President Of India Meets Participants Of 8th Know India Programme

The President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil met participants of the 8th Know India Programme at Rashtrapati Bhavan today. The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India has been organising this programme with the objective of familiarising the younger generation of the Indian Diaspora with India. The programme involves a three-week stay in India by the participants in the age group of 20 to 28 years. The Government of Tamil Nadu and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) are partners with the Government of India.

The President had a very lively interaction with the more than 30 participants who came from Canada, Fiji, Guyana, Israel, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Reunion Islands, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

During the interaction Smt. Patil said, on return to their countries the participants would become ambassadors for India and was happy that the programme allows youth of Indian origin to meet with Indian youth to create long lasting contacts. The President was keen to know about the impressions of the participants about India before and after participating in the programme. The President was also very keen to know about social work being done by some of the participants. The participants said after visiting both rural and urban areas, they were struck by the India's rising economic power, high level of motivation of the people, the intelligence of its people, the country's globalised nature, its vibrancy, love and hospitality of the people despite progress, advances in urban infrastructure and the progress of its women.

The President told the group that India was indeed on the path of fast economic growth, with GDP growth at more than 9 percent for the past three years and a projection of 10 percent per annum GDP growth in the latter part of the 11th Five Year Plan. 55 percent of the economy was made up of the service sector, with IT and IT enabled services doing well, industrial growth on the pick-up and foreign investment being attracted to the country because of its growth, she added. She also spoke about the higher education system and measures taken by the Late Prime Minister, Shri Rajiv Gandhi to amend the Constitution to reserve one-third of the seats in local elected bodies for women, so that women could be empowered.

Smt. Patil also mentioned the problem areas and challenges faced by India, such as poverty and illiteracy, reduction of which is being focused on by the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Programme of the Government of India.