The Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has said that the government will make sincere efforts to pass a clutch of anti-corruption measures, pending before Parliament. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Friday, the Prime Minister said, five-six bills dealing with corruption are pending before Parliament.
The bills that create the framework to tackle corruption include the Whistleblowers' Protection Bill, Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill and a bill on Citizens' Charter.
The Prime Minister said, the government would roll out more reforms in the next few months. He said, his government would continue to push economic reforms, create a favourable environment for foreign direct investment, FDI, and work harder to generate more employment opportunities in the manufacturing sector. He said his government has put the country on a high growth momentum. Dr Singh blamed global commodity and energy prices for persistently high inflation. Observing that the worry about inflation is legitimate, the Prime Minister said, the government has taken enough measures to protect the interests of the weaker sections of society.
Citing the achievements of the government, Dr Singh said that in 2004 it tried to give a new deal for Rural India and pursued farmer-friendly policies. He said the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has increased the bargaining power of agricultural labour. Dr Singh said as a result of the policies pursued by the government, the percentage of the population below the poverty line has fallen much faster in the 2004-2011 period than it did in the previous 10-year period. He said, the number of people below the poverty line has come down by 13.8 crore. The Prime Minister said, the Public Distribution System has been stabilized and prices of food grains under PDS have not been increased since 2003.
On the Indo-US relations, he said, his government attaches highest priority to strengthening the strategic partnership between the two countries. Dr Singh said, there have recently been some hiccups, but these are temporary aberrations and diplomacy should be given a chance to resolve these issues that have arisen. On Indo-Pak ties, the Prime Minister said, good relations between India and Pakistan are very essential for the sub-continent to realize its full development potential and get rid of poverty, ignorance and disease.
