'I want to see poverty wiped out in my lifetime'

from Express India

Finance Minister P Chidambaram said he wanted to see the country get out of ‘abject poverty’ in his lifetime.

I want to see abject poverty wiped out in my lifetime," Chidambaram said after releasing his book A view from the outside: Why good economics works for everyone - a compilation of his columns in The Indian Express.

A quarter of India's more than one billion population is below the poverty line.


"We want to become a great economic power. We want to leave a country which is more happy, more prosperous and more safe," he said.

He said that the country could achieve ‘the goals by taking one step at a time’.

The people of the country should have adequate clothing, permanent housing and be able to make two ends meet, the minister said.

"It is possible to grow at a high rate and it has been proved in the last two-three years. India is the flavour of the world today," he added.

Chidambaram said that the country had tremendous human resource and ‘we must make use of our young men and women to build a strong team’.

Quoting the book, he said the people of the country should not hesitate in paying more for food products as it will in turn benefit the farmers.

"The key to the removal of the poverty is to pay the farmer well," he said.