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660,000 villages untouched by India's economic reforms

India admitted on Thursday that its 660,000 villages were mostly untouched by sweeping free-market reforms introduced nearly a decade ago, with villagers still lacking basic amenities.

Rural Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu told a business conference in New Delhi that economic reforms had only served to increase the gulf between rural and urban India.

"India really is two countries -- urban India with telephones, lights, cyber cafes and highways, and rural India with nothing but a dirt track and an apology for a school," said Naidu.

"The economic reforms have only helped the cities grow. Somewhere along the way, the original objective of ushering in reforms to alleviate poverty across-the-board in India got lost."

Naidu warned that the "totally skewed and lop-sided development" would force large-scale migration from the villages to the cities.

"This will further strain urban infrastructure and put a brake on all-round economic development. Government and industry must focus on neglected Bharat (India)."

Naidu asked the businessmen if they were aware that 284,000 villages were without a telephone while the country boasted about being an emerging information technology superpower.

Indian Communications Minister Ram Vilas Paswan recently said 376,000 of India's 660,000 villages currently had telephone services, but added that outdated technology and equipment plagued 211,000 of them.

India's telephone density is among the lowest in the world with only 2.6 lines per 100 people, compared with the global average of 14.5.

Experts say India needs investment of about 70 billion dollars to bring its telephone density on a par with the world average.

Meanwhile, Naidu said Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had acknowledged the "gaping disparities" and pledged that 60 percent of government spending would be directed towards building village roads, schools, water and health facilities.

"We have launched a Rs 600-billion rural road development programme," said Naidu.

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