Poverty alleviation is real development: Shekhawat

New Delhi, May 23 (UNI) Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat today emphasised the need to make agriculture and industry more efficient and be more vigilant to protect the country's interests in the emerging new world trade order.

Releasing a collection of Madhya Pradesh Governor Balram Jakhar's speeches titled "Udgaar", the Vice President said the real development lay in bridging economic disparities and achieving poverty alleviation.

He called for a second ''Green Revolution'' to improve the agriculture growth rate of the country, adding this should be based on crops requiring low water for irrigation and development of better quality high-yielding seeds.

One of the reasons for low growth in agriculture had been the growing pressure of population resulting in the fragmentation of land and lower size of agricultural holdings, he said.

"Agriculture is no longer a profitable proposition for people in rural areas and they are migrating to the cities in large numbers.

Hence it is necessary that we should develop necessary techniques and explain to the farmers how they can have good earnings even with smaller holdings," the Vice President said.

Mr Shekhawat said another factor which could be responsible for the State of affairs was that "we have drifted away from the philosophy of our own soil" and were depending more and more on foreign techniques.

"We have to ponder whether development merely means consumerism and materialism devoid of moral or ethical values," he said.

He expressed happiness that Dr Jakhar had dwelt upon varied aspects of the social and economic life of the countrymen and had come out with some practical suggestion in his book.

Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde were among those present on the occasion.

UNI YS/KAS SHB DB1834