[India] can eliminate poverty in 15-20 Yrs: Fin Min

From Silicon India

BELGAUM: India can become an economic superpower if it eliminated poverty in the next 15-20 years, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram said.

He said when countries like Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Mauritius, which were poorer than India, had overcome poverty within 20-30 years; India too could achieve the same feat in the next 20 years.

No country can be exception to poverty but in India nearly 300 million live in abject poverty, which is one of the worst enemy of economic growth, he said.

Blaming lack of education as the reason behind poverty, he said efforts to enhance literacy level in the country should comprise initiatives that ensured that every child attended school for at least 12 years.