Two in-house Background Papers viz. one incisive Discussion Paper on “Rural India – Different Meaning to Different People” by Mr. M Moni (Secretary General, BVF) and the other on “Significance of the Event” by Dr. K V Sundaram (Chairman, BVF) laid out some lead issues for discussion in the conference. These were supplemented by 21 invited Theme Papers printed in two volumes, (358 Pages) which provided the background discussion material for the participants. The subjects discussed included:

1. How close are we in reaching the Millennium Development Goals?
2. Policy proposals for Human Resources Development.
3. Gender Equality and Women Empowerment.
4. Reaching the Unreached: Public Services
5. Rural Food Security: Unresolved Issues and Emerging Challenges.
6. Small and Medium Enterprises and Self-Sustaining Development.
7. Rural Governance and Panchayati Raj Institutions.
8. Issues in Disaster Management and Prevention.
9. Renewable Energy and Sustainable Development.
10. Mainstreaming ICT for Fostering Agricultural Growth, Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Resource Use to usher Rural Prosperity.
11. Bridging the Digital Divide: Information Kiosks in Rural India – Challenges and Opportunities

The deliberations took place in 14 Plenary and Technical Sessions, besides the Inaugural Session on the 10th November 05 and the Valedictory Session on the 12th November 05. More than 250 delegates participated in the 3 days deliberations. Prof. I. V. Murali Krishna, President of the Local Chapter of Bhoovigyan Vikas Foundation welcomed the gathering.

The conference was inaugurated on 10th November 2005 by Shri N Raghuveera Reddy, Minister for Agricilture, Government of Andhra Pradesh, who also released the Souvenir. This was followd by two Plenary powerpoint presentations, on “Transforming Village Clusters into Territorial Production Complexes” by the Bhoovigyan Vikas Foundation and the other presentation was by the Skoch consultancy services on “WADI – a Success Story”. This session was chaired by Prof. C.H. Hanumantha Rao, Former Member, Planning Commission and currently Advisor, CESS, Hyderabad. This was followed by two technical sessions on the themes “MDGs and Targets: Vision and Action” and the second one on “Grassroots Level Governance and Panchayati Raj Institutions”. Representatives of UNDP and DFID also participated in the discussions.

The deliberations on the second day i.e. 11th November 05, was mainly focused on the State of Andhra Pradesh with particular reference to the progress achieved on the Millennium Development Goals. It consisted of four technical sessions viz. “Food Security and Hunger”, “Health Issues”, “Gender”, and “Creation of Adasha Villages”. This was preceeded by a Plenary Lecture on “Poverty free, Healthy and Educated Rural Andhra Pradesh – where will Andhra Pradesh be in 2015 - by Dr. S. Mahendra Dev, Director CESS, Hyderabad”.

The deliberations on 12th November 2005 took place in four technical sessions and five Plenary Lecture Sessions. The Foundation Day Lecture, was delivered by Prof. Amarnath Kshatriya, President SERVIS (British Columbia, Canada). This was followed by Four plenary lectures delivered by Dr. R.B. Singh (Member, National Commission on Farmers) Prof. G.K. Chadha, (Former V.C. J.N.U. and Member Economic Advisory Council), Shri J.N.L Srivatsava, I.A.S. (R) (Former Secretary, Agriculture, GOI) and Dr. T. Karunakaran, (V.C., Ggandhigram Deemed University, Tamil Nadu) – The Themes covered in these plenary lectures were various development issues relevant to “RURAL INDIA” viz. Population issues, Poverty reduction, Employment, Access to services, Small Farmers Problems in the context of globlisation, and Planning for Biovillages. The Plenary session was chaired by Dr. M V Rajasekharan, Hon’ble Minister for State for Planning, Planning Commission, Government of India.
The Valedictory Session was chaired by Hon’ble Shri Ponnala Lakshmaiah, Minister for Major Irrigation, Govt. of A.P, with Dr. K Rajagopal, Vice Chancellor, JNTU, as the Chief Guest. After the addresses by the Chief Guests, the Bhoovigyan Sammans were presented to 12 distinguished professionals in different disciplines, besides two posthumous awards to late Prof. (Dr.) D M Nanjundappa (Member, Governing Board of BVF) and Late Dr. K Venkatasubramaniyam (formerly Member Education, Planning Commission).

The case for an Earth Policy Institute for the country was discussed and the general consensus was that such a Pro-Active, Policy-Oriented Think-Tank and Change Agent was necessary to fill up an “Organisational Vacuum”, which will look at the Earth Systems in their totality and view the Earth’s problems in an integrated and holistic manner.

At the Valedictory Function the Minister for Irrigation Hon’ble Shri Ponnala Lakshmaiah declared that the Andhra Pradesh Government will provide all assistance needed for setting up such an Institute. The entire proceedings have been recorded and the detailed report on “Highlights and Recommendations” of the conference will follow in due course.