Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

Release of Report: "A Caring Government - One Year of UPA"

Ladies and Gentlemen/ Fellow citizens of India,

 

 

It gives me great pleasure to be here with all my colleagues in the Union Council of Ministers to present this Report on our government's performance to the Chairperson and leaders of the United Progressive Alliance. Never before has a Government followed so closely the implementation of its promises and produced a report on its work. The UPA government is one which wants people to judge it by its performance, by its sincerity in keeping its promises.

I compliment the leadership of the UPA, particularly its Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi, for maintaining such vigil on the functioning of the Government. I must also compliment my colleagues in the Council of Ministers and the officer's in the government for this effort.

 

The report we have put together offers a bird's eye view of the most important decisions our Government has taken this year. It is a mark of our transparency, keeping in step with the spirit of the Right to Information Act, that we have made this report public.

 

It is often said that a week is a long time in politics. But, paradoxically, a year does not seem such a long time in the functioning of a Government! Yet, even one year can make a difference! And it has. The mood of the country is today diametrically opposite to that we saw last year. At that time India was shining for a few and the Government could not see what was happening to the many. We have pledged to the people that we do want India to shine, but shine for all. We are committed to building a prosperous, inclusive, equitable, humane, caring and just India. This is the India our founding fathers dreamt of. And we have started well on the road to achieving this, but there is much more to do.

 

Today is an important milestone in many ways. The forging of the UPA, its political resilience and the durability of our alliance bears testimony to our determination to offer to the people of our Republic a political platform that captures the true spirit of our Constitution. The UPA symbolizes the values of pluralism and secularism that defined our National Movement and are at the core of our national politics. The people of India are truly grateful to the leaders of the UPA, especially Soniaji, for forging this alliance and making it work.

 

The UPA came into existence last year and its Government is running smoothly largely as a result of the strenuous efforts of Soniaji. I express the views of the entire alliance and of the people of our country as a whole when I say that we have all been truly inspired by her courage, wisdom, forbearance and personal example of selflessness in leading the UPA. Generations to come will marvel at Soniaji's renunciation of the seat of power, an act which is in the great traditions of sages and saints of this ancient land.

 

I must also compliment and thank Thiru Karunanidhi, Lalu Prasadji, Sharad Pawarji, Paswanji, Thiru Maran, and the leaders of all other constituents of the UPA for their support and guidance. I would also like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to the leaders of the Left Parties, including Comrade Surjeet, Jyoti Basuji, Buddhadeb Bhattacharyaji, Bardhanji and my young friends Prakash Karatji and Yechuriji.

 

Together, we have all been able to offer the people of India an alternative platform - an alternative to the politics of exclusion and majoritarianism; an alternative to the economics of backwardness and bankruptcy; and an alternative to the sociology of conflict and discrimination. The UPA mirrors the diversity of our ancient land. Ours is a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-lingual Nation. In a Nation of continental dimensions, our alliance is the most regionally representative coalition in office. Our greatest achievement this past year has been to give the people of India an inclusive and humane Government, a more representative Government and a more caring Government. A Government which they can trust and pin their hopes on.

 

Our singular contribution this past year to the political and social life of our country has been to bring the Nation back to an even keel. To the politics of moderation and the economics of equity and development. Once again a new ray of hope shines on the lives of weaker sections of our society. The challenge before us is to combine the economics of growth with the economics of equity and social justice. We have no option but to walk on two legs. On one hand, pursuing policies that unleash the creativity and enterprise inherent in our people, that reward excellence and risk-taking; and on the other, addressing the needs of every citizen, their right to a decent livelihood, to education and well-being, to equality of opportunity, and to peace and security.

 

We have taken several steps to empower the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, Minorities and women. We regard every citizen a valuable social and economic asset in whom we must invest in the interests of our collective future. There can be no better way of empowering the weaker sections of our society than investing in their capabilities and this is what we are doing. I would also like to reiterate our commitment to work sincerely for the removal of gender disparities; our commitment to our children to provide them a future of hope and self-confidence.

