Kalam confers title on Karunanidhi

Coimbatore, Feb 24 (UNI) President A P J Abdul Kalam today conferred the title of ''Bharathiyar Thamizh Semmal'' on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi for his contribution to Tamil Language at the Bharatiyar University here.

Speaking on the occasion, the President urged the university to initiate research on the revolutionary Poet Subramania Bharathi, who had foreseen the future of India during the early 20th century through his poetry.

He said Bharathi was not only a poet, but also a social reformer and worked for the upliftment of women.

Dr Kalam said 70 per cent of the Indian Population was in rural areas. ''If we are to become a developed nation, it is imperative to develop rural areas'', he observed.

He said to develop rural areas the authorities should provide facilities like roads, communication and education. The income of the rural population, especially farmers, will then increase three fold.

He urged the Bharathiyar University to adopt the nearby villages and provide drinking water facility, 100 per cent literacy, cottage industries like welding and carpentry, besides Information Technology and proper medical care through telemedicine.

This will stop migration of people from rural to urban areas, he added.

He said to develop the country, he had come up with a project ''Providing Urban Facilities to Rural Areas''(PURA) being implemented by various universities in the country. Wherever PURA was adopted, the income of the farmers increased three times, he added.

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