Making Indian companies and India's national economy more productive is not going to be an easy or painless task. We must recognize here that capital is scarce and costly and this is especially so in view of the current downturn in the national and global economy. Market conditions have become highly volatile, although we in India can say with some satisfaction that our economy has remained relatively immune to the crisis that has engulfed several countries in South-East Asia and elsewhere. In this rapidly changing global scenario, better utilization of human resources and adoption of more efficient technologies and work practices become all the more important. This places major responsibilities on all of us on policy makers in the Government, management, trade unions, R&D institutions, media and, of course, each and every worker. In this context, the first thought I would like to put before my countrymen is that productivity enhancement must be given the priority in all sectors of the economy. The appeal I would like to make to every worker and every organisation is: Work faster, work better, work for the nation. Concretely, this would mean that individuals as well as organizations must pay greater attention to cutting costs and boosting the quality of their products and services. Both individuals and organizations must give priority to better management of available assets, before drawing up plans for new investment. They must think of ways to save energy and materials in every economic activity. Studies have shown that with technologies and work practices, Indian industry can save up to 30 per cent of the energy which it now consumes and 15-20 per cent of the materials which it now uses. The greatest scope for saving, however, is in time, which is also the most precious of all the economic resources. If a certain work can be completed in half the time that it otherwise takes, it not only satisfies the consumer, but, to that extent, also doubles the rate of growth of the organization. I believe that there is a vast scope for both speeding and improving the work in every office or productive establishment in the country, especially in the Government. I have a specific proposal to translate this potential into reality which I would like to place before the nation. Let every organization in the country invite ideas and suggestions from its employees at all levels on how it can work faster and better. I call upon policy makers in the Government, captains of industry and trade unions and leaders of other concerned organizations to develop this concept further so that we can launch the National Work Improvement Campaign in an expeditious and effective manner. The cornerstone of the National Work Improvement Campaign will have to be an emphasis on teamwork. Excellence in work is rarely the result of individual excellence. Rather, it is the cumulative outcome of the proper management of team talent. In order to enrich and activate team talent, we must create organizations that are less hierarchical and more democratic. We must create an environment which accepts creative ideas and initiatives from whichever direction they may come. The National Work Improvement Campaign must also place high emphasis on continuous learning at the work place. Training, retraining and acquisition of new knowledge should become an integral part of our work culture. Let each and every economic organization in the country become a Learning Organization and let India itself become a Learning Nation. Our efforts to create a new national work culture will bear the desired fruit only if it is rooted in the age old concept of Seva. Work becomes more than a job indeed, work becomes workshop only when it is done with the attitude of Samaj Seva and Rashtra Seva. Once again I congratulate the Shram Award winners and their managements and express the hope that they will continue to display the qualities that have won them this prestigious national honour. Before concluding, let me reiterate my appeal to all my countrymen, let us together honour Bharat Mata by launching, sincerely and earnestly, the National Work Improvement Campaign with the central appeal work Faster, work Better, work for the Nation. I greet you all, and every brother and sister around the world on the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This day 50 years ago the member States of the United Nations adopted what President Roosevelt so movingly described as the international Magna Carta of all men everywhere. The immediate backdrop of the Declaration was the horrifying spectacle of man's brutality against man as witnessed during the Second World War. During those bleak years of this century, an individual's inalienable right to dignity and liberty were brutally trampled upon. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was supposed to be a safeguard against the repetition of the brutalities of World War II and to establish the overriding supremacy of human rights. This noble purpose was underscored by the Vienna Declaration that asserted: all human rights are universal, indivisible, inter-related and inter-dependent. This must be noble. Submit