 

As part of our "New Deal for Rural India", we have launched a programme of rural development called "Bharat Nirman". "Bharat Nirman" is a time-bound business plan for action in rural infrastructure for the next four years. Bharat Nirman, along with the Missions on Rural Health, Horticulture and Urban Renewal, is at the core of our design to transform rural India and give new hope to our people. Agriculture continues to be an area requiring priority attention and we are committed to imparting greater scientific and technological inputs for transforming Indian agriculture. The Employment Guarantee Act, which will be passed in all likelihood in the next session of Parliament, will be our primary vehicle for providing income security to the poorest sections of society.

 

As we move ahead, we must focus on offering a more efficient Government. The reform of Government must acquire a higher profile in our priorities than has been the case so far. Equally, our Government must grapple more effectively with the challenges of the future. Be it economic, strategic, human or environmental. We remain firm in our commitment to devise effective strategies for tackling the problems of poverty, ignorance, mal-nutrition, hunger and disease. These are urgent priorities, no doubt. But we should endeavour to make sure that we overcome these challenges and move ahead to tackle the challenge of the future.

 

The biggest challenge is to survive and flourish in the increasingly integrated and globalised world we are living in. At the same time, the role of the state is being redefined in many sectors. The government is moving from being a provider of goods and services to being a regulator and facilitator ensuring fair play. Increasingly, governments' attention, and indeed expenditure pattern, is shifting towards the provision of physical and human infrastructure to enable individual players to compete in global markets. These winds of change affect various groups differently. The challenge ahead of us is to ensure that while sustaining the growth impulses, deliberate efforts are also made to reduce disparities in income and wealth .

 

Our policies will address this challenge. While focusing on generating new employment, we will improve the climate for investment. A rapidly expanding economy alone can provide us resources to deal effectively with problems of mass poverty. We need to nurse and nurture an economy which rewards creativity and innovation. We must also do more to protect the interests of workers in the unorganized sector, improve their working conditions and give them social security, even as we create a more competitive environment for the organized sector.

 

The government also has the obligation to ensure that the benefits of growth reach all sections of society, to ensure that they become equal participants in growth processes. We have to ensure that those who are adversely affected by the winds of change are able to adjust to new realities and economic opportunities. We seek your wholehearted support for the bold policy initiatives that we have to initiate to take our country forward in our quest to regain our due place in the comity of Nations.

 

The people of our country are impatient for change, impatient for a better quality life, impatient for new opportunities. We will be failing them if we do not think "out of the box" and act with courage. Bold initiatives are called for on the economic front. I would like to see an improvement in our public finances at all levels of Government. We must reduce wasteful subsidies and divert these resources into needed social sector expenditure, investment and employment generation. There is an urgent need for the re-structuring of public expenditure and improving the working of ministries.

 

As we look ahead into our second year I would like you to focus your attention on these challenges for the future. The demographic transition that is under way, is one such challenge. India will have the world's largest number of young people in the 21st Century. Are we doing enough to educate them? To equip them intellectually so that every citizen becomes an economic asset and not a social liability? Are we doing enough to invest in the capabilities of our next generation? Their health care, their employment opportunities, their leisure time activities? Are we doing enough to prepare our people for the strategic shifts happening in the world and the consequences for us in India? A Knowledge Commission is being established for this purpose and I hope it will be in the vanguard of a revolution in our knowledge creation capabilities, in equipping our people with the skills required of them in the new century.

 

I can enumerate more such challenges of the future. The expansion and modernization of physical infrastructure - consisting of roads, railways, ports, airports and telecommunications - and social infrastructure, especially education and health care, must figure more prominently among our priorities. Each one of us in the Government must list out what we regard as the coming challenges of the next year, the next four years, the next decade. A part of our time must be devoted to these future challenges even as we grapple with the challenges of today and those left behind by our yesterdays.

 

It is in this spirit that I hope we will mark the end of our first year in office. The UPA has dedicated itself to making India realize its destiny as one of the world's Great Nations. A Nation in which every citizen, irrespective of caste, community, language, region or religion can live a life of dignity and self-respect, of peace and prosperity. I invite every citizen of our vast and ancient land to join us in this exciting journey.

 

Thank you.

 

Jai Hind.