Strongly underlining that economic growth has to be inclusive, President Pratibha Patil, in her first Republic Day-eve address to the nation today, called for addressing the needs of the under-privileged and the disadvantaged and improving the delivery mechanism, accountability and transparency in the implementation of flagship social-welfare schemes.“The benefits of the upsurge in the economy,” Patil said, “have not reached all sections of our population. In all good faith, we cannot look at the future, without first addressing the needs of the under-privileged and the disadvantaged sections of our society, with special emphasis on the empowerment of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections of society.”Stressing on the importance of the UPA government’s flagship schemes — Bharat Nirman, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme, the Rural Health Mission, the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan — she said: “These (schemes) are designed to improve the lives of the people. But their implementation remains a challenge. A question that we need to ask is how effective are our delivery mechanisms and what are the weaknesses? We have to find the appropriate remedial answers.” “Every rupee meant for development that goes out of the system due to corruption is a rupee less for development,” she said.
