Our people are on the march

A National e-Governance Plan, with 25 Mission Mode Projects, has been prepared. A National Institute of Smart Governance is being set up and a State-wide Area Network will be created in all states by 2007. A scheme for computerizing 13,348 District and Subordinate Courts has been separately launched under the overall directions of a Committee chaired by the Chief Justice of India. To make Indian firms globally competitive and enable easy compliance with Company law requirements, a pathbreaking e-governance programme known as MCA-21 is being launched this year.

My Government has recently amended the Constitution to facilitate reservations in private unaided educational institutions for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other socially and educationally backward classes of citizens. Parliament is also considering several bills brought forward by my Government to socially and economically empower Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and religious minorities. My Government has introduced a landmark legislation for providing rights to tribal people on the land that has been historically under their possession. The backlog of unfilled reserved posts in Government is being reduced speedily under a crash programme. To prepare Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates for selection to academic positions and for doctoral studies, my Government has launched the Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship Scheme under which 2000 fellowships will be funded annually.

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act provides for improvement of private farm lands of Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has initiated a special programme to provide assistance to states for taking up minor irrigation schemes for land belonging to Scheduled Tribes.

My Government has created a new Ministry of Minority Affairs to focus concentrated attention on the problems of all minorities, including religious minorities. A National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions has been established. A Bill for providing Constitutional status to the Minorities Commission has been introduced in Parliament. A Committee under Justice Rajinder Sachar is studying in-depth the condition of minorities and is expected to recommend steps for their economic and social development and empowerment.

A New 15-point Programme for Minorities is under preparation. This programme will aim at enhancing the social development of minorities, especially the poor, modernize Madrasa education, and provide financial support for entrepreneurship development and self-employment. My Government intends to propose statutory measures to prevent and deal effectively with communal violence and communal offences and to enable rehabilitation of victims of communal riots. Honourable Members,

My Government has taken a number of steps to ensure that the National Common Minimum Programme commitments regarding full equality to women is honoured. Amendments have been carried out in the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 to give equal inheritance rights to women in property. Government is also contemplating amendments to the Guardians and Wards Act 1890, the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act 1956 and the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act 1956 to remove discriminatory provisions contained in them. A Bill for the compulsory registration of marriages is also under active consideration. My Government will make every effort to see that 33% reservation for women in Parliament and state legislatures is made possible in the near future.

A new Ministry of Women and Child Development has been created to have focused attention on the problems of women and children. A National Plan of Action for Children has been approved and a National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights is being established. Our goal is to ensure that all children have a secure, healthy and happy childhood with access to education and health care. The Rajiv Gandhi National Creche Scheme for children of working mothers has been approved recently. This envisages establishment of nearly 30,000 creches for children. The Integrated Child Development Services Scheme is being universalized with nearly 1.88 lakh additional anganwadis being sanctioned. With a comprehensive range of pre-natal and post-natal care services, immunization, nutrition and early childhood education services, the universalisation of this programme will be a great step forward in reducing infant and maternal mortality. We also need to take immediate steps to eliminate female foeticide and improve the juvenile sex ratio.

The President at a forward area in Jammu and Kashmir during an interaction with the jawans at Shararat on 08.12.2004.