New Delhi, March 10 Rajya Sabha member Sudha Murty suggested on Tuesday that personality development and language courses should be provided to people living in rural areas of the country.
Participating in a discussion on the working of the Rural Development Ministry in the Upper House, she said that unless villages develop, the country will not progress.
"The government is doing good work in skilling rural people from villages. However, it is imperative that in addition to skilling them technically, it is equally important to improve their confidence by providing them personality development and language courses," Murty said.
She also said it is important to create "model circular villages" where power is harnessed sustainably, agricultural and other waste are reused and recycled, and infrastructure (roads and houses) are made climate resilient.
Murty, a Rajya Sabha nominated member, praised the Centre's "Lakhpati Didi" scheme and asked the government to create a state-wise database so that other self-help groups can refer and learn from their successes and challenges.
Participating in the discussion, CPI (M) MP John Brittas raised the issue of "rural distress".
"There is a rural distress that is happening. When I say so, there is a huge migration that is happening from many other states. I was just checking the migrant labour map. From Uttar Pradesh alone, 3 crore people have migrated. From Bihar, 2.5 crore people have migrated," he said.
Brittas asked the government to "do justice to rural India" by addressing this rural distress.
Rashtriya Janata Dal's Sanjay Yadav also raised the issue of rural migration, saying that villages have now become centres of migration.
He said that approximately 29 per cent of the population is migrant, and 89 per cent of them come from rural areas.
"Due to this, the sons of farmers and villagers are now becoming daily wage labourers in cities, because of the government's faulty policies and decisions," said Yadav.