Venkaiah Naidu

"They should first think how they will mobilise the required resources to fulfill the promises. This applies to the national parties as well as the regional parties," he said.

Referring to criminal and election-related cases against peoples representatives, he said tribunals and special courts should be set up to deal with and dispose of all such cases within a year.

Referring to the issue of liquidity crunch, Naidu said the problem was because few "black sheep" who have taken the system for ride, affecting the entire industry.

Making a strong pitch for things "Swadeshi", Naidu said even in the era of an interconnected world and liberal foreign direct investment, we have to support local enterprises as recommended by Mahatma Gandhi.

Delivering the Laxmanrao Inamdar Memorial Lecture here, Naidu also called for suitable changes in the laws governing the cooperative sector in view of changed techno-economic and business scenarios to make the cooperative institutions "viable and vibrant".

"The countries I visited agree with us on the need to democratise the UN in an effective manner and on the importance of the role of India in the independent nations," he said.

Naidu, who is in Botswana on an official visit, said the southern African country is also following India's efforts to curb black money.

"Agriculture is at crossroads and the sector is unviable as people are leaving farming. Boosting agriculture sector is one of the top priorities," Naidu said.

Addressing members of industry body Assocham, Naidu said that the chambers have the responsibility to promote ethical governance.

Naidu, who often speaks about the need to preserve regional languages, said that one's mother tongue is like the eyes whereas other languages are like spectacles.

Naidu, who is visiting the southeastern European country on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of India-Romania diplomatic relations, said that bilateral trade between India and Romania stands at $810 million.

Naidu is the first senior Indian leader to visit the Mediterranean nation in last 28 years.

The event was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former prime ministers Manmohan Singh and H D Deve Gowda, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Rajya Sabha Deputy Leader of Opposition Anand Sharma.

Venkaiah Naidu, who is also the Rajya Sabha Chairman, called for deciding upon a national policy on the need for the Upper House in state legislatures

Naidu said the focus should be more on rural healthcare and strengthening of medical infrastructure in the country.

Opposition parties have accused Venkaiah Naidu of favouring the ruling BJP party in the Rayja Sabha

The Rajya Sabha earlier had simultaneous interpretation services for 17 languages.

"Our universities have not been able to make their place in the list of the world's best universities. We should take it as a big challenge. The universities should focus on imparting to students the knowledge and skills they need to survive in today's fiercely competitive world," Naidu said, addressing the convocation of ICFAI University here.

Venkaiah Naidu said while the system was expanding and the government and private sector was focusing on increasing the number of medical colleges, "the essential question we need to ask ourselves is about the quality of medical education."

"Farmers have contributed immensely in transforming our nation into an exporter of food grains and we owe a lot to them," Venkaiah Naidu.