Our greatest anxiety, Sir, came with the scarcity of food. This was the biggest threat to the country. For months together, the nation tightened its belt. There were acute shortages. One State came to the rescue of the other. The Government of India tried to come to the rescue of all the States wherever it could and wherever the need was the greatest. The position has fortunately eased considerably now and we expect that the future holds promise of one of our best crops. A long term policy has been adopted. The Agricultural Prices Commission and the Food Corporation have been set up and these will be able to help in the stabilisation of prices ensuring proper marketing conditions and building up of stocks. It is, however, an unfortunate fact, Sir, that antisocial trends in the trading community have been present throughout this crisis. Government must, therefore, continue to remain vigilant and buffer stocks must be built up so that long term stability in agricultural prices may be achieved. India is still very much an agricultural country despite its efforts to industrialise itself in various directions of trade and industry. In order to fully develop agriculture itself, a great deal has to be done. We have to ensure a proper supply of fertilizers in time. We have not only to guarantee but to give proper irrigation facilities and good seeds. These, Sir, are the minimum requirements of our peasants. Actually, we have also to prepare our peasants and to educate them and to persuade them to accept new methods of agriculture. The community development movement is directed towards this goal and the cooperative movement is the economic unit to reach it. On the political side, Sir, decentralisation through Panchayati Raj is being achieved rapidly. We are taking the risk of making mistakes in pursuance of the ideal that the participation of the people in the Government is necessary. Development in the economic sphere can only come 4Rwith rapid industrialisation. Production has gone up in many public sector undertakings and in the current year we have been told that there will be an increase of eight per cent in industrial production. The national income has risen but the impact cannot be felt because of the rapid rise in prices. Consumer goods have become easily available but the demand for them has risen in the rural areas to a great extent. Madam, our housing problem continues to be acute. There is a pressing need for more houses, for more building materials and it is absolutely necessary that this problem should be tackled on a high priority basis. Ugly towns, narrow streets, slums from our cities and hovels from our villages have to be cleared and we should provide houses in which decent conditions of life are possible. Madam, we are now engaged in the formulation of the Twelfth Five Year Plan. We have to ensure that each citizen of our country is guaranteed a decent minimum standard of life. Our social services must have one prime object the abolition of want. Relief of distress and elimination of squalor must remain the main object of social expenditure and special assistance must be given to any part of the community that is in need of it. Unemployment, pauperism, old age and lack of social amenities have to be dealt with. The first priority, Madam, in any socialist country must be given to the poor, to the unfortunate and the have nots. The community should be asked to give a helping hand in this great task of reconstruction but, in a country as backward and poor as ours, it is necessary for the Government to provide the basic amenities that will raise the general status and standard of life. I plead for more investment in the human being bigger wages, better conditions of life and the availability of basic necessities to all. It is only when these are available that we can expect a better response from the people. Madam, if people have to rise to the occasion, ignorance has to be dispelled. The pattern of education has to be finalised and a thorough overhaul of the whole of our educational system has to be made. We have been told that an Education Commission has already been appointed and we know that it is carrying on its work. I merely wish to point out that we can ill afford to lose time and early steps should be taken to start this great reform. Therefore, Madam, the urgent necessities of the country at the moment are a speedy and efficient plan of both agricultural and industrial development without neglecting the social services which are the only means of making the life of the common man worth living. In the industrial sector, it is realized that the time has come for a fresh momentum. Various measures for this have been taken. Again, Government has announced concessions for unaccounted and undisclosed money, provided it is voluntarily surrendered and we have been given a revised structure of taxes. Our greatest anxiety, Sir, came with the scarcity of food. This was the biggest threat to the country. For months together, the nation tightened its belt. There were acute shortages. One State came to the rescue of the other. The Government of India tried to come to the rescue of all the States wherever it could and wherever the need was the greatest. The position has fortunately eased considerably now and we expect that the future holds promise of one of our best crops. A long term policy has been adopted. The Agricultural Prices Commission and the Food Corporation have been set up and these will be able to help in the stabilisation of prices ensuring proper marketing conditions and building up of stocks. It is, however, an unfortunate fact, Sir, that antisocial trends in the trading community have been present throughout this crisis. Government must, therefore, continue to remain vigilant and buffer stocks must be built up so that long term stability in agricultural prices may be achieved. India is still very much an agricultural country despite its efforts to industrialise itself in various directions of trade and industry. In order to fully develop agriculture itself, a great deal has to be done. We have to ensure a proper supply of fertilizers in time. We have not only to guarantee but to give proper irrigation facilities and good seeds. These, Sir, are the minimum requirements of our peasants. Actually, we have also to prepare our peasants and to educate them and to persuade them to accept new methods of agriculture. The community development movement is directed towards this goal and the cooperative movement is the economic unit to reach it. On the political side, Sir, decentralisation through Panchayati Raj is being achieved rapidly. We are taking the risk of making mistakes in pursuance of the ideal that the participation of the people in the Government is necessary. Development in the economic sphere can only come 4Rwith rapid industrialisation. Production has gone up in many public sector undertakings and in the current year we have been told that there will be an increase of eight per cent in industrial production. The national income has risen but the impact cannot be felt because of the rapid rise in prices. Consumer goods have become easily available but the demand for them has risen in the rural areas to a great extent. Madam, our housing problem continues to be acute. There is a pressing need for more houses, for more building materials and it is absolutely necessary that this problem should be tackled on a high priority basis. Ugly towns, narrow streets, slums from our cities and hovels from our villages have to be cleared and we should provide houses in which decent conditions of life are possible. Madam, we are now engaged in the formulation of the Twelfth Five Year Plan. We have to ensure that each citizen of our country is guaranteed a decent minimum standard of life. Our social services must have one prime object the abolition of want. Relief of distress and elimination of squalor must remain the main object of social expenditure and special assistance must be given to any part of the community that is in need of it. Unemployment, pauperism, old age and lack of social amenities have to be dealt with. The first priority, Madam, in any socialist country must be given to the poor, to the unfortunate and the have nots. The community should be asked to give a helping hand in this great task of reconstruction but, in a country as backward and poor as ours, it is necessary for the Government to provide the basic amenities that will raise the general status and standard of life. I plead for more investment in the human being bigger wages, better conditions of life and the availability of basic necessities to all. It is only when these are available that we can expect a better response from the people. Madam, if people have to rise to the occasion, ignorance has to be dispelled. The pattern of education has to be finalised and a thorough overhaul of the whole of our educational system has to be made. We have been told that an Education Commission has already been appointed and we know that it is carrying on its work. I merely wish to point out that we can ill afford to lose time and early steps should be taken to start this great reform. Therefore, Madam, the urgent necessities of the country at the moment are a speedy and efficient plan of both agricultural and industrial development without neglecting the social services which are the only means of making the life of the common man worth living. In the industrial sector, it is realized that the time has come for a fresh momentum. Various measures for this have been taken. Again, Government has announced concessions for unaccounted and undisclosed money, provided it is voluntarily surrendered and we have been given a revised structure of taxes. Submit