External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid assured the delegates of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas the country was determined to fight the social menaces.
Making an indirect reference to the Delhi gang-rape case, Mr. Khurshid urged the delegates of the session to take the message back that the country would correct the social wrong doing even while its judicial mechanism would sort out the issue through legal steps.
Acknowledging that the issue was being widely discussed at panel meetings and personal discussions, Mr. Khurshid said it had affected every home, town and institution in the country. Everyone felt hurt and was determined to fight it. India has done a lot to bring women to public space. The country needs to introduce all necessary measures so that women entering the public space should not feel it is a place of regret. Never think that India has gone back to an irreversible phase. The country is all determined to fight the menace. Everything is not grim and dark in the country. There are several bright things too in India, he assured the delegates.
In his address, Ajay Maken, the Minister for Housing and Poverty Alleviation, said India offered huge development prospects to the young overseas Indians with it young population and rapid rate of urbanisation. The latest census figures have put the number of urban areas in the country at 7,900. The urban population contributes 2.5 per cent more than the rural population to GDP of the country, he said.
