Following is the text of the
speech of the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh :
“It gives me great pleasure to
welcome you all to this function to mark the completion of the third year of
the second UPA government.
I believe that the annual Report
to the People that we are releasing today presents an objective
statement of what we have achieved in office over the past year. I welcome an
informed and constructive debate on our performance.
I will be the first to say we need
to do better. But let no one doubt that we have achieved much.
Despite an adverse international
economic environment, the Indian economy grew by about 7 percent in 2011-12,
which is amongst the highest in the world. Sustained high rates of
growth during the UPA government’s tenure have enabled us to pursue our agenda
of inclusive and equitable growth and put lot more resources in social sector
such as education and health.
I will highlight some
of the achievements of our policies that aim to bring succour to the aam
aadmi.
·
Poverty has declined at twice the rate that it did before the UPA
Government`s tenure.
·
There have been notable successes in agriculture. The agricultural
growth rate has risen to 3.3% per annum in the 11th Five Year
Plan as against 2.3% per annum in the 10th Five Year Plan.
Rural wages have also increased. Farmers have been given
handsome prices for their crops. This year has seen record foodgrain
production, crossing 250 million tonnes for the first time in our history.
· More
than Rs 2 lakh crores was disbursed to 2.75 crore marginal and small farmers as
loans.
·
Primary school enrolment has become near universal. We have opened
51,000 schools and appointed 6.8 lakh teachers in the last two years.
·
India has been declared polio-free by the international
agency, the World Health Organisation.
· The
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme now reaches one out
of five households in the country.
· India was
the second fastest growing telecom market in the world. We added
nearly 10 crore new telephone connections last year, including more than 4
crore in rural areas.
· We
added new power generation capacity of 20,000 MW last year which is almost equal
to the capacity added during the entire 10th Five Year Plan
Period. We provided 35 lakh new electricity connections in rural India last
year.
Affirmative measures to help
expand opportunities for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes,
minorities and women are a top priority for the UPA government. These efforts
are being intensified.
Last year saw the flawless test
launch of the Agni-5 long range ballistic missile and the successful
fabrication and launch of the RISAT-1 satellite which can take images even in
cloudy weather. I congratulate our scientists and our technologists for these
great achievements.
The internal security scenario has
by and large been satisfactory. The peaceful conduct of Panchayat elections
inKashmir and the high voter turnout show that things are changing in the
State. The scourge of Naxalism however continues to be a major problem and I
seek the cooperation of all the concerned State Governments to tackle this
menace.
In foreign policy, there were significant
developments in our relations with our neighbours, notably with Bangladesh,Pakistan and Myanmar.
The success of the BRICS Summit held in New Delhi reflects India`s
growing presence on the world stage. As a responsible member of the United
Nations Security Council and other international fora, we have made important
contributions in addressing global issues.
Despite these real and solid
achievements, there are undoubtely uncertainties and a large unfinished agenda
before us. We will attend to these tasks firmly.
Difficult decisions
have to be taken on both spending and revenue mobilisation. Both the Centre and
the States have to be fiscally responsible. We also have
to remove implementation bottlenecks that are preventing large projects from
getting off the ground. We have to quicken the pace of implementation of our
policies of inclusive growth, particularly in the areas of health and
education. We need to improve coordination between the Centre and States
on important issues that face our country.
Some people have questioned the
sustainability of our growth process. I am confident we will prove the skeptics
wrong. I recognise that we face pressures on our balance of payments and that
the fiscal situation requires careful management. Determined measures are
needed to boost the climate for industrial investment, both domestic and
foreign. An urgent priority is to resolve issues relating to land
acquisition, resettlement and the environment. We need to strengthen our food
security system by building more storage capacity. We must address
the scourge of malnutrition through multi-dimensional interventions. We need to
scale up our skill development programme.
We know there is public
frustration and anger on the issue of corruption. I wish to assure
our people that we are working sincerely to address this issue through both
legislative and administrative measures. Legislation is before Parliament to
establish a Lokpal, ensure time-bound delivery of public goods and services and
judicial accountability.
We are trying to ensure exemplary
punishment to the guilty while also ensuring that public servants feel secure
in taking bona fide decisions that are in the national interest.
I am confident that the
resilience and hard work of our people, supported by actions of our government,
will ensure that our economy bounces back.
I pledge that the UPA government
will work with renewed determination to pursue these national tasks.
I urge all political parties to
rise above partisan considerations and strengthen our hands so that India can
face the uncertain global environment with greater confidence and rise united
to the challenges we face as a nation.
As we enter our ninth year in
office, I reiterate the commitment of our Government to remain faithful to the
values, the objectives and the policies that have brought new hope to millions
of our fellow citizens. Jai Hind.”
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