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"To my mind, the most important issues before us are to meet the challenge of reducing inequity and inequality. We should focus on meeting core development needs essential for human growth," he said.
Singh was inaugurating the first conference of chairpersons of District Planning Committees in Delhi.
He said areas that need attention include combating of disease, eliminating malnutrition, providing safe drinking water, good quality universal education, providing people with skills and job opportunities and preserving environment.
Singh said programmes like Rural Water Supply should be planned and implemented at the district level and medium term development plans in urban areas should be continued.
Describing local governments as "unsung heroes" of the nation's march forward, he said though the progress on genuine empowerment of panchayats might have been "uneven", remarkable success has been achieved in deepening democratic practice by holding regular elections to local governments.
"At one stroke, panchayat elections combined political empowerment with social empowerment," he said.
Singh said there was need to build the capacity of elected representatives in the local institutions. "We have not yet focused adequately on this," he said.
The Prime Minister said it was the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who spearheaded moves towards evolving a national consensus on revitalising local governments.
Singh said the UPA government established Panchayati Raj Ministry at the Centre to translate the "silent political and social revolution" into concrete task-oriented actions for welfare of the people.
He said several significant steps have been taken towards strengthening and improving upon Panchayti Raj and pointed out that almost every state was taking steps for empowerment of panchayat.
The Prime Minister said several states have engaged in the process of providing connectivity and were undertaking e-governance measures at the panchayat level.
"In the last four years, we have strengthened the district as the unit of planning in almost all our centrally sponsored programmes. We have consciously structured our flagship programmes in a manner that strengthens decentralised management through local institutions," he said.
Singh, who released a handbook on district planning, said a blueprint has been prepared to form the basis of guidelines for the Backward Regions Grant Fund that operates in 250 poorer districts.
He said it was for the district planning committees to consolidate the urban and rural plans into draft development plans of a particular district.
"The next step is to match resources with the plan," he said adding that over the past nearly five years, fund transfers to Centrally Sponsored Schemes have increased nearly threefold from Rs.36,000 crore in 2004-05 to Rs.1,20,000 crore in 2008-09.
The Prime Minister said 19 states have constituted District Planning Committees and requested the rest to complete the task expeditiously.
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How can we forget; the elections are round the corner and cogress is back with its age old broken record message of "garibi hato". Mr. Prime Minister, your party has faithfully carried on the tradition of the British rule of divide and rule, back-breaking and corrupt beaurocracy, and systematically undermining the shakers and movers of the country to lift us out of poverty. The policy of setting up reservations in all aspects of opportunities in education and jobs- you have successfully driven out the cream of India to foreign lands. Your tradition of tangling the enterpreneours in red-tape has also contributed significantly in beggaring the counrty.Just take a look at Gujarat- a diametrically opposing approach from yours and it is sprinting ahead to join the ranks of the developed nations. Learn from it.
Remove corruption the worst enemy of India, and there will no inequality in India. Many forms of corruption are:- favorism- taking advantage to gain monetarily
That we are well aware Mr. PM. What we really to know is whether this indeed is the objective of the Congress Party. Because, even 60 ydars after freedom the Congress party continue to use the old slogan "bijlee, sadak, pani". There is a wide gap between what is promised and what is delivered over these decades. Please stop promises - because it is better to give an elephant than give false hopes
, For the last sixty years, people like me have been listening to pontifications from our leaders on inequality'and 'garibi hatao'. Inspite of a lot of sound and fury,we still have millions just suriviving on one meal a day,mllions homeless, uneducated, lacking medical care .The Country is rich, thanks to our industrialists and fiancial 'wizards' with dedication and vision.We need them take on the responsibility for action.We have forgotten that the late 'Potla' Sen, Chairman of Wazir Sultan ,and later,Secretary General Commonwealth House, when on deputation to the ministry of food decades ago,saved the Country from a famine; the rcognition , of course, went to the secretary concerned. The word went round ; few such men of action for the Country's good were seen again for brief spells only to be thrown out .Let us get such dynamic people in the right places, and give them freedom of action.Old fogies and the dead wood must go on their own,or get themselves thrown out.