NEW DELHI, Jan 3: Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh today expressed hope of visiting Pakistan in next four months and said circumstances were “not appropriate” to visit that country so far.
Addressing a press conference, Singh was asked why he never visited Pakistan in last nearly 10 years of his Prime Ministership.
“I would very much like to go to Pakistan. I was born in a village which is now part of West Punjab but as Prime Minister of the country I should go to visit Pakistan when conditions are appropriate to achieve solid results.
“I thought of it many times but ultimately I felt that circumstances are not appropriate for my visit. I still have not given up hope of going to Pakistan before I complete my tenure as Prime Minister,” Singh said while addressing a press conference.
On another query about reports that India and Pakistan were on the verge of a historic deal on Jammu and Kashmir, the Prime Minister said,”I have tried to improve relations with all our neighbours to the best of my ability and on one time it appeared that important breakthrough was in sight.
“Events in Pakistan for example that General Pervez Musharraf (former President) had to make way for a different set up. I think that led to the process not moving further….”
However, he added that he still believes that good relations between India and Pakistan are very essential for the sub-continent to realise its full development potential to get rid of poverty, ignorance and disease which have caused inevitable loss to millions and millions of people.
Jammu and Kashmir witnessed a 10-fold decrease in militancy related incidents during the nine years of the two tenures of UPA and the situation in the State was “rapidly improving”, says a report card of the Government released by Singh today.
The report card, released ahead of Singh’s press conference, said the situation in Jammu and Kashmir has shown vast improvement as the Government has worked with people of the State to restore normalcy and encouraged development in equal measures.
“Militancy related incidents declined sharply and a ten-fold decrease was witnessed as both the Central and State Government worked in cooperation and coordination,” it said.
The number of incidents in 2004 was 2,565 which resulted in 1,964 deaths while in 2012 there were 220 incidents that led to 102 deaths.
The Government was able to contain loss of lives while concentrating more on development and employment generating measures to empower citizens, it said.
“Security situation in the State has rapidly improved after UPA Government came to power and implemented policies for relief and rehabilitation in the militancy affected areas,” it added.
Singh declared that he would bow out of office after the Lok Sabha elections and strongly backed Rahul Gandhi for the job while warning that Narendra Modi would be “disastrous” for the country.
“I will hand over the baton to a new Prime Minister,” Singh said making it clear that he would no longer be in the running for the job when he completes his 10-year tenure in May after the Lok Sabha polls.
A number of questions at the 75-minute press conference here pertained to his record in office which he deflected by repeatedly saying that it was his belief that history would be kinder to him than the contemporary media or the opposition.
But a question on his being perceived as a “weak” Prime Minister, brought forth an uncharacteristically strong attack on Modi when he accused him of “presiding” over the “massacre” of innocent people during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
“If by strong PM you mean that you preside over mass massacre of innocent citizens on the streets of Ahmedabad, if that is the measure of strength, I do not believe that kind of strength this country needs, least of all in its Prime Minister,” he said.
At another point while answering a question on a potential contest between Rahul and Modi, Singh said, “I sincerely believe that it will be disastrous for the country to have Narendra Modi as Prime Minister.”
He ridiculed Modi’s campaign for a “Congress-free” India saying that was not going to materialise.
The press conference, only the third held by Singh in nearly 10 years in office, covered a wide range of subjects, mostly political, some pertaining to the state of the economy and a few on foreign policy. Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari conducted it and promised another interaction.
Voicing the hope that his successor would be from UPA, the Prime Minister endorsed Rahul by stating that the Congress Vice President “has outstanding credentials to be the PM candidate”. The Congress Party would announce the candidate at the appropriate time.
While clearly declaring that he would not hold office after the elections, Singh was vague on his future plans thereafter. He had not thought this through.
Singh put up a weak defence of the Government’s record on corruption by arguing that coal scam and 2G spectrum licences allegations pertained to his first tenure 2004-09 after which people had voted back UPA to power in 2009.
“They (voters) do not seem to have paid heed to all charges of corruption,” he contended, ignoring the fact that these scams had been unearthed after 2009 elections.
He, however, conceded that there had been irregularities in these allocations. But the dimensions of these irregularities had been overstated by the media, CAG and other entities.
To a query whether “dual centres of power” in Congress had affected his functioning, the Prime Minister said “I sincerely believe that the arrangement where the Congress President and the Prime Minister did not happen to be same person has under the circumstances worked exceedingly well.
“For me it was a remarkable achievement that I have been able to complete 10 years without any hiccups between the Prime Minister and Congress President. Sonia Gandhi’s support has been enormous. She was there to back me which facilitated my task in more than one way.”
Asked about the perception that the decisions were taken in 10, Janpath, a reference to Sonia Gandhi’s house, he said, “It is not a question of Congress President or the Vice President. If they have any view it ought to be reflected in the Government to the extent possible. It is not a disadvantage or a drawback in our system. This has enabled us to deal with many issues.
“If the Government recognised issues, I don’t think it is right to say that this is wrong or it is disadvantage to make corrections if the party leadership says it is required in national interest.”
At the outset, the Prime Minister conceded that price rise could have been one of the factors in the defeat of Congress in the recent Assembly elections.
“Price rise was a factor in the people turning against Congress. The reasons for it were beyond our control as the prices of international commoditiess were rising making it difficult for us to control prices. But we have taken enough measures to protect the weaker sections. That should not be lost.”
“We will reflect on what the results tell us for the future and learn lessons,” he said.
Asked what he plans to do in future having ruled out yet another term, Singh, “I have not thought through it. It is too early. I have still five months to complete my present term. When I reach that stage, I will cross the bridge.”
When asked what were the best and lowest moments in his career as Prime Minister, he said, “Well, I will need time to reflect on this. Certainly I think the best moment was when we were able to strike a nuclear deal with the US.”
