Declaring that eradication of poverty was the primary goal of his government, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday 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 here, 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.
Laying stress on developing a new thinking, the prime minister said that the 'chalta hai' (casual) attitude has to be changed to usher in speedy economic reforms. Development of good roads, ports, airports, railway network were essential for economic progress, he said.
Talking about the highway project, he said the involvement of public and private partnership for the first time in any such scheme was a dream accomplished. More such partnerships were required for establishing a network of quality roads, he added.
Economic reforms when launched were opposed initially but subsequently everyone realised its importance for the progress of the country, the prime minister said.
Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, he said the Father of the Nation had said freedom of the country would be incomplete till unemployment and poverty were eradicated.
"A lot of progress has been made but still there is a lot to do. The eyes of lakhs of people are still moist as avenues of employment are not found easily," Singh said, adding that accelerated economic reforms will help create more employment avenues.
About Rajasthan, he said the state was still considered backward, although substantial progress has been made. The prime minister assured the BJP government in Rajasthan of all support for the development of the state.
"Whatever is required will be done. There will be no discrimination," he said.
Responding to the demand for Rajasthan's share of water from the Ravi and Beas rivers by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, Singh said: "I understand your pain. I hope some solution will be found by all the states concerned working together."
