Date:27/09/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/09/27/stories/2004092712570500.htm

Tamil Nadu

`Sustainable development should benefit common man'

By Our Staff Reporter

THANJAVUR, SEPT. 26. The former Prime Minster, V.P.Singh, today called for sustainable and equitable development but made it clear that it should not harm poor people and environment.

He was here to inaugurate a postgraduate hostel building and a Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT)-based teleeducation programme.

Mr. Singh said development might become ruinous if implemented without vision and thought. "We can amass wealth by development. But if a common man is not touched by the benefit, development will only lead to inequities in society as rich and poor".

Groundwater had been overexploited in some places. Renewable energy sources should be used for sustainable and equitable development.

He appreciated the college for being an example to others in sustainable development. From biogas production to computer technology, the college had shown how sustainable development should be done, Mr. Singh said.

It was the vision Periyar, who fought for equality, dignity and human progress, which guided the college, he said.

Advice to students

He told students that profession was only part of life.

"The sign boards which you put after your graduation as engineers, is not totality. It is just a part.

Totality is humanity. Education is tested when a needy man comes and knocks your door" He said his visit to the college provided him with the deep and rich experience of what Periyar's ideology could do.

"You have done a wonderful job and this is worthy of emulation by others", Mr. Singh said and called upon Veeramani, president, Periyar Maniammai Institute of Science and Technology, to extend his services in north India. The Periyar Centre in Delhi should teach all that was taught here to people in the north, he said.

Mr. Veeramani said Mr. Singh made an indelible impact on millions of backward class people through the Mandal commission.