From correspondents in Madhya Pradesh, India, 08:33 PM IST

Madhya Pradesh Governor Balram Jakhar exhorted the people of the state to work together for prosperity on the 59th Republic Day, celebrated here Saturday.

The governor said the economy of Madhya Pradesh was based on agriculture and efforts were on to make agriculture profitable. In an attempt to provide relief to the drought-hit, complex rules and regulations prevalent since the British Raj have also been amended.

The new criteria for declaring an area drought-hit has been formulated for the benefit of farmers and villagers, Jakhar said.

Republic Day was celebrated throughout Madhya Pradesh with ceremonial parades, unfurling of the tricolour and cultural programmes.

The governor unfurled the national flag and took the salute in the capital.

Addressing the parade, the governor said it was necessary for all sections of the society to participate in the implementation of schemes for the betterment of the state and urged people to maintain communal harmony to ensure prosperity.

Jakhar said the state was touching new heights of progress and development by moving shoulder to shoulder with the country as well as the world.

'Today, it is known as the fastest progressing state in the country even as it was maintaining a balance between physical infrastructure and social development,' he said.

Equal attention, he said, was being given to agriculture and industry and suggestions of those concerned were being solicited in panchayats before chalking out schemes for various sections of society.

The governor also said well-planned efforts were being made by the state government to overcome the power crisis. Transformers were repaired and improved and a target fixed to provide electricity to all villages in the state by 2012 under the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Project.

Madhya Pradesh, he said, has remained in the forefront of the implementation of rural development scheme during the last four years and has done commendable work in the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojana and Rozgar Guarantee Scheme.

The state government has also launched the Mukhya Mantri Awas Yojana to provide homes to the homeless belonging to scheduled castes and tribes and the Integrated Livelihood Implementation Scheme to make more then 4.5 million families below the poverty line self-reliant in villages.

Drawing attention to industrial development, the governor said the state government has implemented the Employment Training Scheme 2007 to ensure jobs to the youth in the state as well as outside. The government has also given fillip to rural industries and taken steps for betterment of rural weavers, artisans and sculptors.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)