Congress to reclaim country's past glory

New Delhi, Nov 17 (UNI) The Congress today pledged to eradicate poverty, bridge the gap between the poor and the rich and fight malnourishment to build upon ''our past glory that goes back to 2000 years''.

''On the occasion of the 60th year of Independence, the Indian National Congress pledges to build a high-growth, inclusive, just and caring society with equal access to all with no one forsaken,'' a Resolution on the issue, moved by Defence Minister A K Antony at the 17th AICC session, said.

''We recognise that inspite of our laudable success story, we have to go further in meeting the challenges of eradicating poverty, bridging the gap between the poor and the rich, and fighting malnourishment.

''Let us put our minds together to meet the challenges so that we can not only reclaim but build upon our past glory that goes back to 2000 years,'' the resolution on the Occasion of Completing 60 Years of Independence said.

Those who spoke on the resolution were Mr Shakeel Ahmed, Mr Anand Sharma, Mr D D Lapang and Mrs Mohsina Kidwai.

The resolution recognised the 8-9 per cent growth rate guided by the skilled stewardship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and said the country was an acknowledged global power on a sound economic and political footing.

It said the leadership provided by the Congress for the freedom struggle ''gives us the courage and competence to face the future challenges''.

It listed the Party's major achievements in the past 60 years such as building two million kms of roads, multiplying steel production by more than 50 times and that of cement by 20 times, and increasing exports from a few million dollars to more than 125 billion dollars.

''Under Indira Gandhi, the nation acquired self-reliance in food production through the green revolution. From the mid-60s to the mid-80s, she provided a steely leadership that steered the nation through crisis. With Rajiv Gandhi at the helm of affairs, the nation took the first firm steps into becoming a knowledge-based economy that was well integrated with a global economy.'' UNI YJ RP YA RK1230