To a question whether the thought of resigning crossed his mind against the backdrop of scams and difficulties,”I never felt like resigning at any time. I enjoyed my work and did my job without fear or favour.”
But asked whether anyone in the Congress asked him to resign, Singh said, “Nobody had asked him to step down because of any inadequacies as Prime Minister.”
Answering questions on his image being tainted by corruption allegations against the Government, he said, “I have never used my office to enrich or reward my friends or relatives.”
Claiming that his Government has put the country on a high growth momentum, Singh promised to roll out more reforms in the next few months.
He blamed global commodity and energy prices for persistently high inflation, a factor cited for the drubbing of the Congress in the recently concluded Assembly elections.
Singh stressed 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.
“So long as we are in power, we will continue to push for reforms…Our Government attaches highest priority to reforms…We will continue to implement our policies with vigour and commitment, aiming to revive growth, promote enterprise, generate employment, eliminate poverty,” he said.
Observing that the worry about inflation is legitimate, Singh said the Government had taken enough measures to protect the interests of the weaker sections of society.
“We will be honest enough to say that it could be the price rise (that) was a factor in people turning against the Congress party…International commodity prices were rising, international energy prices were rising and these were the factors. It made it difficult for us to control prices as effectively as we could have done,” he said.
While wholesale inflation rose to 7.52 per cent in November, prices based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) jumped 11.24 per cent during the month.
Rising prices were cited as one of the reasons for the defeat of the Congress party in the recent Assembly elections. The party lost power in Delhi and Rajasthan and performed badly in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Singh said real wages in rural areas have increased faster than before and per-capita consumption in both rural and urban areas has increased significantly.
He hoped the Food Security Act, which entitles two-thirds of the population to receive subsidised foodgrains, would shield the common man from rising food prices to some extent.
Referring to job creation, Singh said the Government had not been able to do well and was working “hard” to improve the situation.
“I am concerned that we have not been as successful as we need to be in generating employment in the manufacturing sector. This is an aspect of performance which we are working hard to correct.
“We need a much stronger effort in support of small and medium enterprises, which can be a major source of good quality employment. Our manufacturing strategy gives high priority to this objective for the future,” Singh said.
On economic growth, which slipped to a decade-low of 5 per cent in 2012-13, the Prime Minister attributed the slowdown to global factors but exuded confidence the momentum would revive in the coming years.
“We are set for better times. The cycle of global economic growth is turning for the better. Many of the steps we have taken to address our domestic constraints are coming into play. India’s own growth momentum will revive,” he added.
He said that during the term of the UPA, India for the first time in recorded history witnessed a sudden acceleration of economic growth to 9 per cent.
“This exceptional performance was followed by a slowdown initiated by the global financial crisis. Over the past couple of years, all emerging economies have experienced a slowdown. India was no exception,” he added.
Singh said it was not just the acceleration of growth that “gives me satisfaction. Equally important is the fact that we made the growth process more socially inclusive than it has ever been.”
India, he said, “provides a hospitable environment for foreign direct investment. We will continue to improve our practices wherever needed.”
Observing that the economy has gone through many ups and downs over the past decade, Singh said, “We should not focus overly on the short term.”
Citing the achievements of the Government, Singh said that in 2004 it tried to give “a New Deal for Rural India” and pursued farmer-friendly policies, including raising support prices, expanding credit to farmers and increasing investment in horticulture, rural development and rural infrastructure, especially roads and electricity.
He said the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has assured agricultural labour of a floor and has increased their bargaining power, besides improving the delivery of health and education services.
Singh said that 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 and that the number of people below the poverty line has come down by 13.8 crore.
Regarding the impact of the external situation on the domestic economy, the Prime Minister said, “The one lesson we shall all learn from our experience over the past decade is that the world around us is becoming more challenging.
“This is both a function of our greater integration with the world and of the international community’s expectations from a rising India. This is India’s manifest destiny. We should recognise it as such and learn to deal with it.”
Singh regretted that the Government’s initiatives to improve the lot of the minorities could not be communicated to the people while stressing that the scope of doing more exists.
Noting that the UPA Government has worked a lot towards implementing the recommendations of Sachar Committee, he said, “I have to say with sadness that this could not reach the people.”
He was responding to a question as to why the benefits of the schemes intended for minorities were not reaching them.
There has been talk that Congress’ grip over minorities has slipped as results of the recently concluded Assembly elections showed their candidates doing badly even in seats where there was good number of minority votes.
At a time when issues like reservation for minorities as well as that of granting SC/ST status to Muslims were pending before courts, Singh said, “This is also true that there are some measures which are yet to be taken up.
“Some issues are pending before courts. Some problems have cropped up due to which certain measures could not be implemented….”
Singh, however, listed measures like scholarships to minority students and special development schemes for them undertaking by the UPA Government under the Prime Minister’s new 15-point programme.
“Scholarships for minorities have gone up tremendously, Maulana Azad Fellowship has increased substantially and the programme for multi-disciplinary approaches in 90 minority- concentrated districts of our country have been put in place. So enough has been done but I would be the last person to say there is no scope for doing more,” the Prime Minister told a press conference here.
In the report card on UPA’s 10 years released on the occasion, the Government said that it has always accorded high priority to their welfare and pointed out that there has been a “ten-fold increase” in the expenditure on minorities since 2004-05, when UPA came to power.
Singh said that minorities were benefitting from the Prime Minister’s new 15-point programme, the Multi-Sectoral Development Programme and the various scholarship schemes for minority students.
“15 per cent of all priority sector lending from banks now reaches minorities to help them start and expand small business.
“More than 20 million scholarships were awarded to students from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and minority communities under various progammes,” the Government said in its report card. (PTI)
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