Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Monday launched 'Haryali', a Rs 1,000 crore scheme to meet the water problem in different parts of the country.

He said national development was not possible without rapid rural development, and added, "We do not want the gap between 'India' and 'Bharat' to widen further."

Inaugurating a national conference in New Delhi of State Ministers of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Public Works, Vajpayee asked the people to turn the mission of water conservation into a 'People's Movement'.

Stating that the Tenth Plan has emphasised that growth demand in the Indian economy cannot be raised speedily without a rapid increase in the purchasing power of the majority of the population, he said without it the country's development would continue to be slow.

"It will be difficult for us to reach the goal of eight per cent GDP [Gross Domestic Product] growth annually," he said.

The prime minister said even at the present growth rate, the demand for many industrial and consumer goods had been rising significantly in rural areas, showing that there were many parts of rural India is becoming prosperous.

"When this picture of prosperity covers all of rural India, and all sections of rural society, it will give a tremendous boost to the Indian economy, besides making its growth sustainable," he said.