[India] PM: India can eradicate poverty in 8-10 years

From Manorama Online

Hyderabad: Announcing that a massive Rs 1,70,000 crore investment would be channelised for road development in the next seven years, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday expressed confidence that the country, which achieved eight per cent growth this year, could eradicate various ills afflicting society in a decade.

Laying the foundation stone for the first phase of the eight lane express highway, the first such in the country, slated for completion by March 2008 to coincide with the Greenfield International Airport at Shamsabad on the city outskirts, he said ''The country has achieved a good growth of eight per cent during 2005 and it will be able to wipe out poverty, hunger, diseases, in eight to ten years if the same tempo is maintained''.

Referring to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy's request made earlier for liberal assistance under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission, he promised all help to Andhra Pradesh through the Special Purpose Vehicle created for development of infrastructure and by providing required viability gap funding for the Rs 3000 crore Outer Ring Road project.

''There is no shortage of funds for taking up development projects'', Singh said.