M A I N   N E W S

PM opposes freebies by states
Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 8
The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, today made his displeasure over populist promises being made in certain states public when he told the Chief Ministers of the Congress-ruled States in unambiguous words that “promises like free electricity and other promises that cannot be sustained will not fetch results.”

Addressing the Congress Chief Minister’s conclave on its second day here, Dr Manmohan Singh said populism and populist gimmicks no longer impressed the people. “Hard work does. Actual performance does make a difference. I urge the Congress Chief Ministers to make that difference.”

He regretted the “persistent cynicism” about the government. “My own surmise is that there is considerable dissatisfaction with governance and the agents of governance,” he said. Since the cutting edge of governance was the States and a citizen’s confidence in the governance systems was shaped by how the affairs were being managed at the state level, the Prime Minister said the Congress Chief Ministers “must show the way and set an example for others to follow”.

Perhaps as a reply to AICC President Sonia Gandhi’s directive to the Chief Ministers yesterday to involve the party organisation “at each and every” level of governance, Dr Manmohan Singh said the party should provide the “interface” between the government and the people. “The party must educate the people about the limitations under which a government functions so that false expectations were not generated.” However, he conceded the right of the party to alert the government about its mistakes and faults. “It is a vital two-way role that the party must play,” he added.

He called upon the Chief Ministers to reduce subsidies for the rich as well as to restructure public expenditure so that the resources could be used for employment generation.

Claiming that the Congress was returned to power at the Centre on the basis of a positive vote “for a secular, forward-looking, transparent and liberal government”, Dr Manmohan Singh said his government had fulfilled three-fourth of the commitments made in the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP). He said the most important contribution of the Congress Government had been to “bring the nation back to the politics of moderation and economics of equity and development.” The government would ensure that at least 80 per cent of the vacancies in SC/ST reservation quota jobs in government were filled on a time-bound basis.

The Prime Minister, who devoted a considerable part of his speech on the issue of Dalit welfare, said a Bill to reserve posts in the civil services had been introduced. To upgrade rural infrastructure, the UPA government had conceived the time-bound Bharat Nirman programme, for which over Rs 1,74,000 crore had been committed.

“Bharat Nirman should unleash the growth potential of our villages. In the next four years we need to ensure that every habitation has potable water. Every village of over 1,000 population or over 500 in hilly and tribal areas, must have an asphalted road. Every village must have electricity and telephone connectivity,” he said, adding that each Chief Minister should set up his own monitoring system to ensure that the objectives of the Bharat Nirman were achieved ahead of schedule in the Congress-ruled states.