Saturday, September 23 2006 15:08 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Nainital: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the state governments should lay more emphasis on integration of rural India with economic development of the country by focusing on agriculture, drinking water and electrification of villages.

Expressing concern over current growth rate of agriculture at the inaugural session of a two-day conclave of Chief Ministers of 14 Congress-ruled states, he asked the states to make special efforts to ensure that schemes chalked out under Bharat Nirman programme for uplift of rural India were effectively implemented.

Noting that targets set under Bharat Nirman programme had exceeded in the first year of its implementation, he cautioned the main challenges lay in the next two years.