Staff Reporter
MADURAI: Accepting the failure of all Five Year Plans to wipe the tears of the poor, the rulers should realise that poverty should be eradicated to bring back peace in the country, the former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, said here on Saturday.
Addressing a public meeting organised by the Janata Dal (Secular) to commemorate the birth anniversary of former Chief Minister K. Kamaraj, Mr. Gowda felt that the policies and programmes that ensured higher economic growth were at fault.
“They made the poor become poorer and the rich become richer,” he said, adding that the benefit of economic growth had not reached the poor but only pocketed by a few industrial houses and multi-national companies.
“If the widening gap between the poor and the rich is not removed, there will be no peace and harmony,” Mr. Gowda said.
Recalling that Kamaraj had left only a couple of pairs of dhotis and shirts when he died, he asked the politicians to follow his path.
Stating that outsiders were being blamed for all terrorist activities in the country, he said that terrorist and naxal activities stemmed out of poverty.
Besides, the changing global atmosphere and political system were the root causes of problems in many developing countries.
“Some western countries that want to dominate the world economy are causing problems in the developing countries,” he added.
The JD (S) State president, Mohammed Ismail, and the general secretary, K. John Moses, were among those who were present.