NEW DELHI: The following are the highlights of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's address to the nation on Independence Day.
Warns hoarders and black marketeers
* No one will go hungry
* No need to panic in the face of H1N1 flu. No disruption of daily lives.
* Will ensure that benefits of development reach all sections of society and all regions and citizens of the country
* Every citizen of India should be prosperous and secure and be able to lead a life of dignity and self respect
* Restoring growth rate to 9 percent is the greatest challenge we face. We expect that there will be an improvement in the situation by the end of this year
* Appeal to businessmen and industrialists to join in effort to tackle difficult situation and fulfil their social obligations
* This year, there has been deficiency in the monsoon. We will provide all possible assistance to our farmers to deal with the drought
* Date for repayment of farmers' bank loans postponed. Additional support given to farmers for payment of interest on short term crop loans
* We have adequate stocks of foodgrain. All efforts will be made to control rising prices of foodgrain, pulses and other goods of daily use
* Country needs another Green Revolution. the goal is four percent annual growth in agriculture; achievable in the next five years.
* Food security law to be enacted under which every below poverty line family will get a fixed amount of foodgrain every month at concessional rates
* Special care to be taken of needs of women and children. Benefit of ICDS to be extended to every child below the age of six by March 2012
* NREGA programme to be improved to bring in more transparency and accountability
* Right to Education Act enacted, funds will not be a constraint
* Special attention to be given to the needs of disabled children
* Secondary education will be expanded to ensure that every child in the country benefits
* Bank loans and scholarships to be provided to the maximum number of students
* New scheme to help students from economically weaker sections get educational loans at reduced interest rates; will benefit about five lakh students in technical and professional courses
* National Rural Health Mission to be expanded to cover every family below the poverty line
* Additional funds allocated for Bharat Nirman; programmes for the development of rural and urban areas to be speeded up
* Accelerated efforts to improve physical infrastructure; construction of 20 km of national highways every day
* Railways have started work on dedicated freight corridors
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