressway, part of the Golden Quadrilateral Project.

"Eradication of poverty is our primary goal. It can be possible only if production in both agriculture and industries increases rapidly," he said adding that the Government had to create new avenues in this regard.

"If the country is to be rid of poverty and unemployment, economic reforms have to be strengthened and accelerated," he said.

To usher in development in the country, all villages and towns needed to be provided with the best infrastructure including roads, healthcare, education and power, Singh said.

Noting that the wave of economic reforms started in 1991 when he was the Finance Minister, Singh said he was happy that there was consensus among all political parties on carrying this forward.

He said all parties had realised that economic reforms had to be strengthened and unemployment and poverty had to be eradicated.

He expressed confidence that poverty would be uprooted within the next five years through various schemes launched by his Government, particularly for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes.

He referred to the ambitious Bharat Nirman project announced last week for development of rural areas.