Jobs generation: Pranab calls for focus on the rural poor

“A sound agricultural system is indispensable for attaining a host of objectives like poverty eradication, food adequacy, nutritional security, expansion in rural employment and higher rural incomes,” President Pranab Mukherjee said.

Addressing an Assocham summit on livelihood security in here on Monday, Mukherjee said that policies and programmes aimed at generating employment have to concentrate on the specific needs of the poor.

“The bulk of the poor in India, about four-fifths, reside in rural areas. Livelihood security for the rural population, therefore, has to receive strong impetus,” he added. Stating that the focus has to be on innovations for low-cost technologies, machines and tools to transform subsistence farming into a viable and rewarding profession, the President said efforts have to be directed at raising the low level of farm productivity in order to enhance farmer remuneration.

Stressing on the need for a paradigm shift from primary to secondary agriculture, he added, “The food processing sector provides a window, linking industry with agriculture and generating jobs in rural areas and small townships.

“Developing this sunrise sector calls for greater investment in infrastructure like cold chains, handling, packaging and transportation.” On the need for employment for India’s rising young workforce, the President said that by 2020, the average age of an Indian will be 29 years, 8 years younger than an American or a Chinese. “Hence, a multi-modal approach is necessary. The manufacturing sector has to be invigorated as the potential of this sector as a mass employment generator is immense,” he said.